All Istar spells will begin with *** and will end with ***. I wanted to use Maiar words but Gandalf has gone somewhere on vacation and couldn't translate the spell for me. That dang wizard!
A/N: The black stallion, Elias, is based on a horse I had when I was about 11 years old. Buddy, or Budha, as I affectionately named him, was a Tennessee Walker/Thoroughbred cross who stood 17 hands 3 inches tall and weighed 1700 pounds.
A/N: For those who may be wondering, a "hand" is a unit of measure of about 4 inches, or the average width of a human hand. To measure the height of a horse, measurement is taken from the ground to the top of his withers, or front shoulders. Elias, the horse in this story is 5' 8" tall at the shoulder which is quite tall for a horse.
"Warfare is the way of deception. If you are capable, display incapability, when your object is nearby, make it appear distant, create illusions to fool the enemy." (Sun Tzu, Art of War)
Something Wicked This Way Comes
"Hello boys. Are you by any chance looking for me?" She hoped that the mocking tone of her voice would be both irritating and enticing enough to get the wraiths to follow her. She stood with all her weight on one leg, her hand on the hilt of her sword and idly playing with the end of her waist-length, black braid.
The wraiths froze, and for some moments stood looking at her, doing nothing, just like all good little idiot wraiths usually did.
'Come on warg bait,' she thought to herself. 'Don't just stand there ... move!'
As if they had heard her thoughts, the wraiths finally began to move, although instead of coming after her they formed a semi-circle around the young elf then came to a silent stop.
Surprised, the she-elf stood in silence for a moment, watching the group.
"Ok, I'm adaptable. Let's see what you've got."
The wraith leader stepped forward into the middle of the semi-circle and raised his hand, palm forward, and began to chant a spell in the Black Speech. An oval, blue, fire shield, the size of the creature itself formed in front of him and began to advance toward her. The air began to shimmer, the temperature rose and she began to sweat as the air around her began to superheat. Then she raised her own hand, palm facing outward, and began to chant in the language of her ancestress, the language once used by Melian, the language of the Maiar.
A shield began to form in front of her in response to the Istar spell she had invoked, a shield of red fire, which then began to advance to meet its blue counterpart. When the two shields met, sparks flew as red fire fought blue and good fought to overcome evil. Back and forth waged the battle as the two beings fought, one to overcome, the other to defend. The air in the cave became uncomfortably hot and even those wraiths not involved in the conflict before them began to shift from foot to foot as the very ground beneath them started to heat up. The visual intensity as well as the size of the fire shields increased, each shield glowing brighter and expanding with the effort of their creators. Then, surprisingly, the size of the blue shield began to diminish until it finally dissolved and winked out of existence.
For a moment Anayah and the wraith stood in silence, each taking the measure of the other. Then, tilting her head slightly to one side, she uttered one word in the most sarcastic tone she could manage.
"Well?"
The wraith raised his head and began to scream. It was a call to war, and it was answered not only by the wraiths in the cave but by the masses of Orcs waiting in the field a half mile to the south from where she now stood. Anayah then did what any rational being would have done if they had been in her position - she turned on her heel and ran - as fast as she could!
Just before she exited the cave, Anayah gave three short whistles and by the time she finally saw the daylight, Elias was waiting, knee bent to help her mount in a hurry. Stepping lightly on the offered leg, she was quickly in the saddle, then putting on her riding gloves and adjusting her feet in the stirrups, she gave Elias a nudge with her heels. Giving the big black stallion the verbal command, "Let's do it!," horse and rider leapt away and were soon headed down the path to the valley at a dead run.
Sending Shakir the mental message, "Go!", the black falcon left the tree in which he had been sitting and flew towards the first group of defenders letting them know, by his presence that the wraiths as well as the Orc army were on their way.
Elias had reached the valley floor and had turned northward when the unthinkable happened. The wraiths appeared. However, instead of being behind her as she had hoped, they were before her, all 20 in a line directly in her path! The thought occurred to her that there must have been another exit in the cave the wraiths' horses had been kept in that she had not accounted for.
"Sweet Elbereth!" She swore to herself. "Can anything else go wrong!!" Thinking quickly, she knew there was only one option open to her because, all else aside, she had to be in front of the wraiths for the plan to work.
* * * * * *
True to his word, Gwaihir circled tirelessly overhead, relaying mental images to the warriors gathered below him. When the observers witnessed the wraiths blocking her path, there had been a collective groan. They knew she was in trouble because there was no way to go around all 20 of them.
Legolas managed to pry Aragorn's fingers off his arm before something broke, either Aragorn's fingers from the pressure on Legolas's arm or Legolas's arm from the pressure of Aragorn's fingers. Grinning sheepishly at the blonde archer, Aragorn realized how tense he was becoming and willed himself to relax. Thranduil, standing behind his son and the human, put a comforting hand on the shoulder of each. Glorfindel laid a hand on Lord Elrond's shoulder. The Gondolin elf knew the worry that was in his friend's heart. Celeborn looked at Haldir anxiously and noted the pained expression on the Captain's face as he worried for the safety of the young she-elf he had helped raise.
The outcome would soon be decided, for the distance between the black stallion and the wraiths was decreasing by the moment.
It was Aragorn who first sensed what his sister had in mind.
"Gandalf ... is she going to do what I think she is?" The mental images they were all receiving showed the young she-elf as she shifted her weight slightly forward in the saddle and gathered the reins more tightly in her hand. She was not slowing down.
"Gandalf?" Aragorn repeated himself. All heads turned towards the wizard who was standing, eyes closed as he worked hard to maintain the mental link between the eagle and the elves and men below him. All he could do to reply was raise his hand and utter one word.
"Hold."
* * * * * *
Anayah knew she had to get the wraiths to follow her into the valley and passed the first set of defenders, who were waiting to attack the main body of Orcs, either by getting them mad enough or so focused on her that they would not realize their doom was upon them until is was too late. If she failed in her task, then chances were good that the three elven kingdoms, Imladris, Lórien and Mirkwood, would fall, the three rings of power would fall into the hands of the Dark Lord and the fate of all the free peoples of Middle Earth would be sealed. The One Ring would become a moot point in the story because Sauron would be able to use the power of the three to find and take the One - and at his leisure. It would be over for them all. With this in mind, she knew what she had to do.
She dug her heels into the sides of her horse, asking him for a little more speed. He complied, for he also knew what was at stake and exactly what was expected of him. The line of wraiths came closer and still horse and rider did not slow or change their course.
* * * * * *
There was not one of the defenders who did not feel the tension mounting. Many were asking themselves if what the she-elf was going to attempt was even possible. All the defenders uttered personal prayers to Ilúvatar and to all the Valar they could think of, great and small, asking them to ride with Anayah and Elias.
Then it happened ....
* * * * * *
The distance between the black stallion and the wraiths was almost gone when Anayah spoke to Elias one more time.
"Ok, Old Man. Let's show these bad boys how it's done."
She shifted her weight forward and gave Elias his head. Sensing the unspoken signal from his rider, the stallion shortened his stride, gathered himself then left the ground, tucking all four legs neatly beneath him as he sailed over the wraith and his horse with inches to spare. The wraith had instinctively ducked when 1700 pounds of horse had sailed over his head but Anayah was not going to complain about the little things.
Although one problem had been solved, one problem still remained. The wraiths' horses were fast, and they were right behind her and without the advantage of the head start she had originally thought she would have, the elf and horse were going to be hard pressed to stay in front. The pursuing riders knew this and set their spurs to their horses which answered with great bursts of speed as they attempted to overtake the rider and horse in front of them.
* * * * * *
After horse and rider had made their jump, Aragorn suddenly found himself sitting on the ground with Legolas standing over him, a look of concern on his face.
"Aragorn, are you well?" The blonde archer had thought for a moment that Aragorn was going to pass out. Never before had he seen his friend this overcome by the emotion of the moment.
For a time the Ranger sat on the ground, arms wrapped around his knees and his forehead resting on his kneecaps.
"I thought I was going to pass out!" The Ranger finally looked up at the elf. "I did not realize I was holding my breath!"
Legolas chuckled at this and squeezed his friend's shoulder in understanding. "You should not be worried about it my friend, you've never had a sister before."
"That girl is going to be the death of me yet!"
It was the grey wizard who brought all of them back to reality.
"My friends, the danger is not yet over!"
The mental link was resumed and those present continued to watch as the young she-elf lured the wraiths closer to the waiting warriors. Behind them, the mass of Orcs pressed onward also.
* * * * * *
Anayah frowned as she looked over her shoulder at her pursuers. They were still much too close. Already the wraiths had passed into Arena One, the area where archers and warriors were waiting for the main body of the Orc army and with only a mile and a half to go to Arena Two, she knew she had to open the distance between herself and the wraiths.
"Got anything left Old Man?" she asked. Elias snorted twice in response without even breaking stride and Anayah chuckled.
"Then let's do it! Noro Lim Elias."
The black stallion then showed everyone why the Mearas were favored by the races of old and the Valar themselves. His strides lengthened and quickened, his long mane blew backwards into his rider's face, his neck extended and his ears flattened to his head as he put on such a burst of speed that his pursuers fell quickly behind. Infuriated by the actions of horse and rider, the wraiths began to use their hand-whips, trying to force more speed from their already straining mounts.
* * * * * *
Gandalf opened his eyes and the link between the eagle and those on the ground was quickly severed.
"Get ready!" The wizard commanded. "Remember that while you can wound them with sword and arrow, you have to take their heads to truly kill them."
From where they stood in the concealment of the forest on either side of the road, kings, lords and princes alike made ready to fight for their people and their land.
The first war of the rings was about to begin.
TBC
Soccer-Bitch: I kind of giggle every time I read that part myself. Our she-elf kind of has a little temper!
Sly-Fan: I think the guards had better feel lucky that all Anayah did was drag them into the council chambers by their ears!
Thanks for your reviews!