Author: Mirrordance
Title: The Plague
Summary: The Fellowship must reunite to save Middle-Earth again when Pippin unwittingly finds the legendary Pandora's box and opens it, releasing great evil upon the lands…
PART 3: "Gondor"
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Gondor
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Aragorn frowned over the piece of paper he held in his hands. Arwen watched her husband's face, waiting for him to say something about what is apparently new trouble.
"A letter from Frodo, dated past a week ago," Aragorn said, glancing up from the sheet of paper, "Have you or your kind ever encountered a strange," he quoted from the letter, "skinny black, slithering, lizard-like thing that flies, with a distinctly foul smell?"
The Queen's brows furrowed, "It sounds vaguely familiar to me. But no such creature comes to mind in my immediate recollection. What of it?"
"Master Took found a bejeweled box hidden deep in the ground," Aragorn replied, "he opened it and out came this creature that I've never heard of. The hobbits are worried about what this might mean."
"I shall look upon the ancient archives," Arwen offered, "Perhaps it is a trivial concern."
"Perhaps," agreed Aragorn, "but I trust Frodo's instincts. He would not consult with me if he did not feel the issue was pressing."
"We shall see," Arwen promised, pressing a kiss upon her husband's cheek, as she glided out of his throne room.
"Sire," one of Aragorn's men, Damion entered the room and hurriedly bowed to the queen as she passed, "The Prince of Mirkwood is here to see you."
Aragorn's eyes lit, Some joy!, he thought happily, rising from his throne and eager to meet the elf at the door. Legolas was not merely a friend to distract him from his troubles, he was also a legendary warrior whose counsel was invaluable.
Legolas stepped into the room following Damion, his pace swift. Aragorn stopped dead in his tracks, watching the elf's taut face.
"Legolas?" he asked tentatively. The elf's eyes were bloodshot, his clothes dusted by travel. The elf even slightly disheveled was a sight he was unused to.
"I bear ill news from Rohan," Legolas said at once, "Gimli and I had emerged from Fangorn to find Edoras ravaged by a plague."
"A plague?" Aragorn asked, his eyes widening, "Of what sort? Where is Gimli? Are you well? What of Eomer?"
"We do not know what sort," Legolas replied, "I left Gimli to look after the ill, for no one in all of Rohan is well that I have seen. A lot of them are dead, though the King lives. We have gathered several hundred people, the only ones alive, in the Golden Hall so that we may tend them. But the two of us could hardly do it on our own. I have come to seek the aid of Gondor."
"And of course you shall get it," Aragorn said, "What is this… sickness like?"
"They do not move," Legolas said softly, "they do not speak. They stare listlessly away, as if they were already dead. All of them bear a strange mark on their forearms that I've not ever seen. A deep pair of punctures that blister, crowning a swelled bruise."
"Spiders?" asked Aragorn.
"I think I would know how such bites would look," pointed out Legolas, "I am of Mirkwood, and we have the worst kinds."
"I'm sorry if I seemed to doubt your knowledge, but we have to be certain," said Aragorn, "these are strange indeed…" he murmured, "I received a letter from the Shire today, from Frodo. He said Master Took found a bejeweled box buried deep in the ground. He opened it, and a strange creature flew away. From what they described, I've not seen this creature before. Do you think these events are connected?"
"I would not rule it out," Legolas said, grimacing, "The bite we've never seen may belong to a creature we've never encountered, after all."
Aragorn accepted this and nodded, "I feel the same way. Sit upon my table, Legolas. I know you want to move quickly, so we will make arrangements as you dine and rest. I assure you, forces will be mobilized before the sun sets."
* * *
Aragorn planned quickly. He decided to leave the ruling of Gondor to the capable hands of Arwen and its protection to a sizeable part of his army, headed by his trusted captain Damion. A small group of soldiers and healers he had sent with Faramir to Rohan. From this duty the Lady Eowyn would not be removed; she would see to her brother and her people, and be with her husband as well. Towards the Shire Aragorn would lead another small group. This is the party that Legolas decided to join, reasoning that Gimli would already be in excellent company with Faramir and Eowyn, whereas Aragorn had no one but his subordinates, skilled though they were.
As they were preparing to leave, Arwen quickly walks into the arms room, bearing two thick, old books. She was enticingly beautiful, even with her cheeks and opulent clothes somewhat dusted from her quest for information in the deeper areas of the libraries in Gondor. Aragorn immediately offered to take the heavy books from his wife, but she shook her head quickly at him and laid the books upon a nearby table.
"I think I know this jeweled box Frodo spoke of," she said distractedly, flipping the books towards a particular page.
"What books are these?" Legolas asked, watching her graceful hands move through the thick paper.
"One is of old myths," Arwen replied, "The other is a catalog from a jeweler. I found these in town." She flipped the page to a photograph of an intricately decorated, heavily jeweled box. Both books had the same box drawn on them, with matching detailing.
"How do you know that this is the one?" Aragorn asked, looking at the pictures.
"The short of an old myth says that the gods, angered by men, decided to place a curse upon them," Arwen said, "So they gave a woman named Pandora a beautiful jeweled box, which she was never ever to open. However, another god decided to give her curiosity. She struggles with herself and eventually fails, opening the jeweled box, unwittingly releasing the plagues inside it upon the Earth: diseases, old age, death, famine, jealousy, pain, and similar ills. They all came in the form of black, skinny, slithering lizards with wings, who bit men and influenced them.
"Pandora watched with horror as she released the evils," Arwen continued, looking at her husband with wide eyes, "but in the last moment, she finally thought to shut the lid of the box. One of these lizards remained inside, and it was only by luck that Pandora managed to imprison the most evil one."
"What is the most evil lizard?" Aragorn asked.
"Hopelessness," Arwen said gravely.
They all knew what this meant. Against any adversity, men often stood proud and fought. But without hope… they could not live.
"For ages this was merely regarded as a folk tale," Arwen said, "Pandora is said to have buried the box deeply, so no one may ever find it. Perhaps Master Took had found this box, and this legend is real after all."
"What does the jeweler's catalog have to do with the legend?" Legolas asked.
"It is said that a jeweler's child had been so captivated by the story that her father made her an exact replica," Arwen said, "the exact stones, the pattern, the density of the gold spoken of in legend, except, certainly, without the plagues inside. This box was given to the dwarf child on her birthday. She grew to become a woman, died in child birth, rearing a son, who inherited the treasure box, the only memory of his mother. This box could not have been the one that Pippin found because there was nothing inside it. And because… this box was never buried, as Pandora's was. It lies in the deeps of Moria, where the dwarf woman's son joined an army of dwarves to regain the settlement. They were all slaughtered mercilessly."
Aragorn's jaw set. Master Took, with his penchant for finding trouble, could have come upon any box, any treasure. And he finds this one! What strange fate!
"The bite of this lizard brings hopelessness," murmured Legolas thoughtfully, piecing the images of Rohan in his mind, "In Rohan… its as if their lives just stood still. As if they just decided to cease living."
"This must be what we are up against," Aragorn decided, "This beast must be dealt with properly. We must move quickly, before anyone else is harmed."
Aragorn took his wife's hand, squeezed it tightly as his proud eyes rested on her face for a moment, before he turned away to prepare for his journey.
TO BE CONTINUED…
PREVIEW OF PART 4, "Return to the Shire":
Aragorn, Legolas and the soldiers of Gondor arrive in the Shire to find that the Hobbits got themselves into deep water, and Pippin is afflicted with the plague that has destroyed Rohan.
A SCENE FROM PART 4:
The water was stunningly cold, the river powerful. Too powerful, for a pair of hobbits who were weak swimmers, even in placid waters.
They struggled to swim, struggled to keep their heads above the water, struggled to head for shore… all to no avail. The freezing river had its clutches at them, and it was not going to let them go.
This is it, Sam thought wildly, Who'd have thought we would die ahead of Pippin after all…