Chapter 20 - Realisation
"His rage passes description - the sort of rage that is only seen when rich folk that have more than they can enjoy suddenly lose something that they have long had but have never before used or wanted." ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, Or, There And Back Again
It was at that moment that an armed soldier stepped into the infirmary, saluting to Elrond respectfully as he approached the elven lord. Elrond turned to look at the human, eyes looking him over reservedly.
"Lord Elrond," the man said. "Queen Lalemwen wishes to speak with you about…" the soldier gestured his head towards Kathryn, trying to be discreet.
"Can it not wait?" Elrond asked, though politely, he still wanted to be here to hear why Gandalf appeared to be so disturbed.
"I'm afraid not, mi-lord," the man said a little nervously. "We've also been receiving strange reports from the watch…"
"Very well," Elrond murmured, before quietly stepping out of the room with the guard, closing the door behind him as he walked down the hall.
Kathryn was watching Gandalf warily, a sense of dread forming in her stomach, even as her head was still pounding. The old man had gone completely still, grey eyes wide and oddly unreadable as he stared out into the abyss only he could see. Kathryn became nervous, dread forming in the pit of her stomach as she watched all colour drain from Gandalf's face, leaving a heavy silence in the room that felt as if someone had taken Kathryn's own pillow and was trying to smother her to death with it.
"Gandalf?" Kathryn asked, ignoring how shaky her voice sounded. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she saw Gandalf finally turn his eyes on her, a pale look on his face.
"A man in chains… asking that you find something… to release him…" he whispered, as if he were speaking to himself, staring right through her as if she were a pane of glass. "You were not brought back by any ordinary magic," he said, his eyes finally looking at her once again. "There was a deep and dark magic involved,"
Kathryn was silent, not trusting her voice to speak, as she waited for him to explain.
"You have been dreaming of Morgoth," Gandalf said gravely.
Kathryn felt her stomach almost climb its way up her throat, her face going pale as her mind conjured up horrible images of the visions into her mind, making her wonder how she could have been so dense as to have not figured it out before now. She remembered the tales of old, ones used to frighten children and old suspicious folk; a tale that some thought to be a myth.
"That's not possible," she finally forced out the words in a strangled tone.
"It can't be anything else," Gandalf told her quickly, his tone no longer soft and gentle, but harsh with his own fear.
"But Smaug told me that he was defeated," Kathryn said, desperation evident in her voice, shaking her head in denial as she spoke.
"Defeated but not destroyed," Gandalf corrected her, leaning his elbows onto his knees to claps his hands together in an almost white knuckled grip. "Morgoth was a traitor to the Valar, thinking to take control of all Middle-Earth for himself. He waged war upon his former kin, and the War of Wrath was begun," Gandalf murmured, his tone grave and almost deadly serious. "Morgoth raised an army to fight for him, filled with horrible nightmarish creatures: the orcs, wolves, werewolves, demons, the Balrogs,"
"And the dragons," Kathryn whispered, shuddering as she remembered her vision of Ancaligon the black, the destructive force that rained fire and death from the sky that no one could stop. A brief image of Lake-Town came to the forefront of her mind, with Smaug rising above the flames in the same way; Kathryn banished the image, her heart giving a painful throb in her chest.
"Yes," Gandalf murmured thoughtfully as he watched Kathryn closely. "The War was long and bloody, and both sides suffered greatly. But eventually, Morgoth was cornered in his fortress of Angband and defeated. His stronghold was destroyed, and he himself was chained and imprisoned by his brethren, and thrust through the Door of Night,"
"Smaug has told me of this," Kathryn murmured, shifting to sit herself up in her bed, despite her aching head and the way her body screamed at her from the movements. "But what is it?"
"The Door of Night is the threshold between this world and the void." Gandalf told her in a low voice, his gaze once again drifting as he became lost in his own dread-filled thoughts. "To go through it, is to go into the unknown. Morgoth was placed in chains and thrust through this door, to never be released ever again."
"Is the threat of him truly so horrifying?" Kathryn mumbled, though her own stomach quivered with fear just by the sound of the name. She had heard the stories as all children had, though she prayed that the reality was never so dire.
"In the final days of the War of Wrath most of the north of Middle-Earth was destroyed," Gandalf told her with cold and serious eyes, causing Kathryn to shiver. "The Valar knew that should Morgoth ever return, then he would ignite a final battle that would destroy our world forever; he was the greatest threat to ever exist to Arda and the Valar themselves, he was the very commander of Sauron himself: who would even now bow to his former master if he were to return. And so when Morgoth was imprisoned, the Door of Night was protected at all costs. Its location was hidden from the world, where it can never be found, and an immortal guardian stands watch over it, so that none may enter."
"And now, Morgoth wishes for me to release him…" Kathryn whispered in a shaky voice, her heart racing and thundering in her ears until she was struggling to focus on any other noise. She winced as her headache seemed to pulse at something.
"Yes," Gandalf whispered.
"But how am I supposed to do that?" Kathryn asked suddenly, disbelief warring with her sense of dread. "You said so yourself, the door cannot be found nor entered,"
"You are a Seer, connected to the Raw Magic that the Door itself is made from," Gandalf explained, a worried look in his eyes. "I fear that you were brought back to life for this very reason… Morgoth wishes for his release, the only known Seer to be living today is almost the perfect opportunity to find him and set him free,"
"But Morgoth couldn't have been the one to bring me back to life, he's still imprisoned!" Kathryn was almost becoming hysterical, the pieces of the puzzle finally coming into place except for one: who had brought her back?
"No, it must have been one of his followers… which is even more troubling…" Gandalf spoke as if he were thinking aloud along the same lines as her.
"Why?" Kathryn didn't know whether she wanted to know the answer or not.
"Because many of Morgoth's followers are either dead or have changed their allegiance to Sauron, one of Morgoth's top lieutenants." Gandalf trailed off as his eyes seemed to widen ever so slightly and subtly as if he had just had an epiphany. "Unless –"
Suddenly, the door opened, and in walked the healer. Kathryn jumped at the sound, her head suddenly pounding until she was having to squint through the pain, her stomach doing unusual backflips and her blood pounding for some unknown reason. Gandalf had gone completely still, stiff as a board, though he did not turn around. Kathryn looked uneasily between the two males, noticing how the healer was staring at Gandalf's back with an unreadable expression. The new man didn't look threatening, in fact he looked almost unnoticeable, with a very bland face yet he was tall, though he seemed to be remarkably thin, almost skeletal and malnourished, his long and thin fingers resembling insect legs. Kathryn couldn't understand why Gandalf appeared to have just gone into shock…
And then she felt it, a dark pulse in the air that felt distinctly of magic, one that called to her own, causing her blood to tremble in her veins as the magic responded. Kathryn felt something dark settle over her, making her tremble in place, a deep rooted fear bubbling to the surface as her eyes swept around to the corners of the room, a madness infecting her mind as she feared the darkness from her tortured dreams leaping out of the shadows to swallow her, even as she felt it brush against her soul. She had felt Dark Magic before, in a vision she would rather forget, and to feel it suddenly in the flesh was enough to make her heart falter.
She snapped her eyes back to the healer, suddenly taking in everything about him as he turned his eyes onto her. And although she had never seen him before, Kathryn knew without a doubt that this man was the one who had brought her back, his infecting darkness seeming to pulse out of him, causing Kathryn to groan as her head gave another sharp spike of pain.
"Fankil," Gandalf whispered in a voice that one would think only the wind would hear, little more the a breath of words as Gandalf fixed his eyes ahead of him, not having et turned around to face the threat behind him.
"Maiar," the man said in a voice that sounded like it would crack, as if it had not been used in years. The man then turned to face Kathryn, his eyes locking with hers in a cold calculating look that made Kathryn shrink away from in fear. "Tharŷliel, it would seem our plans will have to be moved to sooner rather than later," he told her in an emotionless and calm tone that made a shiver run down Kathryn's spine.
"What are you talking about?!" Kathryn demanded in a frightened whisper, pushing herself against the wall her bed was pressed against, trying to scoot as far away from this man or thing as much as she could. There was something in his eyes that told Kathryn that he was not completely human.
"You will not take her from me Maiar," the man turned his voice towards Gandalf, suddenly cold and spiteful, a catlike hiss erupting from his throat, his head cocked at an odd angle as his dark eyes seemed to transform into a deeper shade of black. "I. Will not. Let you."
With his calm yet threatening words, Fankil gave a flick of a single finger, and Kathryn suddenly hissed an sharp intake of breath as pain suddenly assaulted her mind. She writhed on the bed, arching her back, rolling from side to side as pain exploded into her mind, causing her vision to black out for a moment as she squeezed her eyes shut. It felt like someone had set fire to her skull, and bit down on her lip until she tasted blood in her mouth to try and hold in her screams as she dug her fingers into her hair, cradling her head as she tried to fight against the urge to shriek in pain. She was so focused within herself that she barely heard Gandalf's next mumbled words:
"But I will try,"
Suddenly, there was a blinding flash of light, even behind her closed eyelids Kathryn saw it, nearly blinding her even then. There was an enraged hiss of pain, and suddenly, the fire in Kathryn's mind vanished, leaving her dazed and disorientated as she groggily opened her eyes confused for a moment before her memory returned.
Gandalf was there, his hand closing around her arm, pulling her up and off of the bed with more strength then one would expect a man of his elderly appearance to possess. Kathryn stumbled as her feet hit the ground, her legs not wanting to support her as her injuries still needed time to recover, her muscles screaming at her. But Gandalf kept a firm grip on her arm, holding her close and letting her lean on him as he guided her quickly towards the entrance of the infirmary. Fankil was hunched over, rubbing at his eyes where the light had blinded him. Kathryn automatically shied away from him when he growled savagely in frustration, causing her to bump her hip against the table of potions in the middle of the room, making her hiss in pain.
Fankil whirled around at the sound of the noise, squinting to try and see past the flares of after-light-impressions in his vision, he launched himself at them, moving with speed and agility that was clearly not that of a human. His eyes were completely black now, long claw like fingers ready to grab and to tear. Kathryn screamed, huddling close to Gandalf as the wizard yelled as he brought up his staff. A sudden force hit Fankil as he was shot backwards across the room, blasting him into the wall until a cloud of dust mushroomed out from his impact. Not wasting a second, Gandalf hurried them out of the door, slamming it shut behind them as they entered the hallway, allowing Kathryn to lean against the wall as she shivered from the night air, for she was wearing naught but her night-dress. She turned to see the wizard leaning against the door as he whispered something under his breath. He heard the lock click in place, reinforced by his spell, before he turned to Kathryn and began to pull her along the corridor at a very brisk pace, almost dragging her as he all but ran as fast as he was able.
"Gandalf!" Kathryn whimpered breathlessly. "Who is that?! What is going on?!"
"He is Fankil!" Gandalf told her loudly over his shoulder. "He is a demon and a lieutenant of Morgoth, he –"
Gandalf's next words were cut off as something was smashing against the door behind them, creating a very loud booming sound that echoed ominously down the hall.
"Run," Gandalf whispered, clear fear in his voice as he suddenly pulled Kathryn along as he ran as fast as he was able. Kathryn barely managed to keep up, but with another boom of the door, and the dreaded sound of wood starting to crack, the wizard shouted at her urgently: "RUN!"
Author's Note: So, a VERY short chapter, I must apologise, but pacing and chapter content demanded this one be short and to the point. But next one will DEFINITELY be longer, I promise. So I hope I am forgiven :)
And now we have the big reveal! I hope that people are satisfied, though there is still more information to come, so not all is known yet. Remember, I have not the Silmarillion or any of Tolkien's books, I am simply going off of trusted internet information and also what other Tolkien-fans have told me. Gandalf's explanation of the War of Wrath was simplified because I didn't want to go into too much detail about things that were unnecessary for that moment in time. Plus, I left room for people to go and look up the extra information if they wanted to. Go check it out on Lord of the Rings Wiki. :)
So please review! Tell me what you thoughts of: Morgoth's role in all this? Kathryn realising what her latest visions mean? The reveal of Fankil? The delicious cliffhanger I've left you guys with ;) I love everyone's reviews, even the guest's who I can't reply to, though I desperately want to! Every review makes my fingers type faster!
Next chapter will be up very soon! See you then!