What have you done?

The army moved slowly. They had crossed Anduin by midday. Haryn rode beside Boromir and Imrahil before the Men of Gondor. He had sent Maya ahead with news of their march. She would prepare what forces were supposed to go with them. He closed his eyes and pulled in a deep breath. "Don't let me fall Moony," he said softly before he connected to his father's mind. "Dada," he said calmly.

It took a little while before he could feel his father's mind join his. "Yes bérren-ka?" Sauron said.

"When I was discussing how to deal with Haxoru with the others I came to think of something we could use to our advantage," the raven said. He could feel his father's curiosity travel over the link so he continued. "We can withstand extremely high temperatures right?" he asked.

"Yes bérren-ka, we can," Sauron answered wondering where his son was going.

"Couldn't we break down Orodruin and drown the Orcs in lava. It would make the army we have to face much smaller," Haryn said. "And if you led that assault then you could concentrate on taking Haxoru out as well so he wouldn't be our problem. That would also mean that you wouldn't need to worry as much about me."

Sauron leaned back in the chair he was sitting in and thought his son's proposition over. His bérren-ka was right. If he attacked directly from Minas Morgul and destroyed Orodruin, it would decrease the amount of Orcs that would make it to Morannon, and he could take up the fight directly with Haxoru thereby removing that threat from his son completely. He liked the idea. It would be a bit tricky to pull off, but he was sure he could manage. "I'll send Khamûl with the Haradrim and a few Shrāl out of the Morgul Vale in early morn," he informed his son. "Your reasoning is sound and makes me feel more at ease with your decision to continue with the army."

Haryn laughed. "Well I thought it might please you," he said happily. Then his brow furrowed. "So do I contact you the morning before we reach the gate so you can attack or…?" he trailed off.

"That is a good idea," Sauron said thoughtfully. His eyes trailed over the map lying on the table in front of him before they found their way to the open window. "How are you doing bérren-ka?" he asked softly. He was worried about his son. They had lost Dowaim after all, and no matter how much of a disagreement the two had before the battle at Pelennor, Haryn had loved the white-haired man.

A soft sigh made its way through their link. "I'm trying not to think about it right now. We can deal with it after the fighting is over," Haryn said. "Right now I'm just trying to keep my head together and look forward. Mourning him will just have to come later… when I'm back home."

Sauron did his best to send a comforting warmth over the link to his son. "Take care bérren-ka," he said.

Haryn let a small smile grace his lips. "You take care too dada," he said. His eyes refocused on the world around him slowly as he let go of their connection. He turned to Boromir. "Father is preparing the troops to set out tomorrow morning and meet us. He himself will lead the attack on Orodruin," he informed the man.

Boromir nodded slowly. "We will be setting camp soon," he said. "The men need rest and the sun is setting."

The raven looked towards the west and the burning sky of the setting sun. He must have been talking to his father longer than he'd thought.

He felt how Moony stopped as Imrahil called the soldiers to a halt. The wolf moved up next to Boromir before lying down heavily on the ground. Haryn smiled softly at him as he slipped off his back. "You doing O.K.?" the teen asked.

Moony snorted. 'I'm fine Harry,' he said reassuringly. He was actually more impatient than anything else. He knew that another battle was coming, and he couldn't wait to sink his teeth into more of those corrupted monsters. He'd never allowed that kind of blood-thirst to take hold back on earth when he was still part human. Spending several years as a wolf tended to change you perspective of things though. It was in his nature to fight for his pack. It was his job to keep them safe; he was the alpha after all. He curled up around the raven haired teen as the boy sat down against his side.

Slowly the wolf could feel how Haryn fell asleep. He lay awake for some time afterwards keeping his eyes and ears on alert for anything that might want to harm the teen.

A soft breeze pulled at the standards that the men carried with them.

Horses neighed.

Green eyes closed slowly as the giant wolf fell asleep.

Khamûl watched as the Haradrim made themselves ready to leave. It was his mission to keep the young Prince alive though the battle to come. Not that he was really all that worried about Haryn. The boy knew how to handle himself. He was actually far more worried about his old friend. There were so many things that Haxoru could have up his sleeve when Sauron came to face him. He could only hope that it would all go well.

The order went out and the troops started marching. They would join with the others a bit up the road. There was no point in them travelling extra to meet up with the main part of the army when that would just slow everything down. He spread his wings out with a grimace. No one ever really got used to the feeling of pulling their scaled wings out of their back; some couldn't even hide them that way. He took to the air with a few powerful stokes and looked down on the people he was co-leading.

They were strong men with good bow arms, and their Mûmakil set fear in the hearts of their enemies. Khamûl was glad that they were allies even though his own people didn't have to fear the big beasts that the Haradrim rode upon. It had been a wise move to help them so long ago.

The pace was slow and steady.

No resistance was met upon the road.

Knowing the Orcs they had fled back to Mordor as fast as they could.

…

It wasn't until they reached the forests of northern Ithilien that Khamûl could see the army that Haryn was travelling with in the distance. Not that he could see them for long since the trees were soon obscuring his view.

They rode slowly through a sea of lush green leaves. Birds chirped happily as they jumped between the branches around them. Little specks of red and blue and yellow hopped around. They had no idea that they could have been completely destroyed. Hopefully that would never come to pass now.

The steady swaying of the Mûmakil Khamûl was sitting on lulled him into a meditative state. He hoped that Haryn was doing alright all things considered. Dowaim's death had been a hard blow to all of them, but he had a feeling that Haryn would be affected the most.

…

Haryn smiled brightly as the sun hit the golden accessories that the Haradrim wore. Khamûl would arrive before them at this rate. He could hear the nervous murmur of the soldiers behind them. "The Haradrim are here to help us. Just like back at Minas Tirith," he said calmingly. "They are allies of my people." He wasn't sure if his words calmed the men down any, but they didn't seem quite as tense anymore.

They didn't catch up with the Mûmakils until the setting of the sun.

Haryn fell asleep in Khamûls lap that evening. It was nice to be back with someone he could relax completely around. Not that Moony wasn't good enough for that, but the wolf couldn't talk to the people around him. With Khamûl he didn't have to worry that someone was going to do something that set the man of in a frenzy like with Moony.

Five or so days later the army came at last to Cirith Gorgor the haunted pass.

From above the Nazgûl watched them.

"Father's attack should pull them towards him," Haryn said softly to Boromir.

The brunet nodded slowly. He disliked the dark beings but did not fear them as so many others. The young Shrāl beside him had taught him just how to fight the corrupted dragon-kin so he wasn't as worried as those who thought the Black Riders unbeatable.

They rode over a small hill, and Haryn looked upon the black gate for the fist time in his life. He ran a hand through his dark locks. 'That's gotta go,' he thought before he closed his eyes. "Dada," he said through the mind link he shared with his father.

"I hear you son," Sauron answered.

"We have arrived. It's time to move," the raven said softly his worry for his father colouring his thoughts.

"Don't worry about me son I'll be alright," Sauron said reassuringly. "I need you to believe in me bérren-ka."

Haryn looked up towards the gate once more, his head had fallen as they spoke, and he took a deep breath. "I believe in you father. You take care of that foolish man yeah," he said. "Remember that he tried to kill me."

A roar tore though the mountains.

"What did you tell him himon-ka?" Khamûl asked surprised at the force of his King's voice.

"I reminded him that Haxoru tried to kill me," Haryn said as a matter-of-factly. "I don't want him to go soft against his brother for any reason. Haxoru will just take advantage of that." He shifted slowly. "We should go on ahead and convene with the other leaders so we can hear what they've planed.

Khamûl nodded. "I'll let the Harad leaders know what's going on and then I'll catch up with you," he said before he took flight.

Haryn rolled his eyes. "Show off," he muttered before he asked Moony to carry him over to the small gathering of men up ahead. He could hear the thud of hooves from Boromir's horse behind him signalling that the man was following him.

It was remarkable how calm the horses that the Dúnedain and Rohirrim rode were around Moony. He was a wolf after all. They were smart horses though. Maybe they could tell that he was no threat to them.

Haryn kept silent for the most part as the men spoke. He didn't see much reason to interrupt them when their plan was sound. They moved their army out in a half-moon before the black gate. It wasn't until they started speaking about challenging the Lord of Mordor that he opened his mouth and countered their arguments. "Father will attack from the inside. This will be the only way out for most of the forces in there. They will open the gate for us so all we need to do is await them. I have already sent an all clear to father. He will start their attack at any moment now," he said calmly. "We'll know when it happens. I doubt that the Nazgûl will stick around after that."

…

Sauron extended his mighty black wings. He was leading his people to war against the person who had started this whole mess. It wouldn't surprise him if it had been Haxoru that had initiated the wars with the elves so many years ago.

He led his people high – high enough that the smoke that billowed out from Orodruin hid their presence. Once in a while he sent a scout down to check were they were. He didn't want to have to retrace their flight because they didn't keep track of where they were.

"The volcano is right ahead Sauron-himon," the scout said as he came back. "If we start descending now we'll reach it at pretty good altitude."

Sauron nodded. He ordered the first faction of his troops to descend as they were mainly fire-based dragon-kin. Not all Shrāl worked best with fire. The ones who were based in other elements or whose powers did not lie in an element at all would protect the rest of them as they broke Orodruin down to the ground. He was hoping to be as invisible as possible until they had managed. It would get complicated if they had to fight as they were working on the mountain. He moved down with the main part of the guards, but rather than staying in the air, he joined the Shrāl that had landed on the mountainsides. "Concentrate on the mountain's fire and increase the heat until it melts through the stone. Then we pull more lava out if we need to," he told the Shrāl around him.

Closing his fiery eyes, the leader of the Shrāl grabbed his own fire and sent it out through his hands. He was going to help weaken the mountain itself together with the earth-based Shrāl that were spread out among their fire-based brethren. Their orders were to get out of there a soon as their job was done so they didn't get covered in lava.

Shrāl lifted from the mountain Maya among them. She turned in the air and looked down at their king. She knew that the mountain wouldn't be capable of taking much more before it… A faint glow started spreading in long broken lines along the mountain's sides. It grew stronger fast. Then suddenly the lines weren't just glowing. They were oozing down the mountain.

A low rumble tore through the ground beneath them.

"It's erupting," Maya said. She turned to the Shrāl around her. "Get higher or you'll get hit by the lava spray," she said.

…

Moony shifted his feet as a rumble tore through the ground beneath his paws. 'Something is happening in there,' he growled lowly.

Haryn nodded before turning to Khamûl. "We need to know what's going on in there," he told the man.

Spreading his wings, Khamûl flew up high enough to see over the gates. "The mountain is erupting," he called back down. His eyes widened as a tongue of lava shot up in the sky so high he was worried it had hit their people. He knew how Sauron worked well enough to know the basic plan even if he hadn't been there when it was made.

A shriek tore through the air as the big burning eye atop of Barad-dûr turned towards the fire mountain. The Nazgûl swiftly disappeared from their vantage points.

Haryn moved down from Moony's back. He ran over to the nearest mountainside and started climbing it. He could hear Boromir's voice asking him exactly what he thought he was up too. He pulled himself up on a flattened surface at the top of the mountain range before he started running towards the black gate.

Pulling in a deep breath, the raven let out a shrill screech. He could feel how the burning eye landed on him. He smirked. "Hey Uncle," he said. He raised an eyebrow as strange shapes moved out around him. Ghostly figures. They were talking to him, but he could not hear them. "It won't be that easy Uncle. My mind is stronger than that," he said humorously. "You should be more concerned about what father will do to you when he finds you."

A picture of two Shrāl showed up before him and he could see how the orange scaled one tore into the black scaled one with vigour killing the other man.

"You can know that for sure Uncle. Father is coming and he IS PISSED OFF AT YOU," Haryn said. He knew that the more illusions Haxoru sent his way the more power he wasted on nothing. He moved his gaze away from the eye and looked out over Mordor. It was coloured orange and yellow. Lava was covering everything for miles. He laughed, almost cackled, as he jumped down from the gate. The Orcs were coming.

"What were you thinking?" Khamûl said as he landed next to the raven.

"I bought father some time and made Haxoru waste a good deal of power on me," Haryn answered. His eyes widened suddenly as he threw his body back landing on his hands. One of the Nazgûl had returned. He had moved away on instinct which had saved him from the long broadsword the cloaked figure carried. Moving back to stand on his feet, he lifted his hands into a fighting pose. "Come on corrupted one," he chuckled. His hands started burning. "Fight me."

The sword tore through the air towards him, but Haryn just smiled. He moved swiftly and grabbed the blade with both hands pushing its tip down to the ground. Flames spread from his hands and out over the blade. Unlike when they had done so for Éowyn, the flames now melted the metal that they touched. The raven did stand around to wait for the Nazgûl to make another move instead he was moving himself. Long sharp claws tore through the shapes black cloak. It caught fire.

The Nazgûl grabbed the cloak and pulled it off as she dropped her sword. Her scales were strangely translucent. Once upon a time they had been a lush green colour. Her hair was tangled and her eyes were pitch-black. Her mind was no longer her own. She lifted her head and shrieked. Her voice made the horses in the half-moon shift nervously.

Haryn pulled in a deep breath but instead of roaring back at her he let out a cloud of black flames. He moved forwards through the fire and grabbed a hold of her neck. He could feel how her claws dug into his back as she struggled against him, but he would not let go. He shifted his hands slightly and let his claws dig into the soft skin of her throat. Twisting his hands slightly he ripped her throat open. Blood flowed down over his hands as she staggered back before her nerves realised that they were no longer connected to her brain. The body collapsed.

A grimace made its way to the raven's face. His back hurt. He wouldn't be surprised if her claws had been poisonous. He turned his head towards the gate as it started rumbling. 'Great,' he thought. He was not going to be running anytime soon. His head had started spinning. 'Definitely poisonous,' he thought. Strong arms grabbed him and then the ground disappeared from under his feet. His head was swimming. There was just no way he could concentrate on anything.

A roar tore through the air.

…

Sauron pulled himself out of the flowing lava around him. His wings were glowing from the intense heat around him. He shrugged the lava that clung to his body off before spreading his wings. Flying back up, he could see that his people had moved out on their own accord. He knew they would do alright dealing with the lowlifes as long as he dealt with his brother. He made sure not to get caught in the gaze of the burning eye at the top of Barad-dûr. He didn't want Haxoru to know that he was coming not aware of the fact that his son had already told his Uncle.

He landed atop of the high tower. He could sense the presence of his brother. "Long time no see," he said softly as he turned around. His gaze met amber eyes. "You don't seem that surprised to see me nano-ka," he noted.

"No," Haxoru said. "If you had wanted that you should have had a better grip on that spawn of yours. He was nice enough to let me know that you were coming nano-hī." He moved away from the spire he'd been standing by. "He gave me enough time to create some really interesting surprises for you," he said with a superior smirk.

Sauron raised an eyebrow and smiled. "You have gotten better nano-ka," he said. "But not good enough to fool me." He ducked out of the way as a blade moved through the air where his head had been only moments earlier. His eyes widened as a hand grabbed him and a thick red smoke spread from Haxoru's mouth. He beat his wings and made his insides burn before letting out a fiery breath.

He felt a stab and then Haryn was fading from his mind. 'No,' he thought. Without thinking about it he grabbed the blade that his brother had aimed at him. Then he turned towards the man and roared. Anger filled him. His son was dying. He was going to tear the world apart. The fear and the agony he'd felt thousands of years earlier came back to him. It had been a lie then. The man before him had been the one to lie to him. "You are a dead man, Haxoru," he hissed. Fire spread out along his limbs. He was going to burn the man to a crisp. He didn't care if it killed him.

Haxoru stumbled back. He'd never seen his brother that angry. He faltered for just a second, and that was all that Sauron needed. The angry man moved forward swiftly and drew his mace from his side. Blood splattered over the ground. Haxoru stumbled back. 'Hurts,' he thought. The mace came down on him once more burning fiercely. It cut into his shoulder searing his flesh and cutting through his left subclavian vein making blood sprout out from his neck like a fountain before he collapsed to the ground. He took a last shaking breath. The air didn't reach his lungs. His amber eyes went lifeless as his heart stopped beating.

Sauron fell down on his knees. 'Haryn,' he thought desperately. 'Please bérren-ka…'

…

Boromir watched as the iron-haired Shrāl carried Haryn through the air. When they got closer he asked, "What happened? Is he alright?" The young man's skin was pale, unnaturally so.

"He's been poisoned. I'll deal with that. You need to deal with the ones opening the gate," Khamûl said.

Boromir nodded slowly and raised his gaze to the black gate. The Shrāl was right the gate was opening. "This is it," he called back to his men. "If we win this we can go home and celebrate to our hearts content." He could hear the roar of his men. "For Gondor!" he roared.

And as the terrified Orcs made their way out of Udûn, Boromir and the other leaders of men led their armies towards the gate. Heads rolled once the men reached the confused Orcs. But more Orcs just kept flowing out through the gates.

What the men didn't know was that there where Shrāl coming up behind the Orcs forcing them forward.

A wild smile had spread over Boromir's face as he cut the gray-skinned Orcs down. He couldn't express the way he felt when he was in the middle of a battle. It was like nothing else. He passed by Aragorn and cut a head off to stop an Orc from attacking the man.

…

Khamûl had flown Haryn's unconscious body to the back of the army they had brought with them before placing him down gently. He grabbed the dark-blue top the teen was wearing and ripped it apart before turning the boy over. Several long gashes travelled over the raven's back. They were discoloured a sickly orange shade.

'Please don't be too late,' he thought desperately as he placed his hands against the wounds. The first thing he had to do was make certain that the poison didn't spread any further. Sweat started to drip down his face as he forced the poison back and out of the wound.

Everything was hazy. There was a vague scent of grass tickling at his senses. 'Whas goin on?' he wondered. There was a deep red rage pressing against his consciousness, and he tried to move away from the feeling. Pain flooded his body. A faint whimper escaped his lips. He wanted to get away from the pain. 'Make is stop,' he thought desperately.

Khamûl moved away from the raven as black flames started dancing around the deep gashes in the teen's back. The flames moved until they covered the boy hiding him from view.

Green eyes blinked open slowly. Everything was black. It took a while for his mind to connect to what he was doing. 'Fire,' he thought. 'Fire's nice… pretty… flames… burning,' he thought absent-mindedly. He reached out and tried to touch the flames, but since he was the one burning, it didn't really work out. "Dada," he mumbled. "Dada where are you?" he asked. He reached out with his mind only to pull back. His father was angry. Slowly the pained teen's body curled up. "Dada angry," he mumbled.

"Haryn."

The raven tried to focus on the voice calling his name.

"Haryn."

"Khamûl," he mumbled, "dada's angry. Why's dada angry?"

Khamûl raised an eyebrow. "Is that so, Haryn-himon?" he said. "Could you stop burning please?" I need to take a look at your back and your fire is making that impossible."

Haryn blinked slowly as he processed what the man had told him. He looked down at one of his hands realising that he was actually the one controlling the fire there. He watched his fingers as he tried to make the fire go away. With how muddled his mind still was, it took him a little while to manage. He could feel cool hands touch him and roll him back onto his stomach. Fingers trailed over the wounds on his back and he hissed.

"The poison is gone now. It won't take me long to heal these," Khamûl said softly.

Haryn shuddered as the magic entered his wounds to close them. It felt cold, yet cold wasn't enough to explain what he felt. The haze that still clouded his mind didn't go away as the wounds healed though. He still felt like he couldn't focus on anything really. "We need to go see dada," he whispered. "Dada angry… dada sad."

"We can wait here for Sauron he…"

"NO… dada needs me… need to go to dada," Haryn said forcefully.

Khamûl sighed. He wasn't sure it was a good idea to bring Haryn with him into Mordor right now, but he knew how determined the teen could be. Reaching out, he lifted the boy up. He could feel how the raven's arms came up to wrap around his neck. Spreading his wings, he took to the sky carrying the raven in his arms. He'd barely reached the gate when he was met by Maya. The woman looked frantic which wasn't common for her. "What is wrong?" he asked her.

"It's Sauron-himon. He's gone crazy. Barad-dûr is covered in flames," Maya said frantically.

Khamûl closed his eyes and groaned softly. That would explain why Haryn insisted they'd go there. He picked up his speed as he headed over to the tower. He could hear Maya following behind him.

They stopped above the inferno looking down at the wild flames.

Khamûl hissed suddenly and then he could hear Maya scream as the weight he'd been carrying left him. Haryn was falling towards the flames below.

"What have you done?"

Khamûl looked at Maya with a terrified look gracing his face. "I… he made me drop him," he said as a hand went up to his neck were a line of red blood was dribbling down.

In the mean time Haryn was covering his body with his own fire once more. The ground beneath his feet burned him, but he wasn't going to stop walking. He was probably the only one who could stop his father. "Dada stop," he called out. Stumbling, he moved on through the flames. He needed to find his father. He tried desperately to increase the power of his own flames so they would protect him. Despite loving heat, his father's fire was actually burning through his scales and it hurt. He reached the centre of the fire and reached out. "Dada stop," he said as he wrapped his arms around the fiery mass that was his father. He whimpered and would have cried if that was possible right now. There just wasn't ant chance for tears to form in the heat that surrounded them.

Sauron felt another presence approach him. 'Go away,' he thought. He couldn't feel Haryn. His son was dead he didn't want to talk to anyone. He didn't care what happened to anyone else. He was about to lash out at the person when a set of flaming black arms settled around him. "Haryn," he whispered. His rage induced inferno faltered and faded away. He shifted so his son fell into his lap as the boy fainted from the pain he felt. Sauron actually started crying as he saw the damage he'd done to his own bérren-ka. Distantly he could hear others landing on the tower, but he paid no attention to them. The only thing he did was shift slightly so Khamûl could get at Haryn's burns.

…

Boromir watched as the fire at the top of Barad-dûr died out. He smiled softly. It would seem like everything would be alright. He bent down and helped one of the Haradrim back on his feet before grabbing the man's arm and placing an arm around the man's waist so he could get him back to the main part of the army for treatment.

He had a feeling that they would not see the Shrāl again for now. Haryn had been injured and would probably be taken directly to Minas Morgul. A lot of work still lay before them. But everything would be alright now. He'd have to remember that they needed to pick the Hobbits up before returning to Minas Tirith. He dropped the Haradrim off by his kinsmen before walking over to Aragorn. It was better he told the man that they needed to pick the Hobbits up before he forgot about it. With so much going on who knew what could happen.

Haryn laughed as watched Imerall get attacked by Padfoot. The shaggy black dog had taken a liking to the dark-elf over the years. He reached over his shoulder and touched his back. It was itching something awful.

"Something the matter Haryn?" Imerall asked.

The raven smiled at his friend. "No just an itch that's all," he said reassuringly.

It was a few days latter when the raven wished he'd actually told someone about the itch by his shoulder blades. The itch had turned to pain. The pain had gotten worse and worse until he could no longer see straight. He had barricaded himself in his bedroom earlier that day. It meant that he now had to find someone who could help him. Stumbling out of bed and over to the door leading out of his room, he felt his head spin and wondered if what he'd had for lunch would make a return visit.

"Haryn-himon?"

The raven turned his head to the side and saw blue. "Maya… hurts… back," he managed to say before his body collapsed and he fell to the floor.

.

.

.

Something felt really strange to the raven as he woke up.

"… foolish boy should have let us know. I could have helped him with the pain," he heard Khamûl say irritably.

He was lying on his stomach.

He shifted slightly and a heavy weight shifted with him. 'What is that?' he wondered. It seemed to be attached to his back. A green eye opened slowly. The room was blurry at first, but after blinking several times to clear his vision, the raven could see that he was lying in his father's room. He shifted again and this time he could see the weight that shifted with him.

His brain short circuited for a moment before realisation hit him.

"I have wings," he mumbled.