Arial

Chapter 15

Losing Time

by Bethuviel

Disclaimer: The estate of J.R.R. Tolkien owns all recognizable characters from the works of literature encompassing The Lord of the Rings. I have received no compensation for any work I have written and/or published on this site.

Author's note: All reviews, whether critical or applauding are appreciated.

oOo

Saruman drifted effortlessly over the planes of Arda. He knew he was free from physical laws that bound him to his body, free from the laws directed by his masters on distant shores that bound him from using his full force and might to achieve his will on the beings of Middle Earth. His enjoyment was brief and his attitude soured as he felt himself being drawn back to his prison of flesh.

He was bitter in his heart. Why did he have to be chosen to come to the aide of the weak beings of Middle Earth? He had never wanted to come to this cursed place, much less bound in a suit of flesh that restricted his powers. Saruman knew that if he destroyed his fragile body, he in effect destroyed himself and he had no death wish. He and the other Maia's that had been sent to Middle Earth to help her inhabitants were all under the same constrainment. He despised it and those who had sent him.

Rejoined with his body, Saruman sat up. Instantly he remembered the predicament that he and all the races of Middle Earth faced. He looked up at the moon's position in the night sky and calculated how much time had been lost. Three hours. He grieved in his heart. He knew they had not the time to spare, and he hated even more the constraints of his body. He felt so limited in his abilities, crippled even.

He stood and walked over to Arial. She lay snoring in the middle of the road. He could have truly laughed if their situation were not so dire. Saruman poked the human with his staff. She did not respond. He grunted with amusement.

"Stupid human, wake up!" He rapped her across the middle of her body with his staff. His well of patience had run dry. "Wake up!" He growled.

Arial yelped, rolled over, and stood up wide-eyed. She turned slowly, looking for her attacker. Spying only Saruman, her sarcasm got the better of her. "Look here, rainbow man," she waved her hand through the air in a chopping motion, "Same team! Same team. Remember?" She bent down, picked up her bags and slung them over her sore shoulder.

"Yes," Saruman dragged the word over his tongue, "we are on the same team, little one. The fates of the worlds depend on us." He sighed. He wished his plot in life were anything but this. On the other hand, he was glad it did fall on his shoulders. Who else could be trusted with such a burden? The fanciful elves with their dreams of Valinor? Men, who liked sparkly jewelry and power? Or maybe the squat dwarves who lived in their caves, burrowing for treasure? Saruman grunted. He knew he could not rely on any other for their salvation. He straightened his shoulders and began a quick pace to the pass through the mountains.

Arial felt a little better since her nap. Her feet hurt, as did her legs and hips. Her shoulder was sore from the weight of their water bags bearing down on her bones. She was not used to being a beast of burden. It was Arial's turn to grunt.

"Quickly now, Arial! We know not how much time is left to us and every second is precious!"

She forced herself to quicken her own pace until she was just two steps behind the wizard. Hours later when the dawn of a new day threatened to spill over the horizon, Arial gazed with wonder at the mountains around her. She had not noticed when they had entered the pass, her concentration so focused on Saruman's heels. She paused, momentarily forgetting her purpose.

"Fear not, little Arial. I know the way; I have traveled this path many times in my dealings with the lord of Mordor." He took the one of the bags from her shoulder, removed the cap and flipped it up into the air. Cool water washed the road dust and dirt from his mouth. When he had refreshed himself, he nudged her to regain her attention and offered her the bag.

She struggled with the weight a little as she drank. Arial never knew that water could taste so good. Saruman forced her to lower the bag for fear she would founder herself. "Not so much at once, you'll get cramps," he explained to her.

"We must continue our journey without delay. Time is slipping from its ordained path, and the aura of the worlds are beginning to tear. We must hurry!" Saruman turned from her and began to run.

Arial felt sudden fear. She reslung the water bag and followed Saruman's example, concentrating on controlling her breath.

The path was not easy. It was dotted with broken rock and fallen boulders from the mountains around her. She fell a few times, scraping her hands and tearing holes in the knees of her jeans. She did not pause to acknowledge the pain and stinging, but instead would scramble to her feet again, pushing herself onward.

Arial was surprised. She did not think the old man had it in him. She was young by all accounts, but still she had difficulty keeping up with Saruman. "Guess he took his Geritol when I wasn't looking," she thought whimsically to herself.

It was getting hotter, and brighter. Arial stole a glance around her and saw that the sun was beginning to blaze over the horizon. When she steadied her gaze for a few seconds on the behemoth, it looked wavy. She blinked her eye lids closed and held them that way for a few seconds.

"When the sun looks that way back home, it's going to be a scorcher of a day!" She felt herself falling again. The water bags slid up her back and pushed her head forward, causing her to slam it on a sharp rock.

"Aw!" she cried. "That's what you get you idiot for closing your eyes, damn-it!"

Saruman heard her and turned around. "Yes that is what you get for being so foolish. Now get up and quit wasting our time!" He scolded her.

Arial winced under his condemnation. She stood up and took off running behind him again. Feeling a hot thick substance oozing down her forehead, she ripped a piece of her shirt bottom and held the jagged fabric to the cut. She did not worry about germs. If they did not get to that friend of Saruman's on time, she knew it would not matter, that germs and infection would be the least of her worries.

She tried to block from her mind the possibility that they would fail. She could not fathom that nothing would exist, and that all would just blink out. No one except her and Saruman would know what was happening, if they even had a second to realize it before it happened. It was a hard concept for her to wrap her head around. For everything, everything to cease to exist all at once, as though nothing had always been the order of things.

They ran. And ran. Ran until they both thought their lungs would burst from the effort. At last, Saruman motioned for a break. They, without ceremony, plopped down where they stood, gasping for air. Arial's body trembled and she could not command it to stop. For fifteen minutes, Saruman and Arial did nothing except to sit and breathe.

Saruman opened the bag he had carried on his back. He pulled out food and passed some dried fruit and cheese to Arial. She was drinking slowly out of the water bag and passed it Saruman when she finished. They ate as fast as their teeth could chew.

"Arial, do not fear what I now do. I am calling for aide from my master."

She stopped mid-chew and watched him pull out the largest marble she had ever seen from the other bag he had been carrying. She wondered how much it weighed as she watched him hold it with one hand, his fingers curling up and over the dark swirls. She felt mesmerized, like she was falling into a deep sleep.

Saruman reached over and shook her shoulder, "Don't look at it. Turn around." Arial suddenly woke up and wondered what had just happened to her. She obeyed Saruman and turned around away from him and the weird marble.

"This world is just too weird for me. Eeee! Sooo glad I don't live here!" She thought. She kept nibbling at her cheese, intermittently pausing to sip some water. She was starting to feel like a human being again as new strength flowed through her body. "I feel….alive….yeah….like I've never been….so alive…and aware…." Arial eyed her bag with suspicion, "What's in this water?" Then she realized she did not care, shrugged, and took another slow swig.

Saruman steeled himself for what he had to do next. He had avoided this, but he felt he had no other choice. Now that he knew what to look and feel for, he knew another wave was going to hit within the hour. He could felt the faint shimmer of its power already gathering. He also knew that there would not be many more waves until all was lost. Two, at most three. There was simply not enough time. He was desperate, and desperate times called for desperate means. He had no other hope. He opened his mind and reached out mentally, calling his master as his eyes stared into the swirling clouds of the palantir.

Mentally, Saruman braced himself as a flaming eye appeared, wrapping its tendrils around him.

"My lord, Sauron, I come to you in great need, and dire is the hour. Nazgul, my lord, send the nazgul to bear me and my companion to you; else all is lost."

Saruman broke contact and shoved the palantir back into the bag. He did not want Sauron poking around in his head discovering the future treachery Saruman had in mind concerning the ring.

"Come Arial, we must be moving again. My lord is sending the Nazgul to bear us to him. Do not be afraid of them when they arrive. Stay close to me."

She twisted around and looked at him. "What are Nazgul?"

Saruman chuckled in his gut and smiled at the girl. "They are winged beasts that serve the Lord of Mordor, and they will bear us to him on their backs through the air. Weeks of travel will reduce to a few hours, for they are quick."

Arial did not like the sound of the "nazz ghoul" and wondered what new terror was flying straight at her. Nevertheless, she knew she did not have much of a choice in the matter. Moreover, it would be nice to fly instead of running all the time.

She stood up and dusted her rear off with her scratched up hands. Her forehead had quit bleeding and the cut had crusted over. Her feet were swollen tight in her shoes, and her calves looked twice their size.

Arial sighed and said aloud, "This saving worlds is hard business."

oOo

Sweat trickled down the center of Arial's back. It was uncomfortable but not as near as the waterfall running down her face. She would pull the collar of her shirtfront up and wipe off her face every few minutes. It was not long before the front of her shirt was as wet as the back. She raised her arms by turns and took a whiff of her armpits, gagging herself with her own odor. "Gods, I stink!" she thought.

Every so often, she would scan the skies above her looking for a flying animal of sorts. She thought she could see a few dark specks in the way distant, but she was not sure of herself.

It felt like they had been running forever, but Arial guessed it had truthfully only been about two hours. And it was more like a jog anyway than running. She had been breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth. She hoped she had been doing it right, but figured in the scheme of current things, it did not really matter how she breathed as long as she kept up with Saruman. If she did not keep up, he was likely to whack her with that stick of his again. And that hurt. He had left a bruise on her from the last time. She was no glutton for punishment, and was not aiming to become a martyr anytime soon.

Arial did not think about what she was doing anymore, and ran on instinct. One foot in front of the other, forward, forward, forward. She had decided she had become a slave to fate, and had also decided that she did not like any of it. She had not asked for any of this, it was just plopped down in her lap like a stinky wet stray dog no one wanted. Except she could not shift the responsibility like everyone else, she was chained to the burden. She began to think of things in her recent past. Had she wronged someone and now Karma was paying her back…big time?

It did not matter. She was stuck with the problem, and now she had to deal with it all. Arial was grateful that Saruman was with her. Grateful for the help he promised, as well as the help of his whatever they were running to in a place called Mordor. That was a weird name. She did not like it either. Sounded evil somehow. Mordor. The name felt heavy on her tongue, and her mind. Had there been any other circumstances, she knew that Mordor was a place she would avoid like the plague. Without knowing why, she equated the place to a virtual hell on earth. She felt uneasy and had to fight the desire to run in the opposite direction.

She looked up again and noticed that the horizon was dark, almost void of light. She thought that was strange because the sun was shining overhead, albeit behind dark clouds that had suddenly appeared. With gladness in her heart, she prayed for rain from those clouds. How wonderful it would feel to have clean water running over her filthy road grim covered body and clothes. She was sure she had never been so dirty in her life.

Arial was lost in her thoughts and did not notice that Saruman had stopped and plowed into him, causing them both to fall in a haphazard mess on the road. Saruman cursed under his breath, and Arial did not understand what had just happened.

"Get off of me, you stinking warg!"

"Oh yeah, like you're a freaking rose garden!"

"Why you little brat…" Saruman's jaw hardened and his eyes blazed with his anger.

Arial stood with her hands on her hips and barked back, "And you're just an old wrinkly fart box!"

He spewed as he stood and righted himself, "Why I ought to…"

Arial cut him off, "You oughta what? Kill me and everything goes poof!" She waved her hands through the air adding more drama.

Saruman narrowed his eyes, sprang towards her, and rapped her hard with his staff. "No need to kill you." He thought for a second and added, "Yet."

"Ow, damn it!" She rubbed her arm where he had struck her. She stuck out her lower lip and pouted.

"Not nice to piss off a wizard, my dear. Be glad I did not turn you into something disgusting…and slimy!" He growled as he walked away from her, dusting off his robes with his free hand.

Saruman jerked his head up. The blood drained from his face and his anger toward Arial was forgotten. "Not now," he stated, as his knuckles grew white on his staff and free hand. "We won't make it at this rate!"

Frightened, Arial ran to his side and cuddled herself under his arm. "Is it coming again?" She whispered.

"Hold tightly to me Arial! Do not let go!" Saruman commanded her. With both hands, he held his staff above him as Arial wrapped her arms tightly about his waist and squeezed her eyes close.

"This is it! It's the end and we're all going to die right now!" She thought frantically as she squeezed her mouth shut, refusing to scream.

Saruman brought his staff down and stabbed it into the ground in front of him and Arial. A bubble encircled them both. He had no idea if it would hold and shield them from the onslaught coming straight at them. Saruman put his entire strength into the shield, leaning into his staff with a snarl on his face. The wizard's countenance was fierce as he stared at the waves racing towards them. The girl was gripping him so hard in fear that he had difficulty breathing but his mind was set, determined not to lose anymore precious time from being unconscious as a side effect.

Closer the waves raced at them. Seconds and the time warp would be upon them. Saruman felt a wild fear and he winched his eyes closed.

The warp slammed into them, and Saruman dug in harder, refusing to give in. He could feel the dirt sliding under his feet as they were pushed backward. Still he refused, using his entire will to stand. From somewhere deep within him, he pulled all his will, force and might and channeled it to the protective shield around them. Like an animal, he loosed a roar from his chest and out through his mouth, as he bore down harder on his staff.

Arial heard him, out of fear, jumped, and wrapped her legs as well around Saruman. She clung to him, fearful, expecting that the terror had at last been unleashed and everything was ending. Her life flashed in her mind like photographs of individual moments from her birth to just a few seconds prior of her argument with Saruman. She did not want to die like this. She wanted to live. She wanted to die an old woman sitting on her porch watching the bees dance over her petunias. Arial buried her head as far as she could into Saruman's robes, hyperventilating.

They were in the middle of the warp. It wrapped over and around the shield, pushed against it without mercy. Both wills, natural and unnatural, rose like angry tsunami waves against each other, battling for dominance.

Saruman refused to bow, to submit. It was not his way and his stubborn will would not allow him. Instead, he would reckon with the force surrounding him and the girl. He was the head of his order, and most powerful. He would not allow this omen of destruction to defeat him, Saruman the White!

oOo

The shield Saruman had constructed had perceptively shrunk under the attack of the time warp. Yet the wizard held onto his staff, reciting the incantations to hold his shield in place. He and Arial were being pushed back to match the incredible rate of speed of the waves traveling through and over Arda. Everything around the two beings was blurred, indistinguishable.

In a flash of knowledge, Saruman had an epiphany. Since the time waves could not pass through his shield, they would push him until the end of all things, or his shield collapsed.

His strength was weakening. Never before had he faced such a force as this. He knew he could not hold much longer, and the shield was contracting around him and the girl.

He had no more strength and his arms failed him, falling down to hang loosely at his sides. His shield collapsed and he and Arial were thrown through the air. With a crashing thud, they hit a boulder and fell to the ground.

Arial tried to sit up, holding her head. When she felt blood trickle from her nose, she knew she was still alive. The sudden stop had caused her to bite her tongue, and she could taste the coppery hot substance as it welled up and flowed over her lips. To her horror, she coughed and sputtered blood onto Saruman's robes. He would whack her with that stick of his for sure now. She wiped at her nose and mouth with her arm and stood up. On shaky legs, she stepped out of his range.

Saruman shook his head as he sat up. He could hear the girl coughing, and sounding like strangely as if she was popping bubbles. He had managed to hold onto his staff and he used it to assist him in standing. He wiped his eyes and looked at Arial. He was relieved she was still alive. Had anything happened to her, the best he could have hoped for would be a quick death. He sighed and leaned against his staff for support.

He smiled at Arial, "Well, we have survived yet again. With any luck, the Nazgul should arrive at any time. How about some lunch while we wait?"

She nodded and smiled back, her teeth tinted pinkish red.

oOo

Arial and Saruman sat and ate. It was after noon. This time, Saruman had given her dried meat, cheese and some kind of bread in which she was unfamiliar. She rolled it over her tongue, tasting the grain of the bread. Arial guessed it was made from rye and wheat and she liked it. She did not want to know what kind of meat she was eating, she was just grateful to be eating some. Besides, it had not killed Saruman, so she was sure it was safe to eat.

They were washing down their lunch with the water they had brought, when Arial looked up and nearly choked. Saruman hit her on the back a few times, wondering what had brought the fit. She pointed up so he would look.

She stopped choking at last, looked up and fainted cold where she sat. Saruman frowned at her as the Nazgul landed a few feet from them.

oOo

AN: All reviews are appreciated. Sorry for the long wait, but I did not want to give you nothing less than my best. I will update the next chapter sooner, I promise!