I'm back! I'm so sorry I didn't get this up sooner, but I hope you all like it. Things have been hectic recently, so I hope you'll forgive me… Enjoy!
Gandalf was having Sabine and Ezra commit the street plans to memory, an "Insurmountable advantage in the fight to come" he said.
"Alright, one level down, six to go" said Ezra, exhaustion evident
"I hope Kanan and the others are doing better than we are." Said Sabine
On the Dimholt Road… "What kind of army would linger in such a place?" asks Gimli
"One that is cursed" said Legolas, then continuing with "long ago the men of the mountain swore an oath to the last king of Gondor, to come to his aid, to fight. But when the time came, when Gondor's need was dire, they fled. Vanishing into the darkness of the mountain, and so Isildur cursed them, never to rest till they had fulfilled their pledge."
"Okay" said Zeb "Consider me officially spooked."
Chopper beeped in agreement
Kanan said simply "We are not wanted here" with his eyes closed, it was not a question.
"You shall call them from the grey twilight" said Legolas "the forgotten people, the heir of him to who 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." as he finished ominously.
They continued on in silence for at least another hour, silence pervading the very fabric of the mountain itself.
Eventfully they came to an entrance into the mountain itself, and if it was even possible, it felt spookier.
"I feel as though the very warmth of my bones has been stolen away." Says Gimli
The doorway was mortared with skulls and foul looking hieroglyphics were inscribed over the doorway, Legolas translated them "The way is shut, it was made by those who are dead, and the dead keep it. The way is shut."
Then a ghostly moan, making all of Zeb's fur stand on end, followed a stiff breeze out of the doorway. The horses panicked and turned around, bolting away.
Aragorn yelled after them in vain.
Aragorn, who now had Anduril out, said "I do not fear death" and walked into the doorway, vanishing instantly into the gloom.
Kanan and Hera shared a look then followed suit, with Legolas following shortly after.
"Well this is a thing unheard of! An elf will go underground, where a dwarf go not, oh… I'll never hear the end of it." Says Gimli before following into the gloom
Zeb mumbles "Karabast!" and follows with a very skittish Chopper on his heels.
They all regroup past the doorway, the path leading onward glowing with an eerie phosphorescence, Aragorn walks over to a nearby iron torch and sets it alight.
They descend into the depths of the mountain, after about half-an-hour Zeb hears a cracking underfoot, suddenly they all do.
Aragorn glances down and then looks up, looking as though he might vomit "Do not look down" he simply says.
So naturally everyone looks down. Skulls, they are walking on a bed of skulls. Hera looks mildly nauseous, Kanan coughs, and Zeb looks ready to bolt. Chopper picks up a skull in his mechanical arm and examines it, then he drops it with a panicked whirring as he figures out what it is, waving his arms wildly.
"Shhh!" they all hiss, Chopper grumbles.
They continue on for another minute until they enter a cavernous space, with a massive green-glowing chasm on one side.
They all form a circle in the middle of the cavern, in front of a mammoth set of doors.
"Who enters my domain?" comes a sepulchral voice as a phantom materializes in front of them.
Kanan feels the Force swirl darkly about the phantom, Hera and Zeb look terrified, and Chopper somehow eve is able to detect it and spins around, whirring all the while.
Kanan takes out his lightsaber with numbed and fumbling fingers.
"One who will have your allegiance" says Aragorn resolutely
"The dead do not suffer the living to pass" says the rotting corpse-king
"You will suffer me!" says Aragorn
The corpse-figure laughs, a deep rumbling sound, and behind them, across the chasm a spectral city emerges, and an army of dead spirits form around them.
They all look around before their eyes return to the corpse king as he speaks "The way is shut, it was made by those who are dead, and the dead keep it. The way is shut. Now you must die"
Legolas nocks an arrow and fires it through the corpse king's head, it does nothing. Kanan ignites his lightsaber.
"I summon you to fulfill your oath" says Aragorn, leveling Anduril in front of him.
"Only the king of Gondor may command me. Hraaa!" and the two blades, one spectral and one steel, meet.
Aragorn pushes the dead kings blade down as the dead king hisses "That blade was broken!"
"It has been remade" says Aragorn, choking the king of the dead with his off hand.
"Fight for me, and regain your honor." Says Aragorn, "What say you? Fight for us and I will hold your oaths fulfilled! What say you?!"