Chapter Thirteen:

In The Company Of Wolves

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Within the SUV driving towards London, Fred uttered a choked sob.

She was lodged in the space between Legolas and Lori on the back seat now that Miranda, Frank and Eric vacated at her earlier warning to go in search of Sam, Pip and Jason, when her eyes widened in surprise and that small gasp escaped her. Although she was not alone in her body, this reaction was entirely hers and though the presence within tried to soften the blow, Fred was still a little girl. With that sudden start, she buried her face in Legolas’ side, since Bryan was in the front seat, crying harder.

“Fred?” Legolas exclaimed at the outburst, his words drawing the attention of all to the child as she started to cry harder, forcing him to coil his arms around her tighter, offering him the comforting adult presence she needed.

“What’s wrong with her?” Lori asked, unfamiliar with the child’s situation at present.

“What’s happened Fred?” Bryan spoke up and the girl was too conditioned to his voice to be able to ignore him, even if she was in state of distress.

Even now, Bryan had no power against the sounds of those tears. Despite being in the driver’s seat, he was adept enough to let his attention waver from the road to regard the child who had somehow become the most important thing in the world to him since her arrival in his life almost a year ago. Hearing her cry like that was a knife in his heart and the last time he had heard her weep in such a way was when they’d lost Tory. The similarities of those tears to this occasion filled Bryan with dread.

Like the others in the car, Aaron too snapped out of the dark place he’d been seen hearing of Lori’s report about Eve. So lost in his own fears for his wife, he hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary until Bryan spoken and then felt a little guilty at being so oblivious. Leaning over the front seat, he regarded the little girl whose small body shook as she wept into the elf’s side. Exchanging a glance with Legolas and Bryan, Aaron could see that they too, were expecting the worse.

“Can someone please tell me what’s wrong with her?” Lori demanded again, feeling like she was the only one being left in the dark. As it was, she was having a great deal of difficulty believing what any of them had said. Elves, monsters from ages past, dragons and the end of the world, it was too much for her very rational mind to deal with. The story these people had told her was frankly too fantastic to be believed even i she knew what had downed her plane wasn’t another enemy bogey.

It was a dragon and now there was this.

Legolas stilled them all with a gesture, deciding that bombarding the poor child with questions would aid no one. He too was filled with a sense of ominous foreboding because this reaction could only have source in some calamity that they were as of yet unaware. However, Fred was still a child and though she was occupied by some other force, she reacted to tragedy in the manner of a child and a little patience would draw the ill news from Fred when she was ready to speak.

Bryan wanted to stop the car, wanted to take Fred in his arms and console her himself but through the windscreen he could see the smoke rising out of London and knew that they didn’t have time for that. So he played the role he’d always played, the good soldier who did his duty, even when he didn’t like it, for queen and country. He pushed on when the others were ready to falter, even though he had lost and knew that the price for defeating Saeran this time was going to despairingly high.

After a moment, Fred finally lifted her face away from Legolas, drying her tears as she regarded the others. She had been allowed to express her grief in a child’s way and now the other occupant of her tiny body was exerting control and regaining its composure to deliver news that none in this vehicle wished to hear. Her blue eyes touched the faces staring at her in anticipation and saw that Aaron, Bryan and Legolas were expecting the worst while the woman Lori, didn’t know what to expect at all.

“Jason is gone,” she revealed finally.

It was Aaron who reacted first. “Gone, what do you mean gone?” He demanded indignantly though it was rather obvious to all what exactly Fred meant.

“She means dead Aaron,” Bryan answered softly and kept his eyes fixed on the road again, his eyes not moving from it.

He thought of Jason and how only a few days ago, he, Eric, Elladan and Jason were mucking about in his kitchen, trying to make beer before Tory got home, laughing and believing the worst the world had to offer was elven spirits. How wrong he had been. They’d not lost both Tory and Jason now. He wondered how many others they’d lose before this was all over.

“Jason?” Lori looked at the men in the car, “the guy who had mom and pop’s kids?”

Legolas answered with a sombre nod.

“Jesus,” Aaron whispered. First Tory and now Jason, how high was this death toll going to go? He kept that thought silent though because the group was demoralized enough by this latest tragedy and in a more composed tone, he asked after Sam and Pippin. “What about the kids?” He hated to think that Miranda and Frank’s children had ended the same way as the Kiwi camera man who’d been a friend since his arrival in Valinor.

“They still live and remain unharmed for now,” Fred answered, her voice a cheerless drone. “Jason sacrificed his life to save them. He succeeded,” she added. “Frank and Miranda will reach them soon.”

Fred knew in what manner Jason had died but there was no need to trouble this group with such details. That he was dead was painful enough for them to accept, let alone be told that he had met his death at the hands of one of Melkor’s servants.

Legolas considered Jason’s sacrifice and remembered how Boromir had fallen at Parth Galen when he fought the Uruk Hai trying to save Merry and Pippin. More and more, he was starting to believe the End of Days would bring with it the end of everything they knew. With each turn, they seemed to be coming full circle, the threads of past and present interweaving into the tapestry Eru had been crafting since the begining of all things.

Lori kept quiet. She was caught in events larger than herself and though her natural inclination was to balk at the strangeness of her situation, she recognised grief when she saw it. These people had suffered losses even before this latest tragedy that was much clear. For now, she was merely an observer to the proceedings.

Bryan said nothing as they continued their pursuit of Saeran. Behind him, he continued to hear the lamentations of sorrow expressed by his friends at the loss of yet another one of their number. He kept his own grief contained, locked up in the same place he had kept his anguish at Tory’s death. There would be a time when he would unleash all his pent up rage and let the tidal wave of fury do its worst but that time was not now. His friends needed him to keep a level head and he would do that. He had to fight the impulse to turn he car around and go seek out Sam and Pip who were now without their guardian. He fought it because Saeran was the greater evil and they needed to reach him first, while there was still time to save Eve and the world as well. Bryan trusted that Frank, Miranda and Eric could get to the children first.

They had to.

The others were still reeling with shock and grief and he would allow them that in the comfort of the car because soon they’d be called on to fight a monster that may be beyond all of them to stop. He however, would do what was necessary because while there was a nobler purpose to his actions, there was also a darker, underlying reason to press on no matter what.

Revenge.

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Frank’s fingers dug into the arm rest of the little hatchback they’d found shortly after they’d parted company with Bryan and Aaron, prompted by Fred’s ominious warning that Sam and Pippin were in trouble. In front of him, the narrow, meandering road that cut through the countryside of North England rushed past him in a blur, struggling to keep up with the speed of the vehicle tearing up its aging path. Miranda was driving and her hands were clenched around the steering wheel, displaying the seldom seen driving skills she’d acquired during her years in the service of MI6.

Fred had been unable to tell them exactly where Sam and Pippin were, only that they were heading along the coast road of Wales. It made sense to Frank. With what was happening thanks to Saeran’s rampage, people were fleeing the affected areas, clogging up the motorways that brought traffic to a standstill. They were trapped in their cars, feeding the frenzy of panic Saeran had ignited when he allowed the footage of London’s destruction to be briefly televised across the world. Miranda had taken the most direct route to the northern coast, taking small roads that were really nothing more than stock trails, passing paddocks and cottages, single minded in her determination to reach her children.

Eric had come with them because the creature stalking the children was rather formidable by Fred’s description and they might need the help. Secretly however, Frank suspected, Eric’s motives lay a little closer to home. Until coming to Valinor, he had been alone in the world. Excepting his relationship with Jason Merrick, Eric had no other family and in finding Miranda, discovered not only a sister from that other life, but a family. Frank had no objection to the relationship, recognising it for what it was and liking the fact that Miranda had someone else to whom she could turn for comfort.

Anything that made his wife less inclined to turn inward in times of trouble suited him.

Eric had tried to convince Miranda that Jason would take care of them, trying to assuage his reincarnated sister’s fears regarding the safety of her children. However, as Frank would have told him if he’d asked, it was a vain effort. Perhaps it was something that men would never understand, the deceptively gossamer thin thread that bound a mother to her children, that was stronger than steel. As a father of two, he had learned to recognise that there were just some fears that could not be allayed, no matter how well-meaning the words.

They’d bypassed St Ives, calculating that in the hours since the two groups had parted company, how far Jason would have driven. He would have taken the smaller coastal roads, avoiding the motorway, not only to avoid the traffic of fleeing travellers but also to keep a low profile. The Nine had been resurrected by Saeran which meant Morgul, the chief of the Nazgul, had re-entered the world. No doubt, the former Witch King would have returned with vengeful memories how he’d been sent to the shadow realm and who had sent him there. Yes, there was a good chance he’d send someone after them again, if he didn’t show up himself.

Frank knew who Draugluin was. He’d spend enough time in the grand libraries of Tirion to make good use of their texts and while Elladan had acted as translater in the begining, eventually he grasped enough of Quenya and Sindarin to be able to read some of the historical volumes on his own. He knew of the beast that was called the ‘Father of Werewolves’ and was Sauron’s servant in the First Age. The creature had been killed by the hero Beren and had been languishing in the Forbidden Vaults until David Saeran unleashed it into the world again.

He didn’t tell Miranda any of this.

She sat ramrod straight behind the driver’s seat, her fists clenched around the wheel, like she was ready to jump out of her skin at the slightest sound. Her single-mindedness made him anxious and only when they’d last encountered Morgul that Frank understood her former occupation had marked her. She radiated that same sense of menace that Bryan wore like a second skin. It was the training, Frank reasoned, training coupled with the primeval maternal instinct that would make a mother fight with everything they had, beyond reason, beyond anything that could be understood, to save her children.

“We should never have let them go,” she finally broke the silence as the sea came into sight and they turned onto the coast road.

“You were trying to keep them safe,” Eric reminded though he knew it would be no comfort to her. How could it be when his own thoughts were centred on the best friend who had saved his life more than once by being the voice of common sense?

“We thought sending them away would keep them safe,” Miranda declared, her eyes searching the shore and the road ahead for any sign of her children but there was none. “We should have known Frank,” she tossed Frank a look, her eyes moist with emotion. “Nowhere is safe, not now.”

“Miranda,” Frank finally spoke, reaching for her and clutching her arm. “Enough.” He said firmly, his voice with an edge that broke no argument. “I need you focussed. I need you to keep emotion out of it...”

“What the hell...” Eric started to say when Frank silenced him with a raised hand.

“I need you at your best luv,” Frank continued, “I need you sharp. Whatever’s after our kids is still out of there and I need the MI6 agent to fight it. Yeah?” He met her gaze and hated his hard tone but he knew his wife, he knew what she needed and sometimes, it wasn’t comfort.

Miranda’s expression hardened and wiped away her tears with one hand before nodding at him. “Yeah.” She answered. “I’m ready for it.”

“I know you are,” Frank said tenderly, filled with love and adoration for this woman, so damaged and yet capable of some much love that she swallowed his world with it.

Bloody hell, Eric thought silently, himself caught up in the moment, watching his sister’s mate (yeah fuck it, Third Age or not, she was his sister) give her exactly what she needed to regain her courage. Frank seemed on the face of him a mild personality but he was the soothing calm that Miranda needed so desperately.

Suddenly, Eric’s eyes widened by a column of smoke in the distance. “Hey look at that.”

Both Miranda and Frank’s eyes were fixed on the same in a split second. Craning his neck, Frank tried to determine where the pillar of dark smoke originated. It was definitely up ahead but it didn’t appear to be on the road. However, it was difficult to be sure as the smoke and the flames that undoubtedly caused it was still some distance away.

“It’s them.” Miranda said simply.

“Oh I don’t know...” Frank replied, still trying to see ahead even though squinting didn’t add anything to what he’d already viewed.

“It’s them.” She returned shortly, refusing to believe anything else.

Frank and Eric exchanged glances and knew well enough to leave alone as Miranda floored the accelerator and the car surged ahead beneath the increased revs of the engine. The small car sped along the road, overtaking a lorry that honked loudly at their audacity to usurp its place on the lane. The speed at which Miranda drove caused his worry to jump up a notch or two. He had tried to remain calm for her sake but now her paranoia was infectious and thoughts of his two children at the mercy of Draugluin began to cloud his reason.

Sam and Pippin had been pushed into the background because of Frank’s concerns for Miranda but seeing that column of smoke sent a shot of stark fear through him. Was Miranda right? Were his boys in the middle of that? His hands dropped to the dashboard and his knuckles turned white as he leaned forward and tried to get a better of view of what had originated it. A few turns of the road later and they were moving past a rather bleak beach when suddenly they came across the remnants of a collision on the weathered bitumen road.

Their gazes followed the spray of shattered glass across the narrow road, a ruined side mirror ripped from a yet undiscovered vehicle and a radio antenna trailing dangling wires. The dark burn of tyre skid marks led them off the road, over the crushed grass and vegetation and down the embankment. Miranda brought the car to a abrupt halt when she saw the smoke was coming from whatever had landed at the bottom of the hill that ran down to the beach.

She exchanged a look of pure panic at Frank before she bolted out of the car and Frank followed soon after, heart pounding as loud as hers, forgetting Eric behind them as he joined his wife. Like her, the calm that he had been clinging to so he could be strong for her had been ripped away by the primal fear that the fire they were rushing to find was a funeral pyre for their children. Reaching the edge of the hill that led down to the beach, Miranda choked out a strangled gasp as she took in the scene before her.

Wolves.

She counted at least a dozen of them. The first of which lay across a few feet off her, its large, furry body, draped over the edge causing its mouth to drop open, its tongue lolling out the side of its mouth. The cause of death was obvious. The creature’s furry pelt was riddled in bullet holes and the ground ran red with its blood. It wasn’t alone in its dying.

The rest of its pack led the way down the hill, similarly killed, blood marking the spot where they had fallen. They had gone down the hill, hunting like a pack, Miranda thought through the fugue of anguish in her mind Someone had picked them off as they descended and instinctively, she knew it was Jason. Jason had cut them down as they closed in for the kill.

Catching up to her, Frank stopped short at the scene and saw the carcasses scattered all the way down the hill, leading them to the burning wreckage of a car that greatly resembled tone vehicle that Jason was driving north with Sam and Pippin.

“Oh God….” She started to sob.

“We don’t know they were in there,” he said taking her hand as they made their way past the dead wolves, ignoring the sight of blood.

Eric felt lt his stomach hollow when he reached Frank and Miranda, both at the sight of the dead animals and the the burning vehicle whose framework had held together long enough to make it recognisable. He saw the look of horror on Miranda’s face and could not even begin to imagine what she was feeling now. He never had family and it because of that, it muted the need for children. However, he had gotten to know Sam and Pippin, hell even Fred and understood how precious they were.

Christ, he hoped Jason had got them out of the car safely.

The salty air of the sea carried the rancid smell of burning flesh across the beach, making his nose curl in disgust at the stench. For a moment, he was reminded of Vukovar. He’d been there during the siege and recalled the valiant thought ultimately doomed defence of the city as the superior Serbian army devastated the city with a brutality not seen since Stalingrad. With every new assault, another building was burned and sometimes, the occupants escaped, most of the time, they did not.

Eric felt like he was back there again.

The heat of the fire prickled their faces as they approached the vehicle, navigating to the flaming wreckage scattered across the beach, the result of a tremendous explosion that virtually torn it apart. There were doors lying against the sand in all directions, glass was melting from the tremendous heat and the noxious fumes of burning rubber forced them to remain a suitable distance. However, not all the debris was metal, glass and plastic, some of it was flesh. Large chunks of meat, some covered with matted fur, lay across the sand.

Across what would have been the windscreen of the car, if one had been left intact that is, was the carcasses of something exceedingly large, like a rhino maybe. Its haunches remained attached to its torso but its front legs and the massive head that must have been held by its bulk was gone. Only the jagged start of a vetebral column indicating where the skull must have been. Eric tried not to flinch as the sight of the creature’s spine exposed by burnt away flesh.

“What the hell is it?” He asked, rounding the car to get a better look at it. “Some kind of bear?”

“No,” Frank shook his head, “its a wolf.”

“A wolf?” Eric exclaimed incredulously, “how can you tell. This thing is too damn big.”

“The tarsals and metatarsals,” Frank answered grimly. “Its canine.”

“There’s someone in there,” Miranda said as she looked past the carcass and saw the remains of a body, badly charred with limbs missing. The skull was attached but if there was a face, it was surely gone by now. “I think...” she started to say and the words failed her although it was obvious who it was.

“What?” Eric demanded, suddenly feeling the blood drain from his face. No, Jason wasn’t dead. The dumb Kiwi wasn’t dumb enough to stick around and fight off the hound of Baskervilles. He would have taken the kids and run to safety. No way was that him in there.

“This is the car they were driving,” Frank replied, no trace of doubt in his mind now. “The body in there is in an adult.” His experience with fossils and bones allowed him to make that determination, much to his regret.

“Sam and Pip might still be alive,” Miranda declared. “SAMMIE! PIP!” She ran off into the beach, calling out for them.

“Miranda!” Frank hollered after her, not wanting to simply leave Eric but he was just as anxious to find his children as she.

Eric didn’t leave, he stood rooted to the spot, staring at the thing that was his friend. There was probably a dozen reasons that should have kept him from reaching that conclusion, the fact that there was no positive identification, that the body could belong to anyone, that it was more likely that Jason took the kids and bolted for safety but he knew it wasn’t the truth. His friend was in that burning wreck. Standing there, watching the flames, he wanted to cry, wanted to shout at the unfairness of it but he couldn’t.

He couldn’t do anything but mourn.

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“SAMMIE! PIP!” Miranda ran across the beach, leaving the scene of the wreck, searching the beach for any sign of tracks that might lead away from the wreck. The tracks that weren’t washed away by the tide were too many to count. She had no doubt that this beach was often the favourite place for a walk. If there tracks leading away from the car, there was no way for Miranda to distinguish them from that of her children.

“Miranda wait!” Frank called out to her, struggling to maintain his speed on the uneven ground.

However, Miranda would have none of that and she called out again, her cries becoming more and more desperate when she reached the rocks that shouldered the surf. Climbing over them, she searched the area until the rocks ran into the cliffs. Desperation had snapped her reason and she called out again, her voice disintegrating until the anguish was heard through the cracks.

Frank struggled to keep pace with her until suddenly over the sound of the sea rushing against the rock, he heard another sound.

“MUM!”

Frank halted dead in his step for about a second, a sense of relief not felt since that moment in the delivery room before that first cry. Shuddering with gratitude with whatever deities that might be listening, he saw Miranda freeze similarly.

“MUM!” The cry again and it propelled him forward. It was Sam’s voice, Frank realised.

“SAMMIE!” Miranda called out again.

From a small grotto at the base of the cliff, Miranda saw Sam emerge first. He came out past the rocks, undoubtedly to check that it was really her out there and made eye contact. His face lit up with all the light in the world and Miranda let out another gasp of gratitude before she hurried towards him. A few seconds later, she saw Pip emerged from the darkness, looking pale and afraid.

“Oh my babies!” She embraced Sam so hard when she reached him that she nearly lifted him off the ground. Crying in relief, she held him closed as his smaller arms wrapped around her and looked at Frank with tears in her eyes. Frank arrived at the same time as Pip and picked up his little dreamer, before the boy could utter a word.

“Are you both alright?” Miranda asked frantically as she looked at Sam and reached for Pip with one hand, pulling his head close enough to her to plant a kiss on his forehead whilst still in his father’s arms.

“We’re okay,” Sam spoke as Pip nodded but his younger brother hadn’t like the cave very much. “Uncle Jason told us to run. He said run and hide.”

Miranda’s eyes touched Frank and between them, they realised that it was indeed Jason’s body in the car. It made her think of Eric who wasn’t with them.

“There were wolves daddy,” Pip stared to speak, his small voice still trembling. “Lots of wolves and there was a big one. The biggest one we ever saw and it talked! It talked to Uncle Jason!”

“Uncle Jason told us to run,” Sam said grimly perhaps sensing why Jason wasn’t with mum and dad. He’d heard the explosion, just before he and Pip found the cave to hide. He knew that Uncle Jason was gone then, dead like Aunt Tory. He was sad. He liked Uncle Jason a lot and knew that it hadn’t dawned on Pip yet. Mum and dad would explain it to him.

“We should go,” Frank said to Miranda.

“Yes,” Miranda nodded, her cheeks still damp from tears. “Come on.”

*****

The Three awoke in their places of power.

For more than a year, they lay sleeping, rendered inert by the removal of their master by enemies it did not know. Left in mundane and forgotten places, they waited, waiting to whisper its siren call to new bearers.The purpose unto which they had been created had been left unfulfilled, the promise of a new order left to languish and wither. They had no will of their own, their magic given breath by the power of their creator and when he vanished, so was their strength.

Until now.

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UNIVERSITY BEHAVIORAL HEALTH OF DENTON

MILITARY WING

“How are you Walter?” General Dennis Etherton asked his old friend.

Lt. Colonel Walter Green, formerly of the United States Army was seated in a deck chair facing a well maintained garden that was flowering with primroses, daisies and sundrops. The chair was located under a magnolia tree, providing shade from the afternoon sun which was just as well since he was dressed in pajamas and a robe, despite it being the middle of the day.

Dennis frowned seeing his friend in this shape. They’d come up through the ranks together. They’d served in Korea, Vietnam, then in Kuwait and until his breakdown, Afghanistan. Green had been a good soldier and a better friend. While they had not been in each other’s orbit the last two years, they had kept in touch and while Dennis was aware that Green had become entangled in a woman named Elizabeth who’s death really did a number on him, at no time did he suspect his friend had gone off the deep end.

And gone off the deep end he had.

The man had attempted to launch nuclear missiles for Christ sake. He should have been shot for treason but it became clear after he’d been arrested that Green, a decorated soldier, had suffered a nervous breakdown of some kind. Dennis had pushed for the evaluation and eventually it was determined that Green had suffered a psychiotic break and could not be held accountable for his crimes. He was cashiered out of the army of course, there was no stopping that and chances were he’d spend the rest of his life inside padded walls but it was better than being stood in front of a firing squad.

“Still crazy Denny,” Walter said staring at the garden, watching a bee bounce from flower to flower, following its daily ritual.

“Who isn’t?” Dennis smiled, “here, I brought you something.”

“Bottle of single malt?” Walter threw him a look.

“No,” Dennis produced a small, velvet box. “I thought you might like to have it.”

Walter stared at the box and then at him as Dennis handed it over.

“NO!!!” He swatted the box away once he realised what it was, watching it tumble across the grass. “GET IT AWAY FROM ME!” Walter started screaming.

“What the hell Wally?” Dennis stared at him shocked as he saw the man go completely to pieces, staggering away from him, arms flaying like he was trying to fight off invisible bats, screaming words that made no sense to him. Behind them, orderlies were running across the lawn as the commotion brought all eyes to them.

“Wally, its your engagement ring, the one that Elizabeth gave to you!” Dennis went to pick it up. The doctors had told him that the man had come to grips with his fiancee’s death, that he was starting to get better. Had he made things worse.

“YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!” He screamed, eyes wide with terror. ‘IT TALKS!”

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A short time later, after Wally had been dragged away, leaving Dennis stunned as he stood there in the garden where his friend had been, trying to understand how the man could have relapsed that fast. He planned on kicking the ass of the doctor who told him it was a good idea to give him the keepsake from his fiancee. What the hell had Doctor Wormer been thinking?

Searching the grass, he saw the velvet box had been splayed open and the gold ring that sat within beckoned him, sunlight bouncing off its gleaming surface. With a sigh, Dennis went over and bend down to pick it up, his fingers making contact with the gold.

For a moment it felt like he’d been by a charge of electricity. His fingers tingled. He pulled back and stared at it. Pretty thing. Chances were good Wally would never want it again, not after that display. Picking it up, he held the ring in his palm and thought it felt warm to the touch. Examining it, it was a simple gold band with some ornate designs on the inside. He stared at it for a long time, there in the sun, thinking that it was very beautiful and it was going to waste.

Ring like this should be worn, he thought.

For reasons he could not explain, Dennis Etherton slipped the ring on his finger, telling himself he was trying it on for size just for the hell of it. However, once it slipped onto his finger, he did not want to take it off again. It fit well, as if it had been on his finger always and taking it off would make his hand feel odd. Besides, its not like Wally would miss it.

Why shouldn’t he keep it?

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WINSFORD VILLAGE

They’d stopped at Winsford, a small village located in the crossroads of several motor routes and fords, tucked far enough away from civilisation to maintain some of its charm. It boasted several buildings that dated back to the tenth century and had been a favoured getaway since the 1600s. It was probably why the picturesque town looked as if it could have been lifted from the pages of dusty old book. Often assailed by tourists who insisted on the ‘authentic’ English experience, only to realise upon arriving there was very little to do, the residents were undoubtedly grateful when they left and preferred its provincial existence.

It was perfect for what Bryan and his companions needed right now.

It’s off the beaten track location meant that it escaped the flood of refugees living the areas that had been ravaged by Saeran’s destructive rampage through the English countryside. The people of the community were confident that they had enough geographic anonymity to escape the unpleasantness that had gripped London and most of South England, starting from Cornwall. Nonetheless, there were few people about when Bryan drove into the town limits and he suspected that the sporadic television broadcasts that Saeran had allowed had sufficiently warned them that the indoors was the safest places to be.

Although Aaron was unhappy about abandoning their pursuit of Eve, Bryan felt it was important that they regroup with the others before proceeding and also because he was done chasing after David Saeran. So far, their cross country pursuit had achieved nothing and brought them no closer to the dark lord then when they had first set out from Valinor. Furthermore, Bryan was convinced if they continued teir dogged pursuit, they be too late to save Eve or anyone else for that matter.

They’d been one step behind Saeran since this had all began and it was a gap that was more distance. Saeran had used his time trapped in his prison of flesh to good measure. The bastard had emerged with a plan and he had put into effect with devastating finality. Even down to Tory’s cruel end, Saeran had left nothing to chance. He’d kept the Valar out of the picture, he’d set the balrogs loose on Valinor to keep the elves busy and he’d killed Tory to Bryan off balance, while taking Eve for the same reason though Bryan suspected that wasn’t the worst of it. He had a plan for Eve that Bryan suspected would send Aaron right off the planet if he knew what it was.

That was where Saeran had the advantage. He had a plan. They did not. They were just reacting to the destruction the dark lord threw their way, barely stepping out of the way before the next trial came. There was no time to breathe, no time to think about what was to be done. Bryan was determined for that to change. They’d spent too much time reacting and not acting. It was time for them to have a plan of their own.

After Frank and Miranda had checked in, informing them that the children were safe and confirming Fred’s vision, that Jason was dead, Bryan had instructed them to head to Winsford so they could regroup, Jason’s death had hit Eric badly, Miranda explained and Bryan could appreciate that. Eric and Jason had been in the thick of it together long before Valinor. Like soldiers who shared the battle field together Eric and Jason had moved from story to another, forging links stronger than steel or blood along the way. Only upon arriving at Valinor did they realise there was any purpose to it. Now Jason was gone and Bryan could only imagine how profound such a loss could be.

Perhaps that was Saeran’s plan to break their spirit but harming the people who mattered to all of them, first Tory, then and now Jason.

Aaron was barely holding it together after news of what Saearan was doing to Eve had reached him. Of course Bryan knew that Saeran had a darker plan for the accelerated growth of the child in her belly but he was not about to bring that up with Aaron. Not in the man’s current state of mind. Bryan considered voicing his suspicions to Legolas but the elf seemed preoccupied himself. He wasn’t sure what had gone on between Legolas and his lady but it did not miss his notice that Ariel had chosen to go with Elrond instead of staying with him.

The yank pilot they’d picked up hadn’t said much either. She had been animated in the beginning but with every ravaged town they encountered and the sporadic bursts of radio broadcasts revealing the extent of the dark lord’s villainy in the world, she had grown quiet. He suspected that she was trying to process, trying to fit the pieces of this puzzle into what she knew of the world. He understood her difficulty, hadn’t they all gone through it?

And then there was Fred.

The less Bryan thought about Fred and what was sharing her body, the better it would be. He suspected the answer was too big for all of them and he had a sense that the consciousness occupying her body would reveal itself when the time was right.

????????????

The Royal Oak Inn had begun its life as a farmhouse in the 12th century and had now evolved into a charming hotel that maintained its traditions by the décor of its rooms and common areas. Bryan had once spent a week here with red head whose name was Brandy or Sandy. He couldn’t quite remember he was unashamed to admit. In any case, he remembered the place because of its appealing distance from civilisation and the fact that Winsford was on route to Bristol and an airport.

“I don’t understand why we’re waiting here,” Aaron grumbled after they secured themselves a suit of rooms at top floor of the two storey hotel. “We should be going after Eve.”

“Because,” Bryan said sitting at the window, watching the road for the arrival of Frank and the family. “We need to regroup and we’ve been hard at it for the last week, we need to rest and plan our next move.”

“Aaron,” Legolas remarked, emerging from the next room, admiring some of the furnishings that were more to his liking than any he’d encountered in Arda since his first arrival. In a small way, it possessed the charm of the Shire folk. “We know your fears for Eve and we share it but Bryan is right. The lord of Mordor has schemed well in advance of us. With each step closer we take to him, he throws more trials in our path that are costing the lives of those we love. We must take steps to curtails further losses.”

Aaron opened his mouth to argue but Legolas’ words were hard to dispute especially since he was right; they’d lost Tory and Jason already. If they didn’t do something different, they might lose Eve too.

“Alright,” Aaron frowned, conceding defeat as he made his way to large comfy sofa in the middle of the room and placed himself in it heavily, running his fingers through his hair when he was seated. “I see your point.”

“We know his plan is to launch a nuclear war,” Bryan spoke. “He’s scared everyone shitless with what he’s doing in London but that’s not enough. He’s still a long way from the rest of the world. The Yanks aren’t going to send missiles if the problem is still confined in Europe. Saeran might have let all the monsters out of the vaults but he doesn’t have enough to think he could conquer a population of 7 billion people with what he’s got.

“He does not need a vast army when he has awakened the three.” Fred declared stepping out of one of the adjoining rooms where Bryan thought he’d left her to take a nap.

“The three?” Legolas asked.

“Yes,” she nodded and recited softly, her words sounding out of this world and sent a shudder of disquiet through those present.

“Three Rings forged in gold

One rests in the land of the far east

Another where the red star rules

The last to the lords of the new world

Three Rings bound to their master’s call

Three Rings will bring doom to us all.”

“When did he have time to make three rings?” Aaron demanded indignantly, quite forgetting it was Fred he was speaking to, wanting his answers of the being who occupied her body.

Bryan didn’t have to wait for Fred to speak to know the answer.

“You’re talking about the rings that belonged to Walter Green and those generals in the Russian and Chinese army, aren’t you?” He said softly. “We never did get them back.”

There hadn’t been any reason to. With Saeran imprisoned in Valinor, there had been no reason to take such precautions, especially in the wake of what had happened. Green had been locked up and the other two were almost certainly executed by their respective government.

“Jesus,” Aaron hissed in dismay at the realisation.

“Sauron’s rings sleep,” Legolas sighed. “When he awoke, so did they. Like the One Ring.”

“So his plan to have the superpowers launch nuclear weapons against each other is still on the table?” Aaron asked, even though he knew the answer to the question.

“Plans that are now in motion.” Fred nodded.

“We have to stop them,” Aaron replied. “We have to get to them and stop it.”

“No,” Bryan shook his head. “It’s beyond that. Going after them will take up time we don’t have. This begins and ends with him. We need to kill him.”

“Bryan is correct,” Fred replied, “our goal must to reach Sauron. None of his plans can come to fruition without him. The Nine are powerless without their master and removing him from this plane will restore Valinor and lower the wall he has erected between the Valar and the Undying Lands.”

Lori stepped out of one of the bedrooms, clad in a bathrobe after taking a well deserved showeer. Drying her hair, she had listened in the other room, the discussion taking place between these people she had only met in a the last day. “I know I’m speaking as an outsider here,” she announced herself. “So far your plan has been to chase after this guy. From what we’ve seen and what you’ve told me, its clear he’ll never let you get that close.”

“The daughter of Isaiah speaks the truth,” Legolas agreed with Lothiriel’s counterpart in this time.

Lori stiffened, still reeling from the fact that they’d met her father. In fact, her father was at this moment, sailing with an ancient fleet to fight the dark lord. The submarine commander and the elves. Now there was a sight.

“With the Nine, the armies of the Forbidden Vaults, the forces he has cultvated in Arda since his return, that have lain dormant until now, he will ensure these obstacles are placed in our path before we can ever reach him.” Legolas continued. “It will be easy enough for him to kill us off one by one before he reaches his final destination.”

“My what a cheery thought,” Lori quipped. “I think you can drop me off at the next airport, if the shit is going to hit the fan, I prefer to be with my squadron.”

“You will do more for this cause if you remain with us daughter of Isaiah,” Fred turned to her.

“Okay, okay, just call me Lori,” she declared to the little girl. It was really unsettling to hear the kid talk like she waa Yoda and worse yet, addressing her that way.

“But Fred’s right,” Aaron threw in. “You’re better off helping us fight him then going off with your squadron. Judging by the news, the Nine and the dragons have been having a field day with them. I mean you know that for yourself.”

She did. She’d barely survived her own encounter with a dragon and she didn’t think many of her squadron had either. “Alright, point take but we need a plan better than what we’ve presently got because right now, the little girl is right on the money. You’re chasing after this guy and he keeps one step ahead of you and by the sounds of it, working hard to drive you all nuts at the same time.”

“So we won’t try to catch up with him,” Bryan said finally. “I didn’t bring us here for no reason. This town is on the route to Bristol where there’s an airport. I was going to get us to Saeran by flying us there but I’m thinking that perhaps the best thing to do is get ahead of him.”

“You know where he is going?” Lori asked, thinking that she could contribute if they needed a pilot.

“We all do,” Bryan replied, glancing at the others and though Fred was already there, it took only the others a second to join them as he saw the realisation dawn on them.

It was Legolas who said it first. “Mordor.”

“Where?” Lori the uninitated asked.

“It was the seat of his power in the Third Age,” the elf explained though he was convinced it would make no sense to the woman.

“Naturally,” she overcame the obstacle quickly enough. “Where is now?”

“Romania,” Aaron answered, “if you can believe it. In Translyvania.”

“You’re joking,” she looked at them incredulously. “Translyvania as in Dracula’s Translyvania?”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “Explains a little about why the region had produced some of the most blood thirsty rulers of all time. Elizabeth Bathory, Vlad the Impaler...”

Seeing the aghast expression on Lori’s face, Bryan gave Aaron a silencing look. The woman was having a tough enough time coping with what they’d seen. Bryan didn’t want her overwhelmed particularly when they might need the woman and her military connections somewhere down the line. Besides, she was Isaiah Hill’s daughter and the submarine commander had proven to be an ally to the elves during this time. How she had come to be in their company was serendipidious to say the least, if not reeking of a bit of pre-destiny, so he was reluctant to have her leave their side for now.

“The fact is, we know where he’s going and if we fly to Romania, we might just get to his fortress, or rather what’s left of it before he get there.”

“Are you sure he’s going to be there?” She asked skeptically.

“He is a creature of habit,” Legolas pointed out. “In this time, he chose that land to rebuild his kingdom. I do not doubt that in the moment of his greatest triumph, he would not reclaim it again.”

“Alright,” Lori conceded defeat. “If you can find us a plane in Bristol, I can get us there.” She offered. If stopping this guy means saving the planet from nuclear armageddon, then I’m in.”

“I am still concerned that with his power beyond what it was in the Third Age, he will still sense our approach. The last time we confronted him, Gandalf was with us. He was able to shield us from Sauron.”

“He will not see us,” Fred spoke with some finality. “Where we are, he cannot look. Not with palantir or his own vast powers. We will be free to approach his seat of power. I will ensure it.”

Lori wanted to ask the little girl how she could be so sure but the uneasy look on the faces of the men with her, kept her from asking. There was something going on in that little body, something that none of them were ready to face yet.

Of all the strange things she had seen so far, it was quite possible that Fred was the strangest.

TO BE CONTINUED