Mace was pacing the cell as much as a trapped predator would when captured. But the room was small and he had no room to move. They needed to get out. Sooner rather than later.
It was Rithil that spoke first. "Mace, will you sit down, you are making me seasick." The ranger was still trying to pry a nail from the collapsed bed. Mace stopped for a moment, but he felt so restless he was about to take another step. He needed to help Ram.
There was a noise coming from the small window. "Estel?" A whisper flew in with the wind and Strider looked up with a snap. He got to his feet quickly, grabbing his head for a moment as he got up too fast. "Mellon nin?" He asked as the others turned quiet. There was some elvish coming from the window, and though Mace did not understand, he knew Strider could. The ranger replied before he moved to the window and stuck his hand out. When he pulled it back he was holding onto a vial. He took a sip and handed it to Yvan. "One sip. It will help with your wounds." He said softly. Yvan drank and handed the vial over to the other rangers. Strider stuck his hand out of the window once more, pulling in a small leather pouch. Mace grabbed Strider's arm as he walked a lot sturdier to the door. The potion was already doing its job. "The potion will wear off in a few hours. We need to be out of here by then." He stated. "Who was that?" Mace asked, still trying to keep up with what was happening. "My friend. He told me he is here with Gandalf and Mirna." He bent down in front of the lock and started to work. Within moments the door flew open and Strider looked back at them. "We need to get our weapons." Lopin nodded. "The orks put them in a room upstairs, I saw it. Come follow me." As quietly as possible they moved up the stairs. They found one ork, but Lopin and Rithil jumped on it, breaking its neck before it could sound the alarm. They quickly grabbed their things and made their way across the hall.
Things moved fast from that moment. Orks were killed methodically as they ran into them. Strider seemed to know the way, and lead them through the maze of hallways. He signaled them to stop. There was a medium-sized room to their right. They could hear the laughter comming from it. They all could hear Kallen's voice talking about his victory. Mace knew what he had to do. He pointed to Yvan who nodded. There weren't that many orks in the room. They would be able to fight them. "Leave Kallen to me." He whispered as the others nodded. "You find Ram." He pointed at Strider who nodded.
Strider walked the hallways, hearing the sound of fighting behind him. But then he entered a large room. The walls had long ago crumbled down, but the floor was still showing the place the ruler would sit. On the small stone stage, she stood. Strider looked at the woman he loved. "Ram!" He called out in relief before he noticed something was wrong. She was standing in a strange posture, her arms hanging limp beside her body. Her head hung down at an angel, her dark hair in front of her face. She slowly looked up, the hair moving away. A strange grin around her lips.
And then she opened her eyes. The green eyes he loved so much were gone. They were blood red now and stood full of hate and anger. Her legs started to move but moved stiffly like she had no knees.
"She is mine." A hiss got out of her mouth. Strider stepped back in horror as she moved closer, raising her sword. She attacked him, but she lacked flexibility in her movements. Strider defended her blows as she moved faster. "I don't want to hurt you, Cailean! Come on, fight him. You are stronger than this." She laughed as her movements started to ease up. "You are wrong. She is weak." She spat with a voice that was not her own.
Strider moved, but not away from the female ranger, but closer into her arms. He was too close for her sword to work and he held her in a tight embrace. "You are not weak, Ram. You are a lot of things. But being weak is not one of them."
For a moment, her eyes cleared. "I can't hold him back, Strider. I can't" She called out, sobbing, trying to push him away. "Take my sword and run, just run!"
But Strider shook his head. "I will never leave your side." pulling her closer. His eyes shot over her face, trying to think of a way to save her.
"I can't hold him back." She cried as she pushed her sword into his hands.
"Then I apologize," Strider said as he raised two swords. Cailean looked back at him. He could almost feel the transformation. Her eyes clouded over and the snarl curled around her lips. "For what?!" She spat.
Strider moved and punched her in her face with the handle of his sword. Cailean dropped to the ground, unconscious. "For hurting you." He said softly. Before he could grab her, Mace ran past him, lifting the woman over his shoulder. "We need to leave," Mace said, Strider spotted the blood on his sword. "Kallen?" "Dead," Mace replied shortly. "Come on, we need to move."
The other rangers made a run for it. Outside the fight was going on in full blow. Gandalf was fighting, as well as Legolas who had pulled his knives since he ran out of arrows. Mirna was holding her own and was the first to spot them. "Time to leave!" She called out. Gandalf and Legolas looked at the group and nodded, running towards the gate.
But they were cut off by a large group of orks. One of the orks was snickering, looking at them. He pointed his sword at them. "She belongs with us." He hissed.
"And that is where you are wrong," Legolas replied. The orks spotted him and let out a scream of frustration. The fight quickly started and Mace was trying to stay away from the swords as he tried to keep his cousin safe. Ram inhaled sharply. Mace looked over his shoulder to his cousin, feeling her pull herself up straight. "Mace⦠Put me down." She yelled. Quickly he put her on her feet. The red eyes had turned green again as she looked around. "SWORD!" She yelled and Rithil looked up, quickly throwing her a sword.
But the fighting wasn't over. The potion started to lose its potential, and Strider was having trouble fighting off the orks. Suddenly the world slowed down. One of the orks hit him against his head. A soaring pain almost blinded him.
He ended up on his knees and he knew he would not be able to block the next blow. The ork above him laughed the smell of death and filth in his nose. This was it.
A scream came from beside them, and the ork snapped his head to the left. A sword pierced the ork, and as he sank, Strider saw her. Ram was standing there, ork blood on her face and a look of pure fury on her face. She moved to attack the next ork, but an arrow pierced out of the fowl being. A familiar woodelf jumped into the fight. With their leader dead, the orks were defeated quickly.
Strider saw Ram trying to catch her breath, leaning against one of the broken halls.
The last time she had his back, she had been in some kind of trance. Strider hesitated as he made his way over to her. In his moment of delay, Legolas made it to Ram, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close.
Ram looked up with a smile, winking at the elf.
For a moment, Strider looked at them, his heart froze. A spike of jealousy filled him as he saw her interact with his friend. "You got that one nicely, my flower." The elf spoke to her, smiling brightly. "You didn't do so bad yourself." Ram snickered in reply. She looked up, her eyes searching for something.
Strider wanted to turn around and walk away. The pain in his heart almost took him over. "Estel." She spoke his name before he turned around. He could not look at her. He had missed her so much. He had almost lost her.
But Ram broke through his haze, her hands softly caressing his cheeks. She gently rubbed his hair out of his face. Strider closed his eyes as she moved closer. Her chapped lips met his, and Strider awoke, grabbing her tightly as he deepened their kiss.
She broke the kiss too soon. Finally, their eyes met. He saw nothing but love, and the worry flowed out of him. "I missed you, Strider." She whispered, kissing him again.
"I missed you too Cailean." He spoke softly, pulling her close to him. Besides the blood and gore, he smelled her hair.
Suddenly he felt two arms wrap around them both. "I missed you children, as well," Legolas said laughing, kissing both Ram and Strider on their heads. "Now enough hugging. Let's get out of here."
