Author's Note: Well here I am with my first story. First I'd like to say thank you for checking out Sindarin Fox. I also have to thank Tolkien for creating these wonderful characters and Middle Earth; and God to whom I owe my passion for writing. Before I send you off to read the Prologue, I would like to say that I would greatly appreciate reviews and encourage you to send them. However, I ask that flames be kept out of them. Advice and constructive criticism are welcome though. Eventually I may start taking flames but for now- humor me. Please. Alright, enough incessant rambling. (calls out to anonymous usher) Lights!

Sindarin Fox

By: Espree

Rating: PG-13

Genre: Action-Adventure/Supernatural

Feedback:

Spoilers: If you havent read or finished reading Tolkiens works, this may give some things away.

Disclaimer: Middle Earth and all recognizable characters, places, events, etc. belong to J.R.R. Tolkien and New Line Cinema. I have no permission to use them and no profit has been or ever will be made from this story. This story was written for enjoyment only. All original characters, places and situations are mine and please e-mail me for permission before using them in your own fanfics if ever you desire to do so. Thank you.

Summary: Faramir is captured while fighting a group of Haradrim that have snuck into Gondor. Legolas alone of all those fighting with Faramir witnesses the kidnapping and attempts to free himC only to disappear as well. Back in Minas Tirith, Aragorn, Gimli and the hobbits begin to search for them, but are forced to stop when an unknown enemy attacks with a force far different than anyone has ever faced. Who are these strange creatures who can disguise themselves as anything, person or animal? Who is their leader, who seems to know their every move yet is nowhere to be found? And what of the ghostly grey and red fox that follows them everywhere yet can never be caught? Is he the enemy they seek, or a pawn like them? And what does Legolas and Faramir's disappearance have to do with all of this?

Additional Disclaimer: I do not claim to be an expert on Tolkiens works, though my family seems to think otherwise, so forgive any omissions or serious errors. I try to correct them before posting. I am also for convenience purposes jumping on the bandwagon in pretending that Gilrean was killed with Arathorn and that Elrond was something of an adoptive father to Aragorn and Elladan and Elrohir were something of older brothers to our beloved ranger.

Prologue: Target Chosen

Across the plains a cold wind blows,
Defiant ever of winters last throes.
A whispered word,
A hoard of Wargs and crows.
A hidden maze,
Where dark magic stays.
Evil is welcomed here,
To fester in its treacherous ways.
An evil man,
A sinful plan.
Beware to those who fight for good,
When enemies guised roam the land,
And Darkness Spawn have dealt the cards in hand.
by Espree

Bright colors graced the evening sky as the sun slid ever closer to the horizon. The snow on the ground and in the trees was tainted orange where struck by the slowly fading light. March was well underway, and spring was taking over. The days were beginning to lengthen and the air while still crisp was losing its biting edge. The snow had not much longer to last before melting away forever until the winter storms came again. Birds were beginning to return from the southern climes were they dwelt during the cold months.

A lone sparrow flitted northwards. To merely glance at this bird would reveal nothing unusual. It seemed a simple sparrow. Yet this bird was so much more, as Bilbo Baggins once said of the thrush that had seen with him the Dragon Smaug's weakness.

Back and forth through the trees it darted, skillfully avoiding branch and leaf. A great roaring filled the air. Faint the sound was at first but increasing in volume as the bird flew on. Out of the trees it burst, and Rauros Falls loomed into view. Up the sparrow flew, over the North Stair and Amon Hen, and dove unhesitatingly into Parth Galen. The darkening forest was quiet, as if subdued.

Five miles the sparrow flew through the woods, not seeing another creature. Then abruptly it came upon what seemed to be a camp, if camp it could be called. Many birds there gathered, in that part of the forest, and Wargs and rats, and other creatures whose hearts had been swayed to darkness and evil. As the bird flew past them, some called out to it in either greeting or inquiry; or both. The sparrow heeded them not and instead kept on towards its goal.

In the eastern outskirts of the western side of Emyn Muil there was hidden a labyrinth of caves, well concealed and long forgotten. As the bird neared the hidden entrance, a crow called out. Inside the cave another answered, its cries becoming fainter as it retreated further within.

In a room near the center of the rock-hewn maze, a gaunt, skeletal-faced man sat at a desk, pouring over old books. The tomes were written in old runes, some so ancient that few still know how to read them. On shelves carved out of the walls stood more books, as well as jars and boxes that were filled with many things. Some contained herbs and plants, others items grimmer.

The man looked up at the crows calls. At hearing some of the cries getting closer, he leaned back against his chair expectantly, and waited.

The crow flew to the door. It was designed to look like the rest of the passage walls, and only one with sharp eyes would see it, unless they already knew it was there. With its beak the crow opened a small shutter, also camouflaged and similar to a dog door; except that it opened sideways rather than swinging like a flap. The bird entered and the shutter slid shut behind it. It landed on the desk and dipped its head in acknowledgement of its master.

"The sparrow Erd has returned," it croaked.

"Good. Now I shall learn what I need," the skeletal-faced man stood from his chair and turned to walk brusquely through the doorway and down the passage. The crow leapt from the desk and followed his master, overtaking him a moment later and flying on ahead of him to the labyrinths main entrance. The four large Wargs that guarded the entrance stood attentive and perfectly still as their lord passed by. The sparrow waited on a low branch in a tree a few meters from the cavern mouth. The skeletal-faced man stopped a few feet away from the branch and asked,

"What did you learn?"

The sparrow, one called Erd, bobbed his head as the crow had done. "The Lord Aragorn has many officials and advisors with whom he is well enough acquainted with by now. Yet none of them are a dear friend or confidant to him as you wanted to know."

He continued on with a confident air, which the skeletal-faced man took as a sign of success. "The Queen is too well guarded. It would strike Elessar too hard for us to toy with him. He will simply go into a frenzy and will come too swiftly. We will not have time to try to sway her. The members of the Fellowship would make ideal targets, though some are too far away to be worth going after. Gandalf we cannot corrupt. Aglarond we could not get into without detection and even if we did there is no getting out of there with Aragorns dwarven friend. The elf is the closest to Minas Tirith, and I believe Elessar was going to ask him for aid against the Haradrim. Yet we could not turn him against the king without using methods that might change him too drastically to escape notice."

"That is not entirely true," the skeletal-faced man interrupted. "However the elf of which you speak while close to Elessar would be of far more use as a spy or assassin. He would not be able to sway others of Gondors nobility to our cause, nor the soldiers. While enchanted by the elves some of them may be, it would seem too odd and too many would become suspicious. The same principal applies to the dwarf and the hobbits. Continue."

Erd obliged.

"The King of Rohan is close to Elessar, but obviously out of the question. The hobbits are visiting the city, but I do not think they would be any more successful than the elf. This leaves the Steward. Besides being in charge of Gondor in the absence of the king, he and Elessar are close friends, and the king trusts him undoubtedly. The army is as loyal to him as it is to the king, after fighting under his and his brothers command before the kings return; and the people love him. If we could sway him Elessar's defeat will be almost assured; for it will be easy for the Steward of Gondor to turn others to our cause, though they will know it not until it is too late."

The sparrow paused a moment and then spoke again. "The Haradrim as you said have provided us with an ideal situation to take the Steward and bring him here without much difficulty. The King has called him to Minas Tirith to plan a final assault to end the Haradrims campaign. As I said before the elf may be with him, but I am uncertain if 'tis certain. When Gondor's soldiers march out to meet the Haradrim, Faramir will lead them. I doubt the king will manage to get away from his duties to come with them, but if he does it will not be of much consequence. If we engage in the fight secretly and take out Faramir's guard while the fighting is thick it would let us take him and it will be long before any discover the truth of the matter, for they will think he is merely fighting elsewhere or has fallen.

Erdfell silent,his speech done. The skeletal-faced man narrowed his eyes and gave the small bird a hard look. "You certainly seem to have worked this whole thing out, havent you?" He said softly, with a calculating note in his voice. The sparrow, who had before puffed out with pride at his successful mission, now hunkered down in dread.

Perhaps he had said too much.

"Your usefulness keeps me from slaying you now, but do not think that I will tolerate my plans being laid out for me. Tread carefully bird, or I shall end you days of flight regardless of your uses."

Erd nodded, still cringing. The threat was vague, and one he had heard before, but he did not let that ease his fear of it. His master had learned long ago that letting a person's imagination supply the details was far worse then naming them himself; and more than once the sparrow had seen others dragged off to face the consequence of not heeding said threat. No one ever witnessed what was done to those unfortunates, yet everyone heard the screams. The four Warg guards remained attentive to their surroundings, and tried to appear as if not interested in the conversation taking place not very far from them. However they too had a haunted look in their eyes when they overheard their master's threat.

The skeletal-faced man turned away and strode forth a few paces, gazing out into the darkness that was quickly overtaking the forest.

"You are correct however." His voice drifted back to the Wargs, sparrow, and crow, the black bird having joined Erd in the tree. "Taking Faramir in the battle is an opportunity that we cannot ignore. Tomorrow morning go back to Minas Tirith, Erd. Spy on their council. I already know the Haradrim are camped outside Linhinenet. Follow them there, and learn as much as you can of where each company will be stationed, and what their plans are. I want to know as much as they. I will send others down to make sure nothing is missed. You will find me and those that I bring fifteen miles northeast. Report back five hours before they are to attack each other, all of you. Before you leave in the morning come to see me, Ill be in my study.

Erd bowed. "Yes my lord," he thenturned to leave.

"Oh, and Erd?" His master's voice stopped him from jumping off into the fast descending night. "Yes Master?" He questioned a tad fearfully.

"You talk too much for a spy. Relieve yourself of that pet habit, or you may find yourself my next test subject. I've been meaning to find a new one, and this time I need it to be alive."

"Yes my lord," the bird replied, and took off into the night.

"You may leave as well," he said to the crow. The large bird bowed, and flew back into the shadows of the cave network. The skeletal-faced man walked back towards the entrance to his home. As he stepped onto the threshold he snapped at the Warg guards.

"Get out of sight you fools. I will not have any unnecessary attention brought to this place because of your conspicuousness. You, I know, heard what I told the spy. I can apply the same to you."

The Wargs slunk off onto the trees, each going a different way; tails tucked between their legs and ears flattened in a sign of subservience. The Man turned and entered the labyrinth, a light burning in his hand at but a single-worded command that sounded like a strange dialect of the Black Speech. He returned to his study, and shut the door behind him, using the light to bring to life several candles on his desk. He then placed it in a large oil-filled basin that hung from the ceiling at a tall mans head height in the center of the room. The oil caught flame, and the rest of the room was illuminated.

He sat at his desk and picked up the book he had been reading when the crow had summoned him. He gazed at the ancient tome, flipping through the pages to the spell he had been studying and trying to learn for the past few months. It might come in handy in the near future. A malicious grin spread across his face.

"Soon, Elessar. Soon shall your kingdom and your people be mine, and then I and my followers will have a proper place to dwell and prosper, rather than hiding in some pathetic hole in the ground. Enjoy what you have while you can. It won't be yours much longer. Your friendships shall not avail you much either, for they can be taken care of. You will fall, and my time will come.

TBC

A/N

Oooohhhhh Creepy undead-type person corrupting cute little animals, Wargs excluded from that of course. (blanches at sight of angry Warg characters advancing towards her with bared teeth and excessive amount of slime coming from large mouths) Okay, okay. I take it back. (snorts in disgust) Wargs. I tell ya Melkor, Im not thrilled. (Melkor snickers at her from Void for lack of Warg control abilities) Anyway, soo not good for Faramir. Or anyone else who happens to be near him in the upcoming fistfight with trespassing neighbors. An update should be coming hopefully in a week. That is, if SOME people will leave me alone so I can type. (looks pointedly at family when she says that) Well, I'm not going to keep you from reviewing. Hint. Hint. (gives readers cute Puss in Boots patented kitten eyes, while sharpening Catwoman claws for more drastic approach if necessary) LOL. Chill, I don't bite.See the shiny halo on my head?(halo begins to tarnish) Oops. (hides halo and gives embarrassed chuckle) Just please remember to throw flames out the window, or maybe at hated distant relative, or maybe even at most hated LOTR villain (not mine please I need them. Later on I'll pass out life-sized hydrogen balloon blowup effigies of villains for you to throw flames at, then they'll REALLY blow up!), but not at me please! Thanks. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Well it's now I think 1:14 in the morning (my computer clock's kinda messed up). Gee, I didn't realize it was that late. Well, see you next post. TTFN. Ta Ta For Now. (looks sheepish) Sorry I couldn't resist.