Blood for Blood

Ondollo saw their escape route within reach, but as they came to the top of the rise, they were forced to halt abruptly. There, barring their way was a great canyon… a sink hole left from the violent eruption of Mt. Doom.

"We are trapped and the hour of our fall is upon us. The King pursues with an army," Ambartur shouted.

But Ondollo was ever the optimistic one, and he was a survivor. "There is a trail, and we will follow, for good or ill," Ondollo said and headed down the trail.

"He searches for death at every turn," Norno said bitterly. "There is death in that hole."

"There is death behind us, Norno," Ambartur said. "Now move, and take care with your prisoner, her life may buy ours before this night is through."

The trail led to the base of the canyon, and right into a cave in the far cliff wall. Ondollo boldly rode into the darkness with his archers behind him. There was a foul stench coming from the cave, but they continued, choosing to face the unknown enemy rather than the King's fury. As they descended into the gloom, they saw firelight up ahead. The passage narrowed and they were forced to dismount and lead the horses. Ambartur helped the captives to the ground and drew his knife.

"Walk carefully," Ambartur warned Allassante and Jamie. "If you run I will have to kill you."

Allassante glared at him, but there was little to be done with her hands bound and her mouth gagged. This cave was a death trap, and she knew they would find trouble at any moment.

Ondollo found some torches burning and took them. The passage they had found opened into a large cavern that was cold from a strange breeze that chilled them to the bone. Their footsteps crinkled and crunched on the ground and Jamie was getting the heebie jeebies. Norno had a bad feeling about their chosen path and lowered his torch to get a look at the ground. There were thousands of spiders everywhere ranging in size from tiny to larger than a fist. Jamie made a slight whimper sound in her throat, but quickly regained her composure.

"My Lord," Norno said weakly, but Ondollo had already seen them.

"Would you face a little spider, or a sword, Norno?" Ondollo asked with annoyance. "Come, here is a good passage to follow. Perhaps we can double back, or find another exit."

Ondollo turned aside and they entered another narrow passage. The spiders were gone, and Jamie found that to be an enormous relief. But this tunnel was strangely warm compared to the cavern they'd just left, and Jamie didn't like it. The walls were too smooth and the rock looked strange. Where was this stupid Elf leading them?

Aragorn halted his troops at the crest of the hill and gazed down at the ominous cave within the hole. There was a well worn path, and that was not a good sign. Much of the inhabitants of Mordor had been killed or driven out, but there were yet some that survived, hiding underground. This must be one entrance to their subterranean world. Ondollo was the worst kind of fool, rushing headlong into doom. Now they had no idea what they might have to deal with.

"It doesn't look good, Aragorn," Legolas said.

"Do we go on foot?" Faramir asked.

"We'll have to divide, we'll leave a force here to guard the passage and our horses, and the rest will follow. There will be a honeycomb of passageways within. We'll have to search them all," Aragorn said.

So they descended into the canyon, and the force divided. Polodrin led a scouting party to search for other exits while a main force led by Faramir camped by the cave. Aragorn led the remainder of his men into the black hole. They all had torches, which made the search bearable, but the foul odors that emanated from the cave were disturbing. Aragorn, Eldarion, Legolas, Thelyn, Alcon and Failon led the men into a large cavern. There were many smaller passages that branched off, and Aragorn halted to divide them into search parties.

"Take care, all of you," Aragorn said. "There is more to find in here than our kidnappers."

First they scouted around the cave for signs of tracks, and they were lucky. Legolas spotted the trail. There was a definite trail of trampled spiders, and a pile of horse manure, still warm, that led to one passage.

"This is their way," Legolas said. "We are gaining on them."

Aragorn's face was hard as he looked at the blackness within the narrow crevice. This was no place for his daughter or Jamie to ever have to see. He marched ahead with measured steps and just said, "Let's get them."

Eldarion was on his heels with the twins and Failon following. Legolas urged the men on and brought up the rear, watching for danger from one of the other passages. So far all had been quiet, which was unnerving. It felt like a trap, and not from the Avari.

Suddenly they heard yelling, and the sounds of swords and the frightened neighs of the horses. Aragorn's face was ashen and he broke into a run. Then there was silence again and he saw the light of a torch up ahead, and slowed his pace. As he emerged into a larger room, he halted, horrified by what he saw. The walls of the passage were covered in white silk… no, web. On the floor in the center of the passage was one torch, still burning, but there was nothing else.

Legolas caught up to him and looked around. "Spiders," he said softly. "Today they will be well fed. There is time; they do not kill their prey immediately. We'll have to search quickly and be wary."

"Split into groups of ten and search these tunnels carefully," Aragorn said.

Legolas led a party down one passage, while Aragorn, Eldarion, Thelyn, Alcon, Failon and Cilmo each led search parties down other tunnels. It was foul smelling and sickly warm within the passage and several of the men fought with nausea as they went.

Eldarion emerged from the tunnel into a vast cavern filled with elaborate webs and hanging cocoons. Some were quite large, and he realized they'd stumbled on the right passage. He turned to his men.

"Keep a sharp eye for the spider, but start cutting the cocoons open… carefully," Eldarion said. "Unless it's Jamie or Allassante, I don't want to hear about what you find."

They went to work, and found horses, orcs, goblins and Avari, but no women. Eldarion looked at the faces of the Elves, but Ondollo was not among them. He counted only eight. There were no other passages save the one they entered through, that they could see, so they returned and continued their search.

Ondollo was desperate now, and this crevice would not protect him for long. The spider that had him trapped was beating on the rocks that protected him, and they were crumbling. Across the room he could see Ambartur and Norno killing another spider, and his captives getting away. Ondollo would sooner see them dead than rescued, and he decided to take one final risk to see it done. He drew his sword and waited for an opening. The spider lunged closer, trying to reach him with its stinger, but Ondollo moved back and thrust his sword into the spider's exposed belly. The scream was deafening, but the beast fell back and Ondollo leapt form his fissure and ran down the passage the women had taken.

"Your prisoners are getting away!" Ondollo shouted to his last few Archers. "Come!"

Ambartur watched his retreating lord and was struck by the hopelessness of their plight. If they lived to get out of the spider's nest, they would be slain by the King. He would never again see the light of day, much less his home in the wood. Norno suddenly grabbed Ambartur's arm and his face was white.

"He is going to kill them," Norno said, and than ran after.

Ambartur shook himself from his thoughts and followed. The women were their only hope for life. Ondollo had to be stopped.

Jamie slowed and slumped to the ground, but Allassante urged her on. Jamie shook her head, and Allassante knelt and tried to pull the ropes loose from her hands, but with her own hands tied, it was useless. They looked at each other and realized they had little hope. But Jamie had a determined look in her eye and nodded for Allassante to turn around. She reached her hands back and started fumbling with the knots, and managed to loosen one. Allassante twisted and wrenched her hands until she was free. She ripped the gag from her mouth and untied Jamie.

"We've got to get out of here," Allassante said. "We don't have a weapon, and those spiders are too fast."

Jamie coughed and looked down the passageway. "I don't think that's the way we want to go. It's hot down there, hotter than any of the other passages were," Jamie said. "I don't like it."

"It's that, or Ondollo," Allassante said seriously.

"But surely he'd dead," Jamie said.

They heard a shout behind them and they both stood and headed down the hot tunnel. "Or maybe not," Jamie said with a smirk. There wasn't anything at all funny about this, but she couldn't help chuckling at the irony of the situation. She didn't have time to be arachnophobic. They just had no choice.

Aragorn emerged into a passage where there were two dead spiders and two dead Elves. There was another passage and he ran to it. There was torchlight ahead and he knew they were close. With swords drawn he and his men moved quickly. As always, Bergo and Fretho were in his company, ever ready to meet any challenge. They could feel heat coming from up ahead but they only moved faster. When Aragorn heard his daughter scream, he broke into a run.

He burst out of the passage into a huge chamber with a great glowing orb suspended in its center by spider webbing. His daughter and Jamie were against the far wall, crouched down between a couple of boulders with Ondollo and two of his archers fighting in front of them. Ondollo slew one with a swift thrust in the heart with his sword and then continued to fight the other. Aragorn crossed the room, dodging piles of bones here and there and interrupted the battle.

"Ondollo," he said, and the Elf Lord spun around and raised his sword.

"Plague of the west," Ondollo said icily. "Has no spider made you her breakfast?"

"Your blood is mine, Avari!" Aragorn shouted and attacked.

Ondollo dodged and countered with his sword, but the skills of the King were well practiced in battle, and the fight was relatively short. Aragorn faked a move to the left, and when Ondollo tried to block he exposed his side and Aragorn buried his sword in his foe from kidney to lung, and gave it a little twist, just for good measure. He tossed the fallen lord down and turned to his daughter who carefully stood, still holding on to Jamie who was unconscious.

"Father," she gasped in relief.

Aragorn went to her and hugged her. "Oh, my precious one, the sight of you brings me joy," Aragorn said.

"Jamie was hurt, and she has passed out again," Allassante said with deep concern in her voice. "They were cruel, and treated her with contempt."

Aragorn lifted Jamie's slight form into his arms and turned to his men. They had one of the elves in custody and Aragorn looked at him with fury.

"You are the last," Aragorn said. "Answer for the treatment of this lady."

"Ondollo drove us to our deaths," Ambartur said. "He would have killed these ladies had I and Norno not intervened."

"He speaks the truth," Allassante said.

"Bring him," Aragorn said, "let's get out of this nest before the queen returns."

There was a shout from above them and Aragorn and his men looked. Thelyn stood on the ledge of another passage above.

"Run for the exit! She is descending!" Thelyn shouted. "We'll try to get her from here."

Directly above was a spider, three times the size of those they'd seen. She was the mother, the queen of the nest, and she was sliding down her web, staring coldly with her eight eyes. Aragorn ran for the door with his men and their prisoner following at a sprint.

Thelyn stood with his bow trained on her, and several others stood ready as well.

"Wait… wait," Thelyn whispered as he watched for her to turn a little. Finally she spun on her thread and exposed her underside.

"Now!" Thelyn shouted as he released his arrow and the others did the same. The beast was struck in the center of her great fat thorax and she dropped to the ground with a crashing thud. There was a hideous screeching and Thelyn quickly readied another arrow and aimed for her head. The beast squealed and writhed on the floor of her chamber until after ten arrows she finally stilled, lying on her back with her eight massive legs curling up.

"That's the end of that," one of the men said.

Thelyn scowled at the foul creature and looked at the orb that hung in front of them. It was an egg sac, and Thelyn wasn't going to leave it to start hatching. "Burn it!" he said, and then turned back into the passage. The men tossed their torches at it and it went up in flames.

The search parties were gathering back in the main passage, with Thelyn's party emerging from the far passage, all were accounted for. He ran across the cavern to where Aragorn and Alcon sat with Jamie. He dropped to his knees beside her with a furrowed brow.

"Jamie?" he said softly, gently touching her cheek. "What did they do to her?"

"A blow on the head, right when they took us," Allassante said. "She's been in and out of consciousness for days."

Thelyn looked at Aragorn who's expression was far too serious for his comfort. "She's going to be alright, isn't she?" Thelyn asked weakly.

"I'll take a look at the wound when we get out of here," Aragorn said.

Alcon put a hand on Thelyn's shoulder, but it was no comfort. Aragorn lifted Jamie into his arms and headed back out the passage to the surface. His men filed out and finally everyone was back on the surface under the welcoming light of the moon. Faramir had already seen to securing the camp up on the ridge, and they set a generous watch. Aragorn immediately set to work tending Jamie's injury. He peeled back the bloody bandage and scowled. They had barely looked at it, and it was infected. It was a bad place to have an infection, and he was worried. She was burning up with fever, and she had the chills. After wrapping her in an extra blanket and putting Bergo on duty tending the fire, he glanced at Thelyn. The poor lad was pacing like a caged animal. He was afraid he was going to lose her, and Aragorn couldn't offer him much hope. Aragorn sighed and called Eldarion over.

"In my saddle bags is a leather pouch," Aragorn started to say, but his son interrupted.

"I know the one," Eldarion said. "What else do you need?"

"A miracle," Aragorn said sadly as he started to wash the blood away. He glanced at Bergo and quietly told him to boil some water.

Eldarion returned with the pouch and Aragorn found it stocked with bandages, needle, thread, and dried Athelas. He put the herbs in the boiled water and made a poultice to draw the infection from the wound. He held the hot compress on it for a few minutes and then changed it. He repeated the process several times during the night, and by morning, Jamie's fever had broken.

Thelyn had been waiting impatiently with Failon and Alcon trying to offer him comfort. It was all they could do to keep Thelyn away so Aragorn could work. As the dawn was breaking, Aragorn called him over. Thelyn jumped up and nearly ran to where Jamie lay.

"The fever has broken," Aragorn said. "I have done all that I can."

Thelyn sat down beside her and held her hand. She was still unconscious, but she looked better. The color had returned to her face, and she was breathing normally. Thelyn bent down and kissed her forehead. There was little to do now but wait.

"How is she?" Legolas asked.

"I'd kill Ondollo again if I could," Aragorn said bitterly.

"That bad," Legolas said.

"I'd like a word with our prisoner," Aragorn said.

Legolas pointed across the camp and Aragorn saw their Avari prisoner in the keeping of Lord Cilmo and his Rangers. He frowned.

"Is that wise?" Aragorn asked.

"Go and speak to them," Legolas said. "You may find your allies in the east yet."

Aragorn crossed the camp and found Lord Cilmo sitting by the fire with his daughter and the Avari Rangers guarding their prisoner. Aragorn gave Allassante a look, and she sighed and stood.

"I'm staying," Allassante said firmly. "Cilmo and his Elves have done nothing wrong, father."

"You do not need to defend them to me," Aragorn said with annoyance. "Go get some breakfast."

"I'm not one of your knights, father," Allassante said with a cocked brow.

"Indeed," Aragorn agreed. "My knights have more respect. Go."

"Go on, Ally, I will be fine," Cilmo said quietly.

Allassante nodded and left and Aragorn waited until she was out of earshot before speaking. Cilmo stood tall and waited for his judgment. At last the hour of the King's justice was upon them.

"Your lord is dead, I killed him," Aragorn said, watching their faces for reactions.

"It was justice, no blame is laid on you for it," Cilmo said.

"What justice should be dealt to this Elf?" Aragorn asked carefully. He wanted to know what they had to say.

"Kill me," Ambartur said. "I should have stopped him, and I did not. I am as much to blame as my lord."

"Show him mercy," Cilmo said. "He has a family, if they yet live. Let him return to find them, and judge me in his place."

"No, take me in his place," Anwaner said. "I will receive his judgment."

"Be silent, Anwaner, I am Captain, and my word stands," Cilmo said.

The rest of the rangers stood and Kiirar spoke up, "We will stand together, sire. Your will be done, and we will accept whatever judgment is due us."

Aragorn was surprised by this loyalty and looked them over with interest. This was a much more honorable attitude than the one Ondollo had shown.

"What happened in your wood?" Aragorn asked.

"The trees revolted and crushed the army. We are the last of those that escaped. The city was walled in by the trees, and we know nothing of their fates. Our lord wanted to bring the voice back to tame the trees, but in his madness, he…" Ambartur's voice broke off. "I thought only of my wife, and followed. It was wrong, and I am ashamed."

"If she lives, then you live," Aragorn said. "That is all the judgment I will make for now." He turned to go, but stopped when he heard the clinking of metal. Aragorn looked back, and the Rangers were piling their weapons at his feet.

"We will wait," Cilmo said.

Aragorn nodded and beckoned Fretho over. "Their weapons are in your keeping. I need to rest, wake me if there are any changes in Jamie's condition."

"Aye, my lord," Fretho said.

Aragorn found a quiet place to lie down and rest, but his rest was delayed by an angry princess.

"What is your judgment?" Allassante asked.

"Their lives are bound to Jamie's," he said. "Their blood in payment if she dies."

"Whose blood, the Archer's?" Allassante asked nervously.

"They stand together, all will accept the judgment of one," Aragorn said.

Allassante felt a knot in her throat and looked across the camp to Cilmo. "No father, please. The Rangers are innocent," she pleaded softly.

"My judgment stands," Aragorn said.

"And when she lives, then what?" Allassante asked.

"You love him?" Aragorn asked with a cocked brow.

"Enough to stand with him if she dies," Allassante said.

"Oh, Allassante, go and rest," Aragorn said with a sigh. "I don't want to see them die any more than you do. It is the law of Gondor that demands payment for murder. Your Captain volunteered to take his place. If you would plead for his life, plead with him. Now let me rest."

Allassante stood and went to where Thelyn kept vigil over Jamie. The pain in his eyes was echoed in her own. This folly would end in blood twice if Jamie died, and two hearts would break for the loss.