Caburnat crossed his thin arms and gazed around, smiling in satisfaction.
Seemingly endless columns of soldiers stood before him, saluting him perfectly and causing a bubble of excitement rise in his being, the sight of an army always excited him.
Dragon HighLord Naheka stood near the Dark Lord, his green eyes fixed on the door that led to the winding stairs of the second tallest tower in the castle…the tower the daughter was supposed to be staying in.
The Dark Lord turned and smiled up at the HighLord, "you have not failed me, Naheka, you will be rewarded."
Naheka gazed down at the shriveled man that had once been his friend from his seven feet in height. His stomach turned unpleasantly as he remembered the man he had once been, strong and tall, nearly as tall as himself.
He vividly remembered two years ago when this very man had come to him, his eyes wild, and begged him to help him get to Mordor, telling him tales of all sorts of threats to his life. Naheka had abandoned his dragon, NightFire, and helped his friend, not understanding what was really going on. They'd arrived at the Dark Tower and Caburnat had proclaimed himself the Dark Lord and shot fire from his hands, immediately becoming Master of the Tower and making Naheka his loyal general.
Naheka forced a smile, realizing he could pick this man up and throw him without a strain, "thank you, friend."
Caburnat's smiled flickered for an instant; he hated that Naheka called him friend rather than Master. Then the smile returned to his wasted face, soon he wouldn't need the Dragon HighLord anymore. He resented everything about Naheka, his strength and health, the way his arms rippled with muscles, even the irritating shininess of his short, untidy brown hair. He shrugged and turned his gaze from the HighLord to the mass of soldier before him, thinking vaguely of making Naheka one of the sacrifices in the ceremony that would inevitably come to pass.
Shielding his eyes against the sun, Naheka stared out at the perfectly organized army before him. Pride rose in his chest, he'd been up since before dawn but at last the army was in perfect order and, due to years of work, perfectly disciplined. Deep down he knew it was a shameful thing he had done, building this great army for the Dark Lord Sauron, but what else could he have done? There was no point in fighting such a powerful force.
It was hardly his fault; Sauron was cunning and clever and had trapped the HighLord before he'd realized his friend was hardly his friend anymore. He remained loyal to his friend of many years, Caburnat Septulinar, not accepting that that man was gone.
Suddenly he heard Caburnat gasp and snapped to attention, glancing around, his hand on his sword, ready to defend the Dark Lord. Then he caught sight of silver hair and realized what was going at the same time Caburnat spoke.
"Do you see her, Naheka?" The Dark Lord smiled and stared at the MoonElf girl, who was being led foreword by a pretty, dark-haired MoonElf Naheka didn't recognize. The Dark Lord rubbed his hands together in excitement, "with that body I will take the world in the palm of my hand," he raised his right hand, palm open, "and I will crush it," he snapped his hand into a fist.
Naheka stared at the daughter, thinking how much she'd grown since the last time he'd seen her. Last time he'd seen her, she'd been nearly fourteen, skinny, with large eyes and bony knees and long silver hair that was always windblown. She was still kind of skinny and her eyes looked large and dark in her thin face, but she was completely different in another way. Her eyes were a little darker and wiser and seemed to hold the reflection of a knowledge that made the hair on the back of Naheka's neck stand up. She held her head high and walked proudly, like a soldier, with her arms swinging slightly at her sides.
Savina approached the Dark Lord, and with an uncertain glance at him, bowed at the waist, "my Lord."
The Dark Lord rested his hand on her head, "don't bow to me, child."
She straightened up and her eyes fell on Naheka. Her eyebrows shot up and her eyes widened, "HighLord Naheka?"
Surprised that she remembered him, Naheka stepped foreword and bowed stiffly to her.
Savina gazed at him for a moment, her dark eyes regarding him with certain regret and sadness, then she turned quickly and looked at the man who had once been her father.
Caburnat gestured to the HighLord, "Naheka is my General," his face curved into a horrible smile as he turned to the army, "and look what an army he has built. With this army," he glanced at her, "and your body, darkness will rule the land."
Savina had every urge to vomit or burst into tears, but she kept her composure and forced a small smile, "has the ring been located?"
The smile on the Dark Lord's gaunt face faded, "no…" he replied slowly, but then brightened, "but it is of little matter to me, it will be found soon. Apparently the filthy little halfling carrying it is only accompanied by another halfling and they are planning to take it to Mount Doom and destroy it." He gave a short bark of a laugh, "two fat little hobbits bearing a magical ring will hardly escape our attention as they creep by the Tower on their hairy little feet." He lapsed into laughter, then into a bout of hacking coughing.
Savina shrank back slightly, then rested her hand on her father's frail back, "Father?"
He waved her away, covering his mouth until he stopped coughing. When he lowered his hand and wiped it on the side of his black robe, Savina noticed it was covered with flecks of dark blood. The Dark Lord breathed heavily for a moment, seeming to sway on his feet, then he sighed and raised his voice, "minions of evil," he called to the army before him, speaking loud enough so that those in the back could hear him, "I present to you the daughter!"
The silent army erupted into cheering that seemed to rock the castle and tear holes in the sky.
Savina wanted to scream and run and get the hell out of there, but the thought of what would happen if she failed kept her rooted to the spot, smiling and waving to the mass of darkness before her.
Caburnat coughed again, and, looking cross, turned to Naheka, "you will arrange a tour of the castle for her, I am retiring for the day." He turned, and with the help of a black robed human, opened the door to his tower and began climbing the stairs.
As soon as the door was closed, Naheka waved his arm to the army, who had grown eerily silent again, and they took it as a signal and broke ranks, going about their business. He turned to Savina and hesitated, seeing that she studied him with her intense eyes.
"General Naheka," she glanced at the MoonElf servant at her side, "if I may I would prefer to explore the premises on my own."
Naheka hesitated, "the Master of the castle ordered that I arrange a tour." Seeing her look of displeasure, he amended, "I will show you around, and then you can explore in more depth on you own."
Savina nodded crisply, "fair enough." She glanced at the servant at her side, "you will accompany me also, Olivia."
The dark-haired MoonElf nodded and looked at Naheka expectantly.
The HighLord turned and glanced around, the decided to give her a once-over of the castle and let her explore it on her own. Might as well start with the dungeons. He motioned to the two girls, "right this way if you please."