Ch. 11: Not Strong Enough

Kylie had never felt so naked as she sprinted through the city. She ran blindly where she believed the house was. That was where she needed to go. That was where her weapons were. That was where she might find Pippin and Gandalf.

"Gandalf! Pippin?" she cried banging on the door. When there was no answer, she turned the knob. Thankfully, it was unlocked. She barged in yelling their names, but it was no use. The house was empty. Grunting in frustration, Kylie quickly donned her chainmail, grabbed her bow, and strapped her shield to her back. She was not ready for war, but she was as prepared as she'd ever be.

Of course, now that Kylie was ready, she had no idea where to go. She did not know if the soldiers would take her back to jail, and she was not about to go back there. For lack of a better idea, she decided to find the place where Faramir had brought her and Pippin earlier. Unfortunately, she only had the vaguest idea where this was. Still, she sprinted in that direction. Towards where the fighting must be.

Suddenly, something grabbed her by the shoulder.

"No!" she cried, slapping towards the hand and drawing her weapon.

"Kylie, stop!" she turned around to see Calavir behind her.

"What are you doing?"

"Come with me. I cannot say how grateful I am that I found you. In truth, I was about to free you myself."

"From jail? What would Denethor say?"

"I will answer if we survive this, and we will not without your help."

"Calavir, I really don't think I can do it," she stuttered, slowing down slightly.

Calavir turned to her in frustration and finally pulled her in the opposite direction. She was just wondering what was going on when Calavir pointed harshly towards the ground. There, just lying there, was a human head. The pathway was littered in them. Kylie lost her dinner on the pavement.

"See? See why we need you?" Calavir said sharply. "We will all die here with those beasts in the air. At least the lucky ones will. Look! See the fear in their eyes? They were not killed swiftly!"

Kylie refused to look down the alley, but Calavir turned her head that direction for good measure. "We can destroy these monsters, but not without you."

Kylie closed her eyes and turned away. Now she could not say no. She had no choice. She closed her eyes and nodded.

"Good," said Calavir, grabbing her again and guiding her back down their original path.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"I cannot place you on the wall. Too many soldiers believe Lord Denethor, or at least do not question his accusations."

"But you don't believe him?"

Calavir shook his head. "I spent enough time with you to know you would not kill Boromir. All the stories you told us on our journey… you could not have killed him."

Kylie kept silent about the doubts that had begun to fester in the jail cell.

"I know a place that is secluded. I doubt anyone will find you there, but it has a decent vantage point. And you will be safe from the orcs for a time because it is high enough."

"Where is this place?"

"Right outside the crypt."

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Calavir guided her there very quickly. "I will need to go soon to fight with my men. They need me. They need hope."

"And that is where I come in?"

"If you can fell one of those beasts, then yes."

"I'll try," she said quickly.

They passed through an archway and there it was. Kylie knew it was the building because it somehow looked darker than the rest of the city. She looked beyond the eerie looking structure to see a path that stretched out beyond the edge of the city. "That's my spot?" she asked, pointing toward the edge.

Calavir nodded. "As far out as you can safely get. I will leave you here."

He was just turning when they heard a door slam. Kylie looked to see the one person she had been hoping not to see anytime soon.

"How did you escape?" Denethor snarled.

"I… I…."

"How did you escape?" he repeated more fervently.

"Lord, she is innocent of the charges," said Calavir urgently.

Denethor's eyes blazed with hate and fury. "You steal my own soldiers from me?" he demanded.

"No my Lord! And I didn't kill Boromir!"

Denethor drew a sword that he had been hiding under his large cloak. "I saw exactly what you did to my son! I saw you draw the string! I saw the arrow fly! I saw it hit my son!"

"But I didn't!" Kylie tried to keep the increasing doubt out of her voice.

"You lie!" Denethor yelled, coming dangerously close.

Calavir stepped to her side, drawing his own sword. "No my Lord! This cannot be right!"

"I saw it with my own eyes!"

"How? You weren't there! How could you have seen it?" asked Kylie.

To her shock, the man started laughing. "You wish to know? You wish to see for yourself?" He threw his sword away, walked over, grabbed Kylie by her chain collar, and pulled her forward. He then hit Calavir upside the head.

"Calavir!" cried Kylie, but she was in no place to help. She had lost her footing when Denethor grabbed her, and so the Steward was now dragging her towards the crypt. He opened the door and threw her so that she landed roughly on the floor. The door slammed shut, and Kylie realized that she was alone with a madman.

Where was taking Calavir so long? Denethor couldn't have hit him that hard… could he?

"You want to see, do you?" Denethor said slowly, voice drawing Kylie back to reality. She watched as he walked over to one of the statues which had a cloth draped over it. He ripped away the cloth to reveal a black globe in the statue's hands.

A palantír.

"Lord Denethor, no! That thing's dangerous!"

The door finally opened. Calavir had arrived. "My Lord…" he said slowly, but he stopped short. The commander had no idea what was going on. He was not there when the palantír in Isengard attacked Pippin.

Denethor removed this one from the statue's grasp and walked toward Kylie. Kylie, in turn, walked toward the far end of the room, trying to stay away from the man and the evil thing in his clutches. She ended up backing up outside, onto the rocky path.

"You ask where my knowledge come from? See! Remember!" Denethor threw the palantír at her she caught it.

Kylie cursed her tennis reflexes, but it was not too bad immediately. At first, there was nothing. Then she grew increasingly afraid to hold it, but just couldn't let go. She continued to step back, trying to escape the thing in her own hands. But she just couldn't; she could feel her resolve weakening with every second. It scared the unconquered half of her mind.

The mists began to swirl. Kylie's heart began to beat all too quickly. She remembered the wreaths of flame she saw in Pippin's hands. Suddenly, the Palantír grew hot and bright. Kylie screamed, forcing every last ounce of her remaining will to drop the ball, but her hands would just not obey! The ball became a large enflamed eye. She could hear a very distant voice in her head.

"NO! NO! NO!" she screamed, trying to keep the voice out. She thrashed violently on the ground as she felt the ball leave her hands. She looked up to see Calavir staring down the rocky walkway as the enflamed palantír rolled down, down, down, and finally off the ledge. Kylie crawled over to see it plummeting thousands of feet to the battle below.

Everybody just stared in shock down the cliff. The palantír was gone for good, and what Kylie realized was the eye of Sauron himself was also gone. She clutched her hand, still in pain, and cried. Calavir could only look on.

Neither of them looked at the Steward, but he was staring intently at them. If they had bothered to look, they would have seen the look of horror on his face as his beloved seeing-stone burst into the eye of Sauron in the young girl's hands. He never had really realized truly how perilous it was until that moment. Sure, there were a few doubts in the back of his mind, but he ignored them under the pretense of protecting his city. Now, doubt and despair washed over his face. None of the information he had received through the palantír was trustworthy; he now had no idea what was true and what was not.

But Kylie did not see any of this. She was still shaking. "Come, we must leave," said Calavir from beside her. He practically pulled her to her feet, supporting the girl until strength returned to her legs. They both stared at Denethor, who refused to look them in the eye.

Suddenly, a loud screech sounded right above them. Kylie looked over to see a fell beast descending upon them.

The Nazgǔl had responded to its master's presence.

"Run!" cried Calavir as he pushed Kylie back into the crypt. He too ran, dragging a stationary Denethor along.

Kylie stared wide-eyed as the creature landed right by the door, trying to enter, but it would not fit. There was another inhuman scream, and she immediately covered her ears. It was horrible and unbearable to listen to. The creature backed away, but the three humans all knew the fight was far from over. They retrieved their weapons.

The room grew darker as the Nazgǔl entered. It was shrouded in dark robes, but had a metal crown on his head. It was the Witch-King of Angmar, the greatest of the nine and the most terrible to behold.

"Kylie, shoot him!" cried Calavir desperately, sword shaking in his hand. Kylie notched an arrow and pulled back, but her arms were shaking too hard to aim. She ended up shooting far to the right.

The Nazgǔl laughed. "It is in you they place so much hope?" he said, spitting out the last word. The wraith drew his sword and advanced.

To everybody's shock, Denethor advanced first. "I command this city," he said as sternly as he could. "You shall not prevail."

The Nazgǔl did not move for a minute, but suddenly launched in an attack. Denethor was barely able to keep up. The creature was a flash of robes and steel as it advanced on the Steward.

"My Lord! Shoot it Kylie!" cried Calavir as he too moved forward to attack. "For Gondor!" he cried as he too brought his sword into the battle. Kylie jumped on top of a pyre to get a better shot, but she just could not. Even if her hands were not shaking so violently, she would not have been able to shoot without probably hitting Denethor or Calavir. But she had to do something!

A loud cry told her that she was too late. Calavir fell, a large deep gash across his midsection. He tried to stand up and fight as the blood poured from his torso, but it was no use.

"Calavir!" cried Kylie. She tried to shoot the wraith again, but once again the arrow missed. This time only by inches.

Suddenly there was a loud gasp. Kylie looked on in horror as the Witch-King passed his sword through Denethor's chest, where his heart must have been. "Your city falls with you," hissed the wraith as he grasped Denethor's throat. Kylie watched in horror as the Steward's eyes rolled back in his head. The Witch-King dropped the man in a pool of his own blood.

"Stop!" Kylie's arms were growing more and more fatigued, but she managed to steady them for this one last shot. If her arrow flew true, it would hit the wraith. She could tell that the undead creature was unsure, perhaps even a little frightened? She took a deep breath, and fired.

Her arrow flew straight toward the Nazgǔl.

Then he used his sword to block it. He laughed horrendously. "Fool, to believe you could defeat me!" He quickly advanced on her.

Kylie was no soldier. If she were, she might have been a little braver and would not have tried to jump off of the pyre and run from the wraith. If she were, she would not have dropped her bow and sprinted towards the door. But it didn't matter. The creature still caught her by her armor and threw her across the room.

Kylie landed hard against the stone wall and slid down in pain. The shield had saved her from breaking her back, but every inch of her body screamed in pain. She glanced over at Calavir who was lying just feet away. There was no life in his eyes, and his skin was an eerie shade of gray. He was dead.

A hard footstep brought her back to her predicament. The wraith was standing right in front of her. Its sword was in one hand and the other reached towards her. Kylie reached for her Lorien knife but a sharp kick caused her to drop it. She reached desperately again, but a steel claw grasped her neck and lifted her off her feet.

She couldn't breathe! She kicked and struggled, but it had no effect on the wraith. She looked at it and every ounce of blood left her face. There was absolutely nothing in the hood. Nothing. Worse, she knew as she looked into the void that all of her hard fighting and sacrifices were for naught. She knew this creature's master would find the ring. Frodo would lose. She would never see her family again. She closed her eyes immediately, not able to bear looking in the hood of the Nazgǔl. But the thoughts lingered.

Kylie felt her already weakened muscles lose all strength. Her arms fell uselessly to her side and the world seemed further and further away.

Then the hard cold floor. Kylie coughed lightly and opened her eyes to see the wraith walking away. She thought she could hear a horn in the distance, but it was impossible to tell. She wanted to bring gulps of air into her starved lungs, but she lacked the strength. Her eyes closed and she knew no more.

A/N: Go snow days! As always, reviews are awesome