Chapter 10 - Middle-Earth
"Where do you think we are?" Shepherd asked McKay. They had materialized in a grove of tall, stately ancient trees. It felt peaceful around them, and left them all with just a good feeling of well-being. At first, Link had thought something had gone wrong and they had materialized somewhere in Faron woods, but the woods of his homeland never looked this beautiful or well kept. McKay looked around him, up and down, this way and that and said, "Hang on a minute, let me just get my bearings."
The soldiers brought their guns up as a precaution, but the woods around them appeared to be empty, and almost as though it had been sleeping for some time. "I'm not sure," McKay said. "It's been a long time since I read 'The Lord of the Rings'." He then asked, "didn't you ever read it?"
"I saw the movies. They were cool." Shepherd responded. "Ok, well it doesn't look exactly like the movies but if I were to guess, I'd say we were in Lothlorien."
"Oh, and why is that?" McKay asked.
"Look up, Rodney." Shepherd pointed up. High in the trees could be seen platforms where wooden structures had been built... no, grown into the trees around them. There were standing at the forest floor base of a great city high in the trees.
"Oh, wow." Rodney remarked. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before.
"Uh, I saw that movie, too, Colonel and weren't there supposed to be elves in Lothlorien?" Davidson asked.
"Yes, there were." Shepherd responded. "So where's the welcome party?" Then looking up he asked another question, "Ok, there's a city high in the trees, but no movement. There's no people that we can see anywhere."
"You know this place?" Link asked. "You've been here before?"
"Sort of. Yes and no. No we haven't been here before, but yes we know a little about it, just like we knew a little about Hyrule." Shepherd said. "We know of its stories at any rate."
Link nodded his understanding. Then looked up towards the trees again, and then down across their bases. "I hear and see no one. This place looks like it was abandoned a long time ago."
"Rodney, is that possible?" Shepherd asked.
"Uh, let me think, it's been a long time. Let's see, the elves were leaving Middle-Earth for Valinor during the 'Lord of the Rings', so we may have come after they've all abandoned Lothlorien. Let's see, Galadriel, Elrond, Celeborn, and Gandalf would have all left within a few years after Sauron's fall. I'm not sure what would have happened to the Elven lands except that they couldn't maintain them after the power of the three elven rings failed."
"Ok," Shepherd reasoned, "so we've arrived years after the return of the king, right?"
"I'm pretty sure, yeah." McKay said. "Wait a second, there may be at least one way to determine how much longer after." He then said.
"Oh, and what's that?" Shepherd said.
"Come with me, if I'm right, it shouldn't be far." McKay responded. "It's something you'd only know about from reading the appendix in the back of the book."
They marched for a couple of hours towards what McKay thought should be the center of the woods. They had arrived in the morning by their best guess, and it proved to be the correct one as the sun rose high overhead and its light was broken up playfully by the high canopy of the trees.
There in the center was a mound, like a small hill where a tree grew in the center. A platform was built high up in its branches, and another wood structure, like a small house. McKay wasn't sure what he'd find when he found what he was looking for.
"Ok, spread out. You'll know when you find her. I think, anyway." McKay said.
"Find who?" Shepherd said.
"Arwen." McKay said. "In the appendix, it talks about after Aragorn's death, Arwen returned to Lothlorien, to Cerin Amroth, this mound, where she died before the following spring. If we find her, we might be able to tell roughly how much time has passed."
"Ugh." Shepherd said. "So are we looking for an old woman, a corpse, or bones?"
"As I said, we'll know it when we find it."
"Doctor," Link said. "I think I've found her, or what's left of her." He wasn't that far from them, and was bending down inspecting something on the ground.
McKay came over to look at what the Hylian had found. On the ground, half buried was a skull. All the flesh had long since rotted away and it was clean and dry. The skull looked mostly human, but there were slight differences. It looked more refined somehow. Around the crown of the skull lay a circlet of silver, set with a diamond. It was the diadem of a queen.
"So, it's been a long time then." Shepherd said when he saw it.
"A very long time." McKay agreed. "Aragorn reigned for a hundred and twenty years after he took the throne. She came here right after he died, so I'd say at least a couple of hundred years have gone by."
"Ok, so where do we go from here? How do we find Demise?" Shepherd questioned.
"If he's at full strength, the land will be under attack. He'll strike the heart of this land, its capital city, to demonstrate his power over it. He will make no pretense at hiding it." Link said.
"Its capital city. Wouldn't that be, uh..." Shepherd snapped his fingers twice, "the white city..."
"Minas Tirith." McKay supplied.
"Minas Tirith. How far are we from there? Didn't that take weeks for Aragorn and his friends to get there?" Shepherd asked in frustration.
"Let me think." McKay said. "They didn't take the straight path there. They got side-tracked going after the hobbits. They took boats down the river which could have taken them straight there if they had let it."
"Ok, follow the river, that's a start. What river?" Shepherd asked.
"Ok, there's a river that runs straight through Lorien called the Nimrodel, and then it meets up with the Great River called the Anduin. Think Mississippi great. The Anduin heads south over the falls of Rauros and down through the city of Osgiliath which faces opposite Minas Tirith." McKay said.
"How far?" Shepherd asked. "And what was that about falls?"
"About four or five hundred miles or so," McKay answered. "The falls of Rauros. There's supposed to be a passage of some kind that would let people carry small boats down by hand carved next to them."
There was a light breeze that blew through the trees just then causing their leaves to rustle gently. Link noticed it and looked up into the trees, but saw nothing. "How far are we from this river Nimrodel," he asked.
"We shouldn't be far at all." McKay said. "If we head south we should run directly into it." He said.
"You don't suppose there might be boats still there after all this time, do you?" Samuels, who had been quiet while the others talked, suggested.
"Normally, I'd say no," McKay said, "but it's worth a look."
The party then marched in the direction of the river. It took another hour or so, but they reached it in the late afternoon. It was flowing gently but swiftly. They did indeed find small boats, and upon further searching a larger boat that had been pulled up and had sat on the shore in storage for some time. After looking it over, they couldn't find any sign of wear or rot on it. They took a quick rest and ate some rations they had brought with them in their packs. They ate warily not knowing what to expect.
Link, more than anyone, knew the Demon King's way of operating. It was strange that he hadn't had anything here waiting for them, unless he didn't know they would turn up in this place. If that was the case, then it was a strange piece of luck, but a welcome one. "I don't think he knows we're here, or where we are." Link said.
"I thought he could do all sorts of spying with his magic. Shouldn't he have shown up in the same place as we did?" Shepherd said.
"I would have thought. But his normal way of doing things is to leave something behind to try and kill me. As you said, where is the welcome party?" Link said.
"Hmm. Rodney, will two different linking books take you to two different locations in the same world?" Shepherd asked.
"No, at least I don't think so. I mean, I suppose it's possible, but it doesn't fit with what I've read on them." McKay said as he polished off some dried fruit.
"Could someone have interfered with us linking here? Redirected us away from the original target destination?" Shepherd asked.
"I don't know enough about it." McKay said. "Stargates go from gate to gate. Sure, it's possible to jump a wormhole from one gate to another, but there isn't a target gate when you're using a D'ni book. I'd think you'd have to rewrite the linking book, and then you might change the world you link to altogether."
It was a puzzle they'd have to figure out.
When they finished eating they worked on turning the larger boat right side up and putting into the water. It wasn't nearly as heavy as they thought it would be and when they righted it, they found packages tied neatly into the bottom of it with cord. Upon searching them, they found lengths of rope, and some kind of wafer bread that somehow still seemed fresh, though it had to be far older than they were.
"Lembas," McKay said looking at it. "Elven waybread."
"You don't think it could still be edible do you?" Shepherd asked.
McKay broke a tiny corner off of one of the wafers and popped it in his mouth. "I'd say... yeah. It's as fresh as if it was baked yesterday." He said as he broke off another piece.
"Hey doc, wasn't a single bite of that supposed to hold a full grown man for a full day?" Davidson asked.
"Yes, well... I was just testing it." McKay said uncomfortably as he wrapped the rest of the Lembas up and returned it to the wrapped supplies
"You don't suppose someone could have put this here for us to find, do you?" Shepherd said out loud what they were all thinking. It seemed a little too convenient.
"How? The only person who knew at least Link would be coming here would be Demise. I doubt he'd try and give us a lift to come and fight him." McKay said.
A warm breeze rustled through the leaves of the trees overhead. Only Link seemed to have noticed.
"Where is he?" Demise wondered aloud to himself. Is it possible he didn't find a way into this world? Could his old adversary really have failed to find a way to reach him after all these years? His host paced the throne room atop Minas Tirith back and forth. There was no one else there with him except the fallen king, passed out on the floor. He needed no guards, and neither did he want them.
He had materialized almost immediately in the blackened land known as Mordor. The linking book should have brought the Hero to the same location. Demise had a nice little pet waiting for him. Oddly enough, she was already here; a relic from this world's more interesting past. His orc followers called her "Shelob", and she was very hungry. But he had received no word from his scouts or spies about a green clad boy.
If it was one thing he could always count on it would be the Hero's persistence. He had come to trust it, even count on it. Had Demise's faith in the boy hero been misplaced? It had never occurred to him that the Hero wouldn't make it this far. How inconsiderate to make Demise return to Hyrule to destroy him. That just simply didn't fit, but then where was he?
He snapped his taloned fingers and a murder of crows appeared before him. "You will be my eyes." He said. "Go," he commanded. "Fly throughout this land, and go where my orcs dare not. Find me a boy of either ten or sixteen years wearing green and carrying a bright sword and shield." The crows departed out through the doorway and into the twilit sky of evening.
"Twilight." He mused. That was a clever campaign, he reminisced. "Too bad my host didn't make it. It was a mutually beneficial relationship." He looked at the back of his host's right hand where a mark of three triangles had been tattooed. One of them gave a soft golden reflection of the dim light.
They set the boat in the water, climbed in and set off down the Nimrodel. There were four oars in the boat, although they only needed two most of the time. The boat seemed to move almost under it's own power, and the rowing wasn't as tiring as it probably should be. They debated about whether or not they should stop and go ashore for rest periods, but decided against it. They needed to get to the white city as quickly as possible. They were surrounded by water, and they had enough food that didn't need to be cooked for a long journey already provisioned in the boat. They took shifts rowing and resting and decided to only pull to shore once a day if they needed to relieve themselves and couldn't do it from the boat.
They met up with the Anduin around the middle of the first night. McKay was right, it was at least as wide as the Mississippi as far as Shepherd could see by the full moonlight. He knew Link must be somewhat impressed because there were no rivers that wide in Hyrule, but the boy's face was impassive.
"Hey, you okay?" Shepherd asked him. "It's wide, but it's still pretty calm for the most part."
"It's not the river. I've been on boats and rafts much smaller and less sturdy than this." Link responded.
"Right." Shepherd said, not knowing what to say.
"If we succeed," Link continued, "what will happen then? What will my purpose in this life be?"
"Well, anything you want. You could go back and serve the Princess, or possibly even go home to Ordon and be a goat-herd if you really wanted. Your options are pretty open." Shepherd said.
"Are they really?" Link asked.
"What is it you want to do?" Shepherd asked.
"I don't know. I've never been given the choice before." Link responded thoughtfully.
"It's not like there won't be any more bad guys to fight. Hyrule will still need its best to defend it." Shepherd told him.
"How do you know that?" Link asked.
"One thing I've learned, Link, is that there's always more bad guys that keep popping up." Shepherd began. "Look at us from Earth. At first we had to deal with the Goa'uld. Then, once we thought we had them under control it was the replicators, after that it was the Ori, then the Wraith, then more replicators. Along the way we've had the Lucian Alliance and a few other surprises thrown at us. It never seems to end, and we don't have the excuse of a Demon King constantly trying to come back. Even this world of Middle-Earth had Sauron, Saruman, Orcs, dragons, the Nazgul; my point is that there's always going to be somebody trying to make trouble and squash on the little guy. That's where those of us who can have to step up and stop them."
Link dwelt on this thoughtfully. "You speak wise words." He finally said. "Perhaps the spirit of the Hero will continue long after I am gone after all."
Shepherd then realized what he had been talking about all along. It wasn't just the kid in front of him he had grown to like, it was the whole reincarnation of the Hero thing that was making him so pensive and moody. Without the Demon King, the Hero might no longer be needed. On Earth it might mean no more cool video games. In Hyrule, it would mean a radical change in the course of their history and beliefs. It was a profound thought.
The seven companions continued on down the Anduin, pulling ashore once during the middle of the day and getting as quickly under the trees by the river as they could. They didn't want to be without cover on the ground, even if no one knew they were there. They took care of their business as fast as they could and then climbed back in and continued down the river. They ate in the boat from their Hylian rations, and when these were spent, they started sampling the Lembas bread. They spent the next few days like this.
On the fourth day they saw as impressive of a sight as they had ever seen. Two massive stone statues of kings on opposite sides of the river, at least a hundred feet tall, with one arm outstretched as though trying to warn people off. "Ok, this is where we need to pull our boat to the west side of the shore and look for the stairway down. We're coming up to the Falls of Rauros." McKay told the rest.
"That's quite the warning sign," remarked Samuels.
Overhead, a crow circled in the air, looking at them curiously. Link spotted it and drew the bow he had been carrying. He knocked an arrow and let it fly. The crow dropped from the air like a stone and landed with a small, hard splash in the water, followed by a puff of blackish smoke, though it wasn't noticeable.
"Nice shot, but what did the crow do to you?" Shepherd asked.
"Crows can be the Demon King's spies. Better to be safe than sorry." Link told him.
They paddled to the western shore and pulled the boat out of the water. It was remarkably light, even with the extra weight of the provisions and the oars. The seven of them would have no trouble carrying it. Link went ahead along the edge of the waterfall as a scout to find the path to the stair. "You want me to go with him, sir?" Billings asked.
"No, he'll be fine. I'm pretty sure he can take care of himself." Shepherd told him.
The falls were amazing to Link's eyes. The power and the noise of the water was nothing short of awesome. This whole world seemed more... intense and alive. Not seeing any path big enough to haul a boat through right next to the edge, and certainly no stairway to bring it down, Link explored away from the falls a little.
"Master Link," Fi's image emerged, "I detect creatures approaching. I have never encountered creatures of this type before. They are giving off a dark energy. I calculate there is a ninety-five percent chance they are hostile."
"How many?" Link asked.
"Two that I can detect. They are approaching from a wide path to your southwest. My calculations indicate they are not aware of your presence." She said, then disappeared back into the sword, which Link then quietly drew as he crept southwest towards the path he had been searching for.
He watched the path silently through some bushes that his green tunic blended in with very well. A few minutes passed and the creatures came into view marching in lockstep along the road. Fi was correct, there were only two of them. They were large and muscular with jet black skin, small cruel eyes and yellow fangs. They wore armor and carried long swords with sharp hooks at the end. They both had heavy shields. Link had never seen an orc before, but they looked far more intimidating than the bokoblins had been. One of them carried a horn on a strap around his neck. They were heading in the direction of Colonel Shepherd and his team.
Link quietly waited until the orcs had passed, then crept out of the bushes behind them. His mind and his body remembered how to dispatch them with ease and silently. With practically no sound, he crept up behind them and spun his sword with all the power he could muster, aiming for the backs of their heads, which were unarmored. The orcs fell with a clank of their armor.
Link waited a few minutes for them to disappear in a puff of smoke like they always did. He continued to wait. The bodies remained. A black pool of blood collected under them. Link then looked at his sword blade and discovered that it was sprayed with a black fluid. These weren't creatures of magic, he realized. The Demon King was using real beings for his soldiers.
He wiped his blade in the bushes to the side of the road, then he dragged both corpses into the bushes as well. They were ridiculously heavy. He searched the bodies for anything useful, but found nothing. Satisfied they had no companions who would be coming along shortly, Link returned to his party by way of the road he had found.
"The road for the stair is there," he reported. "There were two orcs patrolling it. I took care of them. They didn't vanish, so I hid the bodies in the bushes." Link said this with disgust.
The rest of them looked at him oddly. "They didn't vanish?" Shepherd asked. "Why would they?"
"The Demon King usually uses creatures created from his own dark magic. Every time I've killed them before they simply explode in black smoke and disappear. These orcs didn't. He's now using real living beings as his soldiers." Link explained.
"Well, let me ease your mind a little about it. Every one of those orcs, in this world, is a creature of darkness. They may bleed like everyone else, but there's nothing good left in them. They fight amongst themselves, and they'll eat each other if they get the chance." Shepherd told him.
Link nodded. "I've never had to deal with the bodies before."
"Welcome to our world." Shepherd replied.
McKay looked pensive. "He's never used real beings before?"
"No, not really." Link said.
McKay became lost in thought as he worked with the others.