Now I have a feeling that THE NEXT chapter is the last chapter. No guarantees, though! Hee hee.
Please review! And enjoy!
~littledragoneyes
Chapter 10:
I sat with Torn on top of a distant part of the mountain, right near the Black Gates. I could see the Men of the West army standing, a rather large mass. I was quite impressed, yet when you take a look at Mordor...I was feeling quite uneasy about the outcome. Were the good guys going to win? I actually...don't know the answer to that.
I spotted the Mouth of Sauron step out smugly, quite convinced that Mordor was going to win. I frowned and stuck out my tongue at the Mouth of Sauron. Confident, smug little bug. If he really were a bug I'd squish him like a pancake. That would be fun.
Nobody noticed me as Torn crept out closer in my command, so I could at least see a bit better. They were all too terrified or not focusing on their surroundings to notice a smaller-than-average fell beast and a simple fourteen-year old girl crouched above their heads.
Torn, though, was more focused on the Mouth of Sauron. He kept jerking on my reins, as if he wanted to fly down and join the crowd. "No, Torn!" I hissed. "Not now! When the war begins, then we go down!"
His head didn't register a single thing I said.
Like usual.
He whined loudly, shaking the reins. Torn was sounding awfully spoiled. "Stop it, Torn!" I whispered, louder. "Not yet!"
Torn shook his head and nosed towards the Mouth of Sauron.
"Yes, I know his breath smells like crap but I can't do anything about it!" I told him, annoyed. "Now be quiet!"
He kept nosing his muzzle towards the Mouth of Sauron. Exasperated, I slapped him lightly on the shoulder. "Listen to me Torn! I do not want to be caught up here. If you do anything, just anything, you will be grounded! Period!"
I was pretty sure I got the point across, but...fell beasts have strange listening skills.
Then I watched as one of them rode casually towards the Mouth of Sauron. The lieutenant of Sauron spoke to him, obviously taunting him, but the man didn't seem offended at all. Then, with a hard clean swipe, his sword sliced the head off of the Mouth of Sauron, unexpectedly. It was almost funny to watch it happen.
I cursed, wincing at the bloody sight. Torn let out a joyful whine, arching that graceful neck of his, and shot forward. "TORN, NO!" I screamed.
Too late. The fell beast already was diving towards the dead body of the Mouth of Sauron. I heard the terrified cries of the army from the West and confusion from Mordor, and the group of men who approached the Black Gates backed away quickly on their spooked horses, alarm on their faces.
Then Torn landed awkwardly, with me clutching his neck, frightened that I might fall off again like I did on my first mission to destroy Osgiliath. He was sliding around the ground and kicking up large puffs of dust and dirt. Then Torn slid to a final stop, and stretching out with his long leathery neck he snatched up the Mouth of Sauron's dead body and head, and gulped it down - well, more of inhaled it - in less than a second.
He chewed nosily as I most definitely heard crickets chirping around the world. Then Torn gulped it down, the bulge evident in his throat as it made its way down to his stomach.
"Okay, that's it!" I snapped, irritated with him. I was quite unaware that I had about eight thousand witnesses watching me scold Torn. "First, you eat Shelob, then the Mouth of Sauron, and I won't be surprised if you attempt a cave troll! Eat when you're supposed to, Torn! And listen to me while you're at it."
Torn scoffed, then puffed out his chest and looked away, pointing his nose to the sky in his arrogant pride.
"Don't roll your eyes at me!" I growled. "You're grounded, you hear me?"
"Fay Evargent!" I heard someone call me. I whirled around, Torn cocking his head at the newcomer. It was Gandalf, with that little hobbit I met on the Pelennor Fields.
"Servant of Sauron, begone from here!" He shouted.
I gulped, slumping a tiny bit in my seat. Oh right. They don't trust me. Did I forget? I thought, feeling slightly crestfallen.
When will this world ever learn to like me?
"Wait!" I shouted back. "I can explain! I don't want to fight against you, I want to help fight against Mordor!"
The man who cut off the Mouth of Sauron's head was skeptical as well. Raising his eyebrows, he said, "Gandalf the White as told us all of your evil doings!" I recognized the air of nobility and regal atmosphere to him. Was he Isildur's heir? Sure sounded a lot like a king. "We cannot trust you!"
"You can!" I yelled back. "Look - "
I jabbed a finger towards Mount Doom. "I met your friends! Hobbits! Sam and Frodo! They are still alive! I swear!"
They were quiet for about five seconds, and then I heard Pippin squeal to his friend, the one I met on the Pelennor Fields, delighted, "Frodo and Sam! They're still alive, Merry!"
"But I thought she was lying, Pip. Gandalf said so." Merry said uneasily.
"I'm not lying!" I said indignantly. "I really am not! I met them! I - I did! I gave them food and water and my best horse!"
They didn't seem very convinced, by the looks of it. I pinched the bridge of my nose. Was it just because I grew up under Sauron's care and in Mordor that I was treated this way? What was it with them that made them so angry about how I was reacting? Sheesh, I didn't know Sauron was a fat liar!
See, kids, don't lie to others about the truth. It just ticks me off.
They questioned me. "Do you have proof?"
I sighed, thinking hard. Did I have proof?
Wait.
"Yes, I do have proof!" I dove straight into my bag, and held out the Phial of Galadriel, clutched in my hand. "See? The Phial of Galadriel! And I suppose there's only one around here, isn't there? Galadriel doesn't hand these out for free! Watch - Aiya Eärendil Elenion Ancalima!" I said confidently, sure that maybe now they believed me.
The glass lit up, brightly, although it was still daytime, yet the phial would've shone brighter than the sun if I tried comparing. "See?" I asked, feeling satisfied. "There you go!"
"You easily could've killed the hobbits and taken it from them." Someone pointed out.
"Sure, but does Mordor teach elvish? Does stupid Sauron even like elves?" I said. "If I really weren't on your side, would I even bother to learn this stuff? Go through Cirith Ungol to rescue Torn here," I patted my fell beast on the shoulder, "Kill Shelob, then come back here, to fight?" Sighing with relief, I saw that I made a point in some of their minds.
Yet before I could say even more, the Black Gates creaked and swayed open ominously. Behind the gates was revealed a massive army of orcs, marching straight towards the Men of the West.
Barad-Dur was in the distance, the eye staring straight at the supposed Isildur's Heir and I. What was his name? Aragorn, or something? I don't remember. Pippin told me something about him.
Fay Evargent. I heard my name being called loud and clear, from the Tower of Barad-Dur.
Fay Evargent, you have displeased me greatly.
Why wouldn't I? I snapped angrily in my mind.
Fay Evargent, my good daughter, come back to Mordor. Come back. The ones you wish to ally with will betray you. They will kill you. They do not trust you. I heard Sauron's patience.
I wouldn't come back to Mordor even if I had to die. I said indignantly in my mind. I hate you. And I know how pathetic that sounds, but it's the truth. You're an idiot, a fat liar, and you're not my father. You never had been, and you can't tell me who to fight for.
You dare lay a hand against your father?
Yes, I do. I told him with a smirk on my face, in my mind. And I told you already - you're not my father. More like a babysitter. A really bad one, mind you.
Then I stuck my tongue out at him for good measure. I saw the giant flaming eye glare at me.
"Pull back! Pull back!" I heard Aragorn shout. "If you truly are an ally," I heard him call to me. "Help us defend Middle-Earth!"
"I will!" I yelled back, and sent Torn up into the air, way above, facing the army of Mordor.
"Ready, Torn?" I gently asked my fell beast.
He chirped brightly, nodding his head enthusiastically and energetically. "And if you manage to kill a Witch-King then you're not grounded anymore." I added helpfully.
Torn's attention instantly focused in on the orc army, which was still marching straight out of Mordor through the Black Gates. He licked his chops eagerly.
Down below, Aragorn was giving his speech. "Sons of Gondor! Of Rohan!"
I cleared my throat. Loudly.
"And...daughter of Mordor..." He added grudgingly, and I grinned.
Then he continued. "My brothers! Sister! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me." He spoke loudly and confidently. I admired his spirit and courage greatly. Aragorn would make an excellent king.
"A day may come when the courage of Men fails, when we forsake our friends, and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day." I saw some of the bravery being lifted and some even raised their chins higher up.
"An hour of wolves and shattered shields when the Age of Men comes crashing down, but it is not this day! This day we fight!"
He kept going. "By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!" Aragorn held his sword up high, the blade gleaming in the bright sunlight.
The soldiers drew their swords, and so did I.
Aragorn wheeled his horse around, determination and faith written all over his face. He was ready for anything.
And so was I. Yet as we waited for our fate to be decided, the orc masses began encircling Aragorn's army. I looked on uneasily.
You will not win, Fay. Sauron told me.
So what? I challenged him. We will die trying.
Do not do this, Fay.
Why not? Like you care a damn thing about me.
I do. I do not want to see you fall! Come back to Mordor. You will live here. You will be safe, away from danger and war.
Sure. And when I went to Cirith Ungol you didn't stop me, did you?
Sauron didn't answer.
The orc army was massive. Huge. Terrifyingly large. They circled around our army like wolves, and we were a sick little rabbit waiting for whatever to happen. But whatever would happen, will happen. You can't change it and it's going to stay that way.
A chess game. Waiting for someone to start, instead of White moving first. But I guess we were the White, and Mordor would be the Red. White stood for purity and innocence. Red was the color of blood and the flowing, hot lava of Mount Doom, and also, Sauron's Eye was colored red on the black flags of Mordor.
Then history began, as Aragorn, with a wave of his shining sword, ran towards the orcs, yelling. I saw Merry and Pippin follow him directly afterwards, and a heartbeat later, the rest of the army.
"Let's kill some orcs, Torn." I told my fell beast, and he agreed.
Diving, we were a good advantage. Torn flared out his wings as he neared the ground, catching wind, and knocked a good ten Orcs aside, tossing them into the air and letting them crash, like the good 'ol strategy I learned from the other Witch-Kings.
Torn flapped his wings hard, and regained momentum before plunging back into the mess and picking off Orcs.
We were going good. We were doing very well, helping Aragorn and his army. It was all going extremely well...when...
The other Witch-Kings...they came.
On their fell beasts, they came straight out of Mordor, circling around the army of Men, and were particularly surprised to see me.
I recognized one of them to be Khamûl. He hissed at me, "Fay! What are you doing here?"
"Same as I was going to ask you. What are you doing here?" I actually knew the reason why he was here. I was just annoying him because it was funny to tease him.
"On my duty." He replied.
"Then I'm on my duty too! Defending Middle-Earth from your twerp Sauron is my specialty." I said cheerfully.
I was pretty sure Khamûl swore at me. "You cannot!" He growled.
"Sure I can." I replied easily. "And that means I can call you whatever I want. You're pig lard."
"Excuse me?" I bet if he had a face his expression would be priceless. More or less the equivalent of chucking a pie at his face and getting away with it.
"You heard me!" I snorted. "Don't pretend you're deaf and all Khamûl." Then I felt Torn tug on his reins. "Oh, look, Torn wants to kill again." With a happy wave, I let Torn lunge several times at orcs, nearly nicking a few men who got too close to Torn.
And those few men began...attacking me.
I let out a squeak of terror as they shot their arrows at us. Most of them were missed, but one or two hit Torn's foreleg and flank, piercing the dark leathery hide and leaking dark red liquid. I heard the fell beast wail in pain as Torn lifted back into the air in his miserable agony. "You bastards!" I shouted. "I'm on your side! GET IT RIGHT!"
But unfortunately I don't think that they agreed that I was a good person.
And that was when I heard an eagle shriek, and Torn was plowed right over on his side, losing his balance and spiraling down to the ground. I was screaming my head off. "FOCUS, TORN!" I hollered. "DON'T LOSE BALANCE!"
Somehow, my favorite fell beast did hear me, and he flared out his wings and caught air lift. Panting, he flapped his wings, gaining height, and as he was getting his breath back that was knocked out of his lungs, I scanned the mess of a battlefield.
Eagles. They've come, luckily. Except they just don't know that I'm part of the good guys too.
Dark gold and golden feathers blocked my vision again and Torn found himself surrounded. "I'm on your side!" I said frantically, since Torn was injured and exhausted and I was definitely no match for giant, fierce eagles. "Really! I've changed sides! Don't kill us!"
The eagles eyed me warily but took my word for it and flew off, at a caw of another eagle, who seemed to be the leader of them all.
I breathed out a sigh of relief, and returned to fighting.
The eagles seemed to have gotten along with me, after a good hour or so of fighting. I must've killed a hundred orcs soldiers - maybe more. My sword was stained red and my arms had cuts and slashes and still bleeding profusely. I was panting hard, and it hurt to breathe as well because I probably have this massive bruise on my ribs.
Leaning on Torn, who was resting on a cliff top, a bit of a distance away from the battle that we found refuge in, my body felt weak from blow after blow that the other orcs and Witch-Kings delivered towards the two of us. But I raised myself back up again, and halfheartedly jerked on the reins. "C'mon...Torn, let's give it another go..."
Torn shook his head. He was tired too.
"C'mon, this is a war...gotta fight..."
Torn rolled his eyes, and got up feebly. He swung his head around, his gaze giving me the I-better-get-something-for-this look. I grinned. "Just go." I told him, and he obeyed.
He spread his wings out and leapt from the cliff, and the wind caught his wings easily. Then we dived down again, snatching orcs off the ground one by one.
What I really wanted to do was take out the Witch-Kings, who seemed to have done much damage to Aragorn's army. But poor Torn - how could he live with hurting his older siblings as well? I felt sympathetic when I saw him act less ferocious towards his siblings as he tried to only knock off the Witch-King off their backs instead of taking the fell beasts as well.
But did Torn want to do it?
No, so I didn't try to kill the Witch-Kings.
But a moment later, that's when I heard it.
Well, not heard it, but felt something. A cold, hard tug on my mind. Like something magnetic was trying to pull me towards it. I scowled, frustrated, and turned towards the tug.
And saw Sauron's Eye, staring straight at the eight of the Witch-Kings and I. The Ring! I heard Sauron's distressed and hysterical scream. At the Cracks of Doom!
All eight Witch-Kings instantly took to his order. With a stroke of their wings, they shot for Mount Doom, hurrying to save Sauron. I could feel myself wanting to head in and help. Torn did too. He strained against my resisting reins, whining loudly. But something else in my mind, was pulling me back. Pulling me back out of the darkness and back into the light.
I couldn't go back to Mordor. I couldn't. After what Sauron did to me and Torn? No. If he dies - too bad for him. I don't care.
"No, Torn." I said very quietly, only for Torn to hear. His frantic pulling against my reins began to soften. "Not this time."
He swiveled his head around, so I could see those dark eyes glinting at me. I saw the reflection of an exhausted, beat-up and worn fourteen-year old girl in his cold yet friendly black eyes. Torn cocked his head in confusion at my words. I patted his head, stroking the leathery skin. "We're not going back to Mordor. Ever."
Torn was a little confused, still. He kept looking back at his siblings, who were flying top-speed towards Mount Doom. He gave me the But-what-about-my-siblings-? look.
My heart felt like it was going to break in two at the sight of his pitiful gaze. He was so innocent! People can be so misunderstanding sometimes. "I'm sorry, Torn." I gave him a weak smile. "But I'm not the mistress of them and it's up to their masters to decide what to do with them."
With a final understanding, he ceased the pulling on my reins and we returned to fighting.
And then I heard a yell. A loud yell, and I recognized it easily.
Whirling around, I spotted a giant troll.
And I mean, giant.
It towered over everyone. The height was almost of two men standing on top of each other on shoulders. It was armed with thick armor and a broad sword, and looked quite hysterical.
Frankly, everyone was hysterical, diving out of the way of the giant troll.
Except for me.
I raised an eyebrow, incredulous at the sight. "Joey?" I said to no one in particular, but maybe Torn. Why the bloody hell was Joey, the cave troll, out here?
And then I thought of it. Sauron, of course. Why didn't it ring a bell? It's a war zone in this world. Of course Sauron would teach it to be violent and hateful-like.
Aw, poor Joey. He was such a nice troll...
I let out a particularly bad swear and dove for Joey, the troll that I exclusively raised up.
"JOEY!" I screamed over the noise! "OI! JOEY, OVER HERE! IT'S FAY!"
At least it turned around. But it didn't see me.
Ah, is there a reason for this? I think so. Joey has severe sight problems. His nose is quite superior though.
Joey spotted someone else to pick on.
I twisted around, to see who the next poor victim would be and hoped to save that person.
It was Aragorn. Poor fella.
Joey roared loudly at Aragorn, who froze instinctively. Then he slowly turned around and faced a very violent troll.
"Oh, shit." I swore.
Immediately I dived for Aragorn. My newest plan was this - grab Aragorn, get him out of the way, and let Torn eat Joey. Because Joey's generous heart was tainted by evil. I couldn't turn that sweet little troll back to the way he was so I guess the best thing to do was to let him be...eaten...now to think of it, it sounds quite gruesome. Ick.
Savvy?
I've had enough with Sauron's petty interference with my animals. Who was he to take innocent hearts and twist them to evilness? Especially Joey. Yet I'm not particularly sure about Torn's siblings. Were they good? Or had they turned bad? I don't know. Because fell beasts' spirits are particularly hard to meld to evil, and that's something I know for sure.
And then something extremely horrible happened. I don't want to say it, but I have to. Because that's what happened and I wish it never did.
Orcs, I guess I could say first, were the problem. And there were dozens of them with arrows.
So put orcs and arrows together. Makes extremely annoying little orcs.
Put a betrayer, like me and Torn, together, who knows lots of things from Mordor and could most likely be the best target to take out since we know too much to pass it on to the good guys. Makes an extremely good target to want to kill.
And I can say this - Torn isn't exactly the biggest fell beast in the world, yet he couldn't be the smallest thing in the world either.
But I'll say it -
Torn was shot down, by the orcs.
With me on him.
Was Torn killed instantly?
I can't tell you, but let's just say the result ain't that great. :(
But - I know I keep thinking that the next chapter is THE END but I'm not sure anymore because I've got quite a bit planned out for Fay and Torn.
AND I plan to do a sequel. I've been debating about it a bunch. So how do you think about a sequel? Tell me if it's good or not. :D
Please review! :)
Cheers,
littledragoneyes