Chapter 9
Blazing heat and pain struck Eradrin's head. The world was the sun. Burning and deadly. The elf squeezed her eyes shut tightly. Clenching her teeth, she tried to block out the pain. Icy water suddenly splashed her head. She gasped and opened her wide. Darkness covered the sky. Dawn it was, but dark and ominous clouds hung low to the ground. Eradrin felt another stab hit her behind the head. She whipped around, taking into view an ugly Orc with evil eyes. It tried to hit Eradrin again with a long stick covered in some sort of gooey substance. "Quit it already, will you?!" She screeched, ducking her head and whacking the object. The Orc whimpered and scampered away. "Weakling." Eradrin muttered. She curled up into a right ball and buried her head in her knees. Memories of the day before took over her mind. She vaguely remembered waking up the night of her capture. Many orcs were carrying her, tied up to a soggy wooden board, across a stone bridge with dark clouds hanging overhead. That was it. Every time she had woken up, some Orc had blacked her out again. Now that she thought about it, she hardly had any recollection of her journey. Where am I, she thought. Cautiously, she raised her head. Darkness still hung in the air. Grey stone towers rose up here and there, and thorn bushes grew out of a few corner. I seem to be in some sort of... Castle or fortress or something, she thought. She looked at her cage. It was made of dark wood, and was a sort of dome shape. Spikes pointed outwards from the bars of the cage. She kept surveying the fortress. A bridge came off of a cliff and ran into the fortress. She tried to see past the bridge. The bottom of the cliff was lost to Eradrin, even for her elven eyes. The bridge... Eradrin thought, from what I remembered earlier!
Suddenly a grumbling noise echoed behind her. She paused and tried to listen. "Why can't we kill the elf now! It's creeping me out!" The same Orc that poked her complained. "But Sauron isn't here yet! The Nazgul said we have to wait for him!" "But the Nazgul isn't here! It can't order us around!" "Well, if you want to tell it that, you can!" The orcs were silent for a moment. Then they both walked around a corner of a stone tower not far from Eradrin. They stopped and stared at her, eyes gleaming. One took a menacing step forward. "Aww, the poor elfie doesn't know what to do. Poor elfie!" Eradrin stared at it with cold eyes. "Maybe we should help it." It stepped forward again. "Or maybe... not!" It stepped back, its cruel Orc laughter ringing the skies. His companion nudged him. "Maybe we should take er' to the Nazgul! It would make a fine meal outta her!" He laughed. "Touch me, maggot-breath, and you're dead." Eradrin threatened. The orcs laughed even harder. "You can't! You don't got no weapons!" The Orc stuck out its tongue. Eradrin gasped. She felt around for her bow, arrows, and array of hand knives. They were all gone. The orcs kept on laughing, this time so hard they fell over. "What, did ya think we'd just let you keep your weapons?! We're not that stupid!" With that, the pranced away, chuckling to themselves. Eradrin sighed. Then she remembered something. Did they find my secret weapons set? She wondered to herself. Then, slowly reaching down, she felt the inside of her right boot. Yes! She thought, they're still there! She slowly pulled out three shiny blades from a secret pocket inside her shoe. She smiled to herself. Tonight, she thought, tonight I will escape from this place. She quickly stuck them back in her boot. Wait, she thought, I still don't know where I am! Footsteps echoed around the corner. A giant Orc walked past, hardly glancing at Eradrin. She took a deep breath. "Wait!" She called. It turned around with a bored expression. "Hey you, wait! I've got a question. Where am I?" It rolled its eyes. "Didn't you already know? You're in Dol Guldûr!"