CHAPTER 8 - Lorathir
A while after the fighting died down, they left the gun shop and began to travel the streets of Khazad-Dum again. They walked past the intersection, littered with bodies. Uglakh was absolutely horrified at the senseless death all around him. He felt his stomach churn. He knelt down and vomited on the ground. Mayathir groaned. Jimmy came up to Uglakh and put his hand on his back.
"It's all right. We'll be out of here soon."
"It not all right!" said Uglakh, wiping his mouth off. "Why this happen? This violence..."
"Get up. We don't have time for this." said Mayathir coldly.
"Just give him a moment." said Jimmy.
Uglakh got up to his feet and continued walking, trying not to look down. On top of his feelings, he was feeling the urge to see the ring again, stronger than he had ever felt it.
Far in the distance, gunshots and screams were echoing through the city. Mayathir stopped and listened.
"Something is not right here. Even Khazad-Dum has never had this much conflict. Something big is happening around here. We need to stay off the main roads."
Mayathir led them through dark and winding back alleys, one after the other, seeming to know exactly where each turn would lead them.
"How long did you live here?" asked Jimmy.
"Too long."
The sounds of fighting never ceased during their walk through the city. Uglakh tried his best to block the sounds out.
-
Eddie looked up when he heard the door to his shop open. Eight men dressed entirely in black walked in. Eddie grinned.
"Welcome, welcome, one and all to Eddie's firearms emporium. Let me guess: you're the new gang in town, you want to make your move, get a piece of the action, and you need some firepower for it. Well, you've come to the right place!"
"We want your weapons." said one of the men in black.
"And I want your money. Perhaps we can work something out."
"No money." said the man.
Eddie placed his hand on a sawed-off shotgun he kept underneath the counter. "Then I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
"Give us weapons or die!" said the man, walking closer and drawing his sword.
Eddie pulled out the shotgun and blasted the man point-blank in the head. The man crumpled to the floor. Eddie pointed the shotgun at the others. "All of you get out of here now!"
Suddenly the one that he had just shot got up from the floor and grabbed his shotgun by the barrel. He pulled the trigger again, but for some reason the gun didn't work. He saw a wave of darkness flow through the barrel of his gun, and felt a sudden cold sensation in his hand. He pulled back his hand in shock and looked at his arm. Something black was trailing down the blood vessels in his arm. He screamed in pain as it worked through his arm, and felt something in his heart. His vision began flashing, then turned completely black.
-
They were near the edge of Khazad-Dum, when they emerged from an alley onto a street. Mayathir looked left and right, and saw nobody so they continued to walk. Just then an orc came around the corner and leaned against a lamp-post, smoking a pipeweed joint. The orc looked up, and made eye contact with Mayathir.
"Now this is a face that Bagronk recognizes." said the orc.
"Shit." said Mayathir. "You guys stay here, I'll take care of this."
Mayathir walked down the street towards the orc. "Bagronk. Long time, no see. How's it going?"
"Fine. Bagronk is still in business with Lorathir after all these years."
"You know, you really should lay off the pipeweed. I think it's making you talk in the third person."
Bagronk laughed. "Bagronk will talk however he likes. Perhaps you would like to see Lorathir again. Bagronk is sure Lorathir would appreciate it."
"No thanks. Tell him that I said hi."
Bagronk took a couple of steps backward and pulled out a Narsil faster than you would think a pipeweed junkie could. "Bagronk insists."
Mayathir sighed. "Put that thing away before you hurt yourself. All right, I'll go if you really want me to."
Bagronk smiled. "Follow me. And your friends can come too."
Mayathir turned to the others and nodded. They followed him down a street to a ratty-looking bar. The bouncer stood outside the front entrance of the bar: a large cave troll with its arms crossed and an intimidating sneer on its face.
"Who these?" boomed the cave troll.
"Don't worry. They're with Bagronk." said Bagronk.
"You go in." the cave troll uncrossed his arms and opened the door to the bar.
Jimmy looked up at the cave troll - way up - as he walked in.
The bar was thick with smoke and reeked of pipeweed. At one end of the bar was a stage with two topless dwarvish strippers, dancing to a deep, rythmic heavy metal song that Uglakh recognized as Uruk-Hai's latest single. Bagronk led them through the crowd, to Lorathir, a man wearing sunglasses and a business suit, stuffing a 3 dollar bill into a stripper's g-string. Bagronk tapped on the Lorathir's shoulder and he turned around. He lowered his sunglasses and looked at Mayathir.
"Maya." he said.
"Lor." Mayathir answered.
They stared at each other for a few seconds.
"You fucking bastard!" yelled Lorathir, lunging forward and punching him in the face. "What are you doing back in Khazad-Dum?"
Several people in the bar cheered at the punch.
"Just passing through." said Mayathir, returning with a punch to Lorathir's stomach.
The crowd cheered again. The bartender started taking bets.
"You got some nerve showing your face in here, Maya. After what you did to me." Lorathir threw another punch, which Mayathir deflected.
"I saved your life! That's what I did!"
"I could have handled myself! I didn't need my big brother to pull me out!" Lorathir tried to kick Mayathir, but hit air as Mayathir moved out of the way. The crowd started chanting Lorathir's name.
"Bullshit. The Stonehammers had you flanked and outnumbered, and shot all of your buddies down. If I hadn't pulled you out you would have joined them."
"Liar!" yelled Lorathir.
Mayathir realized that Lorathir's eyes were turning red. He was starting to cry. Lorathir lunged toward him. Mayathir started to block but realized that it was a hug.
"I'm so sorry..." cried Lorathir. "I don't know what came over me. I missed you, Maya."
The crowd turned away in disgust.
"I missed you too, Lor." said Mayathir, beginning to cry a little himself.
"It's a big fucking happy family." said Bagronk.
Lorathir was starting to say something when there was a loud BANG from outside, followed by a deep, low scream, and something heavy hitting the ground. The front door of the bar opened, and the eight Nazgul walked in, all brandishing assault rifles. Through the open door, the bouncer's dead body was visible. The song playing over the bar's speakers ended, leaving a momentary silence.
"Everybody get down!" yelled Mayathir.
The next song started, aggresive and powerful thrash metal with lyrics screamed in Orcish. The Nazgul opened fire simultaneously, taking out chairs, tables, bottles, and anyone who didn't get down in time. Mayathir and Lorathir dove behind the bar, and Jimmy and Uglakh bolted into the hallway leading to the bathroom. Some of the people in the bar took out weapons and fired at the Nazgul, but were quickly cut down.
"We gotta get out of here!" yelled Mayathir. He handed the Anduril to Lorathir and drew his crossbows.
Mayathir stood up and fired at the Nazgul with his crossbows, taking down two of them. The others turned toward him and opened fire, forcing him to duck behind the bar again. One bullet sent a bottle flying off the bar. It smashed into the wall behind them, spraying glass fragments on Mayathir and Lorathir.
Jimmy leaned out from behind the wall and took a few shots, taking another one down. He ran behind the wall again, but the bullets from their assault rifles penetrated through the wall. One caught him in the back and knocked him down.
"No!" screamed Uglakh, pulling Jimmy out of the line of fire. He picked up Jimmy's Sting.
"Run for the back exit!" Lorathir yelled to Mayathir. "I'll cover you!"
"Wait a minute..." started Mayathir, but it was too late.
Lorathir jumped up onto the bar and launched himself into the air sideways, firing the Anduril full auto. Mayathir ran toward the back exit, firing his crossbows on the way. Lorathir landed and slid across a table, still firing the Anduril, sliding just inches away from bullets punching holes through the table. In the end, he had taken down three more of the Nazgul, but two of those that had been shot earlier were getting up already. Lorathir hid behind a support pillar.
Uglakh picked up Jimmy in one arm and ran out of the hallway toward the back exit, firing his Sting wildly at the Nazgul. He leaped out the back exit, followed by Mayathir.
"Uh... help!" said Lorathir, still pinned behind the pillar.
Suddenly the gunshots stopped, and the Nazgul made strange frustrated, confused noises. Lorathir leaned out and looked at the Nazgul, who were looking at their weapons confusedly.
Mayathir leaned in from the back exit. "They don't know how to reload! Run!"
Lorathir ran as fast as he could, emptying the rest of the Anduril's clip behind him, and joined the others. They ran out to the edge of the city, down a path, and stopped behind a rock. Uglakh put Jimmy down.
"Jimmy! Are you all right? Talk to me!" said Mayathir.
"I'm... I'm okay... but my back hurts." said Jimmy.
"You should be dead! That bullet would have brought down a wild boar!" said Mayathir, in shock.
Jimmy pulled back his shirt to reveal a Mithril bulletproof vest underneath.
"Oh." said Mayathir. "Of course. So get up and start walking, tough guy!"
Jimmy got back on his feet. They continued running down the path, through a short tunnel, and emerged in another large cavern, this one lit by volcanic activity below them. A large stone stairway led down. Next to the stairway was a large metallic structure with steam coming out of the top. Thick cables ran along the side of the stairway from the structure.
"This is where Khazad-Dum's power is generated, from the natural volcanic energy down below." explained Mayathir. "Quick, we're almost at the bridge."
They walked down the stairs at the highest speed they could safely travel, and arrived at the bridge of Khazad-Dum, a thin metal walkway with handrails on either side. Jimmy ran ahead of them, and when he reached the middle he turned around, raising a hand.
"You cannot pass!" he yelled.
The others stopped for a second, confused.
"Sorry, I always wanted to do that."
They crossed the bridge and emerged from Moria.
A while after the fighting died down, they left the gun shop and began to travel the streets of Khazad-Dum again. They walked past the intersection, littered with bodies. Uglakh was absolutely horrified at the senseless death all around him. He felt his stomach churn. He knelt down and vomited on the ground. Mayathir groaned. Jimmy came up to Uglakh and put his hand on his back.
"It's all right. We'll be out of here soon."
"It not all right!" said Uglakh, wiping his mouth off. "Why this happen? This violence..."
"Get up. We don't have time for this." said Mayathir coldly.
"Just give him a moment." said Jimmy.
Uglakh got up to his feet and continued walking, trying not to look down. On top of his feelings, he was feeling the urge to see the ring again, stronger than he had ever felt it.
Far in the distance, gunshots and screams were echoing through the city. Mayathir stopped and listened.
"Something is not right here. Even Khazad-Dum has never had this much conflict. Something big is happening around here. We need to stay off the main roads."
Mayathir led them through dark and winding back alleys, one after the other, seeming to know exactly where each turn would lead them.
"How long did you live here?" asked Jimmy.
"Too long."
The sounds of fighting never ceased during their walk through the city. Uglakh tried his best to block the sounds out.
-
Eddie looked up when he heard the door to his shop open. Eight men dressed entirely in black walked in. Eddie grinned.
"Welcome, welcome, one and all to Eddie's firearms emporium. Let me guess: you're the new gang in town, you want to make your move, get a piece of the action, and you need some firepower for it. Well, you've come to the right place!"
"We want your weapons." said one of the men in black.
"And I want your money. Perhaps we can work something out."
"No money." said the man.
Eddie placed his hand on a sawed-off shotgun he kept underneath the counter. "Then I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
"Give us weapons or die!" said the man, walking closer and drawing his sword.
Eddie pulled out the shotgun and blasted the man point-blank in the head. The man crumpled to the floor. Eddie pointed the shotgun at the others. "All of you get out of here now!"
Suddenly the one that he had just shot got up from the floor and grabbed his shotgun by the barrel. He pulled the trigger again, but for some reason the gun didn't work. He saw a wave of darkness flow through the barrel of his gun, and felt a sudden cold sensation in his hand. He pulled back his hand in shock and looked at his arm. Something black was trailing down the blood vessels in his arm. He screamed in pain as it worked through his arm, and felt something in his heart. His vision began flashing, then turned completely black.
-
They were near the edge of Khazad-Dum, when they emerged from an alley onto a street. Mayathir looked left and right, and saw nobody so they continued to walk. Just then an orc came around the corner and leaned against a lamp-post, smoking a pipeweed joint. The orc looked up, and made eye contact with Mayathir.
"Now this is a face that Bagronk recognizes." said the orc.
"Shit." said Mayathir. "You guys stay here, I'll take care of this."
Mayathir walked down the street towards the orc. "Bagronk. Long time, no see. How's it going?"
"Fine. Bagronk is still in business with Lorathir after all these years."
"You know, you really should lay off the pipeweed. I think it's making you talk in the third person."
Bagronk laughed. "Bagronk will talk however he likes. Perhaps you would like to see Lorathir again. Bagronk is sure Lorathir would appreciate it."
"No thanks. Tell him that I said hi."
Bagronk took a couple of steps backward and pulled out a Narsil faster than you would think a pipeweed junkie could. "Bagronk insists."
Mayathir sighed. "Put that thing away before you hurt yourself. All right, I'll go if you really want me to."
Bagronk smiled. "Follow me. And your friends can come too."
Mayathir turned to the others and nodded. They followed him down a street to a ratty-looking bar. The bouncer stood outside the front entrance of the bar: a large cave troll with its arms crossed and an intimidating sneer on its face.
"Who these?" boomed the cave troll.
"Don't worry. They're with Bagronk." said Bagronk.
"You go in." the cave troll uncrossed his arms and opened the door to the bar.
Jimmy looked up at the cave troll - way up - as he walked in.
The bar was thick with smoke and reeked of pipeweed. At one end of the bar was a stage with two topless dwarvish strippers, dancing to a deep, rythmic heavy metal song that Uglakh recognized as Uruk-Hai's latest single. Bagronk led them through the crowd, to Lorathir, a man wearing sunglasses and a business suit, stuffing a 3 dollar bill into a stripper's g-string. Bagronk tapped on the Lorathir's shoulder and he turned around. He lowered his sunglasses and looked at Mayathir.
"Maya." he said.
"Lor." Mayathir answered.
They stared at each other for a few seconds.
"You fucking bastard!" yelled Lorathir, lunging forward and punching him in the face. "What are you doing back in Khazad-Dum?"
Several people in the bar cheered at the punch.
"Just passing through." said Mayathir, returning with a punch to Lorathir's stomach.
The crowd cheered again. The bartender started taking bets.
"You got some nerve showing your face in here, Maya. After what you did to me." Lorathir threw another punch, which Mayathir deflected.
"I saved your life! That's what I did!"
"I could have handled myself! I didn't need my big brother to pull me out!" Lorathir tried to kick Mayathir, but hit air as Mayathir moved out of the way. The crowd started chanting Lorathir's name.
"Bullshit. The Stonehammers had you flanked and outnumbered, and shot all of your buddies down. If I hadn't pulled you out you would have joined them."
"Liar!" yelled Lorathir.
Mayathir realized that Lorathir's eyes were turning red. He was starting to cry. Lorathir lunged toward him. Mayathir started to block but realized that it was a hug.
"I'm so sorry..." cried Lorathir. "I don't know what came over me. I missed you, Maya."
The crowd turned away in disgust.
"I missed you too, Lor." said Mayathir, beginning to cry a little himself.
"It's a big fucking happy family." said Bagronk.
Lorathir was starting to say something when there was a loud BANG from outside, followed by a deep, low scream, and something heavy hitting the ground. The front door of the bar opened, and the eight Nazgul walked in, all brandishing assault rifles. Through the open door, the bouncer's dead body was visible. The song playing over the bar's speakers ended, leaving a momentary silence.
"Everybody get down!" yelled Mayathir.
The next song started, aggresive and powerful thrash metal with lyrics screamed in Orcish. The Nazgul opened fire simultaneously, taking out chairs, tables, bottles, and anyone who didn't get down in time. Mayathir and Lorathir dove behind the bar, and Jimmy and Uglakh bolted into the hallway leading to the bathroom. Some of the people in the bar took out weapons and fired at the Nazgul, but were quickly cut down.
"We gotta get out of here!" yelled Mayathir. He handed the Anduril to Lorathir and drew his crossbows.
Mayathir stood up and fired at the Nazgul with his crossbows, taking down two of them. The others turned toward him and opened fire, forcing him to duck behind the bar again. One bullet sent a bottle flying off the bar. It smashed into the wall behind them, spraying glass fragments on Mayathir and Lorathir.
Jimmy leaned out from behind the wall and took a few shots, taking another one down. He ran behind the wall again, but the bullets from their assault rifles penetrated through the wall. One caught him in the back and knocked him down.
"No!" screamed Uglakh, pulling Jimmy out of the line of fire. He picked up Jimmy's Sting.
"Run for the back exit!" Lorathir yelled to Mayathir. "I'll cover you!"
"Wait a minute..." started Mayathir, but it was too late.
Lorathir jumped up onto the bar and launched himself into the air sideways, firing the Anduril full auto. Mayathir ran toward the back exit, firing his crossbows on the way. Lorathir landed and slid across a table, still firing the Anduril, sliding just inches away from bullets punching holes through the table. In the end, he had taken down three more of the Nazgul, but two of those that had been shot earlier were getting up already. Lorathir hid behind a support pillar.
Uglakh picked up Jimmy in one arm and ran out of the hallway toward the back exit, firing his Sting wildly at the Nazgul. He leaped out the back exit, followed by Mayathir.
"Uh... help!" said Lorathir, still pinned behind the pillar.
Suddenly the gunshots stopped, and the Nazgul made strange frustrated, confused noises. Lorathir leaned out and looked at the Nazgul, who were looking at their weapons confusedly.
Mayathir leaned in from the back exit. "They don't know how to reload! Run!"
Lorathir ran as fast as he could, emptying the rest of the Anduril's clip behind him, and joined the others. They ran out to the edge of the city, down a path, and stopped behind a rock. Uglakh put Jimmy down.
"Jimmy! Are you all right? Talk to me!" said Mayathir.
"I'm... I'm okay... but my back hurts." said Jimmy.
"You should be dead! That bullet would have brought down a wild boar!" said Mayathir, in shock.
Jimmy pulled back his shirt to reveal a Mithril bulletproof vest underneath.
"Oh." said Mayathir. "Of course. So get up and start walking, tough guy!"
Jimmy got back on his feet. They continued running down the path, through a short tunnel, and emerged in another large cavern, this one lit by volcanic activity below them. A large stone stairway led down. Next to the stairway was a large metallic structure with steam coming out of the top. Thick cables ran along the side of the stairway from the structure.
"This is where Khazad-Dum's power is generated, from the natural volcanic energy down below." explained Mayathir. "Quick, we're almost at the bridge."
They walked down the stairs at the highest speed they could safely travel, and arrived at the bridge of Khazad-Dum, a thin metal walkway with handrails on either side. Jimmy ran ahead of them, and when he reached the middle he turned around, raising a hand.
"You cannot pass!" he yelled.
The others stopped for a second, confused.
"Sorry, I always wanted to do that."
They crossed the bridge and emerged from Moria.