The Road Goes Ever On And On

Disclaimer: I do not own.

Chapter Eight: What Nicholas Knows

Saruman sat, hidden in the woods, not far from the remains of the Ranger camp that Tithenwen had stayed in. He knew that she'd come back and when she did, she would bring others with her. Friends of her father, trusted, loyal friends. Aragorn was no idiot, but he would allow her to return. And she would be captured.Tithenwen was the only wrinkle in his plan for total rule over Middle-earth. Saruman had known for a long time that the only way to truly destroy him would be by the King of Gondor's heir. But there was no King of Gondor, and therefore, no heir. And even when Aragorn became King, there was no heir. Until he heard about Tithenwen. Tithenwen was the only one who could destroy him. She alone stood in his way.

But she would help him, unknowingly. When he had come across her, wounded, he had seized the opportunity to use her. A spell, similar to the one he had performed on Theoden, had been cast. Tithenwen was nowworking for him. He was inside her head, poisoning her thoughts, making her act, odd. By using her, he could get close to Aragorn, close enough to draw him away from Minas Tirith into a well-placed trap.

Tithenwen was a meddling brat and she would be dealt with as soon as her usefulness was outlived. And once Aragorn was out of the way, then Tithenwen would be killed. Two birds killed with one stone. His plan was soooo perfect! He pasted an evil smile on his face and let out a "Mwaaahaaahaaa!" as he rubbed his hands together in glee.

Middle-earth, would soon be his…

Tithenwen raced into the stable. She had to find Nicholas. And for that, she needed ES Brego's help. She quickly peeked in each stall as she went, searching for him before she found him. He was still tacked and seemed surprised to see her. But she didn't care. She quickly swung herself into her saddle, gathered her reins and was about to give Brego the signal to go, when Aragorn grabbed her reins.

She glared at him and opened her mouth to say something, but he spoke first.

"I'm coming with you, whether you like it or not."

"Me too!" piped up the blonde girl who entered the stable, Tithenwen's sword and dagger in hand.

"No, Becca, you must stay behind," Aragorn said to her.

"I've known her longer than you did. And she was like my sister. I'm coming along. I will not stay behind!" protested Becca.

"Argh!" cried Aragorn, relenting.

Becca smiled and began to search for a horse. And to her shock, she found her horse in a stall. At 16.2 hands high, Beauty was quite a tall horse. Big, black and a menace to anyone other than Becca, Beauty had been ES Brego's friend. Poor ES Brego was a lot shorter than Beauty but the two got along quite well, just as their owners did. Both horses were well suited to their owners.

Becca mounted up and then took hold of Tithenwen's reins. Aragorn raced to tack up his horse, Brego and then joined the two. And as they were about to leave, Mary and Faramir came running up along with Arwen in tow.

"Don't you dare leave without us! You may be King, but I can still beat the shit out of you!" called Mary from the ground.

Aragorn cringed at the sound of her voice but stopped. And he motioned for Becca and Tithenwen to wait too.

Mary smiled an insincere thank you as she and Faramir went to their horses while Arwen raced into the stable to speak with Aragorn. Breathless, Arwen rushed to his side. She was not going to be left behind. Not this time.

"Estel, I will ride with you!" she said, no questioning tone in her voice.

"Arwen, why?" asked Aragorn, confused and whiny.

"It matters not why. I just want to come. And there is someone watching the throne, so do not worry."

"Who?"

"Well it's just Legolas, Gimli, Merry, Pippin, Emily, and Jon," said Arwen quickly.

"Huh?" asked Aragorn, confused.

"Just some close friends…"

"Right…" said Aragorn, a suspicious look on his face.

Arwen then saddled her horse and swung up. At the same time, Mary and Faramir had also mounted their horses and were ready to leave. Aragorn pulled out a checklist to make sure they had everything, but stopped suddenly.

"This isn't the boy scouts, Aragorn. Can we just leave or should I remove your head for you?" said Mary sweetly, her sword at his neck.

Aragorn gulped. "Um, we can leave I think…"

"Good answer!" said Mary with a smile as she sheathed her sword.

Aragorn let out a sigh of relief and then Becca released Tithenwen's reins and Tithenwen took off at a gallop, Becca on her heels. Aragorn, Arwen, Mary and Faramir followed. And down and around and around the group went until finally, dizzy and tired, they reached the end of the levels and left Minas Tirith behind.

The ride to Tithenwen's camp was silent and uneventful. Well, if you don't count Mary being pissed off and using very colorful language. Poor Faramir looked really scared, while Aragorn and Arwen just ignored it, due to Aragorn being quite used to Tess's bad mouth and Arwen used to hearing Mary's mouth all over Minas Tirith when she visited. Becca cringed every so often and Tithenwen had a big smile on her face.

"What the hell is so funny?" questioned Mary, while in pissed off mood. She was glaring at Tithenwen.

"Oh, not much…"

"Sure…." Mary replied, shooting an evil glare towards Tithenwen, who made a face back.

Not too much later, the group of riders reached the outskirts of the camp and Tithenwen slowed down, a sad and pained look on her face as she saw all the dead bodies. Becca was shocked by the scene that lay in front of her. Aragorn closed his eyes and muttered something. Mary stopped swearing, her mouth hanging open in surprise and Faramir froze. Arwen bowed her head in respect to the dead.

Tithenwen swung off ES Brego, dropped her reins on the ground and began to search for Nicholas. She quickly glanced at the bodies, growing more upset each second. Finally she reached the remains of the campsite.

"Nicholas! Nicholas!" she cried, hoping that he was still alive. She checked each tent, looking for him. Then she saw blood trails leading to his tent. She quickly followed them and inside Nicholas's tent was Nicholas. He was still alive, but greatly wounded.

"Nicholas, what happened? Why is the camp destroyed? I remember a battle, but why was there a battle?"

"Tithenwen, Saruman sent them to kill you. We fought to protect you and the King. Saruman wants to rule Middle-earth. He wants Men destroyed…"

"Why?"

"So he can become what his master, Sauron, was unable to achieve."

"Why?"

"I told you why!"

"Why?"

"Tithenwen!" growled Nicholas.

"What?"

"Stop it! I'm dying, Tithenwen…"

"No you are not!"

"Tithenwen, the King must be warned…"

"The King is here, he came with me. I can go get him if you want…"

"Tithenwen, there is no time. He must be warned. Saruman, Saruman came back, searching for you. He tortured me for information. I didn't give any up."

"What did he want?"

"He wanted to know about you. He wants to find your weakness and your father's. He wants to kill you. I said he could never kill you. He laughed and said you would die but not before helping him…"

"I would never help him!"

"He said you were under a spell and would work for him. He said you would betray the King and lead to his death. I told him that you would never do that, would you?"

"I wouldn't. I swear I wouldn't…"

Saruman stepped into the tent, behind Tithenwen and drew a blade across her unprotected neck, but Tithenwen outwitted him. She heard the blade and ducked, his blade touching nothing but air. She jumped to the ground, stuck her leg out, tripped him and drew her sword. She held it right at his heart, and he froze on the ground.

"You wouldn't kill me, would you?" asked Saruman, his voice copying Aragorn's and Tithenwen stared at him and realized that he looked like Aragorn. She was convinced that he was Aragorn. So she sheathed her sword and helped him to the ground.

"Sorry, I thought you might have been Saruman," she said, apologizing.

"At least you were on your guard."

"Tithenwen!" said Nicholas, drawing her attention back to him.

"Oh, ada, this is Nicholas. He was the captain of our camp until it was destroyed," said Tithenwen, happily.

"Nice to meet you, Nicholas," said Saruman with a fake smile.

Nicholas fake smiled right back and then felt sudden sharp pain. He was about to die. He winced and Tithenwen noticed.

"What's wrong?"

"Tithenwen, I hope you stay safe, I really do. I wish I could help you, but I can't… I'm sorry Tithenwen…"

Tithenwen's eyes opened wide in horror as she realized that Nicholas was dying and saying good-bye. She went to his side, grabbing his hand.

"Fight it, Nicholas, fight it, Valar damn it all to Mordor and back again!" she cried out, tears falling.

"Tithenwen, I love you…"

"Nicholas! Come back!" she cried as Nicholas closed his eyes for good. She bit her lip and collapsed on the ground, crying.

Saruman smiled and whispered in her head, "This is only the beginning of the end… Many more will die. All because of you… Give it up and stop trying to run and hide. I will find you…"

Tithenwen stood up and whipped Anduril out. She looked around looking for someone that she could match the voice to. And the only in there was her father. No wait a minute, it wasn't her father. Her father wouldn't behave the way that this person had. No, Aragorn wouldn't have stood by and watch Nicholas die and let her cry. He would have tried to save Nicholas and comfort her. This was an imposter.

"Ada!" she cried. "Nana!"

"I'm here already…" said the imposter.

"Stay back! Stay back!" she ordered, Anduril pointed at him.

"Tithenwen, why are you acting this way? I'm not going to hurt you. I would never hurt you..."

"Get away or I'll kill you!"

"Would you? Would you really kill your own father?"

"You are not my father! You stupid, ugly bastard of a wizard!"

"What did you call me?" roared the imposter, changing.

"A bastard! You got a problem with that?"

"You bet!" roared Saruman, back in his original form, sword out.

Tithenwen blocked his sword and they fought. Parry, parry, attack. Attack, attack, block. Both were evenly matched until Saruman cheated and shot a burst of wizard fire at Tithenwen, knocking her down. He then knocked her blade out of her hand. Tithenwen reached back, pulled her dagger and stabbed the wizard in the foot, forcing him to bend down. Then she delivered a powerful kick to his head, knocking him down. Once he was down, she picked up Anduril and ran from the tent.

And she ran right into a Wild Man.

"Valar damn it all to Mordor and back again!" she cursed.

Author's Notes:

Sorry about the delay!

Reviewers!

Boromir's Curse - I hope that it is fixed soon! More chapters coming soon including chap 12!