Classical: I do not own The Lord of the Rings
"Light fails at dawn
The moon is gone
And deadly the night reigns
(Deceit)
Finally I've found myself
In these lands
Horror and madness I've seen here
For what I became a king of the lost?
Barren and lifeless the land lies
Lord of all Noldor
A star in the night
And a bearer of hope
He rides into his glorious battle alone
Farewell to the valiant warlord
The Fate of us all
Lies deep in the dark
When time stands still at the iron hill
The Fate of us all
Lies deep in the dark
When time stands still at the iron hill
I stand alone
No one's by my side
I'll dare you
Come out
You coward
Now it's me or you
He gleams like a star
And the sound of his horns
Like a raging storm
Proudly the high lord
Challenges the doom
Lord of slaves he cries
Slowly in fear
The dark lord appears
Welcome to my lands
You shall be damned…"
-- Excerpt from Time Stands Still (At the Iron Hill) by Blind Guardian
He gasped in pain looking up at his tormentor.
"Back to work!!" shouted the slave driver. He winced as the whip came down on him again. Aragorn squeezed his eyes shut, but he moved back to digging into the hard earth of the mines.
How long has it been since the quest failed?
"No!! Leave him! He's just a child! A child--PLEASE! NOOOO!!!!!!!!" Aragorn turn quickly hearing the scream, but was quickly slashed across the back.
Can I do nothing at all anymore?
Darkness always surrounded him. There was no natural light here. It seemed ages since he'd seen the sun and moon and stars. That he was out in the wilderness, that he was leading the armies, that he was—
I mustn't think like this…He delivered a strong swing to the rock in front of him trying to keep his mind on getting his work done. He was no longer the returning king, or even the unwanted ranger… he was a slave. A life doomed to be short and filled with grief. Banished into the shadows of the mines searching for iron to make weapons for orcs.
"PLEASE LEAVE HIM BE!!!"
He tensed as the woman screamed once more. Day in and day out he seemed to hear screams, the weak that couldn't protect themselves getting abused because they couldn't help themselves. He was lucky to be alive though. If he had been recongnized he would not be a slave, he would be dead.
What thoughts are these? What kind of a king am I if I cannot protect my people? What kind of a man am I if I cannot protect the weak? I failed…"NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" The woman screamed.
Failed…"PLEASE!!!"
Failed…"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She screamed and this time he screamed with her. He sprung away from the wall swinging his pick at the slaver. The Orc was so surprised that it didn't even dodge as the pick came towards his head. He fell with a sickening thud.
Aragorn rushed to where the woman was screaming. He came to a horrible sight that he was too familiar with by now. A little boy on his hands and knees getting whipped by an Orc, a crying mother begging for mercy.
No more!"AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" He yelled throwing himself at the Orc impaling the pickaxe into his heart.
It seemed to quiet after that. The mother was stunned. Aragorn breathed heavily and the little boy whimpered, but there were no more screams.
"Th… thank you…" The mother said wide-eyed.
"It is time." Aragorn said slowly raising his head. Firelight flashed into his eyes. He no longer stood as a slave. He stood as a king… The King
"Pass the word. We get out tonight." He ordered.
"Yes my lord!" the woman said adoration and tears sparkling in her eyes. She ran off carrying the little boy with her.
"A star in the night
And a bearer of hope
He rides into his glorious battle alone
Farewell to the valiant warlord"
He could hear it. All along the halls. Screams… but not the screams of the days that had come to pass. Different screams… Orc screams?
Pippin's eyes shone in the dark as he looked down the shadowy torch lit tunnel. It was only an hour until his long shift in the mines. Right now he was only with one other person.
"Merry," he said softly. The hobbit beside him gave a horrible cough. Pippin frowned as the coughing continued. He held onto Merry until the fit finally subsided.
"It's getting worse." He said to himself sorrow in his voice. Merry squeezed Pippin's arm weakly.
"I'm… fine…" he rasped, "What are those screams? They're different… somehow…"
Oh Merry, if only I could get you out into the fresh air and sunlight. If only you could over come your sickness. Ever since you woke up you've never been the same, you've become sick and pale, you cough so horribly that I worry you'll cough yourself to death. It's a miracle that you're alive is what they said… but now I'm not so sure…
"I think it's the Orcs," Pippin said, "But why?"
"Maybe we should check it out." Merry said trying to stand. Pippin held him down.
"Save you energy Merry!" Pippin said grasping his arm. Merry smiled at him faintly.
"I'm fine, really I am, I want to see what's—" before he could finish he went into another fit of coughs. Pippin gave him a look.
"Oh, alright, I'll stay here…" Merry said after the coughing had passed, "If you're going to look though be careful. Promise?" Pippin went to the side of the room and pushed some stones out of the way. The previous owner of the cell had made a tunnel. It didn't lead outside, but it did give the hobbits access out of the cell. Pippin made his way down the dark passage remembering when this kind of dark made him afraid. He sighed. So much had changed. He slowly poked his head out of the huge crack to see a very confusing sight. The men had surrounded the orcs and the orcs didn't fight back! The men gathered around a dark haired man.
"The Fate of us all
Lies deep in the dark
When time stands still at the iron hill"
The leader… Pippin thought frowning. Was this good or bad? If Pippin joined in they could all be captured and severely punished, but if he didn't… Merry and he would never get out of here. Making up his mind quickly he squeezed through the crack.
"Give us the keys or die scum." The man said gravely. He sounded somewhat familiar. The orcs did nothing. With no hesitation the man cut off one of their heads.
"If you value your lives you'll do as I say," he held himself straight. He wasn't broken at all.
"You won't get away with this man rat." One of the Orcs growled throwing the keys at the Man's feet. The dark haired man picked them up. There was stillness for a moment. The man turned facing Pippin's way.
"Do not show them mercy… for they never showed you any."
"NO! YOU SAID—" The Orc's scream was cut off by its untimely death.
"Aragorn!!!!" Pippin yelled eyes widening. Aragorn blinked looking around quickly worried that he had been found out. He finally looked down.
"Peregrin Took?"
"Aye! I thought you were… they said you were dead!" Pippin gasped.
"I didn't think you were alive either Pippin." Aragorn said bending down to be level with the young Hobbit.
"You were put here?" the Ranger's gray eyes had a grave look. Pippin nodded.
"Yeah, me and Merry's here too. They found me under a troll, they got Merry just a few hours after he got out of the healers…" Pippin got a sad look, "Aragorn, Merry's very sick… are… are you getting us out of here?" Aragorn nodded.
"Yes, we're going to free as many as we can," the former Ranger answered. He stood, "Go get Merry and meet me at Tunnel 39, from there we will all get out, together!" Aragorn shouted so that everyone could hear him. A rippling cheer spread out around the crowd.
"Freedom…" Pippin said tears coming to his eyes, "I'll be back; I'll meet you there!" Pippin said running back towards the crack to get Merry.
"He gleams like a star
And the sound of his horns
Like a raging storm
Proudly the high lord
Challenges the doom
Lord of slaves he cries"
"WHAT?!?!?!" Sam's sharp ears twitched as he heard the shout echoing up and down the hallway. It was the one that was pretending to be his Master. He wondered briefly why he was so upset. Usually that hobbit could be as calm as glass.
Seems the glass has shattered.
"Slowly in fear
The dark lord appears
Welcome to my lands
You shall be damned…"
Frodo glared menacingly at the orcs that stood before him.
"In the mines near Gondor. The slaves have revolted. They are lead by a man called… s…Strider si---"
"STRIDER?!?!?!" Frodo barked, "That fool Strider is dead, or at least should be… yes… it must be a man posing as Strider to give the slaves hope… can't you fools do nothing right? You can't even keep a bunch of lowly slaves in line!"
"Our deepest apologies sir!" the Orc whimpered. Frodo gripped the sword at his side staring intently at the Orcs.
"I should kill you," he muttered, "but I need you currently so you shall live a bit longer. Go get the wolf riders ready, they're hungry."
"Yes sir," the Orcs bowed. The first had a fiendish smile. Frodo glared at him and they all quickly retreated.
"Simpletons." Frodo muttered. His hand out of habit went to his neck where the ring should have been. He was filled with a horrible sense of longing.
"I do what the master says…" Frodo said getting a little twitch in his eye. "Master of the precious…" Frodo shook his head quickly.
Classical: no focus on Frodo and Sam in this chapter unfortunately, just getting into some of the other characters. This isn't a song fic… or is it? I'm not actually using the whole song… ahhh how confusing, ah well take it as you will. I know the song had to do with a totally different thing but I thought it kinda worked here too.