First off: HAPPY HOBBIT DAY:) Yay, now I can start saying 'happy this' or 'happy that' because it's Frodo and Bilbo's birthday! Secondly: If you liked the riddles from the previous chapter then check out my website. I had actually written about 20 riddles and I did not use some so I'm going to make a page for them on my site. So happy reading, have a good weekend, and happy Hobbit day! Have you hugged a Hobbit today?

Chapter forty

For the love of the Valar…

After Fëanor and Gwen finished trying to beat each other in arm wrestling, the staff congregated at the beach with the campers. The campers were excited to begin the two weeks of competition even though they knew they would not win a volleyball match against Ulmo for instance.

After Kisha explained the rules of volleyball to the campers (and to the staff too) the game began. They decided they would split the campers up by dorms and then by floors and they would play against each other. After that the winning floor would represent the campers in the match against the staff.

So for the time being the staff lounged on the beach and watched the campers play volleyball against each other. Gwen and Morgoth sat next to each other on one of the beach towels and helped Lalaith build a tiny sand castle. Kisha found it cute and decided it was another chance for a photo opportunity.

The hours went by until it was around one in the afternoon. It was decided that the second floor of Mordor would be playing against the staff. Campers of this floor included Vesper, Sam, Kat, Tammy, and Gabrielle.

--

The breeze was gentle as the staff versus camper volleyball began. Vesper served the ball over the net and Gwen hit it to Tulkas who spiked it on the camper side. He gave Gwen a high-five afterwards.

"Now that's what I'm Tolkien about!"

Gwen laughed and rolled her eyes as she tossed the ball over to Aragorn. Gwen bent her knees in volleyball form and got ready.

"Alright Aragorn launch that sucker over and get us a point!"

Aragorn smiled and hit the ball over. From the side lines Kisha filmed the game and cheered for the staff members who had decided to play the game.

"Alright guys you can do it!"

Vesper jumped up and hit the ball over the net. Thuringwethil dove for it and hit it with the tip of her hand and crashed into the sand. The ball flew through the air and Gwen attempted to hit it but tripped over Thuringwethil and crashed into Ulmo. The ball was still in the air as Aragorn hit it. It flew over the net and Sam hit it back over. By this time Thuringwethil, Gwen, and Ulmo had gotten up and back into their positions.

The campers of second floor Mordor seemed to be really good at volleyball and the match seemed to last forever. The game was still in favour of the staff until an hour in when Vesper served the ball. Tulkas went to hit it but missed and ran into the net. He fell backwards into Gwen who was trying to recover and the two crashed to the ground. While the ball was still in the air, Thuringwethil dove at it and hit it but it did not go over. She crashed into Gwen and Tulkas. It then went over to Aragorn who hit it with all his might and the result was he fell backwards. Instead of going to the other side, however, Aragorn only hit it enough for it to go straight up in the air. From the ground Aragorn could watch the ball bearing down on him but he was not allowed to hit it a second time. Ulmo realised this and he dove for the ball. He completely missed it but instead landed squarely on Aragorn's chest. Everyone could hear him wheeze. The ball then hit the ground and the campers all let out a roar of excitement. Vesper gave a high-five to Sam and smiled brightly as the ball came back to the camper side and she readied herself to serve it again.

"Are you guys ready over there?" she asked with a smirk.

Aragorn was still on the ground but Ulmo had rolled off him and he also was still on the ground. Gwen had picked herself up and brushed herself off. Tulkas stood ready and Thuringwethil looked a little dazed.

"Well are we going to continue this game?" Vesper asked.

"Shut up. Next time you have a Valar land squarely on you and then tell me if it hurts…" Aragorn wheezed as he staggered to stand up.

"Do you want your sub now Aragorn?" Gwen asked.

Aragorn nodded as he walked off the court. Gil-Galad came in to take his place. Once Aragorn walked off the court he staggered over to the dining hall and got himself a sub. Once Ulmo calmed himself down Vesper served the ball. This time they did not have the same play take place. Ulmo quickly sent the ball back over with such speed that the campers could not get to it in time. Gwen gave Ulmo a high-five as a camper rolled the ball over to the staff. Ulmo picked it up and handed it to Gil-Galad.

"It's your serve."

Gil-Galad sent it streaming over and Kat hit it but not hard enough and it bounced off the net and scored a point for the staff. Gwen smiled brightly at Gil-Galad.

"Good job! Okay anyone who wants to go out now's the time! I want my sub!"

--

Two hours later the match was still going on. The score was seven for the campers and eight for the staff. The staff and campers changed up the players again and now Tim, Morgoth, Estë, Vana, Frodo, and Nimrodel decided to play for the staff and Vesper, Kash, Claire, Dennis, Ciarda, and Adrian for the campers.

Kisha never thought this game would go so long and she was now running out of room on the video recorder and the game appeared to not even be half way done. Kisha knew that the ones playing now were going to give a great game when Morgoth launched the ball over and Kash dove for it just barely making it over the net.

"Good job Kash," Dennis remarked sarcastically.

"Oh stop your bitching!"

--

An hour after that the game was still going strong with a score of fourteen-fourteen. Before the game began it was decided that they would go to fifteen without the 'two-over' rule. So now it was down to the final point and it was the campers serve. The staff would have to hit the ball hard enough and make it hit the ground on the campers side and then serve the ball themselves to win. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as Vesper jumped up and hit the ball as hard as she could. Estë watched as the ball came over and she dove at it and hit it. It flew through the air but it did not go over the net. Instead it went over to the left and Frodo hit it. It went straight in the air like it did when Aragorn hit it and Nimrodel dove at it. She had her back to the net and she launched it over the net from behind. Claire easily hit the ball back over to the staff side and Vana hit it back to the campers. This time Dennis hit the ball straight up and ducked out of the way for Vesper to spike it down. Tim and Morgoth both saw what was going to happen and after Morgoth gave a very loud roar they both dove at the net. Tim dove at the ball but instead of hitting it he ran straight into the net taking it with him as he crashed to the ground. Morgoth tripped over Tim's foot and crashed to the ground. Tim gave a very faint squeal as Morgoth crushed his rib cage and lugs. The ball hit the sand with a thud and the staff groaned as the campers jumped up and down in celebration.

"We won! We won!" screamed Vesper as she hugged her fellow teammates.

Gwen quickly ran over to Morgoth who was still on top of Tim. Tim seemed to be struggling for air and so Gwen picked Morgoth off of him.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

Tim nodded as he struggled to get up.

"I hate volleyball," he hissed.

"Oh go have some pizza."

"Will do."

--

The staff, after suffering their defeat at volleyball, retreated to the living room of Lammoth. Tim still felt breathless after being crushed by Morgoth and Aragorn still looked, and felt, sore after his encounter with Ulmo. Gwen stretched out on the couch and rested her head on Morgoth's shoulder.

"So what's next Kisha?"

"Well it's going to be a Tolkien Trivia competition so I doubt we'll lose this one," she replied.

Gwen nodded.

"We better not lose this. Did you make up the questions?"

Kisha shook her head.

"No, I used to go to this chat room on a website called All Things Lord of the Rings and there was always a Tolkien Trivia night every Friday or Saturday night run by some chick named Padfoot. I e-mailed her last week and she sent me a list of all her questions."

Gwen nodded.

"Cool."

--

The Great Hall was buzzing with activity. Kisha called in all the campers for the Tolkien Trivia contest and coming off of their volleyball win, they seemed excited and ready to begin the competition. The staff members also seemed excited as the questions that were going to be asked was a part of their history. Kisha stood at the head of the Great Hall.

"Okay everyone please quiet down! We're going to begin the Tolkien Trivia competition now! Here's how the game works. It is going to be staff against campers as per usual. Now I will read off each question and Namo has graciously volunteered to be my eyes when I am reading the question. He will let me know which side had a hand raised first. If they get it wrong then the other side gets a chance to answer. Is that clear? Now let's begin! I will read off random questions from any point in the history of Middle-earth. Any questions?"

The campers were smiling and the staff seemed ready to go but just before Kisha began reading off the first question a camper had his hand raised.

"Yes?" Kisha asked.

He put his hand down and smirked.

"I say we put a wager on this one."

A few other campers nodded in agreement and the staff echoed their sentiments. Kisha thought about it for a moment and then nodded.

"Okay what kind of wager?"

"If we win we want to control the camp for a day. We want to be the staff."

Kisha looked over at the staff and the look on their faces seemed to say 'go ahead'.

Kisha nodded.

"Okay then. And if we win we want to be waited on hand and foot for the day. We want you to make all our meals and so what we want."

The campers nodded and Kisha let out a smile.

"Okay then. Deal accepted. Now let's begin!"

The campers got ready to raise their hands first before the staff could. Kisha looked down at her papers and read off the first question.

"What is the name of the lair of the Necromancer?"

Sauron shot his hand up before anyone else could.

"That would be Dol Guldur."

Kisha nodded.

"Yup, one point for the staff."

Kisha marked it on her paper and searched for the next question.

"What gift did Ilúvatar give to men?"

Manwë's hand flew in the air.

"That would be death!"

Kisha nodded.

"Another point for the good guys…err…I mean another point for the staff. Good job."

--

The sun had dipped beneath the trees an hour ago yet the competition continued on. The campers did not want to give up and the staff decided that they would keep going until one group had one hundred points. At the moment the score was eighty-seven to sixty-three with the staff ahead.

"What was Fingon's war-cry beneath Ered Wethrin, in Quenya?"

The staff all turned to Fingon for him to give the answer. He shrugged.

"Valar should I know. I don't even remember my war-cry…"

The campers then heard a camper reciting it.

"Utúlie'n aurë! Aiya Eldalië ar Atanatári, utúlie'n aurë!"

Kisha nodded and sighed as she marked another one for the campers.

"And you are correct…"

"Huh…" Fingon mused. "I don't even remember saying that…"

Fëanor rolled his eyes.

"We better not lose this either!"

"Who forged the three elven rings?"

Celebrimbor raised his hand.

"That was totally me!"

Kisha rolled her eyes.

"Yes that was you. I'm glad you remembered."

She marked another point for the staff.

"What day was the Battle of the Pelennor fields?"

The staff sighed as none of them remembered the day but the campers did.

"That was March fifteenth!"

Kisha let out a sigh and marked another for the campers.

We better not lose this. She thought as she looked for another question.

"What is the name of Butterbur's hobbit helper?"

The staff looked at each other and nobody knew the answer. Though they heard it from the camper side.

"Nob!"

Kisha sighed again and marked another for the campers. Kisha found a question that she hoped would be easy for the staff to answer.

"Who is the Lord of the Rings?"

Sauron delayed a bit too long and the campers got to it first.

"That would be the Dark Lord Sauron!"

Sauron began sulking.

"Oh that sucks. I don't even get to answer my own question!"

Gwen patted him on the head.

"It's okay. I'm sure you'll answer the next one correctly."

"What year was Sauron taken prisoner in Numenor?"

Sauron's face went completely red as Ar-Pharazôn raised his hand.

"That would be 3262."

Kisha smiled and nodded.

"That is exactly correct."

"I hate this game…" mumbled Sauron.

--

Three hours later most of the staff sat hunched together in the darkness of the third floor living room of Lammoth. Outside the sound of campers laughing and other staff members screaming floated up to the third floor.

"I can't believe we lost…" Kisha whispered.

"Yes well it's all Sauron's fault," Fingon commented.

Sauron rolled his eyes.

"How was I supposed to know my named means The Abhorred? It's not like everyone went around calling me Abhorred all the time. No, they called me Sauron. Sorry if I don't pay attention to etymology alright?"

Kisha looked out the window and then quickly sat back down underneath it.

"Did you see anything?" Aragorn asked.

Kisha shook her head.

"It's too dark to see anything."

Just then the door handle started to jiggle. The staff in the living room gasped and began looking for a way out until the heard a familiar voice from the outside.

"Let me in!" Frodo exclaimed.

Legolas quickly unlocked the door and Frodo fell in. Legolas closed and locked it again. Frodo stood panting in the dark living room.

"What has happened out there?" Kisha asked.

Frodo then sat down.

"Tim the Witch-King has allied himself with them. Morgoth and Gwen have been captured and I have no idea what's happened to them. The rest of the staff has been scattered across the camp. Maedhros has been tied against Mordor with his other wrist. I think that was Tim's idea. That's about all I know."

Kisha let out a dark sigh.

"You know, I knew making the bet with the campers was a bad idea! But no, I thought, the staff, who bloody lived in Arda, should know a thing or two about where they come from! I guess that was a mistake assuming that you guys would know about your own history!"

"You do know what happens when you assume something," Aragorn stated.

Kisha rolled her eyes.

"Shut up Elfstone."

"So what do you suggest we do?" Frodo asked.

Kisha shrugged.

"I don't know. Maybe we should just wait it out. I mean they only get the camp for a day. Which means we get back control at around midnight tomorrow night."

"That's too long," Aragorn said. "Especially for Maedhros."

Kisha nodded.

"Yes I know."

"So then we should attack!" Boromir said.

"Just don't kill the campers okay? I don't need that on my record."

"Can we knock them out at least?" Boromir asked.

Kisha shrugged.

"Oh I don't care."

"So we can kill them?"

"NO!"

--

"Ow! Stop hitting me damnit! I am not a piñata! Candy is not going to fall out of my pockets if you keep hitting me damnit!" Morgoth screamed as another camper hit him with a very large tree branch. He had been hanging upside down from a tree for the past two hours. One the campers had won the Tolkien Trivia contest, they seemed to turn into wild animals and tried to capture all the staff members. He and Gwen had been hiding in the garage when Tim had come in looking to hide too. He then left to find a better spot and came back with a bunch of campers. The campers captured the two of them and had led them off in separate directions. He did not know where Gwen was but he did watch Maedhros get chained by the wrist against Mordor. He was in talking distance from Maedhros so he had asked him if that hurt. Maedhros responded by letting out a string of swear words he had learned here at camp.

So now a few hours had gone by and Morgoth was still upside down in the tree. The campers continued to hit him with sticks. Morgoth was sure he had a broken bone somewhere but everywhere hurt equally so it didn't matter. He tried to get out of the tree but cursed himself when he realised he could not.

I shouldn't have had that many moon pies…

"Damnit knock it off! What do you want from me damnit?"

The campers stopped hitting him with the sticks and Tim stepped forward.

"What do you want Tim?"

Tim strode up to the tree.

"You know what I want. I want to be the top Dark Lord. I am sick of being the mere Nazgul of Sauron."

Morgoth thought over his words.

"So…in an attempt to be the top Dark Lord you're having teenage campers beat me up with sticks? Real original. Oh, you stole the Maedhros thing from me so that's going to cost you. By the way, where's Gwen?"

Tim rolled his eyes.

"You don't understand the predicament you're in now do you?"

Morgoth shrugged.

"Not really. Well I do understand that I'm hanging upside down in a tree talking to a Nazgul…"

Tim punched him.

"I am not just a mere Nazgul!"

"You didn't have to punch me. You could have just told me."

"Yes but then it wouldn't have been fun now would it?"

Morgoth rolled his eyes.

"Okay so are you going to explain the predicament I'm in or not?"

"So you want to know?"

"Yes! Now bloody tell me already!"

Tim laughed.

"I don't have to take orders from you."

"Will you just tell me already?"

Tim began pacing back and forth.

"Yes I will. Now I have all the campers under my control and they have found all the staff. Even the ones hiding in the third floor of Lammoth. I used my lovely stab would I gave Frodo to turn him into one of my puppets. Now I only want one thing, for you to give up your role as the top Dark Lord. I want that title."

"You do know it would go to Sauron next and then you right?"

Tim smirked.

"Oh I know."

Morgoth furled his eyebrows as Tim turned around and beckoned some of the campers to come forward. With them they had Sauron.

"Let me go damnit! Tim what has gotten into you?"

Tim smirked again.

"I'm going to do something I've wanted to do for a very long time!" he exclaimed.

The campers brought the kicking and screaming Sauron in front of Tim.

"Tim! I demand you let me go this instant! You do know the Valar won't be very happy and that you'll get a very long talk with them after this right?"

Tim smirked and shrugged.

"If I get my way there won't be any Valar to deal with."

Tim brandished a knife and it was then when Morgoth realised what Tim was going to do.

"It's not going to work you know," he exclaimed.

Tim shrugged.

"That's not the point. This is something I've wanted to do for a long time."

Sauron had still not caught on which seemed kind of odd, as Morgoth had always been the slow one. Morgoth looked around and kept silently hoping the Valar would suddenly show up.

"Where are the Valar?" Morgoth asked.

Tim shrugged.

"Don't know. Don't care. Now shut up alright?"

And with that Tim quickly turned around and plunged his knife deep into Sauron's chest before he knew what had happened. When Tim removed the knife he sagged to his knees. Tim smirked as he clipped his windpipe. Sauron's eyes, still full of confusion, lost their colour as he dropped to the ground face down. Tim began laughing and then kicked him in the side.

"You know how long I've been waiting to do that? Now, would you like me to do the same thing to you or are you going to give up the title?"

Morgoth rolled his eyes.

"You do know you didn't kill Sauron right? He's lost his body many times. He'll come back in spirit form in a few hours and start bitching you out."

Tim nodded.

"Oh I know, but just doing that to him felt good. I'll do the same to you!"

Morgoth shrugged. His eyes wandered down to the knife and then back up to Tim.

"Whatever, if you do it to me the same thing will happen."

Tim smirked again.

"That's why I have a plan B."

He clapped his hands and from the second floor of Numenor Gwen appeared in one of the windows being held captive by some of the Nazgul.

"Morgoth! What the bloody hell is going on?" Gwen roared down.

Morgoth looked back at Tim.

"You son of a bitch…"

Tim grinned.

"Then give me the title. Yes Sauron can come back but she can't."

"You can't just take the title you have to earn it."

Tim clapped his hands again and one of the Nazgul put a knife up to Gwen's throat.

"Oh I think I've earned it. After all the years under the idiot Sauron? Yes he always was smarter then you but I was always smarter then him."

"You do know this is going nowhere right? I mean what if I do give and you become the new best dark lord or whatever. What is that going to give you? The Valar are sure going to have a fun talk with you after this. Kisha probably will too seeing as this is the final two weeks of camp and all."

With that the Valar appeared looking rather peeved. They had been looking for the rest of the staff and had gathered the campers into the Great Hall and told them to stay there. Morgoth looked over at Manwë and smiled.

"It's about time you showed up bro! He disembodied Sauron!"

Tim looked over at the Valar and realised he had made a big mistake. He dropped the knife.

"I think I made a mistake," Tim mumbled.

Manwë nodded.

"Oh I think that too."

Tulkas grabbed him by the neck and the host of the Valar led Tim off. The other Nazgul let Gwen go and Gwen ran down the stairs to Morgoth. She undid the ropes and he fell from the tree and landed on his neck.

"Ow!"

"Are you alright?"

Morgoth nodded his head.

"A lot better then Sauron at least."

Gwen looked down at Sauron and she knelt next to him. She rolled him over and saw all the blood.

"Oh Ilúvatar," she mumbled.

"He'll be alright. He'll be back in a few hours in spirit form. Then he'll start making a new body and all," Morgoth said.

Gwen looked up and saw Kisha running towards them. She stopped when she saw Sauron.

"Oh my Ilúvatar. What happened?"

"Tim went insane I suspect. I think we better bury Sauron before he starts decaying."

Kisha looked down at Sauron and frowned.

"Is he really dead?"

Morgoth shook his head.

"No his spirit will wander around for a bit but he'll make a new body."

Kisha felt like puking, as she looked at all the blood.

"I think I'm going to be sick," she muttered.

Morgoth shrugged.

"All right, Gwen you want to grab his arms? We have to put him somewhere else. If the campers see this they might freak out."

Gwen looked at Sauron and then at Morgoth.

"You're acting as if you don't even care."

"It's just Sauron. Besides, he'll make a new body. He did that after Numenor fell so there's nothing to be sad about."

They then heard some rustling above them. Morgoth looked up.

"Hey! Are you going to get me down from here or what?" Maedhros yelled.

--

"Today we bury Sauron underneath the Glingal tree here at Camp Glingal. I don't really have anything nice to say about Sauron except that he made a very pretty ring. We're mainly burying him because if we don't then we'll get more problems then we need," Morgoth said.

Morgoth, Oromë, Tulkas, and Manwë had all pitched in and dug a grave next to the Glingal tree for them to bury Sauron and now all the staff, minus Tim who was at the moment tied tightly with chains in his bedroom. Morgoth stood next to the newly covered grave and the staff gathered around it. The campers, who had wanted to know what was going on, was left in the Great Hall because Kisha thought it would be best if the campers did not know about what had just happened.

"Does anyone else want to say anything about Sauron?" Morgoth asked.

The staff looked back and forth at each other and shrugged.

"Oh come on guys! This is the worst funeral ever!" Sauron exclaimed from somewhere in the wind.

The staff turned to find where he was but could not see him.

"I'm near the tree morons."

They looked at the tree but could not see him.

"I'm still invisible okay? I was only disembodied a few hours ago!"

"This is what? The forth time?" Manwë asked.

"Shut up the third time was not my fault," Sauron protested.

"Do you like being disembodied?" Pippin asked.

"Oh of course I do. I love being invisible and able to float around. It's more fun then watching paint dry. Of course I don't like it! Why would you ask such a stupid question? Now, about getting my body back, which I would like to do in the next day or so. May I please have my ring of power?"

Manwë shook his head.

"I don't think that would be a very good idea."

They heard Sauron sigh.

"Please? After I get my body back I'll give the ring back to Frodo all right?"

Kisha thought about the situation for a moment. On one hand she thought it would be dangerous to let Sauron have his one true ring of power back but on the other hand he would probably pester everyone until he did get it and she didn't think the campers would like a disembodied Maia spirit floating around and yelling obscenities at everyone.

"Oh just give him back the ring," she said finally.

Everyone turned to look at her like she had lost her mind.

"No, I'm serious. Just give him back his ring so he can get a body again okay? I just don't think it's safe to have a disembodied spirit floating around camp."

Frodo hesitated and looked over at Manwë. Manwë nodded.

"Kisha's right. If Sauron tries anything afterwards then we can just tackle him."

"You talk as if I'm not here!" Sauron exclaimed.

"Oh hush up!" Morgoth commanded.

Morgoth then felt suddenly extremely cold. He shuddered as he realised Sauron flew though him.

"Don't do that!"

"Do what?" Sauron asked as he floated through Morgoth again.

"Argh! Just give him back the ring!" Morgoth roared.

"Umm, Sauron? Where exactly are you?" Frodo asked.

"I'm right in front of you," he said in a creepy voice not an inch from Frodo's ear. Frodo let out a shriek and nearly jumped out of his hobbit skin. Sauron let out a big laugh and watched as Frodo, who had been holding the ring, threw it in the air after Sauron scared him. Sauron's ghostly form caught the ring and there was a big blast of light. The staff covered their faces with their hands to shield themselves from the light. When the light vanished they looked back and saw a figure standing where Sauron's ghostly from had been seconds earlier. This new figure looked almost exactly as he did before except his skin was now flawless as it had not yet been damaged through injury. He also didn't have any clothes on. Gwen covered her mouth with her fingers and repressed a giggle. Sauron furled his eyebrows.

"What?" he asked.

"Don't you feel a draft?" Morgoth asked.

Sauron looked down and shrugged.

"Meh, I'm perfectly proportioned so I don't care."

"So is it supposed to be that small or is it just really cold out here?" Lúthien asked.

This time Sauron's face turned crimson. Manwë took off his shirt and threw it at Sauron.

"Put this around your waist please and head to Lammoth to change."

Sauron tied the shirt around his waist and headed off towards Lammoth. It was then that the staff erupted in laughter.

"STOP LAUGHING AT ME!" Sauron roared.