"Can you drop a rock down there? I wanna see if there's any radioactive creatures in the water."
Belekur ignored her and continued across the bridge. Quinn glanced at them from where she was leaning over the side, then looked back at the dark, sludgy water below. They'd reached a crossroads earlier that day, which stood at the center of a section of black, scorched land. Not far from there, they'd entered a gap between two of the black mountains and found themselves on the bridge to Minas Morgul.
"This is exactly what I'd expect the entrance to an evil fortress to look like," Quinn said, jogging to catch up with Belekur. The walls were illuminated by a sinister green light that somehow didn't do much to lessen the shadows shrouding the area. She glanced up. The sun was shining down on them, but it seemed weirdly distant. "By the way, where's Saruman? Did we miss his one-month deadline?"
"No," Belekur replied.
"Not even sure why he set it so soon. If he planned on getting here that fast, he might have given us a ride."
Belekur pushed open the gates and walked in. As she followed, Quinn glanced up at the walls with a frown. She couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched.
The gate led to a wide street, bordered on either side by buildings stained with ash and illuminated by the same creepy light. They didn't really seem like fortress buildings, but more like those that she might find in Dale.
Oh, shit. This was Dale—or, at least, another city. People had lived here, once. The realization gave her the same creepy feeling she'd had seeing Erebor in its abandoned state.
As if that wasn't enough, the continually moving shadows had her constantly glancing around, and she half-expected the creepy whispering from Dol Guldur to start up again.
On their part, Belekur walked with purposeful strides, their head faced forward, but Quinn didn't miss the constant scanning of their eyes.
At the highest point of the city stood a tower, the eerie green light illuminating its pale length. They made their way towards it, Quinn's nerves getting worse with each step.
"Hey, didn't Saruman say he would meet us at the gates?" She spun around as she saw something move in her periphery. "So why don't we wait there instead of walking towards the creepy tower?"
Overhead, dark clouds were beginning to gather between the dark hulking shapes of the mountains.
"Look." She sped up so she was walking in front of Belekur, bouncing on the balls of her feet slightly as she turned to face them. "You strike me as an 'I work alone' type person, but I really think we should wait until Saruman gets here." She stuck a finger in their direction. "It's not helping your case at all if I get the body back."
"You would not have it for long." They continued on, walking right through her.
Quinn followed, spitting curses under her breath, and soon they were standing at the base of the tower. The wall surrounding it had jutting structures at intervals that reminded her of fangs. At the center was a tall doorway, the interior of which was pitch black.
Without breaking their stride, Belekur walked through and into the darkness.
They came into a large, circular room lit by torches. The floor, which had once been brightly colored tile, was now cracked and dull.
Belekur's footsteps echoed around the cavernous room as the two of them walked farther in. On a pedestal in the back of the room was a weird dark orb, and as Quinn stared at it, she thought she saw a burst of fire.
A hollow rushing sound filled the place. In the next instant, dark green smoke flashed in the center of the room, and a wraith appeared in its midst.
Quinn stepped a little closer to the exit. Once again, she noted the absence of her heartbeat, which would have been pounding now, but it didn't lessen the pure fear surging through her body.
"Have you come to surrender?" the Nazgûl asked in its eerie, rattling voice.
Another appeared next to it. "To join us in the darkness?"
Quinn wondered if their voices sounding the same was just a side effect of being a wraith, or if they practiced it on their days off.
Belekur drew their sword, their stance shifting slightly as they prepared to attack.
Both Nazgûl lunged, moving in a streak of smoke, and Belekur parried their blows with a powerful stroke that sent both of them reeling.
"I think I might wait outside, okay?" Quinn started backing up. After seeing how fast the Nazgûl could move, she did not want to get caught up in that.
Belekur took advantage of the opening they had created and lunged forward to finish off one of the Nazgûl. It vanished, however, before their blade could connect, and the other did the same.
"Give in," a voice whispered from the shadows.
They let out a low growl and spun, searching for the source of the voice.
"You will only find defeat here, warrior."
A couple more Nazgûl swooped in—she couldn't tell if they were different ones or the same. They attacked in a similar manner, but were pushed back and disappeared once more.
Quinn had seen this kind of tactic before. If the Nazgûl had wanted to defeat Belekur straight away, they would have attacked all at once. "They're playing with you!" she shouted. "I think this might be a trap!"
Belekur ignored her, spinning around just in time to fend of the next pair of Nazgûl. They were getting irritated, she could tell, but obviously weren't going to retreat.
She let out a sigh as another pair attacked. "What is this, Couples Ancient Warrior Baiting?" She glanced out the door. Where the hell was Saruman?
The next Nazgûl that appeared was different. It wore a large metal helm adorned with spikes that resembled the structure outside. Instead of a sword or a spear, this one carried a mace with five bladed edges that looked sharp enough to cut off a man's arm.
"You cling to this world by a mere thread of your wasted life. Your cause is a hopeless one."
Belekur advanced, each step echoing in the large room. "I will destroy you first, Witch-king."
"You had no hope of defeating me before. You are nothing more than a shell, now." The Nazgûl walked at an almost leisurely pace towards them. "We will make you one of us."
"Witch-king? More like Bitch-king!" Quinn shouted. The Nazgûl couldn't be the only ones doing the shit-talking.
They clashed, the impact of their weapons sending a small shockwave through the room. The Witch-king stepped back and swung its mace sideways in a punishing blow. Quinn winced as she remembered Bolg doing the same thing to her.
Belekur hit the ground on one knee, the blow passing mere inches over their head, and slashed at the Nazgûl's leg. The blow connected, causing it to grunt in pain, and it retreated in a cloud of smoke.
"Cowards!" They took a few steps forward, as though to chase after it.
Around the perimeter of the room, hovering about twenty feet off the floor, all nine Nazgûl appeared.
"Belekur, you gotta put a rain check on this shit!" Quinn shouted. "Just tell them you gotta catch a bus soon or something!"
One by one, the wraiths dove like hawks, striking at Belekur before disappearing in flashes of smoke. The warrior spun, parrying faster than she would have thought possible, but Quinn knew this wasn't going to end well. These wraiths were just toying at their food.
She couldn't just stand there and watch this. Quinn took a few tentative steps forward. If she hadn't intervened when Kíli and Tauriel were fighting Bolg, one of them might have died. And as much as she hated being a ghost, Belekur was the one who needed to end this, to make sure no one else got hurt.
So she was going to run in there, in ghost form, unarmed, against nine deadly wraiths…
Belekur wasn't actually doing so bad. She took a few steps back.
The wraiths attacked again, appearing one by one to strike at them. Belekur slashed at a Nazgûl, leaving a sizeable dent in its pauldron, but instead of disappearing, the wraith attacked again as more began to appear.
Belekur drove their sword into the gut of the wraith and vaporized it with a flash of light. They dodged a strike from one of the Nazgûl's swords and used the sideways motion to swing their sword to the side and cut into another wraith, who was dispatched in the same manner.
Belekur finished off two more, but not before they let out a cry muffled by clenched teeth. As they turned to parry another blow, Quinn saw a faint, dark line on the back of their neck. It was only a graze, but that was all a Morgul blade needed to do the job.
With four of the wraiths defeated, four more surrounded Belekur. The warrior was in constant motion, fending off attacks and trying to land another hit, and was just preoccupied enough not to notice the Witch-king appear behind them.
"Bitch-king on your six!" Quinn shouted. If Belekur could just finish the Nazgûl off before they had to trade…
Belekur turned just as the Nazgûl's mace connected, making their head snap sideways. The sound of a bone breaking echoed throughout the room as they were thrown to the floor. The ancient warrior hit the ground and lay still.
"Holy shit." Quinn stepped forward again, her knees shaking. "Come on, get up."
A long cut from the mace's edge bled sluggishly on the side of Belekur's face. They did not stir as the Witch-king advanced, dropping its mace in favor of a long knife.
"You are alone, warrior. No one will remember your name after you perish." The wraith raised the knife, the blade gleaming in the low light of the torches, and plunged it into Belekur's heart.
Quinn realized she was running at full speed towards the pair. Whether the Nazgûl could see or hear her, she didn't know—and really didn't care. She dove towards Belekur, reaching out for them and praying this would work. When her hands made contact with their skin, everything went dark.
It wasn't an instant switch like she'd been expecting. She couldn't see anything. An icy chill crept through her body, but she couldn't shiver—she couldn't move.
Along with the cold came a low whisper that seemed to crawl up her spine. "Join us…"
Vague shapes began to take form in her vision. It took her a moment to make out the details of the dark landscape—storm clouds the color of ink above, a land ravaged by cracks and scorch marks below.
And in the center of it all, ten warriors cloaked in black with metal helms and weapons dripping with venom advanced, walking towards the light with the intent to blot it out—
Screw. That.
Quinn banished the image from her mind. A new vision took its place, one in which the dwarves of Thorin's Company fought against an overwhelming black tide of orcs and trolls.
She gasped, and the images came faster—Lake-town in flames, a child crying in the woods, the expanse of stars above the Misty Mountains, a tomb filled with dusty skeletons, the sharp angle of the skyscraper above as she'd fallen to her death the first time—
Light filled her vision. Warmth crept into her body, bringing feeling back into her toes and fingertips. Her jaw creaked open as she tried to draw breath.
One last image filled her vision, one of ten warriors walking beneath a mountain range, and then everything faded to shadow.
Quinn blinked, her eyes finding the arched ceiling of the room. A weird sliding sensation from the center of her chest made her wince, followed by the squelching sound of the Witch-king's sword being pulled out.
With that, warmth finally returned to the rest of her body. She sat up. Belekur, back in ghost form, was standing off to the side, regarding her with an almost eager look.
She looked up and realized she was still surrounded by wraiths. They looked down at her too, as though they'd just noticed the stab to the heart hadn't had the intended effect.
"...Shit."
Quinn rolled to the side, narrowly dodging a swipe from one of the Nazgûl's swords, and lunged for her sword, which was lying on the ground a few feet away. As soon as she had it within her grasp, she sprinted for the door.
"Fleeing is not going to save you," Belekur said, keeping pace with her.
A hiss of smoke sounded behind her, and Quinn dropped into a roll, barely avoiding another strike. She just had to make it outside.
Whether it was luck or the Nazgûl's sadistic desire to see her flee, Quinn made it outside unscathed. The clouds above had grown darker, but a sliver of sunlight still shone down above the city. She held her sword up to the light, spun about, and slashed at the pursuing wraiths.
The beam of light caught all five across the chest, and they dissipated like water vapor.
The momentum of her movement sent Quinn off balance, and she fell on her back with a grunt. For a moment, she just lay there, certain she'd be breathing hard if she was still alive.
Belekur stopped just next to her and said nothing.
She grinned and opened her mouth, but before she could speak, a voice said, "Well done, warrior."
Quinn stood up and looked around. From one of the side streets outside the tower, Saruman stepped out into the light, looking like he'd been in no hurry to get there.
"Where have you been?"
"There is no hope in defeating the Nazgûl or Sauron until the One Ring is found," Saruman said, which wasn't really an answer to her question.
"What is the One Ring?" Quinn asked, wondering why the hell he hadn't mentioned this earlier.
"Sauron poured nearly all of his power and life force into this Ring. He and the Nazgûl are bound to it. It is his source of strength, but also his greatest weakness." As the wizard came closer, Quinn couldn't help but notice how black his eyes were, like those of a bird of prey.
"Then why say you were going after Sauron at all?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.
He glanced at the hole in her breastplate. "This was not my plan, and I had hoped the Nazgûl would destroy you before you realized as much. But you are stronger than I expected." When Quinn raised her sword, he held up one hand. "Peace. I believe we would be better suited working together."
"Why me? You could have asked the others back in Dol Guldur." She frowned, trying to figure out what the wizard's game was.
"The others of the White Council do not understand the capabilities of the ring. In the right hands, it could be used to destroy Sauron once and for all. And you will not be able to leave this world until that is done."
Belekur appeared at her side and said, "Accept his offer."
She started to turn towards them, but stopped herself. So Saruman was going to find Sauron's ring and use it to destroy him. At face value it sounded like a good plan, but she didn't understand why he was going behind everyone's backs.
"I know your nature, warrior. This is the only real chance we have at stopping the Dark Lord." Saruman shifted his staff, the end of it making a small click as it hit the ground.
"This is our best option." Belekur was staring at her so intently she thought their gaze might burn a hole in the side of her head. "You spoke the truth earlier—I know more than you." When she didn't react, they said, "You said if I responded to your questions, you would heed me."
She had cut a deal with them, and it was probably a good idea to show she was trustworthy in case they ever ended up switching again. Whatever was going to happen next, she couldn't pretend it was a game anymore. She needed someone like Belekur on her side.
Quinn straightened and locked eyes with Saruman. "I accept your proposal."
I just want to clarify something that a lot of people seem to be struggling with. Belekur does not have a gender. When you live in a society that entirely revolves around war, gender doesn't really come up too often. I even mentioned at the end of the last chapter that Belekur may not be human at all, and would therefore not follow human ideas of being a man/woman. Quinn is not in a "man body" or "woman body," but in fact is currently in a dead body with great abs and broken ribs on one side. I realize this might be a new concept to some of you, so hopefully you learned something new today! :)
After this we got an epilogue type deal, where I'll put the final note for this story.
