A/N: The next four chapters take place at the same time just at different places within the Lair.
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"So it begins," said Gandalf. "The final battle of the Fellowship and the fate of the Light of the world will soon be decided.
"Come, Merry, Pippin." He turned his heel and dashed down the passageway at a quick pace. "Hurry. Soon, this whole hall will be filled with orcs and other devils."
"But what about Sam and Frodo?" Merry asked as he caught up with the wizard. Pippin ran up closely behind him. "What are we going to do about them? And what about Aragorn and the others?"
"We must have faith in them," he replied, "and in ourselves if we are to make it out of here alive."
They came to a three-way fork with cries and shouts echoing towards them from all sides. Instinctively, Merry put his treasured scythe in both hands in attack position and waited as the voices of the Dark grew louder and louder around them. To his side and behind him, he could feel Gandalf and Pippin withdraw their own weapons. The power of the infamous White Wizard flooded the room and gave strength to him and Pippin.
"Be ready," warned Gandalf. His brilliant white staff shimmered with dangerous magic as he readied Glamdring. "Here they come. And for the Light's sake, stay near me and stay alive."
They two Hobbits nodded silently and watched the first wave of Dark creatures rise up and rush at them. In a flash, Merry twirled his scythe and deflected the incoming arrows that the Orcs and unleashed. Another swing of his staff brought down a dozen Dark creatures and a torrent of dark red blood splattered around the walls.
Steeling his nerves like he did every time he was faced with a large battle, Pippin threw his short sword into an Uruk-Hai a fair distance away, killing it and the Uruk behind it. A trio of Orcs immediately came between him and his sword.
"Oh, look at the little human!" teased one. "He's lost his weapon and unable to defend himself."
"Well, if the boss wants the Holders of Light extinguished," growled another one as he and the others raised their swords high, "it's not our place to defy him, is it?"
"I'm not a little human!" Pippin cried out, throwing his skateboard to the ground. He dashed around the trio on his little piece of wood on wheels, narrowly missing a barrage of swords that came crashing down. While he rushed towards the pair of Uruk-Hai corpses with his sword firmly embedded in them, he managed to snatch up a crude Orcish sword and swiftly took down any opponent in his path. Once he got to his own sword, he pulled it out and bared both in combat to the trio of Orcs.
"I'm not a little human," he repeated to the last orc, "I'm a Hobbit." With that, he slit the Orc's throat.
There was a long enough lull in the ongoing waves of Dark creatures for them to escape further down the hallway. Cloaks billowing with swirling patterns of red light and black shadows behind them, they ran through the midlevel of the Lair. The tall columns beside them flashed by as they ran and shed long shadows across their backs. All too soon, they could hear the noises of swords being unsheathed, armour clattering together and running footsteps towards them.
Gandalf rushed in front of the two Hobbits just as the new troop of grotesque Dark creatures came into view from the stairs ahead of them. The leader of the pack of Orcs and Uruk-Hai, a particularly scarred and mutilated Uruk-Hai, stopped and made his troops stop behind him.
"THIS is what the force of Light sends as its defenders!" crowed the leader. "An old man and a couple of boys. What a pathetic defence. I expected something a bit more of a challenge, didn't you, boys?" He roared to his troops behind him.
Excitedly, the Orcs and Uruk-Hai clashed their swords to their shields and armour. At the leader's command, they rushed to attack Gandalf and the two Hobbits, thirsty for their blood.
Gandalf muttered something quickly under his breath that made his staff glow with a blindingly bright white light. The air itself seemed to vibrate and react to his magic. A large sphere of translucent magic surrounded him and the Hobbits behind him, which had faint currents of electrifying magic gliding across its surface.
"I may be an old man," Gandalf said in a terrifying, resounding voice as he gathered more magic, "but I carry the ancient magic of the Istari. The Darkness will not prevail in this world and it should fear the wizard called Gandalf the White as it had in the ancient past!"
Huge tendrils of white magic exploded from the top of the staff. With tremendous force, the magic ripped through the air and collided with the pack of Orcs and Uruks. Each creature it hit, it wrapped itself around and attacked the Darkness within them. The air was full of pained screams that were barely audible over the roar of the White Wizard's magic. When the light faded, the bodies of the Orcs and Uruks lady scattered in front of Gandalf and the two Hobbits, all of them dead and burned from the magical blast.
The protective barrier slowly fell as Gandalf returned to normal. He struggled to keep his strength up but failed and fell to his knees. His staff fell out of his hands to the floor with a clatter.
"Gandalf!" Merry and Pippin cried out. They bent down and helped him back up onto his feet. Pippin retrieved his staff while Merry asked concernedly, "Are you all right, Gandalf? What happened?"
"I seem to have used up a tad too much magic," Gandalf said, a little strained. He was pale and a little sweaty but he seemed to be recovering himself. "I'm all right, Merry, thank you." He took his staff from Pippin and thanked him.
As they continued down the hallway, Merry commented with amazement at the spectacular display of magic that had just happened. "I never knew you could do something like that!" he exclaimed.
Just as they reached the top of the stairs lined with monumental columns, several wet explosions rang through the air. The unmistakable cry of a Hunter was heard followed by another identical roar mingled with more, less severe explosions. For a few long seconds, nothing was heard except for the loud, piercing shrieks of Neos combined with the thunderous roars of Hunters.
"Gandalf, Merry! Look at the field of pods!" He pointed out between the columns. "The Dark creatures are awakening and they don't sound too happy, do they?"
An arrow, barely visible, shot through the air and hit the nearest Hunter, causing it to roar in pain. The diamond-tipped arrow had shot through the muscle and bone into its internal systems. Enraged, the Hunter led the way towards the archer, who was partially obscured by his shorter companion.
"It's Legolas!" Merry said. "Gimli's with him, too! But Aragorn's missing..."
"We can't worry about Aragorn right now!" Gandalf said. "Legolas is in immediate danger and if we don't do something now," he said as he looked at Pippin, "he and Gimli will surely perish."
Pippin stared back at the wizard, unable to say anything. "Me?" he finally squeaked out, "what can I do? I'm just a little Hobbit."
"Something that is now clearly proven to be able to kick some major Dark ass," muttered Merry. "With this, though..." He tapped the sacred Horn of Gondor strapped to Pippin's side. "I think we can kick some bolas as well as some ass. Don't you, Pip?"
Positively beaming with mischievous teenage energy, Pippin quickly loosened the Horn and brought it to his lips. With all the hope he could muster, he blew hard into the ancient Horn of Gondor.
The clear, rich tones of the Horn rang through the whole cavern. It echoed through the walls and multiplied the effects of the magical sound. Its proud, powerful and ancient trumpeting shook every Dark creature's essence, stirring fear into their beings that had been slumbering in the Darkness for millennia. After a few moments of calling, a ringing silence followed.
Out of nowhere but coming from every crevice of the Lair, a ghostly echo of the Horn's call was heard. It grew louder and louder with each trumpet blast that was heard and not seen. As it grew louder, it seemed to come from beside Merry, Pippin and Gandalf.
Pale, ghostly threads of white energy began to twist in the air as the invisible Horn was blowing. Formless spectres dived in and out of the ground and walls, wailing angered yells as they flew. Feeding on the trumpet sounds of the Horn, they became stronger and started to take shape. The Horn had stopped but the spirits of the dead continued to gather and take form.
Merry and Pippin were shaking at the sight of the ghosts and Pippin was holding onto the silent Horn of Gondor very tightly. Both of them yelled out of surprise when a heavy hand suddenly grabbed their shoulders.
"I never expected a couple of Hobbits to be able to summon the Great Army of Middle-Earth," Boromir said smoothly. Nevertheless, he smiled warmly at his companions.
"Boromir!" Merry gasped, heart racing. Pippin, who was still trying to recover himself from nearly fainting, said nothing. Once he got his bearings, Merry growled, "Boromir, I really ought to..."
"Do what? Kill me? It's a little late for that, don't you think?" Boromir snapped with a huge grin. "That pat on the shoulder was just too hard to pass up, guys. Sorry."
"Oh, my god," moaned Pippin, holding his head, "flashbacks of high school. You grabbing us by surprise and shoving us into our own lockers. Oh, my god, the flashbacks."
Boromir just nervously laughed and hastily apologized.
"Listen," he said seriously, "there is a chamber down this hall that is most importance to the survival of this world. After all this time, there are still human survivors in this dead city. Inside that chamber is the last few dozen of them, untainted by the Darkness."
"Untainted after all this time?" repeated Gandalf. "How is that possible?"
"They simply keep them alive for the purity of their blood. According to what I've heard, untouched humans taste better than the ones controlled by the Parasites. They don't hurt them so that there's more edible meat when they kill them and the humans are kept in that chamber because far fewer Dark creatures can reach it and so that the humans can't escape from the series of guards that lead to the prison."
"So they're being slaughtered like cattle?" Pippin exclaimed with indignity. "We've got to go and free them!"
"But we have no way of getting them out," Merry pointed out. "The entrance is completely blocked off, remember?"
"Eh?" Boromir was a little confused.
"If you haven't noticed, there is a rather large hole in the cavern across from us," Gandalf said.
Boromir's eyes widened greatly when he turned and saw the big, gaping hole where the Neo cage used to be. "Aragorn's work?"
The three of the Fellowship shook their heads fervently. "Hunters and Neos."
Boromir decided not to say anything and continued. "There is an escape route just beyond the chamber through a small maze. A back door, if you will. You can lead the survivors through there."
"BOROMIR!" Legolas and Gimli's panicked voices splintered through the air.
"Shit!" Boromir's military instincts came back into his mind. "I must leave you now, lest two more members of the Fellowship join my dead army. If you get into trouble or if you need a guide, blow the Horn. Faramir will come and help. Go! Save the survivors!"
Without looking back, Gandalf, Merry and Pippin ran through the hall and down the stairs. Translucent, white spirits rushed through the bare walls around them as they flew towards the chamber filled with the human survivors. They saw that the spirits gained color and solidity as the spectres charged to join the other warriors of Middle-Earth.
They passed under an ominous archway, identical to most other archways they had seen, and entered a shadowy corridor lit by a few hanging light fixtures. There were beings that stood quietly and limply every few meters of the corridor but, because of the poor lighting, they couldn't see what the series of guards were. From what they could see, the hall curved to the right about a dozen meters away from them.
Hesitating to take a step forward from the threshold under the archway, they tried to make out what the guards were.
They were too small to be Uruk-Hai or Hunters. Their postures and basic frame of body were much too different to be Neos. They looked like they were Orcs but they were a bit too thin to be normal Orcs. What were they?
Taking a huge gulp to swallow the nervous lump in his throat, Merry held his scythe tightly and bravely took a few steps into the dark corridor. Without even stealing a glance from the guards, he walked past the first set of guards without any trouble.
Following his example, Gandalf and Pippin anxiously walked past the first set of guards and joined Merry. Together, they set towards the survivors' chamber.
They had barely taken three steps when one of the guards nearest the front whipped its rod and hit a hidden panel. Without another warning, huge iron doors slid out from the archway and slammed shut, sealing the entrance to the Lair from them.
"Oh, shit," Pippin said.
Movement filled the corridor as the guards came to life. Guttural moans and angry growls echoed down the hall as the guards started dragging themselves towards Gandalf, Merry and Pippin with gnarled hands and weapons held out.
"Major shit," corrected Merry as he raised his scythe.
Gandalf set off a large blast of light from his staff and temporarily blinded the surrounding guards. The beings threw up their spindly arms to their faces to shield themselves from the sudden light and screeched a sound so horrible that it sent violent shivers up the spines of Gandalf, Merry and Pippin. As the light ebbed away, Pippin saw the pale complexion of the guards' arms and noticed the writhing black tentacles around their necks.
"They're humans," gasped Pippin. "They're all humans guarding the survivors!"
"The wretched Parasites control them," said Gandalf, looking for a way out of the crowd. "They are not humans any longer since the demons attached themselves to them. Give them mercy and a swift death to let them sleep."
A guard recovered from the light and lunged at Merry. He quickly swung his scythe out at the guard but struck him with the flat of his blade, knocking the guard onto the floor.
"I can't kill them," he whispered, feeling defeated. "They just look too much like our old world. Too much like the peace we had before."
Gandalf tried to use an offensive Light spell but it didn't work. It didn't even dislodge the Parasites around the humans' necks. Even in the lack of light, they could see the shiny black Parasites still firmly attached to their hosts.
"Damned Parasites," he muttered. "After feeding on their hosts, they adapted to the Light that humans naturally have. My magic is useless against them."
Reluctantly and with tears lining their eyes, the wizard and the Hobbits bared their blades and fought with their own kind. Their hearts were heavy and gained more weight with each swing of their swords. Red blood sprayed everywhere as each attacking human guard fell to the weapons of the Fellowship. The only solace they could find in their hearts as they delivered swift, painless deaths was that their fellow humans would finally be able to seek peace in the silence of death. Soon, the dark corridor saw only Gandalf, Merry and Pippin standing alive.
Like a horrible machine, a series of hideous clicking noises was heard. The Parasites had unlocked their jaws from their hosts' skulls and began to crawl and slither to them with the hungry intent of controlling them.
"Oh, I'm tired of all this fucking shit!" Pippin drew out his Light-modified gun and took aim.
"Pippin, that won't work!" Gandalf cried out.
Gandalf's warning was too late for him but it wouldn't have made a difference if he had said it or not. Each and every shot Pippin fired created a small splat of Parasite bits.
"Guns are a modern invention so the Parasites have less immunity to them," Merry said matter-of-factly. "Infused with Light magic, it was too much for the Parasites to handle."
He heard one last Parasite unlock itself from its host about three meters away from him. As quick as he could, he ran to the untangling Parasite. Using his scythe like a catapult, he jumped over a particularly large man and sliced the Parasite in half without so much as giving the body of its host a scratch.
A flash of familiarity pricked the back of his mind when he glanced at the corpse. Heart racing and hand shaking, he turned the body onto its back.
"Oh, my god," he said softly when he saw the face. He gripped his scythe tightly as he tried to hold back his tears. "Oh, God, no."
Pippin and Gandalf heard his quiet sobs and went over to see what was wrong. When Pippin saw the body, he felt his heart stop and tried to breathe but his lungs weren't working properly. Gandalf recognized the girl as well and had seen the way Pippin's eyes had followed her during the short time they were all living a regular life in high school.
"Her name was Neluni, wasn't it?" Gandalf said sadly. "If I'm not mistaken, she was in my history class with Aragorn, Legolas, Frodo and Sam."
Pippin, who had strong feelings for the dark-haired Neluni, was shaking with almost overwhelming emotions. Rage and sadness tore him apart inside with the reality of seeing the girl who had possessed his mind and heart as nothing but a corpse. The anger he tried to control finally let loose and he aimed his gun towards Merry.
"You killed her!" he screamed, tears streaming down his face. "You bastard, why didn't you look where you were aiming? She was the one who I hoped would still be alive! You knew all this and you still killed her!"
Merry's blood ran cold when he saw the barrel of his best friend's gun pointed directly at him. It was already unbearable to know that he had killed someone he knew so well, even if Neluni was now little more than a body and food source for the Parasite. He had extinguished all hope for Neluni's recovery. He was already suffering enough. Why couldn't Pippin see that?
"Pippin," Gandalf said softly and gently although his own heart was racing, "lower the gun. Think about what you're doing, Pippin. Do you want to live with the knowledge that you killed your best friend in cold blood?"
The small pistol barrel looked like the deep chasms and darkness of vengeful death to Merry. He watched, drenched in cold sweat, as the gun shook in Pippin's hand. Looking deep into his eyes, he could tell that Pippin was torn between emotions.
"Pete, don't do it, man. Don't pull that trigger," Merry said, trying as hard as he could to sound like his old self.
Pippin swallowed, not saying anything with his gun still aimed at Merry.
"Pete," he said a little louder. "Don't do it."
The gun shook violently.
"Pete!"
Like a dying storm, Pippin's rage slowly ebbed away to his grief and his gun lowered to the ground among his sobs. Tears flowed down his cheeks and splashed onto the blood-filled floor. With his whole body shaking, he set his gun back to safety and put it back in his holster.
Merry cautiously went to him, still unsure about his friend's self-control over his murderous impulses. "Pip? I'm really, really --"
SLAP.
He didn't even get to finish his sentence when Pippin's hand flew across his cheek. Gandalf wanted to say something to the both of them but couldn't find anything so he made a movement to comfort them.
"No, Gandalf," said Merry, cheek red. "I deserved it." He never made a movement, not even when Pippin slapped him, to defend himself. "I deserved it."
Silence descended on the cavern once more but strange cries came from the deepest end of the dark hall. Their ears tuned into the sound and it properly registered into their minds what the sound really was.
"Marty? Marty! Marty, is that you?" A single, hopeful voice travelled down the hall that brought back memories of an old life.
"Is that...?"
They made their way down the hall at a jog, following the sounds of the voice. They turned the final corner and saw a huge relief that also saddened their hearts. About a dozen humans were in a large cage, alive and healthy. But they could see the range of horrible scars and wounds had been inflicted on them, both physically and mentally.
"Marty! Oh, my God, Marty, it's really you!" A young girl, no younger than the Hobbits, stood close to the bars. She pushed her dirty-blonde, tangled hair out of her face, looking like she couldn't believe her eyes. "I can't believe it's you..."
"Christine..." Merry said breathlessly. "Oh, God, Christine." He reached through the bars and pulled her into a tight hug. "I thought I lost you..."
She simply hugged back and laughed with joy. She looked over his shoulder and her eyes widened with surprise.
"Pete? Mr. Whitergray? What the hell? How'd you guys get down here, anyway? And what are those?" She pointed to their weapons strapped to their sides and her dark eyes travelled to Gandalf's staff and the Horn of Gondor with fascination and confusion.
"Umm... I'll explain later, babe. What we have to do now is get all of you out of there."
"How many times have I told you NOT to call me..."
Merry quickly interrupted her and ordered the survivors to stand back from the gate while Gandalf aimed carefully with his magic staff. The pearly staff head glowed a brilliant white with the energy of the Maiar. A large ball of Light smashed into the gate's locking mechanism and shattered it to bits.
"What the fuck was that?" a man yelled out, clearly frightened by the show of magic. "Who the fuck are you people?"
"Your only hope for survival," Pippin replied bluntly. He opened the gate for them and let the survivors out. "Something will have heard that. Listen, the exit's further down the hallway. Follow it and you'll be out of this hellhole. Once you're out, hide. That is, if you don't want to get munched on by those Orcs and Neos."
"The path beyond is really a huge maze," an elderly woman said fearfully. "Only those evil creatures know the way through; we've seen them come in from there. When one of us managed to escape, they'd either get lost forever or come back saying it's hopeless to escape this damned place. Each one who came back was accompanied by one of those creatures with a story of other rooms full of other people."
"What we need is some help," said Pippin as he slung the Horn of Gondor from his back. "Should I call?"
"Yes," Gandalf said. He heard Orcish cries and Neo screeches coming for them from the Lair. "And quickly, Pippin. We'll hold off the Dark creatures here while Faramir leads them out."
The clear tones of the Horn shook the walls of stone and called upon the ancient Captain of Gondor and his men. At once, translucent tendrils of ghostly energy began to swirl out of the walls, sending chills down the spines of the survivors. Christine held Merry's hand tightly as she looked nervously at the forming spectres.
"Calm down, Christine," he reassured her, "they're just old friends of ours who will lead you – all of you – out of here safely."
The ghostly figures of Faramir and his most loyal men finally gathered together and Faramir smiled at the wizard.
"It's been long, Gandalf. My king and my brother both asked me and my men to aid you here. Oh, the Hobbits!"
"Faramir, we have no time," Gandalf said solemnly. "Take these survivors, find the other ones and lead them all through the labyrinth safely. Merry and Pippin will help me keep the Orcs and Uruks from following."
The Captain of Gondor nodded and shouted orders to his men. "Lead them through the maze! Find the others! Take out any Orc, Uruk or demon in our way! Do not lose any of the men and women we lead!"
"Marty...?"
"Don't worry, Chris." He smiled warmly at her. He saw from her eyes that the Darkness had taken some toll on her soul and felt great pity on her. The laughing light that was in her eyes had dulled considerably although there was some glimmer of light when he looked at her. "I'll come back to you. I promise you."
Without warning, she bent down and gave him a sweet kiss, causing him to go bright red. She muttered threateningly but half-jokingly, "You'd better, Bridgewater."
Faramir ushered her out of their grasp, wished them good luck and followed the group of rangers and the survivors.
"Oh! Pete! I have to tell you something!" Christine wound her way carefully around the spirit of Faramir and ran straight up to Pippin.
"What is it?"
"About Neluni... I knew she was out here when you guys had to fight them and..." She fought to hold back the tears and to keep her voice steady. "And, I just wanted to tell you that she really did like you, okay?"
Faramir, who was bound by duty, had to swipe his icy cold ghost hands through her to get her attention and made her go through the maze of tunnels.
Gandalf, Merry and Pippin had no time to dwell of what had just happened since a horde of Orcs began to come around the corner of the hallway. They fought long and hard not just for themselves and the Light, but for all the lives that still lived. By the time they had slew dozens of Orcs and made it to the threshold, they were all tired and fatigued from the hard battle. Nevertheless, Gandalf used his staff to mimic the first guard and hit the panel to close the iron gates before sprinting out of the cavern.
With no creatures of Darkness coming to kill them on the level they were on, they all stopped to catch their breaths and rest for a moment, all the while keeping a sharp eye out for any ambushes as well as for the rest of the Fellowship.
All of a sudden, Merry felt a sharp pain in his heart even though nothing touched him. He saw spirits once again, floating and darting around the cavern with their sorrowful wailing that broke his heart.
"Merry, what's wrong?" Pippin demanded, afraid that his best friend was hurt. He would be tormented with the fact that he had almost killed his best friend for the rest of his life.
"The spirits... They're sad." His eyes were unfocused as he watched them.
"Sad? Why are they sad?"
"Because... A shining Light... is dead."
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A/N: This chapter's long, hmm? Every single one of the final 5 chapters is around this long!
Anyway, someone's dead. Aside from dear, dear Neluni, of course. If you check with chapter 3, her name's actually in the list of students that Mr. Whitergray/Gandalf was trying to remember. So is Christine! But who's dead...? Could it be a member of the Fellowship? Surely not... or could it? O.o
4 chapters left.
Next chapter: The Path of Destruction.
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