Ok, chapter 6. I really have to try on this one.
Of course, I do need help with these things, so any suggestions about what should happen would be appreciated by me a lot. Also, if you want any character (created by you, or even you) in this fic, don't hesitate to ask. I'd be more than glad to put anybody in (I've done it before). Anyway, here's my first effort. R&R please, thanks.
Dedication: To good ol' Sean – funny bloke.
Greater Evasion
Part VI, Circle of the Moon"It was a time of darkness. Unthinkably, we had destroyed Krell – One of Soaron's greatest fighters. However the ring of the Dark Lord remained whole as far as we knew. We had lost both the trail of the Fellowship and our own way. We still thought ourselves to be in the land of Mordor, but our opinions changed once we came across the Friendly Arm Inn. However, our experiences there proved that we were defiantly not far from the accursed land."
From the diary of Anomen Redwood, hobbiton press.
Ulli Runecarver growled as they entered the forest. Their victory over Krell and their new equipment from the skeleton of the paladin had done nothing to sooth his anger over the last fifteen hours of their travelling. It was about twenty-four hours ago that they had entered the cave of Krell, and the twenty of those hours that he had been not only awake but thrown across rooms and slashed countless times and it had made him a very angry Dwarf.
"Trees." He snarled as they went deeper into the wood. "Just like elves, they make me want to axe them all… No offence meant friend." He nodded over at Adolphus Fell. The half-Elven warrior, who was walking steadily despite his broken ribs. He rubbed his bandaged chest and glared over at Ulli.
"None taken, since I'm not an elf!" His elven half of his family made him very shameful, and he hated being called an elf. Ulli's response was harsh laughter. He kicked a tree.
"They harbour things, trees do. There's always a goblin up one of 'em. There would be an orc if the damn things could go out in the day. Why can't the scum show themselves instead of cowering away? Its dark hobbit. We need light."
Drondee Templewob nodded. He fished out the talisman of Loth from his shirt. Immediately a bright beam of light burst out of it. There was a path through the forest of sorts. The thing was so minute that they needed the light to see it.
* * * *
Anomen Redwood shielded his eyes from the talisman's angry glare. The thing was bright, in many ways, too bright. But he was glad of it, only a fool would wander the woods at night, even with companions. It was a beautiful night though. The stars were out, the moon was full…
Anomen stopped. It had to be a trick of the talisman's light. It had to be. Not this night. No. Any night but this night.
"Drondee." He said quietly, "Stop the light for a second."
Moved by the seriousness of his voice. Drondee stopped and put his hand over the light. Anomen looked up again, it wasn't a trick of the light. It was real.
Shekkla's moon.
The Evaders all stopped now and looked up at it. It was said that during the rise of Soaron, he had many advisors and Commanders. Many, like Krell, managed to die in secret so that they could once again rise, but there was one that couldn't do that. His name was Shekkla. Legend has it that Shekkla was Soaron's greatest sorcerer. When the Alliance defeated Soaron, Shekkla still defiantly stood firmly with the ranks of evil. Ten of the finest elven mages duelled him. Such was Shekkla's power that all were killed, but in death, their power was made whole and with their dying breaths they banished Shekkla from Middle Earth. They banished his soul to the moon. Defeated and broken, Shekkla put one final curse on the world. Once every year, when the moon was full, he would return to command the forces of evil for one night. Each year, once a night the dead roam, goblins and orcs amass and magic mutates many that venture out on the night. Tonight was Shekkla's moon.
The moon was a deep red, and there was clearly a face on it, leering down, grinning. It was said that Shekkla's power was still so great, it managed to look at everyone in the same time. Anomen remembered when he first saw it when he was five. He remembered the shock he saw, seeing the moon cackle and grin at him, he remembered shivering uncontrollably before his father bundled him into the family cellar for the night. He never saw it again, he was always hiding when it came up until when it came down. It was a chilling reminder to see it now.
"There!" Bongo Templewob suddenly shouted. The terror was apparent in his voice. "There! We can stay there until the moon has died for another year!"
Anomen gasped. There were lights about three hundred metres away. Could it really be civilization? In the middle of Mordor? He thought again. Most likely they were just on Mordor's outskirts, they had gone far underground. As they got closer to the lights, they saw that it was a tavern. The Evaders cheered. A place to sleep safely. Finally. Although you were never safe on Shekkla's Moon. A sign above the Tavern read 'Friendly Arm Inn.' Ulli walked up, music and laughing could be heard from inside. He bashed on the closed door. The talking stopped.
A little slit above the door opened, two eyes peeped out.
"Who seeks refuge on this of all nights? State your allegiance."
Anomen sighed, nobody could be trusted on Shekkla's Moon so he couldn't see why they should be an exception. He stepped forward.
"Please, we are travellers seeking a bed for the night away from the glare of the demon sorcerer." He almost smiled, Shekkla was no Demon, but it sounded dramatic. He looked behind him, Shekkla's face was grinning back at him with a slightly offended look, it obviously didn't want to be called a Demon. Anomen heard a heavy latch on the door be removed. It opened. The Evaders rushed in. The door closed behind them. A fat man replaced the plank on the door. The noise in the tavern started up again. Brawls and drinking contests were re-started.
Feeling warm and happy, the Evaders split up. Bongo and Drondee went off on their own, Fell went over to sit with some other adventurer-type people with Anomen, and Ulli stomped over to a group of Dwarfs and within the minute started an arm-wrestle.
* * * *
Adolphus Fell sat down on a chair on the same table as a group of adventurers, Anomen sat next to him. The group looked up and smiled. They seemed to be made up of two human warriors, decked out in dull armour, an old man that looked like a wizard and another person who had a large black cloak on, a scar running down his right cheek. He looked to be the most experienced.
"Welcome strangers." The cloaked man smiled, "My name is Ajantis. I lead my group here. This is Crozus, a good wizard, this is Guant, and this is Tzaftar."
"My name is Adolphus Fell, this is my companion Anomen Redwood. We are part of a group known as the Evaders."
"Small group." Ajantis said.
"There are five of us in total." Anomen smiled. "However. We are lost. Friend, could you tell us where we are?"
The man's grin faded. "Here is not a good place to be lost. You are on the outskirts of Mordor. The accursed land lies only a kilometre from here. This Inn marks the end of civilization. Warriors gather here to seek fortunes in the land of Mordor. Including myself and my companions."
"Thank you." Fell said. "But why are you right next to Mordor? On Shekkla's Moon?"
"We had no idea that tonight Shekkla would watch Middle Earth." Ajantis said. By the time it became clear it was too late, it is ten miles back to the nearest settlement – Snifflibrin, a Dwarven Village. The Inn has seen combat on Shekkla's Moon before, but we are well prepared." Anomen assumed that weapons lay under the man's cloak.
* * * *
Suddenly, there was a sound from outside. Laughter, mad, howling, Echoey laughter. A sneering voice shouted:
"Good Lord, a gathering! My, this will be fun." The voice stopped talking and started laughing again. Anomen pepped out through a crack in the freshly boarded window. His blood ran cold.
It was the moon.
Shekkla's face in the moon was laughing and taunting them. It seemed to glow brighter. Anomen swiftly looked away. The Inn was in uproar, men had jumped up and had seized their weapons. Bar stools had been shoved up against the door. The Innkeeper ran around shouting orders. He carried a large pitchfork. Anomen drew his weapon, wincing at the pain in his side that it gave him – he was still not healed. Ajantis had kicked over the table and his group crouched behind it. The man drew out a wickedly sharp blade and a crossbolt pistol.
A crossbolt pistol was a new and expensive contraption. Basically it was a very small handheld crossbow. It fired bolts not much larger than twigs, but they were sharper than pins. It was a favourite weapon of assassins due to its size, and, although it wasn't usually powerful enough to be fatal, in the hands of an expert the bolt could easily go through somebody's head.
The wizard, Crozus closed his eyes and bowed his head. His staff began to glow. After about a minute he looked up again. Now there was silence. In a cool voice he said.
"Moon Demons. Shekkla's hordes."
As in response to this, a loud screeching suddenly came from outside. Anomen had absolutely no idea how powerful Moon Demons were but it seemed that they were going to find out.
However, the screeching, though chilling, was too high to be coming from a large Demon, although the amount of voices that he could hear made his heart fall as soon as it had risen. To think that amongst other things, these creatures roamed the entire of Middle Earth was a horrifying prospect.
Silence again.
Adolphus Fell looked down at his hands. They were sweating. Sweating with tension and fear of the fight ahead. The noises outside had stopped for ten minutes now, why weren't they showing themselves? Why?
Another five minutes passed.
Suddenly there was a small scratching sound coming from one of the boarded up windows. A faint snuffling noise came with it. Fell jumped. Ajantis closed one eye and levelled his crossbolt pistol at the sound. It stopped. Silence resumed.
Then, without warning, half of the boards on the windows were smashed open. The screeching resumed. Shekkla's howling laughter resumed in the background. Screams erupted around the Inn as the moon Demons clawed their way into the building.
Anomen's thoughts on them had been correct. They were small, about the size- of a five-year old. They were roughly reptilian in shape, with two scrawny arms and two lanky legs. On their backs were two large wings, resembling dragons wings. Their eyes glowed red. Their blood – Ichor and brimstone – their life essence , dripped from their fangs. They hissed and screeched uncontrollably.
The occupants of the Inn rushed forward to meet them. Swords and arrows flew from one direction, from another, talons and fangs swished across the fighters. Man fought Demon and Demon fought man. Steaming Ichor mingled with red blood. Screams burst out as claws ripped at chests. Hisses of confusion rang round the room as blades tore off demonic limbs. Shekkla had obvious interest in this particular fight to have put so many creatures against the warriors. Or maybe it was the magic generated from the land of Mordor which had helped the summoning of the creatures.
* * * *
Adolphus Fell cried out in pain as a razor-sharp claw gashed him in the side. He sliced out with his sword, taking off the demon's hand. Ichor hit his arm. It was mildly corrosive but no more than hot water was. Stopping his blade, he rammed it upwards, up through the demon's mouth. The creature howled as its summoning came to an end. After a few seconds, the creature had gone back to its demonic plane, leaving only a shrivelled husk. Another one came at him. He didn't have time to react. Paralyzed with shock. He watched the creatures flashing teeth get nearer and nearer.
A small bolt suddenly lodged itself in its head. The Demon shrivelled up and died. Fell looked over and nodded his thanks to Ajantis for saving his life with his calm accuracy with his crossbolt pistol.
However the battle was going badly. Dead men littered the ground. Demons poured down from upstairs. Fell needed some help. He suddenly saw Drondee the hobbit. Him and his brother Bongo were standing back-to-back, fighting the creatures of the night. In one hand, Drondee was stabbing out with his newly-acquired magical short-sword. In the other he was directing the light beam from the talisman of Loth at the Demons. The bright, holy light made the demons squawk with pain. They covered their eyes from it but the radiant light seemed to be making their Ichor boil. He noticed one demons fingertips pop and boiling, bubbling Ichor shot out. He wished he had an item like…
He stopped. He had something. Quickly he dived under a table. He noticed another man lying down under it. He quickly told the man to move, as it was important. When he did not he shoved the man. He fought back the desire to wretch as he realised that the man only had half a face. He clambered under the table and fumbled inside his backpack. He laughed out in joy and pulled it out. The Orb of Dragonkind. He jumped on the overturned table, dodging the flying head of Crozus the wizard, wearing a confused look on his face. Blood hit the table. Fell suddenly felt sick, he had no idea what to do next. Regardless, he held up the orb and shouted.
"Um… Begone, foul demons… er… go away Shekkla… or suffer the wrath of… er…" He looked over at the hobbit and his talisman, "Of Dron… no… of… of LOTH!" He didn't expect anything to happen.
But something did.
The man that he had found the orb off was, unknown to him, the Paladin Veadecka, one of the high priests of a long-forgotten God, Loth. The name of this God was enough to make the orb work.
The orb glowed brightly. Light flared out of it and into the night sky. The light formed into the shape of a dragon. Fell saw the moon's leering face turn into a look of horror as the light-dragon dived down. It was so large that it didn't even fit completely into the Friendly Arm Inn, but it covered the inside with a radiant glow. The Moon Demons doubled up in agony. They screeched loudly, clawing at their flesh as it appeared to melt off them. This continued for about five minutes.
Suddenly, silence resumed.
Fell looked outside. Daylight. Shekkla's face had disappeared from the moon. It was back to normal. Aside from the burns on the floor where the Ichor had struck it, there was no trace of the Moon Demons.
But the Inn was ruined.
Dead men littered the floor. Blood soaked the tables. Splinters of wood lay around the tavern. Arrows were stuck in the walls. Flagons of ale were everywhere. Overturned. The boards on the wall were completely ripped out. Much of the wall had been clawed. Fell jumped as a human body fell tumbled down from upstairs, his chest was slashed open almost beyond recognition. Blood stained the stairs behind him.
"Damn you." Adolphus Fell said quietly to the moon. "Damn you."
* * * *
An hour later, a large pyre burned outside. The survivors of the attack heaped bodies on it. The fat innkeeper was trying to clean up his in as best he could. He had patched up most of the holes in the wall with wood, vaguely mumbling something about temporary repairs. Most of his tables and chairs were either hacked up beyond use or too blood-stained to ever use, so they went too. At the moment he was trying to shave the burns and steins off his floorboards. Ulli Runecarver stood silently at the door of the Inn, axe still in hand.
Fell saw Ajantis standing motionlessly next to the pyre. He walked up to him. He noticed that the man was staring at three bodies on it. One a headless corpse. The bodies of Gaunt, who had his body almost turned inside-out when it was swamped by the Moon Demons, Tzaftar, who survived the attack, but not with any of his limbs. He died of blood loss. And the body of the wizard Crozus, who's head had been ripped off by the Demons. Ajantis turned to meet him.
"A waste." He said sadly, "I had known them for… a long time…" He turned away, his head bowed. Fell put his arm on his shoulder.
"Don't worry." He said. "They fought bravely." Ajantis turned to meet him. He smiled faintly, then his smile contorted into a look of rage and he howled out the worst group of swear words at the moon that the half-elf had ever heard. Ulli Runecarver walked up to him.
"What happens now friend?" The Dwarf said.
"I don't know…" Ajantis said. "There's nothing left."
"Well don't just sit there!" Ulli boomed, "I greatly respect skill. Come along with us!" Ajantis' face brightened slightly.
"Well, what do you lot do?" He asked, "Treasure hunters? Dragonslayers? Bandits?" Anomen and the hobbits walked up to the Dwarf, the half-elf and the ruined man.
"Let's say… a bit of an important mission. We wouldn't mind the help."
"What sort of mission?" Ajantis was smiling again.
"Let me tell you." Ulli said, and led Ajantis away.
* * * *
Half an hour later, Ajantis returned. He was defiantly smiling now.
"Well." He began, "Looks like I've landed myself in it. I can't imagine how the hell you lot got into this mess, but it'd be my honour to help however I can. You can count me in."
"Ajantis here is one of those people who prefer stealth to front-on conflict." Ulli said, "He can pick pockets and locks and disarm traps. I think that he will be an invaluable asset to us."
Everyone else agreed.
* * * *
Later on the Evaders left the Friendly Arm Inn. Thanking them for their help, the Innkeeper waved them off. Ajantis pulled out his map and soon they were back in Mordor, on the tail of the Fellowship of The Ring.
Ulli Runecarver liked the beer at that Tavern. Weak as human beer was, he undeniably liked it. He made a mental vow that he would return to the Friendly Arm Inn. Cursed Ring or no Cursed Ring. Nothing would hold him back.
END OF PART VI
I liked that chapter. Hope you did as well, I think I'll start on another one, perhaps not so ultra-violent, but I can't help it. Anyway, thanks for reading. Please review. Bye!