Chapter 9: Not All Who Wander Are Lost (But Some Are)
"Uh, last night weren't the mountains on that side of us?"
Said no one in any sane world ever.
Unfortunately for Hawk however, she was not in a sane world, and these words – anxiously spoken by Faramir who had been on the last watch – were what woke her from uncomfortable dreams of Sues who would not die and Legolas being eaten alive by Mer-elves.
"Prrft, what?" Hawk groaned groggily, pushing her tangled hair out of her face and remembering keenly why she'd never been a fan of camping, as a variety of aches assailed her. She had vaguely hoped that a Sue world might have ground as cushioned as a mattress (the Sues certainly seemed to act like it was) or that it would not affect one the same as sleeping on the ground in a regular world. Apparently however, the Sues were simply immune to the natural discomforts of camping. Hawk, on the other hand, definitely wasn't.
"I'm too old for this," she grumbled as she rolled out of her cloak which had served as a bed. "Now what about the mountains?"
"I think we have a problem," Porter said, sounding serious enough for once that Hawk felt an uncomfortable pit slowly yawn open in her stomach. "Either something magically transported us to a spot leagues away with none of us noticing or the mountains grew legs and took a stroll last night. Frankly, I'm not sure which is more likely in this place."
"Ugh, sounds like an AUSS," Hawk said, scrubbing at her eyes and checking on her crossbow and Sue-compass. The latter was still acting up, and with a sigh she dropped it back into her pack where it had been residing since their arrival in Middle Earth. "Abrupt Unrealistic Scene Switch. Often happen at night or between chapters. There were warnings about this sort of thing in Eledhil's account of his and Orinthia's journey."
The Fellowship gathered around as Porter unfolded their map and spread it out on a rock. "Generally, with this sort of thing – as far as I understand it – geographic locations stay approximately where they're supposed to," Hawk said, scanning the map with a hand to her chin. "It's just the unlucky people such as ourselves who are suddenly somewhere else with no indication of time passage or travel. Sometimes AUSSes drop you closer to your destination, but in this case apparently someone decided we needed a bit more of a challenge."
"We're on this side of the mountains then?" Faramir asked, indicating the eastern side of the little inked triangles that represented the Misty Mountins.
"Yeah, look there." Porter tapped a finger on the map. "See the little forest here on the map and that mountain with the distinctive forked peak?" He indicated the trees behind them, then pointed to the mountain range to the west, where a peak was visible with a forked top that looked absolutely identical to the little drawing on the map. "I'd say we're right here now. Thank the Valar for blatantly obvious, conveniently-placed landmarks, am I right?"
Hawk was still hunched over the map, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "Hmm, looks like we're right around where Lothlórien would be in Middle-earth, but here it appears that Lothlórien is smooshed into the lower half of Murkwood. Figures."
Éowyn leaned in beside Faramir to tap the parchment. "If we head South, we'll still be able to reach Isinguard. It looks like the Gap of Rohan still exists in this world."
"We'll have to go through Fangorn…er, Fanghorn…Forest to get there though," Faramir said, "but that's probably still better than trying to cross the mountains."
"And no worries about Fangorn," Merry chipped in. "Do you think ents are as good at wrecking Sue fortresses as they are with wizard strongholds?"
"Except that this is Middle Earth," Hawk said with a frown, not looking up from the map. "We're more likely to run into a singing entwife Sue than anything else."
"Well, that's not too bad," said Legolas, who was leaning over Porter's shoulder. "We don't have any ents with us, so I imagine they would leave us alone."
"Except for the half entish, half elvish Entwife!Sue who had a thing for elves but thought she was unlovable because of her bark skin and the tree branches coming out of her torso but who was still overly fond of snuggling that Eledhil had to fight off when he was there," Hawk said in a flat voice without turning to look at Legolas.
"Oh," Legolas said softly. "Maybe it would be a good idea to go around."
"I don't see how it matters what way we go," Sauron slipped in snidely, "if everyone is just waiting around for me to steal the Pen and ruin the Quest anyhow." He shot a sickly sweet smile at the Sue-Slayers. "I can do it right now if that takes care of our problem."
Hawk gritted her teeth and swept the map back up, shoving it unceremoniously into her pack. "We'll have to head South one way or another, regardless of what side of the mountains we're on," she said in a clipped voice. "We've already lingered here longer than is wise. Let's get going."
~o~o~o~
"I mean, what are you supposed to do if someone attacks your forest? Where are you going to go? If you climb up the trees, they can chop them down or set them on fire. But a mountain fortress, ah. Barricade yourself in and you're practically invincible."
"But a sensible enemy wouldn't try to attack. They'd put you under siege and starve you out."
Legolas knew that his dwarf friend was just trying to cheer him up and take his mind off the looming threat of Sues, so he humored Gimli and played along, keeping up a light attitude to match their banter. But this time, his heart wasn't in it.
Ever since they'd entered the Sue realm, a constant itch of discomfort had been present, like a bug bite under his skin that he couldn't get to. It wasn't just the constant fear of attack. Legolas had lived through the darkening of Greenwood the Great, had fought the goblins from the mountains and the wargs from the steppes and the vile spiders from the blackest parts of the forest. He had been trained in arms since childhood and he was as comfortable with a bow or a knife as the next elf. He was even used to living on edge with the constant knowledge that a Sue could materialize at any point to disrupt his life.
No, this was something more than that, something like a little voice whispering in his ear so quietly that he wasn't even sure it was there. It was the feeling of waking up in the morning and knowing you have something unpleasant to do before you remember what it actually is. It was the feeling that someone or something was watching his every move and waiting, waiting, waiting for him to make one, small mistake. It was a feeling that Legolas thought could eventually drive him crazy. This whole world could eventually drive you crazy.
So instead, he smiled at Gimli's enthusiastic assurance that mountains were the way to go and listened absently to Merry and Pippin playing another round of that Hub game that Porter had taught them yesterday. Hawk and Porter were still leading the way, exchanging jibes every once in a while, but he could tell both of them were on edge too. Hawk's shoulders were just a little too rigid and Porter's head kept bobbing like he was constantly scanning the area. A knot formed in Legolas's stomach. He genuinely liked the two Sue-Slayers, and the knowledge that they would put themselves in harm's way to defend him and the other characters discomforted him. He was the one used to doing the defending, not the other way around.
Behind him, Faramir and Éowyn were having their own version of his and Gimli's conversation, chatting in overly positive voices to cover up the innate creepiness of this illogical place where everything looked like it would fall over or disintegrate if they touched it. A few times, Legolas found himself absently glancing around at the sparse groves of trees, as he might have done on a walk back home in Mirkwood, only to notice spots of white around the edge of his vision, which vanished when he looked directly at them. It was as if the world filled itself in only where he was looking. He wondered if behind them there was nothing but that blank whiteness where the world ceased to bother filling itself in after they had passed through.
Pat. Pat. Pat.
Something like the sound of the daintiest of footsteps echoed at the very edge of his hearing, just soft enough to play with his mind. Hawk tipped her head slightly to the side as if listening. He knew that their guides were aware of something that they weren't talking about. Since yesterday afternoon, he'd sensed the change in their body language that hinted at information they were keeping to themselves.
Was the Fellowship being followed?
"Legolas?"
The elf prince gave a jolt. "What? Oh yes. But the problem with that is you've got nowhere to go once you're inside. Your maneuvering options are limited. In a forest, you can retreat, flank the enemy, whatever you need to do. You're not going to find yourself backed into a corner like you would underground-"
There was a shimmer in the air around them like the edge of a waterfall and a sudden smell of roses and then the terrible, familiar, ear-piercing squeal of "LEGGIE!"
~o~o~o~
"Sues at twelve o' clock."
Thor and Pixie paused their step for just a moment to assess the situation ahead of them. Two heroic human figures stood back-to-back, swords drawn, surrounded by a circle of four Sues who were closing in on them. From this distance, the KI agents couldn't hear words, but it was clear that the Sues were trying to coax their prey into lowering their weapons and allowing them to join up with them. Two were Falling-To-Middle-earth!Sues, given away by their modern day Earth attire, while the other two were Native!Sues, one human, one elven.
"Looks like Aragorn and Boromir could use a hand," Thor said.
"Bet they'd appreciate yer axe even more," Pixie said with a slightly impish grin, pulling out her wand.
Thor gave a good-natured guffaw and reached over his shoulder to pull out his axe, starting to run as he did so. Wielding the double-bladed weapon easily, he let out a huge bellow. "Let's get 'em!"
"Sueus Deficitis!" Pixie shouted, flicking her wand at the nearest Sue, the elven one who was menacing Aragorn.
Milliseconds before the spell struck its target, the air to the Sue's left shimmered and Bent. A new figure came spinning out of the wormhole, a glowing beam of blue light extending from her right hand. She sliced the light through the middle of the elf Sue and came to land in a crouch, one hand on the ground, one leg extended dramatically behind her, the pulsing beam of light held aloft in her other hand, as the Sue fell into two pieces and disintegrated.
Pixie grit her teeth and whipped off another spell at one of the Falling-to-Middle-earth!Sues. Once again, before her spell could hit, the newcomer leapt from her crouching position, springing unnaturally high, performing a mid-air spin, and sliced her glowing weapon across the Sue's chest, resulting in the same outcome. By now, Thor had reached the skirmish and brought his axe down on the other Falling!Sue. As the liquid logic caused the Sue to stumble backwards, Thor swung his axe a second time and finished her off. The one remaining Sue attempted to fight back with a jewel-encrusted sword, but Thor and the newcomer doubled up on her, and soon she had crumbled to paper scraps in the grass at their feet.
Grinding her teeth, Pixie shoved her wand back into its casing and made her way over to where Thor was already greeting the new arrival heartily.
Dena Milo of Coruscant had pale blue skin with a deep purple montral and disconcerting yellow eyes. She was dressed in a stylish KI crop top and leather pants with a utility belt slung around her waist. When she saw that all the Sues were slain, she gave her Suesaber (modified lightsabers made from plasma and purified liquid logic) a fancy spin and clicked it off, depositing it in her utility belt holster. Her eyes flickered in Pixie's decoration as the smaller Sue-Slayer approached. "Ah, hello there, Mallory," she said with a big, bright smile, extending a hand gracefully. "I see you are keeping our dear Thor under control."
Pixie shoved her hands down into her pockets, scowling. "Yeah, looks like it, doesn't it?"
"Aaaand!" Thor said loudly, clapping a hand on each one's shoulder. "Great work, everyone! Let's see what Aragorn and Boromir have to report, eh?"
Before they had made it even a few steps though, a furry, red-brown shape took a flying leap from somewhere to their left and landed on Thor's broad shoulder. "Hey there, mate, leave any Sues for me?"
Thor grinned at the large red squirrel perched on his shoulder with its huge, bushy tail flicking. The furry creature had a mini crossbow and quiver strapped across his back and a fitted green tunic and feathered Robin-Hood-style cap set at a jaunty angle between his tufted ears. Thor bumped his fist against the squirrel's tiny paw. "Wondered when you were going to join the party, Figlock. How are you doing, mate?"
"Oh, you know, kicking Sue butts across the Galaxy with this lovely togruta," Figlock said with a roguish tip of his hat in Dena Milo's direction.
"Only when you're not getting shot with a blaster in the tail," Dena said with a wag of her finger.
Figlock pulled his tail around and patted it. "Eh, it wasn't that bad. Did get two weeks of leave and got to head back to Mossflower to visit the drey though."
"Well, we're glad to have you all patched back up," Thor chortled. "I assume you both have been filled in on the situation."
Pixie trailed in the back as the three old friends caught up, glaring at the back of the alien's head and the squirrel's bobbing tail.
Aragorn and Boromir had wisely gotten out of the way once the spells started flying and the Suesaber and axe starting slicing, knowing this was a fight where they could provide little help. Now that the Sues were dead however, they came up to meet the Slayers.
"What news?" Thor called to them.
Boromir cautiously eyed the clothed squirrel perched on the Viking Slayer's shoulder as Aragorn gave the group a grim nod. "We have done as you requested and gathered as many of the race of men in Minas Tirith and the surrounding cities as we could," he said. "It was only from Rohan that we received no answer. When our messengers failed to return, we decided to venture to Edoras ourselves."
The two men exchanged a grim look. "Edoras lies empty," Boromir said. "There is no trace of King Théoden nor Éomer nor the royal éored. Yet, there were still dying embers in the hearth of Meduseld and mead upon the tables. It would seem that some disaster has befallen them."
"What about Helm's Deep? Perhaps they've taken up shelter against th' Sues there?" Pixie, who had caught up with the rest of the group, suggested.
Aragorn shook his head. "The thought came to us as well. But there is no sign of anyone at Helm's Deep, nor at Dunharrow."
"Foul work is at play," Boromir added darkly.
Thor and Pixie looked at each other then back at the two men. "We're heading to Isengard now to talk to Saruman about gathering the forces of Evil together in Mordor," Thor told Aragorn. "Why don't you two stick close in case there are more Sues in the area? Perhaps Saruman will have some news about King Théoden and the Rohirrim."
Aragorn and Boromir exchanged a look then nodded decisively. "We shall join you," Aragorn said. "To Isengard it is then."
And with that, the eclectic band of Sue-Slayers and characters set off towards the Gap of Rohan and the looming spike of Orthanc that was visible in the distance.
~o~o~o~
"LEGGIE!"
Legolas's hand went instantly to his knife, even though he knew that metal – even elven-forged metal – would be of little use against this enemy.
There were three of them, converging upon the Fellowship from the surrounding trees. All around Legolas came the sounds of his companions arming themselves and the nervous shifting of feet in the grass as they all backed into a tight circle facing outwards towards the advancing foe. Hawk and Porter loaded their crossbows. Both Slayers lifted their weapons, sighting along the shaft at two of the approaching Sues.
Come on, come on, come on, shoot, Legolas thought, watching them out of his peripheral as he kept his eyes fixed on the three Sues right in front of him.
That was when he realized that everything seemed to be trapped in slow motion except for himself and the Sues. He tightened his grip on his knife hilt, eyes flickering from one Sue to the next, a tight feeling in his throat. Hawk and Porter had mentioned that this sort of thing happened with Sues sometimes. It was how they accomplished feats like giving a motivational speech in the middle of a battle without getting chopped in half. If something like this happened, Hawk and Porter had instructed him that his best chance was to stall long enough for the Sue-Slayers to activate whatever gadget they had that would break the Sues' hold on Time.
They were all Falling-to-Middle-earth!Sues, dressed in attire from Hawk and Porter's world, and seemingly somewhere in their teen years. The one who had initially alerted them all to her presence with her squee was gesticulating wildly at Legolas. Her nearest companion, a tall girl with hair of a very unnatural pink color and dressed all in black, was eyeing Legolas skeptically, while the third Sue, a shorter girl with a T-shirt that had the words District 12 in fiery letters across the front, was looking around as if surprised.
"Uh, where are we?" District 12 said in a dazed voice.
"Isn't it obvious?" the first Sue squealed. "This is Middle Earth! It just has to be. How else would you explain how we were watching The Fellowship of the Ring one minute and the next minute we're in this place with forests and mountains and elves?"
"That doesn't look like Legolas to me," the tall Sue said, folding her arms. "Why is his hair dark?"
"Ohhh, we must have fallen into the books," Sue One said, still gesticulating animatedly. "It never says in the books what color Legolas's hair is. But look at him! He's got the cloak from Lothlórien and the bow, so he MUST be Legolas. Let's go talk to him!"
"Waaaaait," District 12 said with a bit of a whine in her voice. "I agreed to sit down and watch those movies with you and Melanie, but I didn't sign up for this!"
"Yeah, why couldn't we have gone to the movie world? It's cooler," the tall Sue a.k.a. Melanie said.
Sue One ignored her companions and approached Legolas, who took a cautious step back, his hand still resting on his knife, hoping that Hawk and Porter would activate their device any moment now. "Hey, hey there, are you Legolas Thranduillion?" the Sue asked, beaming.
Legolas was in the process of deciding whether it would be better to answer in the affirmative or pretend he had no idea who Legolas was when District 12 gave a high-pitched shriek. Legolas turned just in time to see a gigantic black wolf come charging out of the surrounding undergrowth. Legolas's eyes went wide. He had seen wargs before, but this was on another level. The thing was huge and mangy, with wild, yellow eyes and slavering fangs that were at least as long as his index finger.
"We're gonna die!" District 12 wailed.
"Woah, woah, not cool!" Melanie yelled.
Sue One clung to Legolas. "Oh, Legolas, save us from the warg. Don't let it kill my friends!"
Legolas nocked an arrow to his bow, trying his best to ignore the human girl hanging off his waist. The mutated warg was just as likely to attack his own companions as the Sues, and frankly, death by warg-mauling seemed a little extreme even for Sues. Automatically, he pulled the bow string back until he felt his fingertips graze his cheekbone, then loosed the arrow. The missile darted forward and buried itself in the monstrous wolf's neck.
It reared back and gave a loud howl of anguish, which was when Legolas's second arrow thudded efficiently into its throat right beside the first. It collapsed on its side.
"You saved us!" Sue One cheered. "Oh my gosh, that was amazing. You saved us, Legolas. You're so amazing!"
"Yeah!" District 12 said, looking at Legolas with a new-found appreciation and that familiar hungry Sue-look starting to creep into her eyes. "That was awesome!"
"Psssh!"
The two Sues stopped their enthusiastic admiration of Legolas to look at their tall companion who had just made the dismissive noise. "That wasn't even that cool," she said, arms still folded…or folded again, Legolas wasn't sure. "I mean, he just stood there and shot an arrow at it. It wasn't like he did anything cool like in the movies."
Legolas blinked in surprise at the pink-haired Sue. He'd just been trying to kill the beast as quickly as possible. What had she been expecting him to do?
"It's not like he jumped on it and shot it through the skull or skated on a shield or ran up stairs falling through midair or anything," Melanie continued. "That's why I stopped reading the books. I mean, Book Legolas is kinda cheesy and lame. He doesn't do any of that cool stuff that Movie Legolas does. He hardly even talks. He's not even a main character. He's-"
A KI crossbow quarrel lodged itself in Melanie's midriff.
"Take that, Sue scum!" Hawk yelled.
Porter's quarrel struck District 12 a second later, and a second bolt from Hawk took out the remaining Sue who was still hanging around Legolas's waist. All three Sues crumpled to the ground, where their bodies disintegrated into paper.
"Phew, that was close," Porter said cheerfully, slinging his crossbow back over his shoulder. "I was wondering when we were finally going to get some action. Everybody OK?"
A chorus of affirmative answers met Porter's question, and the Sue-Slayers inspected the dead Sues to make sure they were all properly dispatched and wouldn't be troubling the Fellowship again. After Hawk declared the area safe for the time being and the Fellowship started to move off once again, Legolas found himself glancing back at the white forms of the dead Sues lying in the grass. Something tickled in the back of his mind like a little voice. He shook it off and followed his companions.
~o~o~o~
They set up camp for their second night in Middle Earth in another convenient little campsite awaiting them under the shelter of a short cliff face and ringed with shrubs. Éowyn took first watch on top of the cliff above the camp, and Hawk and Porter settled down a short distance away from the other members of the Fellowship. The campfire was burning low and the only one who remained there now was Sauron, who was writing in his black notebook again.
Legolas rolled over on his cloak that he'd spread on the ground underneath himself, facing away from his companions. The day had worn on him as if this world was specifically designed to drain the strength from his very limbs. Usually, he would have needed nothing more than a brief stint of his waking sleep to refresh him, but he could tell from his leaden limbs that he needed a full, proper sleep tonight. Yet even sleep evaded him.
He couldn't stop thinking about what the Sue had said.
He'd never really thought about his place in the Fellowship – the one back home that was – or his role in the bigger story. He was there to protect Frodo and do what had to be done to get the Ring one step closer to the fires of Mt. Doom. He would willingly die for any of his companions if that was what it took to achieve the Quest. And he was satisfied with that.
Or so he'd thought.
Slowly, he reached into his belt pouch and drew out the Pen. He hadn't touched the thing since Hawk and Porter had given it to him two days ago at the Hub. There were no letters visible on its surface at the moment, and the gold color was dulled in the moonlit dark that surrounded him. But when he ran his finger along the length of it, his skin tingled.
He'd always known he was a supporting character, to some extent. His life was not as important as Frodo's, or Aragorn's, or Gandalf's. His job was to ensure that others succeeded. Sure, he was a member of the Fellowship of the Ring and would be remembered as such for as long as history was recorded most likely, but he was not the one who would bear the Ring to Mordor and toss it into the fires of Doom.
But this Quest, the Quest of the Pen, was different. He was the Pen-bearer.
He would take the Pen to the Hearth of Doom and he would cast it into the fire and bring about the destruction of the Sues that had plagued Middle-earth for as long as it had existed.
But what then?
Then they would go back to their own world, the Story would continue, and he would be back to being just plain old Legolas, Legolas the protector of the Ring-bearer, Legolas the side character, Legolas who was apparently not nearly as cool as this Movie Legolas of whom the Sues spoke…
If you used the Pen, you could make sure you were the hero of the Story. You could be the character everyone is looking to for answers, the one who saves your world. You could be anything you want to be. You could be as cool as Movie Legolas…
With a jolt of surprise, Legolas realized that he'd clicked the Pen and the uncovered point lay against the spread of his cloak, just waiting for him to move it and begin writing.
Quickly, he clicked it again and shoved it back down into his belt pouch. He rolled back over, arms wrapped around himself, and shivered slightly in the cool air that blew down from the mountains.
Rest still eluded his grasp however, even though he kept the whispering of the Pen shoved into the back of his thoughts. Finally, he gave up and rose, wrapping his cloak about himself as he approached the soft glow of the fire.
Sauron gave him a malicious look as the elf sat down at the far end of the campfire log from the Dark Lord. When glaring proved ineffective, he gave a little harrumph and went back to scribbling in his notebook. Legolas stared into the fire, holding his cloak shut at his chest, weariness settling over him again. The fire crackled, and a log fell in a small flurry of ashes. He glanced over at the Dark Lord again. "Sauron?" he said.
The Lord of the Rings ignored him and continued writing.
Legolas scooted cautiously towards him and tried again. "Sauron, what does it feel like to go evil?"
Sauron gave him a snooty look down his nose. "And what's a goody two shoes hero like you doing asking a question like that?"
Legolas shrugged. "Just wondering."
Sauron laid his notebook down in his lap. Legolas caught a brief glimpse of neat Tengwar cursive before the Dark Lord snapped the book shut, still looking at the elf imperiously, though his expression had shifted to something more smug than dismissive. "It's strong, isn't it?"
Legolas shifted uncomfortably under Sauron's burning stare. "What is?"
Sauron gave a short, sharp laugh. "Oh, don't play stupid with me. You're tempted to use the Pen, aren't you?"
Legolas swallowed, surprised and yet totally not surprised at the same time by Sauron's blunt and uncannily accurate guess. "Maaaaybe," he hedged.
Sauron snorted again. "You think I can't tell? If I were you, I'd have already used it by now and would have this whole bloody place down on its knees and paying tribute to my name."
Frowning, Legolas leaned forward and poked absently at the fire with a loose stick. "And that right there is why they didn't give it to you."
This time, Sauron's laugh was disconcertingly soft. "No doubt. That, and you jumping up like a hero to claim the burden of the Pen at the first chance and dash off on some foolhardy quest to save the world." His lip curled. "I doubt you have much to worry about in terms of 'going evil' as you put it."
There was an uncomfortable silence during which Legolas was acutely aware of Sauron's fiery eyes appraising him. "Then again," the Dark Lord said slowly, "how much are you willing to do to save our world?"
Legolas looked back up, startled. "Anything," he answered firmly.
Sauron raised an eyebrow. "Well, maybe you have a shot at going evil after all."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Sauron leaned back, propping himself up with his arms. "I wanted to save my world too, you know. From itself. And I was willing to bend the rules to make it happen. And now, apparently, I'm 'evil'." His eyes darted sideways, a flicker of yellow fire that gave his face a sly expression. "But that's the trick with going evil, isn't it? You're the only one who still thinks you're the hero of the story."
A shiver ran down Legolas's spine. He stood up quickly. "I think I'm going to try for some more sleep. Thanks for the…uh…advice."
Sauron opened his book again, still smiling disconcertingly. "Anytime…Pen-bearer."
~o~o~o~
Sometime late in the night, Legolas was finally able to drift off to sleep. But dark dreams continued to haunt him, and the Pen whispered in the back of his mind through each of them. He reached a point where he was standing before the Hearth of Doom, Sues closing in on him and his companions, but suddenly he was holding Sauron's black notebook in one hand and the Pen in the other and he was writing…
He woke with a little start that caught his breath painfully in his chest. The soft moonlight was still flooding over the campsite as an ever-present fixture of nights in the Sue world. Other than the crickets chirping "Only Time" and the rustle of wind in the trees, it was quiet, none of his companions stirring.
That was when he realized there was a knife at his throat.
