Beyond the call of duty

by Nuredhel

If Amy had known that this day would end up With her and her Group consisting of a nun, several schoolchildren, some college kids, a teacher a Family and a hitman being caught in a strange alien world being chased by ugly dudes With swords and Spears she would have stayed in bed. But no, duty called and she answered and the shit hit the fan. Humans/elves/orcs,

14. The face of an enemy

Chapter 14: The face of an enemy

Amy hadn't really known what to expect when they said that the palace was a cave. She had sort of thought of the caves they had sought refuge in when they were so abruptly transported to this world, but the word cave did have many meanings. She just stared at the two giant doors and frowned, the mountain looked like nobody ever had done anything to it at all except carving two doors out of it and she took a deep breath as they got off and walked over the bridge. She had imagined some dark dank place with molds and stuff but the cave was so huge she just gaped, and then it got even grander. There were bridges everywhere and huge chasms and waterfalls and tunnels and she wondered if this was some miracle of nature or if someone had carved this. Elladan held a hand on her shoulder whispering. "These caves are wonderful but they say that the lost kingdom of Doriath was even grander."

She had a hard time believing just that, this was beyond description and she was just staring as they walked forth towards what had to be a sort of dais with a throne upon it. Galadriel walked next to her now and she had a hard expression within her eyes, Amy realized that the tall elleth really expected trouble and Amy felt that she tensed up, this could get nasty. Aiwendil and Gandalf were whispering to each other in a language Amy didn't understand and the warriors were at the back. Elrohir walked behind Elladan and he looked a bit nervous too, as if he was afraid that Elladan would do something stupid. There were masked guards everywhere and Amy admired the style of their armor, it did look very organic and yet she had no doubt that it was efficient and strong too. The air there was nothing like the air of an ordinary cave, it did smell of forest and she did see that there were gardens here and there, hit by beams of light coming from above.

Legolas was walking ahead and he stepped up to the dais and bowed his head. "Aran nin, the travelers are here, as you requested"

Amy realized that Legolas acted as a subject when he was around his father in public, not as a prince or a son. She raised her gaze and had to gasp involuntarily. The king was indeed majestic, taller than anyone she had ever seen and even more beautiful than his son, but it was a very hard and cold beauty and the eyes were like sapphires. Cool and calculating and he did look spectacular but the beauty was a façade, she could sense it. She held her eyes down and Thranduil got up with the lazy elegance of a huge feline and stepped down from the throne, she just waited for him to trip on those ridiculously long robes but that didn't happen, unfortunately.

"So, I have invaders in my realm? To what do I owe the honor of thy company?"

His voice was filled with sarcasm and Amy could feel Galadriel tensing up, she said nothing, they had agreed that Aiwendil ought to do the talking, he was after all a servant of Yavanna and the wood elves did worship her. The somewhat shaggy looking Istari walked forth and bowed politely. "My lord king, we would not have entered your realm if we didn't absolutely had to, great danger is lurking within its boundaries"

Thranduil cocked his head, there was a sort of sneer on his lips and Amy stood half hidden behind Elladan and saw that he was getting interested but that he tried to hide and camouflage it as scorn. " In my eyes the danger has left us, there are no longer spiders here, and I am not eager to watch them return"

Aiwendil had a sort of silly grin on his face, he looked a bit insane. "Of course not, and if we are lucky they never will. But great and terrible magic is at work my lord, dark magic. A gateway to the very darkness itself has opened up and it is hidden somewhere in your forest, not far from the palace"

Thranduil didn't move or make any sort of gestures but Amy was very sensitive to body language, after all, as a park ranger she had to be able to tell if someone was lying when she asked them if they had brought food items and stored them in their car, or if they had remembered to pay for the use of the public restrooms and so on. He had tensed up, just a wee bit but she did see it. He knew what Aiwendil was talking about. "Do continue"

The voice was flat and without any emotions but she could sense that he was shocked that they knew and the wizard tilted his head. "We think that some dark force is trying to bring Ungoliant back, to free Morgoth before his time has come to break free. And that force will use that portal to its advantage"

Thranduil tilted his head, Amy had to swallow. How could a being that breathtakingly beautiful be that scary? He was inhuman, that was the answer. "And you are on your way to close that portal or am I wrong?"

Aiwendil shrugged. "You are not wrong your majesty, we are indeed here to try and close it up"

The king stared at the group, his eyes were distant and he made a small gesture which was hardly visible. "My people have reported great disturbances within my forest, and the trees are telling of fear and death. You are welcome to fight this enemy, better you than my own subjects. But whence did that portal come from in the first place? What purpose have it served?"

Gandalf took a deep breath, he tried to smile. "The valar wanted to bring back the twin sons of Dior Eluchil, they were brought to safety in another world my lord, to survive the sacking of Doriath. But something went a bit awry and well, the dark force did take advantage of their effort"

Thranduil did tense up again, and Amy saw that the blue eyes got a new expression. "The sons of Dior? How is that possible?"

Gandalf smiled, stiffly. "The valar may answer that question my lord. They brought the two young Ellyn back to our world and with them a small group of humans they had been travelling with."

Thranduil turned his head a bit, his eyes got narrow. "I see a human among you, step forth!"

It was an order and Elladan touched Amy's arm gently, she stepped out from behind him and held her head high, she didn't want to cover before this impressive being, after all, she wasn't some dainty little thing. Thranduil reacted visibly, he tilted his head and his eyes did sparkle, there was some genuine interest in the cold blue eyes and he smirked. "An adeneth, and who may you be little one?"

Amy felt herself starting to get annoyed, her skin did prickle and she was about to say something less than polite when Elladan sort of broke into the conversation. "Her name is Amy, she is a ranger, and my wife"

Thranduil raised an eyebrow and there was amusement in his expression. "Your wife peredhel? Well, I am not surprised, your kin have always aimed downwards"

Amy realized that the king in fact was regarding her as a lowly being, worth far less than an elf and she almost hissed but managed to keep her face neutral. The king did stare at her still and she didn't like the expression on his face, it was even more calculating than before and his eyes did cling to her chest a wee bit too long. She remembered that Legolas had said the king liked the curvy ones and she swallowed hard, she just hoped that there wouldn't be problems now. She guessed that the king was used to get whatever or whoever he wanted and that he wouldn't take it nicely if he was openly rejected.

Thranduil seemed to openly ignore Galadriel but Amy saw that the golden haired elleth had a sour expression for a few seconds and her eyes were glittering. Had they been talking together using telepathy? She guessed that they had for the king sort of sneered and then he smiled, a rather fake smile. "You are of course welcome as my guest, I have asked the servants to prepare rooms for you, and tonight we will throw a feast in your honor. There has been a long time since we last were honored with the presence of a noldo"

The word honored was said with so much ardor and spite nobody could mistake it for anything but what it really was, sheer bitterness. Amy just hoped that the king would see the light of reason and not hinder them in any way. Some elves showed up wearing some sort of uniform and she did notice a rather tall dark haired ellon who looked tired and stressed out. She had never thought that this was possible for an elf but there he was and he wore a nicer uniform than the others. Elladan whispered to her. "Galion, the kings personal butler, he has the least enviable job on Arda"

Amy fought the urge to giggle and they followed the servants towards an area of the palace which obviously was meant for guests. Huge rooms were placed along several corridors and everything was carved from the rock with a sort of beauty which was breathtaking. There were vines and branches and flowers and it looked a bit like a petrified forest. Amy and Elladan got a rather grand room and it was dominated by a bed so large a whole football team could have slept there, comfortably. Elladan sighed. " He is a very good host, for he loves to show off his wealth, class and style to everyone, and he loves to party too, so don't drink too much of the wine tonight, he is infamous for serving the really strong stuff to his guests, to see if they sort of lose their control and make fools of themselves."

Amy just sent him a somewhat stiff smile as an answer, this king was obviously not someone you wanted as an enemy at all. The room had an adjacent bathroom with a huge pool and Elladan grinned. " At least we will be comfortable here, I think I need a bath"

Amy sniffed herself discretely, oh damnation, she did too. She did smell like a pigsty and her clothes were covered with mud and filth, she probably looked like some wild thing. "I need a bath too love, a hot one!"

There were thick warm towels placed on a bench by the pool and Elladan stripped off and got in and Amy wasn't far behind him. The water was warm and perfumed and she had to made a grimace, these wood elves seemed to favor sweet scents and she wasn't exactly fond of that. She remembered a girl she had known when she was at college, she had been in her class and if Amy ever had seen a living make up doll it was that one. She had been wearing at least half an inch of paint every day and she had smelled as if a bomb had gone off inside of a perfume makers work shop. Most had preferred to sit as far away from her as possible and one kid had even suffered a very serious allergic reaction because of all the perfume. But the girl had refused to reduce her use of the stuff, she claimed that it was her right to smell good and so some friends of Amy had gathered one night and gotten into miss smelly's room and replaced all her perfume with water. It had worked for a few days, then it got worse than ever.

But a hot bath felt heavenly now and Amy leaned against the pool wall and just relaxed, she didn't want to think about the job ahead, or the visions Galadriel had had. There was some nice shampoo there and they helped each other with their hair and afterwards they dried up just relaxing on the benches. The place was really nice and Amy wished that she could explore more of these caves but Elladan warned her that the king would disapprove of it and think of her as a spy or worse. As long as she could remain relatively anonymous it was a huge benefit. When they had gotten dry Elladan showed her some dressing gowns and she started worrying about the party, she had nothing to wear but he assured her that the king would provide them with proper clothing. In fact it only took about half an hour before a couple of ellith came knocking on the door with several gowns in their arms and Amy suddenly felt like a mannequin doll. She was a bit shorter and more curvy than the ellith but they did find a dress which was fitting her and it was very lovely in a sort of dark orange color with embroidered vines and flowers. It did make her skin glow and brought out the full color of her hair and she felt a bit silly wearing it. She suddenly looked almost ladylike and Elladan obviously found the result adorable judging by his expression.

The two seamstresses were nice and polite and quite chatty too and Amy soon had gotten a good overview of the local gossip. It was rather clear that they both tried to warn her though, the king apparently liked to test if he could seduce the wives of guests and she was just the kind of woman he would try to be alone with. Amy sighed and promised to be careful, she had fought off unpleasant dudes before but she doubted that the knee in the nuts trick would work here. Elladan helped her with her hair and then Galadriel entered the room. She wore a very light green dress which did look amazing on her, if Thranduil disliked her he didn't show it by offering ugly clothes, that was for sure. The golden haired elleth sat down on the bed and her eyes were narrow, there was a distant expression within them and Elladan frowned. "Is something wrong?"

Galadriel made a vague gesture. " No, and yes. I sense something here, something within this very palace but I cannot see what it is. Gandalf and Aiwendil have felt it too, some sort of presence but it is very vague and very weak."

Elladan tilted his head, looked very alert all of a sudden. "Hostile?"

She nodded. "Very, but like I said, it is so vague. I don't think the inhabitants of this realm have noticed, it is hiding whatever it is"

Elladan almost sneered. " I will not leave Amy's side even for a second, that is for sure"

Galadriel nodded. "Good, I will try to say close to, I fear it may be needed."

Amy felt nervous, not at all ready for a party and Elladan petted her back and rubbed it. "Don't worry, we are here and we will protect you. No enemy can do much when we are gathered, and grandmother is very powerful"

Galadriel just smiled for a second, a fond smile and Amy yet again thought of the sheer absurdity of this woman being a grandmother, she didn't look to be any older than her grandsons. "And the king is not without powers, I think it is rather safe here but one can never be too sure"

Galadriel reached into her small bag and pulled something out, it was a small piece of glass or was it a jewel? It wasn't large at all, perhaps twice the size of Amy's fingernails and elongated. She took it hesitantly and Galadriel nodded and smiled. "This will glow if evil is near, keep it close and don't lose it."

Elladan stared at the piece of golden material and his eyes were large. "Is that one of the jewels Celebrimbor made?"

Galadriel nodded. "Indeed it is, the last one, so Amy, consider yourself very luckily, I wouldn't have given it to anyone not worthy of it."

Amy understood that this was something special and she hid it in a pocket in her dress, and made sure it was secure there. It was so small so nobody would notice its presence. Galadriel got up. "The party will start soon, Amy, try to stay close to Dan or Ro, Gandalf and Aiwendil have got your back too so just try to relax and enjoy"

Amy cringed, enjoy?! Yeah right, it would be as enjoyable as masturbating with a raw iron, but she would at least pretend to having a good time. Galadriel left after giving Elladan a swift peck on the cheek and giving Amy a swift hug and Elladan took a deep breath. "You are my wife so you will be placed next to me by the table, and if there is dancing you would be impolite if the king asks for a dance and you reject him. But do not accept any sort of bullshit and try not to say anything which can tell him you are more than a human being"

She nodded and Elladan took a final check of her hair and gown. "You look great dear, so no point in delaying this anymore."

She took a deep breath and took his arm, she didn't look forward to this at all. The great hall was decorated with lots of candles and fresh flowers and it did look great. There were many elves gathered there already and they were chatting away rather merrily. The king sat at the end of a huge table and Elrohir and Galadriel were already seated. Elladan bowed slightly and took a seat next to Galadriel and Amy sat down next to him. The king was smiling and he did look cheerful but Amy could see that his eyes were cold as ever and she wondered what it was that had turned this elf into such a very calculating creature. Legolas came and sat down next to his father and Amy couldn't see the two Istari anywhere but after a few minutes they showed up, looking a bit stressed out. Aiwendil had cobwebs everywhere and he was squinting and Gandalf had a stern expression upon his face and his eyes were a bit dark. Thranduil cocked his head and smirked. "You two look as if you have been lost in my cellars?"

Gandalf just smiled, a very curt smile. "Oh we went looking for your library and found only a dead end, with a lot of cobwebs."

The king smirked. "Well, getting lost down there is rather easy, so be aware."

Gandalf sat down next to Amy and sent her a friendly smile. "You look great dear, that dress is really fitting"

She realized that there was something else he wanted to tell her, but he couldn't say anything there and then. She just played with her sleeves and pretended to be an ordinary and a bit vain woman, blushing slightly from the praise. "Thank you!"

Some servants started carrying trays of food into the hall and others came with carafes of wine and mead and some with fruit juice. The food was mostly vegetarian but there was a little meat too and some fish and before long there was singing and chatting going on everywhere and the atmosphere was very playful. The king was smiling and speaking with some other sindar elves and Elladan whispered that it was his advisors and that they were old as the very hills themselves and quite locked up in their old ways. Both Elladan and Galadriel did their best to keep Amy entertained with tales of the different elves they saw there and stories from the realm and she found that she in fact was enjoying herself. The food was excellent and the wine too and she was laughing and having a great time.

But she did notice that Gandalf and Aiwendil never strayed far from her and Elladan were within a foot's distance the whole time. Luckily there wasn't any dancing and Amy did take a huge sigh of relief. She had no idea of how to dance and she was as elegant on a dancefloor as a dead drunk moose in a china store. Aiwendil was trying to drink some mead, most of it spilled down his robes but they were so dirty nobody would notice. He leaned forward and held onto Amy's shoulder in a half drunken gesture and he had a silly grin on his face but she could see that he wasn't drunk at all. He was pretending. He sort of leaned in over her and then he whispered. "There is something here for sure, but it is hiding very well. And it is dark, very dark"

She shuddered. "Thanks for the warning"

Aiwendil just smiled again, a very silly drunk smile and waddled off and Elladan took her hand and kissed her. Some stared at them but Amy didn't care, he was showing everybody that she was his and so she answered the kiss with zeal. More food was served and more wine and she started to feel tired. The king was still sitting there drinking and chatting and he did look rather happy. Legolas sat by his side and looked utterly bored and some other young Ellyn were gathered by a table not far from them and it was rather obvious that he wanted to join them but couldn't until his father gave him permission. Amy did pity the poor elf, being a prince probably wasn't that much fun at all. Amy was leaning against Elladan when the king finally got up, he said something and Elladan whispered to her that this meant that the elves could leave the party now if they wanted to. Amy felt like finding the huge bed and sleeping for days and Elladan put his arm around her waist and hoisted her up. Elrohir walked up to them and pretended to be telling his brother something rather silly but in reality he was guarding their backs.

They were to leave the hall when Amy suddenly felt a warm sensation near her waist and she stared down, there was a distinct glow coming from her pocket and she gasped. Elladan tensed up for a second, then he sort of waved his hand at Galadriel and the Istari and Gandalf got up and went over to the king, bowing and apparently excusing himself. Amy saw that Galadriel had started to stare at the surroundings, her eyes hard and she was caressing her hand. Amy remembered about the rings of power and she suspected that Galadriel was getting ready to use hers. The jewel was glowing like crazy by now and it felt as if it was throbbing. Thranduil had listened to Gandalf and he shouted something, Amy didn't understand the language he used and assumed that it was the language of the wood elves. Immediately several armed guards showed up with bows and quivers and Legolas had drawn his knives. Amy was astonished to see that the king was sober as a rock, or at least he appeared to be sober. He had two very elegant and unique swords in his hands and she didn't doubt that he could use them with expert technique.

The party goers were leaving the hall with guards following them and Amy couldn't see any danger anywhere. The room looked normal like before but Galadriel sort of hissed and Aiwendil looked as if he had tasted something very nasty. Gandalf nodded at Galadriel, his eyes were burning and he held his staff in front of them, it was glowing faintly and Elrohir had placed himself behind Amy while Elladan stood next to her. Both had drawn their dirks and Galadriel made a gesture. " It is hiding in the shadows, I can sense it. "

Thranduil got closer to them, he held his blades ready and the face was a cool mask but Amy knew that he too sensed that something was wrong. She saw nothing which indicated any sort of danger but then she did notice that the shadows on the opposite side of the hall were darker than they ought to be, and they moved. It looked as if someone had spilled ink onto a piece of paper, it was sort of gliding forth very slowly but with determination and she felt her heart beating like a drum. Thranduil hissed and shouted something which sounded like a challenge and Amy could have sworn she heard something laughing. Then the blackness suddenly got darker and it had substance, like oil running over a smooth surface and she heard a shrieking sound as long tentacles of darkness shot forth and tried to reach them. Or rather, it tried to reach her! Galadriel raised her hand and a bright white light spread in front of them, like a shield and Gandalf too contributed with a more red light. There was a loud and very angry hiss and darkness formed a sort of dome, trying to get to them.

Galadriel was chanting something which sounded very powerful and Aiwendil was waving his staff, that too was some sort of protection. Amy did hear a shrieking voice, distorted and vile and it contained quite a lot of power, the being behind it was confident for sure. Galadriel was glowing now, and her eyes looked black in comparison, the bright light was so strong it hurt looking at it and the dark substance was clawing at it, no other word could describe it. Gandalf looked angry, almost frightening. "Someone, we need to distract the thing"

Amy saw that the king made a gesture and immediately a shower of arrows burst forth and disappeared into the dark mass. There was a loud and terrible scream and Gandalf bared his teeth and the light from his staff got very strong indeed and Galadriel did shout something while raising her hand abruptly. For a second the darkness sort of constricted into a shape, it looked humanoid and even female and then there was a boom and it was gone, like it never had been there. Amy was shivering and Elladan held her close, he was nervous too. Galadriel stopped glowing, she looked tired and Gandalf got over and offered her his arm, she accepted with a swift smile. Thranduil sheathed his blades and walked over, his eyes were a bit large and revealed his shock. "Was that the thing which have opened that portal and frightened my people?"

Galadriel took a deep breath and nodded. " It was, we have been idiots"

Amy stared at her, confused and shocked and Thranduil cocked his head. " It was after the adeneth? Why? What is so special with her? And what in the name of Eru was that thing?"

Gandalf made a grimace. "We thought it was Sauron who was behind this, but we have been ignorant and we have forgotten a very important truth. Sauron wasn't the only Maia to follow Morgoth"

Thranduil frowned. He did look rather intimidating that way and Amy did notice that he was looking at her again, with curiosity and a bit of anger too. Galadriel leaned onto Gandalf. "We have forgotten that Sauron wasn't the only servant of Morgoth, nor the oldest. There were stronger maiar bound to the fallen vala and this is one of them. "

Thranduil stared at Galadriel and it was very clear that he demanded an answer. " Who?"

Galadriel stared down. "Thuringwethil, who else?"

Amy swallowed." Thuring who?"

Elladan made a sort of rather stiff smile. "A female maia, a vampire with great power. She disappeared during the war of wrath and nobody have had any idea of where she went!"

Amy felt a need to giggle, a vampire? Great! She could bet her dirty underwear it wasn't some sparkly twilight vampire then, more like the ones from the really old movies. " I bet she is rather bad-ass then?"

Galadriel nodded. "Immensely powerful, she did serve Morgoth willingly but that was probably just because he allowed her to do whatever she wanted"

Amy cringed. "Ouch, so she wants to bring her boss back?"

Aiwendil had an insane expression within his eyes. "Not necessarily no, she is strong enough in herself. She wants Ungoliant as a servant, as a slave. It is rather obvious, she wants to be the new dark lord"

Thranduil sneered. " That will not happen within my woods for certain, we have enough with Sauron damn it, and two dark entities are two too many."

Gandalf shrugged. "That is true, we cannot allow her to succeed."

Thranduil stared at Amy again. " It wanted this adeneth, why? I want an answer!"

Galadriel put a hand on Amy's shoulder. "She is a half vala, the daughter or Oromë."

Thranduil did for a second look as if the moon had fallen from the skies and his eyes were huge. "Oromë's daughter? How is that possible?"

Galadriel took a deep breath. "Well, a good question but the valar sometimes work in mysterious ways. They needed her powers to create the portal, I guess they somehow did foresee that something like this could happen"

Thranduil took a deep breath. " A half vala, that changes things a lot. "

Galadriel still held Amy by her shoulder and the hand felt very warm. " Yes, I guess that Thuringwethil needs Amy to get Ungoliant into our world, as a sort of portal in herself. "

Thranduil frowned. " And if Amy was dead?"

Galadriel just smiled stiffly. " You know my powers Thranduil and I have seen mayhem and death emerge from the ashes of this fight, but we cannot know if it is caused by her death or if her dying will prevent it"

Thranduil almost sneered. " How convenient. I guess we'll see in the end"

Legolas broke into the conversation. "So, now we know our enemy, where do we take it from now?"

Galadriel tried to smile. "We rest, then we go out into the woods and find the darn portal and close it"

The king cocked his head. " And if you cannot close it?"

Gandalf sort of banged his staff against the floor. "We will solve that problem if it appears, do not worry yourselves with unneeded fear"

Amy stared at Galadriel. " So we are to go out there tomorrow?"

Galadriel nodded. " We cannot wait, she knows that we know now. We have to act fast"

Thranduil had a sour expression on his face. " And what if this was a rouse, to make us act too fast?"

Galadriel tilted her head. " We will deal with it in time, it is the only way"

Thranduil just sneered again and Amy decided that she didn't want to trust him, not a bit. Elladan took her hand. " Come meleth, let us get some rest. You are tired and so am I to be honest"

Amy followed him and didn't look back, she felt quite shaken and had to think of what they now knew. A maia, one which had followed Morgoth? That was quite an enemy and where did this being fit into Galadriel's visions? The room seemed peaceful enough and Elladan grasped her jewel and placed it on the nightstand. " Gandalf have placed spells upon the room, we are safe in here."

Amy just sighed. " Oh I wonder about that, what was this Thuringwethil like really? A ghastly beast or the opposite?"

Elladan made a grimace. " I don't know that much about her, but she did travel as a bat quite often. "

Amy snorted. " Great, we have legends of vampires in my world too, she shouldn't happen to be allergic to garlic, crosses and holy water?"

Elladan just looked confused and Amy sighed. " What about wooden stakes?"

He just shrugged. " Like I said, I don't really know"

Amy got out of the gown and crawled into the bed, her head was spinning like mad and she doubted that she would find any real sleep. Elladan grasped onto her and laid there embracing her and that felt so good that she did fall asleep after all. Elladan stared at the ceiling for quite a time, he was afraid but he couldn't show it. If he lost Amy he would fade for certain but she was a half vala, could she die? He had a peculiar feeling of dreading the answer, what if she was more powerful than they could imagine?

Galadriel and Gandalf had found a small alcove and they stood there staring down at the grand hall, both looked tired and Galadriel was playing with her ring. "I fear her more than I would Sauron, at least we know him and know him well. This is a new enemy, one we didn't anticipate to meet. "

Gandalf was staring out into the distance. "There has to be something we can use against her, something which is a weakness. I will try to remember more, but go find some rest my lady. You need it"

Galadriel took a deep sigh. " I fear that tomorrow will be a day when we all will face our demons and be tested like never before. Yes, I will rest"

She smiled and walked off and Gandalf remained standing there, leaning against the wall. He was not sure of how he was to deal with this, their enemy was of his kind but twisted and corrupted and he grasped onto his staff with a determined expression. She could be beaten, but he feared that they would have to use less than savory methods to come out victorious.

Back in Imladris the spiders had been stopped by the border, but they were a terrifying sight and Franklin just hoped that the girdle would hold. Elured and Elurin were stronger than anyone could have guessed but even their strength did have its limitations. Elrond was helping using his ring but they all relied upon the group which had left. They had to get rid of the root of the problem fast. By the morning there was a sort of wall of spiders surrounding the entire area and Franklin had aimed the mirrors at the places which would be hard to defend. The warriors had gotten new arrows too, Franklin had showed the smiths drawings of arrow heads he knew the special ops used and they were made to pierce armor so some replicas had been tested on a dead spider and it went straight through its thick head. They had also used a lot of tar and other flammable substances and could ignite it and some of the younger elves had made hundreds of thin ceramic jars which they filled with oil. That too would burn rather well and Franklin felt that they were prepared rather well.

The sound of the spiders were unnerving though, a hissing and clattering which was wicked indeed, there was no doubt about the evil intent of the creatures and they were attacking the wall deliberately, to find a weak spot. The warriors were ready and the civilians had moved into the sturdier buildings which could protect them even from these beasts. Franklin had gotten an armor and felt silly, but he knew it would come in handy if some of the beasts did make it through. He did also carry two axes with very elegant elongated blades and they were made in special to hack through spider legs. He hoped he wouldn't have to use them but the chances were that they would be tested before this was over. It seemed as if this would be yet another day without any great incidents when one of the warriors let out a shout and pointed towards one of the waterfalls. Something dark came tumbling down with the water and it wasn't hard to tell what it was, spiders! The waterfall was high, very high, and the falling spiders got crushed by the fall but more appeared above the drop and managed to cling onto the surface of the rock itself.

Franklin swore and one of the elves made a grimace. "Magic weakens over flowing water, they have found a weakness in the girdle"

Franklin took a deep breath. "Aim the mirrors at the top of the waterfall, burn the bastards"

The elves obeyed and the mirrors were pivoted around so the bright beams hit the top just a the right spot. And they were efficient too, before long burning exploding spiders rained down from the steep cliff face and Franklin just hoped that the sun wouldn't go away soon. It was their main defense now and from that rock face the spiders could spread out rather easily. Franklin did order the archers to fire at will and they did. The spiders which escaped the death rays got shot but for how long could they keep them at bay?

Elrond came running and he strengthened the protection in that area so much that the flow of spiders seized, he looked exhausted afterwards and Franklin took a deep breath of air and knew that it was just a matter of time before the critters found yet another weakness. Could they have any hope of stemming this tide of mutated monsters or would this be their last resting place? Franklin was glad he had good warriors by his side, if this was his final stand he didn't mind facing the end when he fought alongside such excellent fighters but he would prefer to stay alive. Now they could just pray that Amy and the others managed to do what they had planned on doing, before it was too late.