Disclaimer: I don't own Lord of the Rings, or Shadow Dawn/Moon, but the idea is mine!

The last we saw of Gandalf, he was falling presumably to his death. The pit wasn't nearly as deep as anyone thought.

Gandalf landed mostly unharmed but so did the Balraugh (Balraug, Balrag I'm not sure how to spell it!). He stood up, ready to face the demon again. Unfortunately, it was very dark down in the pit so Gandalf couldn't see either the Balraugh or his staff. Fumbling along in the muck and debris on the floor, Gandalf heard the demon stand. The flaming monster added just enough illumination for him to see his staff. It had landed right in the middle of the pit, about 50 feet from where he stood.

A soft curse escaped his lips. At least the demon had not seen him yet. Quietly, Gandalf murmured the incantation of retrieval. Softly his staff rose up and began to float towards him. But the movement had attracted the Balraugh who whipped around and knocked the floating staff to the ground. Slowly the creature advanced towards the helpless wizard.

Suddenly something leapt from the shadows. It jumped onto the face of the demon and clawed at it's eyes. But the Balraugh raised a mighty fist and knocked it's attacker to the ground. The creature jumped right back up and pulled a sword from a scabbard on it's back. The sword was curved slightly and glowed with a faint reddish light. With incredible speed, it ran at the Balraugh. Sweeping the sword high, it cut off the left hand of the demon. Enraged, the demon spewed flame which the attacker dodged nimbly. Turning a flip, the creature jumped onto the back of the burning monster. It lifted the sword high and with a yell, sliced clean through the demons head.

The Balraugh fell and the fire on it's back slowly began to go out. Moving steadily, the creature bent and picked up Gandalf's staff. Gandalf stared in wonder as the creature drew closer for he realized that it was a human. Not only was it a human, it was a woman.

She was tall and muscular with long legs and arms. Her face was oval, framed by black hair that came to her shoulders. She had slightly slanted eyes and strong cheekbones. Her most striking features though were her tattoo's. They covered he upper arms and legs but there was one large one on her face. It started on her left eyelid then swept back till it reached her hairline. It was very colorful and looked like the markings on a bird of prey. She an intimidating sight.

She stopped a few steps from him and held out his staff. Gandalf took it and then asked "Who are you?"

The woman looked at him for a moment as though shocked to hear another human voice, as if she was trying to remember how to speak. Then in a voice hoarse from disuse replied, "Khory. My name is Khory Bannefin."



Note: This chapter just sort of sets stuff up, I'm not quite sure how I'm going to end this, so please respond! Thanks a bunch!