CHAPTER 15

The Seer Speaks……

Yénillor morne tuliente I quettar

Tercáno nuniva

Hlasta! Qyetes

Hfirimain

The Ringspell

FOTR Soundtrack

Erúvë paled as she saw her opponent. The beast was huge. It glared malevolently down at her with blazing red eyes rimmed in a sickly green. It was easily eight feet tall and had shaggy gray-black fur covering its body. It had the rough shape of a man, but it possessed wickedly sharp talons on both the hands and on its feet.

As she pointed her sword in the direction of the thing, it snarled and revealed long yellowed teeth with saliva dripping from them. Erúvë caught a whiff of a faint odor and realized that the saliva was in reality a type of venom – most likely a highly dangerous one as well.

She made a mental note to stay far away from the fangs of the creature, and taking a deep breath, gathered her energies and moved in to battle.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Legolas sprinted through the barren landscape, Aragorn's cries to slow down passing over him unheeded. It was as if there was something inside of him commanding him to run in a certain direction. He was being drawn to the spot as surely as if he was enchanted and with every passing second, he grew more and more certain that Erúvë was in some sort of trouble.

He drew his bow as he ran, his senses alert for any enemy lying in wait to ambush him.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Erúvë feinted left and as the beast was distracted, changed directions in midair and slashed at the right side of the animal. It was a trick that only an Elf could execute and one that only the most graceful and nimble of elves could counteract. Yet, as Erúvë stared in disbelief, not only did her opponent manage to evade her weapon, at the same time, it knocked her sword from her grasp, sending it spinning.

She gasped and drew her dagger swiftly, dancing back just in time to miss being clawed. She ducked and rolled to avoid those nasty talons and came up behind the creature. She managed to stab her dagger into its lower back as she stood and with a roar of rage and pain, it swept its arm back, knocking her off balance and throwing her hard against a large, jagged rock. Erúvë saw stars and she groaned in agony, as she clutched her previously injured shoulder.

Her groan became a scream as the beast raked its claws across her right side. If not for her elvish reflexes, that enabled her to twist away at the last moment, she would have been dead.

She tried to stand but the pain was a swirling vortex, dragging her down into it. She could only watch helplessly as the creature prepared to attack again.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Legolas came onto the scene and assessed the situation with one glance. He let fly his arrow as the animal was about to separate Erúvë's head from her shoulders. The weapon buried itself in the thing's neck – a shot that would have killed a normal creature.

Unfortunately for them, the beast was anything but normal. It left Erúvë alone and turned towards Legolas, eyes burning with hate.

"Prrriiiinnnccceee," it hissed. "Prepare for your death."

Legolas started. "By the Valar, what are you?" he asked.

It laughed and its laughter reminded him of dead things crawling in the night. "I am a servant of Sauron. The evil that inherited his body gave me life. I can take many forms and though you might destroy one shape, eventually I will return."

"And there will always be someone to stop you," Legolas retorted. A quick glance at Erúvë assured him that she was as well as expected under the circumstances. She was on her feet and watching him with concern on her lovely, albeit bruised, face.

Just then, Aragorn showed up, out of breath. He drew up short as he saw the demon and it grinned.

"Ah, Elessar. So glad to see you here. Come to join your elven friends in death I see?"

"Legolas?" Aragorn questioned.

"A demon," Legolas informed him. "A lackey of Sauron."

"Lackey?" the thing hissed. "I am no lackey. I am made for one purpose only and that is to return the Black Lord to his rightful place."

Aragorn laughed harshly. "And what makes you believe that we will let you succeed? That we shall allow you to destroy all that the free people of Middle Earth have tried so hard to achieve?"

"One simple reason," it replied. "You will all be dead."

While the demon was distracted, Erúvë made her way to her brother's side. She patted his face gently and called his name. His eyelids fluttered and opened, the brilliant blue orbs focusing on her.

"Erúvë?" he asked, dazed.

"Yes darling," she replied tenderly. "Come, try to sit up."

He groaned as she helped him up and put a hand to his head. Then as he looked at her, he realized that she was bleeding from her head and her side.

"What happened t………." his voice trailed off as he saw Aragorn and Legolas and the monstrosity that they were facing.

"What is that?" he asked in shock.

"What we've come to destroy," she replied. She hefted her sword and slanted a look at her brother. Her side was on fire, not to mention the pain from her shoulder – it may have been broken – but she refused to stand by as the two elves that she loved most fought for their lives.

Haldir placed a hand on her arm. "You are injured, sister. Please do not join this fight."

She looked at him, the light of battle blazing in her eyes. "How can I live with myself if I let you three put yourselves in harm's way and I stand aside? No brother, for me, the shame would be worse than death."

Haldir sighed. He knew that once Erúvë made up her mind, there was no swaying her from her course. He unsheathed his sword and placed his hand briefly on her cheek. "Then so be it. We shall either find victory together or die as one."