Chapter 8: The Siege
Hundreds of orcs were assembling around the school's hard stone walls. They had orders to wait until Leon's party came out and ambush them, like a pack of wolves ambushes a wounded dear. In the small cranium of the dumb creatures, restlessness was brooding; an emotion that almost always killed them, in their terrible past. Their four hideous leaders were all on wolf-back, awaiting the right moment. They could all see guards marching on top of the walls, but somehow didn't really care. It was mere coincidence that they were hidden by the dark forest, which stood just a few meters away from the walls. A lesser orc approached the leaders and spoke his mind:
"We've been waiting for hours!" he growled stupidly. All the other orcs groaned in disappointment. "We're tired of waiting."
"Shut up!" snapped Kra-in, one of the leaders, closest to the rebelling inferior. "We have our orders, and you know what will happen if we disobey Neregron."
All the orcs hissed at their terrible leader's name. Kra-in remembered the torture he overcame ten thousand years ago. When Morgoth took his kind and turned them into what they were now. He remembered the light and joy of the First Born (elves) had when they were brought into the world. Than the shadow overtook some of them and turned them into orcs; the hideous, mindless beings they were today. He was the last of his kind; the last that remembered the light. Kra-in starred at his right hand, which had no index finger. That finger was cut by Gilgalad himself, in the first war of the Great Ring. He growled and turned his vision away from the wounded hand. Was he going soft?
"Kra-in, what do we do when we attack?" Urk-uk another commanding officer asked.
"Avoid the ones in silver as best you can." Kra-in suggested. "Their armor is enchanted, kill the rest first." He knew his idle minded army stood no chance against the elves. His kind had no triumphed over the elves for millennia.
All the leaders nodded. Strangely, horse hoofs could be heard coming down the road. A white, horse-drawn carriage was trotting down the cemented road at a moderate pace. It glowed slightly and enchanted all the orcs, striking them with awe, except Kra-in and Urk-uk. Both had seen that carriage before, in some city where they were taken as prisoners. It was the carriage of Galadriel, which was supposed to have gone down in the west with the rest of her kin. The orcs' idle mind now began to work again; one rushed towards the carriage growling loudly. Urk-uk shot him in the back of the head and he fell with a thud to the ground. The orcs screeched in disapproval and starred stupidly at the dead body of their comrade.
"Idiots!" Kra-in bellowed. "That was more than enough for elven ears. They can outlast us in that fortress anyway."
"We must attack." Vrans (yet another leader) said firmly drawing his long gun.
"NO!" Arakan (the last leader) yelled. "Wait for them to open the gate."
They all looked at Kra-in for approval, who nodded. Another battle another chance to die. He was getting sick of it. His memories were coming much too alive now; he pondered and pondered but it just couldn't get through. Why was he remembering all these things now? Was he going to die today?
Urk-uk sniffed the air five times and than turned to Kra-in with a smile. "Do you smell that?"
Kra-in sniffed the air like Urk-uk and finally responded: "That's human blood. But the human's haven't interacted with elves since..."
"Exactly." Said Urk-uk excitedly. "They've been rallied to this cause, but they have never seen orcs before."
Kra-in gave a low snicker. Human's had always been afraid of orcs, unlike the elves. Now the odds were tipping in their favor. "Perfect."
The sound of horse hoofs stopped. And interrupted the sadistic conversation of the two orc leaders. One of the guards and someone in the carriage conversed for a few moments. The voice inside the carriage could be heard clearly even by the orcs. It was Galadriel alright. One of the guards left for about five minutes. With a loud creaking noise the gate slowly began to open...
Roby held Kira on his lap starring out the window, where about five human tents were pitched up. She had slowly dozed off on his shoulder, with a smile on her face. Roby did not bare the same expression, he knew that the orcs would attack soon, but what worried him more was a new much more powerful force slowly making its way down towards the school. Kharadras was resting his head on his master's foot his big warm eyes starring at the worried frown on Roby's face. Jon and Richard were dozing off in two arm chairs nearby. Jon had a dirty smile on his face. Roby smiled looking at him, and than kissing Kira gently on the head. She moved slightly but did not wake up.
"What do you think it is?" Roby asked looking at his hound. Kharadras gave off a loud deep bark. The three sleeping elves awoke with a bit of a startle. Roby smiled. Kira groaned and stretched.
She suddenly stopped and frowned deeply, as if concentrating. "Do you feel that?" she asked turning her head upwards to face Roby.
"Yeah." Roby replied turning serious again. "Do you think it's elven or..."
"I don't know what it is." Kira cut him off. "Whatever it is it's coming closer."
"Hmm..." Roby pondered starring out the window.
Jon and Richard were looking each other in the eye very seriously; they both nodded and turned to Roby and Kira. Jon spoke first:
"We wanna' help." He said firmly. Roby turned his head slowly and looked at him, cocking an eyebrow.
"Don't be stupid." He replied coldly. There was a moment of silence; Jon bowed his head looking as if he had just lost the most important thing in the world. Richard finally gathered enough forest to speak:
"And why not?" He snapped.
"You guys can't even hold a gun." Kira said. "I don't know that well either, Roby was teaching me before we...separated."
"Besides, she has Maiar blood, you don't." Roby added. "And she's right you can't hold a gun."
"That's what you think." We've been practicing ever since we met Roby and found out about his abilities.
"No." Roby said in a "this-conversation-is-over" sort of way. "I can't be responsible for your deaths."
"Well, what 'bout 'em bloody armors." Richard said, pointing at the silver armor on one of the armchairs.
Roby sighed deeply; Richard had him there. "Alright I'll try it for you three, but you're gonna have to get guns from my dad."
The two young elves nodded excitedly. Roby held out his hand, but did not get up. "Tria." He said calmly. The armor glowed and than a flash filled the room. Four armors were now resting one on top of the other. Jon and Richard rushed over to the chair and started putting on the armor. A task that proved more challenging than they thought.
"It's a little stiff before you get into it." Roby warned them.
"No kidding, mate." Richard groaned. Jon finally got into his and fastened on the helmet. The two yellow eye wholes flashed with millions of numbers and than finally stopped; the right screen turned into a three dimensional, transparent map of the school and the left showed all of Jon's body statistics. There were many red dots in one of the forests. "Do the red dots stand for orcs?"
"Yup." Roby said.
"Than I think we 'ave a problem." Richard finished.
"Go get guns." Roby said, deliberately ignoring his friend. Kira waved her hand and the armor, and magically fitted into her armor. She tied up her hair behind her back, as best she could and put on her helmet. The young Maiar than followed her friends out of the dormitory.
The great power was now just outside the school's perimeter. Roby quickly put on his armor like Kira. He waited for the screens to load and than tried to reach his dad. There was no response; Leon must have his helmet off. The helmet didn't generate sound in case it accidentally gave away the unit's position. Turning on the communications menu he fastened his gun into the holster and slowly walked out the door, towards the main yard. His mind was blank, as he walked throughout the many twisting corridors of the school. He would finally get a taste of how his enemy acted. His ultra sensitive ears picked up on a conversation. One of the voices was his father's and the other...but how could it be?
Atop the giant stone wall of the school two guards stood as still as corpses knowing that the dangers around them would soon be unleashed. This world was so much unlike their own. Creatures that bore no sine of aging on their skin look at them with a knowledge and wisdom beyond any ever imagined by human minds. The weapons weren't too much of a burden; the armor was also very light and useful. The elven race was so much more advanced, it seemed impossible for them to be quarreling. Why should they? Over what? Many such questions raced through the troubled minds of the humans. They had all joined these courses to become elite body guards just like their father's before them. None thought they would have to face such a test; especially one that almost promised to take their lives. Leon Black, the elven commander had briefed them on the enemy. Slowly some of the questions were beginning to be answered. It wasn't the elves that were quarreling; it was the orcs and this dark lord that were trying to toss this pleasant, futuristic world into chaos and darkness. The elves were merely protecting it. The humans would do the same if their world was in peril.
Everything lay perfectly still. The two anonymous guards slowly paced along the top of the hard metal gate. The guns given to them by the elves stood under their hands, in a hard grip. A distant and almost silent hiss could be heard from the nearby forest. Both guards crouched and aimed toward the bundle of dark trees.
"What do you suppose that was, Dave?" one whispered to the other. The one called Dave turned his head a little, keeping one eye the forest.
"I don't know Shamus." Dave responded. "Go warn everyone to be on high alert."
Though he had an Irish name and background, Shamus didn't really have a strong accent. He joined the courses to protect others. When he was thirteen he and his little seven year old sister were walking in the park at night. They were jumped by a group of men who tried to mug them. Shamus was able to escape but when his sister tried to she got killed by one of the men. The memories still plagued him, in his worst nightmares. He hoped to become well acquainted with firearms and martial arts.
Shamus raced along the stone wall warning each and every guard to be on high alert. He wondered what this enemy would look like in reality. His imagination had concocted some sort of idea, but he was still curious. They would probably look something like a little which with big noses and small mean eyes; he thought to himself. His guess wasn't too far off. After jogging around the perimeter of the entire school he finally returned to Dave's side.
"All done." Shamus said, panting slightly. Dave was still crouched behind the gate, his rifle pointed at the forest. "What do you think these things look like?"
"It's curiosity like that, that's gonna get us killed, Shamus." Dave snapped. He was almost finished with his training. In a few months he would be a fully certified body guard. Shamus scowled, pulled out his rifle and crouched behind the wall. Dave was a pretty big kill joy. He wasn't like that when his family was alive, but his family wasn't alive anymore. It was all because he couldn't protect them. It was all his fault. But now no one would have to die on his account except perhaps those that have done wrong. He wanted to join the F.B.I. after he finished training.
A small light could be seen coming down the neatly paved road. The tall trees seemed to have no affect on this object. Its light seemed to glow for miles, and illuminate everything. It struck the two humans with awe. They starred at it with their jaws dropped. Dave recovered from the trance, and crouched quickly behind the wall. He pulled Shamus down after him.
"You idiot, it might be some sort of the enemy weapon." Dave criticized. He said a few more things that Shamus just blocked out of his head. He was really sick of this old kill joy. He slowly raised his weapon slowly to his right shoulder; anger was rushing through his temples clouding his mind. Shamus recovered and concentrated on the light that was coming closer and closer. What could it be? He got ready to fire; his hands squeezed the weapon tighter and tighter.
Finally the object came into view. It was a horse drawn carriage. As the primitive vehicle turned the bend a loud shriek was heard from the dark forest, and a gunshot followed it almost immediately. By this time the enchanted carriage had reached the gates; the driver starred at the two humans without saying a word.
"Who goes there?" asked Dave.
"Galadriel, Queen of Lotholrien." Answered a voice from within. "I wish to speak to Leon Black."
"We have to check our orders." Dave replied. "Shamus go get Leon, quick!"
"Yeah, yeah." Shamus said slowly. He jumped down off the wall and ran to the great oak where Leon and the rest of the elves were sleeping. "Leon, sir." Shamus said slightly louder than normal. Leon arose slowly looking sheepishly at the human. As the elf rose to his feet he spoke:
"What is it?"
"There is a carriage at the gate." Shamus began. "Of Galadriel, Queen of Lotholrien, I believe she said."
Leon's eyes opened wide. His ears could not believe it; how was it possible. "Open the gate quickly."
"One more thing, sir." Shamus said. "We heard a strange shriek and gunfire in the woods."
"Wake everyone up and tell them to be ready. They'll attack when the gates open." Leon said. The human nodded and went around waking everyone up from their peaceful slumber. Leon walked quickly to the gate climbing the ladder as fast as he could to reach the top. "My apologies for wasting your time ma'lady."
"Are you Leon Black?" the voice from the carriage asked.
"Yes ma'lady, we shall open the gates immediately." Leon said. He looked over his shoulder, everyone was awake and armed; he nodded at the human by the lever that opened the gate. The lever was an old fashioned hand powered one; the man toiled with it putting all his strength into it. As the old gate was slowly creaking open, Leon whispered to Dave: "Get the carriage to safety as soon as it gets in here."
"Yessir." Dave replied firmly. He jumped from the precipice behind the gate and signaled the driver to follow him.
Four voices now rang from the forest, screaming at the top of their lungs: "ATTACK!"
The ground seemed to shake under the many feet of the attacking force. Leon quickly waved his hand at the stubborn lever and the gates closed in the blink of an eye. The human that was previously controlling the lever was thrown on his back by Leon's power. Leon aimed his gun at one of the warg riders and fired a few rounds; the creature nearly evaded the attack and growled at the elf. This was Urk-uk's warg, and one of the best there was. Urk-uk opened fire on the guards on the gate, avoiding Leon, as Kra-in ordered. He managed to hit one of the guards the other opened fire on him before he got the chance to shoot.
The orcs were firing stupidly on the gate; their shots didn't even leave marks on the strong foundation. But it appeared to be more than just the foundation; a strong spell protected the wall from any enemy attacks. As soon as he noticed this, Leon starred over his shoulder to see a most terrible sight. Lady Galadriel had a huge silvery-blue aura around her and her hands held up in front of her. The waves of energy she emitted blurred her image.
Orias, Wei, and the rest of the elves joined Leon on top of the gate. "Hey snap out of it!" Wei yelled at him. Leon shook his head and returned to shooting down the attacking hoards of orcs. Two small figures appeared the elven commander holding guns almost as big as them. They fired at the orc, hitting all of their targets. Leon frowned, when he noticed that they were wearing silver armors. Must be Roby and Kira, he thought and returned to killing off the orcs. Orias, Wei, Nyssa, Tom were fierce in battle; hundreds of orcs were skewed by their blazing silver projectiles. Even Laura hit all of her targets with much ease. Many of the stupid creatures attempted to shoot them, but all their bullets broke against the shining, enchanted, Maiar armor like water against rock.
Tom held out his hand and yelled: "Fatum iaculum [Doomed javelin]" it landed in amidst a group of demented looking orcs devouring them in a black- blue flame.
Kra-in was shooting fiercely at the humans killing most of them. Despite his and the other leaders' efforts most of the foot soldiers were getting swatted down like flies by the human and elf army. Dave shot at Kra- in but, he wasn't good enough for the experienced orc. Kra-in easily evaded his attack, guiding his great warg through the hail of bullets that was killing all his troops. Arakan was shooting the guards as well and went to Kra-in's side, as if waiting for some sort of order. His right arm had been shot off by one of the silver bullets of the great elves. The socket where his arm was supposed to be was gushing out a cold blue blood. He knew there was no point in fighting, but if they returned to Neregron empty handed they would suffer a fate worse than death.
"Give me a hand with this one." Kra-in ordered in his horse voice. The orc leaders both shot at the poor human penetrating his elven armor and killing him in an instant. Leon turned to the fallen human, but it was too late; Dave had died before he hit the ground. Kra-in grinned and turned on Shamus; this human was smarter and ducked behind the wall, rather than relying on his foolish pride. When the fire ceased he quickly rose, but was shot in the left side of his chest. One of the female elves stooped over him; all the sounds around him were now either silent of muffled. He felt a surge of energy rush through his body and everything was well again.
"He's alright." Nyssa said. "Be careful will ya'."
Shamus nodded and attempted to put a hand to his forehead, but his helmet was in the way. He crawled away from his previous spot, a strategy was tacking root in his head. He would have to sneak away from the attackers and shoot them from the side. Shamus rose to his knees, took aim carefully and fired. He hit Arakan right in the head; he ment to hit the one closer to him, but it didn't really matter.
A bullet whooshed over Kra-in's head hitting Arakan just below his right ear. His comrade fell limply to the ground. Again, just like Borak. Kra-in shook his head and groaned; who the hell was Borak anyway? He had to control his memories better. Steering his warg away from Arakan's corpse he returned to shooting out the humans on the wall. But more and more seemed to take their place. Suddenly a great white hound jumped over the great castle wall and started maiming hundreds of orcs. Kharadras turned his sights on Vrans and his great brown warg. His golden claws cut deeply into the warg, killing it quickly, and his golden teeth tore the orc leader in half. The hound sliced through Kra-in's warg, knocking him face first into the dirt.
Kra-in slowly rose but his eyes didn't meet a pretty sight. He starred around him, gazing upon the masses of his fallen troops. They were all drenched in a blue pool of their own miserable blood.
"Retreat!" he yelled. Urk-uk and about one hundred other orcs ran back shooting over their shoulder. Cheers could be heard from the school behind them. A figure appeared in front of them, clad in the silver armor they were told to avoid. He wasn't quite as tall as a fully grown elf but he was close. They desperately fired at him, but their entire mass of bullets ricochet off his shining armor.
"It's Roby." Jon and Richard said in one voice. Leon starred at them; his pupils shrunk in fear as his eyes shot wide open. He couldn't remember that nothing could penetrate the silver armor; not that he could do anything. Nervousness had totally numbed his entire body.
Roby held out his hand and spoke in a deep dark voice to the orcs. "Give this to your master." With that he yelled out his spell: "Calamus grano. [Arrow hailstorm]" Hundreds of long, golden arrows flew out of his hand piercing through the stupid creatures. All of them fell down to the ground as soon as they were struck, except the one closest to him. Kra-in staggered raised his gun and fired one last shot. Than his eyes turned red and he started laughing, despite the blood that was gushing out of his stomach. His laugh was so sinister it made every piece of your body shake in fear. Roby however was as still as night.
"So you're the child, are you?" The possessed orc said, in a deep voice, dreadful like his laugh.
"Yes, I am." The young Maiar said calmly. "Are you the filth they call Neregron?"
Neregron chuckled and shook his head closing his eyes, hiding the two dreadful fireballs that pierced the night. "Brave my boy but foolish. I can not attempt to destroy you in this body, but I assure..."
"Shut up!" Roby cut him off. "You think you're so high and mighty." Roby took of his helmet and spit on the ground. "That's what I think of you."
Neregron's evil grin disappeared and his possessed orc growled. "Oblivio!" it yelled throwing out its bruised hand. A black cloak rushed toward Roby getting bigger as it traveled farther and farther.
"Voluptuosus crepusculum [delightful twilight]!" a dark ball hit the eerie cloak dispersing it into a million horizons and than exploded right in Neregron's face. In his dark fortress the dark lord was flung backward and blinded by the attack. He growled loudly and pummeled the marble floor with his huge fists.
"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS." Neregron yelled raising his fists up into the air; his voice made his entire stronghold tremble in its foundation. "No one takes my sight." He said in a voice near a whisper. His eyes were still smocking from the spell. His fiery eyes now fell out of their sockets as highly burnt pieces of charcoal.
Back at the Elven School, Roby staggered and fell forward, just managing to keep balance by slamming his right knee into the ground; his left knee stood bent underneath him. Everyone was still temporarily blinded by the attack; the only thing that remained of Kra-in was a pile of ash in the road. Roby rested his head on his right knee, breathing heavily; his chest rose and contracted slower and slower, until the young Maiar finally regained his strength. He rose to his feet and slowly walked back towards the school.
"Hoorah!" Shamus yelled at the top of his lungs. Slowly more and more humans joined in the chant, pretty soon the entire school yard was chanting in Roby's honor. He waved at them and than jumped over the gate. His father hugged him; some of the humans went aw.
"Good job, son." Leon said, squeezing him tighter.
"Yeah, way to go kid!" Tom said patting him on the shoulder.
"That was some spell, Roby." Orias added admiring his abilities.
"Oh and Kira, good idea with those decoys." Wei finally spoke, turning to Kira. "I think it really helped these humans.
"Thanks Wei." Kira said, smiling under her armor.
After many other compliments from the elves, a voice from somewhere farther away spoke out. "Indeed." Lady Galadriel was walking towards them. They all bowed. "You don't need to do that. Please rise." All the elves rose to their feet looking anxiously at the legendary elven queen.
"To what do we owe the honor, ma'lady?" Orias asked politely.
Before the elven queen spoke Laura cut her off, not realizing the importance of this proud figure. "I think I read about you in some history book, you were queen of Lotholrien?"
Galadriel nodded, ignoring the rudeness of the young elf. "Now to answer your question Orias." Orias was taken aback that the legendary queen knew his name. "I was sent here from Valinor by the Valar to train our two young friends over here." She said smiling pointing at Roby and Kira.
Roby cocked an eyebrow and Kira went: "OO." This was an honor not even Roby's mind couldn't realize. What could the ancient Lady Galadriel teach the two young Maiar?
Hundreds of orcs were assembling around the school's hard stone walls. They had orders to wait until Leon's party came out and ambush them, like a pack of wolves ambushes a wounded dear. In the small cranium of the dumb creatures, restlessness was brooding; an emotion that almost always killed them, in their terrible past. Their four hideous leaders were all on wolf-back, awaiting the right moment. They could all see guards marching on top of the walls, but somehow didn't really care. It was mere coincidence that they were hidden by the dark forest, which stood just a few meters away from the walls. A lesser orc approached the leaders and spoke his mind:
"We've been waiting for hours!" he growled stupidly. All the other orcs groaned in disappointment. "We're tired of waiting."
"Shut up!" snapped Kra-in, one of the leaders, closest to the rebelling inferior. "We have our orders, and you know what will happen if we disobey Neregron."
All the orcs hissed at their terrible leader's name. Kra-in remembered the torture he overcame ten thousand years ago. When Morgoth took his kind and turned them into what they were now. He remembered the light and joy of the First Born (elves) had when they were brought into the world. Than the shadow overtook some of them and turned them into orcs; the hideous, mindless beings they were today. He was the last of his kind; the last that remembered the light. Kra-in starred at his right hand, which had no index finger. That finger was cut by Gilgalad himself, in the first war of the Great Ring. He growled and turned his vision away from the wounded hand. Was he going soft?
"Kra-in, what do we do when we attack?" Urk-uk another commanding officer asked.
"Avoid the ones in silver as best you can." Kra-in suggested. "Their armor is enchanted, kill the rest first." He knew his idle minded army stood no chance against the elves. His kind had no triumphed over the elves for millennia.
All the leaders nodded. Strangely, horse hoofs could be heard coming down the road. A white, horse-drawn carriage was trotting down the cemented road at a moderate pace. It glowed slightly and enchanted all the orcs, striking them with awe, except Kra-in and Urk-uk. Both had seen that carriage before, in some city where they were taken as prisoners. It was the carriage of Galadriel, which was supposed to have gone down in the west with the rest of her kin. The orcs' idle mind now began to work again; one rushed towards the carriage growling loudly. Urk-uk shot him in the back of the head and he fell with a thud to the ground. The orcs screeched in disapproval and starred stupidly at the dead body of their comrade.
"Idiots!" Kra-in bellowed. "That was more than enough for elven ears. They can outlast us in that fortress anyway."
"We must attack." Vrans (yet another leader) said firmly drawing his long gun.
"NO!" Arakan (the last leader) yelled. "Wait for them to open the gate."
They all looked at Kra-in for approval, who nodded. Another battle another chance to die. He was getting sick of it. His memories were coming much too alive now; he pondered and pondered but it just couldn't get through. Why was he remembering all these things now? Was he going to die today?
Urk-uk sniffed the air five times and than turned to Kra-in with a smile. "Do you smell that?"
Kra-in sniffed the air like Urk-uk and finally responded: "That's human blood. But the human's haven't interacted with elves since..."
"Exactly." Said Urk-uk excitedly. "They've been rallied to this cause, but they have never seen orcs before."
Kra-in gave a low snicker. Human's had always been afraid of orcs, unlike the elves. Now the odds were tipping in their favor. "Perfect."
The sound of horse hoofs stopped. And interrupted the sadistic conversation of the two orc leaders. One of the guards and someone in the carriage conversed for a few moments. The voice inside the carriage could be heard clearly even by the orcs. It was Galadriel alright. One of the guards left for about five minutes. With a loud creaking noise the gate slowly began to open...
Roby held Kira on his lap starring out the window, where about five human tents were pitched up. She had slowly dozed off on his shoulder, with a smile on her face. Roby did not bare the same expression, he knew that the orcs would attack soon, but what worried him more was a new much more powerful force slowly making its way down towards the school. Kharadras was resting his head on his master's foot his big warm eyes starring at the worried frown on Roby's face. Jon and Richard were dozing off in two arm chairs nearby. Jon had a dirty smile on his face. Roby smiled looking at him, and than kissing Kira gently on the head. She moved slightly but did not wake up.
"What do you think it is?" Roby asked looking at his hound. Kharadras gave off a loud deep bark. The three sleeping elves awoke with a bit of a startle. Roby smiled. Kira groaned and stretched.
She suddenly stopped and frowned deeply, as if concentrating. "Do you feel that?" she asked turning her head upwards to face Roby.
"Yeah." Roby replied turning serious again. "Do you think it's elven or..."
"I don't know what it is." Kira cut him off. "Whatever it is it's coming closer."
"Hmm..." Roby pondered starring out the window.
Jon and Richard were looking each other in the eye very seriously; they both nodded and turned to Roby and Kira. Jon spoke first:
"We wanna' help." He said firmly. Roby turned his head slowly and looked at him, cocking an eyebrow.
"Don't be stupid." He replied coldly. There was a moment of silence; Jon bowed his head looking as if he had just lost the most important thing in the world. Richard finally gathered enough forest to speak:
"And why not?" He snapped.
"You guys can't even hold a gun." Kira said. "I don't know that well either, Roby was teaching me before we...separated."
"Besides, she has Maiar blood, you don't." Roby added. "And she's right you can't hold a gun."
"That's what you think." We've been practicing ever since we met Roby and found out about his abilities.
"No." Roby said in a "this-conversation-is-over" sort of way. "I can't be responsible for your deaths."
"Well, what 'bout 'em bloody armors." Richard said, pointing at the silver armor on one of the armchairs.
Roby sighed deeply; Richard had him there. "Alright I'll try it for you three, but you're gonna have to get guns from my dad."
The two young elves nodded excitedly. Roby held out his hand, but did not get up. "Tria." He said calmly. The armor glowed and than a flash filled the room. Four armors were now resting one on top of the other. Jon and Richard rushed over to the chair and started putting on the armor. A task that proved more challenging than they thought.
"It's a little stiff before you get into it." Roby warned them.
"No kidding, mate." Richard groaned. Jon finally got into his and fastened on the helmet. The two yellow eye wholes flashed with millions of numbers and than finally stopped; the right screen turned into a three dimensional, transparent map of the school and the left showed all of Jon's body statistics. There were many red dots in one of the forests. "Do the red dots stand for orcs?"
"Yup." Roby said.
"Than I think we 'ave a problem." Richard finished.
"Go get guns." Roby said, deliberately ignoring his friend. Kira waved her hand and the armor, and magically fitted into her armor. She tied up her hair behind her back, as best she could and put on her helmet. The young Maiar than followed her friends out of the dormitory.
The great power was now just outside the school's perimeter. Roby quickly put on his armor like Kira. He waited for the screens to load and than tried to reach his dad. There was no response; Leon must have his helmet off. The helmet didn't generate sound in case it accidentally gave away the unit's position. Turning on the communications menu he fastened his gun into the holster and slowly walked out the door, towards the main yard. His mind was blank, as he walked throughout the many twisting corridors of the school. He would finally get a taste of how his enemy acted. His ultra sensitive ears picked up on a conversation. One of the voices was his father's and the other...but how could it be?
Atop the giant stone wall of the school two guards stood as still as corpses knowing that the dangers around them would soon be unleashed. This world was so much unlike their own. Creatures that bore no sine of aging on their skin look at them with a knowledge and wisdom beyond any ever imagined by human minds. The weapons weren't too much of a burden; the armor was also very light and useful. The elven race was so much more advanced, it seemed impossible for them to be quarreling. Why should they? Over what? Many such questions raced through the troubled minds of the humans. They had all joined these courses to become elite body guards just like their father's before them. None thought they would have to face such a test; especially one that almost promised to take their lives. Leon Black, the elven commander had briefed them on the enemy. Slowly some of the questions were beginning to be answered. It wasn't the elves that were quarreling; it was the orcs and this dark lord that were trying to toss this pleasant, futuristic world into chaos and darkness. The elves were merely protecting it. The humans would do the same if their world was in peril.
Everything lay perfectly still. The two anonymous guards slowly paced along the top of the hard metal gate. The guns given to them by the elves stood under their hands, in a hard grip. A distant and almost silent hiss could be heard from the nearby forest. Both guards crouched and aimed toward the bundle of dark trees.
"What do you suppose that was, Dave?" one whispered to the other. The one called Dave turned his head a little, keeping one eye the forest.
"I don't know Shamus." Dave responded. "Go warn everyone to be on high alert."
Though he had an Irish name and background, Shamus didn't really have a strong accent. He joined the courses to protect others. When he was thirteen he and his little seven year old sister were walking in the park at night. They were jumped by a group of men who tried to mug them. Shamus was able to escape but when his sister tried to she got killed by one of the men. The memories still plagued him, in his worst nightmares. He hoped to become well acquainted with firearms and martial arts.
Shamus raced along the stone wall warning each and every guard to be on high alert. He wondered what this enemy would look like in reality. His imagination had concocted some sort of idea, but he was still curious. They would probably look something like a little which with big noses and small mean eyes; he thought to himself. His guess wasn't too far off. After jogging around the perimeter of the entire school he finally returned to Dave's side.
"All done." Shamus said, panting slightly. Dave was still crouched behind the gate, his rifle pointed at the forest. "What do you think these things look like?"
"It's curiosity like that, that's gonna get us killed, Shamus." Dave snapped. He was almost finished with his training. In a few months he would be a fully certified body guard. Shamus scowled, pulled out his rifle and crouched behind the wall. Dave was a pretty big kill joy. He wasn't like that when his family was alive, but his family wasn't alive anymore. It was all because he couldn't protect them. It was all his fault. But now no one would have to die on his account except perhaps those that have done wrong. He wanted to join the F.B.I. after he finished training.
A small light could be seen coming down the neatly paved road. The tall trees seemed to have no affect on this object. Its light seemed to glow for miles, and illuminate everything. It struck the two humans with awe. They starred at it with their jaws dropped. Dave recovered from the trance, and crouched quickly behind the wall. He pulled Shamus down after him.
"You idiot, it might be some sort of the enemy weapon." Dave criticized. He said a few more things that Shamus just blocked out of his head. He was really sick of this old kill joy. He slowly raised his weapon slowly to his right shoulder; anger was rushing through his temples clouding his mind. Shamus recovered and concentrated on the light that was coming closer and closer. What could it be? He got ready to fire; his hands squeezed the weapon tighter and tighter.
Finally the object came into view. It was a horse drawn carriage. As the primitive vehicle turned the bend a loud shriek was heard from the dark forest, and a gunshot followed it almost immediately. By this time the enchanted carriage had reached the gates; the driver starred at the two humans without saying a word.
"Who goes there?" asked Dave.
"Galadriel, Queen of Lotholrien." Answered a voice from within. "I wish to speak to Leon Black."
"We have to check our orders." Dave replied. "Shamus go get Leon, quick!"
"Yeah, yeah." Shamus said slowly. He jumped down off the wall and ran to the great oak where Leon and the rest of the elves were sleeping. "Leon, sir." Shamus said slightly louder than normal. Leon arose slowly looking sheepishly at the human. As the elf rose to his feet he spoke:
"What is it?"
"There is a carriage at the gate." Shamus began. "Of Galadriel, Queen of Lotholrien, I believe she said."
Leon's eyes opened wide. His ears could not believe it; how was it possible. "Open the gate quickly."
"One more thing, sir." Shamus said. "We heard a strange shriek and gunfire in the woods."
"Wake everyone up and tell them to be ready. They'll attack when the gates open." Leon said. The human nodded and went around waking everyone up from their peaceful slumber. Leon walked quickly to the gate climbing the ladder as fast as he could to reach the top. "My apologies for wasting your time ma'lady."
"Are you Leon Black?" the voice from the carriage asked.
"Yes ma'lady, we shall open the gates immediately." Leon said. He looked over his shoulder, everyone was awake and armed; he nodded at the human by the lever that opened the gate. The lever was an old fashioned hand powered one; the man toiled with it putting all his strength into it. As the old gate was slowly creaking open, Leon whispered to Dave: "Get the carriage to safety as soon as it gets in here."
"Yessir." Dave replied firmly. He jumped from the precipice behind the gate and signaled the driver to follow him.
Four voices now rang from the forest, screaming at the top of their lungs: "ATTACK!"
The ground seemed to shake under the many feet of the attacking force. Leon quickly waved his hand at the stubborn lever and the gates closed in the blink of an eye. The human that was previously controlling the lever was thrown on his back by Leon's power. Leon aimed his gun at one of the warg riders and fired a few rounds; the creature nearly evaded the attack and growled at the elf. This was Urk-uk's warg, and one of the best there was. Urk-uk opened fire on the guards on the gate, avoiding Leon, as Kra-in ordered. He managed to hit one of the guards the other opened fire on him before he got the chance to shoot.
The orcs were firing stupidly on the gate; their shots didn't even leave marks on the strong foundation. But it appeared to be more than just the foundation; a strong spell protected the wall from any enemy attacks. As soon as he noticed this, Leon starred over his shoulder to see a most terrible sight. Lady Galadriel had a huge silvery-blue aura around her and her hands held up in front of her. The waves of energy she emitted blurred her image.
Orias, Wei, and the rest of the elves joined Leon on top of the gate. "Hey snap out of it!" Wei yelled at him. Leon shook his head and returned to shooting down the attacking hoards of orcs. Two small figures appeared the elven commander holding guns almost as big as them. They fired at the orc, hitting all of their targets. Leon frowned, when he noticed that they were wearing silver armors. Must be Roby and Kira, he thought and returned to killing off the orcs. Orias, Wei, Nyssa, Tom were fierce in battle; hundreds of orcs were skewed by their blazing silver projectiles. Even Laura hit all of her targets with much ease. Many of the stupid creatures attempted to shoot them, but all their bullets broke against the shining, enchanted, Maiar armor like water against rock.
Tom held out his hand and yelled: "Fatum iaculum [Doomed javelin]" it landed in amidst a group of demented looking orcs devouring them in a black- blue flame.
Kra-in was shooting fiercely at the humans killing most of them. Despite his and the other leaders' efforts most of the foot soldiers were getting swatted down like flies by the human and elf army. Dave shot at Kra- in but, he wasn't good enough for the experienced orc. Kra-in easily evaded his attack, guiding his great warg through the hail of bullets that was killing all his troops. Arakan was shooting the guards as well and went to Kra-in's side, as if waiting for some sort of order. His right arm had been shot off by one of the silver bullets of the great elves. The socket where his arm was supposed to be was gushing out a cold blue blood. He knew there was no point in fighting, but if they returned to Neregron empty handed they would suffer a fate worse than death.
"Give me a hand with this one." Kra-in ordered in his horse voice. The orc leaders both shot at the poor human penetrating his elven armor and killing him in an instant. Leon turned to the fallen human, but it was too late; Dave had died before he hit the ground. Kra-in grinned and turned on Shamus; this human was smarter and ducked behind the wall, rather than relying on his foolish pride. When the fire ceased he quickly rose, but was shot in the left side of his chest. One of the female elves stooped over him; all the sounds around him were now either silent of muffled. He felt a surge of energy rush through his body and everything was well again.
"He's alright." Nyssa said. "Be careful will ya'."
Shamus nodded and attempted to put a hand to his forehead, but his helmet was in the way. He crawled away from his previous spot, a strategy was tacking root in his head. He would have to sneak away from the attackers and shoot them from the side. Shamus rose to his knees, took aim carefully and fired. He hit Arakan right in the head; he ment to hit the one closer to him, but it didn't really matter.
A bullet whooshed over Kra-in's head hitting Arakan just below his right ear. His comrade fell limply to the ground. Again, just like Borak. Kra-in shook his head and groaned; who the hell was Borak anyway? He had to control his memories better. Steering his warg away from Arakan's corpse he returned to shooting out the humans on the wall. But more and more seemed to take their place. Suddenly a great white hound jumped over the great castle wall and started maiming hundreds of orcs. Kharadras turned his sights on Vrans and his great brown warg. His golden claws cut deeply into the warg, killing it quickly, and his golden teeth tore the orc leader in half. The hound sliced through Kra-in's warg, knocking him face first into the dirt.
Kra-in slowly rose but his eyes didn't meet a pretty sight. He starred around him, gazing upon the masses of his fallen troops. They were all drenched in a blue pool of their own miserable blood.
"Retreat!" he yelled. Urk-uk and about one hundred other orcs ran back shooting over their shoulder. Cheers could be heard from the school behind them. A figure appeared in front of them, clad in the silver armor they were told to avoid. He wasn't quite as tall as a fully grown elf but he was close. They desperately fired at him, but their entire mass of bullets ricochet off his shining armor.
"It's Roby." Jon and Richard said in one voice. Leon starred at them; his pupils shrunk in fear as his eyes shot wide open. He couldn't remember that nothing could penetrate the silver armor; not that he could do anything. Nervousness had totally numbed his entire body.
Roby held out his hand and spoke in a deep dark voice to the orcs. "Give this to your master." With that he yelled out his spell: "Calamus grano. [Arrow hailstorm]" Hundreds of long, golden arrows flew out of his hand piercing through the stupid creatures. All of them fell down to the ground as soon as they were struck, except the one closest to him. Kra-in staggered raised his gun and fired one last shot. Than his eyes turned red and he started laughing, despite the blood that was gushing out of his stomach. His laugh was so sinister it made every piece of your body shake in fear. Roby however was as still as night.
"So you're the child, are you?" The possessed orc said, in a deep voice, dreadful like his laugh.
"Yes, I am." The young Maiar said calmly. "Are you the filth they call Neregron?"
Neregron chuckled and shook his head closing his eyes, hiding the two dreadful fireballs that pierced the night. "Brave my boy but foolish. I can not attempt to destroy you in this body, but I assure..."
"Shut up!" Roby cut him off. "You think you're so high and mighty." Roby took of his helmet and spit on the ground. "That's what I think of you."
Neregron's evil grin disappeared and his possessed orc growled. "Oblivio!" it yelled throwing out its bruised hand. A black cloak rushed toward Roby getting bigger as it traveled farther and farther.
"Voluptuosus crepusculum [delightful twilight]!" a dark ball hit the eerie cloak dispersing it into a million horizons and than exploded right in Neregron's face. In his dark fortress the dark lord was flung backward and blinded by the attack. He growled loudly and pummeled the marble floor with his huge fists.
"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS." Neregron yelled raising his fists up into the air; his voice made his entire stronghold tremble in its foundation. "No one takes my sight." He said in a voice near a whisper. His eyes were still smocking from the spell. His fiery eyes now fell out of their sockets as highly burnt pieces of charcoal.
Back at the Elven School, Roby staggered and fell forward, just managing to keep balance by slamming his right knee into the ground; his left knee stood bent underneath him. Everyone was still temporarily blinded by the attack; the only thing that remained of Kra-in was a pile of ash in the road. Roby rested his head on his right knee, breathing heavily; his chest rose and contracted slower and slower, until the young Maiar finally regained his strength. He rose to his feet and slowly walked back towards the school.
"Hoorah!" Shamus yelled at the top of his lungs. Slowly more and more humans joined in the chant, pretty soon the entire school yard was chanting in Roby's honor. He waved at them and than jumped over the gate. His father hugged him; some of the humans went aw.
"Good job, son." Leon said, squeezing him tighter.
"Yeah, way to go kid!" Tom said patting him on the shoulder.
"That was some spell, Roby." Orias added admiring his abilities.
"Oh and Kira, good idea with those decoys." Wei finally spoke, turning to Kira. "I think it really helped these humans.
"Thanks Wei." Kira said, smiling under her armor.
After many other compliments from the elves, a voice from somewhere farther away spoke out. "Indeed." Lady Galadriel was walking towards them. They all bowed. "You don't need to do that. Please rise." All the elves rose to their feet looking anxiously at the legendary elven queen.
"To what do we owe the honor, ma'lady?" Orias asked politely.
Before the elven queen spoke Laura cut her off, not realizing the importance of this proud figure. "I think I read about you in some history book, you were queen of Lotholrien?"
Galadriel nodded, ignoring the rudeness of the young elf. "Now to answer your question Orias." Orias was taken aback that the legendary queen knew his name. "I was sent here from Valinor by the Valar to train our two young friends over here." She said smiling pointing at Roby and Kira.
Roby cocked an eyebrow and Kira went: "OO." This was an honor not even Roby's mind couldn't realize. What could the ancient Lady Galadriel teach the two young Maiar?
