Chapter 10: To the Sky

The intense saltwater wind blasted Guts and Strider with enough force to almost send them flying into the sea. They had to brace just to maintain solid footing on the back of the massive serpentine colossus, but with Zodd quickly approaching, they would have to move. His powerful steps caused more difficulty for standing. Finally, he was in range of his targets, and began his attack. Zodd swung an enormous arm down at Strider, who just barely had time to jump back. To Strider's surprise, when he jumped back the wind carried much higher into the air then he had planned for. When he landed, he was twenty feet away from Guts and Zodd.

Guts took a swing at Zodd's arm, just barely missing as Zodd pulled away.

"Y'know, we never finished our fight," Guts said casually, despite the utter chaos of the situation. "How about you and me settle this right here, right now? Leave Strider. Fight me."

Zodd snorted a plume of smoke from his nostrils. He had never declined a challenge before, and he wasn't going to now.

"Very well, Struggler. I accept your challenge!"

Guts turned to Strider, who was making his way back up to them, and sent a silent message through his eyes. Strider understood immediately. Guts was going to distract the monster, Zodd, allowing Strider to sneak past and get to Wander.

Guts turned back in time to block a punch from Zodd, which almost knocked him over. He answered with a swing that shaved some hair off Zodd's arm. The two continued to trade swings and blocks, all the while Strider inched his way past along the side of the colossus. Zodd either didn't see him, or didn't care, he just kept focusing on Guts' massive sword.

Strider had made it past Zodd, and now all that was left was an incredibly long stretch of beast ahead of him. The head was so far that he couldn't tell if he saw Wander on it, or if it was just some shadows. Either way, he had to get there, quickly. He moved as fast as he could, lowering himself as much as he could to try to render himself more aerodynamic. This was met with some success, allowing his pace to increase. He stumbled past fur, stone, and another strange flap on the ground. He looked back to see Guts still fighting with Zodd, somehow keeping the monster's strikes away through all this wind.

Strider turned back, he was almost there, just a few more air-blasted minutes. Hopefully Wander hadn't yet found what he was looking for.

...

Atop the highest balcony on the tower of Orthanc stood the white wizard Saruman. In his outstretched arm and hand he held the object his master had given him several days prior, a small, ovular relic with strange features. The wizard examined it thoroughly, unsure on how he could use this to summon his master. The object was covered in aspects of a human face: a nose, two eyes, and a mouth, but none were positioned with any semblance of rhythm, just scattered about the thing. Something about seemed to disrupt the air around it, causing it to be both hot and cold to the touch at once. Saruman put it back in his pocket and looked down to his orcs hard at work.

On the grounds of Isengard, weapons, armor and war machines were being crafted with great haste in preparation for the invasion of Mordor. Through plundering missions ordered by Saruman, the army was provided with ample resources to fit their every need. Metal stolen from towns, villages, and even from enemy bands. Wood from Fangorn forest, which the orcs harvested mercilessly. The preparations were going according to plan, and on top of it all, Saruman's newest creation was underway. Using his knowledge of the dark arts, he had perfected the orcish race to that of an apex predatorial being. Born deep below the earth, out of mud and fire came forth his perfect creation: the fighting Uruk-Hai. These orcs were much, much taller than the average orc, and twice as heavy. With their massive frames, they could easily wield the most powerful of weapons, and run in the heaviest of armor. With thousands already born and suited up, Saruman knew his task was complete. The most powerful force Middle-Earth has ever seen was waiting under his command. Now was the time to summon his master.

Saruman looked down to see that all was well one last time, then took the oval object from his pocket and held it high.

"Master!" he called into the cloudy sky. "Heed my call!"

The small object began to vibrate in his wrinkled hand. He looked on as it's visage began to shift around itself in utter chaos. Then, the features started to line up how a human face would: two eyes, then the nose, then the mouth. Once it's face was in a correct position, it stopped shaking. For a few moments, utter silence, then...

To Sarman's bewilderment, the permanently-shut eyes of the strange relic slowly began to open to the world. Along with them, the mouth slowly opened as well. The deep eyes stared directly into Saruman's soul, and started to release a stream of liquid from it's eyes. It was thick and red, which could only have been blood. From it's agape mouth came a nightmarish scream, which sounded like a thousand different tormented souls at once. The blood poured into Saruman's hand, but he held on despite his desire to toss the cursed object. He simply watched as the screaming and bleeding relic began to return to a neutral state, eyes slowly closing and screams fading. Behind the wizard, a gust of icy wind, and with it, shadows. Saruman turned to the figure of darkness.

"It is done, master, the army is awaiting my command." he said.

"Very good, Saruman, and not a moment late. Impressive."

Saruman bowed. "Thank you, o powerful master. Please, lead us in conquest, so that no foe can stand before us."

The dark figure walked onto the balcony to see the work. It truly was a sight to behold, thousands of tiny figures working in unison to achieve the goal of someone they've never seen or head of. Perfect.

Saruman joined the figure.

"How went your task, master? Did you find that which you sought?"

He turned to Saruman, revealing his piercing eyes.

"I found what I sought, yes..."

"Excellent, my lord. Very good." Saruman applauded.

"Alas, it was stolen from me, good Saruman. Right from my hand."

Saruman couldn't believe that. How could anyone in this world steal something from his master? He was much too powerful to allow that.

"Master, how could that be? Your power is much too great."

"Dear Saruman, there are some things we cannot control, no matter our power and influence. And while it is disappointing to have lost what I wanted, it matters not. Besides, I found out where he is."

"He, my lord? Who is he, if I may ask."

The dark figure turned to look off into the horizon.

"Do not fret, my faithful servant, for you shall meet him soon enough."

...

"Wander!? WANDER!" Strider yelled forward as he finally arrived at the massive head of the colossus. It's head was made of jagged stone that raised and lowered in several areas, jutting far out in some places and caving in in others. Wander had to be in there somewhere.

As Strider inspected the landscape before him, he found that there was no fur on the head to grab onto, and hardly any surface that could be stood on. Getting to the front of it would require a bit of rock scaling, which made Strider's hands hurt just thinking about it. However, it was that or possibly death, so he got right to it. He found a stone ledge that appeared to run across the beast's massive head, all the way to the front. He held onto the ledge and used his feet to provide some support on the slanted surface, which eased the workload off his hands. With a stable grip, he shimmied across the side of the creature's face. The wind never let up, though it didn't cause him much trouble holding on. The most trouble it gave him was forcing his hair in his face, which wasn't an issue before since he was facing forward. Now, he was sideways, and couldn't see very well.

He continued along for some time, occasionally resting for a moment or two, until he came to the end of the ledge. Fortunately, the stone under him wasn't slanted terribly, allowing him to stand and examine his surroundings. He held his hair out of his face to see, and he saw a startling sight. Right in front of him was a gigantic eye, as big as his entire body. It wasn't an eyeball, however, it looked flat, and glowed a greenish hue. It was covered in strange patterns.

"Greetings, monster!" he yelled through the wind at the eye. The eye was positioned at the side of the head, rather than the front like he was expecting. Predator's eyes are placed at the front for a number of reasons, mainly to assist their focus in combat, while the eyes of prey are placed at the sides of their heads to increase their field of view, to watch for predators. Why was it's eyes like that of prey? This creature was pure evil, was it not?

Strider finished looking at the strange eye and continued forward. He saw a pathway leading down and around to the front of the beast that looked safe enough, with proper caution. The constant barrage of air made it much more difficult, however, and the sight of nothing but ocean hundreds of miles below wasn't much solace, either.

After some painfully-slow descending, Strider reached the front of the monster. It's strange shape created a sort of cave-like orifice where it's mouth would be, but it wasn't a mouth, just an opening and a small conclave inside. Strider entered, finally finding his target.

"Wander! Wait!" he yelled at the boy without even seeing what he was doing in there. As Wander turned, Strider saw there was no weak spot in here, just strange markings.

"Strider! Have you located any weak points?"

"No, and from the looks of it, you haven't either. Which is a very good thing." Strider said through heavy breaths.

"Good thing?" Wander asked. "But we must find the points to fell the beast..."

"Have you not looked outside? How long have you been in here?"

"I found this opening some time ago, and found these markings on the walls. I've been trying to read them, to the best of my ability. It has been several minutes, I suppose, maybe more. Why do you ask?"

Strider didn't answer, only stepped aside and motioned for Wander to look outside, which he did promptly. Upon re-entering the sunlight, he saw blue. Blue above, and below, as far as the eye could see.

"O-oh..." he stammered. "We cannot kill it now... we would plunge to the depths with it."

"That is exactly what I've come to tell you." Strider explained. "Thankfully you have not yet found the monster's weakness."

Wander continued to peer into the horizon.

"We will have to wait until it passes land again. At this speed, it shouldn't take very long, perhaps a day," he said.

Strider then had a troubling thought.

"What if the colossus is doing this on purpose? To keep us from attacking?"

Wander barely had to think about it to return an answer.

"No, it couldn't. It knows it would tire before long in the air like this. It will search for a location to land soon, since it's rest was cut short by us."

Strider nodded. That was a relief. Now all they had to do was wait, and they would soon be able to continue with their plan. They could even wait in this cave, since there was little wind in there. Guts would probably like to get out of this wind...

"Guts!" Strider yelled with a jump. "Guts is under attack! We must aid him!"

Wander said nothing, and followed quickly behind Strider as they began the climb up to the top again. As they climbed, Wander passed Strider quickly, and was past the ledge and on the furry top in no time at all. That boy sure is good at climbing, Strider thought. First a tree, now a massive stone-covered monster a thousand feet in the air while being blasted by wind. Impressive.

Once they reached they top, they could see Zodd's massive frame engaged in combat with a tiny speck. For Guts to look tiny, they must've been very, very far away. Fortunately, this time the wind was at their back, making their run much easier. It would still take several minutes, and there was no time to lose.

As the two ran to their friend's aid, they saw Zodd land a powerful smash on Guts, knocking him down, where he didn't get back up. Zodd stomped over to him. He was going to kill Guts!

Strider stopped dead, then he yelled to Wander.

"Wander!"

Wander turned, confused why Strider would stop here.

"JUMP!" Strider commanded the lad.

Wander hesitated for a second, but knew Strider must have thought of something. So, without much more thought, he leapt high into the air. Immediately he knew what Strider's plan was, to an extent. He felt the wind behind him, and spread out to catch as much as he could. As planned, it shot him forward with incredible speed.

As Strider watched, he knew the first step of his plan worked. He took his bow from his back, notched an arrow, and pulled back hard on the string. With one eye closed, he saw his target, and released the arrow. It only picked up speed as it flew through the air at Zodd. By the time it reached Zodd's back, it had gathered enough speed to pierce through his back and out his chest. Instinctively, he spun around to face the assailant, but was surprised to see a young man soaring through the air, completely parallel to the colossus' back, sword pointed forward.

Zodd could only utter a small gasp before Wander's black blade entered his forehead with enough force to almost knock the giant beast over. On impact, Wander was sent flying, eventually landing back down on the colossus, twenty feet away. Zodd, reeling from the strike, looked at the handle in front of his eyes. If anything, he seemed more angry than injured at this deathly blow. He began to raise his hands to the blade to pull it out, but was even more surprised by the biggest blade the world has ever seen emerging from his chest. Behind Zodd stood a bloodied and battered Guts, stabbing his signature weapon into his longtime enemy, with a look on his face that could only be described as berserk.

Guts tore the enormous weapon from the demon, and with it came half of Zodd's internal organs, including his black heart. Zodd's body quickly went limp, toppling over and almost landing on Guts. He was slain once again.

Guts leaned on his sword while he regained his breath. He gave Zodd a few kicks out of pure spite.

"How long will this one keep ya down, pal? Hopefully long enough to let us get off this damn thing..."

Wander walked up next to Guts, but didn't say anything. He went to Zodd's head and retrieved his sword.

"Yeah, you're gonna wanna wash that thing, boy. Demon blood has some nasty side-effects if left untreated." Guts informed him.

"I shall. It is a miracle you survived such a foe, Guts."

"Eh, I've fought him before. Maybe if that was my first time, yeah. I'd be dead."

Strider joined the two, ensuring Zodd was dead as he passed him.

"Actually, I'd be dead if it weren't for you two. Big bastard actually had me on the ground there."

The men stood staring at Zodd's corpse for the second time. Then, Strider spoke.

"What do you suggest we do with him, Guts? It's clear he will return again."

"Unfortunately, there isn't much we can do to keep him down for good. All we can do is kill him when he shows up, and repeat. For right now, I think he's awfully dirty, and in need of a bath. What do you boys think?!" Guts said with a laugh. Nobody laughed in return.

"Haha... yeesh. Alright, let's kick this guy off."

The three all pushed in unison, but it was apparent that Guts was contributing the most. Zodd went without much struggle, probably because the surface where he lay slanted downwards from his weight. He slid off the edge, and the colossus stabilized again. All three men watched as the demon fell for hundreds of feet, but with the colossus moving so quickly, Zodd was out of view before he even reached the sea.

The group returned to the center and sat down to rest. They all knew it would be a long day on this beast, so they got settled in for the wait. All except Wander, that is.

"We should find the weak points before we rest," he told them. Who knows when we will be above land again, it could be within a few hours."

"Peace, Wander. Sit and rest," Strider instructed. "I have found the weak points."

Wander's eyes widened. "You have? Where do they hide?!"

Strider pointed to a couple feet away, to one of the three large flaps they all noticed. "Under there."

Wander walked up to it, and peeked underneath. Without having to lift the flap at all, he could see the green glow he was so accustomed to.

"That's it! The weak point!"

"Yes it is, lad," Strider said between puffs of his pipe. "We may rest."

...

The sun was starting to set, without any sign of land in sight. The colossi's pace had slowed to it's regular speed, as it was probably coming time for it to rest. This pace produced less wind for the men, making it easier to relax.

"Hey, Strider," Guts said. "What did you do before all this? Were you a mercenary?"

"I am a ranger of the north. A group who specializes in moving like the shadows, and hunting and tracking prey, and by prey, I mean more than just animals. For some time, I guarded the black gate of Mordor, but in recent years I've traveled the land performing tasks for my dear friend, a wizard. That is what I used to do."

"Uh huh, that's real interesting. What did your wizard friend need you to do?"

"Well, most recently he required I track down a strange and wretched creature who knew information about the relic we sought. A small golden ring of great evil, it was."

"Not what I was expecting. I would've thought you were a bandit or thief, judging by your appearance. All that dark, y'know? You blend in with shadows."

"That is the way of the Rangers. Tell me Guts, what did you do prior to our meeting?

Guts thought for a second. "Well, I used to be a mercenary. Fighting simply for pay, stuff like that. Had a lot of good friends in the business, too."

"Had? You don't work with them anymore?" Strider questioned.

"They aren't with us anymore."

"I understand. I'm sorry for your loss." Strider said, figuring his friends had died in combat.

"You should sleep. Both of you," Strider told Guts and Wander. "I will watch for signs of land, all night if I must. You two need your rest while you can get it."

"Do you even sleep?" Guts poked.

"When I must."

"You're a freak of nature, you know that?" Guts joked as he lay down on the fur.

"Y'know, I really wish we had brought our stuff," Guts complained. "We'll never get it back. You know how many bombs I had in that bag?!"

Strider chuckled at the statement. "I know, but we will be fine without it. Get some rest, friends."