I keep WARNING you people, there is a LOT of giveaways to the LotR 3 plot.
The next chapter, Mount Doom, is going to have like TOTAL spoilers. So
caution! Don't blame me; you got your warning!
*
Chapter Sixteen: Attack
"Well?"
"Julius, shut up! It's halfway finished downloading, okay?"
Root gave the centaur a sharp glance. "Somebody's touchy."
"Aren't we all," snapped Holly.
The three had been waiting for slightly over half an hour. Foaly had grown more and more fidgety, Holly had grown more and more grouchy, and Root had become roughly the hue of a very dark plum indeed.
They all stared at the screen.
The four had been staring at the screen for roughly half an hour.
Holly yawned.
Root yawned.
Holly's head drooped.
Root's head drooped. ((A/N: This goes on for a while.))
Half an hour later. . .
Holly snored.
Root snored.
Foaly suddenly gave a cry of triumph, waking both of them up. "It's finished!"
"Oh, good," growled the captain, stretching stiff limbs. "Remind me to give it a birthday present."
The centaur knew she was joking, but he played along anyway, his most annoying smirk plastered on his face. "That would be nice-"
"Dammit, pony boy, just hurry up already!"
"I'm trying," Foaly said in a long-suffering voice.
"We've spent an hour waiting," Root snarled. "So this had better be good."
"Oh, it's good," the centaur said. "Our system is flaw-free. Now all we have to do is come up with a system."
"What did you plan to do?" Holly inquired.
He sighed. "Listen closely, you two, I'm only saying this once."
The commander sat up.
"Using the data concerning physical structure of our tools, we are going to compose a time field using Holly's contaminated magic and send out a strong negative reaction to their desire. Basically the opposite of a bio-bomb. Instead of deleting life, we are recreating it."
"Which means?"
"Using the fingerprints of the missing people," Foaly said patiently, "as well as Holly's magic, which sent them there in the first place, we are going to put out a call that will both delete Tessa's wish and return them."
"How?"
"Simple. Use the contaminated magic to contradict the purpose of a bomb, send it out, and wham! They're home."
Root's eyes were bloodshot. "HOW?"
"It stands to reason. Holly's magic is strong enough to send them there, it's strong enough to call them back. We need a structure for it; the bio- bomb is the most powerful one we have, so if we rig that into what we want it to do, then that alone is more cause for it to work. The fingerprints will ensure that Artemis, Alison, Jennie, and Tessa alone will return."
"That makes no sense," said Holly.
"I can't explain it any simpler!"
"I think I can," Root cut in. "A human wished on magic to go somewhere. The magic is strong enough to do that, so it is strong enough to bring her back. Using the DNA of that human reinforces it. And because the magic needs a structure to contain its goal, we are giving it the strongest one we have. As it completes the task, it will cancel what sent the human there in the first place."
"Precisely," said Foaly.
Blinking, Holly tried to simplify it even more. "Basically, a wished on b to go to c, b uses its power to get a back from c using part of a and part of c."
Foaly started to type. "All we have to do is figure out how to channel your magic to contradict the nature of a bomb."
The captain groaned. "Is this going to take a while?"
"Yes."
With a long-suffering sigh, she leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes, and tried to imagine what Artemis was doing.
*
"I can't BELIEVE you dragged me into that water fight," Artemis grumbled as he stalked after Alison in soaking clothes.
"Hey. You asked for everything you got."
"Good God, Alison, I was standing on the bank watching."
Jennie joined in. "Yeah, Ally, stop being so Mary Sue-ish." She fumbled in her pocket and drew out a small thin cylinder.
Artemis looked at her in disbelief. "Is that chapstick?"
"Yeah. That black water tasted disgusting." With much enthusiasm, the girl proceeded to apply the stuff heavily. "This tastes like blueberries."
Tessa rolled her eyes, as did the other two. "Why don't you do something USEFUL, Jennie?"
"Such as?"
"Pick up your pace," Artemis cut in. "We have less than three hours to get to Frodo and Sam."
Jennie walked a little faster, eyes on the nearing Mount Doom. "What does it matter?" she grumbled. "Sauron emptied the whole of Mordor to wage war on Gondor."
"Not all," said Alison. "Not all of them, Jen."
Tessa followed her gaze and said an exceptionally bad word, one she would never have dared say in front of her mother.
Five Orcs clad in the uniform of the Eye were drawing nearer. They had spotted the four a while back, and while they could have just picked the girls off with arrows and dealt with Artemis later, they were hungry for war. Their companions were out fighting Men, wile they were stuck in here.
So they approached, leering evilly. One had slit cat eyes, the sort that had given the cousins nightmares after watching the Fellowship of the Ring in theaters; another had a rotting mass where his eyes should have been, a token of regard from his companions. The last three merely had the normal iodine-colored eyes, narrowed with hate and annoyance. All had sagging greenish-brown skin
Jennie fit an arrow to her bow with shaking fingers, drawing the bow as she had seen Legolas do so many times before in the movies.
Alison half-raised her ax, readying it.
Artemis hefted Anduril threateningly.
Tessa swung her staff high, pointed it at the one with rotting eyes, and spoke a spell in Elvish. He blew apart, showering his companions with dark blood.
The other four began to run. Tessa had begun the battle. She raised her staff again.
Jennie shot.
There was a hissing noise as her shaft plunged deep into the hip of one of the Orcs. She cursed her aim and shot again, calming herself; when taking archery classes, she had learned that fright could vary your success.
This time the Orc she hit, the one with the cat-eyes, fell to the ground, an arrow in his throat. She breathed out, almost serenely.
The last three were upon them.
Anduril flickered like a streak of lightning as it whipped around the one who had chosen to pick on Artemis. Wielding itself, it seemed, the blade slashed across the Orc's abdomen. Artemis flinched and cut his throat, a mercy stroke. He felt ready to vomit as the evil body sagged to the ground.
Alison wasn't having that much luck. She could hardly raise her weapon and the Orc attacking her had already cut her thigh open. It was bleeding sluggishly, as though he'd struck a smaller vein instead of a major one. She swung the ax sideways and hit him in the kneecaps. Falling to his knees and barking in pain, he cut at her stomach. She scrambled backwards, dropping Gimli's ax, which collapsed across her feet.
"OUCH!" she shrieked, and fell backwards.
The Orc was coming at her again when Jennie shot him in the liver. Alison kicked out at him as he keeled over her, tipping the ax upright. The creature beheaded itself.
There was one attacker left. He had avoided going for Tessa after seeing what her staff could do, and instead was circling Jen warily. Her cousin couldn't help without risk of destroying family instead of foe, so she watched, ready to jump in if things got bloody.
The Orc moved in on Jennifer before she could set her arrow. She squeaked and attempted to gut him with the shaft. It snapped. "Damn!"
Suddenly a white staff cracked down on the ambusher's head. Hard. He dropped like a stone, and Tessa finished him off, using another Elvish spell.
Jennie stared at her. "Did I know you could do that?"
Her cousin smirked. "Reading Lord of the Rings appendixes can be handy sometimes, as you would know if you ever tried it."
The other shrugged. "I thought the only interesting stuff back there was Elvish."
"You were right," Tessa said smugly. "But there's more than just two pages, dear."
They walked over to Alison and Artemis. The mastermind was cutting strips from the girl's cloak to bind her thigh wound with, using Anduril.
He looked up at them. "We were lucky. She still had some athelas in her pocket, and that stopped the bleeding pretty quick. Nobody's really hurt."
There was silence for a moment as Jennie examined the one he had killed. She whistled. "Did I know you could do that?"
Artemis looked self-conscious. "It was a defense thing, okay? Fifteen years of living with Butler paid off. Though he doesn't favor swords."
Tessa helped Alison up. "Are you ready to start running again?"
Alison felt better than she had before. Maybe there was elf magic in the old herb Kingsfoil.
"Actually, I am." She sprang ahead of the other three, staring up at the ever-nearing Mount Doom.
They exchanged glances and followed.
*
Holly's eyes opened. She stared at Foaly and Root.
"They're getting closer."
*
Ooooh! Another cliffhanger! Me LIKE! Wow, I'm getting really good at this. PLEEASE review before you go on!
*
Chapter Sixteen: Attack
"Well?"
"Julius, shut up! It's halfway finished downloading, okay?"
Root gave the centaur a sharp glance. "Somebody's touchy."
"Aren't we all," snapped Holly.
The three had been waiting for slightly over half an hour. Foaly had grown more and more fidgety, Holly had grown more and more grouchy, and Root had become roughly the hue of a very dark plum indeed.
They all stared at the screen.
The four had been staring at the screen for roughly half an hour.
Holly yawned.
Root yawned.
Holly's head drooped.
Root's head drooped. ((A/N: This goes on for a while.))
Half an hour later. . .
Holly snored.
Root snored.
Foaly suddenly gave a cry of triumph, waking both of them up. "It's finished!"
"Oh, good," growled the captain, stretching stiff limbs. "Remind me to give it a birthday present."
The centaur knew she was joking, but he played along anyway, his most annoying smirk plastered on his face. "That would be nice-"
"Dammit, pony boy, just hurry up already!"
"I'm trying," Foaly said in a long-suffering voice.
"We've spent an hour waiting," Root snarled. "So this had better be good."
"Oh, it's good," the centaur said. "Our system is flaw-free. Now all we have to do is come up with a system."
"What did you plan to do?" Holly inquired.
He sighed. "Listen closely, you two, I'm only saying this once."
The commander sat up.
"Using the data concerning physical structure of our tools, we are going to compose a time field using Holly's contaminated magic and send out a strong negative reaction to their desire. Basically the opposite of a bio-bomb. Instead of deleting life, we are recreating it."
"Which means?"
"Using the fingerprints of the missing people," Foaly said patiently, "as well as Holly's magic, which sent them there in the first place, we are going to put out a call that will both delete Tessa's wish and return them."
"How?"
"Simple. Use the contaminated magic to contradict the purpose of a bomb, send it out, and wham! They're home."
Root's eyes were bloodshot. "HOW?"
"It stands to reason. Holly's magic is strong enough to send them there, it's strong enough to call them back. We need a structure for it; the bio- bomb is the most powerful one we have, so if we rig that into what we want it to do, then that alone is more cause for it to work. The fingerprints will ensure that Artemis, Alison, Jennie, and Tessa alone will return."
"That makes no sense," said Holly.
"I can't explain it any simpler!"
"I think I can," Root cut in. "A human wished on magic to go somewhere. The magic is strong enough to do that, so it is strong enough to bring her back. Using the DNA of that human reinforces it. And because the magic needs a structure to contain its goal, we are giving it the strongest one we have. As it completes the task, it will cancel what sent the human there in the first place."
"Precisely," said Foaly.
Blinking, Holly tried to simplify it even more. "Basically, a wished on b to go to c, b uses its power to get a back from c using part of a and part of c."
Foaly started to type. "All we have to do is figure out how to channel your magic to contradict the nature of a bomb."
The captain groaned. "Is this going to take a while?"
"Yes."
With a long-suffering sigh, she leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes, and tried to imagine what Artemis was doing.
*
"I can't BELIEVE you dragged me into that water fight," Artemis grumbled as he stalked after Alison in soaking clothes.
"Hey. You asked for everything you got."
"Good God, Alison, I was standing on the bank watching."
Jennie joined in. "Yeah, Ally, stop being so Mary Sue-ish." She fumbled in her pocket and drew out a small thin cylinder.
Artemis looked at her in disbelief. "Is that chapstick?"
"Yeah. That black water tasted disgusting." With much enthusiasm, the girl proceeded to apply the stuff heavily. "This tastes like blueberries."
Tessa rolled her eyes, as did the other two. "Why don't you do something USEFUL, Jennie?"
"Such as?"
"Pick up your pace," Artemis cut in. "We have less than three hours to get to Frodo and Sam."
Jennie walked a little faster, eyes on the nearing Mount Doom. "What does it matter?" she grumbled. "Sauron emptied the whole of Mordor to wage war on Gondor."
"Not all," said Alison. "Not all of them, Jen."
Tessa followed her gaze and said an exceptionally bad word, one she would never have dared say in front of her mother.
Five Orcs clad in the uniform of the Eye were drawing nearer. They had spotted the four a while back, and while they could have just picked the girls off with arrows and dealt with Artemis later, they were hungry for war. Their companions were out fighting Men, wile they were stuck in here.
So they approached, leering evilly. One had slit cat eyes, the sort that had given the cousins nightmares after watching the Fellowship of the Ring in theaters; another had a rotting mass where his eyes should have been, a token of regard from his companions. The last three merely had the normal iodine-colored eyes, narrowed with hate and annoyance. All had sagging greenish-brown skin
Jennie fit an arrow to her bow with shaking fingers, drawing the bow as she had seen Legolas do so many times before in the movies.
Alison half-raised her ax, readying it.
Artemis hefted Anduril threateningly.
Tessa swung her staff high, pointed it at the one with rotting eyes, and spoke a spell in Elvish. He blew apart, showering his companions with dark blood.
The other four began to run. Tessa had begun the battle. She raised her staff again.
Jennie shot.
There was a hissing noise as her shaft plunged deep into the hip of one of the Orcs. She cursed her aim and shot again, calming herself; when taking archery classes, she had learned that fright could vary your success.
This time the Orc she hit, the one with the cat-eyes, fell to the ground, an arrow in his throat. She breathed out, almost serenely.
The last three were upon them.
Anduril flickered like a streak of lightning as it whipped around the one who had chosen to pick on Artemis. Wielding itself, it seemed, the blade slashed across the Orc's abdomen. Artemis flinched and cut his throat, a mercy stroke. He felt ready to vomit as the evil body sagged to the ground.
Alison wasn't having that much luck. She could hardly raise her weapon and the Orc attacking her had already cut her thigh open. It was bleeding sluggishly, as though he'd struck a smaller vein instead of a major one. She swung the ax sideways and hit him in the kneecaps. Falling to his knees and barking in pain, he cut at her stomach. She scrambled backwards, dropping Gimli's ax, which collapsed across her feet.
"OUCH!" she shrieked, and fell backwards.
The Orc was coming at her again when Jennie shot him in the liver. Alison kicked out at him as he keeled over her, tipping the ax upright. The creature beheaded itself.
There was one attacker left. He had avoided going for Tessa after seeing what her staff could do, and instead was circling Jen warily. Her cousin couldn't help without risk of destroying family instead of foe, so she watched, ready to jump in if things got bloody.
The Orc moved in on Jennifer before she could set her arrow. She squeaked and attempted to gut him with the shaft. It snapped. "Damn!"
Suddenly a white staff cracked down on the ambusher's head. Hard. He dropped like a stone, and Tessa finished him off, using another Elvish spell.
Jennie stared at her. "Did I know you could do that?"
Her cousin smirked. "Reading Lord of the Rings appendixes can be handy sometimes, as you would know if you ever tried it."
The other shrugged. "I thought the only interesting stuff back there was Elvish."
"You were right," Tessa said smugly. "But there's more than just two pages, dear."
They walked over to Alison and Artemis. The mastermind was cutting strips from the girl's cloak to bind her thigh wound with, using Anduril.
He looked up at them. "We were lucky. She still had some athelas in her pocket, and that stopped the bleeding pretty quick. Nobody's really hurt."
There was silence for a moment as Jennie examined the one he had killed. She whistled. "Did I know you could do that?"
Artemis looked self-conscious. "It was a defense thing, okay? Fifteen years of living with Butler paid off. Though he doesn't favor swords."
Tessa helped Alison up. "Are you ready to start running again?"
Alison felt better than she had before. Maybe there was elf magic in the old herb Kingsfoil.
"Actually, I am." She sprang ahead of the other three, staring up at the ever-nearing Mount Doom.
They exchanged glances and followed.
*
Holly's eyes opened. She stared at Foaly and Root.
"They're getting closer."
*
Ooooh! Another cliffhanger! Me LIKE! Wow, I'm getting really good at this. PLEEASE review before you go on!