"Nice, you did well, Saruman, for once," Rimmer Dal smiled as he walked through a marble hall, the white wizard at his side. Saruman didn't answer as he sagged heavily on his staff. The white wizard was looking thin and haggard. His skin once pale and bright was now dull and grey patches were showing on his face and hands. Slowly, but surely, his body was adapting to the shadowen. Soon they would be one, or the body would fail completely and he would die. Either way Rimmer Dal didn't care.
They had attacked Rivendell nearly two weeks prior and it had been entirely too easy. The elves didn't understand what the shadowen were and couldn't fight them even if they had a hundred Shannara swords.
Dal had chosen the most capable elves and infested them with shadowen, save the elf king and the old hobbit. He wanted the king, Elrond, for bait, he had already set the lure, his pretty daughter, Arwen. He was sure she'd head straight for the Ranger and they in turn would come back here. It was a delayed message but Dal had already tried the direct approach with Meia. If she knew the others were in danger, she'd come running. Little did she know they would come too late.
He didn't infest the other because it was surely only a matter of short time before the hobbit would die of old age. That would just be a waste of a shadowen. He had the old hobbit locked up in the dungeon.
"Master," Hex whispered in Dal's ear. "Master, its Rash,"
"What is it, Hex? Did Romp destroy that traitor?"
" Master, I'm afraid its the opposite. Romp is dead. Rash destroyed him,"
"WHAT!!!??!"
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Rash panted as he heaved the shadowen's body off of him. He stood up and unsheathed the sword from the Shadowen's chest. He looked around him at the carnage of bodies and the two shivering figures under a great tree.
"Well, are you going to tremble or are you going to thank me for saving your life?" He demanded.
Rash had been tracking Meia but at the last moment felt the presence of the orc troop and took a detour. Dal wanted Meia and it had occurred to Rash that the reason Dal was tracking him was because he couldn't track Meia. So if Rash went to Meia to warn her then he would lead Dal straight to her! (A/N I hope you got all that!) Not to mention that the orc troop threw the Shadowen tracking him for a loop and with the distraction was able to destroy it. The orcs were a piece of cake and there were door prizes! "Master Meriodoc, Master Peregrin, its me, Rash," He frowned when the hobbits didn't advance toward him.
"We know," Merry squeaked and Pippin latched onto him. Rash leaned on the sword and frowned.
"If you don't get your furry rumps, I'll devour your essence," He growled. The two immediately ran over by him. They were shivering all over and watched him with huge shiny eyes.
"What would you have us do?" Asked Merry as Rash went around, quickly searching the corpses.
"Look for anything that would help us, and be careful, some of them may still be alive and dying,"
All they managed to gather was a couple of dirty blankets, and canteens of bad smelling water. Some had food but the bread was grey and the meat was odd.
"Now what, Master Rash?" Pippin asked softly. Rash sighed and shouldered his pack and found a belt that fit around his naked waist so he could sheath his new sword.
"Now we go into the forest. It is old, very old, but I feel no malice here, nothing worse than me," The two hobbits eyed Rash doubtfully and the shadowen grew annoyed and clapped his hands together making the halflings nearly jumped out of their skin. "Now, HOP! unless you want more orcs on our tails!"
The two scurried furry and Rash followed close behind them, slinking in a cat like manner.
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Ridiculous! Brom thought heatedly in his head as he watched Aragorn tend the twisted Lady as she slept. She was worse now after nearly a week of tracking.
Most of skin was mottled and grey save her hands which were still pure and white, her long, luxurious black hair was falling out in clumps and even though she got a larger ration with the others her body seemed contorted and shrunken. She had not been neither been unbound or had slept in nearly three days. Finally, she fell asleep out of exhaustion Aragorn unbound her wrists and gag and sat with her grey, mottled and balding head in her lap.
"Master Brom," Legolas's voice rang softly in the pixie boy's ear but he did not stir. "Master Brom, are you awake?"
"Yes, I am awake," Brom answered softly. The elf sat himself next to Brom and leaned into a heavily scented wind. They were on the edge of Fangorn forest. They had found a dead orc troop and they stopped. Brom had been furious. They only stopped because Arwen had fallen asleep.
"Meia was thrown on the back of a pony after a shadowen attack and we pressed on. Arwen drops off to sleep and we stop!? We shall never find the halflings if you give the Shadowen the rest and fresh energy he craves! If you'd-"
Aragorn had enough. He struck the boy and the two starred each other down with tears in each others eyes.
Now, Brom rubbed his tender cheek and Legolas sighed.
"You climb well, Brom, what brings you up into the embracing branches of this tree?"
"I was thinking of Tay," Brom answered, "If he were in this forest, he could talk to the trees and we would know which way the halflings went," Legolas knew he lied. The elf petted Brom's silver stands and said softly, "You must forgive Aragorn. I know you strike him if Boromir had been stricken with the same-"
"DO NOT SPEAK OF MY FATHER IN SUCH A WAY!!!" Brom snapped, jumping up and standing upon a the branch with a nimbleness that made the elf jealous, "If my father had been infected I would have mercy-slain him as I would do to any!"
"And did you do the same to Lady Meia?" Legolas asked irritably, tired of the boy's moping and talk of mercy killing.
"I was too young to even try to lift the sword, but many tried. Risca, Tay, Bremen, even her beloved Allanon, tried. The only reason she's alive is because she wrote herself to safety," Brom spat and with tears in his eyes scaled down the tree and ran blindly into the forest.
