Thoruk and Endo fell their screams paused mid-way as the gryphon dived for the shadow.
There beneath him, Cardiloc saw the elf. He was gripping a single sword readying it in a throwing motion. He was practically frozen. Defenseless. And in that moment Cardiloc remembered his friend.
Glorfindel.
What the elf had done for them in Mordor from rescuing Ha'zi to fighting the prototypes, to in Anorien where the two of them dueled the protos once more, and then in the prison where he had succumbed to sadness and nearly gave up on living after being betrayed by the Gondorians...
Was this his friend? Was he really going to kill him? Without even an explanation? There had to be some reason...something why he was doing this...why he attacked Thoruk...could maybe the Dwarf have been in the wrong? The ground was shaking...was this Thoruk? Was Glorfindel trying to stop him from attacking the prototypes? Was Thoruk the bad one? Too many questions and not enough time. Cardiloc felt his power waning between all the teleporting and transforming...
Glorfindel lay there, he could kill his friend now if he so chose. But would Cardiloc do that?
-------------------------------
Arandil found most inns had closed for the festival but one was still open. The owner was willing to allow him a free bath this one night since it was special. The water was poured and Arandil managed to cleanse himself in less than eight minutes.
-------------------------------
Rambo heard shouting, screams, and then silence. Was it over? Had they defeated the enemy?
Then the double-doors to the dungeons flew open. He came face to face with them. He saw him. The one they called the Armoured Giant in person. A number of arrows fired from the crossbowmen they had down the hallway but each was deflected as a shield of ice rose before them then flung forward coming straight at Rambo and his rangers, knocking them back against the walls. He lost consciousness for a moment but his eyes glimpsed what was happening.
One of his men, Luthor stood up and unsheathed his blade only to be shot with an ice shard which blew through his brains. Warm liquid covered Rambo's face from the splatter. Another one charged them with a shield, absorbing a number of shards before crying out as he was grabbed by a piece of the wall and sucked into it, disappearing forever. One after another his men were butchered and he lay there unable to move whether out of fear or pain of doing so. He could only watch. Once it was over, the enemies passed him. There were only four now.
"Is that...?" Thule asked staring at what Rambo and his rangers were defending.
"Yes." Someone else said.
"Mirecy," Berethor whispered as he took steps towards the glimmering blue crystal shard that lined the wall. It had been fastened in place. Her body had aged whilst within and was perfectly preserved albeit her hair having grown long and wild. She was almost angelic encased in that brilliant turquoise shard. "I can't believe they drove you to do this. I'm sorry I took so long but I'm here now. Cut the ropes." Thule and Dwendil sliced through them quickly.
"How do you expect to get her out?"
"I don't care I'll break her out myself," Berethor said and tried to push the large crystal with his bare hands, it moved slightly. "Lend me some help will ya?" And the other three complied all four occupied in moving the crystal.
Rambo's heart was pounding. They thought he was dead...this was his opportunity. To kill the Armoured Giant. The bastard who murdered his entire squad...
---------------------------
"Not the stage. The Captain wants you to wait it out in the rear. It's unsafe here. We can't leave Gondor's most valuable assets out in the open," The soldier replied in turn and led Tamara, Dimitri, and Daugo off leaving behind the inheritors.
They passed through the crowds just as the curtains opened to reveal lights shining down upon the King. He stood there alone and addressed the people, "People of Middle-Earth! Esteemed guests! Welcome! Welcome to Armen and our most spectacular of celebrations!"
"This way," The soldier took them through an alleyway away from the stage and the bleachers, leading them past groups of civilians and guards. "In here." The man opened a door for them to step through.
----------------------------------
Ela moved behind Ha'zi, her body trembling as she kept her eyes on Miriel.
The woman looked pale, almost sad in fact. Although her expression was neutral her eyes conveyed enough. "I wanted many things, Ha'zi. I wanted to be free...free of all this bullshit. From Morgoth, from Sauron, from this world, from the Gondorians-I wanted to be happy with my family, with you. I even..." She sighed, "Considered the idea that we could all be free. Daugo, Card...even Iver and Dimitri. I thought it would be nice if they met my family under better circumstances. But that's all in the past now."
"Your people. These people. The Slayer. Morgoth. All of them...they all wanted us. And I tried, Ha'zi, I really did. I tried to be happy and free and for a time I was...the only thing missing was..." She looked at him and hardened her expression. "Until your friends decided to come after us. First to recruit us apparently then to kill us." She glanced up at the grate to the top left of them, the drums had ceased and they could hear the King.
"People of Middle-Earth! Esteemed guests! Welcome! Welcome to Armen and our most spectacular of celebrations!"
"Looks like its beginning, we can hear it all from here." Miriel sighed. "I just want to be free, Ha'zi. I want my family to be safe. But it seems...we'll never be safe. Not unless we guarantee that safety." Then she stopped as the King began talking. "Let's listen to what he has to say."
----------------------------------
Aragorn swallowed lightly and breathed deeply. "Tonight I would like to tell you all a story." He looked at the thousands of faces staring back at him and remembered all those that came there this night because of him. All those that would die...
---
"You want me to gather our military leadership near the base of the central stage?" General Belzagar asked as they spoke in the Tower of the King. The door had been locked and shut. The King sat across from the General.
"Yes. This will be the only time so many of our officers and bureaucrats will be left open in a public stage." Aragorn answered.
"Are you sure you want to do that?" Belzagar's eyes widened. "But sir-"
"Yes. Group them up in a single area as much as possible."
"This will leave our leadership directly open to an assault."
"Exactly. You do not think I am blind or deaf, do you, General?" Aragorn stroked his beard lightly, "Lord Denethor was weak and allowed for the corruption of Gondor's hierarchy. Because of this, we are left with an amassing number of incompetent, unsavory individuals who use their ties to raise their status. This-this is one of the reasons why the Dark Lord was able to manipulate and defeat my kingdom. No more. We'll take this opportunity to gather all the untrustworthy inept officials into one area. They along with myself shall be valuable targets for the enemy to attack. We'll draw them out into the main square that way and minimize the potential damage done to civilians."
"Sir?" Belzagar's expression changed drastically, "I did not understand what you meant by strengthening Gondor."
"That's not the issue. There are far more pressing details. In our weakness, we have allowed the Enemy to infiltrate our ranks. By the time we noticed they have already pressed a dagger to our knecks. At any moment we'd find our throats slit. We must be cautious with how to approach this. Anyone from among even our highest ranks could be a conspirator. This much is clear since the issue with Glorfindel. I have come to understand from Sigeric that the elf was given the order by someone of high rank. Whoever these traitors are...they've brought us more enemies in the form of the prototypes. And as you very well know, our motherland has enough enemies to deal with excluding our internal threats."
"And the military is no exception. If you want to smoke your enemies out, light a fire beneath them. Accept that the enemy has plans to assault then use them to our greatest advantage." Aragorn explained, "If you have any other plans...now is the time to give them. Otherwise, we must go through with this."
"Even if we lure the enemy in...the bait is simply too much, your grace," Belzagar said matter-of-factly.
"Give them whatever useless officers and nobles you have. If the enemy's goal is to harm our military then they will have a fantastic opportunity to do so. Whoever is left shall be part of Gondor's new army. I give my consent to this and so does Prince Imrahil." Aragorn replied.
"This is not a war. We still don't know our enemies, their might, or their method of attack. There will be massive crowds of civilians surrounding us..." Belzagar looked him in the eye, "My King, I am afraid I will not be able to defend you. If you do this, you will die."
"I am willing to make that sacrifice."
"You're too important to be bait."
"The world will not pay attention if I do not stand there before it. When else will militaries, royals, nobles of all races gather together as one? The most important thing of all is for Gondorians in Armen and the surrounding townships to become tragic victims, myself included."
"Victims of an unseen attack." Aragorn continued, "The world would not take my side if I were to escape alive."
Belzagar raised a hand to his King. "I shall not allow your sacrifice to be in vain, my King."
Aragorn took it, "Make certain my wife and child are safe and away from this place. Prince Imrahil shall assume leadership of Gondor in my stead and you, I leave it to you to re-organize our forces and defeat our true enemy." They shook hands together.
---
"This story is one of the creation of our world. We live in Middle-Earth, a continent belonging to the greater land of Arda. In this world are other lands such as Valinor. A place far to the west where mortals such as myself cannot reach. It is a land ruled by the Valar." Behind Aragorn a series of images illustrated by performers and maps were raised. So large were they and vivid with the use of candles and torchlights to intensify the illusion of the shadows to the audience.
"The Valar are beings created by the one, Eru Illuvatar. Our creator." A great spectacle, a god who rose above the rest of Ea looking down upon it rose behind Aragorn. "He created us. The Children of Illuvatar. Elves, Men and Dwarves. He also created the Valar before us. The lords of Arda, meant to shape this world for his Children." Aragorn then went through each Valar beginning with, "Melkor who later became known as Morgoth the Dark Lord," and coming to an end with "Tulkas the Champion." He narrated a summary of details of the years of the trees, of the coming of the noldor, of the first age and the wars with Morgoth, he foretold their history to the masses that watched in awe as the performers in droves danced to the beating of drums and thumping of trumpets.
"And when Frodo Baggins, the ring-bearer cast the one ring into the fiery pits of Mount Doom, was the spirit of Sauron vanquished." He finished and bowed then retreated off stage where his courtiers wiped him clean of sweat and he drank some water before returning. "And evil was vanquished...or so we believed."
Darkness filled the stage.
"But this was not the case. For you see, although, the Dark Lords were defeated. There was a greater evil to their madness. A darkness that rivaled the light of Eru. It was beaten back by Eru and his Valar but corrupted the soul of the most powerful. Melkor who became Morgoth. With his defeat, it then corrupted others. Sauron his lieutenant. Then onto other Ainur. This darkness has perverted Arda. And it seeks to destroy that which Eru is most beloved. Us."
"His Children." The stage lit up. "This darkness has returned. And with it, a slew of minions and weapons to be used to end our Middle-Earth. Our world. The Dark Lords have been resurrected. Manwe, once the protector and king of Arda, is now our enemy. He seeks the obliteration of our people under the corruption of this darkness. And now, without the light of Eru, we are defenseless. The darkness is closing in on us. It wants to kill us. Can you not feel it?" He asked them. A chill breeze shivered the audience.
"But we are not alone. We are not defenseless. We are the Children of Illuvatar!" Aragorn proclaimed. "And not all is lost. For there are those minions of the Dark Lord which have betrayed him. Which have seen the light of Illuvatar. Behold! I present to you the Karoltai! Giants originally created by Morgoth who have betrayed him!" Aragorn's left hand swept to the left side of the stage where a large plot remained empty between two buildings.
----------------------------------------
The ranger at the top of the building gave Sigeric the thumbs up.
Showtime.
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