CHRISTMAS EXAMS ARE OVER TODAY! YYYYYYYAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!
Disclaimer: I don't own Lord of the Rings and I never will. Unless I turn out to be Tolkien's long-lost great-great grandson and inherit it. You never know...
IMPORTANT NOTICE: When a character in this chapter (not saying who) says about another character's death, it's based on the LoTR movies. Most of the stuff in this story will be since I'm only on the first book!!!
While the messengers were being sent out, Treebeard the Ent was walking out of the edge of Fangorn Forest. He headed down to Isengard, which was slowly becoming a ruin. Water was high and there was no ground that could be seen, and the tower of Orthanc was beginning to crumble. He could see the last of the Ents moving up the mountain and back to the forest; to return to their slumber. He was going down to join them and say goodbye.
When he met them at the remains of Isengard's wall, something caught his eye in the distance. It looked like a white flash, something hitting the ground. Probably just the sun he thought, putting it aside. He faced the Ents and they began speaking in their long language of Entish. In the middle of a sentence, a willow changed to Common Speech and shouted, "Look!"
Far off in the distance, they could see an odd shape which seemed to be coming towards them. It was a white line, very small, very far away. Treebeard realised that was what he had seen. Its speed increased every second it moved towards them. The Ents stayed still, having no idea what to do. They just simply looked and stared at the shape.
When it was almost in front of them, the shape suddenly stopped. The Ents wondered what on Middle-Earth it could be. When an Oak was about to move towards it, a voice was heard from no visible source.
"Greetings, masters of the forest." The voice was loud and had a strong air of authority.
"Who are you?" asked Treebeard. "Show yourself!"
"I am what you see before you." The Ents realized the voice was coming from the white shape.
"Who are you?" Treebeard asked again.
"I was once the master of the stronghold that stands behind you. And now I have come to take it back."
Treebeard's expression turned to fear when he worked it out. "B-but you were killed! I saw you! You were stabbed by your own servant!"
"You Ents dwell in your forests too long, you never come out to appreciate the full power of the world. Now, I am afraid I no longer have time for conversation. There is work to do!"
The last sentence had a dark edge to it. When Saruman spoke it, darkness fell over Isengard. Then flames erupted out of the ground, making a circle of fire around the Ents. "Now I shall have revenge on the forest!"
"You will never defeat one of the oldest beings of the earth!" cried Treebeard. "If you think y-" But he was cut off as the fires came closer. The Ents let out screams of pain as they burned. The screams lasted long and didn't stop until the heads had been scorched. When there was nothing but a pile of ash, there was a bright flash, as the white shape disappeared and the fire and darkness moved up the mountains west of Isengard, into Fangorn forest.
In that split second, Isengard had changed. The water had disappeared, though it was more attractive than the plain wasteland contained within the rebuilt walls. Orthanc had been restored, its walls no longer crumbling. And walking through the gate in the wall, was Saruman.
The white wizard had been reborn. His beard hang down from his face and his robes billowed in the wind. His hands were clenched into fists and his expression contorted with anger. He stayed like this as he walked slowly up to Orthanc. When he reached the foot of the stairs he walked up them, going to the door. He put his hands out in front of him and pushed the doors open. He remembered Orthanc well, with its black marble floors and walls. He ascended the steps into his study. He saw all his books about magic and ring-lore. He went out to his balcony and looked out upon the Gap of Rohan. Smoke was rising in the west as his fires started burning down Fangorn.
Saruman was back.
*****
Far underground, Saruman walked down the remains of his forgeries where his Uruk-Hai had been created. Only ruins lay in place of the structures that had been built; stands of rotting wood and chunks of metal burning in flames that were dotted here and there. Saruman knew that these would soon be rebuilt serve him again. He continued down his path until he came to the deepest part, the part where his first soldier had been created. He stopped and examined the wall. The outline of a hunched body could be seen in one of the walls. This was the place where that soldier had been pulled out of the wall. Now Saruman would create his army once again. He stood near the outline and uttered a spell. "Cuiva nîn Uruk-Hai, tolo dan nan amar, tolo dan!"
The ground reverberated and shook as twelve large holes appeared in the ground. The ground seemed to swirl around them like twelve vortexes. Then something slowly rose out of each vortex. First the heads, the shoulders, arms, torso, legs and finally feet. When they had fully risen the vortexes vanished and were replaced by solid ground. Twelve Uruk-Hai had appeared in front of Saruman. Their heads were bowed in honour and respect towards their master. Saruman walked up and down the line. "So you have heard my call," he said. "You are truly faithful servants. You were the greatest soldiers I could have made. You performed... most of your tasks well. But, there were some failures. Which brings a certain one of you to mind..." He went over to the Uruk-Hai at the right end of the row.
"...Lurtz."
The leader of the Uruk-Hai turned to face the wizard. "I am sorry master," he said in his rough, harsh voice. "We were surprised when the Riders of Rohan attacked us. There was no time to react. We were trampled as soon as they arrived."
"There is no need for an explanation," assured Saruman. "What happened is understandable. But you shall make up for your mistakes in the battles there are to come. And you shall be stronger than ever before. The preparations have begun. Soon, Isengard shall rise again!"
*****
Over the week Saruman created more and more Uruk-Hai. He also summoned back his Wargs. And so his power began to steadily grow. His forgeries were rebuilt and smoke rose from the fires. His fire had burned most of Fangorn, but there was enough left to feed the fires for his plans. Soon, he would be ready to attack all of Middle-Earth. But there were more preparations. He would weaken the realm that had crippled his power, in order to get revenge.
Rohan was in his sights.
Sorry it was a bit shorter than the last chapter. It was just really about getting Isengard back. It will get better as the story progresses! I also apologize to you Treebeard fans. I'm sorry but it was needed to shape the story! And I am such an idiot. I left Faramir out of the last chapter! (Author slaps himself in the face.) I'll just say that he was steward of Gondor and he also answered the call. Finally: the spell that Saruman uses is a combination of Sindarin and Quenya words (for those who don't know they're Elvish languages.) I'm not that good with LoTR languages so things like this will probably happen loads. But I won't do anything stupid, like put Sindarin and the Black Speech together.
I'm hoping to update soon but until then, enjoy and review!
