Fred yawned as he walked towards the horse stables at the edge of the bridge that led all the way from the lakeshore to the other side of town. There were about ten horses in the stables and two lamps hung on both sides at both ends of the building. Another man sat in a rocking chair near the front entrance, smoking a pipe.

"Well, close the books on that Byron." Fred said "That was a slow day."

"Sucks to be you." Byron responded as he got up from the chair "Well, I better be heading home. Wife's waiting for me."

"You do that." Fred replied "I gotta stand guard all night."

He walked into the stables as Byron turned a corner at the right of the building. Fred went towards one pen where there was a brown horse with a black mane and tail. As soon as he approached the pen, the horse suddenly began to become very excited and backed away from the pen gate, neighing as it did so.

"Whoa, whoa, hey!" Fred barked as he put up his hands "What's the matter with you?"

The horse continued acting strangely and soon the other horses began to do so as well. Suddenly, there was a splashing sound from outside. As if something heavy had fallen into the lake.

"Byron?" Fred called out.

No answer. But there was a creaking sound coming from all sides. More then one person was here. Fred wasn't taking any chances so he quickly walked over towards the front entrance of the stables and drew his sword. He carefully walked out onto the boardwalk, the wood creaking every time he stepped. He looked around but no one was there.

"Byron?" he called out as he turned to his left "Where the hell are you?"

With an amazing amount of stealth, Grinnah had crept up behind Fred and before Fred could do anything about it, the goblin leapt on top of him, grabbed his head and, with one swipe of his clawed feet, slashed his throat open with a fountain of blood gushing out as Fred's lifeless body thumped onto the boardwalk. Grinnah then whistled and the goblins silently stepped out from both sides of the stables, having already dealt with Byron silently and efficiently.

"Anyone smell them?" Otto asked.

A few of the goblins sniffed the air around them. The air was mostly filled with the smells of food, humans, dead fish…and something else.

"It's faint…" said one named Klaue "…but I smell them."

"Excellent." Grinnah said sadistically.

He then snapped his fingers and the rest of the goblins followed after him as they headed towards town, with only three other goblins staying behind to stand guard.

/

At that moment, Kamilla groaned in pain as she felt agonizing pain in her leg. Frieda sat by her sister's side, clutching her hand and unable to do anything to help her while Frieda paced nervously next to her. Shane suddenly came over with a damp, warm rag. Frieda moved the rag onto Kamilla's head just as she coughed violently. A cough wouldn't normally be bad but Frieda almost went white as a sheet when she saw blood emerge from her sister's mouth along with mucus. Ophelia arrived and looked just as concerned.

"Ah damn it." she hissed "As if I didn't have enough to worry about."

"Can't you help her?!" Frieda demanded.

"I need herbs!" Ophelia barked "Something to bring down her fever!"

"But she could be dying!" Frieda all but screamed with tears welling up in her eyes "I promised my mother I'd keep her safe!"

"There's got to be herbs someplace here." Bertha said.

Bard, meanwhile, clambered up the stairs and headed to the table with various herbs in his hands.

"Okay, let's see…" he said as he sorted them out on the table "…I have nightshade, fever-few. Damn it! What kind of injury is this?!"

"What?!" Ophelia asked while holding up her hearing horn.

"What kind of injury is this?!" Bard yelled back far louder.

"She was shot with an arrow." Ophelia replied "I'm going to take another look at it."

Ophelia then untied the bandage they'd tied to Kamilla's leg, only for Kamilla to let out a yelp of pain as she grasped Frieda's hand even tighter. Bertha and Ophelia then looked to Kamilla's legs and stared in stunned silence for a few moments. Kamilla's wound was now inflamed and looking like it was turning red and brown, with pieces of cracked, frostbitten skin around it. A tiny amount of blood was leaking out as well. The wound had clearly festered and the possibility of infection was all too real.

"No wonder she was acting the way she did." Ophelia said "She must have been in constant pain."

At that moment, Frieda could practically feel her heart breaking in two and shut her eyes as she covered her mouth with her left hand as she started to cry with tears slipping down her face. Ophelia immediately ran over and wrapped her arms around her in an effort to comfort her.

"I can't let her die." Frieda said in a heartbroken tone.

"Damn it, if only we had some Elvish medicine." Bard muttered to himself.

"Wait a minute!" Ophelia barked having heard Bard "Kingsfoil!"

"What?" Bertha inquired.

"It's a kind of medicinal herb!" Ophelia replied "Bard, do you have any?"

"I don't think so." Bard replied "It's a weed we feed to the pigs."

"Pigs?!" Bertha piped up "I think I saw some at a pig stall near the market!" she went on as she ran towards a nearby coat rack and slipped on her coat "I hope I'm not too late!"

"Where are you going?!" Terrence barked.

"To get the medicine!" Bertha replied as she opened the door "I'll be right back, I promise!"

And then she shut the door as she hurried down the staircase and ran faster then she'd ever run before towards the marketplace, leaving the others behind to tend to Kamilla, all unawares of the goblins who were still prowling after them and were now at the town borders, moving in for the kill.

/

Gillian tried to piece together and comprehend all the information Thrain had told her as they navigated their way through Dol Guldur, relentlessly searching for the bridge entrance. The fog only complicated the matter and at night the two could barely see beyond the light from Gillian's staff.

"Are you certain of this?!" Gillian barked.

"Positive!" Thrain replied hastily "He is waiting for them! They're in great danger!"

"And then he'll ally himself with Smaug!" Gillian said.

"Exactly!" Thrain replied as they turned a corner and found themselves in a courtyard "Hurry! We must hurry!"

All of a sudden a loud roar echoed from just ahead of them and Bolg charged at them through the fog as it was just clearing. Before Gillian could do anything, Bolg smacked into her with the full force of his body and sent her hurling at least fifteen feet and she landed on the ground hard, with Thrain rushing over to her. Bolg held his signature massive club, with his bony armour making him look for nightmarish than he already was. Gillian groaned in pain as she sat up with Bolg laughing at her, now with several orcs behind him.

"You have come too late, wizard." he laughed "Our plan is commencing. And now…" he continued as he walked towards her with four other orcs "…it's time to die."

Bolg was just about to swing club to crush Gillian's skull but she got up just in time and swung her staff right at him. The orcs were knocked backwards much to their surprise. Gillian stood proud with her staff held out in front of her and Thrain hiding behind her for safety.

"Where is your master?!" Gillian demanded.

Bolg roared as he stood up only for Gillian to thrust her staff forward and knock him back down again.

"WHERE IS HE?!" Gillian roared.

"He is everywhere." Bolg chuckled with a demonic grin on his face "Don't you see? You are surrounded."

Gillian to her left and noticed they weren't in a courtyard but rather a ledge. Her and Thrain leaned to their left slightly and looked down from the ledge to see what was below them. Hundreds of wargs and orcs, all staring up at them, laughing, chattering and growling. The eerie fog soon began to creep back as Gillian turned her attention back to Bolg who had gotten up and was trying to surround her with the other orcs.

"Enough of this." he said.

Gillian then twirled her staff and then before Bolg could charge at her she smacked the staff onto the ground and in a blinding flash of light and a crackling noise her and Thrain vanished away. The orcs stood in dumbfounded silence for a moment before Bolg turned to them looking none too happy.

"Don't just stand there, you idiots!" he roared angrily "Hunt them down!"

Gillian and Thrain had teleported into a place nearby the bridge and had resumed running for their lives. As they ran, Gillian looked back and saw the wargs closing in on them from behind. Gillian twirled around when they got into a clearing and smacked her staff onto an already crumbling tower. As soon as her staff impacted accompanied by a loud crackling noise, the tower leaned over and collapsed as it fell, crushing the wargs behind Gillian and Thrain before it even fully hit the ground with a loud crash. The two quickly turned a corner as the fog circled around them and mixed with the smoke from the collapsed tower and there it was. Just ahead of them, stretching out from the entrance and disappearing into the fog, was the bridge.

"We've found it!" Thrain exclaimed.

"Quickly now!" Gillian ordered "Hurry!"

But no sooner had they gone twenty feet onto the bridge then the inky black cloud that was The Necromancer suddenly emerged from out of nowhere and stopped the two dead in their tracks. Thrain latched onto Gillian for protection as she held out her staff, ready for anything.

"You dumb bitch. You thought you could escape me." he said in a voice that sent shivers down both Thrain and Gillian's spines "There is no light that can defeat darkness."

Thrain gulped as he saw his captor billowing before him with it's soulless red eyes staring back at him. It was then that it hit him: he wasn't going to make it. He then looked to Gillian who stood bravely against what was before them.

"G-Gillian, will you do something for me?" he asked as Gillian looked down at him "Tell my daughters that I loved them! Can you please do that? Tell Dis and Traude I loved them!"

"You'll tell them yourself!" Gillian responded.

"No I won't." Thrain said sadly.

Suddenly, some billows of smoke shot out like spears and curled around Gillian and snatched Thrain, only when they impacted him they stabbed into him like spears with blood spewing from the wounds. Before Gillian could do anything he was dragged away screaming and became engulfed in the Necromancer's smoke. There was then a sound of something ripping apart and then a cape and hood were thrown out and brushed up against Gillian's feet.

They were what was left of Thrain.

"You're mine now." said the Necromancer to Gillian.

In response, a white beam of light emanated from the staff and formed a force field around her. The Necromancer responded by unleashing his dark magic onto the force field. Gillian stood her ground, biting her lip as she held out her staff like a shield. The Necromancer pushed harder against the shield with a fog swirling around the scene and becoming enveloped in the Necromancer's smoke. The force field suddenly collapsed and Gillian was almost thrown back but she managed to stand up and reactivate it before the Necromancer could do to her what he'd done to poor Thrain. Sweat flowed from Gillian's forehead and her heart-beat accelerated as she did her best to keep the shield up while the Necromancer kept beating against it with everything he had. For a brief moment it looked like she would win as she managed to force him back and he seemed to vanish into the fog only for him to burst out from the fog and hit the force field with the full force of his magic. Not only did the force field collapse but Gillian was knocked to her feet and the smoke began surrounding her along with the fog. She looked towards the Necromancer with fear in her eyes as his blood red eyes stared directly at her.

The smoke suddenly began to take form and became writhed in fire. Soon enough, the flaming shape turned into a tall figure with a spiked helmet and clawed hands. He then held out his hand and Gillian's staff was ripped out of her arms and disintegrated in mid-air. Suddenly the smoke wrapped itself around Gillian's legs and tossed her back to the entranceway like a rag doll and she slammed into the wall. She groaned in pain as she looked at the figure when it clicked in her brain who it was.

The Necromancer was no more. It was worse than anything Gillian had imagined.

"S-Sauron!" Gillian exclaimed with terror in her voice.