Hello everyone! Again!

Now I'm very sad. Next chapter is most likely the end. NO!

Oh well. Please review!

~littledragoneyes

Chapter 8:

In fact, Daerua did check up with Sauron. Sadly, she couldn't convince him to get me out. Because Sauron's a total jerk, that's why.

I was tearing up the room. What do I have to get myself out of here? Couldn't jump out the window, for sure. I would kill myself just doing that. Couldn't scream for help as well. That would be equally unhelpful and humiliating. Couldn't break down the door and get through the guards either. Would be utterly useless.

So what the bloody hell could I do?

Pretty much...nothing.

I had no weapons. No good tools. Nothing. I sank down on the edge of my bed, listening to nothing. I was just staring off into empty space. I needed to get out of here. Fast. But once you're in house arrest there's really nothing you can do.

You just have to wait.

So that's exactly what I did. Waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. And waited.

And of course, waited.

Waiting for what? I don't know. Waiting for whom? I don't know. Waiting for a miracle? Yeah, that's it.

Waiting for a miracle. A damn miracle...

A miracle. That's it! All I needed was a miracle. Something. Well, not a miracle in particular but at least a chance. Something that would fly me away. Since I couldn't fly myself, I needed something to fly on.

To fly on.

Fly.

FLYING.

"That's it!" I snapped my fingers. "Torn! Torn! Where's Torn now?"

Frantic, I bolted to my window and stuck my head out. The stables weren't far. The pen wasn't far as well. I knew that Torn wasn't in the stables, that's for sure. I didn't see him when I was speaking with Mr. Twerp/Sauron.

So Sauron did do something to him, for sure. If he had killed Torn, I would've known. It's hard to hide a dead fell beast. At least, hide the fact that Torn was dead, from me.

So Torn wasn't dead. What's next? If I were Mr. Jackass Sauron, where would I hide Torn...? Where would be the place where Torn would be kept? Obviously for letting me drop, Torn would be put in a torture area. Somewhere dark and cold. Somewhere dangerous.

But where?

I don't know.

Shoulders slumping, I thought hard and quickly. No time to lose, definitely. Where was a place that was dark and cold? Where was a place that was dangerous? Where was a place that no orcs or people would dare to enter?

Ah, I thought, smirking. Now I know.

The lairs of Shelob. Of course. Why didn't I think of it before? Sauron...er, enjoyed putting orcs there for bait for Shelob, to earn Shelob's loyalty. I didn't think much about it, though. Shelob was too far for me to trek everyday to care for her, so I didn't know much about giant spiders in particular.

Wait.

But didn't I have a book on giant spiders?

I bolted to my shelf, and frantically scanned the titles. "Giant spiders," I kept muttering under my breath. "Giant spiders. Where the bloody hell is the giant - aha!"

I ripped the dusty old book off the shelf and plopped it down on the desk. I flipped a couple of pages, hurriedly looking through.

"Okay..." I read the writing. Supposedly, it said, giant spiders could be tamed with bright lights. Very bright lights. That was the easiest way to make for it. But then again...you couldn't tame it any other way.

"Bright lights." I muttered. "How do I get bright lights?"

I frowned. "Mordor isn't very bright in the first place, right?"

Oh, but weren't there three-headed statues? They "watched" the exits into Mordor and they couldn't be passed by Mordor.

I kept reading. Only the Phial of Galadriel can the bearers get pass the the Two Watchers of the Tower of Cirith Ungol. Then, in parentheses, were elvish words. Fumbling through, I finally read it as, "Aiya Eärendil Elenion Ancalima." I muttered. "What's that mean?"

Shrugging, I decided to memorize those four words, hoping maybe that it would serve its purpose.

"But I don't have a light." I said, annoyed. I rubbed my forehead. Then I would have to go without it. Torn depends on me now. He may be clumsy enough to drop me, but I still love him all the same. I wouldn't go without Torn.

I grabbed an empty bag from my closet and dumped the book on giant spiders, a few candles and matches, just for "light", and a knife that I found from one of the food trays left on a table. It would work...I guess...very ineffectively.

I also put in a few apples, bread and dried beef, and a full jug of water. If my massive appetite couldn't hold it for that long.

Oh well.

But how would I get pass the guards? I needed to. I really did. Something to distract them, maybe? Yeah. I need a mouse. The old handy-dandy trick of using a mouse to scare guards could work. But I doubt it. Guards were guards - they couldn't be scared by a mouse.

Unless...the mouse crawled into certain parts of the guards' uniforms...after all, I breed all sorts of animals and train them things.

Mice were easily found in all parts of Barad-Dur. Orcs barely swept the halls or mopped the halls. Orcs barely bothered or noticed. And thus, in my room, there were mice.

I gently picked up one and stroke its neck, feeling its furry cuteness. It stared at me with big beady black eyes. "Hey, little fella. Can you do something for me?"

The mouse squeaked. I took it as a yes.

"Can you run up the guards' pants for me? Bite wherever you feel like that would be helpful, can you? It's not hard. I'll reward you later."

The mouse squeaked again, and then leapt off of my hand and onto the floor, scrambling away quickly. I grinned. Cute little mouse. It's a great benefit to be able to speak to animals. Well, not legit speaking, but you get what I mean.

The mouse crawled underneath the small space between the floor and the door, and nimbly crawled onto the black boot of an orc guard. The guards took no notice, as they were engaged in a conversation, bored to death.

The spaces were small, but the mouse managed to creep beneath the orc's armor and under the pants.

Then that's when the orc noticed.

I leaned against the wall, sighing in delight as I heard howls and snarls of pain and alarm just outside my door. When the coast was clear, I sent more mice to unlock the door for me.

Seconds later, the door swung open with a small creak. Two orc soldiers were struggling with a mouse, trying to get it out of their pants. I smiled sweetly at them, and they tried to get at me, but the other mice just kept biting them and the soldiers jerked back from me. I chuckled. Funny little mice. So helpful. I have to reward them sometime...

I crept down the stairs, not wanting to make a single sound, or else. I wasn't exactly sure if anyone else was currently in the tower, since they probably were all preparing for the battle against Gondor and Rohan, but there was a possibility they could be guarding since I was still under house arrest.

Heart beating loudly in my chest like drums, I tried not to stumble, but I was shaking quite a bit. I don't know why, but I was scared, right down to every little bit of my body. Fear clung to me like cobwebs and it was annoying as well.

When I finally got to the end of the staircase, I took a few turns around the corner, staying hidden most of the time in the shadows, behind lamps or statues. There were a few guards, but not many. I just hoped that orcs were stupid and couldn't hear or smell or see things very well.

I proved to be wrong. Well, at least for one of them.

I was walking down a corridor, and there was no one else in the halls except for me. I was just about to turn a corner when I heard footsteps behind me. Holding my breath, I quickly ducked behind a statue, pressing myself hard against the wall, my head bowed.

But, clumsy and quite unaware of my surroundings, I accidentally bumped my bag against the statue, and it set off a ding! noise. I cursed silently for my stupidness and waited in the shadows.

The orc's footsteps stopped, and he growled, looking around warily. "Who's there?" He barked. His voice echoed in the halls.

I heard him come forward a bit more and my heart was beating louder than ever. I really hoped that it wasn't beating so loudly that all orcs could hear it in Mordor. Much more for Sauron.

"Come out!" He barked again. I pressed myself harder to the cold damp stone walls.

When nothing came out, or at least, I didn't make anymore evidence that I was currently in the halls with the orc guard, he shrugged and continued on to his post. I shrank against the wall, squeezing my eyes shut when he neared me, but he didn't see me. Then he turned the corner.

I continued sitting there for at least five minutes, mainly because I was still trying to calm myself down. It was terrifying. Once I did, I decided to keep moving on to my next destination. To the weaponry to find my weapons again, and then to the stables to grab a random horse to get to Shelob's lair. Because as far as I could tell, Cirith Ungol was a mighty distance away, although on the map it was depicted as a few inches.

I really wish it was a few inches.

I hurried down to the weaponry without further troubles, and easily found my sword, bow and arrows and my dagger in the far corner of the room. They looked a bit different than the other orc weapons. At least, no other weapons looked as if it came from the world of Men than forged by the orcs. Strapping those on, I made my way quickly to stables for the horses, warily watching out for other guards.

The horses raised their heads at me, interested at the newcomer. Orcs rarely rode on horses. I guess they preferred wargs better, but I breeded these horses for the Witch-Kings before they requested fell beasts, and sometimes I rode on them myself.

Selecting a dark colored stallion, I patted his neck gently and fed him a few carrots. I couldn't waste any time saddling or bridling this beauty, so I quickly leapt onto his back, riding bare-back, although I wasn't quite accustomed to it.

"Quiet, Eclipse." I hushed the stallion. Maybe choosing this stallion in particular was a bad idea. But he was a dark color, and I didn't want to choose a lighter color horse because maybe then I would be caught easily.

He tossed his head, his uncombed black mane flinging itself in my face. I sighed, and looked around. Fell beasts, wargs, horses, farm animals, trolls, and many other creatures were still there. Feeling generous, I released all of the animals into the open. If Mordor was to go down, then the animals shouldn't have to suffer as well. I watched them fly or run off into the distance.

Then I rode Eclipse into a gallop.

In my mind I had a mental map of Mordor. Later, I promised myself, I would brag to Daerua that I really did pay attention in my studies of Mordor. Currently I was slightly south of Barad-Dur, and a bit west of Barad-Dur would be Mount Doom. Then, there was a road leading to an Orc camp east of Morgai and a little-known road, that wasn't used much, that led straight to Cirith Ungol. Straight across the Plateau of Gorgoroth.

A good long way meant for a few days of travel, I guess.

Now I have doubts if the apples, dried beef and bread will last my appetite for those days.

I stayed off the trail, not wanting to be seen. The land was pretty dark, so I had to carefully make our way towards Cirith Ungol. Getting past Mount Doom and the orc camp and Barad-Dur, which had a giant flaming eye planted on top of the tower without getting caught was my biggest priority.

And I best focus on it.

"I'm coming, Torn." I whispered to myself. "I'm coming."

The orc guard crossed the corridor and headed up the staircase leading to Lady Fay's room. It was the end of those other orc guards' shift, and now it was his hour to guard.

Strange, though. He had heard rumors of Fay befriending the enemies at Minas Tirith and possibly even falling in love with one. He shook his head. It was all a bunch of rumors, nothing more than that. The guards these days made up rumors and false things when they were bored, so nowadays it was hard to know what was the truth and what wasn't.

At the top of the staircase, he found two orc guards sprawling on the ground, desperately trying to get something out of their pants and trying to smack the mice instead but missed dreadfully as the little brown creatures skittered easily out of harm's way.

"What are you doing?" he asked, holding back a bark of laughter.

"Damn you!" They cursed at him. "Help us! Lady Fay has escaped!"

His gaze traveled to the neat yet dark room, and the door was opened. Lady Fay was gone indeed. "Oh...I will inform Lord Sauron at once!"

Then the guard ran down the stairs, taking two at a time.

"Wait!" The other two guards yelled. "You..." He had left them with the mice.

"My lord!" The guard said, panting hard as he approached Lord Sauron. The Dark Lord's face was grim and his expression was set in a particularly annoyed frown. He stood in front of an open window, watching something outside.

"Lady Fay...she is gone!"

Sauron's brow continued to furrow. "This was expected of her." He said tersely, his voice cold and edged with steel.

"What would you have me to do?" He asked warily, sensing his lord's mood was extremely impatient and short.

It took a minute for Sauron to answer. "Nothing. She chose to do this. So be it. Fay is a betrayer of Mordor, yet she is an outcast of the rest of Middle-Earth. That wizard Gandalf and the little hobbit would have already told their friends to beware of her. She does not have any friends to aid her."

"My lord...she is going to Cirith Ungol. Shelob dwells in there. Fay will be killed."

"Then let her rot."

Two days passed since I left the Tower of Barad-Dur. I was already weary. I forgot how hot it was in Mordor, since Minas Tirith was a milder temperature, just miles away from Mordor.

I was close to the orc camp, past Mount Doom. I haven't been out here for a while, besides Minas Morgul. I've seen it all on Torn, and Mordor seemed a lot smaller from up there. But down here, it took forever.

But the memory of Torn made me keep going. I lost Bane. I wasn't willing to let go of his littlest brother.

And what about Faramir? I needed to know what happened to him, dead or alive.

I wiped sweat from my brow. Eclipse whinnied and stomped, his broad, muscled neck also damp with his own perspiration. His chest heaved, his nostrils flaring. He was already tired and we've been riding for a few hours.

"Alright, Eclipse." I patted his head, sharing his pain. "We'll rest for a bit. But be quiet."

Orcs were already marching out of Mordor, to war. At least if I found Torn in time I could help fight. That would be nice. Yet the first thing was to stay quiet, or else I would be found, then sent back to Barad-Dur. Which was the last thing I needed.

I slid off his steaming back, stumbling onto the ground. I rummaged in my pack, yanking out the jug of water viciously and gulping down a few mouthfuls of water. It was almost finished. I needed to refill sooner or later, or at least save some for later. I fed some water to Eclipse, and then shared an apple with him.

I surveyed the distance between me and Cirith Ungol. A mile? Maybe. Only a tiny bit more. But as I was gazing off into the distance, I spotted two little figures trudging wearily, only 50 meters from me. I cocked my head, frowning, and squinted. They were in orc armor, so they were probably orcs.

But the orcs were marching to war. These little ones...were slowly coming towards me. Shouldn't they be with the others?

I watched one of them stumble and fall onto one of the rocks, and then lay panting. He raised his head, and his hopeless eyes met mine. A little alarmed, he warned his friend, who stared back at me, transfixed.

Then a spark lit up in my brain, and I knew what to do.

Leaping back onto Eclipse, taking my bag, I raced towards the two little orcs - well, little people disguised as orcs. No orcs stumble like that, or had hopeless eyes like that. I knew those eyes.

"Are you alright?" I asked, feeling sweat trickling down my back. The two little men backed away from me warily. Then, one of them yanked out a sword and held it out at me, his grip wavering. The sharp point was directed at me.

"Don't come near us! Or I'll hurt you!" He threatened me. If only the situation wasn't so serious, I would've laughed and said, "Aw, how cute!"

I raised my hands up slowly, as a sign of innocence and peace. "I don't mean either of you any harm whatsoever." I told them gently.

"Who are you?" The same one who threatened me ineffectively asked.

"My name...my name is Fay Evargent." I said. No lies this time, I thought to myself. Or else. Syrene is another person. I'm Fay. "I used to be a servant of Sauron."

"Stay away from us!" He immediately shouted. I winced. Does everyone hate me now? "Back off, you!"

I continued to have my hands above my head. "No!" I said quickly. "Look, hear me out."

I slid off of Eclipse' back, who stayed perfectly quiet. To show that I was on their side, I stripped myself of all my weapons. "There. Happy now? I don't mean to hurt any of you. I'm running away from Sauron. I'm joining your side. I swear."

They didn't say anything.

"How do you know that we can trust you?" The other one asked, his voice weary.

"Don't speak, Mr. Frodo." The one with the sword hushed him. "Rest for now. I'll deal with this lady here."

I almost smiled. They were so brave. "You can trust me. Really. I want to help. This is no joke." I told them. "But for now, what are your names?"

Hesistantly, they answered, "Samwise Gamgee, and Frodo Baggins. What's your business here?"

"I told you. I'm running away. I'm traveling to Cirith Ungol, to rescue a friend of mine that was put there under Sauron's commands. He did nothing wrong and I want to rescue him from any further harm."

"I trust her, Sam." Frodo said tiredly, his eyelids resting lightly over those bright blue eyes.

Sam frowned, but put away his sword. "Alright then." He said grudgingly. "We are going to...to Mount Doom. To destroy the Ring."

My mouth fell open about a foot. Literally. "You are the Ringbearers?" I asked, incredulously. "Of the Fellowship?"

"Yes." Sam said. "Why do you ask?"

"I just heard about you, that's all." I said truthfully. "And I never thought I would see any of you for as long as I live...just because I live in Mordor and the others may not like me."

"I need water, Sam." Frodo interrupted us drowsily. "Water..."

"I have water!" I said instantly. "Here - take mine - " I snatched the water bottle out of my bag and handed it to Sam, who cast a glance that read I-don't-really-like-you-but-I'll-take-your-word-for-it-but-if-the-water's-poisoned-I'll-kick-your-ass-to-Mount-Doom look.

Sam gave Frodo the water, who drank it gratefully. "Thank you!" He panted.

"Would you like some food? I have some left." I gave them both an apple each. Which left me one last apple for me and Eclipse.

I sat down on a rock, watching them eat. "Mount Doom, right?" I mulled over the situation they just told me. "I can't wait for Mordor to go down." I said wistfully.

"And go back to the Shire." It seemed that Sam had finally let his guard down and sounded like he trusted me. "We're going that way. Straight as we can." He pointed towards the volcano. Then, after some afterthought, he said, "There's no point in carrying anything we're not sure to need."

He threw off his orc armor a moment later into a fissure, and so did Frodo. With some reluctance, Sam also left behind his pans.

"There, that's better." He said happily. "It's not that heavy anymore."

"You can have my horse, if you'd like." I offered them Eclipse, who snorted and looked at them with disgust, probably at how dirty they were.

"Oh, no, ma'am." Sam said quickly. Frodo had not said anything, because he was unconscious for the last twenty minutes we were resting. "We don't need your horse. We can walk. You need it for the last mile to Cirith Ungol."

"But it's dangerous!" I protested. "I have other horses, not just Eclipse here. You really need him. Especially Frodo. One mile isn't a lot."

Sam still shook his head.

"At least have Eclipse guide you." I put in. "He's a smart fellow. He can help you."

Frodo stirred near us. The other hobbit sighed. "Alright then. He can guide us, but we'll return him to you."

I nodded. "Fine, then."

"Speaking of Cirith Ungol," Sam said curiously, "You know old Shelob is in there."

I nodded. "Yes, I know that."

"Um..well, since Shelob is in there, won't you need the Phial of Galadriel?"

I thought for a minute. "Yes, actually, I do need it. Do you have it?"

"We do." Sam fished around in his bag and then held it up. "I won't say the words now, because if I do we'll be spotted for sure. Do you know the words?"

I smiled. He was so polite, and then he handed it to me. "Yes. I will give it back to you when I finish, and then you can return Eclipse to me. Deal?"

Sam nodded, satisfied, then helped Frodo up. The poor hobbit was tired. He really did need some good rest. His bones were standing out and his clothes were torn and ragged.

I watched them get ready for the next step of their journey towards Mount Doom. "I know of other hobbits." I said quietly.

"Really?" Frodo asked. "Who?"

"Um...Pippin. And a wizard named Gandalf."

"They're alive!" Sam cheered. "So those two still live on. What of Merry?"

I shrugged. "Sorry. I don't know Merry."

Both hobbits fell silent, thinking their own thoughts. I picked up my bag and took a sip of water. "Hey, look on the bright side." I said, trying to cheer them up. "Look up. There are stars past the Shadow."

I was right. As we stood gazing up at the stars, the beauty of the those little diamonds glimmering in the night sky. "You've got those stars watching over you. You can make it out. Good luck."

I felt like I needed to say more, but I left them with that.

Oh...boy! This is getting a bit intense in the next chapter. Next chapter may be longer. I think. No guarantees, though! Hee hee.

So..what do you guys think? I hope you like it. But I feel like editing this story might be major now. :(

Oh well!

P.S. I like reviews. :D

Cheers,

littledragoneyes