Chapter 20 - The Sting
The King's Guards were snoring; slumped in their chairs with overturned goblets. They had been drinking. Heavily.
All at once, one was startled awake by a particularly loud splash.
"You there!" he shouted, after coming to his senses and noticing a figure clad in a tight, full body suit that reminded him oddly of a fish's skin, "hold it right there!"
The figure paused momentarily. The barrel that they were holding hovered dangerously over the river's edge. The guard stepped closer, the fish- figure dropped it.
"Don't move!" the guard ordered as the barrel bobbed under the small outlet in the cave's wall. The fish-figure waited for the Elf to come much closer, then dove into the water.
The guard bent over the bank, peering into the stream's murky depths, and saw nothing. He turned to shout something back at his partner, but only managed a stifled yell as a hand shot up, seized his collar, and yanked him into the water.
The second guard soon came running, only to find his comrade battling with something in the river; splashing wildly. As the Elf and fish-person were swept out through the hole in the wall, the other Elf hurried to alert the other guards in Mirkwood Palace.
By the time he reached the main entrance, the first guard came hobbling up, with a woman all in green in his custody. Both were dripping wet.
"She attacked me," he grunted, in Westron, throwing the woman at the front guards. "She was trying to steal the King's mead. There may be others. I think I saw a wagon head up that way," he pointed.
There was now a large group of Elven guards crowded around the gates. Two of them took the disgruntled green woman to the dungeons while the others followed the soggy Elf.
"Split up," he told them. "We'll surround them. You two..." he grabbed two young archers, "come with me."
They sprinted off into the trees, the mead-guard's boot squishing slightly with every step. "There they are!" he whispered.
A few yards ahead there was a figure in black driving a wagon laden with the King's mead barrels. One of the archers fitted an arrow to his bow.
"Halt where you are!" yelled the other. The person driving showed no sign of hearing, as the wagon rolled on.
The Elf let loose his arrow, but as he did so, he was bumped, and the arrow hit a barrel instead.
Then all chaos ensued. The barrels exploded; sending sparks and a flurry of feathers in all directions. It sent all the surrounding Elves into a daze and state of confusion as they were bombarded with the feathers and thick gray smoke.
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"Almost ready?" asked the dripping guard.
"Just about," answered the woman in green. "Our fishy friend is getting the last gold barrel."
At that moment, a barrel came bobbing out of the cave, a woman in shark's skin helping it stay afloat.
The guard and woman in green helped bring the barrel up out of the water, and loaded it onto a fully loaded waiting wagon.
"It's good to be in the water again," sighed the fishy woman, emerging from the river and draping a blue cloak around her shoulders.
"Nice work," said the guard as the three climbed onto the wagon. "Ya!" The Elf cracked a whip, and the two horses at the wagon's head began walking.
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Once she felt the burst of the barrels behind her, the woman in black expertly jumped free of the wagon and disappeared in the thick smoke cloud. She ran through the trees, careful not to make much noise lest the Elves hear her, despite the diversion.
When she was safely out of eye or ear shot, the women slowed her pace and began walking in the direction of two people bound tightly to a couple of trees in the distance. The two captives—one Man, one Elf—were conversing frantically in hushed voices. They abruptly fell silent when the hooded woman materialized out of the trees.
"Back again so soon?" questioned the man.
"I have a proposition for you," the woman said, kneeling to the others' level.
"There is no proposition that can be trusted if made by a kidnapper and a thief," the Elf said bitterly.
"I'm afraid you have no other choice, my dear Princeling," the woman replied.
"What do you want?" the man asked.
The woman returned her attention to the Ranger. "It took me a while," she said, "but I finally came to my senses." She slowly retrieved a thick gold ring from a pocket in her cloak and held it in her outstretched palm.
"I was holding it," she continued, "after I'd made a few fireballs, and I noticed something very strange." The woman began to rotate her hand slightly, at the same time wisps of feathery gray smoke issued from her palm. "The ring began to glow." And so it did then. "Then a peculiar kind of writing appeared along the band." The Elf and the man tied to the tree watched as markings were etched onto the gold with an invisible chisel.
"This is the One Ring," stated the woman, "is it not?"
"I see no use in denying it," admitted the man.
"You knew this," the woman went on, "and yet, you let a small hobbit with big ears and hairy feet take it? What was he planning to do with it, may I ask?"
"You may ask, but I will not answer," the man told her.
"Ah, I understand," the woman nodded. "An errand of secrecy, as is my own." The man bowed his head in agreement. "Then here is my proposition: I return the Ring to you and let you continue with your errand, and you let me and my company go. Thus both errands of secrecy remain just that: a secret. What say you?"
"That's it?" the Elf asked. The man, as well as the cloaked woman, glared at him.
"I will honor your request, if you honor it yourself," the man agreed.
"I shall," the woman promised. She whipped out a short knife and proceeded to cut the two captives' bindings.
"There is one more thing, however, that I must ask of you," the man said as he was freed from his bonds.
The woman paused to ask what that might be.
"I need you to return the Ring to the hobbit from whom you stole it to begin with," he said.
"What?" the woman asked, throwing up her hand in disbelief. The Elf leaned nervously away from the woman's flailing knife hand. "You want me to trudge half-way across Middle-earth just to give some hairy midget man back a piece of gold jewelry? Do it yourself!" she yelled while rising to her feet.
"Please," the man implored, "you must do this."
"What for? I already said I'd give the Ring to you! What? Are you afraid of a little gold ring?" she taunted.
"I cannot take it," the man said.
"Then make the Elf take it," said the woman.
"I don't want it," the Elf quipped from his position on the ground.
"What a bunch of sissies!" the woman said, exasperated.
Suddenly the woman felt her arms wrenched up behind her back and her knife stripped from her hand. The Elf had somehow wriggled free while she wasn't looking.
"You have the choice of aiding us freely, or forcefully. Either way, you're doing it," the man told her as the Elf placed the knife's sharp tip to her back.
"That is a dirty little trick," she breathed. She debated with herself for a minute, then reluctantly consented. "Fine."
She twisted herself free, rounded on the Elf, and snatched her knife back. "Ruddy Elf," she muttered as she glared.
"How long will this take?" the woman asked the Ranger.
"Less than a fortnight," he responded.
"There is no getting a straight answer around here, oh no," the woman mumbled to herself. "No, they love their ambiguity too much." Then addressing the Ranger once more she said, "Since I will be gone for a while, you must in turn let me alert my company to my brief absence."
The man was about to reply when the woman spoke again. "On second thought," she mused, "perhaps not. No, I do not think that is absolutely necessary." She smiled. "What are we waiting for? Let us proceed!" And the woman shrouded in her black cloak marched off into the forest, with the man and the Elf close behind.
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"That went rather well, don't you think?" asked a woman in red, who had taken the place of the Elven guard. "I think it went very well," she said, tossing a small brown button in the air.
"So," said the woman in blue, "what are we going to do with all of this?"
"Oh, didn't we tell you?" asked the woman in green. "We're buying a boat."
TO BE CONTINUED...
A/N: Don't know what happened? Here's a brief synopsis:
Blue swam through the opening in the cave wall where wine barrels are sent down the river (mentioned in The Hobbit). She started to send barrels of wine out the hole, where Red and Green were waiting to load them onto a wagon. She lured the guard over to the water's edge, pulled him in, and sent him out the hole as well. Red then knocked the guard out, took a button from his uniform, and tied him up and hid him out of sight. Red then transformed into that Elven guard, because she has the ability to change shapes, and took Green to the front of the palace. Green was taken to the dungeons, but had quickly picked the lock and joined Blue in loading barrels of wine and gold into the wagon. Red at the same time, as the Elven guard, led the other guards to Black-who was driving a decoy wagon with barrels full of feathers and gunpowder. When the archer shot his arrow, Red nudged him so it would hit a barrel and not Black. The explosion created a diversion for both Red and Black to get away.
There you have it. If you still don't get it, I'm sorry.
The King's Guards were snoring; slumped in their chairs with overturned goblets. They had been drinking. Heavily.
All at once, one was startled awake by a particularly loud splash.
"You there!" he shouted, after coming to his senses and noticing a figure clad in a tight, full body suit that reminded him oddly of a fish's skin, "hold it right there!"
The figure paused momentarily. The barrel that they were holding hovered dangerously over the river's edge. The guard stepped closer, the fish- figure dropped it.
"Don't move!" the guard ordered as the barrel bobbed under the small outlet in the cave's wall. The fish-figure waited for the Elf to come much closer, then dove into the water.
The guard bent over the bank, peering into the stream's murky depths, and saw nothing. He turned to shout something back at his partner, but only managed a stifled yell as a hand shot up, seized his collar, and yanked him into the water.
The second guard soon came running, only to find his comrade battling with something in the river; splashing wildly. As the Elf and fish-person were swept out through the hole in the wall, the other Elf hurried to alert the other guards in Mirkwood Palace.
By the time he reached the main entrance, the first guard came hobbling up, with a woman all in green in his custody. Both were dripping wet.
"She attacked me," he grunted, in Westron, throwing the woman at the front guards. "She was trying to steal the King's mead. There may be others. I think I saw a wagon head up that way," he pointed.
There was now a large group of Elven guards crowded around the gates. Two of them took the disgruntled green woman to the dungeons while the others followed the soggy Elf.
"Split up," he told them. "We'll surround them. You two..." he grabbed two young archers, "come with me."
They sprinted off into the trees, the mead-guard's boot squishing slightly with every step. "There they are!" he whispered.
A few yards ahead there was a figure in black driving a wagon laden with the King's mead barrels. One of the archers fitted an arrow to his bow.
"Halt where you are!" yelled the other. The person driving showed no sign of hearing, as the wagon rolled on.
The Elf let loose his arrow, but as he did so, he was bumped, and the arrow hit a barrel instead.
Then all chaos ensued. The barrels exploded; sending sparks and a flurry of feathers in all directions. It sent all the surrounding Elves into a daze and state of confusion as they were bombarded with the feathers and thick gray smoke.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------
"Almost ready?" asked the dripping guard.
"Just about," answered the woman in green. "Our fishy friend is getting the last gold barrel."
At that moment, a barrel came bobbing out of the cave, a woman in shark's skin helping it stay afloat.
The guard and woman in green helped bring the barrel up out of the water, and loaded it onto a fully loaded waiting wagon.
"It's good to be in the water again," sighed the fishy woman, emerging from the river and draping a blue cloak around her shoulders.
"Nice work," said the guard as the three climbed onto the wagon. "Ya!" The Elf cracked a whip, and the two horses at the wagon's head began walking.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------
Once she felt the burst of the barrels behind her, the woman in black expertly jumped free of the wagon and disappeared in the thick smoke cloud. She ran through the trees, careful not to make much noise lest the Elves hear her, despite the diversion.
When she was safely out of eye or ear shot, the women slowed her pace and began walking in the direction of two people bound tightly to a couple of trees in the distance. The two captives—one Man, one Elf—were conversing frantically in hushed voices. They abruptly fell silent when the hooded woman materialized out of the trees.
"Back again so soon?" questioned the man.
"I have a proposition for you," the woman said, kneeling to the others' level.
"There is no proposition that can be trusted if made by a kidnapper and a thief," the Elf said bitterly.
"I'm afraid you have no other choice, my dear Princeling," the woman replied.
"What do you want?" the man asked.
The woman returned her attention to the Ranger. "It took me a while," she said, "but I finally came to my senses." She slowly retrieved a thick gold ring from a pocket in her cloak and held it in her outstretched palm.
"I was holding it," she continued, "after I'd made a few fireballs, and I noticed something very strange." The woman began to rotate her hand slightly, at the same time wisps of feathery gray smoke issued from her palm. "The ring began to glow." And so it did then. "Then a peculiar kind of writing appeared along the band." The Elf and the man tied to the tree watched as markings were etched onto the gold with an invisible chisel.
"This is the One Ring," stated the woman, "is it not?"
"I see no use in denying it," admitted the man.
"You knew this," the woman went on, "and yet, you let a small hobbit with big ears and hairy feet take it? What was he planning to do with it, may I ask?"
"You may ask, but I will not answer," the man told her.
"Ah, I understand," the woman nodded. "An errand of secrecy, as is my own." The man bowed his head in agreement. "Then here is my proposition: I return the Ring to you and let you continue with your errand, and you let me and my company go. Thus both errands of secrecy remain just that: a secret. What say you?"
"That's it?" the Elf asked. The man, as well as the cloaked woman, glared at him.
"I will honor your request, if you honor it yourself," the man agreed.
"I shall," the woman promised. She whipped out a short knife and proceeded to cut the two captives' bindings.
"There is one more thing, however, that I must ask of you," the man said as he was freed from his bonds.
The woman paused to ask what that might be.
"I need you to return the Ring to the hobbit from whom you stole it to begin with," he said.
"What?" the woman asked, throwing up her hand in disbelief. The Elf leaned nervously away from the woman's flailing knife hand. "You want me to trudge half-way across Middle-earth just to give some hairy midget man back a piece of gold jewelry? Do it yourself!" she yelled while rising to her feet.
"Please," the man implored, "you must do this."
"What for? I already said I'd give the Ring to you! What? Are you afraid of a little gold ring?" she taunted.
"I cannot take it," the man said.
"Then make the Elf take it," said the woman.
"I don't want it," the Elf quipped from his position on the ground.
"What a bunch of sissies!" the woman said, exasperated.
Suddenly the woman felt her arms wrenched up behind her back and her knife stripped from her hand. The Elf had somehow wriggled free while she wasn't looking.
"You have the choice of aiding us freely, or forcefully. Either way, you're doing it," the man told her as the Elf placed the knife's sharp tip to her back.
"That is a dirty little trick," she breathed. She debated with herself for a minute, then reluctantly consented. "Fine."
She twisted herself free, rounded on the Elf, and snatched her knife back. "Ruddy Elf," she muttered as she glared.
"How long will this take?" the woman asked the Ranger.
"Less than a fortnight," he responded.
"There is no getting a straight answer around here, oh no," the woman mumbled to herself. "No, they love their ambiguity too much." Then addressing the Ranger once more she said, "Since I will be gone for a while, you must in turn let me alert my company to my brief absence."
The man was about to reply when the woman spoke again. "On second thought," she mused, "perhaps not. No, I do not think that is absolutely necessary." She smiled. "What are we waiting for? Let us proceed!" And the woman shrouded in her black cloak marched off into the forest, with the man and the Elf close behind.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------
"That went rather well, don't you think?" asked a woman in red, who had taken the place of the Elven guard. "I think it went very well," she said, tossing a small brown button in the air.
"So," said the woman in blue, "what are we going to do with all of this?"
"Oh, didn't we tell you?" asked the woman in green. "We're buying a boat."
TO BE CONTINUED...
A/N: Don't know what happened? Here's a brief synopsis:
Blue swam through the opening in the cave wall where wine barrels are sent down the river (mentioned in The Hobbit). She started to send barrels of wine out the hole, where Red and Green were waiting to load them onto a wagon. She lured the guard over to the water's edge, pulled him in, and sent him out the hole as well. Red then knocked the guard out, took a button from his uniform, and tied him up and hid him out of sight. Red then transformed into that Elven guard, because she has the ability to change shapes, and took Green to the front of the palace. Green was taken to the dungeons, but had quickly picked the lock and joined Blue in loading barrels of wine and gold into the wagon. Red at the same time, as the Elven guard, led the other guards to Black-who was driving a decoy wagon with barrels full of feathers and gunpowder. When the archer shot his arrow, Red nudged him so it would hit a barrel and not Black. The explosion created a diversion for both Red and Black to get away.
There you have it. If you still don't get it, I'm sorry.