Author's Note: So guess what happened to me only a few hours after I posted the previous update about roaches. Yep, we saw another one. In fact, it was only a foot from my bed where I was peacefully sleeping, and had it not been for my valiant roommate, it surely would have slain my sanity right there and then. It is currently trapped underneath a plunger in the bathroom (no, I don't know when we'll deal with it). I don't think I'll write that one into a chapter since the battle was technically that of my roomie, but it very well could have ended me. Anyway, here's the tale of Finals; I hope you all can relate (or do I?). Be sure to review!

. . .

You know, the orcs didn't even need to contribute to Finals week; that alone would have probably been too much for poor Estel. However, orcs are not moved to pity, even when the subject of their torment is as pathetic as the writer in question. So it was that they used their new best friend—the Internet—to find out where Thalion's college was. Then they plotted their most evil plan yet and put it into action.

When the last of Estel's amazing professors exited the school building for the day, Snaga 1 led his companions stealthily through the campus. Most of the doors were locked, but one of them had been left slightly ajar, and the orcs took advantage of the opening, desecrating the holy place with their filthy presence. They slunk through the halls, making lots of noise as they yelled at each other to be quiet. But the place was indeed empty, and no one was there to stop their plot.

"How do we know which professors teach the writer-scum?" Snaga 3 demanded.

"We don't," answered Snaga 2. "We'll just rig all of them."

Thalion wishes to here state how profusely sorry she is to all students in her college. Their Finals suffering is due to the attack aimed solely at her; maybe it's best if you just stay away from her at all costs. That would be the safest course of action, anyway.

So, the orcs went about their great work of evil. Going into every professor's office, the horrible servants of Sauron hacked into all the computers and pulled up the test review documents. In order to keep their work from being noticed, they didn't add complete nonsense to the study guides. However, with the help of some lecture notes, the orcs tripled the size of the reviews, requiring students to spend three times the effort in filling them out and studying them.

"This'll drive her crazy for sure," Snaga 1 said with an evil grin as he added the fortieth question to the Biblical Theology study guide. "And the teacher will only require her to answer three or four of these on the exam!"

Snaga 2 and 3 joined their companion as he saved the document and stood up. "Are they all ready?" he asked his comrades.

"Yes," Snaga 3 confirmed. "There's no way in Arda that she'll have time to complete all the stuff I added before the test."

"Not to mention that she will have to do it for five classes at once," Snaga 2 added, cackling cruelly. "Maybe we should come back here and change her grades, too."

Snaga 1 gave his own gargled laugh as he led his fellow orcs out of the building. "I doubt we'll need to."

As a matter of fact, Thalion partially dodged this attempt to make her insane. Of course, she should have utterly perished under the strain of these studies. And indeed, she only missed that crushing pressure by a narrow margin. But the orcs were not familiar with either the existence or power of memes, nor of Estel's ability to be insane by choice in desperate situations but then shove this away in public. So while she was crazy during that week, it was only an upgraded version of her normal insanity, not a clinical condition.

Prompted by funny memes from students and volunteering muses to assist with studying, Thalion lived up to her namesakes and completed the unbelievably difficult task before her, conquering her fears and her finals with surprising skill. She wasn't confident that her grades would all be perfect, but she was pretty sure that she would pass all her classes.

"I just don't understand why we had to do so many questions for one final!" the writer panted after coming back to the apartment and flopping down on her bed. "Now I can't do or think about anything except theology."

One of Thalion's roommates giggled knowingly. "Finals always leave a scar."

"Well, that's just swell," Estel answered with a groan. "I'm going to have do them so many more times! How ever will I manage it?"

And so came the Christmas break. Estel was eager to be home, and it never crossed her mind that all her troubles so far had been due to a band of orcs. If she had been at least slightly suspicious, she might have been more cautious and less optimistic. For as it turned out, the orcs found out about her success and decided to go through with Snaga 2's suggestion and change all her grades.

If the orcs had been unhindered in this endeavor, you can be assured that Thalion would have totally lost it and gone completely insane. But even though her feeble little mind was too simple to suspect anything, one of her most common muse visitors was not so dense. Aragorn knew more about orcs than any other man alive, and he could tell from Estel's life that evil was afoot.

So it was that he made it his business to protect Thalion's grades at all costs. For if she lost her head, who would write awesome stories featuring none other than the heir of Isildur? He stood on the balcony area at the back of the school, positioning himself so that the wind and moonlight gave him an appearance as regal as possible. This may not have been the most stealthy approach, but when the orcs arrived, they were not wise enough to look for witnesses.

"Hurry up," Snaga 1 growled. "This place gives me the creeps [a term that, for orcs, means something is so beautiful or holy that it goes completely against their nature]."

"Maybe we should burn it to the ground," Snaga 3 said. "That would drive the foolish girl nuts for sure."

"And get the police on our tails?" Snaga 2 countered. "Thinking isn't your job or skill, so just shut your trap and come on."

The orcs' argument was then interrupted by the dramatically awesome sound of a sword being unsheathed. Quickly looking for the source, the slaves of Sauron soon spotted the figure who was now descending a staircase to the ground level, his cloak flapping behind him.

"Be gone, foul creatures," he declared with authority.

No orc would turn down a fight if they outnumbered the opponents on normal terms. But Anduril gleamed cold and dangerous in the night's darkness, and the fell face of the challenger was enough to make the orcs pull back in fear. Yes, they had a mission to accomplish, but they could finish it just as easily with a different plot. And Sauron would never know they had run so long as none of them died on the way out.

So it was that the orcs, though issuing cries of anger and hatred, fled away from the scene. Aragorn chased them from the building, past a parking lot, and into the woods where the servants of darkness disappeared. The ranger, for which Estel is exceedingly grateful, remained vigilant around the campus for a good while after the orcs had left. However, he did not encounter them again.

They had decided to pursue the writer to Texas.

. . .

Thank the Valar for muses! So my first semester ended on a fairly high note, despite all the craziness that occurred therein. I have one more story/chapter that's finished, and then I'll be caught up to the present. And then…only Eru knows. Please leave me some feedback; I could use some reviews while I'm recovering from the cockroach encounter.