Chapter 26: Planning An Escape
A few months later, Shadic was panting. She felt a pain in her abdomen and looked at her lover.
"It hurts," she whined at him.
"Just push," Gothmog said.
She did so. A few minutes later, a baby boy was born. It was a cross between an Orc and a hedgehog. Shadic smiled faintly at Gothmog. The Orc smiled also. "What should we name him?"
Shadic thought about it. "Maybe Sonic Jr.?" She suggested. "Unless you can think of something else."
Gothmog shook his head. "That's fine. What should we do now?"
Shadic looked around. She could bear this no longer; there had to be some way to escape. The Dark Lord tried to tug on the chains but couldn't get free.
"We need to get out of here," she said. In the state she was currently in, she knew she'd have less of a chance now than she had before.
The Orc nodded. "How, though? You've been chained up for three thousand years."
Shadic felt like crying. She shook her head. "I don't know." She looked at her baby. "I can't properly care for him chained up like this anyway. There has to be some way to get free."
Gothmog sighed. He was eager to leave this place also and get revenge of the god who left them there. They had a planet to conquer.
Shadic tried to transform into something larger, only succeeding in hurting herself. he struggled even more against the chains, trying to break free. But she couldn't; she was too weak and the chains were strong. Sonic Jr. looked at his mother in curiosity. Gothmog set the baby down, moving his hands to Shadic's shoulders. Holding her still, he looked into her eyes.
"Try talking to someone again. Maybe Shadow or Sonic knows something. It's been three centuries. One of them is bound to have figured out something." Soon, Shadow stood before her. She looked up at him with a smile.
"Looks like you're in a pickle," Shadow said.
Shadic nodded. She looked at the ring and heard Sonic's voice coming from it.
What have you been doing all this time?
"Well...Gothmog and I have been trapped in here for three thousand years. We need to escape from the Void, but we've been here so long, we're ghosts now. Is there any way to escape?" Shadic asked the ring.
Sonic didn't answer for a few minutes, thinking over what he knew. One of the Dark Lords would know better than I would.
Shadic nodded and repeated the same thing to Shadow. Shadow thought for a few minutes as well. He looked at the chains holding his son in place. Shaking his head, Shadow sighed. I have no idea," the former Dark Lord said. "Perhaps Melkor knows; he's the only one who escaped this place."
Shadic frowned in annoyance. "The last time I asked him about it, he taunted me."
Shadow sighed and faded back into Shadic's body. A few minutes later Melkor appeared and stood before the Dark Lord. "Still chained up?"
Shadic nodded. "What must I do to escape?"
Melkor seriously thought about it this time. He knew how it was to be chained in place like this. Finally, he came up with something and looked at Shadic. "Perhaps you could regain your power. That might help you."
Shadic nodded. She assumed that would take a while, though. "The chains are what drained my power in the first place."
Melkor thought about it some more. "Focus on your hatred and evil power; that is what I did. Or, you could create your own Ring of Power and pour your soul into it, casting it out into Arda and hope someone finds it."
"Well, it shouldn't be hard for me to focus on my hatred. But... What's Arda?"
Sonic Jr. cried then, reaching toward his mother. Shadic smiled. She tried to reach her son but couldn't.
"Arda is another name for Middle-Earth," Melkor said.
Shadic nodded her acknowledgement, still trying to reach her son. "How do I make a ring of power? The only one I've got is Sonic."
"Ask Shadow; he has made one. So has Sauron."
The Dark Lord nodded and summoned the others. "How do I make a ring of power?" Shadic asked.
Shadow and Sauron grinned. They sent their power into Shadic. Her eyes widened as she gained the knowledge of ring-forging, and nodded.
"I'll do it once I've got some power back," she said.
The former Dark Lords nodded, and then vanished. Shadic looked at Gothmog and their son. She gave the two of them a smile.
"Have you found out how to escape?" Gothmog asked her.
"Yes. They told me to regain my powers by focusing on my hatred and evil powers. Melkor said I should make a ring and send it into Middle-Earth, as well."
The Orc chuckled evilly and nodded. "Excellent," he said. "Once we are out of here...if we can get out, since we're ghosts...I'd like to get revenge on Eru Ilúvatar. So, how long will this all take?"
Shadic sighed and shook her head. "I don't know. Hopefully not too long."
"Alright. We'll just wait."
Shadic nodded. She sighed, closed her eyes, and went to sleep.