CHAPTER 7 - Khazad-Dum
Jeff awoke on a couch in Naeronel's apartment, and opened his eyes a slit. The early morning sunlight through the windows stung his eyes and the room was still a little blurry. In the blur he made out the form of a person. Blinking his eyes brought the picture in clearly and he saw it was Naeronel in the middle of the living room. She seemed to be dancing somehow. She was gracefully spinning, her arms swinging outward rhythmically, ending in a fixed position which she held for a few seconds before jumping into a backflip and landing without a sound on one knee, her arms spread outward. She stood up again.
Jeff clapped. Naeronel turned to him, looking surprised. Jeff was suddenly struck with how her eyes looked without glasses, but quickly recovered.
"Whatever that was, it was pretty cool." said Jeff.
Naeronel laughed nervously. "Yeah, that was the Wilwarin lilta of the Mahtaquaare technique."
Jeff looked confused.
"Mahtaquaare. An elvish martial art form. I'm fourth degree."
"How many degrees are there?"
"Seven. Only elves have ever gotten past third degree though. The agility required is too much for a human. Wanna see something neat?"
"Sure." said Jeff.
"Get up here."
Jeff got off the couch and walked up to her.
"Now try to punch me."
Jeff chuckled. "Sorry? What?"
"You heard me. Give me your best shot. Hit me right in the face."
"heh, okay."
Jeff swung a punch toward her, and before he knew it he was flipped over and on the floor, looking at the ceiling. Naeronel came into view and she looked down at him. "You okay?"
"Whoa." was all he could say.
"I'll help you up."
Naeronel kneeled down and started to pick Jeff up.
The front door opened and Gandalf walked in. He looked at Jeff and Naeronel together. "Am I interrupting something?"
"No, I was just showing Jeff some Mahtaquaare."
"I see." said Gandalf.
Jeff looked at Naeronel, then looked away. Naeronel looked at Jeff, then looked away. Jeff shifted his feet nervously.
"I'm gonna... go and take a shower." said Naeronel.
Jeff watched as she walked out of the room. He looked back to Gandalf, who was smiling at him.
"What?" said Jeff.
"Nothing." answered Gandalf. "Get ready, we're leaving soon."
-
"We're gonna die!" screamed Jimmy, clinging to Mayathir.
"Shut up." said Mayathir.
Uglakh just sat still with his eyes shut.
The ATV roared through the winding tunnels of Moria at high speed. The road twisted violently in all directions, including up and down. Every once in a while they passed by a crashed and abandoned vehicle belonging to a previous, less successful transporter. The harrowing journey left Jimmy feeling like he would have preferred a four-day walk to this.
"We're almost there!" said the driver. "Woooo!"
"Thank goodness for that." said Jimmy.
The ATV emerged from the tunnels and screeched to a stop.
"We're here!" said the driver. He quickly pulled out a Narsil and held it to Mayathir's head. "Now give me money."
Mayathir yanked the Narsil out of his hand, then punched the driver in the nose.
"You don't have to be rude about it." said Mayathir. "Here's your money. Damn, nobody trusts anybody those days."
Mayathir took seventy dollars and placed it in the drivers hand. The driver nodded quickly. Mayathir ejected the magazine from the gun and gave it back. "Nice doing business with you."
They stepped out of the ATV, which promptly zipped away down the tunnels.
"This is Khazad-Dum." said Mayathir.
From where they were standing, they could see a gigantic cavern that stretched on for miles, and in the middle of it was the city of Khazad-Dum, its large buildings casting their lights around the rocky walls surrounding it. There was a gravel path leading toward the city, and they followed it to one of the main roads of Khazad-Dum. A bullet-riddled car drove by, the two men inside eyeing them suspiciously. A rat scurried across the street, hiding in an old tire lying against the curb. The stores lining the streets were of the kind that the residents of Khazad-Dum preferred: weapons, drugs, hookers, pornography, et cetera. They continued walking down the street.
"I not like this place." said Uglakh, looking up at the decrepit brick buildings surrounding them.
"No sane person would." answered Mayathir. "I used to live here, but thankfully I got out..."
Uglakh thought he saw something in Mayathir's expression that said there was more to the story. He was sure that Mayathir was hiding something.
"Don't give me that look." said Mayathir.
Uglakh looked forward, and saw a large group of armed orcs walking into an intersection from a street to the left.
"Just keep walking." said Mayathir. "That's the Green Dragon gang. I don't know what they're doing but whatever it is they don't care about us... what the hell?"
A group of elves and men came into the intersection from a street to the right. They all wore red jackets with the letter R stitched in the front.
"The Rangers. Things could get ugly." he turned around and saw a large group of dwarves approaching the intersection from behind them. They quickly backed off to the sidewalk and let them walk by.
"Who are these?" asked Jimmy.
"The Stonehammer gang. This is a full-fledged gang war that we just walked into. We have to get somewhere safe. Now!"
Gunshots started ringing out in the intersection, and stray bullets smacked into the street and the walls around them. They ran away from the battle and ducked into a store.
"Welcome, welcome, one and all to Eddie's firearm emporium." came a voice from inside the store. A tattoed, bearded man was behind the counter with a massive grin on his face. "Don't tell me that you walked into the war without a weapon!"
"I'm already armed." said Mayathir, drawing back his jacket to reveal his crossbows.
Eddie laughed. "What is this, the third age? Nobody uses crossbows anymore, and the halfling's Sting ain't gonna do shit. Not enough stopping power. What you need is some real firepower. Something big and scary that will make your enemies shit themselves."
Mayathir figured that it would be a good idea to kill some time here until the fighting outside died down. "What do you have for me?"
There was a sudden THUNK sound and Mayathir instinctively ducked. He looked at the front window and there was a white blemish in the store's front window where a bullet had hit it.
"Mithrill-fortified plexiglass. Worth every penny. Haven't had to replace that window yet." said Eddie, laughing. "Now, I'll show you something that'll really tickle you."
He pressed a button under the counter and the wall behind him spun around, revealing a wall covered with assault rifles, heavy machine guns, and all sorts of heavy duty firepower. Eddie pulled a gun from the wall and presented it to Mayathir.
"Anduril .45 submachine gun. Guaranteed to empty a roomfull of people faster than you can say 'die, motherfuckers!'. You just can't beat the stopping power that this thing gives you. Give it a feel."
Mayathir picked up the Anduril and pretended to be interested in it. He peered down the sights
"It's a very rare gun that you won't find in just any shop. You'll notice that it has a similar design to a Narsil, even has some parts interchangeable with one. When I found this one it was broken, but a few shards of Narsil and some expert craftsmanship did the job. I could let this one go for about 900 bucks."
"I'll give you 700 for it." said Mayathir.
"800 bucks, and I'll put in four magazines of ammo free."
Mayathir realised that it was actually a pretty good deal, and judging by the situation in Khazad-Dum, he might need it. "I'll take it."
"Cash only, of course."
Mayathir pulled 800 dollars from his wallet.
"You have a lot of money." said Jimmy.
"Gandalf has a really high budget for his operations."
There was a sound of a nearby gunshot, and an elf ran into the window face first. He slid down, leaving a trail of blood on the window.
"Hey!" yelled Eddie. "If you survive, you have to clean that up!"
Jeff awoke on a couch in Naeronel's apartment, and opened his eyes a slit. The early morning sunlight through the windows stung his eyes and the room was still a little blurry. In the blur he made out the form of a person. Blinking his eyes brought the picture in clearly and he saw it was Naeronel in the middle of the living room. She seemed to be dancing somehow. She was gracefully spinning, her arms swinging outward rhythmically, ending in a fixed position which she held for a few seconds before jumping into a backflip and landing without a sound on one knee, her arms spread outward. She stood up again.
Jeff clapped. Naeronel turned to him, looking surprised. Jeff was suddenly struck with how her eyes looked without glasses, but quickly recovered.
"Whatever that was, it was pretty cool." said Jeff.
Naeronel laughed nervously. "Yeah, that was the Wilwarin lilta of the Mahtaquaare technique."
Jeff looked confused.
"Mahtaquaare. An elvish martial art form. I'm fourth degree."
"How many degrees are there?"
"Seven. Only elves have ever gotten past third degree though. The agility required is too much for a human. Wanna see something neat?"
"Sure." said Jeff.
"Get up here."
Jeff got off the couch and walked up to her.
"Now try to punch me."
Jeff chuckled. "Sorry? What?"
"You heard me. Give me your best shot. Hit me right in the face."
"heh, okay."
Jeff swung a punch toward her, and before he knew it he was flipped over and on the floor, looking at the ceiling. Naeronel came into view and she looked down at him. "You okay?"
"Whoa." was all he could say.
"I'll help you up."
Naeronel kneeled down and started to pick Jeff up.
The front door opened and Gandalf walked in. He looked at Jeff and Naeronel together. "Am I interrupting something?"
"No, I was just showing Jeff some Mahtaquaare."
"I see." said Gandalf.
Jeff looked at Naeronel, then looked away. Naeronel looked at Jeff, then looked away. Jeff shifted his feet nervously.
"I'm gonna... go and take a shower." said Naeronel.
Jeff watched as she walked out of the room. He looked back to Gandalf, who was smiling at him.
"What?" said Jeff.
"Nothing." answered Gandalf. "Get ready, we're leaving soon."
-
"We're gonna die!" screamed Jimmy, clinging to Mayathir.
"Shut up." said Mayathir.
Uglakh just sat still with his eyes shut.
The ATV roared through the winding tunnels of Moria at high speed. The road twisted violently in all directions, including up and down. Every once in a while they passed by a crashed and abandoned vehicle belonging to a previous, less successful transporter. The harrowing journey left Jimmy feeling like he would have preferred a four-day walk to this.
"We're almost there!" said the driver. "Woooo!"
"Thank goodness for that." said Jimmy.
The ATV emerged from the tunnels and screeched to a stop.
"We're here!" said the driver. He quickly pulled out a Narsil and held it to Mayathir's head. "Now give me money."
Mayathir yanked the Narsil out of his hand, then punched the driver in the nose.
"You don't have to be rude about it." said Mayathir. "Here's your money. Damn, nobody trusts anybody those days."
Mayathir took seventy dollars and placed it in the drivers hand. The driver nodded quickly. Mayathir ejected the magazine from the gun and gave it back. "Nice doing business with you."
They stepped out of the ATV, which promptly zipped away down the tunnels.
"This is Khazad-Dum." said Mayathir.
From where they were standing, they could see a gigantic cavern that stretched on for miles, and in the middle of it was the city of Khazad-Dum, its large buildings casting their lights around the rocky walls surrounding it. There was a gravel path leading toward the city, and they followed it to one of the main roads of Khazad-Dum. A bullet-riddled car drove by, the two men inside eyeing them suspiciously. A rat scurried across the street, hiding in an old tire lying against the curb. The stores lining the streets were of the kind that the residents of Khazad-Dum preferred: weapons, drugs, hookers, pornography, et cetera. They continued walking down the street.
"I not like this place." said Uglakh, looking up at the decrepit brick buildings surrounding them.
"No sane person would." answered Mayathir. "I used to live here, but thankfully I got out..."
Uglakh thought he saw something in Mayathir's expression that said there was more to the story. He was sure that Mayathir was hiding something.
"Don't give me that look." said Mayathir.
Uglakh looked forward, and saw a large group of armed orcs walking into an intersection from a street to the left.
"Just keep walking." said Mayathir. "That's the Green Dragon gang. I don't know what they're doing but whatever it is they don't care about us... what the hell?"
A group of elves and men came into the intersection from a street to the right. They all wore red jackets with the letter R stitched in the front.
"The Rangers. Things could get ugly." he turned around and saw a large group of dwarves approaching the intersection from behind them. They quickly backed off to the sidewalk and let them walk by.
"Who are these?" asked Jimmy.
"The Stonehammer gang. This is a full-fledged gang war that we just walked into. We have to get somewhere safe. Now!"
Gunshots started ringing out in the intersection, and stray bullets smacked into the street and the walls around them. They ran away from the battle and ducked into a store.
"Welcome, welcome, one and all to Eddie's firearm emporium." came a voice from inside the store. A tattoed, bearded man was behind the counter with a massive grin on his face. "Don't tell me that you walked into the war without a weapon!"
"I'm already armed." said Mayathir, drawing back his jacket to reveal his crossbows.
Eddie laughed. "What is this, the third age? Nobody uses crossbows anymore, and the halfling's Sting ain't gonna do shit. Not enough stopping power. What you need is some real firepower. Something big and scary that will make your enemies shit themselves."
Mayathir figured that it would be a good idea to kill some time here until the fighting outside died down. "What do you have for me?"
There was a sudden THUNK sound and Mayathir instinctively ducked. He looked at the front window and there was a white blemish in the store's front window where a bullet had hit it.
"Mithrill-fortified plexiglass. Worth every penny. Haven't had to replace that window yet." said Eddie, laughing. "Now, I'll show you something that'll really tickle you."
He pressed a button under the counter and the wall behind him spun around, revealing a wall covered with assault rifles, heavy machine guns, and all sorts of heavy duty firepower. Eddie pulled a gun from the wall and presented it to Mayathir.
"Anduril .45 submachine gun. Guaranteed to empty a roomfull of people faster than you can say 'die, motherfuckers!'. You just can't beat the stopping power that this thing gives you. Give it a feel."
Mayathir picked up the Anduril and pretended to be interested in it. He peered down the sights
"It's a very rare gun that you won't find in just any shop. You'll notice that it has a similar design to a Narsil, even has some parts interchangeable with one. When I found this one it was broken, but a few shards of Narsil and some expert craftsmanship did the job. I could let this one go for about 900 bucks."
"I'll give you 700 for it." said Mayathir.
"800 bucks, and I'll put in four magazines of ammo free."
Mayathir realised that it was actually a pretty good deal, and judging by the situation in Khazad-Dum, he might need it. "I'll take it."
"Cash only, of course."
Mayathir pulled 800 dollars from his wallet.
"You have a lot of money." said Jimmy.
"Gandalf has a really high budget for his operations."
There was a sound of a nearby gunshot, and an elf ran into the window face first. He slid down, leaving a trail of blood on the window.
"Hey!" yelled Eddie. "If you survive, you have to clean that up!"