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Chapter forty-six
The Key
The campers quickly ate their breakfast, as they were excited for Sunday's activity. Kisha had informed them that today would be the obstacle course and so the campers began discussing what would be in it this year. Once breakfast ended, Kisha told the campers to meet on the Great Lawn where the beginning of the course would be. Kisha had woken up at around three in the morning to begin setting up for the course. Now it was a little after eight and she was dead tired but she tried not to show it.
The campers stood on the Great Lawn and waited for Kisha to explain the course. With a bright and cheery voice she began.
"Good morning campers! Today is the obstacle course and so before we begin I shall explain what exactly is in the course and what to do. Namo has agreed to be the victim, err I mean the test subject so watch him okay? So the first thing you will do is one camper and one staff member will begin to fish through these big crates. Each crate holds about one thousand keys. You're job is to find the key that turns on the four-wheeler. Once that is found another person will ride the four-wheeler down the Great Lawn to the end all the while another person is riding behind the driver. At the end of the Great Lawn there are two beanbag chairs. Now at this time the passenger of the four-wheeler will get off and break through a beanbag chair in attempts to find a key. This key will open one door in all of camp. A person who has not done anything yet must take the key. Once you find the door it opens, there will be a chest hidden somewhere in the room. Only two people are allowed to search the room and it cannot be a person who has done something already. In fact, once you have done something then you are no longer allowed to do anything except cheer. Now once the chest is found you must take it to your base. The staff base is the porch of Lammoth and the camper base is Mordor. You must then have five people guard the chest. You do not want any the opposing side to get it but all the while you must have three people try and steal the other side's chest. Now while the chest is being guarded another camper is to go swim out to the green buoys and find the key that opens the chest. Once they bring back the key, you are to open the chest and pull out a codex and a slip of paper that contains a riddle. The answer to the riddle will open the codex. Once the codex is opened you will read another slip of paper, located inside the codex. This will lead you to your next location. Once inside the next location you are to search for the item it is asking for. The first side to bring back this item wins the course and the competition. Does any of this make sense?"
Kisha was met with a few dumb, blank looks and she smiled.
"Good, it doesn't make any sense to me either but I wrote it up at twelve last night so have fun!"
She blew her whistle and the game began.
--
It was nearing twelve and neither side had found the four-wheeler key. Kash was looking for the campers and Tim for the staff. Everyone settled in for the long haul as key after key was tested in the four-wheeler to no avail. Gwen yawned.
"Man Kisha, you really made this one hard this year."
She nodded.
"Really? You know I thought the whole 'find the key in the batch of keys' idea was pretty simple if you ask me."
"You don't have to be sarcastic about it."
"I know."
Five minutes later the campers began cheering as Kash had found the four-wheeler key. The four-wheeler revved to life and Dennis drove it down the Great Lawn carrying a petit girl named Emillee behind him. When he stopped the four-wheeler she jumped off and quickly broke into the beanbag chair. Meanwhile, Tim was still looking for the correct four-wheeler key and Morgoth, who was going to drive the four-wheeler, was getting impatient.
"Hurry up!"
"I'm trying here!"
"Well try harder!"
From the sidelines Gwen scolded Morgoth.
"You need to be nice Morgoth! He is trying you know!"
"But the campers have already found the key in the beanbag chair and are beginning the search for the room!"
Kisha smiled.
"Don't worry. It'll take them a long time to find it," she promised.
--
Two o'clock in the afternoon and both teams were still searching for the room. Tim finally found the key at twelve forty-five much to Morgoth's delight. Now everyone was looking for the correct room. For the campers they sent Faith with the key and for the staff they sent Legolas. Legolas had already tried every door in the arts and crafts building, dining hall, kitchen, and Great Hall to no avail. Faith was still working on Mordor. All the doors in the entire camp had been closed and locked while Tim and Kash searched for the key. Kisha knew that afterwards it was going to take along time to unlock all the doors but to her this was all worth it. It was around four in the afternoon when Legolas found the door. The key opened the door of Angband much to his delight. He ran off to inform the next person to begin the search for the chest.
Ten minutes later, after they decided who should search for the chest, Gwen and Sauron entered the room. Morgoth would have helped but he was not allowed to do anything anymore as he drove the four-wheeler.
So the two began the search for the chest.
On the other side of camp, Faith found the door. Her key opened the door of the garage and Claire and Tammy began searching for the chest.
--
Gwen looked under her bed and sneezed after all the dust clogged her throat. Sauron was on the other side of the room looking through the closets for the chest. Neither one had any idea how big this chest was or where exactly in the room it was but they were determined to find it.
"Did you check the mattress?" Sauron asked.
"Well why don't you check yours!" Gwen roared.
"Don't be so testy," Sauron said as he continued to look through the closet.
Gwen gave a small giggle from under the bed. Sauron bent over and looked under her bed on the other side. His eyebrows were furled in a confused manner.
"Are you okay in there?" he asked.
Gwen nodded.
"Sorry, when you asked me if I checked my mattress it reminded me of a movie."
"Oh."
Gwen, after checking under the bed, stood up and began looking through her dressers. She had just finished opening up the last drawer when she heard a squeal coming from the other side of the room. She looked up and over and saw Sauron standing next to his bed with the chest in his hands.
"Where was it?" she asked.
Sauron grinned.
"Under my mattress."
--
Claire checked the closets of the garage in search of the chest but to no avail. They knew the chest had to be inside the garage as the key did not unlock the infirmary door, and so the key could not be in there. Tammy checked under the ping-pong table. She stood up and huffed in disgust.
"It's not here!" she exclaimed.
Claire, the calm one, assured her they would find it.
"It has to be in here somewhere. We're just not looking hard enough."
Tammy found a soccer ball in the garage and began kicking it around in frustration. At one point she hit it too hard and it bounced against the washer and dryer. When it hit the dryer it made a dull thud as if there was something inside. Tammy and Claire exchanged curious looks. They walked up to the dryer and Claire opened the lid. Inside sat the chest. Tammy gave a sigh of relief as Claire pulled it out. Claire's face erupted into a brilliant smile.
"Come on; let's get this thing back to base."
--
Once Sauron and Gwen brought the chest back to base, Ulmo ran down the Great Lawn and into the water. While he was doing that, the staff determined that Aragorn, Gandalf, Boromir, Manwë, and Tulkas would stay and watch the chest. It was also decided that Elladan, Elrohir, and Beren would be the ones to attempt a theft of the other team's chest. Beren originally was not going to do it but it was Morgoth who suggested it saying that 'well he's responsible for the theft of one Silmaril. I'm sure he could steal the other team's chest'. It was then also pointed out that Lúthien had a hand in the theft. Morgoth grumbled and Gwen gave him a huge hug telling him it was okay.
Ulmo had just exited the water with the key when a camper named Dani entered the water and began swimming towards the green buoys. The campers decided that Vesper, Sam, Becka, Roland, and Nate would guard their chest while Roslyn, Kerri, and Grace would attempt to steal the staff's chest. Both sides knew this would never happen and so the ones charged with stealing each others chest ended up getting together and playing poker in the woods.
--
"Quick Ulmo! Give me the key!" exclaimed Lúthien. Ulmo tossed her the key and she opened the chest and pulled out the codex and the riddle. For the riddle, Kisha decided that anyone could answer it. So Lúthien read the riddle out loud.
"Two items share my name from two ages past. Mighty slayer of elves and breacher of walls."
Lúthien looked up from the piece of paper.
"Is that all?" Aragorn asked.
She nodded.
"Yes that's all it says."
From the side Morgoth began laughing. He exchanged glances with Sauron and he too began laughing.
"Oh what an easy riddle!" he exclaimed.
Sauron nodded.
"I know!"
Lúthien put her hands on her hips.
"Then what's the answer?"
"You mean you don't know it?" Sauron asked.
Lúthien shook her head and Sauron sighed. He was going to delay this a bit longer but they watched as the campers opened up the chest and pulled out the riddle and codex.
"It's Grond okay?"
Lúthien nodded and spelled Grond out on the codex. It quickly opened and she pulled out the second piece of paper. She read the second riddle aloud.
"I shine in the dark. A Elbereth Gilthoniel."
Gwen dropped her jaw at the riddle and Varda gave a sigh. Once the riddle was read, the staff members knew what they were looking for and where it was located. The problem was the item lay in a dark place.
"All right guys, let's find this thing. We have to beat the campers!" Gwen exclaimed.
The staff nodded and everyone went their separate way in search for the phial of Galadriel.
--
"A token that sparked a war for ages past. The deceiver created it; will the deceiver get it back?"
Mark read the riddle aloud. Even before he had finished he knew the answer and so did everyone else.
"The ring!" exclaimed Nate.
Mark nodded and rolled the letters to form 'The Ring' into place. But the codex did not open. He made a face.
"Try 'the one'," suggested Kash.
Mark nodded again and put the letters into place. It was at this time when they watched the staff members wander off into different directions in search for their object. 'The one' did not work either and so Mark put in 'one ring' and this time codex opened. He pulled out the slip of paper and read aloud the last riddle.
"I gleam through the night, and worn others of their plight. Find me in the darkest night, and I will glimmer bright."
Mark furled his eyebrows once he was done reading the riddle.
"Whatever could this one mean?" he asked.
Vesper pondered the words in her head. She tried to think of all the things that would 'glimmer bright' and 'worn others of their plight'. Her eyes lit up when she knew the answer but it was not her who shouted it out but Sam.
"Sting! In the woods! Come on we haven't much time!" she exclaimed.
And so the campers set off on the last part of the course. The sun had just finished setting and the stars and moon lit the sky. The campers were determined to win this course and beat the staff. They separated into forty-three groups with around eight persons in each group. They knew what they were looking for but now they just had to find it.
--
Gwen, Morgoth, Manwë, Sauron, Thuringwethil, and Frodo wandered through the woods looking for the phial of Galadriel.
"Why did I get stuck in this group?" Frodo asked timidly.
Gwen shrugged and smiled.
"You're not scared of us are you?"
"Well, the creator of the one ring, which I'm supposed to destroy, and his boss are a part of this group. Not to mention his girlfriend, a Vala, and a vampire…"
Thuringwethil put her arms around Frodo.
"Now calm down little hobbit. I won't drink your blood."
Frodo shivered.
"Besides Frodo, I won't let anything happen to you," Manwë promised.
"Can you promise that when I have to finish the quest?" Frodo asked.
Manwë shrugged.
"You know how it ends."
The group walked through the blackened woods. Manwë resorted to carrying Frodo because he kept tripping over the roots. Even though Gwen could see perfectly fine, Morgoth used it as an excuse to also carry her through the woods.
"I can't believe you're carrying me," she muttered.
"Well if we had a light then I probably could let you walk but I would rather not do that anyway."
Manwë rolled his eyes.
"A Elbereth Gilthoniel…" he muttered under his breath.
From the corner of his eye he saw a light. He turned towards it and realised it was what they were looking for. His eyes widened.
"Come on guys! I think I found the phial!"
--
Some of the campers heard Manwë's shout and so they quickened their pace and widened the search.
"Oh if only there were orcs close then it would light up!" exclaimed Nate.
He then kicked a rock and it flew across the woodland floor. It then hit something that was not part of the woods. Nate's ears perked up and with Vesper, Sam, Claire, Kash, Dennis, Tammy, and Roland, they ran through the woods. Nate was the first one to reach the sword. He almost tripped over it but Claire grabbed him by the arm and steadied him. He reached down and picked up the sword and held it firmly in his hands.
"We found it," he said in shock wonder.
Vesper nodded.
"Come on, we have to get it back to the course!"
--
It became a race to return the object to the course. From the corner of Gwen's eye she could see shapes running in the woods. She knew the campers had found their object as well. Morgoth was still carrying her through the woods and many times she told him to put her down but he didn't listen. Frodo carried the phial in his hands and he lit the way for the rest of his group. When they burst through the woods, Morgoth set Gwen down and they continued running to the start of the course where Kisha was waiting. The campers were running close behind them and the race, at the moment, was too close to call.
"Frodo, hand me the phial!" Gwen exclaimed.
"Why?"
"I haven't had to run at all and so I'm full of energy. Give me the phial and I'll run as fast as I can!"
Frodo looked up at Manwë who nodded. Frodo quickly handed it to her and she sprinted at Kisha. Running had never been her favourite thing and she never thought she would ever say the words 'I'll run as fast as I can!' but she also never thought she would fall in love with Morgoth. She knew there were firsts for everything.
On the camper side, Nate handed Sting to Claire. She ran track for her school and so she was used to running. With String she sprinted across the Great Hall and the two females were neck and neck. Gwen could feel her legs begin to give but she ran on knowing if she failed then it would mean the campers would win. She could see Kisha standing at the start of the course smiling brightly. Gwen glared at her.
She knew it would end this way.
Next to her the young teenager was on the verge of passing the older staff member. Gwen coughed and cleared her throat.
I knew I should have given up smoking.
The two approached Kisha at full speed ahead. Kisha smiled at the fact that nobody had gotten hurt so far. She cursed herself for speaking too soon when she heard Gwen scream and hobble towards Kisha still fully determined to win.
"What happened?" Kisha roared.
Claire stopped running and turned to Gwen who was hopping on one leg towards the finish.
"Are you okay?" Claire asked.
Gwen bit her lip.
"Shut up! I got to win this!" she exclaimed.
"What did you do?" Claire asked who was now walking next to Gwen instead of running.
Gwen collapsed on the Great Lawn, only five feet short of the finish line. Morgoth ran ahead to see what had happened. Before he could ask, Gwen handed him the phial.
"Run ahead and win damnit! There's only five feet left!"
Claire also realised this and so the two took off running. Morgoth crossed the finish line before Claire did, but as soon as he did he turned around quickly and ran back to Gwen who was still on the ground. Kisha had bent down and examined her foot.
"What happened?" Morgoth demanded.
Before Kisha could tell him, he saw what the problem was. A key from the earlier part of the course had been on the lawn and was now embedded through Gwen's shoe and inside her foot.
"Just pull it out already!" Gwen roared.
Kisha shook her head.
"I can't. It's a puncture wound. If I just pull it out, you might bleed to death," Kisha replied.
Gwen rolled her eyes.
"I am not going to bleed to death!"
"We can't risk it," Kisha said.
By now the entire camp knew what was happening on the Great Lawn. Everyone forgot about the course and instead focused on Gwen's key-in-foot.
"Just pull the bloody thing out!" Gwen roared again.
She had already lost feeling in her foot so she didn't care at all about it. Kisha shook her head again.
"I'm sorry but this is an emergency room visit."
"No! I'm not going to the damn emergency room!"
It was then that Manwë had an idea.
"Wait, I'll be right back," he said to Kisha. She furled her eyebrows and watched as he ran across the Great Lawn as if he was looking for somebody.
Morgoth was now sitting on the Great Lawn next to Gwen. He held her hand.
"We'll get the key out," he said.
Gwen smirked.
"I swear to Ilúvatar, someone pull this damn key out now or I'll do it myself."
She reached over to pull it out when Kisha shouted 'no!' and stopped her hand.
"You don't understand the seriousness of this injury! I know it doesn't look all that bad but if we pull the key out and you start bleeding really bad, then you'll die before we can get you to hospital."
A few seconds later Manwë came back with Namo in tow.
"So what is this great idea of yours?" Kisha asked looking up at the Vala.
"Namo, will Gwen die if we pull out the key from her foot?"
Namo shook his head.
"Nope, do you want to know how she dies though?"
Gwen shuddered.
"Please, stop right there."
Namo smirked.
"Fine, it'll forever remain a mystery but no, she won't die from the key. So someone just pull it out before she goes livid."
Gwen smiled.
"See Kisha? Good thinking Manwë. Now someone pull it out!"
Kisha looked at Gwen's foot. Since her shoe was still on, Kisha had no idea how deep the key was imbedded in her foot. She went to pull it loose but stopped.
"I can't do it," she mumbled.
Gwen rolled her eyes and looked at Morgoth.
"Would you do it please?"
He shook his head.
"I'm not doing that, are you insane?"
From the crowd, Fëanor ran over.
"I'll do it!" he shouted.
Gwen sighed.
"Fine, go ahead and pull it out. But make it quick okay?"
Fëanor smiled and grabbed hold of the key. With one fluid motion he yanked it free from her foot and shoe. Gwen let out a cry that could rival Morgoth's in Lammoth and grabbed hold of her foot. The blood seeped from her shoe and stained the ground.
"I'll go get the bandages," Kisha said.