A/N: After a very long time (I'm not even gonna count the months), I'm finally back! I may be a little rusty so give me a break please! Hopefully the conclusion of this tale will be coming up soon. Thanks for the reviewers who gave me the realization that I should finish this! Rebell, yes I would gladly take bribes but I am too paranoid to give out my address and do not have !
Chapter Eleven
Exposed Motives
Gorlak titled his head upwards, wondering if his pursuers were as desperate as him and had followed him. Several new wounds had been inflicted upon his already injured body during his feverish escape. He thought he had found a clear way out of the cursed fortress, but it turned out to be barracks for three battalions. Even though his lack of armor, which he had thrown off after dealing with Grima, had helped him run faster, he sorely missed it a moment ago as he was falling through thin air after jumping out a second story window. But then again, it wasn't that bad; it could have been the twenty second storey. Thankfully the Uruk-Hai were just as afraid of heights as he was and they had less inspiration to jump. Gorlak stumbled to his feet and staggered off in the direction of the nearby forest, thankful that the other Uruk-Hai on the ground were too busy slaughtering his own troops.
Gaining the safety of the foliage, Gorlak stiffened as he heard the snapping of twigs further in the bushes. Drawling his short knife that he had saved from the fight with Grima, he crept forward, adrenaline encouraging his instinct to take charge. He drew closer and peered through the thick leaves, trying to get a glimpse of the source of disturbance. There, drinking from the river, was a horse; one of the horses that his gang had captured during the ambush of the last prince. Making his move quickly, he jumped through the shrubbery and with the last of his strength he hefted himself onto the startled horse's back. The horse gave quite a fight, infuriated at being disrupted during his refreshment, but Gorlak clung viciously to his mane and managed to hold on. Gaining some control of the succumbing beast, he kicked his heels into its sides and urged it down the river bank, once again thankful that this horse was fresh. Too bad he had used all of his luck up at once.
Aragorn and Gimli had covered a fair bit of ground with their new goal in sight and their unnatural shadow still following close behind them. Even with their minds set, their bodies would not keep up, especially without horses. Finally succumbing to his joint's screaming protests, Aragorn stopped suddenly. "That's enough, we're going to burn ourselves out if we continue like this" he said grimly. Gimli agreed by sitting down where he had stopped and Aragorn followed suit. He stared into the distance; the city they were racing to wasn't anywhere close to being visible. "We should probably move, someone might see us out here" he said half heartedly. He glanced at Gimli who had laid on his back and then turned to the small rocky cliff to his left. Gimli didn't move. "Gimli…?" Gimli was staring unblinkingly at the turbulent sky, but suddenly decided had seen enough of it and rose to his feet and slowly trudged to the hiding spot Aragorn was now pointing at. Upon reaching the cliff, the two resumed their previous positions on the damp ground and Aragorn took to Gimli's hobby of staring into the sky; a storm was brewing, as was a war. Would they be there?
The day was passing quickly; if it actually was day. The continuous haze of grey the sky was emitting was enough to throw anyone off. Gorlak's stolen horse was almost dead with exhaustion and could barely walk. 'Walkin' meself would prob'ly be faster' Gorlak sneered to himself. And that he did. He tried to tug on the horse's reins to make him follow, but he would not move anymore. Growing frustrated, Gorlak gave one final cruel yank to the reins, which resulted in a high pitched neigh from the exhausted horse. Gorlak threw the reins down in disgust and stalked off into the mist.
Gimli woke from his reverie and sat up so fast he experienced a brief moment of vertigo. Shaking his head to clear the effect, he strained his ears for the sound he had heard. But then again, did he actually hear it? Not wanting to wake Aragorn from his scarce rest, he quickly grabbed his axe and crept forward carefully, peering around the jagged rocks suspiciously. He saw him; a rather large orc was staggering and limping quite close to their hiding spot. Drawing in a quick breath, Gimli readied himself; there would be no time to alert Aragorn without gaining the attention of the stray enemy. The orc seemed to have thought the rocky outcropping Aragorn and Gimli had chosen was a haven as well because he continued to amble towards it. He was almost level with the tense dwarf and a few seconds later Gimli sprang. His senses were so clouded that Gorlak didn't even react when the burly figure pummeled him into the ground. It was soon over. The fiery haired dwarf began shouting about something, but Gorlak wasn't quite sure about what; what was an "Aragorn" anyways? He couldn't see anything else that was living for miles. His recovering mind was suddenly baffled once again as a random man sprang out of the rocks. 'How many o' 'em are there!' Gorlak thought with confusion. 'How 'em I gonna get outta dis?'
"What are you doing here?" the man ordered sternly as the dwarf continued sitting on him, unknowns to Gorlak that he had done the same earlier to his former second captain.
"Uh…uh I er…" Gorlak stumbled, trying to give his mind more time to clear and formulate a plan.
"Let me guess, you were out for a walk?" the dwarf said sarcastically. Gorlak didn't get it.
"I was jist travellin'! Can't I do what I want 'slong as I ain't doin' anything' wrong?" Gorlak argued.
"I've heard that before. Where are you coming from?" the man said.
"Jist from a business trip ta that castle, he jist wanted some o' the goods that me an' my gang have bin makin', tryin' to earn an honest livin'" Gorlak sneered, half truthfully. Aragorn froze.
"You mean the place by the end of the Isen River?" he asked coolly.
"Er yeah, tha's et" Gorlak replied uneasily, hoping it was a good choice. Gimli glanced at Aragorn shrewdly.
"I thought I heard a horse. Do you have a horse with you?" Gimli questioned tensely.
"Well yeah, how else was I sposed ta git back?" Gorlak grumbled.
"Is it nearby?" Aragorn asked casually.
"Yeah et should be back there… take et if yeh wan' I jist wanna go" Gorlak said.
"Alright. Gimli please release him and retrieve that horse" Aragorn decided. Gimli stared at him for a moment, but then did as he said.
'He has something up his sleeve' Gimli thought furtively, as he spotted the horse lying on the ground awkwardly and slowly headed towards it.
"You may go, but go straight back to where you came from" Aragorn ordered commandingly. Gorlak nodded, turned away and began to walk back. Aragorn reached for his short knife in its sheaf. Gorlak reached to scratch his left knee but instead pulled out a small, black throwing knife that was hidden in his boot. Aragorn carefully lifted his knife. Gorlak wasted no more time ad whipped around, throwing the knife with all he might across the short distance to the ranger. He paused to grin as his knife hit the man who was still holding his own raised knife and then turned and ran blindly. But he didn't go very far; the dwarf hadn't reached the horse yet and Gorlak had ran almost straight into him. The orc yelled in surprise, the dwarf yelled in rage and with the swish of an axe the whole matter was settled.
Gandalf strolled briskly through the avenues of the marred white city, parting the crowds with his presence. The gates had been reinforced and the offending orcs and Uruk-Hai had been finally exterminated. He was on his way to the late Denethor's residence, he had committed suicide just before the city had been breached and had also tried to take the life of his son. There was definitely something suspicious behind these actions; he hadn't cracked before when his city had been threatened by large forces of enemies. Gandalf finally reached the highest tower in the city, and blasted the heavily locked door open with his staff. Upon entering the chamber, Gandalf immediately furrow his bushy brows together; in the center of the room, set on a handsomely carved table was a palantir. Tearing the thick blanket off of the unmade bed, Gandalf threw is over the orb quickly, not touching it physically himself. When he had done so in the past, he had instantly bee connected to the Dark Lord, Sauron. Would he be watching now, or was there someone else that Denethor had been communicating with? He needed to know Denethor's motives, so gathering as much mental strength as he could, he lifted the cover. Firmly grasping the now swirling sphere with both hands, he gazed into its depths.
Saruman was back up in his private tower, the power of the palantir already reflecting in his glittering, black eyes. He was searching for the heir again, once more before he would go down and check on his prisoners personally. Swirling faces of countless numbers of men flashed before his eyes, but none of them were him; he could tell. The cunning wizard squinted his eyes in concentration, increasing the many wrinkles that surrounded them. He was getting closer, when all of a sudden something cut into his concentration like a hot knife, melting away all chance of finding him. Saruman started in anger, but kept contact on purpose; he wanting to find out who the intruder was. He jumped again in surprise as the face of the person on the other side was revealed. It was Gandalf, his old comrade. Saruman gritted his teeth in anger, the cool vision of malicious intelligence melting away. 'That old fool! How did he get a hold of one of the mighty seeing stones?' Saruman thought to himself, seething. 'Ah, Gandalf. What a pleasant surprise, old friend' Saruman hissed, mentally directing his thoughts towards the other stone.
'Indeed, I did not expect to find you here, or rather there. Still holed up in your "stronghold"?' Gandalf replied, through the palantir. Saruman replied with a nasty laugh.
'It's more than you will ever have, in this life or another. But it is what you chose, a derogatory life of ambling around trying to help worthless mortals. And what's more is that I will soon been coming into some new property, something to fit my taste. Something…much bigger. I think all of Middle Earth will suffice' he spat.
'Ah, ever the optimist, aren't you?' Gandalf replied. Saruman once again laughed.
'Oh no, I am much more of a realist; you see I have something that will help me quite a bit in my endeavor' Saruman said mysteriously. Gandalf paused.
'And what would that be?'
'Did you really think I would tell you?' Saruman sneered, 'But I'll tell you enough to know that the subject, or subjects in question are quite important to your little world'.
'Who is it Saruman' Gandalf cut in sharply.
'I don't know, but I think your precious heir of Gondor does! Yes, that's right, I remember now. I believe they're all on quite personal terms! But maybe he's still unaware of this recent event? I guess he was too focused on hiding his precious ring to care about the whereabouts of friends… well, now you can tell him where to find me if he decides to become less cruel and uncaring' Saruman finished airily. 'Goodbye, old friend'.
A/N: phew It's good to be back in the saddle, but it was a bumpy ride. Oh well, I think I'm back into the plot again! Oh by the way, the march of the Ents and the destruction of Orthanc never happened, if you haven't already figured that out. Because that would be kind of contradicting to the whole plot now, wouldn't it? Thanks for the continuos reviews again guys!
