I don't often talk about my father. While he supported my ambition, allowing me to attend some of the best academies in Númenor, he did not share my love of knowledge. I'm afraid to say that we drifted apart in our later years. However, I did not let our relationship dissolve over sheer disinterest. In the last few years of his life, I made an effort to spend more time with him, to learn what about he made me who I am.
I learned that my father had been a member of the navy once; he had picked up his knowledge of sailing and the like from there. However, that had been a very short phase of his life. My father turned out to be a man of many talents. His time in the navy was the first of many jobs.
He worked in all parts of the island. As a farmer and as a landowner. He worked in many trades, although he certainly was no expert in most of them. He recalled blacksmithing as a unique experience that he never wished to repeat. However, he said the greatest lesson he learned was as an apprentice to a carpenter.
The carpenter's name was Stápan. According to my father, he was a strict master, but he knew how to relax and enjoy himself. My father ended up continuing to correspond with him, even after he had finished his apprenticeship.
One day, man came by and asked for a certain piece of furniture. When told that he could have the piece made for him and get it later, but not right away, the man became furious and enraged. He told Stápan that he would curse him for all eternity for this slight. Figuring that the man was either slightly unhinged or having a bad day, he asked the man politely to leave. The man stormed out, all the while swearing eternal vengeance.
That night, the carpenter's store was burned down. The carpenter was distraught, as the store represented his entire life's savings. Strangely enough, the next day the store had returned, and everything was back to normal. The stranger came back and apologized for what he had done, revealing that he himself was cursed.
He could do almost anything he wanted, but he had to truly believe in what he was doing. He could cause the carpenter's house to burn down because he was so angry at him, but when he saw how distraught the carpenter was he couldn't feel that way anymore, thereby restoring the carpenter's house to its former glory.
From the Abridged Journals of Arnuzîr
Mermacil was shaken awake by Kapagund. The orc seemed in a hurry, so Mermacil rose immediately and without complaint. She motioned for him to follow her back to where she had first questioned them. Seated by her desk was another orc, this one younger. Kapagund motioned to him.
"This is Pogarash, one of our scouts. He has some vital information on the approaching enemy that I'm sure you'll be keen to hear. Go ahead, speak."
Pogarash spoke in a voice that was surprisingly high. Then again, Mermacil did have much experience talking with orcs, and it would make sense that orders shouted in battle would be deeper than everyday conversations.
"The enemy approaches quickly. I suspect they will be here in two days, maybe faster if they have shortened rests. The forces that were pursuing you were definitely but a fraction of the full strength of the army in Gorgoroth. These orcs number 500 at most."
"Thank you for your report, scout. I'll see to it that you are rewarded." Pogarash bowed and then left, leaving Mermacil alone with Kapagund. "Well, as an experienced Ranger, what do you think? I'm sure you have plenty of experience fighting orcs."
Mermacil scratched his neck. "Not as much as you might think. I've spent the past few years of my life seated at a desk in Minas Ithil and before that the largest group of combatants I eve fought, orc or human, was hardly larger than a dozen."
"You think that I'm not in the same position here? I rose to this position hardly more than a year ago. I've had less experience in battle than some of our scouts here. I need all the advice I can get."
Mermacil shrugged. "Very well. First of all, I'd suggest that we mobilize our forces now and pick a spot outside of the town in which to fight the army. Hopefully, we can pick a spot that concedes something of a tactical advantage to us."
Kapagund pursed her lips. "'I think I know just the spot. I need you to deliver this message to the commander of the small troop of soldiers we have here." She handed him a sealed roll of paper. "Once you exit this building, walk left down the street. At the first intersection, turn right and you should be able to easily spot the building that says "Armv".
"Armv? What does that mean?"
"Army. The signs warn away quite a bit. That's the desert for ya."
Mermacil chuckled a little, then stepped outside. The street was absolutely packed with people hurrying every which way. Apparently, news of the approaching army had spread beyond the police and the militia and was now everyone's concern. Mermacil thought it was interesting to see how different people approached the problem.
Some people, being opportunists at heart, were selling things at somewhat heightened prices, citing a "war demand" whenever someone asked. Other similar souls were selling weapons or good-luck charms, while others were taking this opportunity to talk people into doing things they problem shouldn't, with a very classic "last day on Arda" mentality.
These stories were bought up by the alarmists, who were all panicked that an unstoppable tide of orcs was waiting to lay siege to their beautiful town. These were the people who were quickly buying whatever supplies they could find and making their way out of the town, and were sure to spread the news to whoever they could find.
Others saw the advancing army as a normal part of living in Nurn; a land fraught with many similar perils, even if often on smaller scales. One thing, however, was constant: everyone was sure that Drakarator would be much changed by the army.
On his way to the militia headquarters, Mermacil bumped into Kith'tar. "It's been a while since you've actually been in Nurn, huh?" he asked.
Kith'tar shrugged. "Yeah, about a decade, I guess. Ever since I started working for Minas Ithil, I've been meeting with my contacts in fairly neutral locations. Well, as neutral as one can get in Mordor and Gondor. It's been some time."
"Is there anything you want to do while you're here?"
Again, Kith'tar shrugged. "I mean, this clearly is not the village I grew up in. For one, it's much too close to Gorgoroth. It's also a lot larger. I have no personal connection to this place, aside from the fact that it's in the roughly correct geographical region. I guess I could always eat some of the food here. Gondorian cuisine just isn't the same as where I used to live."
"Well, I guess for now you could at least accompany me to the where the army is. Apparently, Kapagund has some message she wants me to deliver."
"Well, I am a diplomat. I'd be disappointed in myself if I didn't spend at least some of my time delivering messages. Sure, I'll come." Kith'tar gave a rare smile. "Also, you may end up poorly if you accidently offend someone without my translating skills."
"Yes, that would be an unfortunate end to this mission," Mermacil said with a chuckle.
Soon, the two had arrived at the army headquarters. Mermacil and Kith'tar strode inside, where they were greeted by a young man seated at a desk.
"What brings you to Armv?" he said with a grin.
Mermacil waved the scroll. "I have a message to deliver to your commander."
"Wait right here please. He'll be out in a moment." The man went through a door to their left. Mermacil and Kith'tar, seeing some chairs by the desk, sat down. They had scarcely been seated for a minute when someone else burst into the room. Seeing that there was no one at the desk, they turned and faced Mermacil and Kith'tar. It was Eläre.
"What are you doing here?" They all asked at the same time. Mermacil looked at Eläre, indicating that she should answer first.
"Kapagund asked me to do her a favor. After sending you off, she needed someone else to go talk to the head tactician of the army to ask about a place to set up an attack. What are you two doing here?"
Mermacil spoke for Kith'tar. "I was given a message by Kapagund as well. I'm not entirely sure what the contents are, but I'm fairly certain it contains details about the strengths of the approaching forces. I bumped into Kith'tar on the way here, and he decided to accompany me. Do you know where the others are?"
Eläre shook her head. "I don't. Kapagund may have sent them out on errands like us, or they may be off doing their own thing."
Kith'tar frowned. "They should not be separated from us so easily. It's harder for just the two of them to defend themselves."
"Also, we really should be maintaining our order better," Mermacil agreed. Before they could say anything else about the others, the man returned.
"Commander Athros will see all of you now," he called.
"Even me?" queried Eläre.
"Yes, Master Tactician Nosôros is in there as well, waiting to see you. Go in through the door to your right."
"Thank you," said Mermacil. The three filed through the door that had been pointed out to them. The door lead to a hallway, with only one door, at the very end of the hallway.
"An interesting architectural choice," noted Kith'tar wryly.
"It may be designed like this because it's easier to defend," Mermacil pointed out.
Kith'tar grunted, but made no other supply. He then reached out and opened up the door, motioning for the other two to head in first. The room past the door was dimly lit, with several old men sitting around a large table. There were large piles of paper and many maps spread across the wood.
"Hello, travelers," said one of the men. "I am Commander Athros, leader of the army that is responsible that defends this town. Please, sit down." The Commander motioned to three empty seats at one end of the table. Mermacil and Eläre handed their messages to the Commander, then sat down at the end of the table.
Athros handed the messages off to one man, who Mermacil assumed to be the tactician, Nosôros. Nosôros frowned, then went over to one of the maps on the table. As he was peering at the map, Athros spoke directly to Mermacil and the others.
"You have presented us with something of an issue. Obviously, it is important that we defeat the invading army, as they will do untold amounts of damage to our town if they are not stopped. In addition, if we are defeated here it will motivate the greater army that sits in Gorgoroth to come and invade all of Nurn.
"However, defeating this army is not enough. Even if we defeat them, in a week, an army of ten times that size will arrive. The next week, an army ten times that. We cannot hold out for long enough to stop their entire army.
"This where you come in. Your team will assist in defeating the orcs, which is only fitting, as it is your shoddy stealthing across Mordor that brought their attention to us. Indeed, the three of you are already helping by delivering messages, and once we figure out a location to meet with the orcs, the three of you will ride ahead and scout it in advance, then return here."
Mermacil broke in. "Where are Lt. Samnon and Hannish."
A different man answered his question. "They are training with the rest of the army. We need every fighting man we can get if we are to hold off the orcs.
Nosôros spoke softly, so softly that Mermacil couldn't hear him. "What was that?" he asked.
Athros spoke for him, "We have a location," he declared, pointing at one of the maps. "If our information is accurate, in order for the orcs to reach us from their current position, they will have to head through the Vale of Durmik. There, we can set up an ambush that will set them completely off guard. The three of you will scout it out."
"What exactly does that entail?" Eläre wondered nervously.
"The job should be fairly simple. The three of you will head over to the Vale as soon as I dismiss you from here. If the orcs are already in the Vale or are taking a different route, you will return to us immediately and we will instead head to an alternate location. If not, stay there and our troops will join you by the end of the day."
"And, what happens after the battle?" asked Mermacil.
"If we lose, you will almost certainly die. If we win, you will go as quickly as you can back to Gondor. Alert your king of the events that have transpired here and muster as many men as you can to defeat this menace. Although it pains me to ask the Reunited Kingdom for help, there is no other recourse in this case."
Mermacil nodded. "I understand. We will do what you ask of us."
"Good." Athros brought the map over to them and gave them the exact directions to the Vale. "The three of you are dismissed. May Ilúvatar grant you strength."
An aide who had been seated at the table showed them to a nearby stable. "You need to go on horseback or else you'll never arrive in time. I hope that you have all rode at some point in your life?" Without looking to check, though thankfully they all had, he went on, "Then you'll set out right away. The horses are already saddled and supplied." And with that, they were off.
The ride was short and sweet. It was certainly more enjoyable than the run to Drakarator had been. On that run, it had been all Mermacil could do to keep breathing while putting one foot in front of the other. On horseback, not only did the greatly increased speed of the horse make the entire trip less arduous and painful, but not having to actually do the movement allowed Mermacil to enjoy the ride a little.
When you got down to it, Nurn wasn't really that bad a place. Sure, the desert wasn't for everyone, and Mermacil could easily see someone getting tired of it. However, his years in Harad had taught him to appreciate it more, and he loved desert landscapes in ways few others did. Sure, it was no Ithilien, but after the Elves had come to that already lovely, if somewhat war ravaged, land, there was nowhere within the sphere of Arda that was as beautiful.
Soon, they had arrived at the Vale of Durmik. Much to their relief, there was no large army of orcs there waiting for them. A few hours of scouting determined that the orcs were indeed on their way to the Vale. A few hours after that, the rest of the army joined with them and they set up camp for the night.
Before going to sleep, Mermacil went to find Lt. Samnon and Hannish. He found the two of them chatting by a campfire, with no one from Drakarator around. They were both very surprised to see him. "Mermacil, what are you doing here?" asked Hannish.
"We were told that they were only adding us to the army because of our experience and our fighting skills. No offense, but you don't really fit that description as well as us."
Mermacil glared at Samnon. "Thanks." He said shortly. "I'm here because Athros asked Kith'tar, Eläre, and me to scout out this vale. I don't think we'll be doing any actual fighting tomorrow, just watching with the rest of Command." He paused and sat silently with the other two men for a few minutes.
It was a nice night out. Although in most of the rest of the Reunited Kingdom, it was the middle of winter, Nurn was much warmer than those areas. As a result, it was a pleasant night. A shame that it was the eve of death.
"Were you two informed of what we are doing if we survive this battle?" Mermacil asked. The others shook their heads. "Once we win, we are immediately riding out to Minas Ithil to tell Faramir of what's happening here. From there, we will probably have to go directly to Minas Tirith. Do you understand?"
"Of course."
"Absolutely."
Mermacil left them there with that thought.
Liriel awoke sore and stiff after a "night" of sleeping on the hard rock of the Swazverai. She could feel in the air how much closer they were to the source of The Swarm. The air felt much colder than it should, especially at subterranean levels. And despite Turondo's best efforts to remove the bizarre smells of the tomb-like structure, there was now a faint trace of it in the air.
Pazij apparently felt the same way. "Oh my, I hope everyone's ready for today. I can smell how close we are."
Guband smiled viciously. "Good. Then we can stop the source and get out of these pits of hell."
Turondo strode forward through the open doorway to test to make sure that his protection spells would hold past where they had set up camp. Thankfully, for now they were holding up. Liriel shuddered, thinking of what had happened yesterday when the spell had failed for the first time. She wondered what kind of affect it had on people who were exposed to it for nearly forever.
She shuddered again, a thought having come to her. What if that was what caused the creatures in The Swarm to turn from humans into whatever monstrosities they were now? Driven insane by the presence of whatever was down in Swazverai, they lost their humanity, like that creature from the stories about the War of the Ring. Liriel resolved to banish the thought from her head. The last thing she needed at a time like this was to give in to the overwhelming pressure of this place and despair.
She followed Pazij and Guband into the room. There appeared to be no creatures of The Swarm in this room, thankfully. However, there were three doorways leading out the room (though Liriel noticed that again there were no doors in the door frames). No one was quite sure which way to go.
"What now?" asked Guband.
"We obviously can't split up," added Pazij. "However, if we take a path that leads in the wrong direction, we could lose lots of valuable time and the lives of those fighting The Swarm above."
Turondo spoke up hesitantly. "I might be able to use some of my magic to sense which doorway is more corrupt, but I can't help but feel that the difference would be faint at best."
"I can do the same with my earth power. If we both search for the most corrupt area, between our two powers I'm sure we'll find something."
Turondo pursed his lips. "I'm not sure I want you exposing yourself to this ground. It could be quite dangerous for you."
"Then it's your job to help me pull back if that happens," she responded. "We need to do this, and unless Pazij or Guband has suddenly learned away to sense the corruption as well as us, I'm the only option you've got."
"Very well," he said. "But I'm going first. If I can find it by myself, then there will be no need for you to go at all."
"I can accept that," Liriel conceded. "Best of luck."
Turondo nodded, then closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He suddenly opened his eyes, turned toward one of the doorways, and shouted, "Spurenbos!" A beam of light shot from each of his eyes, traveling down the tunnel, peering into the murky depths of the Swazverai. He repeated the process at each juncture. When he had finished, he was breathing heavily.
Turondo pointed to the left and right passages. "The center passage way seems to be less heavily contaminated by the presence of…whatever it is that's down here. Unfortunately, I can't be any more precise than that. Guess you're up, Liri," he said reluctantly.
Liriel took a deep breath to steady her rapidly beating heart. "It's okay; I've got this," she said, more to herself than to Turondo. She went down on her knees, pressing the palm of her hand against the cold stone of the Swazverai. She let her mind loosen from her body, spreading from the palm of her hand into the surrounding earth and stone. Drifting through the passages of the temple, she felt the tendrils of some unknown, unimaginable, alien presence piercing through the stone, releasing the smell and terrible feelings she had felt from the center of the tendrils, where the roots of madness lay. Seen from this holistic perspective, she knew the exact route they needed to take and etched it into her memory so it would not be forgotten; she had not intentions to do this ever again.
Then, for a moment, she panicked. As she drifted longer and longer, she was unaware of her body, of how to return to it. The center of corruption assailed her, and for a moment, she pierced the veil of intrigue and saw it for what it truly was. A spirit of great power, though perhaps not as great as she had expected, had made its home in here in ancient times, long before the Dark Foe had returned from the West to make Endor his home. Here it had lain, until a call to arms from something akin to, but not quite like, it had bade it stir.
The shock of seeing this picture was enough to startle her back into her fragile body and her friends, where she related what she had seen. No one knew what it was she had described, however. "Never, have you heard of any kind of powerful spirit like this?" she asked.
"Never, in any of my studies, or in any of the teachings of Schulr, have I come across anything like it," Turondo replied, not sure with how to respond to Liriel's vision. Pazij and Guband said that in all their time spent studying the history of this region, they had never come across any stories of such a creature, though if her perception had been accurate, this was probably because there were no people in this region of the world to record any.
"Fascinating though this look into the nature of our foe is, our mission has not changed in any way," Turondo interrupted. "What is the path to take?"
Liriel paused for a moment before she responded, still uneasy from her out-of-body experience. "We should go left. From there, it will be fairly straight, although there will be a few stairs that we will have to go down. This path, as expected, has more things from The Swarm than I would like to see, but there's no way around it. The other paths are either longer and more dangerous, or futile dead ends."
Pazij sighed. "So be it. If that is the way we must go, then we might as well start now."
"Yes!" Guband agreed. "To the left!"
Turondo nodded grimly, making sure that his armor was properly attached, then strode off to the left. The others followed after. Almost immediately, as soon as they had stepped into the room, they were rushed at by two ghouls. Remembering the lessons they had learned from the last time they had encountered ghouls, Pazij brought up a shield of fire. The ghouls rushed headlong into it, and were rapidly incinerated. The ghouls had been leading several lesser corpses of The Swarm. Without the ghouls' leadership, they stopped short of the wall of fire. It only took a few swings of Turondo's sword to end their misery.
Seeing that there was nothing in else in that room, they hurried on through the path that Liriel had seen. Most of their encounters were nothing out of the ordinary. In the end, all members of The Swarm were simple soldiers that out bested all others on the battlefield for two main reasons. One, they were not like ordinary humans. They felt no pain and could fight through any conditions. Two, ordinary humans did not have the magic that Liriel, Pazij, Guband, and Turondo possessed. Although even the mighty armies of Gondor would hesitate before talking on The Swarm, the four had no reason to fear.
Occasionally, things got interesting when they came across a different kind that they had not come across before, similar to how Turondo had trouble with the magic-resistant undead encountered previously. However, they were able to respond quickly even to those situations were soon on their way, prepared for the next time they bumped into that kind again.
First, they ran into what seemed to be a type of ghoul, However, the thing they encountered (and thank Eru there was only one of them when they first met it!) possessed not only extraordinary regeneration, but was also very tough. Though fire still hurt it, it did not die right away. In fact, it even landed a scratch on Pazij. This was not good at all for the abomination. When her careful concentration was broken, Pazij's fire exploded everywhere. The others were not hurt because Guband used her wind to blow the fire in one direction. The thing did not do so well.
Turondo looked over the wound afterwards. Although it wasn't very large, it was still quite painful, and given that they were fighting undead monsters, would almost certainly become infected without treatment. Turondo was forced to waste energy in order to heal it.
The second time, they ran into a group of armed, rather fast corpses. The things rushed at them much faster than they had been expecting, causing Guband to receive a few cuts. However, she reacted very speedily, blasting a fierce gale at the runners, knocking them off their feet and allowing for their quick execution at the hands of Turondo.
Armed with their knowledge of the monsters of the Swazverai, they pushed onward all throughout the day. Although they soon became weary and found it more and more difficult to use their magic with each fight, each time one of them became tired Liriel found a way to encourage them to greatness again. She was desperate that they get near the Thing at the center of the Swazverai.
Finally, they got to a room a few hallways and one floor away. Deciding that it would be unwise to get much closer to the center of The Swarm, Liriel agreed to camp there. Luckily, Turondo went in first, because once more, his protection was not enough. The other three were able to pull him back and restore his sanity, thankfully, or else the mission would have ended in tragedy right there.
As soon as he could, Turondo cast the strongest protection spell that he knew. "Starshutvordembo!" he roared. Once the stronger protection was on, they entered the room and set up camp. The big day was tomorrow, and they wanted to be as prepared as possible for it.