Elson felt the cold of the wind bite at his neck but he continued to ride through The Great Mountains. The fresh snow did not help as he made his ascent up the great mountain. Night was coming quickly and distant rumbles threatened another storm. He had no time to lose. He must get to his destination with his findings as soon as possible.

It had been many seasons since the great defeat of Sauron. The land of Middle Earth had met its highest point of general prosperity since then. Aragorn had claimed the crown and grew older but wiser. His two sons Aradorn and Falasin had peacefully agreed to allow the first-born Falasin to claim heir to the throne while Aradorn would live in the palace and be the heir should Falasin die. He also was appointed top general of The Middle Earth Army of Diplomacy. Made up of all kinds of peoples of the Middle Earth. Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Druids, and even an occasional Wizard. They traveled to where ever there should be a problem of peace and sorted it out with as little force as possible.

A sudden bolt of lightning shook the ground with thunder and frightened Elson's horse, sending him sprawling to the ground with a hard thud. His belongings fell too. The horse ran and Elson cursed his bad luck. He pulled himself to his feet and dusted the snow off of his large coat. He checked his belt, found his sword and began to pick up his belongings. As he picked up his bag, a large faded green leather book fell out. Elson bent down to pick it up and as he grabbed it, his hands felt suddenly warm...too warm. The book had caught fire. He dropped the book and shoved his hands in the snow. As he looked at the book, The Dark One's eye caught his gaze. A voice that seemed distant yet near called to him, "Elson...Elson, my son. Prince of Death and Despair...Bring me back...." and it faded out with that.

The storm, drawing ever nearer, filled Elson's mind with thoughts of worry. He gathered the book and put it in his bag, running as fast as his legs could carry him to the top of the mountain. There, in the middle of a flat area, sat a large, rather church-like building. A large steeple with a sharp sword on top. Sauron's blade. Found after the wreckage of the battle, his followers dedicated their lives to finding a way to bring him back. And Elson had the answers held in one book. A book of the Dark Arts of Wizardry.

There's only one problem, thought Elson as he entered the building. How will I get a wizard to perform such things for me? It haunted him that they had no wizards of darkness after Sarumon had been captured and died of age. Did they stand a chance of finding a wizard?

"My my. What have we here?" Called a deep, familiar voice. "A Rat, eh? What's yer business here?"

Elson looked back to the man who had called to him. He walked up and said defiantly, "Move aside. Unless you want to defy the whims of Sauron."

The man exited the shadows smiling. It was Wysen. An elven woman who could easily imitate a man in voice and appearance. She wore a simple black tunic and coat. Her blonde hair was let loose and like always, she carried a large blade slung over her shoulder. A glint in her eye had warned him she had a good day...or a bad one and could just hid it well.

"Looks like the Rat has had an accident," Wysen joked.

Elson hadn't noticed until now that his face had received a large scratch when he had fallen off of his horse. He wiped away the crimson blood and continued his conversation with Wysen. "It just so happens that I have found the key to unlocking Sauron from his binding. This book," he said, pulling out the large leather bound book, "gives everything needed to return someone from the dead. Like the Ring, he needs an elven spell of Return to come back."

Wysen listened intently, knowing that she was the most fluent in any elvish. Though she simply pretended to be blase of the fact. When Elson had finished, she answered, "Well then, I guess Lyrro should hear of this. He is now in the garden with his Nasgul. Follow me."

The two walked together to the garden when a loud screech pierced the air. Elson fell to his knees hold his hands over his ears to stop the loud cry. Wysen stood intently waiting, her ears powerful enough to block out such painful cries of a Nasgul.

When the loud screech ended, Elson took a few moments to collect himself and continue on with Wysen. They found the Head of the Dark Legions petting his pet Nasgul, Wherra. He turned and cried, "Who dares disturb my meeting with Wherra?! State your reasons now!"

Elson fumbled for a moment and finally said, "My faithful re-research has t-t-turned up this, sire." He took out the book and handed it over to the powerful man. He studied the man intently, because he had never been this close to him, unlike Wysen who was his ears and eyes, as he was blind. The man wore heavy cloth formed in a large tunic, obviously specially made for his wide shoulders and powerful arms. He carried with him a large sword, winding with spikes from the sides. He had no hair and his eyes always seemed glazed. His face was round and gruff, havind a short beard of dark color.

Lyrro simply felt the book and then handed it to Wysen who told him how it could bring the Dark One back. Lyrro listened intently and suddenly laughed a deep gut laugh, sending chills down Elson's spine.

Wysen stopped and listened as Lyrro said, "My, my, my. Elson, how is it that you, a common foot soldier came across this book? Wysen, was it not burned in the great fire that destroyed our home?"

Wysen was stunned. First at how Lyrro knew that it was Elson who had come. Second at his remark of laughter and questioning. She looked at the book again and then at Lyrro. "Apparently it survived without a scratch. It is authentic, as can be imagined," she replied.

Elson stood, shaking, fearing Lyrro would sense his fear. And though Lyrro had, he knew the importance of this book and how great a discovery was made by Elson. He walked to him, put his humongous had on his shoulder, almost as big as his head. Lyrro said to him with sincerity, "You don't know how great you will become in our lives here. I invite you to sit at the head of the table tonight at the feast. There, you will tell your discoveries to the thousands who have come to dine with us."

Elson was flooded with gratefullness and surprise. He was invited to sit at the head of the table, not only to eat, but to sit at the right of the Leader of the Dark Army and Dark Legions. Everyone knew he had to have done something wondrous to do such a thing. But Lyrro had acted kinder than what he had expected. He feared that Lyrro would not even give him credit for his discovery and claim he had found the book. But it was not so, and Elson was glad he was where he was.

He was then dismissed and ran to find his friends, to tell them the wonderful news. But when he had found them, there was no way he was ever going to be able to them anything ever again.