Chapter three: From the ashes I shall rise…
Virtual reality - computer Override
Actual fantasy locked away Inside
Am I no more than a Program
An artificial dream
A river of electrons flowing with the stream
A parallel dimension; battle simulations
Mind over matter, brain stimulation
I don't know if I exist; I think therefore I am
Without emotions I'm but a hologram
There's no escape, I'm locked in this universe
Where fantasy dies, material lies
Computer eyes
(Ayreon: computer eyes)
She had done a mistake, but there was no way back now. They knew something had helped that child and she already knew these were very intelligent beings. But she was curious and she wanted to help so she stayed close, tried to learn the language, to understand what was going on, why they were in such an inhospitable place. But hiding the way she did had its backsides, she couldn't get that close to them and she also knew that she couldn't just show herself to them the way she was now. There were strict laws against that, nobody was to interfere with the development of primitive cultures, most civilizations out there did obey this rule. The Talgmarians didn't but then again, if they found some new planet with life on it, intelligent or not, they usually wiped it all out within a very short time span.
CeKay had started to understand a few things, they were all following this one person and his family, and he was someone of importance. He had offspring which followed him and then there were the offspring of his brother and they did follow him too. She had problems understanding why all this happened though, what drove them onto the ice. She stayed close to the primitive tents, tried to snatch up as many words as possible and her language generators were working overtime for this was a very difficult language and a very complex one too. But slowly she started to understand what these lovely creatures were talking about and she knew that she had the chance to get to the bottom of the mystery.
She tried to protect them, she found more sea weed and brought it up whenever she could, she even killed some seals and left the bodies on the ice for them to find and the dead whale did provide them with food for quite a while. She tried to be as close to this apparent leader as possible and slowly she started to get the picture. They were trying to cross the ice because of a betrayal, and a murder, and theft too. And some creatures named valar had brought them to this paradise a long time ago from the place they now tried to reach but they didn't try to help them at all. CeKay learned about Morgoth and Fëanor and she wondered what these valar were. They had to be very powerful but at the same time they didn't match any race she had ever heard of. They were created by the one? That made CeKay wonder if they were the creations of a very mighty entity, she had heard rumors of such creatures, capable of creating entire worlds and forming energy into material form, even creating life.
But she was sympathetic to their plight, the brother of the leader had abandoned them and she understood his anger and his sorrow too. They were basic emotions and fundamental for all life forms. The elves were moving forth as fast as they could but it was still not very fast, they were so many. CeKay estimated that there were several thousand of them and way more than she had thought to begin with. They had brought weapons along with their stuff and she saw that it was simple metal blades and bows and arrows. Not much help in that if someone advanced attacked and she tried to find out as much as possible about this Morgoth. Apparently he was one of these valar and very old and he had built mighty fortresses and tried to ruin everything the others did constantly. She didn't like the way that sounded.
She started to get to know these creatures, she could separate between them and she did notice one of the sons of the leader in special. He was not quite as tall as his father but dark haired like him and he wore golden bands in his braids and seemed to be very sad for some reason. He would often wander on his own and CeKay could see that he was deeply hurt by something. It was very obvious in his body language. She did also see that these people cared a lot for their children, they gave the kids the best food and the best clothing and tried to shelter them in every way possible and that too told her these were a good people. Slowly the landscape changed, the ice became more smooth, with fewer huge bergs and hills but it was thinner and in some places it was very dangerous. The journey slowed down, they had to send scouts ahead searching for the best routes and CeKay wished she had salvaged more of the wreck, she could perhaps have fixed some of the drones but they had probably been smashed too bad.
She realized that she needed to be able to mingle with them in order to protect them, she couldn't stay at a distance for then it would be too late if something happened, she had to be among them. CeKay made a decision, it was a grand one but she knew it was the right one, she found a sheltered place between some blocks of ice and there she started a rather amazing transformation. She could reshape herself in almost every conceivable manner and she slowly forced the very cells of her body to change into something different. She was made from artificial cells and each one was a unit in itself, she could reassemble herself completely if only one cell was unharmed and the cells were capable of replicating themselves very fast if there was suitable material available. Now her metallic looking skin was replaced by artificial skin which looked and felt just like living one. She got inner organs, a skeleton, hair. Her inner power source camouflaged as normal organs, but unimaginably more efficient. She had a beating heart and blood even if she didn't need any of it and when the transformation was over she did look exactly like one of these eldar. She was tall and golden blonde with stark blue eyes and she knew she looked beautiful in the eyes of these beings.
But her fragile looks were deceitful, she was still a very powerful entity and she could change back within the blink of an eye if she needed to. She had used some dead seals to create clothing, her nanites used the tissue of the dead animals to create cloth, and she also had snatched some cloth from graves left behind. She looked like them and she just hoped that nobody would react upon her being unfamiliar. There were so many of them, nobody could know each one personally. That night she joined the stragglers at the back and nobody reacted to her. Everybody had more than enough with their own fear and misery and she was just another face among the others. Probably someone who had lost her company and sought the comfort of surrounding herself with others and that was familiar by now.
Some nights the aurora would flicker over the skies and she wondered at how this planet could support life with no sun, apparently there had been some trees which provided light and heat and she had never heard anything that bizarre before but then again, why not really? She had seen the huge caves of the planetoid known as BT-202-C/Dhaki, all lighted and heated by some odd forms of mushroom like growths adapted to living in space. Her first master had tried to make some sort of fuel from them but failed. The aurora seemed to fill the elves with hope and yet fear and she knew they had no understanding of technology nor science and yet they had some pretty impressive things. The metal of their blades was very good and she had seen some sort of lamps which provided light without a battery or anything like that. Apparently this Fëanor person had created them, and some gems which trapped the light of those trees too. CeKay started to suspect that the creatures which were governing this planet, the so called valar, could be very advanced but that they didn't allow their subjects to develop a technology based culture. Or they allowed only a certain degree of it, she didn't know but she really wanted to find out.
The group was crossing a stretch of flat ice when a piece of it suddenly just flipped, there had to be cracks underneath the sheet of snow which nobody had seen and several elves fell into the water. CeKay was not right there but she ran towards the sound of screams and she saw that some were pulled out of the water already. But some remained because they were too far from the edge and she saw that one of the sons of the leader was trying to jump in but being held back by others, apparently his mate was among those trapped in the frigid sea and CeKay reacted without really thinking. She ran forth and dove in, a very low dive and she didn't even make a splash as she slid through the water like a knife through butter. She felt how the water was different to her now than before, she wasn't as streamlined and her clothes and hair created drag but she could swim like a dolphin and grasped onto a body which was sinking rapidly. She pulled it up, used all her techniques to get the person up and she reached air again and grasped onto a spear someone held out. The person hauled her in and she stared at the unconscious female in her arms. The female was very lovely and the son of the leader let out a wail and threw himself down next to her, tried to shake the blond female back to life. CeKay could see that the elf was close to death, she wouldn't survive if nothing was done and so she ignored the terrified male and turned the female over onto her side, shook her to drain the lungs. Then she discretely gave the body a few well aimed electrical shocks and it restarted the heart and the female jerked and coughed and her eyes rolled.
CeKay wished she had had some powercells from the crashed ship, this female needed heat a lot and now she did see that a young female stood behind the male, and she did look very scared too. It had to be this couple's offspring and CeKay knew she had exposed herself now, no elf would have been able to save the female like that but she would just have to use it for all it was worth. She could perhaps help them by making them believe she was one of the servants of those valar? She had heard them speak of something called maiar, lesser beings than the valar. She could pretend to be one of them, one not following a master, a rouge maia of some kind.
The female coughed and moaned and her husband cradled her in his arms and he was weeping with relief, CeKay felt a bit uncertain, she had no idea of how they would react. The leader had arrived, he was very tall and very impressive and the blue eyes were filled with intelligence and also deep wisdom. He stared at her, tilting his head. "You saved my son's wife, I am very grateful, but who are you? You have helped us haven't you?"
She got up, the wet clothing was freezing fast but she didn't care about that. She nodded. "I have"
She made her voice soft and gentle on purpose and the tall male pressed his lips together, his eyes were narrow. "You are not one of us, for you are so much more powerful than any living being I have met, Are you a maia?"
She would have swallowed if she could, telling a lie should be easy for her and yet it wasn't. "Yes"
He frowned. "Serving which Vala?"
She raised her chin, facing him without fear and without challenging him at the same time. "None, I serve no vala"
He saw that Turgon was massaging Elenwë's hands and legs and she was obviously going to survive, it was a miracle. This female was almost as tall as himself, her features not fitting with any of the tribes and she was impressive, and clearly not an elf even if she did look like one. He tilted his head. "I have never heard of a maia not serving the valar, what is your name?"
She didn't blink, that was a bit unnerving. "My name is CeKay"
The elf frowned again, he had never heard a name like that and tried to pronounce it, it felt odd to say it. "CsseeeKaayeh?"
She smiled, shook her head. "No, Ce-Kay, just that"
He nodded and stared again. "Why are you helping us?"
She didn't flinch or look away. "Because I like you, you are good people"
She pointed at the female. "Erect the tents and burn some whale oil in a kettle, it should heat her back up again"
He nodded slowly and Turgon carried Elenwë off, Idril followed them and Fingolfin stared at the strange nis once more. She had the stance of a queen and he was starting to suspect that she was even more dangerous than a normal maia could be. "Have you followed us the whole way?"
She shook her head. "No, I joined you some time ago"
There were several warriors lined up around them now, all aware of the stranger in their midst and ready to protect their king. She had to smile, they adored this male and would do anything for him, but she was glad they never would have to fight something like her. They would lose in a heartbeat. "Did you live here on the ice?"
She shook her head. "No, I fell down, from above."
The elves stared at each other, not really understanding this and Fingolfin cleared his throat. "Didn't you ascend to Arda with the others when the great song was sung? Are you new to our world?"
She nodded. "Yes, I was bored up there and wanted to explore"
It seemed as if the elves did buy that explanation, she was surprised. The leader bowed his head. "We are honored by your presence, is there anything for which you wish?"
She shook her head. "Only for you all to be careful, this is a dangerous area. I can do a lot to keep you safe but then you will have to obey my command."
He looked reluctant and she stared at him. "You don't trust me, and I do not blame you. After all, trust must be earned right? But I am not your brother, I will not abandon you"
He gasped and his eyes got large, then he stared down. "I…I trust you, what should we do?"
She had to think fast now, not to blow her own lie sky high. "First of all, spread out more, don't make one long line, the ice cannot take all that weight. Split up into smaller groups and make sure that everybody are tied together with rope."
He nodded slowly and she sighed and turned her head around. " I will make sure you have food, and I will fend off any dangerous animals but I cannot be everywhere at once, be careful."
The elves nearby were staring at her with awe and she felt guilty for fooling them into believing that she was one of their gods, but that was the only way she could help them. The truth would only confuse them. Fingolfin waved his hand. "We make camp here, many are in need of heat and food and we need to reorganize the host."
The elves started finding a safe place to erect the tents and before long the camp was rather large. Fingolfin stared at the female with a sense of awe and doubt. Could she really help them? Was she on their side or was this some trick? There were maiar serving Morgoth but he saw no reason why any of them would be out on the ice. It was a mystery. "Come with me, you are welcome in my tent"
She followed him and the huge tent was already up. His other sons and his daughter were already there, trying to get warm again. Fingolfin gestured towards the pelts spread across the floor and she sat down, gracefully and without a sound. "You have just descended, what do you know of our enemy, of Morgoth?"
She leaned a bit forth. "Not much, other than that he has been bothering the valar since the very beginning, and that he stole the jewels your half brother created"
Fingolfin swallowed. " I have no idea of what we will encounter whence we reach the other side, if any of the elves who chose to stay are still there, or if he has enslaved them all. We don't even know if Fëanor has managed to do anything at all, we just know he must have burned the ships"
She sensed the anguish in his voice, and shame too and she remembered what she had heard of the so called kinslaying. Killing others of the same race was obviously a sort of taboo for these people. She looked at the young male with the golden bands in his hair, he was staring at the ground, and she could see that he was upset. Fingolfin continued. "The valar have cursed us, and we cannot return. By helping us you may earn their wrath as well"
She had to grin, as if she cared about that. She liked these valar less by the minute, they seemed like they were a wee bit too fond of control and power, not at all her favorite kind of beings. " I fear not, believe me. I have made my choice and I stand by it"
Fingolfin heard that her accent was a bit odd, and that intrigued him, it told him she was telling the truth. She wasn't from Valinor for sure. He gestured towards one of the servants who stood by the wall, they had not brought much which wasn't absolutely needed but they did have a little wine left and the servant poured a little in two cups. "Then let us toast on that."
CeKay knew that this was some sort of alcohol, her receptors sort of scanned the content of the glass in a few seconds and she knew its entire chemical composition. It wasn't harmful, at least not in small doses and she realized that this was something which was meant to taste good. She tilted her head. "Indeed, I will do whatever I can to help you reach your goals"
She could of course eat now, her body had created the right organs and the digestive system was efficient, so efficient she would produce no waste. She drank the wine and the sensation she categorized as taste wasn't too bad at all. It was fruity and sweet and she smiled and put the glass down. A servant entered the tent and bowed his head. "Your son's wife is doing well, she is awake and unharmed."
CeKay smiled, she was glad, she hated the idea of more dying and she also knew that these elves did take the loss of a loved one very hard. Fingolfin let out a sigh of relief, Turgon would have been crushed if she had died, Elenwë had been so brave following them and Idril would not do well without her mother. CeKay got up again. " Tomorrow I will try to find a safer path, one where the ice is stronger."
He nodded and reached out, took her hand and seemed to examine it. It was warm and firm and felt like just about any other hand. Nothing odd about it at all. He wondered what Fëanor would think of this, if he would be impressed finding out that his brother had been helped by a maia. Again he wished he knew where his brother was and how he was faring, he had felt a strange restless and almost empty feeling in his chest for a while, and it made him fear the worst. But his brother couldn't die, he was too strong, to fierce. No, nothing could break Fëanor, he was like the very imperishable flame itself, he would continue to burn forever and he remembered the flames in his eyes by the square when that fateful oath was spoken.
Could this strange female perhaps tell them of what his brother was doing? She hadn't mentioned such power so perhaps that was beyond her, but he hoped that she could prevent more from finding an icy death. They had lost too many already. He tried to smile. "Do you have a tent my lady? If not feel free to share this with us, there is more than enough room for one more here"
She didn't quite know what to say, not to seem rude or impolite. She bowed her head. " I thank you for your kind offer, I accept"
He suspected that she didn't need such things as a roof over her head or blankets but she didn't want to seem too unusual. That was rather apparent. The servants brought some extra pelts and some meat was cooked and served, she didn't eat anything and the elves were staring at her, not openly but from the corner of their eyes, with part awe and part doubt. She tried to figure out what sort of personality the different elves had, the daughter seemed to be of the restless reckless type, she had so much energy. The other son was rather quiet and almost anonymous and rather childish too but the one with the gold ribbons was more moody and sulking and yet he seemed to be just as strong as his father.
They sat there eating and some other elves joined them, all golden haired and fair and she learned that these were the children of Fingolfin's brother Finarfin and they had chosen to follow their uncle, eager for new adventures and freedom. She did pay attention to the young female in special, Artanis was her name and she was a great beauty, even among this fair race. CeKay sensed great strength in this one, a sort of silent and yet rebellious determination and she suspected that this was one elf who didn't bow to anyone, not without having been forced to. When they all went to bed CeKay lay there staring up at the roof, she didn't need any sort of sleep but she could go into a rest mode to conserve her energy. But just one night was not enough time for that to be needed so she just laid there, trying to make sense of it all.
She tried to remember what she had seen of this world, to determine what path to take from here and she reached a conclusion after a few hours, the course would have to be more straight eastward, not as much to the south. The ice would be more treacherous near its edge and she didn't want to risk anybody's safety.
And so she started leading them, running ahead, using all her knowledge and before long they all trusted her for she brought them food and kept them safe and she never failed to do what she had said she would. If any of those great white bears came too close she would make them go away, using ultrasound not even the elves could hear. She would detect cracks in the ice from afar and keep them away from them and she would dive and drag seaweed and sea food up so that everybody got fed. And they made progress, with food in their bellies and hope rekindled they all got their energy back and with it the will to reach the other side. CeKay sort of got the whole story, and she realized that the reason why the male named Fingon was so moody was that his cousin and he had been more than just good friends and now they were separated and he didn't know whether or not his lover had agreed with Fëanor when it came to burning those ships. Most likely he didn't but who was to say?
CeKay knew that they were close to the end of the ice when they one day woke up to a bright light on the horizon. It got stronger and stronger and the elves looked shocked and frightened and CeKay stared at the sun with narrow eyes. It was a sun, a real sun. Not a very large one but a middle class yellow dwarf, a stabile star for sure. Right, the valar had to be very powerful indeed for they had managed to either snatch a star, create one out of thin air or move an entire rouge planet into a stabile orbit in a few hours. She didn't like such displays of power at all. But it did give light and heat and the mood among the elves got a lot better whence the first shock did dissipate. Now they could see the way much better and things were speeding up considerably. She sort of had her doubts though, she felt a change in the air, as if something foul was attached to it and she was sure she had seen smoke on the horizon, far away. Something told her danger was lurking ahead and she started questioning the elves of this enemy and what he was capable of doing.
When she reached the edge of the ice she had learned a lot and little of it was encouraging, he was capable of creating foul beasts, and horrible weapons and she knew that any enemy worthy of fear would be waiting for them. He surely knew they were coming and so she started scouting while in camouflage mode. The edge of the ice was a desert badland with little food and bitter cold but it was solid land and the elves were cheerful and happy they had managed to get over at all. She knew many would have died if she hadn't helped them and that made her feel better but this doubt was eating away at her. She was made to be a soldier, to be a spy if need be or even an assassin and she knew that this group was unprepared for any sort of attack. They were great fighters for sure but what if they encountered an army?
They moved south, along the shores, wanting to get to the place where Fëanor and his host had made landfall. They seemed to have some knowledge of the topography of these lands and CeKay saw that the area got more green and fertile and the horses ate grasses and got healthier and stronger. She started to use her tactics mode, made them place the camp places where it could be defended, and she also tried to convince the elves of the importance of being stealthy, at least until they knew more. Then she saw the first monster, or orc as they called them and she knew trouble was coming. The creature was scurrying away from the campsite and nobody had seen it and she knew it was a scout and that an attack was imminent. She left the camp, it was protected by a very high cliff in two directions but it was open to the north and west and she went down and put her hands on the ground. She could feel vibrations, distant but real, many feet were in motion and she sneered. For a second her eyes were glowing intensely and she went through her basic tactics and chose a rather untraditional one. She released a small swarm of nanites, and they immediately started to replicate themselves, the dust and ashes on these plains was high in minerals and they found all they needed there. A small cloud became a large one which grew by the second and before long it formed almost a sort of ring around the camp. She got up and ran back, shouted a warning to the king. Fingolfin was outside his tent when the strange maia came running, she looked upset and her eyes were glowing in a very eerie manner. She stopped and he suddenly knew that trouble was on its way. "There is an army approaching, it is large, hundreds if not thousands of orcs. They come from northeast"
Fingolfin held his breath for a second, then he grasped onto the nearest officer and started shouting orders. CeKay saw that they gathered the females and young ones in the center of the camp area and put some of the best warriors around them as protection Some of the females did protest, wanting to fight too, and those with no children were allowed to. They would need every possible fighter now. CeKay felt as if she ought to do more, what options did she have? Each nanite was a part of herself, and she could control them with her own mind and so she released yet another small cloud of them. Not many, just a couple of grams of tissue was transformed into its raw cellular form and she programmed them with the intent of protecting those who couldn't fight. The children looked terrified and their mothers too and she wished there was something she could do to ease their fears. She saw that the warriors fell into lines and armed themselves, all very silently and thankfully it was a rather dark and windy day and she hoped that the enemy would be surprised by the fact that the elves were expecting them.
The cavalry got ready too, they didn't have that many horses and most of them were rather weak still but the strongest were saddled and had riders. Fingolfin had gotten into his armor, they had brought weapons and such because they had been sure they would need it and now that idea payed off. CeKay knew that the enemy was ahead, and approaching fast, she could almost smell them. Quickly she activated the nanites she had left before, told them to go to work when she gave the signal and yet again her eyes were glowing. She bowed her head. "My lord, I will go ahead and see what I can find out, we need to know as much as possible before the attack starts"
Fingolfin looked worried. "What if they see you?"
She shook her head. "They won't, and even if they did they would see only one being."
He nodded with some reluctance showing in his face, he worried about her and some part of her found that idea a bit odd. She ran off, the weather was changing and the wind picking up, that was great, it worked to their benefit and she went into camouflage mode yet again. The plain was rather flat but that was in fact an illusion, there were narrow gorges and small valleys everywhere and before long she stared down at the forces of this enemy of theirs. She shuddered, they were awful, and they were so many. Most of the beasts wore rather crude armor and even more crude weapons but these were beings capable of ripping someone in two with their bare hands and she even saw huge monsters which seemed to be rather unintelligent but terribly strong and aggressive. And the entire army was reeking with aggression, with bloodlust and they were sure of their victory. To them this would be just fun and she let out a growl. Oh how she missed the weapons of her previous masters, they would have wiped this entire army out in a matter of seconds.
But she wasn't without resources, after all, she was made to be efficient and so she quickly put all her expertise into good use. The huge beasts were the strongest of the lot, and they were basically animals, not even fully self aware but run by instinct alone and she didn't have time for a decent analysis of their brains but she knew that such creatures have weaknesses. They had been created as canon fodder and to their master they had little value beside of their brute strength. They reminded her of the Ghughii bulls of the planet Atharkas, huge and strong and stupid and prone to fight each other the moment a female was introduced to the lot. She had no inkling of what sort of pheromones these beasts would react to but she quickly extracted and created a whole bunch of them from the nearby soil and minerals. Leaving it all in pockets in the ground, it ought to change their focus for sure.
Some of the orcs had huge animals with them, some sort of canines and they looked misshapen and odd but they all had fur and so she went to work again. Fur was a disadvantage for any such being, it itches. The army was moving forth, slowly but with determination and she saw that the officers were fierce looking orcs, huge and menacing and probably a lot more intelligent than their more simple minded brethren. She didn't want to underestimate this enemy, for he was smart. He hadn't chosen advanced technology but brute sheer force which cost little and could be easily replaced and she tilted her head. A lack of imagination perhaps? Or something which could be exploited?
But they were getting closer to the camp by the minute and she ran back, uncloaking herself and she stopped by the leader. He was on horseback and looked very regal, and also scared. She made a grimace. "They are close, I will use my…powers…to help you fight them but you have to take them by surprise. If they get here first you will lose"
He nodded, understanding the logics. The orcs expected to take them all by surprise and just go ahead and slaughter and have fun, but he would have none of that. He sent riders off to the flanks and told the cavalry to lead a surprise attack at the flanks and then retreat to create some disturbance in the order, which could be exploited. CeKay allowed her nanites to go to work, they created a cloud of dust which seemed just natural considering the wind but it wasn't. It blocked the view of the orcs and the sound of the duststorm also camouflaged the advancing elves and the sound of their feet. She transformed her clothing into an armor, slightly resembling that of these elves and yet different. She didn't need one but it felt just right and so she ran ahead and found a spot on top of a huge rock where she could see everything around her. She shielded herself from the orcs but she could see them all now, the glow in their eyes and their eager grunts and she just prayed that not too many would die this day She would do her outmost to prevent elves from dying in vain.
The orcs didn't slow down due to a lousy dust storm ahead, no, they kept moving and CeKay would have held her breath if she had needed to breathe when all of a sudden two huge groups of riders seemingly exploded out of nowhere and collided with the army along the flanks. The elves trampled and killed and then they retreated before the orcs could gather into a counter attack and the officers roared and seemed a bit confused. They hadn't believed that the elves knew they were coming and this ruined their plan. CeKay sneered and allowed the pockets of pheromone soaked soil to become active, she saw that the hulking beasts started to slow down, some carried some sort of siege machinery while others were armed with crude spiked clubs or war hammers and now they stopped, eyeing each other with growing fury. Some were on a leach and the orcs controlling them were shouting and trying to make them obey but to no prevail. The huge trolls started attacking each other, not caring about the orcs surrounding them and chaos broke loose. And then CeKay unleashed the nanites she had created and the cloud of dust sort of rushed forth and within it there were vortexes where the sand got picked up and carried off at a tremendous speed. The plain had become a sand blaster, and the orcs were right in its way. It was cruel and a method which would have been banned by the intergalactic council but they didn't know and she knew that to fight fire you sometimes have to use an even greater fire. The cloud of dust slammed into the army, sand ripped skin from flesh, flesh from bones, became a spinning churning cloud of blood red death leaving a crimson wake.
The officers screamed orders, trying to make the orcs move forth but panic had taken them and CeKay had been right, these were not soldiers trained to have any sort of empathy for their fellow orcs, nor any sort of bond with his fellow soldier. It was each or for himself and they were all driven by their inborn need for violence and slaughter. They feared their master, had no real loyalty towards him and now they lost whatever fragile discipline they may have had to begin with. They started to run, and that was when the elves charged. CeKay could see it and she allowed her nanites to attack only orcs, and she made the tiny robots she had created attack the huge wolf monsters and create a terrible itch and so they threw their riders or attacked each other in confusion and agony.
She let her worst programs go to work, orcs would inhale dust filled with nanites and they would congregate in their lungs, clog them up and then burst out again through their chest walls, creating horrible wounds. Some orcs exploded from the inside and the elves moved in unison, with great elegance and discipline. It looked like row after row of people harvesting a crop using slingblades, one swing, one orc down, one step forth, another swing. It was almost mechanical and had an odd and eerie beauty to it and CeKay knew she no longer needed to stay where she was, the nanites were working on their own now. She created a couple of swords for herself, using some discarded orc blades. She simply removed the impurities from the steel, reshaped it and tempered the blades using the heat from her internal thermal reactors. The blades were glowing white hot when she uncloaked herself and went to work. She slashed through the orcs, faster even than an elf and she never missed, her battle programming taking over. She immediately saw her enemy's weak spot, how to attack to waste no energy and the battlefield had become a chaotic sight, a plain of sheer slaughter. Elves did fell, but fewer than otherwise and she knew that orcs which managed to get past her would face the protection she had created for the females and children.
Some did in fact get past them, orcs with a bit more courage than the average one or those who just had a wee bit more luck than the others. They rushed towards the camp only to be met by clouds of a fibrous substance which filled their throats and choked them to death. It looked almost like strands of hair, floating in the breeze. Slowly the noise, the screams and shouts and groans died down, the thunder of shuffling feet and hooves with it. The clouds of dust disappeared as well and some of the nanites returned to her, giving her extra energy and replenishing her resources. She learned a lot about these orcs in a matter of seconds for the nanites could in some cases record the electrical activity of the brains of living creatures and thus create a shadow version of the orc's mind for her to access. Again she praised her creator for his ingenious mind, if more like her had been made and released the Talgmarians would have been defeated within the span of a few months.
She believed that that was the reason he had been removed from his position, too many had feared what he could create, the balance of power would have been seriously disturbed and there would have been no way of knowing if an army of CK units could have been controlled. Besides, many made a lot of credits because of the war and they didn't want their income to decrease. Sometimes a war is not a war but a money machine and she loathed the idea. Her creator had given her a strong sense of moral, of wrong and right and rightly so, a thing like her without a moral compass would be a destroyer of worlds.
She lowered her blades and took a look around, the few surviving orcs were fleeing like mad and the elves were left, victorious. Some cheers were heard but most were simply too shocked by the sheer amount of enemies and their appearance to think of the fact that they had won. Most were in fact in shock and she saw that a few gathered their sensed and started searching the battle field for wounded or dead comrades. CeKay shifted mode, from combat to triage. She started shouting orders and tents were erected where the wounded could be tended to. The healers gathered but she knew that their knowledge and techniques, although very good, were no way adequate for a job like this. Some warriors started dragging away dead orcs, forming a huge pile in a gorge not far from them, others took care of the horses and a few had to be put down due to injury but most were unharmed.
It was a bloody mess, CeKay had never seen the likes of it, nor did she have information of a similar event in her archives. These weapons left horrible wounds, not clean or cauterized like the ones she was used to. She saw crushed limbs, torn and battered tissue and internal injuries and yet again her nanites went to work, knitting torn organs back together, mending broken bones. But she couldn't save all, blood which was lost could not be recreated, even by her skills, and an injured brain was too fragile and complex of a thing to be fixed. She had her limits and she cursed them now. But she did work without rest, without asking questions and the number of dead elves was high but not overly so. Many were wounded but most of them would live and recover too. She needed to get them south, to more fertile lands where they could find food and shelter. She was in the process of healing a warrior with a broken jaw and a torn shoulder when the king entered the tent, his eyes were blurry and he had been crying. She knew it the very instant she saw him that he had lost someone close to him, his very being just screamed of loss. She lowered her head. "I am so sorry my lord"
He let out a small sob. "You saved us, without your help we would have been slaughtered, he was…he was too reckless, tried to take down a huge orc on his own"
She felt a surge of feelings, knew them to be grief. "Which one?"
He wiped his eyes. "Argon, oh Eru, what would I not have given to have him back!"
CeKay closed her eyes, she knew of those who had tried to bring back the dead, using nanite technology. The body had been alive, but something had been missing from those people, all they were reduces to were bags of flesh, screaming and writhing with no spark inside. A soul which have left will never return and she did yet again wonder at the mystery that was this enigmatic sort of energy, so vital to life and yet unexplainable. She bowed her head again. "My condolences my lord"
He swallowed hard. "We will stay here for a couple of days, no more. The wounded need to recover and we have to burn our dead. I fear the orcs may return"
She got up, the wounded soldier was gasping, his injuries gone as if they never had been there. "They will not, not like this. They know you can fight now"
Fingolfin cocked his head, staring at her with narrow eyes. "Some survived, they will tell their master of this, of the powers you unleashed and his eyes will fall upon you. He will try to seduce you, to track you down and corrupt you like all else he finds useful. And he won't rest until he has either won you over or destroyed you"
CeKay felt an odd sense of calm, of determination. She smiled and for a second her teeth changed into those of a huge carnivore. "Let him try, let him taste fear."
Fingolfin frowned. " You ought to be worried, he is powerful, are you not afraid?"
She tossed her hair back and the glow in the unnaturally blue eyes got stronger. "No, I was never born to feel fear"
She returned to her work and in spite of his grief the elf suddenly knew that with her by their side they had a chance, it may be small or fleeting but real and maia or not, she was a match even for Morgoth himself, he could just wonder what would happen if she went up against the dark vala, something told him that would be a spectacle of epic proportion but would it ever happen? He hoped not, for he had learned that his people were safer with her than without her, and he wanted to keep it that way, for as long as possible.
