Chapter four : Shadows and flame…
CeKay was worried, in fact she was very worried. She had never thought that these elves would be that block headed but they were, they wanted to attack the attacker! She had seen the sheer brute force of these monsters and knew that they were ruled by someone or something rather with huge powers and they weren't that many. She was afraid that this was folly, that it would end with their destruction but she also knew that the leader had made up his mind. Some scouts had captured some orcs and they had been interrogated and even though they had been tortured they hadn't revealed much, except the fact that the fortress of their enemy lay to the north and east from where they were right now and that this area was known as Lammoth. Their master had returned from his captivity recently and had made landfall just there and the elves had tried to get an overview of the area. The elves were preparing to spread out, to control areas which they could use to produce food or make weapons and that was well and good enough but she didn't like that they were about to split the group. She did understand that the different individuals wanted their own realms to rule but they were stronger together than they would be if they did follow their desire to find land for themselves.
It was far from ideal, further south it was more vegetation and way more wildlife and she tried to make them consider moving southward but they didn't listen. She realized that the need for vengeance was so strong it did make them forget about what she would consider common sense. She had two choices, remaining passive and letting them ruin themselves or participate and perhaps help them achieve their goals. She chose the latter and started to prepare for war. It wasn't something she was unfamiliar with, her programming was good and she was after all made as a soldier. She tried to teach these beings certain tactics and she studied the orcs they killed or captured, but she started to discover something which made her more and more nervous. Something was wrong, with her. She ran all the diagnostics checks she had, tried to reprogram herself and she even deleted some files she didn't need but the problem remained. She could no longer control her reactions when things happened, she would see strange images when she went into rest mode and some of her choices no longer followed the laws of logic at all.
She sought her own company for some days, tried to understand this and she slowly realized that she was developing some rouge programs, like Deetoo had. It made her rather frantic and she tried to reorganize her positronic brain but it didn't matter, the odd behavior continued and she had to admit that she no longer was in complete control of herself. She had developed feelings, true feelings and they made her vulnerable. An android shouldn't be able to have feelings, they ought to be pure logic but that was no longer the case for her. It confused her but she wondered if her survival programs did this. Without feelings there is no sense of self preservation and thus she would become even more vulnerable. So maybe it was a good thing after all, she even wondered if she was developing what the organic beings called a soul.
The landscape was beautiful enough and they did find food and shelter and built simple cabins but she always feared that the enemy would attack soon.
She wanted them to strike immediately to catch him off guard but Fingolfin didn't listen to that, he felt that they needed to rebuild their strength and then attack. Fleeing south would be cowardly and he wanted the enemy to know they were there. CeKay knew that this could spell trouble and she tried to understand their determination. Then one day scouts returned telling of other elves near a lake and some of them seemed to be noldor too. Fingolfin and his sons immediately prepared to ride out and meet them, it could hardly be anyone else than his brother's host and CeKay did see that this did make them all rather nervous. She chose to follow them and got a horse so she could ride, she had a feeling that she would need to monitor this meeting.
The group left early in the morning after a very swift breakfast and the weather was grey and foggy as it usually was in this area. CeKay did see how tense Fingolfin was, how he fought both rage and fear and how he also longed to see his kin once more, even if he had been abandoned and betrayed. They rode rather hard and CeKay was allowed to ride among Fingolfin's nearest and most trusted friends. She felt a bit honored by this show of trust but she knew that he had some hidden motifs. If the other elves turned hostile she could protect him.
They met the first of the other group on a hill near the lake, it was a small group of warriors and they had probably known that the group was coming for they were obviously waiting. Fingolfin stopped his horse and stared at them, they wore armor and were heavily armed but the signs they were wearing were not his brother's. He dismounted and the warriors did bow their heads as a sign of respect but that was all they did, none did move and they did look a bit as if they were in distress. Fingolfin had removed his helmet and he did see that they recognized him. He held his chin high, refused to let his emotions get the best of him. "You know who I am, who is your master?"
The warriors looked as if they had problems finding the words. "Our master is the high king of the noldor, Canafinwë Fëanorion"
CeKay did see that Fingolfin froze. " Maglor?! But, my brother?"
The leader of the warriors bowed his head. "He died in the first battle, when we arrived here. He was slain by balrogs. Maedhros took the title and Morgoth wanted to parley and invited him to a meeting. He was betrayed and captured. Now his brother is our leader and king."
The warrior looked as if he was ready to see if Fingolfin wanted to challenge Maglor's right to the title but Fingolfin just blinked, too stunned to really react. CeKay did see that Fingon had gotten completely pale and his eyes were enormous. "Have they made no attempt at finding him? Have his own brother's abandoned him?"
The warrior made a grimace. "We cannot risk the lives of many to save just one, it is just the way it is. We don't like it, but Maglor has ordered that nobody tries to rescue him. We cannot risk that Morgoth is provoked into a new attack. We are not strong enough to fight an all-out war, not yet"
Fingolfin managed to pull himself together, CeKay could see the disappointment in his eyes but also his grief and she knew that he had loved his half brother and even admired him, in spite of everything. "Then take us to the king, I wish to lay eyes on my kin once more."
The warriors gathered around them and Fingon tilted his head. "Have you met any elves living in these lands or have Morgoth eradicated all of those who refused to take the great journey?"
The leader of the warriors looked at him, he appeared to be almost puzzled. "There are many groups of elves who remain here, we have interacted with some of them. The Sindar is the strongest and then we have many less civilized tribes, spread far and wide. Morgoth is an enemy to all so they have been fighting his forces for all these years."
CeKay listened to the conversation and stored everything that was said, so there were more primitive tribes out there? And they knew these lands better than the group she followed, it had to be taken into consideration. The leader continued. "We have split up into groups, following the sons of our king, claiming land and trying to make a home for ourselves."
Fingolfin bowed his head. " We will of course respect your borders, and try not to settle on land already claimed"
The leader just grunted. "The orcs are everywhere, you cannot be safe unless you build strong walls. We are working on fortresses but we have made camp by the lake for now. Follow me"
The soldiers started walking and the group took their horses by the reins and walked, not to look too haughty. CeKay did see that these other elves were a bit shocked by the fact that Fingolfin was there, but they had known that the elves following him had entered this land. She realized that they probably had scouts too, and they were better at this than the elves from Aman. They had to be locals, able to go undetected. They walked for a while and the lake appeared in front of them. It was a huge camp there, tents, simple corrals with horses in them, cooking pits, dogs scurrying around and some elves had gathered outside of the camp itself and they did look different from the ones CeKay had become used to. They wore leather and simple fabrics dyed in natural colors, their weapons did look rather crude and yet efficient and they had painted themselves and decorated their bodies with what had to be tattoos. Even their jewelry spoke of an entirely different culture and they had a sort of vivid energy to them CeKay found very fascinating.
The language she heard was new to her, and she saw that there indeed were several different tribes present. Some of the elves there were very tall and mostly blonde but not as blonde as those who were of Finarfin's blood. They had more of a silver color to their hair and bright blue or green eyes, and they moved with a sort of arrogant elegance. Their clothing was more elaborate and they did remind her more of the Noldor than the other tribes, they had some of the same high culture for sure. The other tribes were darker of hair and eyes, not as tall and they were obviously not used to huge gatherings of elves. They seemed more wild and reckless and the small groups appeared to be controlled by one individual each. She did see both females and males among them and everybody carried weapons. So these people seemed to regard females too as capable warriors.
The noldor present became aware of the small group which approached the camp and some gathered, she saw that they were curious and others were not that friendly, she sensed it. It was obvious in their eyes and the way they acted and she felt a quick surge of something akin to anger. Turgon walked close to her, he held his eyes down and whispered. "Some of Fêanor's people shared his insane ideas, that my father was out to usurp him, and that everybody of our house and Finarfin's were after the throne, and his father's approval and love."
CeKay tried to understand the situation, she tilted her head. " I see, the struggle for power can be nasty yes?"
Turgon nodded. "Father never wanted to replace him, never wanted to challenge him in any way but Morgoth poisoned his mind and made him suspicious and a little mad I think. He stopped trusting anyone except his sons"
She had learned a lot about human psychology, these elves were quite similar in many ways and she realized that the prince in fact described someone who suffered from severe paranoia. Turgon continued with a sad voice. "If they become violent then do flee my lady, you shouldn't risk your safety. But Fêanor was the brightest mind of us all, the most inventive one, the one thinking in a whole new manner. Maybe he was too smart after all"
She knew that the line between genius and insanity sometimes is very thin indeed, perhaps Turgon was right and this Morgoth had seen that Fêanor was balancing on a razors edge and gave him a small push in the wrong direction. "Fear not for me, I can protect myself"
Turgon nodded. "Yes, but don't let them fool you in any way, they will probably see you as something they may use for their own benefit, if you let them see your potential"
She took a deep breath, they were entering the camp and there were elves all around them, she felt a bit trapped but fought the feeling. "So. Who is who of these sons of Fëanor?"
Turgon kept his voice low. "The high king now is Maglor, he is the second of his sons. He is dark of hair and grey of eyes and a minstrel, gentle of mind and the most mellow of them I think."
She looked ahead and saw that some very tall elves stood by an elaborately decorated tent, waiting for them. Turgon swallowed. "Caranthir, beside him Celegorm, he is the blonde one. The third one is Curufin, named after his father. He is the spitting image of Fëanor but nowhere near as smart and a bit unpredictable. Behind him is Celebrimbor, his son"
CeKay saw that a very young male stood behind the rather handsome elf, he looked a bit coltish and couldn't be fully grown yet, He did look curious and innocent, not hardened like the rest. Turgon made a discreet gesture. "The two redheads by that saddle rack over there are the youngest, Amrod and Amras, we called them the Ambarussa. They are hunters, as are Celegorm."
She did see that the two were fully grown, yet their energy was youthful and they wore leather and little metal protection. Ideal for a hunter. The other three stared at the group with narrow eyes and the one called Caranthir had a sneer around his mouth, CeKay didn't like him, there was something about that one that sort of triggered her protective instincts. Celegorm too felt wrong in a way, there was something fey in his eyes and he reminded her of a feral animal in need of a strong hand to rule and control it. Fingolfin bowed his head, touched his hand to his chest in a respectful greeting and he tried to smile. "I am saddened by the loss of your father"
Celegorm scoffed. "We are not swayed by pretty words, father called thee useless baggage and you will never be more, nor will those whelps of yours"
Turgon tensed up. CeKay sensed it and put a hand to his back, discretely. He relaxed and Fingolfin didn't let the words affect him. " I wish to speak to the high king, or is that forbidden?"
Caranthir shook his shoulders. "No, it is not. Just go ahead but do show him the right amount of respect"
There was a threat hidden within those words and CeKay tried to look harmless. She saw that Fingolfin turned around and caught her eyes. "Come with me"
She nodded and walked up to him and Celegorm stared at her, there was something odd in his eyes. "So little time away from your spouse and you have already taken a new whore? "
Fingolfin tensed a few seconds, then he just smiled. "She is a friend, only that"
Celegorm tilted his head, his eyes seemed glued to her chest and CeKay could smell the pheromones coming from the tall silvery blond male. "Really? She haven't opened her legs for you? Too bad, she looks like she could need to be tamed"
CeKay felt a need to scoff but she kept her face neutral, this male was trying to provoke them, to cause a reaction. She wouldn't give him one. An elf in a sort of uniform opened the tent and they entered. Only Fingolfin and CeKay was allowed inside and they saw that a tall dark haired male sat behind a desk. He looked up as they entered and a look of relief was visible on his face. He got up and nodded, the tent was closed and he walked over and embraced Fingolfin, it was a heartfelt hug and CeKay realized that he was very different from his brothers. " Uncle, my heart weeps with joy, I feared that you all were lost"
Fingolfin closed his eyes and hugged the other one back, he looked rather emotional. "Many were lost on the way, too many. But we are here now"
Maglor seemed to struggle with the words. "I am so sorry, father….he burned the ships, he thought he was strong enough to seek his vengeance alone, to reclaim the jewels. He was wrong"
Fingolfin swallowed hard. "Where is he buried? I wish to pay my respects"
Maglor stared at the ground, he did look very sad. "There is no grave, his body burned to ashes the moment his fëa left it."
Fingolfin gasped and CeKay did see tears on his cheeks. " Oh Eru, how did he die?"
Maglor looked tense, grief stricken. "He got surrounded by balrogs, had charged ahead alone and got separated from the rest of us."
Fingolfin was fidgeting with his sleeve. "What is a balrog?"
Maglor shuddered. "A demon, a huge monster of Morgoth, a burning creature with a burning sword and a whip and they are horrible."
Fingolfin let out a small whimper and CeKay saw the tears flowing down his cheeks. "We haven't seen any of those, just…just orcs and trolls"
Maglor tensed up. "You have fought the enemy already?"
Fingolfin nodded. "Yes, we were attacked. My son…my son Argon, he fell"
Maglor closed his eyes. "Oh uncle, I am so sorry, I am so so sorry. He was such a good young ellon"
CeKay sensed that his grief and empathy was real, it wasn't fake nor false and she wished that she could have saved the young elf but losses were inevitable. Maglor held Fingolfin's arms in a tight grip. "But you were victorious?"
Fingolfin nodded and made a grimace. "Yes, we did win, but we did suffer losses and as of now we wish to seek our vengeance, but we need to strengthen our forces and get better weapons. The tribes you have encountered, who are they really? Are they all friendly?"
Maglor pulled a chair out from underneath the desk and to CeKay's surprise he didn't offer it to his uncle but to her, she shook her head. "I can stand, thank you"
Maglor stared at her and he did look curious but he didn't ask who she was and he continued. " Most are, but we have come across some of the avari who refuse to speak to us and just disappear. The Sindar have a great kingdom to the south called Doriath, it is ruled by Elwe, now he calls himself Elu Thingol and he rules with his queen Melian, she is a maia. They have a daughter Luthien and they have been polite but curt. He is afraid we will interfere with his rule, or draw the attention of our enemy towards his realm."
Fingolfin looked shocked. "Elwe? He was a friend of grandfather, almost a brother. Surely he won't be hostile against Finwë's descendants?"
Maglor shrugged. " Oh if he finds out about the kinslaying and the rest of the mess he will be, they say he is very proud and rather controlling and he is powerful too. He has many good warriors. The sindar do rival our skill and surpass them too. My brothers and many others regard these other elves as Moriquendi and inferior to us but I do not. They are tough as old leather and they know the land and the enemy better than us. When they say that Angband cannot be attacked I believe them. "
Fingolfin looked thoughtful. "The iron hill. A menacing name"
Maglor nodded. "Indeed, and many have been captured and brought there to serve as slaves or worse, few have returned"
Fingolfin made a grimace. "My son…he took the news of your brother rather hard. "
Maglor sighed. "I expected that yes, I know of …the way they felt. Here such things are accepted, I have seen many same gender couples. Too bad that happiness was stolen from them."
Fingolfin looked down. "You have forbidden anyone from looking for him? He is your brother damn it!"
Maglor nodded and there were shadows in his eyes. "Yes, I have forbidden it. I cannot risk that the enemy gets yet another hostage to play with. Do I regret it? Yes, I lay every night unable to sleep, thinking of my brother's torment and I pray, I pray and pray that he is dead and his soul safe but the oath binds us and I fear that he is forever lost to us all"
CeKay heard the stress in the king's voice, the fear and the sorrow and she did pity him. To be a king was to take unpleasant decisions all the time. Decisions which could be painful but had to be made nonetheless. Maglor made a gesture. "My brother's think that we ought to keep you out of our business, that we ought to chase you off and let the orcs finish you all. They didn't take the loss of father very well"
Fingolfin nodded. "I understand, they always followed Fëanor and agreed with him"
Maglor sighed and brushed some hair out of his face, the circlet he was wearing did look very expensive but CeKay could see that it only made him uncomfortable. "I wonder if it is possible for someone to love their parents too much, if some part of them, the best part, did die with father. They have acted like someone possessed since he died, I do not trust them even if I do love them. They have gone…feral"
Fingolfin nodded. "I saw that, in their eyes. Celegorm in special"
Maglor nodded slowly. "The ambarussa are not so bad, they are more reasonable, not so mad. The oath rides the rest of us and it rides them hard, gives them no rest, no reprieve. I wish to let it rest but they can't."
Fingolfin looked a bit pale. "The oath will bring ruin upon you all"
Maglor let out a low sigh. "It already has, we were mad when we swore like our father, caught by that bright flame that was his personality, drawn to it like moths to the flame."
Fingolfin closed his eyes. " We saw the light from the burning ships, it was….devastating"
Maglor nodded. "Yes, but tell your son…Maedhros did step aside, he didn't approve of it and he asked to go and fetch Fingon. He was almost ready to defy his father"
Fingolfin tried to smile. " I will tell him, he will appreciate this."
Maglor pointed towards a table in the middle of the tent. "I have a map, it is simple but it shows the lay of the land. Please, do take a look at it."
Fingolfin walked over and CeKay stayed by his side, the map was indeed a bit crude but it did show them the land pretty well. There were few details but CeKay did store it in her memory and saw that Maglor had divided it into separate sections. "We have tried to come up with a strategy, to find a way to weaken our enemy. It is tough, he is the master of great armies and he has countless monsters."
CeKay stared at the map, the fortress was marked off and the mountains surrounding it was drawn in a peculiar style. "Are those volcanoes?"
Maglor nodded, he was very curious but his upbringing prevented him from being impolite and asking her who she was. "Yes, they are. The whole area is a desert of ashes and death, nothing lives there."
CeKay stared at the drawing, trying to make plans. "Nothing to live off then, nowhere to grow any crops, no game to hunt."
Maglor nodded. "The orcs raid far and wide, they have tormented the moriquendi for ages."
She tilted her head. "Morgoth was captive in Aman for ages? Who kept his fortress up?"
Maglor frowned. "His loyal servant, the maia named Mairon, now he is known as Sauron, or Gorthaur"
CeKay sighed, two enemies to fight instead of one. "A siege is the only way, and yet that will be almost impossible. I saw the enemy's warriors, they are many and they are ruthless, they fight with no honor nor rules. Neither can you"
Maglor frowned. "You do know the ways of battle my lady. "
She grinned, a thin smile. " I was made to fight my lord, it is my …sole reason to exist."
Maglor did look a bit confused and CeKay didn't say anything more, she felt that the truth about her was something people should be presented with slowly. He bowed his head. "We too have thought of the same my lady, but we have not yet managed to come up with a useable strategy. We simply lack information and the orcs we have interrogated won't tell us much, nor will they break under torture and speak."
She took a deep breath. " I already know a lot, but if you could catch someone of importance, say an officer, I could try to get some information out of that being"
The two elves looked a bit aghast. "We do not like to torture living beings my lady, not even an orc. "
CeKay made a grimace. "I know, and believe me, neither do I but sometimes it may be needed. What you need to do is lure him out of his fortress, make him send his forces forth and then destroy them, weaken him and make him doubt himself."
Maglor raised an eyebrow. "And how do you suppose we manage that? "
She grinned, a vicious grin. "By pretending as if you fear no attack, by being sitting ducks in a pond. If he thinks you have your focus somewhere else he will strike, and then you close the trap"
Maglor was thinking hard. " It will take time to get ready for such a strategy."
She shrugged. "Yes, and in the meanwhile you will suffer many small attacks from the orcs, and you will struggle with the environment, with the building of strongholds and the raising of more horses and growing of crops. It will be tough, but it may work"
Fingolfin had watched her with narrow eyes. "You are right, if we appear to be weak he will see that his chance has come, how do we hide our true strength?"
She stared at him, her chin up. "By not hiding it at all, he will be looking for hidden clues and be blind to the things that are obvious. If you are paranoid and controlling you think all others are the same way"
Maglor nodded slowly. "You are right. I will tell the others. "
CeKay tilted her head. "Then tell them the strategy was your idea, they will not believe that something a female came up with will work, and absolutely not a female from Fingolfin's host"
Maglor sent her a swift and sad grin. "You remind me of mother, very strong but always willing to back down and make herself seem demure and smaller than she really was, not to hinder father. She was the only one who could tame him, too bad she failed in the end."
CeKay smiled softly. "I am sorry to hear that. Make many strongholds, spread out but stay in touch, and prepare for the day when you can take back what is yours."
Maglor cocked his head, staring at her. "You are wise my lady, and yet, I have no recollection of having seen you in Aman? Are you a vanya? A teler?"
CeKay shook her head. "No, and I am not of Aman"
Maglor frowned and Fingolfin hid a smirk, he wasn't going to say anything unless she did. He pointed at the map. "Do tell me where my people can settle down, and where the enemy has his strongholds"
Maglor nodded and showed him on the map and Fingolfin made notes of it. The land was good in some ways and in other ways not, it suited the hunters and gatherers but it wasn't ideal for large settlements and CeKay wished that she had known more about the ecology of this planet. She would have to speak to some of the natives, to hear what they had to tell her. Everything could be of importance, absolutely everything.
Maglor hugged Fingolfin yet again and bowed his head and they walked out of the tent together, CeKay made sure to walk behind Fingolfin, most probably thought she was a servant, perhaps his personal butler or scribe or something like that. Celegorm and Caranthir still stood where they had when the two entered the tent and Celegorm still stared at her, he even whistled as she walked by but she didn't even look at him. That elf did make her feel uncomfortable, her programming telling her that he couldn't be trusted, that he was unpredictable and possibly a bit mad.
Turgon and Fingon stood by the horses, talking to a noldo wearing some rather nice robes, he appeared to be answering questions and he did look a bit eager. Some sindar elves stood nearby, they were paying close attention to the conversation. Fingolfin shook Maglor's hand once more and mounted his horse, so did CeKay. She wasn't used to letting herself being carried by such beasts yet and she had to go through her entire library of files to find information about cultures who still lived in such a pre-technological state. Sadly there was little to be found, the backside of coming from a place where everything relied upon high tech.
Fingolfin nodded and they rode off and CeKay did see that Maglor stared after them, his face told of melancholy and sorrow and she found that she had liked him. They followed a well used track before they turned towards their own camp and Fingolfin turned in the saddle. "We will move our camp to the north of this lake, they call it lake Mithrim by the way."
Fingon rode next to his father now and he was very quiet, his face a bit drawn and his eyes dark. CeKay could almost smell his grief and shock and Fingolfin reached out, touched his knee. "Son, Maedhros didn't approve of the burning of the ships, he thought his father would send them back for us until the last minute."
Fingon sort of whimpered. "He did? Oh why couldn't it have been one of the others who got caught by the enemy? Why the most noble of them all?"
CeKay frowned,, so this Maedhros was the best of the lot? Well, at least Fingon thought so and she knew that this emotion called love can twist your perception pretty much but he had to have some qualities. But he had also been horribly naïve to agree upon a meeting with the enemy and she already knew that these elves were very unfamiliar with the very concept of evil. She suspected that the locals were not, and perhaps they were better suited at fighting this war. Fingon continued. "I cannot bare to think of him, being a prisoner, possibly dead. My heart aches for answers father"
Fingolfin sighed. "I know, but we have to respect Maglor in this. If our groups are to co-operate in any way we cannot make enemies right away."
Fingon scoffed. "Enemies? Oh but didn't you see Caranthir and Curufin? They don't trust us further than they can toss us father, and Celegorm? He looked as if he was ready to slit some throats, there and then. He ought to be the one suffering in Angband, not Maedhros"
CeKay had to grin a bit, but she had seen through that handsome blonde elf. He would have cracked under pressure and cracked fast too. He appeared to be very strong and very determined but in truth he was the opposite, he wore a mask the entire time and that made you very vulnerable. She felt the same about the two others, having lost their father meant that they had lost their strength and their reason to be. You could really love your parents too much, she saw that now. Odd this connection mammals made with their offspring. She couldn't truly understand it.
They rode hard for a couple of hours and were crossing an open area between some ragged cliffs when CeKay suddenly stopped her horse. She had smelled something on the wind, very faintly but there. A sort of scorched burned scent with a hint of Sulphur in it. Fingolfin stopped his horse too, stared at her. "What is it?"
She dismounted, put a hand to the exposed bedrock and felt it, a very vague vibration, the sound of many feet moving as one. "Turn back, ride along the ridges and then follow the river back to the camp. There is an army of orcs ahead of us, if you continue you will ride straight into them. We are not many enough to fight"
The tall ellon licked his lips, looking nervous. "The camp?"
CeKay concentrated on the rhythm and the sound. "They are moving this way, they won't attack the camp. "
Fingolfin nodded and turned his horse. "You heard her, we ride south again, along the cliffs. Everybody, keep your eyes open."
CeKay tossed the reins of her horse to Fingon. "With your permission, I would like to stay and see if I can snatch some information"
Fingolfin frowned. " Are you sure about this?"
She nodded. " I am, worry not, I will be safe"
Fingolfin tried to smile. "Alright, make sure you are. "
She grinned and nodded again, feeling a slight excitement. Finally she got to do something again. They rode off and she remained for a few minutes, then she ran off towards the cliffs and entered her camouflage mode. To her worry she used longer time entering it than usual and she got a bit nervous. Was something wrong? She hid among the boulders and knew that nobody could see her now, she just had to wait. Fortunately she didn't have to wait for long, she heard rough voices and the sounds of creaking armor and feet against the ground and she could smell them too. A very disgusting scent of rotten meat, sweat and something she couldn't even identify.
She felt that her systems got ready, in case of emergency she would be able to fight now. She listened, the language was very guttural and ugly and not very developed and she had to frown. You could hear how primitive these beings were just by listening to them.
They came into view, a huge group of orcs, armed and ready for fight, among them were some trolls and a few other creatures too, small and lanky and not very pretty at all. These had to be what the elves called goblins. They were scurrying all over the place and didn't seem to have that much discipline. CeKay had seen something akin to them, on a planet the Talgmarians had ruined, it had been the mutated descendants of the original people inhabiting the place. Then something else came into view, the orcs sort of kept a distance and CeKay just stared. It was massive, at least fifteen feet high and very broad and it moved with a sort of powerful elegance that contradicted the bulkiness of the body. It had a wide head with huge horns and tiny deep eyes and the bodyshape was humanoid although too stocky for any human.
The really horrible thing was that the creature seemed to be on fire, flames licked along the skin, reached out through cracks in it and seemed to form almost a mane along its head and spine and CeKay knew that this was a balrog. It had to be. It wore a sword and a whip as they had been told and it had to be a horrible opponent. Heat rose from it, made the air shiver and she could feel it, how could it even exist? What sort of creature produced that much heat? Not even she could do that, did it have some sort of thermal reactor too? No, that was impossible. There were no such things in this world and she started to realize that there were a lot of things she yet didn't know. What the elves called magic was one of those things for sure. It had to be some fort of energy, capable of changing matter and other energies just by the will of the user and she got very curious but also scared. Such powers could never be underestimated, that was for darn sure. She stared at the balrog, it was terrifying but it had to have a weakness of some sorts. It was alive after all, living beings can perish.
She was so caught up by the balrog she didn't notice that a goblin came scurrying through the layer of boulders and it almost collided with her. She was camouflaged but the thing stopped and sniffed and she just knew it, the creature would find her. She did smell of horse and leather and she had been close to other smelly substances too and the goblin opened its mouth and shrieked something. The orcs immediately grasped their weapons and CeKay swore to herself. She reached out and grasped the goblin by the throat, crushed its neck with one swift move and she saw only one way out of this mess, and that was to flee between the cliffs, where the balrog stood. The orcs knew something was there, probably an elf and they had arrows ready, she didn't want them to see her and she didn't want to reveal her true nature so she stayed in camouflage but crept closer to the opening and the balrog.
The huge thing was sniffing, its short nose vibrating and it was growling, not very intelligent? Or perhaps she was wrong, there was some sort of intelligence in the burning gaze and she knew it was way stronger than anybody could have guessed. But fire has one opposite and that is cold and she took a deep breath and knew she had one chance at this. She could reverse her thermal reactor, and create immense cold instead of heat. It was dangerous and could harm her but it was the only way out of this trap. She sent forth some nanites to create a distraction and allowed her right arm to transform into a blade, long and slightly curved and then she cooled it down. It was close to absolute zero as she let the nanites pry some rocks lose from the scree. The sound of the falling rocks made all the orcs turn around and then she attacked.
She was fast, nobody would be able to see more than a few blurred movements even if she hadn't been in camouflage mode, and her blade pierced through the balrogs skin, penetrated deep into the body and the result was an explosion of steam and smoke. The balrog screamed, a terrible high pitched shriek and fell backwards, clawing at the gaping wound in its chest and CeKay was already on the other side of it, making a new cut along its spine. The balrog spun around and for a few brief seconds a shape was visible in the smoke before it disappeared. The balrog was wounded but not dead, the wounds closing themselves off but it had seen the shape and felt the scent of it and anger simmered within its soul. Whatever this creature was, he wanted vengeance.
CeKay ran and kept running until she had put several miles between herself and the balrog. She swallowed and rested, feeling oddly frail. The power surging through that being had been mighty, it had been dark and dangerous and very odd and yet she knew it could harm her. This magic, it could be her undoing. It wasn't like any energy she had ever encountered before and she now knew that she had to come up with some sort of defense against it soon, before they were to encounter anyone capable of wielding this mysterious force for it could probably destroy her, as nothing else could!
