Allo everyone! This might be the last chapter for the week as I have not got chapter 45 started yet...so enjoy and have a good day!
Chapter forty-four
Drums in the deep
"Okay so I am going to read over what we have written down," Nate began. He put the first page of notes in front of him and began reading it.
"The first victim was Legolas and this was realised at around eight this morning. Eönwë came into the dining hall and told Kisha something bad had happened. The next two victims were Tim and Saruman and they were shot down when they were making their way over here. Now, we can not figure out a motive for the death of Legolas but we do now that the murder must be known by Tim and Saruman as they would not have been shot down in the Great Lawn on the way here. The killer must be someone good at archery and could have possibly had a vendetta against Legolas in the first place. Eönwë is prime suspect because he was the only staff member missing from breakfast besides Legolas. Eönwë is also skilled in arms. So, that's what we have right now."
The others in the room nodded in confirmation of what had been written down.
"So, the question is, what do we do now?" Kat asked.
"Let's go investigate Lammoth," offered Chrisy.
Kash shook his head.
"You can but I'll just stay right here thank you. I rather not get killed…"
From inside the game room the group heard a shrill scream coming from outside. They rushed to the window and saw Arwen on her knees with two arrows in her back. They watched Aragorn run outside to save his beloved but he too was cut down by arrows coming from the third floor of Lammoth.
"Oh my God!" screamed Sam.
"We've got to do something!" exclaimed Nate. He jumped up and threw the papers on the ground.
"But what can we do?" Claire asked.
"We've got to get inside Lammoth," Nate replied.
"But how?"
Nate looked out the window. If they snuck out from Mordor in the back they could use the woods as cover and then silently slip around to Lammoth from behind and sneak inside.
That could work…
He turned to the other campers.
"Okay here's the plan. We'll sneak out of Mordor from behind and use the woods as our cover. We should be able to stay in the woods until we get directly behind Lammoth. Then we sneak in through a window and head up to the third floor…"
Vesper's eyes then narrowed in thought.
"Something is not adding up. The staff should realise that the killer is in Lammoth. So why don't they go up to the third floor and stop this madman?"
The group pondered it for a moment.
"Maybe they're being held hostage and the ones who attempt escape get shot?" offered Claire.
Nate nodded.
"That could be very likely…"
Nate walked to the back windows of Mordor.
"Come on," he beckoned. "We got work to do."
--
The group snuck through the back woods. They could see the camp to their left and for a while the water was to their right. They were behind the Great Hall when they heard a voice on the Great Lawn.
"HELP! THEY'RE HOLDING US HOSTAGE! YOU'RE THE ONLY ONES WHO CAN DO ANYTHING!" Amarië shrieked before an arrow brought her down.
Nate sighed from behind the Great Hall.
"So it's true then. Well come on let's do something."
--
Gwen tossed a bouncy ball in the air and caught it. Morgoth reread the same National Geographic over and over again and Kisha checked her e-mail.
"So, how many dead so far?" she asked.
Gwen looked out the window and counted.
"Well there are five outside and one inside. So six at the moment," Gwen replied.
"I wonder if any of the campers are going to attempt anything," Kisha thought.
Morgoth groaned.
"I am so bored!" he shouted.
Gwen rolled her eyes.
"Fine. Do you want to go outside and get shot with the arrow then? We'll up the count to seven."
Morgoth sighed.
"Fine, but do you want to go with me then? It'll be fun. We'll pretend to try and fight off the arrows and then you'll collapse first and I'll totally freak out and like let the killer shot me with arrows because I'll be so full of grief."
Gwen laughed.
"Nice one," she replied.
Kisha checked her watch. It read a little after eleven.
"Either hunger or the feeling of duty will get at least four or five campers over here in attempts to stop the killer."
Morgoth stood up.
"So do you want to go play?"
Gwen shrugged and put down her bouncy ball.
"Okay."
--
The group was between the dining hall and arts and crafts building when they saw Morgoth and Gwen run outside. They stopped and watched the event play out. They saw the arrows fly through the air but Morgoth hit them with his sword. Then Gwen got hit in the chest and she dropped to her knees. Morgoth cried out in grief and dropped next to her and held her in his arms. A few more arrows flew through the air and hit him in the back. Kat turned her head and wiped the tears from her eyes. Her friend Chrisy gave her a hug.
"Maybe they're not really dead," Chrisy said.
"We can only hope," Kat replied.
"Come on, we cannot linger. We have to get inside Lammoth before any more die."
--
They reached the backside of Lammoth and Nate tried to open the back door. It was locked so they then tried a window. It opened and Nate helped get the campers inside the room. When they all were inside they realised this must be one of the staff dorms. When they saw the Blind Guardian CD's on one of the dressers and the crown of Morgoth on the bed they realised this must be Gwen, Morgoth, and Sauron's room. Kat almost started crying again but the group moved on and exited the room. They quickly ran down the hallway and found the stairs to the second floor.
--
Kisha turned the page in her magazine.
"The campers are inside," she said and then checked her watch. It read eleven-thirty.
"They're earlier then I expected."
--
They reached the second floor and the door was unlocked. They quickly went down the hallway and found the stairs that led to the third floor. This door, on the other hand, was locked. Nate looked around for something heavy. Dennis then had a bright idea.
"I'm a football player. How about I try busting the door open?"
Nate shrugged.
"Okay give it a go."
The campers backed away from the door and Dennis readied himself. He took a big, deep breath and then charged the door.
--
Now while the staff 'waited' to be rescued, and the small band that actually tried to do something broke into Lammoth, the two dorms sent messages back and forth discussing if they should do something. Around the same time Gwen and Morgoth were killed on the Great Lawn they came to the conclusion that, yes, they should do something. They all searched their respective floors of the dorms for anything that could be used as a weapon or a shield. One of the campers had a bright idea to use the shelves of the dressers as a shield. This news passed around and pretty soon everyone was armed with brooms and mops from the closets as swords and dresser shelves as shields. They left the dorm room and prepared their attack. One camper began calling them the 'last alliance of Numenor and Mordor'. They lined themselves up on the Great Lawn but took care to stay away from the dead bodies of staff members that were on the lawn. A few began to cry when they saw Aragorn, Arwen, and Gwen. Two campers by the names of Hansi and Eddie took charge of the campers. Hansi was the leader of Mordor and Eddie was the leader of Numenor.
From inside Lammoth Kisha caught sight of the campers and let out a whole-hearted laugh. She ran down the hall and poked her head in her room. Manwë was sitting on his bed reading a book and Namo was playing solitaire on the floor.
"You guys gotta look outside!" she exclaimed.
Manwë jumped out of bed and looked outside.
"Well what do you know, the campers decided to actually do something," he mused.
Kisha nodded.
"I guess so."
From far above them they heard a loud bang and then one of sharp pain. Kisha raised her eyebrows and remembered the campers she heard break into Lammoth.
"Oh crap!" she swore as she ran from the room.
--
Dennis broke down the door and the group rushed in. They heard a 'what the hell?' coming from down the hall so they ran towards the sound. Nate was the first to see Fëanor sitting in one of the rooms overlooking the Great Lawn. In his hands he held a bow and next to him sat a quiver. Fëanor looked over at them then back at the Great Lawn and saw the camper army. Before he had time to tell the campers that it had all been a game, Nate tackled Fëanor to the ground and everyone heard a sickly crunch. Fëanor screamed in pain when he hit the ground.
"Serves you right for killing some of the staff!" Nate screamed.
It was then that Kisha ran into the room. Her eyes went wide.
Why does everything like this end this way?
"Nate! Get off him!" Kisha shouted.
Nate looked over and saw Kisha standing in the doorway.
"But Miss. Day, I captured the killer!" Nate protested.
Kisha nodded and looked over at Fëanor. His face contorted in pain under the weight of Nate. Kisha then heard the sound of campers charging Lammoth.
"KISHA! THEY'RE ATTACKING LAMMOTH AND I DON'T KNOW WHY!" Manwë shouted up the stairs.
Kisha quickly ran to the window and looked outside. The campers were indeed attacking the dorm.
"STOP!" Kisha roared out the window.
The campers didn't hear her above their shouting. From the ground Morgoth, Gwen, and the others got up to avoid being trampled by the campers. The ones with arrows still in them quickly removed them. None of the campers had noticed that they were actually held on with suction cups and a lot of fake blood. Morgoth could faintly hear Kisha yell 'stop' from the third floor and so he took it upon himself to make the campers stop.
"ALL RIGHT DAMNIT EVERYONE SHUT UP OR YOU'LL BE FIGHTING AGAINST SAURON AND I AND IT WON'T END WELL!" Morgoth roared above the crowd.
It wasn't his roar that stopped the campers, but the fact that they could see the see the staff they thought was dead. The battle promptly ended and Kisha let out a sigh of relief.
"Okay well that did not end like I think it would. This was a game called 'would you survive in Middle-earth' and from the looks of it, I don't know. It took you long enough to get together and try and fight the 'killer' in Lammoth. There's a group of about ten campers up here who actually stopped the killer, who is actually Fëanor. None of the staff have been hurt or killed and before you ask, no, Legolas is not dead but is fine and is watching TV in the living room at the moment."
A few campers let out a moan of disappointment, as they were ready to fight. Kisha realised this.
"Since you already looked ready to fight I guess you can have a mock battle on the front lawn. Numenor against Mordor okay? Have fun and don't kill each other."
Kisha turned her head from the window and could hear the shouts of campers as they began their fight against each other led by Hansi and Eddie. Kisha now turned her attention to Fëanor who was still on the ground. Nate had gotten off him but the elf still had not summoned enough strength to get off the ground.
"My arm's broken I hope you know," Fëanor said glaring at Kisha.
She shrugged.
"Okay, well let's get you a sling and we'll take care of that in the infirmary."
Fëanor swore under his breath.
"I hate this place…"
--
Gwen's head was on Morgoth's shoulder as the two sat on the porch of Lammoth. They were watching the battle of camper versus camper on the Great Lawn. It was now two in the afternoon and both sides were still fighting strong.
"This is so romantic," Gwen whispered.
Morgoth smirked.
"Yes it is."
Aragorn rolled his eyes and Arwen snuggled up closer to him.
"If you call this romantic then there's something wrong with your head," he said.
The two turned to look at him with a 'hello?' type look. Aragorn then nodded.
"Right…Lord of Angband and his girlfriend…makes sense…so is this the first date then?"
Gwen shrugged.
"Sure," she replied leaning in and giving him a kiss.
It was then that Fëanor walked onto the porch with his arm in a sling. He saw the two kissing and he gagged.
"That is so gross," he said.
Gwen rolled her eyes.
"It is not. You're just jealous."
Fëanor found a chair and sat down. He shuddered.
"Yeah right, jealous, that's totally me right now."
Gwen stuck her tongue out at him and gave Morgoth another kiss. Fëanor made a retching sound and Aragorn smacked him. Fëanor winced.
"What was that for?"
Aragorn shrugged.
"I don't know. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time."
Fëanor then settled in and watched the battle on the Great Lawn.
"Some of these kids are pretty good. I could have used them in my fight against Morgoth…" Fëanor mused.
Morgoth turned around and glared at him.
"I would have smote them!"
Fëanor crossed his eyes.
"Is smote even a word?"
Gwen shrugged.
"I think it's the past tense of smite."
--
It was nearing dinnertime at Camp Glingal and the twilight star had drifted into the sky. Eärendil made a crack about how that used to be him. Manwë rolled his eyes but said nothing. The campers were still going strong on the Great Lawn though it looked like Mordor had the upper hand. Most of Numenor had been captured and sent to the 'dungeons' in Mordor.
The staff watched the battle from the porch. Manwë had his legs up on a hassock and was reading the paper when Tulkas poked him in the shoulder. Manwë sighed and lowered his paper.
"What?"
"Do you think we should go aid the Numenor side? I mean we can't let Mordor win."
Manwë shrugged but nodded and stood up. He had nothing else better to do so why not? But with this Morgoth also stood up.
"Yeah well Sauron and I are going to aid Mordor!"
Sauron looked up at him from his Seventeen magazine.
"We are?"
Morgoth nodded.
"We are."
Gwen jumped up.
"I'll aid Mordor too!"
Manwë sighed and pointed a finger at Gwen.
"You're definitely going to the void when you die."
Gwen shrugged and hugged Morgoth.
"At least I'll be with him."
Kisha finished picking the gunk from under her fingernails.
"So, are you guys going out there or what?"
Morgoth nodded and so did Manwë.
"I know we've gotten all brotherly in the past few days but you're so going down," Manwë said.
Morgoth smirked.
"I don't think so…kiss ass."
Manwë raised an eyebrow.
"What did you call me?"
Morgoth smiled and put his hands on his hips.
"You heard me. You're a kiss ass. You kissed up to Ilúvatar and he gave you the rule of Arda."
Manwë huffed.
"Liar!"
Gwen started laughing but between her giggles she managed to get the phrase 'take it outside' out of her mouth.
And that's exactly what they did.
--
The campers finished their battle on the Great Lawn. Neither side really won as the Valar and Morgoth got involved with the fight. The campers now stood in a huge circle around the two as they threw insults at each other.
"Your dad's like a hardware store. Twenty-five cents a screw!" Morgoth exclaimed.
Manwë rolled his eyes and gave Morgoth a blank look.
"You do know we share the same father right?"
Morgoth cursed under his breath.
"Shut up…"
From the porch Gwen giggled and Morgoth gave her a very evil glare. Kisha rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Are you two done yet?"
"No!" they both shouted at Kisha.
"Not five minutes ago you were buddy-buddy and acting all brotherly! You both are acting immature now and I suggest you end this so we can go have dinner! I would rather not have the Last Battle happen at my camp and I would rather not have the entire world destroyed when you two are finished! So shut up and knock it off!" Kisha roared.
Before their battle started it was deathly silent. Now it was beyond that. Kisha walked down the porch steps and stood between the two of them. Her eyes were venomous and she looked livid.
"Are you done yet so we can go to dinner?" Kisha asked again.
Manwë shook his head.
"No we are not done so please kindly step aside."
Morgoth nodded.
"We have unfinished business."
"And here I thought I was bi-polar," Gwen mumbled from the porch.
The two turned to her.
"What was that?" Morgoth asked.
Gwen sighed.
"I hate to say this but if you to don't knock it off then I'll…make out with Sauron right here and now!" she quickly yelled.
Sauron made a face at her, as he was also standing on the porch and she mouthed the words 'play along'. Sauron shrugged and Gwen looked back at Morgoth and Manwë on the Great Lawn.
"You'll do what!" Morgoth roared.
Gwen smirked.
"You heard me!"
Morgoth took a step towards the porch and Gwen grabbed Sauron by the waist and pulled him close.
"I'll do it! I swear to Ilúvatar I'll do it!"
"Is this because we're fighting?" Morgoth asked.
Gwen nodded.
"Yes and also Kisha does not want her camp destroyed. Can't you just go back to being all brotherly again? That was a little less creepy then normal."
"Yeah but he called me a …uhh…" Manwë turned to Morgoth. "What did you call me again?"
Morgoth shrugged.
"I don't really remember…"
Gwen rolled her eyes. She remembered exactly what Morgoth had called his brother but she was not going to bring that up. She knew if she did she would end up making out with Sauron because the two would start fighting. That was something she did not want to do.
The two then shrugged.
"So, do you want to call it even?" Manwë asked.
"Sure," Morgoth replied.
Kisha let out a sigh of relief.
"Okay, dining hall. Everyone. Now!"