Return of the Witch King
Chapter 10
"A...demon," the Witch King mused. He remembered learning of them from the old books, seeing one entrapped in an ancient palace with sigils even the One Ring could not make him understand.
His studies on the matter may have been sporadic, yet sufficient to understand the severity of the problem.
Demons were entities of a different order. Ordinary spells tended to entangle around them, without fully touching them. Something about the way they interacted with the material world. The Witch King thought he could dispose of a minion, or perhaps make sure abound demon does not escape. But a free demon, that was entirely a different matter
"I must admit to not being told of a demon. Necromancers, yes. Monsters, certainly. Formidable enemies, I was quite ready for. I suppose it makes sense now. My return from the dead had to be warranted by something. I just could not anticipate that. The Ring probably would know how to handle a demon, but as we don't have it at present...Would you have any ideas about where to look for pertinent demon lore, mighty Smaug?" the Wraith casually wondered.
Perhaps a dragon was better suited to understanding demons, he could accept that but did not wish to sound too hopeful this time. Growing dependent on another, even a well intended other could be taken as a sign of weakness after all.
"The only thing I recall of demon kind was the thing that struck ,me the most," Smaug said. "The thing that made me glad they were not seen on this Earth for some long time before my birth. The thing that made me never curious to see what a demon was like to encounter. That thing is that demons can eat...by draining away, one's very soul. One can never exist or be reborn ever again in such a case," the dragon pronounced.
Then because dragons did not become frightened and hide themselves away, he continued to carefully delve into the orc child's mind to see what else he had seen. "This one appears recently arrived to this Earth and unfamiliar still with many of the life forms here. If we can discover a way to kill or at least entrap it," Smaug said, knowing this was likely a futile hope unless archaic knowledge were to spring from another well of knowledge that was not his own. "If this is not to be the case, perhaps we should instead make ourselves amenable to it," he suggested, reluctantly.
"The One Ring introduced me to several places of old. Replete with tomes of knowledge or powerful artifacts, but my impression is that most of them are now gone from Arda. Even had they been preserved, it seems fairly difficult to work around my soul being drained.
I think the second option might be our best choice, but what would a demon want from us? I suppose it could make use of powerful minions but can it truly trust our good intentions? Even if it decided to use us, would it not need to place some binding spells on us, or our souls, to ensure our loyalty? Between the Udun and the demon, I could almost miss my Dark Master and his predictable machinations," the Witch King of Angmar admitted with some sarcasm.
Smaug hated to admit he felt trapped. Especially after being run under a volcano because of the stupid dwarves whom he still planned to hunt down and kill as well as that accursed Arkenstone.
"In truth I would prefer to bind or banish the threat, but I hate to admit not knowing how. As I said, dragons never expected such creatures to ever show up here. They never had in so long their recollections were nearly considered myth."
And what if they had taken it more seriously? Could all near myths be taken seriously in the unlikely event they appeared to cause a problem? Perhaps they should've, Smaug silently decided. Futile though such an attempt may be. And even if said attempt was made, how could one simply manufacture information out of the air that was either lost or that they may never have had.
"If we could get close enough to the thing to spy on it, perhaps we could gain enough information on its weaknesses," he said thoughtfully, his mind working over the problem. "Our combined power is substantial to say the least. We could perhaps invent our own banishment or binding that would work if we learned enough of not only the weaknesses of this demon but even what it is made from if possible. For example the scales of a dragon can withstand fire where the soft skin of a human or elf or even hobbit, goblin or orc can not. So going after you lot with fire would be far more advantageous than it would be to do so when it comes to a dragon. If we can discover what materials this thing responds to, we would have more useful methods of attack to work destructive spells around."
The Witch King thoughtfully nodded. He never liked the unknown, that was it. He hated unknown spells when the elves used it. He disliked the Unfaithful in Numenor who practiced a strange new religion, because he did not understand it. Even his own death was somewhat mysterious, the enemy he'd anticipated the least managed to strike him down due to the surprise factor. The demonic presence, admittedly, had a similar effect on his senses.
But Smaug's reassurance helped a great deal. Forced to think in the right direction once again, the Nazgul slowly considered. "Yes, you are correct, mightiest of dragons. We shall go forth, not as weaklings, but as powers on Middle Earth. I have spells to make the winds tell me their secrets.
To spy through the eyes of and direct the will of Mordai flies. My alliance with the children of Shelob might even give me some advantage in uncovering information of relicts underneath. And there should be even more spells. Spells that due to my long life span I can barely remember.
I bet the One Ring taught me more secrets tan I even remember. I did not need to use any demonic lore so it is out of my mind. Now that I think about it though, I shall cast a memory spell over myself that will filter my memories based on relevance and unearth everything demonically related or even indirectly connected to the subject. The demon may think it understands us and controls us, but we might have some surprise in store for it yet," the Witch King vehemently declared, unhappy with his earlier reticence.
"Yes, spying with agents from afar, where your power can not be felt, is the only wise way," Smaug said, relieved to see the witch king understood what was and was not needed in this most foreign and delicate of situations. As the other had spoken, the dragon recalled another near forgotten fact of demon kind.
"I have just recalled another tidbit, though attempting to apply it to our situation without much more information which we must discover, could be our undoing so I strongly advise against it. It seems demons can be bound. When bound, they can be forced to serve the one or ones who have bound it. Binding it involves trapping it in some object. I recall wands being mentioned. The wizards of old, those of a darker nature, dabbled in such, and I believe this is why demons fled our Earth eventually."
The dragon brightened a little, at least internally, pleased to have recalled a little more that could be used. If they could find the right books, they at least had a more firm idea of what they were seeking.