Author's Note: Hello again! Here's Friday's chapter, it's a reeeeeeaaaaally important one, so enjoy!

Also I do not own Sword Art Online or the Lord of the Rings.

Chapter Thirty Six

A Shadow over Men

"He is seeking it, seeking it, all his thought is bent on it. The Ring yearns to go home, to return to the hand of its Master. They are one, the Ring and the Dark Lord."

― Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring

"Yui I can't believe you did that! You almost got hurt out there!"

Asuna began scolding her little virtual daughter inside her large and luxurious sleeping quarters at the spur of the Gondor Citadel. She was yelling at her for recklessly leaving her glass necklace and sneaking past the guards to ignite the flames for the beacons.

Yui delivered a cute and cheery smile. "Awe, relax mommy, I can't get hurt in-game, remember?"

Asuna sighed and fell over on the bed right next to Yui, she then rolled over and sat up. "That's not the…ugh. How did you sneak out without me knowing anyway?"

"Easy!" She smiled. "I can changed my size! You all were talking about that battle, so I just slipped out and went over to get the job done."

Asuna bit her tongue and remained silent, which left Yui to continue. "Plus you said it yourself, those arrow guys were never going to hit the pile of wood. We needed to light the beacon in order to alert the others where we are."

Asuna sighed. "I know, that's what we were doing." She then reached over and hugged Yui's head. "Just tell me next time you plan on doing something like that. We're already missing Kirito, we don't need you gone too."

Yui looked up to Asuna with great big eyes. She then nodded in her mother's embrace. "Alright…I'll be better next time."

"Sounds good." Asuna said, finally revealing a smile.

*Knock* *Knock*

"Oh that's probably Eugene. Go ahead and head back inside your bottle, Yui. I'm probably going back down to Osgiliath for another battle."

"Okay…" Yui hated the fact that Asuna just spent this conversation scolding her for being reckless, and now she was going out to fight another battle. Either way she nodded and returned into a blue light inside the phial.

Asuna straightened the skirt on her armor and stood from the bed. She then opened the door to find a winged-helmet tower guard with a letter in his hand, but no Eugene.

"What? What's this?" She asked, and without an answer the quiet sentinel handed her the note and walked back down the hall.

"Asuna Yuuki. I sent General Eugene back to Osgiliath for the evening defense of the city. I also ask that you please join me in the Merethrond Great Hall for an evening meal and discussion no later than sunset.

I look forward to your arrival."

~Klint

Asuna crumbed up the paper and threw it against the wall. She then sighed. "This is absolutely ridiculous…ugh, I hope Eugene can handle the city without me."

Now we find that very General Eugene making his early evening patrol of Osgiliath. No word of another attack had been made since Eugene and Asuna left for the capital, and now things were starting to become both peaceful and suspicious.

Very suspicious.

Eugene quickly located his second men Kagemune and Gtacs up atop a rampart tower over looking a rather early foggy river. They tried their best and peering through the water, but nothing came to vision.

"No signs of an attack ever since you left, General." Kage reaffirmed as he kept his gaze out on the water. "It's been quiet ever since."

"Very true." Gtacs confirmed. "We sent scouts out along both ends of the Western City, but nothing has been reported back."

Eugene took there messages, but made no haste in replying. He instead joined their looking party out over the river, and then finally released his thoughts.

"So now we're sitting ducks without that bridge…hah, I can't tell if it was a good idea or not."

"With all due respect sir, I believe Lady Asuna saved the company." Gtacs said with a bit of fear in his voice as he looked out on the fog. "She had a good plan."

"I guess so." Even Kagemune spoke up on the idea to blow the bridge. "She knew it was more valuable to them than it was to us, that's pretty good work for a newby commander."

Eugene nodded. "Aye, that's true. Well, let's keep a weather eye open tonight, after all we're the only thing standing between Gondor and Mordor at this point, and I…"

"Sirs!" One Gondor soldier ran up behind them whispering with frantic volume. "The River! It's on fire!"

Gtacs and Kage both turned to the soldier with equally bizarre expressions, but Eugene kept his eyes right on the river.

It wasn't on fire, per say, but there were tiny hints of torch light coming out of the murky fog. He knew this had to be the enemy host, and now it appeared that they had boats on there side.

"Well…" Eugene turned. "It's not on fire, but it probably will be here in a few minutes." He drew his sword and looked them all in the eye. "Quick, down to the river."

They followed, and re-joined the small but alert task force of Gondor soldiers that was still stationed there along the Anduin. Each man feared for his life, and as they tried hiding along columns near the river, the approaching boat host of Mordor was growing ever closer with the tide.

Eugene stood ready behind his ruined column with his great long sword in hand. It looked like it could be bigger than an orc depending on the measurement. The air was cold, but Eugene held fire in his veins as the host moved onto the western shores.

The orcs came right in and marched off their barges in great ranks with terrible noises, but just before the first one's foot crossed the mark, Eugene stabbed it right through the neck and sent it to the ground.

"WITH ME!" Eugene cried out, and just then the rest of the silver Gondor force emerged with weapons ready as they matched the orcs in open combat. The Gondorians were well-armored and held better arms, but the orcs swarmed off their boats in far too many numbers to hold. Their armies were quickly overwhelming the sentinels with each landing boat, and just then Eugene heard a crack up above, followed by falling wood.

"Ah fuck…they're fixing the hole in the bridge!"

Several men tried following that up, but were instantly shot the moment they tried stepping up. Eugene could at least count the number from the ships, but he had no idea how many were coming from the bridge.

"Men! Follow me up to defend the bridge!"

"Yes Sir!" His loyal soldiers all killed their nearest foes and went in line to follow their commander into a continued battle. Eugene marched up the steps with a great host at his back, and met the orc leaders with swift combat followed by their demise. He cut threw many orcs that evening, but as soon as he emerged from the bridge steps and made it to the highway road, he was greeted by more shadow and doubt.

Nazgûl. Not one or two, but nine it total. Their winged fell beast were dotting the skies like a pack of vultures, reeking havoc by flying low and taking out all the unfortunate Gondor tower guards and open soldiers.

One was not flying however, but he was landed on the bridge. He had also dismounted his steed, and gave Eugene a quick glance before gliding forward. Eventually the General of Gondor could make out the cursor and avatar name tag floating above his head.

"The Witch-king" is what it read. He was the fabled Witch-king of Angmar, and the Lord of the Nazgûl. He was known in Middle-Earth lore to be the deadliest servant of the Dark Lord, and also his greatest and chiefest strategizer in times of war. He lost his dominion of Angmar years back, but now he ruled from a green and shadowy tower in the Morgul Vale.

Also, like the other Nazgûl, he was depicted as a humanoid figure shrouded in a hooded black robe and shadow, with his only distinguishing feature being a mask-like spiked helmet with a huge mouth, symbolized as his crown.

Finally, he held a great chain mace in one hand, and with the other was the black swordsman's fabled weapon, the Elucidator. This was him alright, the best swordsman the virtual world had ever seen, and he was completely consumed by shadow.

"Well well well…" Eugene cracked a smile and spun his blade around for a brief moment before advancing. "This must be him. Good ta see ya again, Kirito."

A crossed the fields of Pelennor we now find the court at the Citadel ready for the evening to end. Asuna Yuuki was walking through the halls of the upper Minas Tirith as she made way for her banquet meal with the Steward.

She was also properly dressed for the occasion. She now wore an all black, off the shoulder gown, and the sleeves came down to her wrists. It was trimmed with white, and little specks of silver dotted its velvet finish. Finally, a tiny embroidered White Tree was encrusted with diamonds at the chest, which made her look like a true queen or princess of Gondor.

But Asuna was neither. She was a soldier, fighting in a war, trying to save the one she loved.

She had no wish or business attending this meeting, and as a result loathed every thought of eating with this man. She did not wish him any ill-will, but as far as she was concerned he was the reason her Kirito was missing, and she still had questions that needed answered.

Asuna finally made it to the great mess hall of the Citadel, and noticed it was only filled with a great table, white walls with black columns, and several guardsmen dotted around the room. Klint was also seated at the head of the table, but a single chair to his right was already pulled out for Asuna to join him.

"My Lady, you look stunning tonight." Kint said without standing up. "Please join me."

Asuna gave him a half nod, but nothing more as she took her seat and join him in the meal.

Klint grinned. "I can tell you don't want to be here…I respect you for it. You're beginning to grow impatient I take it, with all these practicalities and what not." He began pouring them both glasses of red wine, and then slid her a now full cup.

"But they are necessary, that much I can assure you. We need to organize this game if we ever want to crack it, and we will crack it eventually."

"Sounds good." Asuna took a very tiny sip of her wine, and started nibbling on her meal.

Klint raised an eyebrow. "Well Kirito and I did share conversations in our early journey. He told me you're quite the chef. I probably could have asked you to prepare our meal tonight!"

Asuna looked him in the eye. "Sorry, but I'm not like Kirito. I'm a bit more selective with loaning out my skills for others."

Klint raised his glass and chuckled. "Touché. He also said you're quite the fighter. He told me you served as a commander inside SAO?"

"Yes, actually I did." She confirmed. "Which is why I volunteered my skills to the Gondor faction at Osgiliath, before I was invited to dinner."

Klint took a long pause as she looked his way, and then lowered his head. "Asuna…I do not wish to hold a negative energy between the two of us…I feel ashamed for what I did to Kirito, and I'll need help correcting my mistakes."

Asuna shifted in her chair, but then saw a tiny hint of sorrow in his eyes. "Mgh…I mean it wasn't all your fault. I…the others, we should have never let him go in alone."

Klint shook his head. "None of this is your fault I will tell you right now…but I will sit here and thank you for going ahead and lighting that beacon off today."

"Agh!?" Asuna was startled by his blunt remark. "O-Oh…well gee thanks."

Klint smiled. "That little girl…it was Yui right? She was so funny. She joined Kirito for a short while on our trip. You could tell she was close to him."

"Yea…she pretty much looks to him as a father figure."

Klint nodded. "Anyway I was wrong. Sigurd and his forces were crushed by an army out of Lothlórien not too long ago. A sorceress elf by the name of Leafa? Anyway she earned her victory, and while she did an army of Rohan warriors held off his main force in a separate attack on Helm's Deep."

"Really!?" Asuna had heard nothing from the others since she left from Rivendell, but that little bit made her finally smile with ease. "And any news on the dwarves?"

"Oh the Erebor dwarves? Yes their new leader, they call her the 'Iron Hammer?' Anyway she defeated the armies at Mount Gundabad, and now they seem to be on their way as well."

"Lis…" Asuna laughed at the sound of 'the Iron Hammer.' "So silly…well this is all one great big relief."

Klint nodded. "I'm glad it is. I was also told she would be bringing us a new weapon."

"Oh right!" Asuna remembered exactly why Chrysheight had left her originally. "A friend of mine went up to retrieve the Sword of Narsil for you. I believe it's been renamed…anyway it's said to make its weilder King of Gondor."

"And I hope it does." Klint tipped his glass. He then noticed his meal was almost gone, and Asuna didn't appear to be hungry. "Hey let's take a break, shall we? I wanna show you something in the throne room."

Asuna took a quick breath of confusion before Klint held out a hand. Her cheeks flushed with red due to the attention, but she tried to hold it back to keep from becoming embarrassed.

Klint laughed at the remark and took her by the hand anyway, and then walked her out the back hallway exit and into a side door leading off into the great throne room from a day before.

Then he took her to a statue on the near left corner, and had her admire it for a few moments. "You recognize the sword at his hilt?"

"Yea…" She had to narrow her vision to return her memory. "It's Narsil!"

"Yep." He smiled back. "That sword is the legendary weapon of the Kings of Gondor. In the story of the Lord of the Rings its owner took it as his weapon during a great battle inside Mordor, and together with a host of men and elves, the commanders united under one Last Alliance."

"Wow." Asuna looked awestruck as she admired the statue. "Who did they fight back then?"

"Sauron." He said with a lowly voice. "He had just deceived half the world with all the rings, and the One, and was ready to take full control of Middle-Earth. Then the two armies met at the foot of Mount Doom, and long story short the King died."

"What?!" Asuna shrieked. "That's horrible!"

"Hah, ah but that wasn't it!" He reaffirmed. "His son, the Prince Isildur, he took up the broken shards of his fathers's sword, and cut the One Ring from the fingers of the Dark Lord, forever crippling him and defeating him in battle."

"Oh…" Asuna nodded. "That makes perfect sense. That's the weapon used to combat the Ring."

"In a way yes, and all of Mordor. The GM designed the game so that the One Ring would give evil players something to fight with, and he gave the good guys swords like Narsil to even out the field."

"Yea…" Asuna sighed with a painful heart. "Until he put a mind control bug in the Ring and turned it into a nasty weapon for himself."

"…" Klint had no true comment for that. Instead he let out a breath.

"Asuna…I can imagine that Ring is pretty heavy this far into the journey. Has it been affecting you? Like mentally?"

Asuna began rubbing her arms in a self comforting position and turned away. "I-It kinda has, yea…I've been having these terrible nightmares, and this throbbing headache every time I wake up. I'm also worried it's given me a bad temper, and it might start affecting Yui."

Klint shook his head. "Nah, it only has the power to hurt the owner, because it only listens to Sauron. It won't hurt anyone who isn't wearing it."

A silence filled the large, echoy hall for a brief instant, until Asuna turned a slight degree towards Klint.

"D-Do you want to see it?"

"What!?" Klint sounded shocked by her blunt question. "B-but…no I don't want to be rude!"

Asuna shook her head. "Heck you seem to know more about it than I do…I just jumped up like some idiot and volunteered to take it. I probably have no business carrying it anyhow…"

She reached down into her dress and pulled out the bottom of her chain necklace, revealing the tiny yet sinister Ring at the end. She dropped it to let it settle in front of her chest, but now gave Klint a full view of its glow.

Klint paused for a moment as his eyes grew twice as big, and they seemed to look void of all emotion. He stepped towards her for a moment until Asuna charged forward and wrapped her arms around him.

"*Sob*…Klint…*Sob*… What if I don't see him again? I…*Sob*…I just want him back…"

Klint had no idea how to react at first, and then gently lowered his hands to pat her on the back. Asuna continued to cry into his shoulders, and Klint looked at her with a slightly puzzled expression.

"It's okay Asuna…I'm sure you'll see him again eventually." He tried to comfort her with any kind of saying, just to keep her crying down.

Asuna leaned back and wiped away a tear. "Really?" She choked a bit on her words. "You do?"

"Yes…" He then turned and looked towards the darker half the room. "But I'm afraid he'll still try to kill you either way."

"…what?"

Asuna had little time to think between asking her question and feeling a sharp sting of pain take her left abdomine. She let out a shriek of horror as the blade dug deeper, and just then Klint leaned in and grabbed a lock of her flowing brown hair.

"Well, that fool Suguō was right about one thing. You are far too pretty for someone like Kirito."

Asuna tensed up her jaw, and slowly looked down to find another Morgul Blade stuck in her old wound. She then turned to look Klint in the eye. "I knew it…you were hiding something all along."

"Not something." He grinned. "Everything."

Klint placed his left hand on Asuna's shoulder and shoved her away and into the column to her back. She held the Morgul Blade in her fall, but it only gave Klint time to rip the flowing chain around her neck clean off.

He discarded the useless necklace and held the golden band up into a dim bit of torch light.

"My One Ring…My precious has returned." He had a sarcastic chuckle tagged on the end.

"AGH!" Asuna threw the Morgul Blade at Klint and yelled back. "What the hell is wrong with you!?"

"ME?!" Klint argued back. "What the hell is wrong with society!? All I ever wanted was to re-create the World of Tolkien into my own image, and to live amongst its characters and creatures…but I wasn't allowed to think like that, or else everyone would call me a nerd."

"Oh god…" Asuna thought to herself as she remembered how many times Lisbeth and Leafa made fun of Annatar. It then fully clicked in her mind as Klint was still ogling his new treasure.

"You're him…you were him all along…the GM never put you in Gondor…you are the GM. You're…"

"The Dark Lord Sauron, apparently?" He gave her another quick grin. "Funny thing you can do using two avatars…Annatar was fun, but I prefer my regular Klint one now."

He turned to continue. "I planted myself as the ruler of this world, but in the lore of Middle-Earth, only one character had every right to claim full dominion over this land, so I had no choice but to personify the Lord of Mordor himself. I unified myself with the greatest game makers in the business, and I broke that hack Sugō out of jail just to utilize his mind control technology. He claimed he was 80% complete of perfection, so I decided to finish the remaining 20%."

Asuna let a tear fall from her eye. "You're a monster…you took Kirito away from me."

"HAH!" He laughed, now turning his back on her. "That idiot's lucky I named him my second in command! All these other fools have been looking to stab my back or turn me into a corpse…and that ingrate Chrysheight who lied to me. He was supposed to be a trusty adviser…but he took the Ring and hid it away with some silly command. He could have probably taken it for himself!"

*SLAM*

Both Klint and Asuna turned to the front of the throne room to find Chrysheight the Blue standing there entering into the hall. He held his illuminated staff in one hand, and a now fully drawn Glamdring in the other.

"Klint Rojer. We've finally revealed who you really are."

Klint rolled his eyes and finally put on his Ring. Instantly his height seemed to inflate just a tiny bit, but his manna and Hp bars doubled in size. He also summoned a wicked looking mace of pure Morgul Steel, and swung it one time in the direction of the Blue Wizard.

Instantly Chrysheight lost all footing, and some of the mighty winds even tipped Asuna over onto her side as a great force came out of the mace and slammed into the defiant blue mage.

Klitn raised and eyebrow. "You idiots have lost. I have the Ring. Sauron was NEVER meant to get a hold of the Ring!"

"AGH!" Asuna drew a hidden dagger from her ankle and went into stab Klint, but he smacked her with the mace and slammed her into the column once again.

He rolled his eyes. "I knew you didn't get stabbed by my Morgul Blade…mithril I presume? You probably have it on under your dress."

He then stepped up higher on the throne room stage and yelled out loud. "I'll go ahead and continue this little game, don't think I won't. My armies have just breached Osgilaith, and a force three times its size is currently in wait back behind the Mountains of Mordor. I'll let you all fight me, just because it keeps me in a good mood, but don't think for one second you'll walk away victorious. At any rate you'll all be 'loyal employees' sooner or later. After all…" He turned to give Asuna one last sarcastic grin.

"According to the lot of you, I have the best swordsman the game has every seen on my side."

Then in a great flash of force and shadow Klint teleported out of Gondor and back to the fiery lands of Mordor.

Chrysheight stood and ran right for an injured Asuna, who was still holding her side.

"Was he right? Did you not get stabbed?"

"Agh…no. I'm good." She lifted up a tear in her dress to reveal her mithril tunic underneath. "But he got me in my old wound. It's still bruising so it kinda hurt initially."

"…" Chrysheight sat back and sighed. He then took a deep breath and looked her in the eyes. "I'm sorry Asuna. I'm sorry I was late…the army of Mordor is coming for us."

Asuna had no idea how to collect the scene. She wanted to rip her hair and her heart out at the same time.

Finally, she tried standing, but only by his slight help. "Well looks like our guys will need a pretty good wizard to lead them, because according to Klint, Kirito is leading the enemy…I won't go out there and fight someone I love."

Well the f*cker was two-timing her the whole time. Man he's either an idiot or really deranged for keeping them in this thing!

New chapter Monday!