Answers to reviews:
jiubantai-taicho: Well, he didn't exactly turn on his mother, but she would be revolted with what her son had become. I do plan to show flashbacks to Liante's childhood under Morgoth's 'care', to his time in Morgoth's army and the vicious warrior he had been, and then to Liante's time after his father's downfall, to how he took Sauron's rise to power and the battle of the Last Alliance on the slopes of Mount Doom. Liante is the first born of Ungoliant, so he is naturally more powerful than Shelob but she's just as powerful as well, but not more than him. She'd put him a good fight if the two ever did fight, which they will as they are siblings and siblings fight. And really? You feel a weird vibe from Liante and Arwen's relationship? Isn't Arwen MUCH older than Aragon, even though Aragon had been blessed with long life, yet I'm sure Arwen is still older than him.
Artorias78: Well, here it is.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Lord of the Rings or the Hobbit. I only own the OC Liante.
For two days the Company had been at Rivendell, for two days they rested and took a load off from travelling on the road for so long. For two days, Liante continued to train Arwen. She was already proving to be a great learner and was handling a blade well. She was still a long ways off rom some of the warriors that Liante's faced over the years but she was advancing rather quickly.
He should ask Elrond to continue training her once he and the company have left Rivendell. He wouldn't want her skills to fade and rust because she waited for him to make another visit, which could be years away once he leaves.
Right now, Arwen found herself on her back with Liante's sword at her neck, the son of Morgoth standing casually with the sword in hand.
"Dead again." He said with a proud smile. "But you've gotten much better than you were when we first began your training."
"Yes, you enjoyed having me on my back so much." Arwen said teasingly, smirking as Liante paused at her words. "I think you enjoy seeing me like this and you on top."
Liante stared at her, jaw slightly agape before he sighed and shook his head. "She-Elves." He muttered under his breath in Elvish. He took a glance around the courtyard they use for their sparring/training and saw several places had gnashes and sword marks, along with some benches being broken due to Liante having applied a bit of his physical strength. If he hadn't been holding back, Arwen would not be alive right now.
Liante looked over himself, seeing a few cuts in his clothes but nothing bad, also there was a cut on his cheek but that didn't bother him. He's suffered much worse.
Arwen on the other hand had even more tears in her clothes with a large lightly bleeding scratch on her cheek and a small gash on her neck where Liante's blade was digging into her flesh ever so slightly. However, the daughter of Elrond seemed unconcerned with this, having already told Liante beforehand that she didn't want him to be going 'easy' on her. After all, her enemies will be far less accommodating and won't be so merciful, especially Men and Orcs.
Arwen giggled breathlessly, her body sweating from the sparring which caused her clothes to cling to her figure and show it off, which caught Liante's attention and he had trouble trying to not stare at the body of the woman he held great affection for.
Shaking his head and composing himself, he withdrew his sword and offered a hand for Arwen to take. Arwen smiled and reached up, grasping his hand and Liante went to pull himself up when he suddenly found himself being thrown to the ground and on his back with Arwen now straddling him, her dagger at his neck.
"What's this, the son of Morgoth caught off his guard?" Arwen asked teasingly and with amusement as she grinned down at him, their faces so close that they could feel each other's breath against their lips.
Liante chuckled. "You are dangerous." he said in a low voice.
Arwen chuckled as she lessened the weight she was putting on him, taking her dagger from his throat but remained where she was. "Didn't you once say you liked danger?"
"True." Liante nodded, but mentally he was very proud of Arwen. A very, very small few have been able to catch him off his guard and surprise him. It wasn't easy for many to try catching him off his guard, as he had been trained from a young age to always be on his guard, something his father made sure to remind him of, and when Liante didn't exactly follow his father's instructions or failed to do so the first few times, his father made sure he was punished for it.
Liante and Arwen stared into each other's hands, neither wanting to move from this position. Liante placed a hand on Arwen's hip, his thumb lightly tracing a circle which made Arwen smile.
"Can we remain like this?" She asked in Elvish.
"What, you on top of me?" Liante asked with a smirk.
Arwen chuckled before she leaned down so her body was pressed against his, her head resting in the crook of his neck. "Like this, I mean. Why can't you stay at Rivendell forever? Stay with me?"
Liante sighed. "I'm not one to remain in one place too long, my dear." He said softly, going back to the common tongue as Arwen leaned up, her hands placed on the ground on either side of his head. He reached up and caressed her cheek. "But you are worth me coming back here. I still don't see how someone as beautiful as yourself... could hold such affection for someone like me."
"Liante..." Arwen caressed his cheek this time. "You are not your mother, and you are most certainly not your father. You are not what they wanted you to be."
"The same hunger from my mother flows through me." Liante said in a whisper, his vulnerability beginning to show. "Just as the same desire for power and domination from my father flows through me. I did... so many cruel things under my father's command."
"But you are not that man anymore." Arwen said, smiling softly at him. "I know this."
Liante gave a small scoff. "What makes you think that?"
Arwen's smile widened. "Because if you were what they wanted you to be, and what you once were in the First Age, you would've killed me for being on you like this, and you would've killed me for this..."
With that, she leaned down and captured his lips in a soft kiss.
Body jerking slightly in surprise, Liante soon relaxed and closed his eyes, kissing her back and his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her close to his body. The two were content to remain there, enjoying the moment of having each other's feelings for the other known and shared...
Liante did warn Gandalf that the news of their quest would reach the ears of Saruman and Galadriel, so he wasn't surprised when Gandalf called him to the White Council, where Saruman and Galadriel themselves were to discuss the matter of the quest to Erebor.
"Tell me, Gandalf, did you think these plans and schemes of yours would go unnoticed?" Saurman asked with a bit of a scowl.
"Unnoticed?" Gandalf blinked as he looked between Saruman and Galadriel. Liante was leaning against one of the stone columns, staring out into the distance while Elrond stood or walked about, the same as Galadriel. "No, I'm simply doing what I feel to be right."
"The dragon has long been on your mind." Galadriel stated as she turned to look at Gandalf.
The Wizard gave a nod. "That is true, my lady. Smaug owes allegiance to no one."
"Dragons have owed allegiance to no one since the days of Morgoth when they were led by Ancalagon the Black." Liante said. He would know, he witnessed the power and terror of the dragons that Morgoth created and brought from the shadows. Morgoth is the only being the dragon race would ever say they swore allegiance to, except for the arrogant types such as Smaug.
"That is true, also." Gandalf nodded. "But if Smaug should side with the enemy... a dragon could be used to terrible effect."
"What enemy?" Saurman questioned, shaking his head. "Gandalf, the enemy is defeated. Sauron is vanquished. He can never regain his full strength."
"Sauron proved he didn't need the One Ring to dominate the land, nor corrupt the Nine. It was his ability to manipulate and deceive that paved the way to him becoming the threat he had become." Liante said. Sauron didn't need the One Ring to bring entire kingdoms to their knees, he already did such things before he had the One Ring created.
"Liante, for four hundred years we have lived in peace." Elrond said as he turned to regard the son of Morgoth. "A hard-won, watchful peace. In that time, has there ever been a sign of Sauron's servants or a sign of his return?"
"Are we? Are we at peace?" Gandalf cut in before Liante could answer as he looked at Elrond, Saruman and Galadriel with serious yet concerned eyes. "Trolls have come down from the mountains. They are raiding villages, destroying farms. Orcs have attacked us on the road."
"Hardly a prelude to war." Elrond shook his head.
"Always you must meddle." Saruman said in a disapproving tone towards his fellow Wizard. "Looking for trouble where none exists."
"Let him speak." Galadriel said as she slowly circled the table, but always keeping Liante in her line of sight.
"There is something at work beyond the evil of Smaug. Something far more powerful." Gandalf said, entwining his hands and leaning on the table. "We can remain blind, but it will not be ignoring us, that I can promise you. A sickness lies over the Greenwood. The woodsmen who live there now call it 'Mirkwood'. and they say..."
He trailed off as he and Liante shared a look, remembering Radagast's words about Shelob's brood and the Necromancer.
Saurman noticed the look and spoke up. "Well, don't stop now. Tell us about the woodsmen say."
"They speak of a Necromancer living in Dol Guldur, a sorcerer who can summon the dead." Gandalf said.
That's absurd." Saurman said with disbelief. "No such power exists in the world. This...Necromancer is nothing more than a mortal man. A conjurer dabbling in black magic."
Gandalf nodded. "And so I thought too. But, Radagast has seen -
"Radagast?" Saurman cut him off, his tone disapproving upon hearing the name of his fellow Wizard. "Do not speak to me about Radagast the Brown. He is a foolish fellow."
Gandalf chuckled. "Well, he's odd, I grant you. He lives a solitary life."
"It's not that." Saurman shook his head. "It's his excessive consumption of mushrooms. They've addled his brain and yellowed his teeth. I warned him, it is unbefitting of the Istari to be wander in the woods..."
Liante rolled his eyes as he didn't listen to the rest of whatever Saruman was talking about. He turned his gaze back to the dawning sun. His mind turned back to recent events. The Trolls coming down from the mountains, raiding villages and destroying farms, a Orc pack attacking them on the road.
Could this be a sign that Sauron is returning?
'And there's the matter of my sister's children.' Liante thought, pinching the bridge of his nose. 'I may have to go and see her, and get an explanation from her myself. Which means I will have to go to Mordor.'
If Sauron is indeed returning, Shelob may be the only one that can tell Liante since she lives in the land that was Sauron's main base of operations. Liante hasn't been to Mordor in... quite some time.
"What is that?" He heard Elrond ask and looked to see Gandalf had brought out the covered Morgul blade.
"A relic... of Mordor." Galadriel said, her tone shaken with a hint of shock and even fear as Elrond paused from reaching for the covered blade.
Elrond carefully unwrapped it to reveal the blade, much to the shock of the Elf. "A Morgul Blade..." He whispered.
"Made for the Witch-King of Angmar..." Galadriel said as she walked around to glance down at the blade. "And buried with him and the Nazgûl. When Angmar fell, men of the North took his body and all that he possessed and sealed it within the High Fells of Rhudaur. Deep within the rock they buried them, in a tomb so dark it would never come to light."
"This is not possible." Elrond leaned on the table, looking grave and in disbelief. "A powerful spells lies upon those tombs; they cannot be opened."
Saurman, who had been silent after seeing the Morgul Blade, finally spoke. "What proof do we have this weapon came from Angmar's grave?"
Gandalf hesitated for a moment. "I have none."
"Because there is none." Saurman said before shaking his head. "Let us examine what we know. A single Orc pack has dared to cross the Bruinen. A dagger from a bygone age has been found. And a human sorcerer, who calls himself the Necromancer, has taken up residence in a ruined fortress. It's not so very much, after all. The question of this dwarvish company, however, troubles me deeply. I'm not convinced, Gandalf; I do not feel I can condone such a quest. If they'd come to me, I might have spared them this disappointment. I do not pretend to understand your reasons for raising their hopes…"
'I knew he was going to say that. A good thing Gandalf and I sent the Dwarves and Bilbo on without us.' Liante thought, glancing at Galadriel who seemed to have caught on and smirked amusingly at Gandalf.
"...I have afraid there's nothing else for it." Saruman was saying when Lindir arrived.
"My Lord Elrond, the Dwarves... they've gone."
And that's it for this chapter everyone. The next will feature a lemon between Liante and Arwen before Liante leaves with Gandalf to catch up with the Company, which will lead them to a certain town full of Goblins.