ADAMANT

By Celebsul, ErinRua, and Sevilodorf

Being the Third Part of the Stones Trilogy

Prologue

Mid-September, 1422 SR - Northern Ithilien

Russ sat alone on the porch of the lodge, smoking a pipe and looking out over the moonlit marsh. The nights grew steadily colder now and the days shorter. It would not be long before autumn faded away and the winds of winter swept over Middle-earth. Other things were coming also, things Russ preferred not to think about, but come they would all the same. Brief as that passing thought was, it soured his mood.

"Let them, then," he muttered and said no more.

His mind, though, would not be silent. Soon the Ranger, Halbarad, would come looking for him and Nik. Russ growled, a bearish sound inherent to his nature that rumbled deep in his chest. Broodingly he pondered the creature asleep within his hall; an undersized Uruk-hai whom he had rescued like a pitiable piece of storm-wrack many months past. What he did not expect was the unlikely friendship that grew between them, or the primitive yet earnest nobility that Nik struggled to embrace - to his own peril.

Russ recalled the terrible events of January, and how, with what seemed a foolhardy gesture, the little uruk had agreed to take part in some future façade of justice. He thought the idea a bad one at the time and the passing of the months had not softened his view one bit. Why must Nik be dragged all the way to Henneth Annûn and be put on display like some wild beast? What was he accused of? Murder? Nik had been attacked and taken against his will, imprisoned, beaten and would have been killed had those responsible been allowed to have their way.

Not only Nik, but a woman of Rohan as well: Sevilodorf became hostage also, when that meddlesome nobleman, Darien, brought his orc hunters to Ithilien. Sev sometimes traded with the tiny band of local orcs who eked a meagre peace in the wilds. The exchange involved mainly tonics and herbal remedies for the semi-precious stones the orcs chiselled from the foothills. Lord Darien saw this as the perfect lead towards tracking the orcs down. When Sev refused coercion, the hunters resorted to kidnapping. It remained but a short step for one man to leap into a killing rage. Were it not for Nik's actions, Sev and Nik both would likely have been slain. And for saving her life, Nik stood accused of murder.

Murder. If those were the conditions by which one could be charged with such a crime, then who was innocent? Certainly not Russ, for he had taken the life of a man at that time as well, and with far less provocation. Was he accused? Of course not, he was a man. But Nik was not; therein lay the problem. Uruk-hai were among the most despised of all the creatures of Middle-earth and not without reason. They were, for the most part, a vicious, violent race. A race created for a single purpose: the utter destruction of the world of men and elves. They had been the soldiers of Isengard, the hammer of Saruman and they were rightly reviled.

But with the fall of Mordor and Orthanc things changed. The power of the Dark Lord and his servant ended and the uruks and the orcs no longer toiled under the control of their masters. Most who survived remained as little more than beasts, driven by their own savage instincts. But a very few sought to find their own path in the world, having avoided the frenzy of hate that washed over the land in the days after the war: days during which men hunted most of their kind to the brink of extinction. Nik was one of those. And now, despite all that he survived, despite displaying the kind of selfless honour that most men, especially those who hunted him, only talk about, Nik was to be brought before and judged by these same people. How was that justice?

"Stewards and Kings and Captains and judges - confound them all!" Russ the Beorning bellowed into the night.

If he were allowed to have his way, there would be no trial, no 'justice'. As far as he was concerned, justice was served with the death of the killer, Grady. But Russ did not have his way. Instead, Nik spoke up and took an oath to present himself before the Steward.

An oath.

Nik had sworn an oath.

Shaking his head, Russ thought that an unbelievable mistake. Nik failed to understand the full implications of what he had done. The Beorning knew this as soon as Nik spoke the words. But mistake or not, an oath is an oath and it must be fulfilled. Russ sighed. He would have to take Nik to the Steward; there was no getting around it. And even though every ounce of common sense in his enormous body told him that this was a mistake, he had no choice in the matter; Nik had made the choice for him.

Russ found no relief in the news that the King had granted legal rights to all 'people' who sought to live in peace, including the likes of Nik. Beornings needed no such laws; they were an authority in their own right. Natural justice served their purpose far better than the complex, drawn-out legalities of state officialdom. As far as Russ could see, the amended law made not a jot of difference to Nik's situation. The irony was that had it been passed months earlier, it would be the uruk's attackers having to answer for their actions, rather than the other way around.

Scratching his beard in irritation, Russ inspected his moonlit farm. Much had been accomplished in the time they resided here. A barn and house raised, crops planted and harvested, the winter wheat already sown. Now, after all the year's labour, they should be enjoying its fruits. Now, while the weather remained mild, was a time for singing and laughing, for midnight strolls, for smoking and telling tales late into the night. Such things were their just reward for long months of hard work. But because of one man's selfishness and one Uruk-hai's honour, it looked as though these pleasures might not come to pass.

Going into the house, Russ scribbled a note on a piece of paper and called his dogs, Quick and Dasher. Quick took the note gingerly in his mouth while the Beorning gave them instructions.

"Take this to The Burping Troll," he told them. "If they are sleeping, leave it by the door."

The dogs nodded their understanding and trotted off into the night.

Done - at least he had set his own time scales. Let Halbarad put the slow wheels of 'justice' in motion. Russ and Nik would appear at the end of October to take their part in the charade - a trip to Henneth Annûn and a hopefully short hearing. Then, perhaps, they could put this matter to rest once and for all. But what form that would take was anybody's guess.

xxx

TBC ...