The sun shone down on the cold earth, as if promising that the world would see
more of it in the future. Early buds were clinging to the limbs of the trees, as if daring the
cold to try and freeze them. Will Stanton and his elder brother Paul were walking down
the streets of Eton from the bus stop to their father's jewelry shop, as if they hadn't a care
in the world.
In a way, they didn't.
They were ordinary boys, one spending his last school year before college at
home, and the other waiting for the chance to get his driver's license. Paul had applied to
Oxford, had been accepted, and was due to start there in the fall. Will had just turned
sixteen in the previous winter, and he wanted to spend some time with Paul before
another of his brothers left home. That was also partly due to the fact that Paul had
agreed to help teach Will how to drive. Now that Will was old enough, he could take the
test and get his license. Will had wanted to take his driver's test right away, but his
parents had said that he should wait and practice for a few months before taking it. He
privately disagreed, but he let his parents have their way. He was barely sixteen anyway.
It was true that Will was one of the immortal Old Ones of the Light, who had the
task of saving the world from the Dark, and therefore was far older than sixteen years old,
but he wasn't thinking of that at the moment. For now he was just a boy.
They were laughing at some joke Will had made as they stopped at the front door
of their father's shop. Will brushed his windblown brown hair out of his eyes and saw
the "Closed" sign on the door.
Paul frowned, "He said he'd be working late today, so why'd he close up?"
Will shrugged. "I dunno. Mum said if we came up here he'd let me drive home.
Let's go around back and see if he's there."
They walked around the side of the store to the back entrance, and Paul jumped to
reach the key hidden above the doorframe. They let themselves in to the storeroom, and
found their father looking through a jeweler's glass, holding close a fragile-looking
necklace, set with diamonds and a blue stone that Will guessed must be an aquamarine or
a very light sapphire.
"Hey Dad," said Will. Their father looked around at them and smiled.
"Hello, boys." Said Mr Stanton. "I thought I had told your mother that I would be
staying late tonight. Did she forget and send you two to collect me?"
"Not really," said Paul as he put the key back into its hiding place above the door.
"She mostly sent us to help you hurry along what you've been doing, and to let Will
practice driving on the way home."
"Heaven forbid," said their father, grinning at Will. Will grinned and started to
say something sarcastic in reply, but something made him stop.
The light, silvery music lasted only a moment, and was gone before Will could
properly catch it. But that moment was enough to let him know that something was
going on. Something was going to happen, or just had. Merriman had said that the Dark
could no longer influence the world, what else was there for them worry about?
"Will?" his father's voice was a little concerned. "Are you alright?"
Will mentally shook himself, and smiled reassuringly. "Yeah, I just felt dizzy for
a while, might have caught a cold or something."
"Well, we'll see to it when we get home." Said his father, only slightly
convinced. He motioned towards the necklace he had been working on, and said, "I
believe this can wait until tomorrow, so just let me put everything away and we can go on
home."
As his father put his instruments and tools away, Will wandered into the front of
the shop and began looking around the room. Most of the decorations of the room had
been there as far back as Will could remember, but some were new. He paused for a
moment at the miniature of the castle salt cellar, which he had always been fond of, and
then continued around the room.
One of his father's newer additions to the shop was a stately old grandfather
clock, which stood aloof in one corner. He had found it at an old antique store in
London, and had liked it so much that he bought it and had it shipped to his store the very
same day. Will's father was very proud of it, and thought it made his jewelry store look
more businesslike. Will hadn't yet gotten the chance to inspect the clock up close, so he
did so.
The scroll-work on the clock face was of vines and stylized flowers, intertwining
around the numbers in random waves. The hands on the clock were fashioned from
bronze into thin leafy vines, to match the scroll-work. Will checked his watch and
glanced up at the clock. It had stopped around two and a half hours ago. Will reached up
to the top of the clock behind its mantle, and found the key to it. It had been a blind
guess of where it would be, he just guessed that his father would keep the key to this one
in the same place he kept the key to their clock at home. He placed the key into the fitted
holes in the face and began turning until he heard a click. He put the key back in its place
and opened the glass front of the clock to start the pendulum swinging again. Will gave
the pendulum a slight push and let it swing a while to make sure it would keep going. As
he was watching it, he noticed a small patch of white among the shadows in the bottom of
the clock.
Will reached down into the clock, being careful not to hit the pendulum, grasped
the piece of paper, and began to pull. It came away easily in his hand, and he held it up.
It was just a white paper envelope, probably the warranty or something, he thought. Then
he noticed just how beat up the envelope was. It had burn marks and rips along it, and
strange marks across one side of it. Will turned the desk lamp beside him on and held the
envelope close. The marks were letters of some sort. Will was surprised when he
couldn't read them. An Old One could read any language spoken by human tongues any
time in history. So, Will thought, this isn't a human language. Now what?
He glanced furtively over his shoulder at the door to the back room, where his
father and brother were, hoping they'd stay there for a minute longer. He turned back
and whispered a word in the Old Speech. The music came again, a bit louder this time,
as the unfamiliar markings moved themselves, from whatever language they were in, to
Old Speech. Will read them, and reread them, just to make sure. This didn't make sense.
"…to rule them all, in the land…where shadows fall."
All the rest were lost in smudges and burn marks. Will gave up trying to make
any use of what they told him, and broke the seal on the envelope. He turned it upside-
down above his hand and let it open.
The overwhelming sense of malevolent hatred hit him the instant the cold metal
ring touched his hand. It was the same feeling he had every time he had faced the Riders,
of malicious cold, burning into him to seek out his soul and freeze it. He only felt it for a
second, but it was enough. And what was left was just the ring in his hand.
It was a thick gold band, with no designs across it, and it had a weight to it that
told Will that it was solid gold. He could still feel the malice he had felt when the ring
had first touched his hand, echoing in the back of his mind. He would have to talk to
Merriman about this later, he thought. He slipped the ring back into its envelope, folded
it up, and stuffed it into his jeans pocket. He was just closing the glass front of the
grandfather clock when Paul came in.
"Will? You ready to go?" he called, then he caught sight of Will. "What are you
doing there?" He asked.
"Oh, the clock needed to be wound. I guessed that Dad would keep the key in the
same place as he does at home." Will said easily.
"Okay. It'll save him time not having to do it tomorrow." Paul grinned. "He's
got the car started, if you feel the need to drive."
"You kidding?" Will said, incredulously. "If we raced, going home from here,
you'd be eating my dust."
Paul raised an eyebrow at Will. "Not for long, though. You'd hit the trees not
long after you hit the road."
"Very funny," Will said. He leaned over and turned off the desk lamp before
following his brother out the door.
A/N:: First chapter out, and readers wonder where the heck this story is going.
Our plan is working perfectly. *Cue Evil Laughter* The next chapter will be out in
about two weeks. Have a good Spring Break, for those of you who haven't had it yet.
Disclaimer: LotR characters/ring belongs to JRR Tolkien, DiR characters belongs
to Susan Cooper. The plot belongs to the authors.
more of it in the future. Early buds were clinging to the limbs of the trees, as if daring the
cold to try and freeze them. Will Stanton and his elder brother Paul were walking down
the streets of Eton from the bus stop to their father's jewelry shop, as if they hadn't a care
in the world.
In a way, they didn't.
They were ordinary boys, one spending his last school year before college at
home, and the other waiting for the chance to get his driver's license. Paul had applied to
Oxford, had been accepted, and was due to start there in the fall. Will had just turned
sixteen in the previous winter, and he wanted to spend some time with Paul before
another of his brothers left home. That was also partly due to the fact that Paul had
agreed to help teach Will how to drive. Now that Will was old enough, he could take the
test and get his license. Will had wanted to take his driver's test right away, but his
parents had said that he should wait and practice for a few months before taking it. He
privately disagreed, but he let his parents have their way. He was barely sixteen anyway.
It was true that Will was one of the immortal Old Ones of the Light, who had the
task of saving the world from the Dark, and therefore was far older than sixteen years old,
but he wasn't thinking of that at the moment. For now he was just a boy.
They were laughing at some joke Will had made as they stopped at the front door
of their father's shop. Will brushed his windblown brown hair out of his eyes and saw
the "Closed" sign on the door.
Paul frowned, "He said he'd be working late today, so why'd he close up?"
Will shrugged. "I dunno. Mum said if we came up here he'd let me drive home.
Let's go around back and see if he's there."
They walked around the side of the store to the back entrance, and Paul jumped to
reach the key hidden above the doorframe. They let themselves in to the storeroom, and
found their father looking through a jeweler's glass, holding close a fragile-looking
necklace, set with diamonds and a blue stone that Will guessed must be an aquamarine or
a very light sapphire.
"Hey Dad," said Will. Their father looked around at them and smiled.
"Hello, boys." Said Mr Stanton. "I thought I had told your mother that I would be
staying late tonight. Did she forget and send you two to collect me?"
"Not really," said Paul as he put the key back into its hiding place above the door.
"She mostly sent us to help you hurry along what you've been doing, and to let Will
practice driving on the way home."
"Heaven forbid," said their father, grinning at Will. Will grinned and started to
say something sarcastic in reply, but something made him stop.
The light, silvery music lasted only a moment, and was gone before Will could
properly catch it. But that moment was enough to let him know that something was
going on. Something was going to happen, or just had. Merriman had said that the Dark
could no longer influence the world, what else was there for them worry about?
"Will?" his father's voice was a little concerned. "Are you alright?"
Will mentally shook himself, and smiled reassuringly. "Yeah, I just felt dizzy for
a while, might have caught a cold or something."
"Well, we'll see to it when we get home." Said his father, only slightly
convinced. He motioned towards the necklace he had been working on, and said, "I
believe this can wait until tomorrow, so just let me put everything away and we can go on
home."
As his father put his instruments and tools away, Will wandered into the front of
the shop and began looking around the room. Most of the decorations of the room had
been there as far back as Will could remember, but some were new. He paused for a
moment at the miniature of the castle salt cellar, which he had always been fond of, and
then continued around the room.
One of his father's newer additions to the shop was a stately old grandfather
clock, which stood aloof in one corner. He had found it at an old antique store in
London, and had liked it so much that he bought it and had it shipped to his store the very
same day. Will's father was very proud of it, and thought it made his jewelry store look
more businesslike. Will hadn't yet gotten the chance to inspect the clock up close, so he
did so.
The scroll-work on the clock face was of vines and stylized flowers, intertwining
around the numbers in random waves. The hands on the clock were fashioned from
bronze into thin leafy vines, to match the scroll-work. Will checked his watch and
glanced up at the clock. It had stopped around two and a half hours ago. Will reached up
to the top of the clock behind its mantle, and found the key to it. It had been a blind
guess of where it would be, he just guessed that his father would keep the key to this one
in the same place he kept the key to their clock at home. He placed the key into the fitted
holes in the face and began turning until he heard a click. He put the key back in its place
and opened the glass front of the clock to start the pendulum swinging again. Will gave
the pendulum a slight push and let it swing a while to make sure it would keep going. As
he was watching it, he noticed a small patch of white among the shadows in the bottom of
the clock.
Will reached down into the clock, being careful not to hit the pendulum, grasped
the piece of paper, and began to pull. It came away easily in his hand, and he held it up.
It was just a white paper envelope, probably the warranty or something, he thought. Then
he noticed just how beat up the envelope was. It had burn marks and rips along it, and
strange marks across one side of it. Will turned the desk lamp beside him on and held the
envelope close. The marks were letters of some sort. Will was surprised when he
couldn't read them. An Old One could read any language spoken by human tongues any
time in history. So, Will thought, this isn't a human language. Now what?
He glanced furtively over his shoulder at the door to the back room, where his
father and brother were, hoping they'd stay there for a minute longer. He turned back
and whispered a word in the Old Speech. The music came again, a bit louder this time,
as the unfamiliar markings moved themselves, from whatever language they were in, to
Old Speech. Will read them, and reread them, just to make sure. This didn't make sense.
"…to rule them all, in the land…where shadows fall."
All the rest were lost in smudges and burn marks. Will gave up trying to make
any use of what they told him, and broke the seal on the envelope. He turned it upside-
down above his hand and let it open.
The overwhelming sense of malevolent hatred hit him the instant the cold metal
ring touched his hand. It was the same feeling he had every time he had faced the Riders,
of malicious cold, burning into him to seek out his soul and freeze it. He only felt it for a
second, but it was enough. And what was left was just the ring in his hand.
It was a thick gold band, with no designs across it, and it had a weight to it that
told Will that it was solid gold. He could still feel the malice he had felt when the ring
had first touched his hand, echoing in the back of his mind. He would have to talk to
Merriman about this later, he thought. He slipped the ring back into its envelope, folded
it up, and stuffed it into his jeans pocket. He was just closing the glass front of the
grandfather clock when Paul came in.
"Will? You ready to go?" he called, then he caught sight of Will. "What are you
doing there?" He asked.
"Oh, the clock needed to be wound. I guessed that Dad would keep the key in the
same place as he does at home." Will said easily.
"Okay. It'll save him time not having to do it tomorrow." Paul grinned. "He's
got the car started, if you feel the need to drive."
"You kidding?" Will said, incredulously. "If we raced, going home from here,
you'd be eating my dust."
Paul raised an eyebrow at Will. "Not for long, though. You'd hit the trees not
long after you hit the road."
"Very funny," Will said. He leaned over and turned off the desk lamp before
following his brother out the door.
A/N:: First chapter out, and readers wonder where the heck this story is going.
Our plan is working perfectly. *Cue Evil Laughter* The next chapter will be out in
about two weeks. Have a good Spring Break, for those of you who haven't had it yet.
Disclaimer: LotR characters/ring belongs to JRR Tolkien, DiR characters belongs
to Susan Cooper. The plot belongs to the authors.
