"Marchwarden!" One of the elves called to Haldir in Sindarin. "Are we not apprehending these trespassers?"
"No-I mean...yes." Haldir returned the reply. "All of you, return to the Elvenking's Halls. These people are on an important mission. We must inform the King of this. I shall guide them out of our lands and we'll be done with their business." The elves slowly began to nod in agreement and backed away from the Gondorian regiment. They formed against their flanks and moved off into the forest in silence.
"I shall take you down the road." Haldir spoke in Westron to Daugo and Ostopher then proceeded to stroll casually east along a barely visible passageway.
"What did you do to him?" Ostopher whispered over to Daugo.
"I guess that's sorted then." Keratos stifled a laugh at the absurdity of the elves. Truly a strange folk. "Huh?" He heard Tamara's joke. "Well I'd love to see you try to, Lil' Lady!" He said a bit too loudly, finally breaking into a chuckle through his visor.
Tamara had succeeded in finding a flower. Though it was not a white one like the one she kept in her pocket. It did not wither away like other flowers, she noticed. That flower that Keratos had given her. It was special. She found reddish wild ginger that sprung out of a bush nearest to her. It was not an appealing color but the flower itself was unique. Very strange...
Ha'zi's deception had succeeded. Yet he had to maintain this with the leader and those that were walking away. He could still feel their minds attempting to fight back but his willpower was too much for them, at least now.
Meanwhile, behind them all, Telimekhtar whispered to Dimitri. "She must be removed. As soon as possible. We have to take the chance to isolate her. She is a danger. I have to take her away from this place."
Without a reply, Ostopher signaled his men, "Follow on!" Bastian repeated the call and they began moving forward, some on horseback and others afoot.
"Let's move, Aeron." Bastian called out to his friend. He was falling behind. "Come on!"
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"Thoruk." The Dwarf felt two hands smother his face, "THORUK!" He heard his father's cry. "MA BOI! YA CAME FER ME!" Before Thoruk could even gauge his surroundings he was enveloped in a great bear-like hug as his father's arms came around him.
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Minutes turned into hours and hours into days and soon over a week had passed. Iver was left there to starve, to suffer, to rot. Abandoned. Shiva was no longer with him. Her voice had faded away days ago and the comfort she brought him, the love, the nourishment, the safety and warmth. All of it was gone. Burnt away by the hot days. His body was constantly pestered by the heat and cold, his skin burnt nearly as brown as Ha'zi's and peeling whilst he shivered through the cold windy nights. His thirst for blood had grown unquenchable to the point he had broken and cut his tongue in a desperate attempt to transform, failing and sucking on the blood that bled into his mouth. It was futile. Fruitless.
Iver was so dehydrated that he could not weep. Not even a tear. He had always thought himself immune to pain, at least physically, but this pain. This was worse than what he had felt when Ilmare died, when his father's body was beneath a pile of rocks...this pain...it was too much for his heart to bear. It beat slowly, softly, weakly.
Iver was alone.
His friends did not come to save him. The Trickster was not there for him. Shiva was long gone. He had failed her. And now he was doomed to live a lifetime on this forsaken piece of obsidian that touched the sky. No one cared for him but Shiva. And he had failed her. Failed her. Failed her. Failed her....
All he could do was think to keep the pain off his mind. His mind was so weak that not even Vlad could offer him company. And so his memories and thoughts were there. He thought of Shiva first, naturally. Then of Thoruk, Marco, Sigeric, Daugo, Dimitri, Teli, the Trickster, Card and even Ha'zi. He even thought of Glorfindel and Celeborn. Of Ilmare and Aranel. Of Miriel and her children. He had enough time to think of everything. And all it did was make him angry.
Fuck them all. They had all abandoned him. His friends didn't give a shit about him. He was a glorified flying cart. A joke. The elf had brutalized him at that meeting in Gondor in front of them all and none had lifted a finger to help. Not even Thoruk. That dwarf...he cared nothing about Iver. Only about his damn short-folk and his axes. Marco...he was useless and all he did was swear. A waste of their time. Last Iver remembered they had left him in Gondor. Where was he? Did he even care? What about Sigeric his half-brother who would not even acknowledge his existence? What about Daugo? Cardiloc? Ha'zi? What about the Valar? Fuck them all.
Shiva was the only one who mattered...
And so Iver wasted away, freezing to near death as the wind blasted him atop Morgoth's fortress. It was so cold that his extremities had begun to experience hypothermia but that pain in itself was a blessing. The numbness was a rare gift in such horrid conditions.
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Varda gave her a glare. She was used to getting such glares from her oldest sister. Varda often looked down upon Vana but she never knew why.
"Of course. His betrayal was an inconvenience. Why do you ask such moronic questions?" Varda said.
"We are ready to proceed." One of the Maia in the chamber said and handed a scythe-like blade to Vana. "My lady." He said and stepped back leaving her space to access Ulmo who was eagle-spread across the table.
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Lungorthin paused and looked up just as Ranzolg slid beneath and bore into him, he was lifting him just as a massive project hit both of them sending Lungorthin bowling across the obsidian floor. Munvare landed atop Ranzolg, his feet poking into the other Balrog's face.
Undolog's actions had disrupted their fight but surprisingly, Morgoth did not seem to care. If anything he appeared uninterested, gazing wanly off into the distance. Gothmog grimaced beside their Lord's seat. She had to do something to interest him. Otherwise what good was she?
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"And why is that?" Aragorn asked, genuinely intrigued.
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"Well..." Endo said, "There was this one dragon..." He began to draw something in the sand resembling an great drake with wings larger than its own body. "So it's basically that but about the size of...well...everything. The earth shook when it walked and I remember it used to break mountains whenever it flew in the distance." He shrugged. "If you can turn into that just please do it far, far away."
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