Chapter 8b - The Battle for Freedom Part 2
The VERY LAST Chapter! - Excuses, excuses I know! But my hard drive is being very unco-operative so I'm uploading this to make sure it doesn't get lost.
The story is currently being beta read so it is subject to (probably quite drastic) change. -A sincere thank you to everyone who read and reviewed.
Legolas was the first to recover. He sprang up, bow in hand arrow notched, ready to destroy whatever came through the door. Only, he wasn't ready for it. He gasped and nearly dropped his weapon as he saw the owner of the voice in the doorway.
The being filled the opening, shrinking it in a macabre illusion. The huge figure was clothed in black leather. It wore a black helmet that covered its entire head. Piercing red eyes glowed through the cracks in the front of the helm.
"Sauron," hissed Gandalf. He had recovered and now stood to face his largest ever foe. "You will be defeated, the Valar will see that no servant of Morgoth will ever come to absolute power."
Elise scuttled over to Gimli, who was struggling to pull off his helmet, which had been crushed on to his head by the force of the blow and was now stuck over his eyes.
The movement caught Sauron's eye.
"Your attempt to defeat me is futile Gandalf, an Istari of all people should know that a worthless trinket will be of no use to you." He sneered at Elise, who was using both hands now to tug the helmet off Gimli's large, hairy head. Gimli was stumbling backward, much like a kitten who had been too curious to see what the inside of a paper bag looked like.
"She will be destroyed along with your precious Middle Earth!" He bellowed, raising his black gloved fists and sending a deep red beam of energy towards Gandalf. The surroundings shimmered in a heat haze as a visible draw of energy fed into Sauron's entire body and channelled into his arms, feeding the lethal laser.
"Gandalf the White will see you die first!" Roared Gandalf and using his staff, he sent forth a bolt of blue energy of his own, the two forces met in the middle and exploded into a kaleidoscope of bright colours.
###########################################################
The unnatural aurora snapped Legolas out of his terrified trance. He was clearly shaken by Sauron's rise in power. He searched the room for Elise, but she had vanished.
Legolas desperately searched the rooms and halls on every floor of the great tower. His heart pounded as he imagined that Orcs had captured her and were now ensuring their plan failed with her death. He could not bear to fail, this undertaking should not have been his, but he assured the council that he was ready, he had tirelessly protected the fellowship at the end of the Third Age and proved himself worthy of this honour. All he had to do was guide a mere mortal to destroy the biggest evil his world had ever seen.
Now in the bowels of the tower, he rounded the corner in time to see Elise squeezing herself through a small hatch.
###########################################################
'Freedom.' Elise thought as she pushed herself through the small door leading out of the tower. She was nearly outside when her legs began to burn and she felt herself being sucked back into danger.
"There you are, where are you going? We must return to the contrariety spell." Legolas had hauled her back through the hatch and was picking her up off the floor. The room was filled with machinery that groaned and hissed industriously. The noise was so loud, they had to scream at each other to be heard.
"Hmm let me think about that....no." yelled Elise, "Are you nuts? Black women with permed hair don't go anywhere near naked flames! Elise sighed, as Legolas face showed no reaction, "I don't suppose you've heard of Michael Jackson?"
Legolas blinked.
"Middle Earth is in the biggest battle since the ring was destroyed, there are thousands of men dying as we speak, to keep their lands free from tyranny. Gandalf is also in mortal peril, Gimli is nowhere to be found...and you talk of your hair." He gritted his teeth in barely contained rage and pointed to the matted lump on her head, which resembled a used steel wire scouring pad.
Elise swallowed loudly and took a step backwards. "Looks like you are winning without me needing to be burnt to a crisp." She clutched at any excuse she could think of. "Anyway why should I, you lied to me. You said it wasn't a sacrifice."
"It will not harm you, if it allays your fears, I will step into the fire with you."
That didn't impress the terrified girl. For all she knew, Elves didn't burn. Elise knew she wouldn't change his mind and there was no way he was changing hers by arguing. She glanced nervously at the hatch door as Legolas started to look alarmingly like the man she first saw at her apartment. It seemed that she wasn't the only one who realised there was a stalemate.
###########################################################
Legolas soon grew tired of trying to talk his way through to her. It was time for action. Legolas gripped her arm a little harder than necessary in his eagerness to bring her back to the flames. In his mind, the end justified the means.
###########################################################
Elise screamed in agony, she thought her arm would snap in half, as she struggled for what she thought was her life, her hand caught the wrought iron handle of one of the machines. The mechanical device roared into overdrive, pushing the steel cogs harder than they were ever designed to go.
Steam hissed angrily through the pipework which began to groan in protest.
Legolas blanched as the whole area began to shake fiercely. The tower was already weakening from the power of the magic Sauron was drawing on. Parts of the stonework began to crumble as the rumbling got progressively louder.
Sauron and Gandalf were still in the middle of a large energy field generated by their magical duelling when a piece of crumbling rock hit Sauron on the head breaking his concentration. His energy field dissolved causing Gandalf's magic to overcome him. He fell to the floor in a cacophony
of agony. His screams of pain could be heard over the noise of the tower's imminent destruction.
Gandalf watched Sauron writhe on the floor for a second in satisfaction before springing into action and chanting once more, he called up the blue flames.
Legolas threw Elise over his shoulder and carried her kicking and screaming, flying up the shaky stairs, he joined Gandalf by the fire.
"Elise, you must trust me now, you will come to no harm."
There was no time for Elise to answer before she was unceremoniously tossed into the inferno.
Elise was sure the men on the battlefield could hear here cries of fear. She seemed to be falling for much longer than it takes to be dropped to the floor. She opened her eyes. No pain, no burning flesh dripping off her charred bones. 'That's good'. She thought. She could see the blue wall of flames but could not see beyond it. She was floating mid air and that was it. 'Oh this is ok.' She thought, relief flooded out from her. She was beginning to think that maybe the experience would be enjoyable when a burning sensation coursed through her. She immediately recognised the feeling as the one she experienced when Sauron paralysed her back in the forest clearing. Completely rigid now she couldn't even scream. She saw Sauron in front of her in the same paralysed state. They were being drawn together by an invisible force. Elise saw the panic in Sauron's glowing eyes and realised that, if he was scared, this was definitely not going to be pleasant. Her feet were the first to connect to the Sauron's. To her horror, she watched them meld into each other. The ankles next then, as the knees followed, their bodies began to spin, whirling faster and faster until her vision was filled with a blue blur. The Dark Lord and the Dark Lady were one. The final contact caused an explosion that filled the room with light. When Gandalf and Legolas recovered their vision they saw Elise lying on the floor in a state of severe shock.
"By Elbereth it worked." Whispered a wide eyed Legolas. Gimli finally stumbled in. His battered helmet in his hands. Throughly confused, he took in the scene.
"Have you done it yet?" he asked and cried out as Legolas rushed over to Gimli and threw his long arms around him, hugging him tightly.
"The Dark Lord has been vanquished." He cried, overjoyed.
The tower began to shudder much more fiercely. Gandalf picked up Elise and called to the others.
"We must leave here, now!"
The trio sped down the spiral staircase and spilled out into bright daylight towards the battlefield. They got several hundred yards away near the battlefield edge and turned to see the tower slowly lean
left and right then finally tumble to the ground. A huge plume of dust and smoke rose from the pile of broken stones, over that a great glow emanated from the fallen tower and dissipated high in the sky. It twinkled and glowed a bright blue, white and green.
The Orcs stopped fighting, confusion and fear etched on their ugly faces as each one thought of the consequences of their beloved Barad Dûr's destruction. The Five-race army needed no such thoughts and ignoring their exhaustion, continued to slice and dice the dumbfounded creatures to oblivion.
Aragorn hacked down the very last Orc. There was silence for the longest time, as everyone caught their breath, then like an infectious disease, laughter and cheers swept through the weary men, now halved in numbers. Elise began to rouse from her state of shock and nearly went into it again as she found herself being lifted high above Aragorn's head like a trophy. The cheers of the crowd was deafening.
There was much music and laughter through the evening and night. The field became a makeshift camp. Some of the camp became temporary healing houses, tending to the injured, others were housed by men who slept.
Aragorn, Gandalf, Boromir, Gimli, Legolas and Elise were reunited by one of the many campfires, too tired to sleep, they talked of Elise's return home.
"We will find a way to send you home." Gandalf smiled at her and placed a gentle hand on her forehead. "It is the least we can do."
Epilogue
It had been a week since Sauron's defeat. Elise was staying at the High House in Edoras amongst other esteemed guests. She had tried her best to catch Legolas' eye but to no avail. She had given up hope of any sort of romance, the guy was just above all of that. Several nights of 'getting lost in her see through night clothes just led to a maid being stationed outside her door, for her convenience, and a very heavy cloak. Lots of eye fluttering and swooning just prompted concerned questions as to whether she was feeling alright. Her ego liked to think he was gay.
Gandalf came bounding out of one of the palace's opulent chambers, his white robes flowing behind him.
"It is done!" He gasped. "I have the powder that will return you to earth. I have called the others hither for a farewell, come, we must join them."
Elise was half pulled, half dragged to the great hall where a large crowd was assembled. She felt embarrassed to say the least, after all she didn't do much more than scream like a girl and try to escape the whole time. She was no hero. After her goodbyes, and a longer than appropriate kiss for Legolas, she was finally ready to leave Middle Earth.
Once the cheers died down, Gandalf encircled her with a silver powder, and began muttering some spell inducing words.
"Goodbye." She called as a flash of bright light burst out from the circle. But instead of the waves and smiles she expected she saw nothing but looks of horror on the crowd's faces. In a flash it was gone, it was all gone and she was returned to her world, smack bang in the middle of Yonge Street to be exact. Making her way home she wondered what those looks were all about. Was there a bit of meat stuck in her teeth? Shrugging it off, she reached her apartment building. The adolescent doorman called her as she searched her mailbox for something other than bills.
"Hey there, you've been away a while." He seemed far too friendly, something was up. She looked down at a plain white envelope. 'oh there it is!' she thought wryly as she eyed the envelope. It was quite plainly an eviction notice.
"Ha, your crap's in the basement, I can help ya haul it out into street if you like." He was grinning like a Cheshire cat, clearly relishing making someone else's day worse than his.
"That would be helpful," she purred. Elise watched him with increasing anger. By the time she followed him into the basement, she was in a blinding rage.
"Dare you insult us in this way, you menial fool! You will suffer greatly for your insolence." Elise's eyes glowed red and with her teeth bared in pure vehemence she gripped his face, fingers piercing his eyeballs, and bathed in his agony.
"We will be avenged!" She cried, and laughing she dropped his dead body to the floor and walked back out into the city.
The VERY LAST Chapter! - Excuses, excuses I know! But my hard drive is being very unco-operative so I'm uploading this to make sure it doesn't get lost.
The story is currently being beta read so it is subject to (probably quite drastic) change. -A sincere thank you to everyone who read and reviewed.
Legolas was the first to recover. He sprang up, bow in hand arrow notched, ready to destroy whatever came through the door. Only, he wasn't ready for it. He gasped and nearly dropped his weapon as he saw the owner of the voice in the doorway.
The being filled the opening, shrinking it in a macabre illusion. The huge figure was clothed in black leather. It wore a black helmet that covered its entire head. Piercing red eyes glowed through the cracks in the front of the helm.
"Sauron," hissed Gandalf. He had recovered and now stood to face his largest ever foe. "You will be defeated, the Valar will see that no servant of Morgoth will ever come to absolute power."
Elise scuttled over to Gimli, who was struggling to pull off his helmet, which had been crushed on to his head by the force of the blow and was now stuck over his eyes.
The movement caught Sauron's eye.
"Your attempt to defeat me is futile Gandalf, an Istari of all people should know that a worthless trinket will be of no use to you." He sneered at Elise, who was using both hands now to tug the helmet off Gimli's large, hairy head. Gimli was stumbling backward, much like a kitten who had been too curious to see what the inside of a paper bag looked like.
"She will be destroyed along with your precious Middle Earth!" He bellowed, raising his black gloved fists and sending a deep red beam of energy towards Gandalf. The surroundings shimmered in a heat haze as a visible draw of energy fed into Sauron's entire body and channelled into his arms, feeding the lethal laser.
"Gandalf the White will see you die first!" Roared Gandalf and using his staff, he sent forth a bolt of blue energy of his own, the two forces met in the middle and exploded into a kaleidoscope of bright colours.
###########################################################
The unnatural aurora snapped Legolas out of his terrified trance. He was clearly shaken by Sauron's rise in power. He searched the room for Elise, but she had vanished.
Legolas desperately searched the rooms and halls on every floor of the great tower. His heart pounded as he imagined that Orcs had captured her and were now ensuring their plan failed with her death. He could not bear to fail, this undertaking should not have been his, but he assured the council that he was ready, he had tirelessly protected the fellowship at the end of the Third Age and proved himself worthy of this honour. All he had to do was guide a mere mortal to destroy the biggest evil his world had ever seen.
Now in the bowels of the tower, he rounded the corner in time to see Elise squeezing herself through a small hatch.
###########################################################
'Freedom.' Elise thought as she pushed herself through the small door leading out of the tower. She was nearly outside when her legs began to burn and she felt herself being sucked back into danger.
"There you are, where are you going? We must return to the contrariety spell." Legolas had hauled her back through the hatch and was picking her up off the floor. The room was filled with machinery that groaned and hissed industriously. The noise was so loud, they had to scream at each other to be heard.
"Hmm let me think about that....no." yelled Elise, "Are you nuts? Black women with permed hair don't go anywhere near naked flames! Elise sighed, as Legolas face showed no reaction, "I don't suppose you've heard of Michael Jackson?"
Legolas blinked.
"Middle Earth is in the biggest battle since the ring was destroyed, there are thousands of men dying as we speak, to keep their lands free from tyranny. Gandalf is also in mortal peril, Gimli is nowhere to be found...and you talk of your hair." He gritted his teeth in barely contained rage and pointed to the matted lump on her head, which resembled a used steel wire scouring pad.
Elise swallowed loudly and took a step backwards. "Looks like you are winning without me needing to be burnt to a crisp." She clutched at any excuse she could think of. "Anyway why should I, you lied to me. You said it wasn't a sacrifice."
"It will not harm you, if it allays your fears, I will step into the fire with you."
That didn't impress the terrified girl. For all she knew, Elves didn't burn. Elise knew she wouldn't change his mind and there was no way he was changing hers by arguing. She glanced nervously at the hatch door as Legolas started to look alarmingly like the man she first saw at her apartment. It seemed that she wasn't the only one who realised there was a stalemate.
###########################################################
Legolas soon grew tired of trying to talk his way through to her. It was time for action. Legolas gripped her arm a little harder than necessary in his eagerness to bring her back to the flames. In his mind, the end justified the means.
###########################################################
Elise screamed in agony, she thought her arm would snap in half, as she struggled for what she thought was her life, her hand caught the wrought iron handle of one of the machines. The mechanical device roared into overdrive, pushing the steel cogs harder than they were ever designed to go.
Steam hissed angrily through the pipework which began to groan in protest.
Legolas blanched as the whole area began to shake fiercely. The tower was already weakening from the power of the magic Sauron was drawing on. Parts of the stonework began to crumble as the rumbling got progressively louder.
Sauron and Gandalf were still in the middle of a large energy field generated by their magical duelling when a piece of crumbling rock hit Sauron on the head breaking his concentration. His energy field dissolved causing Gandalf's magic to overcome him. He fell to the floor in a cacophony
of agony. His screams of pain could be heard over the noise of the tower's imminent destruction.
Gandalf watched Sauron writhe on the floor for a second in satisfaction before springing into action and chanting once more, he called up the blue flames.
Legolas threw Elise over his shoulder and carried her kicking and screaming, flying up the shaky stairs, he joined Gandalf by the fire.
"Elise, you must trust me now, you will come to no harm."
There was no time for Elise to answer before she was unceremoniously tossed into the inferno.
Elise was sure the men on the battlefield could hear here cries of fear. She seemed to be falling for much longer than it takes to be dropped to the floor. She opened her eyes. No pain, no burning flesh dripping off her charred bones. 'That's good'. She thought. She could see the blue wall of flames but could not see beyond it. She was floating mid air and that was it. 'Oh this is ok.' She thought, relief flooded out from her. She was beginning to think that maybe the experience would be enjoyable when a burning sensation coursed through her. She immediately recognised the feeling as the one she experienced when Sauron paralysed her back in the forest clearing. Completely rigid now she couldn't even scream. She saw Sauron in front of her in the same paralysed state. They were being drawn together by an invisible force. Elise saw the panic in Sauron's glowing eyes and realised that, if he was scared, this was definitely not going to be pleasant. Her feet were the first to connect to the Sauron's. To her horror, she watched them meld into each other. The ankles next then, as the knees followed, their bodies began to spin, whirling faster and faster until her vision was filled with a blue blur. The Dark Lord and the Dark Lady were one. The final contact caused an explosion that filled the room with light. When Gandalf and Legolas recovered their vision they saw Elise lying on the floor in a state of severe shock.
"By Elbereth it worked." Whispered a wide eyed Legolas. Gimli finally stumbled in. His battered helmet in his hands. Throughly confused, he took in the scene.
"Have you done it yet?" he asked and cried out as Legolas rushed over to Gimli and threw his long arms around him, hugging him tightly.
"The Dark Lord has been vanquished." He cried, overjoyed.
The tower began to shudder much more fiercely. Gandalf picked up Elise and called to the others.
"We must leave here, now!"
The trio sped down the spiral staircase and spilled out into bright daylight towards the battlefield. They got several hundred yards away near the battlefield edge and turned to see the tower slowly lean
left and right then finally tumble to the ground. A huge plume of dust and smoke rose from the pile of broken stones, over that a great glow emanated from the fallen tower and dissipated high in the sky. It twinkled and glowed a bright blue, white and green.
The Orcs stopped fighting, confusion and fear etched on their ugly faces as each one thought of the consequences of their beloved Barad Dûr's destruction. The Five-race army needed no such thoughts and ignoring their exhaustion, continued to slice and dice the dumbfounded creatures to oblivion.
Aragorn hacked down the very last Orc. There was silence for the longest time, as everyone caught their breath, then like an infectious disease, laughter and cheers swept through the weary men, now halved in numbers. Elise began to rouse from her state of shock and nearly went into it again as she found herself being lifted high above Aragorn's head like a trophy. The cheers of the crowd was deafening.
There was much music and laughter through the evening and night. The field became a makeshift camp. Some of the camp became temporary healing houses, tending to the injured, others were housed by men who slept.
Aragorn, Gandalf, Boromir, Gimli, Legolas and Elise were reunited by one of the many campfires, too tired to sleep, they talked of Elise's return home.
"We will find a way to send you home." Gandalf smiled at her and placed a gentle hand on her forehead. "It is the least we can do."
Epilogue
It had been a week since Sauron's defeat. Elise was staying at the High House in Edoras amongst other esteemed guests. She had tried her best to catch Legolas' eye but to no avail. She had given up hope of any sort of romance, the guy was just above all of that. Several nights of 'getting lost in her see through night clothes just led to a maid being stationed outside her door, for her convenience, and a very heavy cloak. Lots of eye fluttering and swooning just prompted concerned questions as to whether she was feeling alright. Her ego liked to think he was gay.
Gandalf came bounding out of one of the palace's opulent chambers, his white robes flowing behind him.
"It is done!" He gasped. "I have the powder that will return you to earth. I have called the others hither for a farewell, come, we must join them."
Elise was half pulled, half dragged to the great hall where a large crowd was assembled. She felt embarrassed to say the least, after all she didn't do much more than scream like a girl and try to escape the whole time. She was no hero. After her goodbyes, and a longer than appropriate kiss for Legolas, she was finally ready to leave Middle Earth.
Once the cheers died down, Gandalf encircled her with a silver powder, and began muttering some spell inducing words.
"Goodbye." She called as a flash of bright light burst out from the circle. But instead of the waves and smiles she expected she saw nothing but looks of horror on the crowd's faces. In a flash it was gone, it was all gone and she was returned to her world, smack bang in the middle of Yonge Street to be exact. Making her way home she wondered what those looks were all about. Was there a bit of meat stuck in her teeth? Shrugging it off, she reached her apartment building. The adolescent doorman called her as she searched her mailbox for something other than bills.
"Hey there, you've been away a while." He seemed far too friendly, something was up. She looked down at a plain white envelope. 'oh there it is!' she thought wryly as she eyed the envelope. It was quite plainly an eviction notice.
"Ha, your crap's in the basement, I can help ya haul it out into street if you like." He was grinning like a Cheshire cat, clearly relishing making someone else's day worse than his.
"That would be helpful," she purred. Elise watched him with increasing anger. By the time she followed him into the basement, she was in a blinding rage.
"Dare you insult us in this way, you menial fool! You will suffer greatly for your insolence." Elise's eyes glowed red and with her teeth bared in pure vehemence she gripped his face, fingers piercing his eyeballs, and bathed in his agony.
"We will be avenged!" She cried, and laughing she dropped his dead body to the floor and walked back out into the city.