Attack on Umbar

by sehellys

Barred from returning to Minas Tirith, Aragorn is still determined to fulfill his last mission for Gondor - to strike against the corsairs in Umbar, to remove the threat they pose to Southern Gondor and to halt the advances of Sauron's forces in Middle Earth. But something sinister haunts his and his brothers' steps and danger lurks long before the Bay of Umbar. Part 2 of 'TA 2980'

1. Prelude

Attack on Umbar

Prologue

-o0o-

Everything was darkness.

A black, empty void that stretched into infinity. And yet, slowly, Elrohir started to make out his surroundings as they seemingly took shape in front of his eyes, peeling from the blackness as the background lightened the slightest margin. A vast empty plain, without life, without light, without hope surrounded him as far as his eyes could see. No wind stirred the air of this place, no sound interrupted its unnatural calm, and no silhouettes were painted against the flat, dark grey horizon.

But a shapeless entity, an impenetrable aura of evil hung over everything, smothering land, light and sound. And as he watched it took shape, coalescing into a black figure, fluid and ever-changing, made up of a blackness so vast it seemed to extinguish light itself.

It had come for him.

It would always come for him. A connection forged by the palantir of Minas Tirith bound them, leaving him exposed, open, unprotected against this evil that stalked him - in his dreams and in the real world.

Slowly, deliberately, like a predator stalking its prey, it inched closer, ever closer until its tendrils touched his hands, his arms, his face. He tried to recoil from the evil of the touch, but found he could not move. His limbs did not obey him and he stood as the evil spread, grew, and enveloped him whole. As it invaded his mind and sought the black despair he held captive in his heart, as it unleashed old hurt and hatred to claim kinship with the stained corners of his soul.

He screamed in impotent rage but no sound came from his lips. And still his body forsook him, still he could not move, could not defend himself against this evil.

He was lost.

Brightness exploded, suddenly, overwhelmingly, burning with the heat of a thousand suns. Brighter than the Silmaril, but instead of untarnished light it was imbued with pure malice.

A flaming eye, lidless, ever watchful – and focused on him alone.

Sauron.

"Thorongil" A voice hissed and the sound was like a physical attack. Icy coldness rushed through his veins, his heart, his mind. How he wished he would never have to hear that voice again. But there was no escape, and it hurt, oh Valar, it hurt to breathe, to watch, to listen.

"Tell us!"

The command was sharp and painful. It brooked no disobedience, no delay – and yet, it was also, strangely, a glimmer of hope. A faint spark in this world of lingering darkness of depthless despair. Sauron still did not know, had not yet claimed the information about his brother's true identity.

And neither would he get that information from him! Drawing on the flicker of newly-kindled hope, Elrohir steeled his mind, gathered his remaining powers and fought back. All the forces of evil would not make him betray his baby brother again. They would not have Estel, could not have him!

With renewed determination he continued his struggle against the invading darkness, clinging desperately to what he knew he needed to do, what he knew he needed to protect.

Hope.

Estel.

-o0o-

A/N: Welcome back! :D I'm excited to embark on this second part of the series where we will finally get to Umbar, as Aragorn has so long intended. But there will still be a few bumps in the road ere he gets there. I hope you're as excited as I am. :) As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments.