"You will serve!" Celebrimbor's form demanded as he burned his mark into the warchief's flesh.
The bulky, dual axe wielding uruk continued to kneel as he slowly nodded. "I'm yours to command, master."
"Return to your outpost until I tell you otherwise." Talion ordered. The warchief obeyed and returned to the western-most collection of ruins that served as a command post for the uruks.
"Just three remain." The Ring-smith informed his ranger counterpart.
Sheathing Urfael, the former captain began walking towards the southern base where the statue of Sauron now lay in ruins. "I still find it hard to believe we need an army this large to defeat one man."
"Whatever he is, Jason is not a man." The elf interjected. "Unless that is, you know another of your kind who could possibly wreak such havoc inside an uruk stronghold?"
"Myself." He answered with a light chuckle.
"But although your form resembles a man, men are mortal. You however…"
"Are banished from death, yes Celebrimbor." Talion declared with a loud sigh, exhausted by his compatriot's constant reminder that no matter how many times his enemies struck him down, he would rise again and again. "But this Jason has yet to be killed. Perhaps he is just immune to pain."
At this statement, Celebrimbor wondered how the civilization of man had lasted as long as they had. They knew basic military formations and had brute strength, but that was about it. "No. Because if you recall, his mother said that Jason had already been killed by another uruk."
"Yes… 'He will only kill more like you.' That's what she said?" A nod of affirmation was the reply. "So he's killing out of revenge then, not unlike ourselves."
The conversation would've continued, but they arrived at their destination and needed to focus on the task at hand. After a few minutes of debating, Ranger and Wraith agreed it would be better if they recruited the warchief's bodyguard due to his poisonous sword, deft movements and the fact that he was brother to another warchief on their list.
"Interesting…" Celebrimbor announced as they observed from a distance after luring out the warchief and the Bright Lord's target.
"What is?" Talion replied, trying to remain focused.
"The bodyguard appears to be part of the dark tribe."
"Tribe?"
"Yes, the uruks appear to have split themselves into nine factions and are occupying the fortresses of Mordor." Talion decided to let his friend talk as he leapt from the watchtower where he'd be observing the arrival of the warchief and landed twenty feet in front of the group of three.
"Tark!" A deep voice belonging to the warchief Flak face-eater shouted. "Well, well, well. Looks like some more meat for the slaughter, boys!" Talion's target, Olrok the Arbiter laughed and grinned maliciously while the final one, a drunk named Kruk squinted and tried to keep his grip on his blade.
"Meat? Where-where's thu meat? I'm hungry. And-and thirsty." He slurred out. Talion allowed the Olrok and his boss to charge while Kruk stumbled behind completely wasted out of his mind. It could hardly be considered combat when he used Celebrimbor's power of the shadow to move to his location, strike Kruk to the ground with the back of his hand and drag Acharn across his neck, blood spewing freely onto the ground and Dirhael's blade. Kruk's death drove Flak into a wild rage as he struck with both shield and pike towards Talion, only for him to fire three arrows into his skull, disorienting him severely. Olrok remained unfazed as he sprinted then slid behind Talion before taking a slash with his blade, only nicking his flesh.
"You fight well, for an orc." Talion declared as he smirked.
To his surprise, the uruk smirked back before replying. "And you stand well for a man who's just been poisoned." The man's heart rate skyrocketed as he remembered the blade's nearly fatal trait. It just made it that much more difficult as Olrok went on the offensive, sheathing his sword and drawing two smaller, curved blades that hung from his hips. Unable to see most of the strikes, three out of four managed to land, causing Talion to lose blood extremely quickly. With all his focus on Olrok, both the Ranger and Wraith had forgotten about his boss who then stabbed him in the stomach, causing them to kneel. Flak then shook his head as he let go of his shield and raised the pike, ready to deliver the fatal blow.
"I can't wait to do this again." He declared with a grin. Then, when the hit was supposed to arrive, it was not Talion who let out a dying groan, but Flak himself when a crossbow bolt struck his unprotected heart. Astonished, Talion looked around to see the first warchief they'd recruited since arriving in Udun standing atop a watchtower over half a kilometre away with a wide grin, still aiming down his crossbow as he fired another bolt, this one going clean through Flak's skull, taking bone and brain matter with it.
The Bright Lord apparently weren't the only ones surprised as Olrok could only gawk as his boss was shot down and the opponent he had in the palm of his hand rise up and continue fighting. With the fight now three-on-one, he attempted to dodge bolts from the incredibly accurate orc and strikes from the enemy directly in front of him and failed miserably as a combined shot to the knee slowed him severely while Talion's sword scraping across his chest forced him to his knees.
Olrok chuckled as Talion decided his fate. "Not bad, I will admit." Celebrimbor converted him into their force and began healing his wounds. "It'll be an honor to fight by your side, master."
"Then fall back." They then looked to Skun, the marksman who saved the day. "Both of you." Skun gave another grin and a salute while Olrok strode off. Once they both departed, Celebrimbor phased next to the Ranger.
"It would seem as though our army is acknowledging our generosity."
"Yes…" Talion agreed. "We will need both their strength and loyalty in order to defeat Jason."
"As well as a variety of tactics." The Wraith chimed in.
"Indeed. The only ones we need are a hunter and defender."