Disclaimer: I have no creative rights over the characters and places you can identify in this story and have no way profited from this work.
01/07/2013
Because I've been on leave over the last week and a half I've been able to have a quick turnaround of chapters.
aspiringactor: Tolkien trained to be a codebreaker at Bletchley Park. But for reasons never made clear he never took up the role when WW2 broke out. The Strategic Scientific Reserve and British Intelligence had a close working relationship. But my theory is that it would've been unlikely that Cap and Tolkien would've crossed paths given the latter's decision.
ZabuzasGirl: I assume you're enjoying the story given the similar review you post at the end of each chapter ;)
Chapter 35 – Conflicting Greens
Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and Banner continued their journey along the Paths of the Dead. The 'path' was a narrow gorge with solid granite cliffs on either side. The fastest the Fellowship's steeds could travel was a steady walk due to the boulders continuously strewn before them. A chilling wind seemed to blow perpetually through the gorge, resulting in an echo that sounded like human moaning and wailing.
Their destination the Dwimorberg. Aragorn told Banner the name meant 'Haunted Mountain' in the Riddermark tongue. It was here where the Army of the Dead could be found. Through his travelling companions, Banner discovered other names of this force to be 'Dead Men of Dunharrow' and 'Those that dwell under the Mountain'. Another title that Aragorn mentioned with an uncharacteristic display of disgust was 'Oathbreakers'. Banner thought the Free Peoples and Thor had one thing in common. The breaking of any vow, no matter how minor, was considered to be among the most heinous of crimes. Banner began wondering how someone like Aragorn would fare if the King of Gondor were, instead of birthright, chosen by popular election like US political leaders. He quickly halted these thoughts. The atmosphere of the Paths of the Dead was depressing enough.
To break the awkward silence that had come over the group, Banner asked his friends, "So, is the Dwimorberg like a series of underground tombs?"
"It'd be more correct saying the Dwimorberg provides the Oathbreakers with the illusion of a tomb," Aragorn enigmatically answered.
"What kind of an army would linger in such a place?" Gimli questioned.
"One that is cursed," Legolas replied having been born less than a century after the Oathbreakers came into being. "Long ago, the Men of the White Mountains swore an oath to Isildur to come to his aid when called on. But when the War of the Last Alliance 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."
Aragorn then softly recited part of a verse of a song about the Oathbreakers that Elrond taught him. He recited this verse largely in the hope it proved to be true.
"Who shall call them from the great 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."
"Wait," Banner interrupted "How could Isildur curse them like that? Was it because he had the Ring?"
Aragorn realised for too long he'd been judging Isildur solely because he took possession of the One Ring. It was about time to start acknowledging the greatness and nobility that Isildur displayed throughout his life that made him such a revered King of Men.
"No," Aragorn firmly discounted. "Isildur may have taken the Ring. But no where is it recorded he used it for evil ends. Besides, Isildur cursed the Oathbreakers well before the Ring came into his possession."
"Then how-" a confused Banner began before being interrupted by Legolas.
"It remains a mystery as to how the curse was affected, Bruce," the Elf told him. "The Faithful of Numenor were capable of great feats beyond Men of the current age. Perhaps the curse was affected because the oath was sworn upon the Black Stone, a powerful relic of the Faithful's. Or perhaps it was because the Oathbreakers found that not even death could lift the weight of their guilty consciences."
The four reached their destination by late afternoon. The entrance into the Dwimorberg was the size of a normal door. There were skulls embedded into the rock on either side of it and above were black runes of warriors fighting on foot and horseback. A few barren trees lay close to the entrance. They dismounted from their three horses, holding them by their reins. Aragorn had already withdrawn Anduril from its sheath.
"The very warmth of my blood seems stolen away," Gimli whispered as a comment about the atmosphere pervading the entrance.
Wouldn't be the first time I've felt like that, Gimli, Banner silently ruminated.
Legolas began to read the runes above the entrance. "The way is shut. It was made by those who are dead. And the Dead keep it. The way is shut."
As if to exemplify this warning, a blast of icy cold air shot out from the entrance. The horses immediately panicked at this and bolted back the way the Fellowship had came. Aragorn vainly tried to call them back. But, depending on one's perspective, the horses were too frightened or too intelligent to return to their riders. Now without their mounts, the four faced the entrance into the Dwimorberg.
"I do not fear death!" Aragorn stated in cool defiance.
He then firmly walked into the darkness the entrance led to. Legolas hesitated for a few seconds before following with equal determination.
"Well, this is a thing unheard of," Gimli nervously commented. "An Elf will go underground where a Dwarf dare not!"
"If it helps, Gimli," Banner tentatively tried cheering him. "Even the Other Guy's unsettled by whatever's in there."
Gimli and Banner began to approach the entrance. Just before they passed through it, Gimli bought Banner to a halt by resting his hand on the Avenger's stomach.
"Don't tell the Elf what I just said!" Gimli pleaded. One thing he feared more than the Dwimorberg was giving more material to Legolas to use for playful teasing.
"Back at you, Gimli," Banner replied. "Like yourself, the Other Guy's got a reputation to protect…"
The four found a torch just inside the entrance. Aragorn currently held it lit in his left hand while tightly gripping Anduril in his right. The light provided illuminated the darkened tunnel they were traversing. A thick fog as high as Gimli's chest covered the tunnel floor. The tunnel walls had wide cracks that were full of human skulls. It reminded Banner of the countless skulls displayed throughout Cambodia testifying the Khmer Rouge's evil. Legolas was pensively looking as if he had spotted something.
"What is it?" Gimli asked him having noticed the Elf's behaviour. "What do you see?"
"I see shapes of men," Legolas warily began. "And of horses. Pale banners like shreds of cloud. Spears rise like winter-thickets through a shroud of mist. The Dead are following us. They have been summoned."
Legolas had no sooner said this than the surrounding mist began taking on the shape of skeletal arms and hands. It was though the mist was trying to claw at the Fellowship. The four waved their hands and arms around causing the misty limbs to dissipate. In an almost comical display, Gimli took to exhaling heavy breaths to achieve this effect. The Other Guy wanted to show the Oathbreakers that he wasn't intimidated by this display.
Not yet! Banner inwardly restrained him.
The four eventually came to a large cavern on which its eastern side was a large, stone edifice. The edifice reminded Banner of the Al Khazneh ruins located in Jordan. Banner ran out of time to think much about archaeological comparisons.
"Who enters my domain?" a chilling, disembodied voice echoed loudly in the cavern.
A green, ghostly figure appeared in front of the edifice. It was the King of the Oathbreakers. Banner make out the luminous rotting flesh and scraggly beard on the King's face as well as a pair of putrid eyes. The King wore a ghostly crown atop his head as well as a similar cuirass of interlacing leather straps. A cloak of pure red was the only point of colour on the King's green spectral form.
"One who will have your allegiance," Aragorn met the King's challenge.
"The Dead do not suffer the living to pass," the King coldly replied.
"You will suffer me," Aragorn insisted.
The King released a maniacal laugh at what he thought to be an empty threat. As if their King's laugh was a signal, the rest of the Oathbreakers revealed themselves. They were all similar in appearance to their King except they didn't have a splash of colour besides green. Some were mounted on spectral horses as Legolas had earlier sensed. Also revealed were ghostly buildings that Banner thought gave a whole new meaning to the phrase 'spiritual home'. The Oathbreakers had completely surrounded the Fellowship and began closing in on them.
"The way is shut," the King repeated the runes at the entrance of the Dwimorberg. "It was made by those who are dead. And the Dead keep it. The way is shut."
The Oathbreakers didn't take lightly to any living being impudently believing they had authority over them. Secretly, the Oathbreakers had long given up being released from their curse. Rumours had long reached them that the line of Isildur was no more. They tried to seek solace in the fact that everything else in Middle-earth (whether good or evil) feared their power. This fear allowed them to build a literal ghostly kingdom centred on the Dwimorberg without the risk of being disturbed. They wanted to be left alone with their regret and self-pity for all eternity. The King pronounced the Fellowship's fate for disturbing the Oathbreakers
"Now you must die!" he declared with malevolent glee.
"I summon you to fulfil your oath!" Aragorn stated, trying to keep his rising sense of dread under control.
"None but the King of Gondor may command me," the King scoffed at Aragorn's request.
Legolas released an arrow that harmless flew through the Oathbreaker's spectral forms. Banner then allowed the Other Guy to give his opinion on the King's verdict. In a blink of an eye Banner transformed into Hulk, the Avenger's angry cry loudly engulfed the cavern. This signalled the beginning of a series of surprises for the Oathbreakers. In fact, they would receive more shocks over the next few minutes than they'd received in total over the last three millennia.
The vast majority of Oathbreakers, including the King, suddenly halted at the appearance of a creature unlike any they'd ever witnessed. Assuming Hulk was like any other living creature of flesh and blood, a handful moved to attack him. While the Oathbreakers carried ghostly longswords, axes and spears of archaic design, these 'weapons' were really just for show. The Oathbreakers actually killed by their spectral touch that sucked the very life energy out of their victims. Their attack on the Other Guy though didn't even seem to bother him. Banner would later theorise that the gamma radiation that was an inherent part of their DNA may have neutralised the Oathbreakers' power in this regard.
All Oathbreakers were staggered to see Hulk still standing. With a snarl of contempt, Hulk gave a loud clap of his hands. The noise from the clap caused the whole chamber to noticeably shake. The phosphorescent ranks of the Oathbreakers in front of Hulk momentarily dissipated from the clap's shockwave. No Oathbreaker had been destroyed by Hulk's attack. But no living being was supposed to be able to withstand them like this!
Prior to Hulk's appearance, the King had withdrawn his sword and was moving to smite Aragorn. His momentary distraction by Hulk was all the opportunity Aragorn needed. With a rapid downward strike of Anduril, Aragorn knocked the King's sword from his hand causing it to make an earthly clatter as it hit the ground. The King didn't even have time to be shocked at this as Aragorn authoritatively grasped his throat. For the first time in millennia, the King felt the sensation of choking. Only one man could both be immune to the Oathbreaker's touch as well as actually harm them in this sense…
"That line was broken!" the King gasped in disbelief that this man had to be none other than Isildur's heir.
"It's been remade!" Aragorn firmly stated. He before roughly releasing the King from his grip before speaking to the Oathbreakers as a whole. "Fight for us, and regain your honour. What say you?"
The Oathbreakers shuffled nervously and as they gave Aragorn and themselves uncertain looks. Gimli decided to apply what Rogers did to him when the Fellowship was racing across the Wold. He heard the American describe it as 'reverse psychology'.
"You're wasting your time, Aragorn," Gimli observed in reference to the Oathbreakers. "They had no honor in life, they have none now in death. We don't need them any more seeing we have the Avengers like Master Hulk here fighting for us. Let's just leave them. They can get back to feeling sorry for themselves until the world's end."
Befitting his Ranger alias, Aragorn took Gimli's suggestion in his stride.
"I am Isildur's heir," Aragorn proudly revealed his heritage. "Fight for me, and I will hold your oaths fulfilled What say you?"
The King began releasing a loud and bitter laugh. He and the Oathbreakers began disappearing from the Fellowship's presence.
"You have my word!" Aragorn desperately stated. Did the Oathbreakers no longer care about their cursed existence? "Fight and I will release you from this living death!"
"Stand you traitors!" Gimli joined in, worried his previous words had the opposite effect of what he'd intended.
The Fellowship members soon found themselves alone again in cavern. Suddenly, the mist surrounding them started to blow everywhere and the ground began to violently shake. The edifice began to crumble and limitless numbers of skulls began pouring out in its wake.
"OUT!" Aragorn shouted least he and his companions become buried under the avalanche of rock and bone.
Hulk was quickest to respond. He instantly scooped Aragorn in one arm and Legolas and Gimli in the other. Carrying the trio, the Avenger charged through the falling debris without stopping. They escaped the cavern by a tunnel that exited out of the south-east of the Dwimorberg. Hulk released Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli once they were outside again. The four were atop a slope from which the expanses of Southern Gondor stretched eastwards before them.
Aragorn sunk to his knees in despair. The first time he openly called on his heritage in order to aid the Free Peoples had ended in failure. The Army of the Dead would not be coming to rescue Minas Tirith from Sauron. The Free Peoples would likely suffer a huge total of casualties in the upcoming battle even with the Avengers aiding them. As Rogers pointed out in Edoras, such losses may break the will of Men to fight the Dark Lord. Men would then sue for peace and they would accept whatever terms Sauron offered them. One term would certainly be that there never again be a King to occupy Gondor's throne. For a long time Aragorn had said he never wanted that throne. But as he now contemplated that possibility, he felt a terrible sense of personal failure towards all his friends and countless others who were expecting him to fulfil his destiny.
Forgive me, my beloved! Aragorn silently begged of Arwen whose death was now almost a certainty.
As if reading his friend's mind, Legolas placed a comforting hand on Aragorn's shoulder. Immediately following this, the four felt an icy wind coming from their left. They turned their attention to the Dwimorberg and saw the King of the Oathbreakers walk intangibly through the rock to stand next to them. Hulk gave the King an angry growl. The King's eyes momentarily flickered at Hulk before moving his gaze to Aragorn. In a determined tone, the King gave Aragorn the Oathbreaker's formal response to his earlier offer.
"We fight!" the King declared.
Aragorn rose to his feet before giving the King a humble nod of gratitude.
"Well," a boisterous Gimli began. "Now that we're an invincible force, all we have to do is engage the enemy. How far to Pelargir from here?"
"Three and ninety leagues in a straight line," Legolas coolly advised. "Three-hundred and sixty miles by road."
"Oh," a rapidly deflated Gimli responded.
"Without our steeds," Aragorn soberly concluded, "we won't be able to reach Pelargir in time to intercept the Corsairs. Let alone prevent them from reaching Minas Tirith."
Because their backs were turned to him, Hulk's companions didn't see the wide grin that burst across his face at Aragorn's remark. Hulk now realised why Elrond and Galadriel wanted Banner and himself to be part of this journey. In a close repetition of his actions in the Dwimorberg, Hulk rapidly grabbed Gimli and Aragorn and tucked them in the folds of his right and left arm respectively. He then locked eyes with Legolas. Remembering the agility and balance that Legolas demonstrated in Moria, Hulk then jerked his head towards himself. Legolas quickly got the hint.
"Apologies, Master Hulk," Legolas said with an understanding smile. The Elf rapidly jumped up Hulk's back before coming to rest sitting with his legs around Hulk's neck. Putting his hands across Hulk's forehead to grip, Legolas finished with, "Your three companions momentarily forgot all you are capable of."
Legolas' legs brushed against Gimli's face earning him a "Mind your feet, Elf!" from the Dwarf.
"Which way?" Hulk grumbled to his passengers.
A considerably emboldened Aragorn replied "At the bottom of this slope, you'll find a road, Master Hulk. Follow it eastwards, and we'll tell you when we've reached Pelargir."
Hulk leapt down the slope with a roar of anticipation. His three passengers felt the jolt from the impact of his landing before he began running on the dusty road to Pelargir. At a signal from their King, the Oathbreakers poured out of the Dwimorberg like a vapour cloud rapidly following the four. A green force of matchless strength journeyed across Gondor intent on a showdown with minions of Sauron.
It was early morning the following day. The fleet of fifty black ships that had decimated Gondor's navy was snaking northwards along the Anduin closing in on their penultimate target. Each ship was about 450 feet long and 45 feet in the beam and was moved by large crimson sails raised on three masts. Each ship carried a crew of approximately three hundred men. Their crews were the Corsairs of Umbar.
The haven of Umbar sat on the northern coast of Harad. Umbar used to be a part of Gondor in ages past. But during Gondor's period of kin-strife, Umbar sided with the rebels and pursued a path of independence. Over time the inhabitants of Umbar drew to their number various outlaws and brigands which led to a culture of piracy. The Corsairs had for centuries raided and pillaged the coast of Gondor as well as intercepting its merchant vessels. The Corsairs' activity was one of the major reasons for the impoverishment of Gondor's economy for the last millennium by its historic standards.
Sauron had recruited the Corsairs as mercenaries to fight in the War of the Ring. As the Council of Gondor discerned, the Corsairs were to tie down the forces of Gondor's southern fiefdoms to prevent them from reinforcing Minas Tirith. Sauron commissioned the Corsairs to loot and pillage Southern Gondor to their black hearts' content so long as they arrived in Minas Tirith the following day to reinforce his besieging army. The Corsairs had so far been raiding smaller settlements but now one of their main prizes was within their sights.
Pelargir was built on the mouth of a delta located on the west bank of the Anduin. The city centre was a large triangular fortress build on an island in the middle of the delta. The centre was connected to the mainland by tall stone bridges running north-east and south-west. Semi-circular stone walls protected the parts of Pelargir that were on the mainland. Pelargir was shadow of its former glory as Gondor's great port city. All its inhabitants had been withdrawn into the city centre where a mere six hundred defenders stood ready to protect them. Unlike Minas Tirith, Pelargir didn't possess any siege machinery to ward off enemy attack.
The first objective of the Corsairs was to secure Pelargir's lighthouse that stood on a small rocky island south-east of the city centre. As the lead ships began to reduce speed so they could launch their assault, the Corsairs noticed on the island's docks a Man, an Elf and a Dwarf standing there as if ready to confront them. To the left of the Man was a high pile of wooden crates and boxes.
"Halt!" the Man called out to them. "You'll go no further. Your current campaign of piracy ends here!"
The Corsairs heard this to a man. They released loud and derisive laughs at the Man's bravado. The van of the fleet was the ship of its Captain.
"Our campaign's barely started, fool!" he scoffed in reply. "You and your friends are about to be its latest victims."
The Fellowship and the Oathbreakers arrived at Pelargir just before dawn. The Fellowship could've gotten there a lot quicker if Hulk was allowed to leap his way towards their destination. But Aragorn didn't want to leave the Oathbreakers out of his sight until Minas Tirith had been saved. The Pelargir authorities didn't argue with who Aragorn said he was given the force he commanded. They happily accepted his offer that he and his 'friends' would deal with the upcoming Corsair attack.
"This is your first and final warning," an unruffled Aragorn continued. "Release your prisoners and return to your homes. Do this, and you have my word your lives will be spared."
Aragorn wanted to kill as few of his fellow Men as possible. Many in Sauron's ranks had been conscripted against their free will. Such conscripts were the victims of Sauron's tyranny as any of the Free Peoples were. The Corsair Captain quickly revealed that he and his fellows were more than willing servants of the Dark Lord.
"And you've my word we have no prisoners," he mocked Aragorn's offer. "We've been killing every one we've taken!"
The Corsairs let out a cruel laugh of pride at this deed. Aragorn decided the Corsairs would be shown the same mercy as they'd shown their victims – none.
"That's it, you filthy pirates!" Gimli cried out, relishing what was about to happen to the Corsairs. "Prepare to meet a watery grave!"
In some ways, the Captain felt sorry he would have to kill the trio. The three had at least provided some entertainment before they met their deaths.
"How do plan sinking us, you daft Dwarf?" the Captain derisively queried.
Aragorn coldly smiled.
"Like this," he answered sotto voce.
At a nod from Aragorn, Legolas put his fingers to mouth and released a high-pitched whistle. It signalled the beginning of the Fellowship's planned attack. Hulk burst out from behind the pile of boxes next to Aragorn with a frightening roar. The Oathbreakers intangibly poured out of the island's interior. The Corsairs only had time to release a brief, terrified scream at the attack that had been unleashed upon them.
With a powerful leap, Hulk soared above the Corsair ships before landing in the water in the middle of the fleet. The powerful waves generated on impact saw the four closest ships capsize over. Hulk quickly resurfaced and began leaping from ship to ship. The Other Guy swept away their hapless crews before punching holes into the ship's hull, causing them to rapidly sink. In one attack, Hulk ripped off the main mast of one ship before leaping towards another. He drove the mast through the ship's deck like a hunter spearing a wild animal.
This compared to the Oathbreakers, who simply passed through the hulls of ships before remorselessly slaying their crews. Many terrified Corsairs jumped overboard to escape the ghosts' wrath. It was a futile action. The Oathbreakers' spectral forms glided along the surface of the Anduin, easily catching and killing those that tried to swim away.
Some ships at the rear of the fleet tried turning around to escape. Standing on the deck of a Corsair ship where resistance had been eliminated, Hulk quickly cut off the planned retreat. He moved to the stern of the ship before lightly dropping into the water. Hulk gave a powerful clap under the river's surface. The resulting shockwave saw an enormous wave surge towards the retreating ships. The wave either sank the ships or smashed them onto land. The Oathbreakers killed the few survivors who managed to land ashore.
The Battle for Pelargir was over in minutes. Before commencing, Aragorn had ordered Hulk and the Oathbreakers to leave ten Corsair ships to carry all the reinforcements he wanted to bring to Minas Tirith.
Hulk gave victory a satisfied grunt before swimming to the closest riverbank. Once he ashore, he leapt towards the island where the rest of the Fellowship was waiting. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli felt the ground shudder beneath them when Hulk landed a short distance away from them. Hulk casually strutted through the Oathbreakers' intangible ranks on his way to the trio. Aragorn gave Hulk a gracious nod of appreciation for his actions in ending the menace posed by the Corsairs.
Hulk gave a proud grin in response before stating, "Hulk splash."
The Oathbreakers were puzzled why the Man, Elf and Dwarf happily laughed in response to this strange creature's even stranger remark.
PJ had to greatly condense the distance between the Dwimorberg and the Anduin for the purpose of the film. The written word allows one to detail the topography of Middle-earth much more accurately.
The consensus on various forums and bulletin board is the Oathbreakers can move up to 40mph. Given this speed and with Hulk slowing down for them, I imagined the Fellowship and the Oathbreakers reaching Pelargir after a night's journey from the Dwimorberg.
Banner's thoughts on US Elections could equally apply to a lot of other countries elections including my own.
Due to work commitments the next chapter will be a couple of weeks away.
[RD: In the original text, I hypothesised Banner going through Cambodia while on the run. I've slightly amended this to better reflect Banner-199999's biography.
I realise my MTCU version of Hulk is a lot more talkative than his Earth-199999 counterpart. The main reason is the opportunities for humour is too often good to pass up.]