A/N: Ahh, how I love taking a day off school. Just finished watching RotK, and now I'm eager to write even more! Quick head's up for you, this chapter is...kinda creepy. But I guess that's what Íverin gets for trying to negotiate with ghosties, eh? I would expect there to be...5 or 6 more chapters, plus an epilogue. But that's just a guess. For now, enjoy reading! ^^

Disclaimer: I OWN EVERYTHING! MWAHAHAHAHAAAA...jk. ;) Only Íverin is mine.

The Haunted Mountain was, quite honestly, not nearly as dark and scary as I had assumed. For a whole day we rode, pausing to rest only once for a brief moment, and the weather was always bright and sunny, with not a cloud to be seen in the sky. It was actually, quite pleasant.

Gimli, however, was still a bit frightened. "What kind of army would linger in such a place?"

"One that is cursed," Legolas replied. "Long ago the men of the mountain swore an oath to the last king of Gondor, to come to his aid. To fight. But when the time came...when Gondor's need was dire...they fled, vanishing into the darkness of the mountain. And so Isildur cursed them, never to rest, until they had fulfilled their pledge. Who shall call them from the grey twilight, the forgotten people? The heir of him to whom the oath they swore. From the North shall he come. Need shall drive him. He shall pass the door to the Paths of the Dead."

I scoffed. "Grey twilight, indeed. There's not a scary thing about this place." I looked back over my shoulder. "I do not see ghosts popping out of cracks in the rock to eat us. Do you?" Legolas said nothing.

Ahead of us, Aragorn turned off the path that we were previously on. We followed him. I do not know how it happened, but...the environment changed in front of my eyes. What had previously been bathed in sunlight was now shrouded in an unforgiving mist. Scraggly, dead trees stood bent near the mountainside. And in the mountain itself, there was a doorway, with odd- looking symbols scratched into the stone above it. Skulls were embedded in the rock around it.

"The very warmth of my blood seems stolen away," Gimli whispered.

I dismounted Hasufeld and walked up to the doorway, my confidence unwavering. "What does it say?"

"The way is shut," Legolas said. "It was made by those who are dead, and the dead keep it. The way is shut."

Out of the mouth of the cave, there came a great wind, and a loud...moan...from somewhere inside. A slight chill ran down my spine.

Whatever had made that noise scared the horses half to death. The next thing I knew, Hasufeld had jerked the reins right out of my hand and took off, galloping back the way we came. Arod and Corror did the same. I sighed. "Well, there goes our transportation."

Aragorn looked back at the entrance. "I do not fear death." With that, he walked inside.

I gritted my teeth and followed him, disappearing into the blackness.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The first thing I noticed about the Paths of the Dead was that it was dark. Very, very dark. So dark that even I, with my exceptional elvish sight, could not see two feet in front of me. Until Aragorn found a torch on the wall, that is.

The tunnels we journeyed through were small and cramped. I was grateful that I was not claustrophobic. Legolas seemed fine with it as well, if not intrigued by the gloomy caves. Gimli was shaking in his boots, clinging to his axe for dear life, and jumping at every sound. Aragorn, of course, was not affected in the slightest by the place.

He strode around a corner and stuck his torch out to reveal a small room, piled high with nothing but skulls. I cringed. "Wrong way."

Aragorn nodded and moved on, but Legolas actually stepped closer.

"What is it?" Gimli said fearfully. "What do you see?"

"I see shapes of Men," Legolas said as we walked on, "and of horses."

"Where?" Gimli asked.

Legolas didn't answer. "Old banners like shreds of cloud...spears rising, like winter pickings through a shroud of mist."

I shivered. "Legolas, you are beginning to creep me out."

"The dead are following," he said. "They have been summoned."

That was enough to make Gimli stop dead in his tracks. "The dead? Summoned?" I smiled to myself as his voice shot up about two octaves. "...I knew that." He laughed nonchalantly, but fear over took him when we stepped out of sight. "LEGOLAS!" He ran after us.

I turned, and almost screamed. Legolas was being surrounded by a white mist. I ran over and helped him fan it away. "What was that?" I asked, but he did not answer.

Now it overtook Aragorn. "It cannot harm you...but we should not linger." He eyed it warily and continued walking.

I looked down at myself, and my eyes widened once I saw two old, bony, misty hands crawling up my stomach. I batted them away and moved closer to Legolas.

Gimli was having his own troubles with the mist, furiously attempting to blow the stuff away. Had the situation not have been so creepy, I would have laughed. "Gimli" He looked up, and I motioned for him to come. "We must move on."

Not a moment after I had said that, there was a loud crack. We all looked straight at Aragorn, who had a somewhat disgusted look on his face. "Do not look down."

I tensed and took a step forward, hearing a crunch under my own boot. I froze, and despite my cousin's warning, looked at what I had stepped on.

More skulls. And other bones.

My stomach clenched, and I nearly vomited. Instead, I grabbed Legolas's arm and looked up at him. He tried to smile reassuringly, but even he could not withstand the horror of walking on another's bones. I grabbed his hand, and we continued walking. I winced with every step I took.

Finally, we emerged from the skeleton room, into a much bigger area, towering so high that I could just barely see the ceiling. A large pit was off to our right, and to our left, a set of stairs that lead up to what looked like a rotting throne, carved into the wall. We walked around in silence for a moment, taking in our surroundings.

And then, from everywhere and nowhere at the same time, there came a voice so evil and chilling, it shook me to the very core.

"Who enters my domain?"

I turned to see the outline of a man appear on the stairs. He wore a great cape and crown, and obviously he was meant to be a king. The only problem was...he was dead. Made of nothing but a green, eerie mist. My jaw dropped. "L...Legolas..." I gripped his hand tighter, taking deep breaths, eyes wide in fear. "That...that's a..."

"Yes, girl. A ghost. That is what I am." I shuddered. I could see the inside of his skull. "Now, I will ask you again. Who enters my domain?"

By some miracle, Aragorn managed to face him defiantly. "One who will have your allegiance."

"The dead do not suffer the living to pass," said the Ghost King.

"You will suffer me!" Aragorn replied.

The King of the Dead cackled, a low, long, and utterly disturbing one. He was answered by a chorus of more taunting laughs, and I turned to see an entire city form out of the green mist, up against the wall above the pit. And from it emerged even more ghosts. Men, women, even ghost children. They flowed out of the city, headed for us, hovering over the pit.

"The way is shut." I turned back to face the King. "It was made by those who are dead. And the dead keep it." Even more ghosts formed around him, coming out of the walls, coming out of each other, closing in until we were completely surrounded by the green spirits.

I tensed as the King of the Dead walked toward us, completely terrified at this point. "The way is shut. Now you must die."

Legolas whipped out his bow and arrows and fired at the King, but it simply passed right through him, clattering on the ground. I clung to him, praying that Aragorn had some sort of plan. Gimli tightened his grip on his axe.

"I summon you to fulfill your oath!" Aragorn said firmly.

"None but the King of Gondor may command me!"

Aragorn held up Anduril in front of his face. The King raised his own sword with a cry and brought it down. I closed my eyes, preparing for the worst. All I heard was a loud clang.

I opened my eyes to see the two blades pressed against each other in midair, and the King of the Dead with a shocked look on his face. Aragorn swung the two weapons down.

"That blade was broken!" hissed the King.

Aragorn grabbed him and held the sword up against his throat. "It has been remade." He pushed the King back, sending him stumbling into his companions. He looked around at the crowd. "Fight for us, and regain your honor. What say you?"

I also looked around at them. What if they said no? Could they say no?

My cousin hefted the sword in his hand and walked around, showing any doubters their proof. "What say you?" he said again. No response.

"Don't waste your time, Aragorn!" Gimli warned. "They had no honor in life, they have non now in death."

Aragorn ignored him. "I am Isildur's heir. Fight for us, and I will hold your oaths fulfilled! What say you?" he demanded, looking the King right in the eye. I bit my lip.

The King laughed evilly once more. Some of the ghosts began to fade away.

"You have my word!" Aragorn shouted over the laughter. "Fight, and I will release you from this eternal death! What say you?" Now he sounded desperate. One by one, every ghost disappeared, but still I could not relax. Something was not right.

"Stand, ya traitors!" Gimli cried out. We all looked around wildly, waiting for their next move.

Suddenly, there was a deep rumbling. Rocks, dust, and dirt came falling down from above. I hugged Legolas hard. The ceiling was caving in. They were going to kill us. A few skulls rolled across the ground and stopped near my feet. I pressed my face into his chest so I wouldn't have to look at them.

There was even more cracking, and I lifted my head and turned around one last time to see huge chunks of the wall around the King's throne fall away. Skulls began pouring out of the holes in the wall. I started crying.

"OUT!" Aragorn screamed. Legolas didn't hesitate to pick me up and run, jumping across patches of rocks, over the waterfall of skulls. They swelled up around us, the current pushing us towards the pit. We had to practically swim through the bones. Just barely, we made it out. Legolas set me down, and we started running, but just after he did, a large chunk of rock came crashing down right in front of me, blocking the path. I screamed. Skulls were gushing out of the room behind me like water. Already they began to pile up at my feet.

"Help me!" I tried climbing over the rock, but it was too high, and I could not get a good grip on it. Now the bones were up around my waist. I screamed again. "HELP ME!" More and more bones piled up around me. I was going to drown in skulls. SKULLS. I screamed again, tears streaming down my face. The skulls quickly covered my head, and I saw nothing but hideous, bony faces staring at me.

To my relief, a pair of strong hands finally grabbed my arms through the horrible sea of bones and pulled hard, lifting me out of my ghostly prison. Legolas set me back down on my feet and grabbed my hand, and we took of running. I was still crying, traumatized.

Finally, we stumbled out through a doorway, and back into sweet sunlight. I hadn't realized how much I was shaking until then. Legolas hugged me hard. "Íverin! Are you all right?" I tried to calm myself down, but every time I closed my eyes, I saw nothing but skulls. I shuddered.

When I was able to calm down somewhat, I looked up to see Aragorn staring sadly at a river not too far away. I looked at it as well, and saw several black ships sailing down it. But that was not what troubled me. On either side, there were cities made of stone. They were broken and burning. And I recognized the place immediately. "Osgiliath..." I whispered. "...my...my home..."

Aragorn fell to his knees on the ground. Legolas walked up and put a hand on his shoulder for comfort. I could do nothing but stand there and stare. It had been so long since I had been there. I never thought I would ever see it like this. Tears rose in my eyes as I thought of my father and mother. Especially my father. He would be heartbroken to see his homeland so...so destroyed.

Out of nowhere, there came another great wind. We all turned to see the King of the Dead emerge through the mountainside and out into the broad daylight. I jumped and moved over with Legolas again. Was the skull torture not enough?

He walked up to Aragorn, and finally said the two words I thought I would never hear. "We fight."