Chapter Two

The Curtain Torn

Sauron, former lord of Mordor had come to a surprising revelation as he stood before the Forbidden Vaults were none may enter save Lord of the Underworld, he learnt that he knew nothing of power. All his long existence he had sought it without any inclination of what true power was. All he had experienced before his moment were scraps thrown from a table he was never allowed to reach. Scrabbling for morsels he thought would sate his belly but in truth he knew nothing of true essence of what he hungered.

Now he knew. Now he had feasted at the table and had cast all others away. The spell he had performed ensured that they were trapped in the very realm they had used to keep the elves safe and protected. For the Valar, nothing had changed. They were still in the Undying Lands, kept form the sight of men and separated from the savagery of Arda. Their charges however, were not as fortunate. For first time in a hundred thousand years, elves breathed the same air as men and looked upon the same stars. It would not be long before orbital satellites and global positioning devices completely alien to the Eldar located the island that had appeared from nowhere

Welcome to the 21^st century.

This David Saeran thought with a cruel smile as he took the next stop for his glorious plan. He stood before the Forbidden Vaults, the place prepared for the souls of those whom even Eru would not receive in death. This was the final rewards of the dragons and the balrogs, the dark things who had been created by Melkor in the great blackness before either the lamps or the great trees. When the world covered in darkness and the foul things of the earth had ruled like gods. Behind these doors were the great spiders, the krakens and shapeshifters. Millions of dark souls waiting rebirth, waiting to be lead out into the unsuspecting world.

Finally, Sauron Lord of Mordor, reborn in the mortal shell of David Saeran, would have the war he always wished.

The great doors had never been open and yet he could feel them, scratching at the wood, tugging at the locks. He could see the door shuddering had not been dispatched, it was likely that they would never escape. However, the Valar did not know to fight, not really. They relied on minions to wage their wars and even when they fought, they fought in the old way and Sauron had never fought fair. He did not fight to win. He fought to kill and that was an advantage his pure hearted betters never understood. They did not have it in them to be so bloodthirsty and because of that, he would win.

Standing before the doors, he relished the hatred within and let him nourish him. Strange how the darker emotion was the easiest from to which to feed. He let their malice course through his veins, felt their long buried need for vengeance and knew that their time had come. The world was going to know what hell truly was by the time he was done with it. Using a scant exertion of power, the doors began to move, pushing inwards, against the edge that held it place. He focussed, forcing it to part before him, until the hinges began to bend and the strain of metal groaned lethargically in the dark corridor, far away from the light.

"Yield," he said confidently as the doors forced forward until the great surface became fissured as wood splinter and the cracks of eerie amber light begin to pierce through the widening gaps. A smell that could only be described as all things dying and rotten, meandered wetly through the cold, chilling air. He took a deep breath of this and felt himself further strengthened by the stench that gave his dark soul further sustenance.

With a earth-shattering roar, the doors tore themselves apart, splinters rained across his skin, fragments of wood covered the ground and as the dust settled, Saeran smiled, aware that the Forbidden Vault now lay open to him. The great locks and chains were now unruly piles at his feet, a testament to the freedom that was he was enjoying and that he would soon dispense to those who had been incarcerated behind these doors for so many ages. Despite all their efforts to escape, he could sense their astonishment that the Vault was at last opened to them.

He stepped forward past the dark done steps and stood among the wreckage of the doors, hearing the rumble of confusion, the cacophony of voices from all manner of fel beasts that lay within, waiting for him to address who he was. They knew him of course, they knew his essence and though he could sense their confusion for they knew not if he was Sauron or Morgoth, they did not mistake his power and the shadow world in which he walked. He walked only a few feet before he found himself at the edge of a floor, looking down into a pit of amber light. Tall shadows loomed across the craggy rock, bodies crammed together in uncomfortable residence. Plump round bodies with too many legs attacked skittered across the rock floor, pacing their cage in impatience. Balrogs had stirred, their ash grey hide was beginning to cackle with heat, as if the mere promise of freedom had rekindled the fire of their hatred.

The worms and the dragons, the watchers and the balrogs, the spiders and the wolves waited in silence, waiting for him for to speak, an eternity of torment, caged together for only each other as sport, unable to die in this place. Unable to end as it was the right of all things who lived and breathed. Abandoned by the Valar and forgotten by Eru, these were the children of Morgoth, now his army of darkness.

"This time," he said to them all, his voice like a ill wind that became words they all could understand even if the language of Mordor was as forgotten as the kingdom itself. The Black Speech was timeless as the night. "This time we will rule. We will be a scourge that not even Iluvutar will stop. We will sweep a tide of blood and fire over this Arda and we destroy everything in sight. We will let none live that we can destroy. For what they have done to us, for how they have chained us, they will pay! Our minion over this world resumes at this hour. We will take back ARDA!"

The bellow of triumph could be heard across the world. In the shield volcanoes of Hawaii, the Kilauea, the Mauna Loa and the Loihi Seamount rumbled to life, spewing ash and lava into the air, until a cloud of black could be seen over the pristine islands. In Fiji the wind shifted, turning from a breeze into a gale that soon evolved into a tempest that signaled the coming of darkness. From deep beneath the waters of Loch Ness, in the caverns that many suspected was home to some dinosaur, the watcher hidden for ages, stirred to life. Beneath the ruins of what was once Mordor, the hatchlings of Uruk Hai thousands began to awake.

Deep within the earth, far beyond the reach of all human civilizations, others listened and heard the call of evil that was spreading through Arda above like a growing malignancy. They heard the denizen of the dark awaken in their secret places, stirred by the call of the shadow army emanating from the Mandos' open gates. Like all the others who were awakened from their ages long slumber, they too began to arm for war.

**********

It was the elves who felt it first.

Something pierced their skin far deeper than the points of a thousand blades the moment the sun disappeared from the skies behind a curtain of cloud. The cumulous that hid the blue sky from the lands of Valinor was so thick in its consistency that the darkness fell upon the land like shadow creatures claiming their domain. The wind swept across the island following the sudden shift in weather, a hard bitter wind that was laced with cold and sent a shudder through all who stood in its path. It made leaves curl in brittleness, trees twist and bend beneath the power of the gale force winds and turned a land seeming like paradise into a place of ominous desolation.

Aaron saw Legolas pale as they stood out in the open garden outside his house to resume sword practice again. The elf seemed short of breath, as if a terrible malaise had overcome him. His eyes filled with fear and for Aaron who rarely saw Legolas off balance, this was somewhat rather unnerving. He dropped his weapon, his brow furrowing as he stood there, overcome by some inner sense that Aaron did not possess, an expression of grave concern on his face. His eyes were searching, as if he were trying to discern the source of this disquiet without much success.

"Something has happened," Legolas said in an uneasy voice.

"Yeah," Aaron nodded, needing only to witness the look on Legolas' face and not the dramatic change in weather around them, to know this for a fact. "What's going on?"

"I do not know," Legolas answered, "I feel empty and cold as if something had swooped into my breast and stolen away the heart from me."

From an elf, this was not a good description of things.

"Has the weather ever changed like this before?" Aaron asked as he watched the stormy cloud, heavy with rain. Small pellets of water were starting to make themselves felt as he looked up into the tempestuous sky.

"Never," Legolas shook his head and suddenly stopped short. "By Valar!" He exclaimed.

For a moment Aaron thought the shock might actually have caused Legolas to swoon. The elf stared ahead, his face contorting in utter horror and as Aaron followed his gaze, understood instantly the reason for his terrible shock.

"Where is the mountain?" Aaron exclaimed when he saw the peak of Taniquetil, the home of the Valar gone. Where it had been standing there was only grey clouds and its disappearance was like the heart of this land had been stolen away. He was not an elf but seeing it gone, knowing that the Great Music that originated from it would be absent the next day left a feeling of dread.

"It is gone," Legolas stammered.

"How the hell can a goddamn mountain disappear!" Aaron demanded, his hand wrapped around Legolas who did not appear steady on his feet.

"I do not know," Legolas said breathlessly, "but there is dark evil in this land," he raised his eyes to meet Aaron. "I can feel it. It is here and it powerful."

"How could that be?" Aaron asked, unable to believe that anything was capable of harming them here. For a hundred thousand years, this land and the gods who dwelt in it had protected the elves from all that could threaten them. It was as near as paradise as one could imagine. Since arriving at its shores, he could not imagine living anywhere else. The woman he loved was here, the friends he had made and the family that was coming to being was here. To think it under threat, fired Aaron's fears almost as much as Legolas'.

"I do not understand but we must ride to Lorien with all haste," Legolas retorted, "we must find Gandalf and learnt what it is that has happened." The elf's fear was waning, giving way to give determination. Aaron saw his jaw set as he decided upon his course.

"Wait," Aaron stopped him as he stared walking toward his horse. "We should find the women first and make sure there are safe," he looked at the elf. "If there's danger, we should make sure the people care about are alright."

"Of course," Legolas nodded, wondering what could have been in his thoughts to have forgotten about Ariel and her safety. He had already lost her once, he could not bear if any harm came to her whilst he was on his quest to find Gandalf.

"We should also get to the others," Aaron suggested, referring to Bryan and Tory who did not live far from here. With the seemingly growing number of humans who were arriving in Valinor, they had congregated together mostly because it was easier to accustom oneself to life in Valinor with one's friends' close by. Perhaps it was the human need to form communities, Aaron had thought at the time. In any case, they were all fairly near to each other.

Suddenly, they heard a loud roar and both turned sharply to the east. Through the heavy rain clouds, they saw something terrible rising form behind the mountains, a surge of flame rising into the air, burning a hole through the clouds. It seemed profane to see such darkness in Valinor but there it was stretching towards the heavens malevolently, casting a sinister shadow over the island. Black specks littered the column of crimson. The tiny specks began to move of their own accord, like flies swarming the carcass of some dead beast and the sound that tore through the air was one that Legolas recognized immediately. He had not heard it more in more than a hundred thousand years but he remembered the bellow of Smaug in the last days of its life.

"We must find the others now," Legolas breaking his gaze away from it, his voice low. "We must go now!"

"What is it?" Aaron asked, lacking Legolas' eyesight to see what was coming.

"Do not argue with me," he said hastily as he hurried to the horses. "We must go NOW!"

He broke into a run as Legolas did the same, crossing the ground quickly as the terrible roar began to make the ground quake. He looked over his shoulder and saw the swarm spreading across the island though the were still too far away to make out However, he did not need to see them up close to know that it was terrible whatever they were. The look of fear on Legolas' face spoke more eloquently than anything he could see with his own eyes.

They mounted the horses that were skittish and uneasy where they remained in their stables. Since arriving on Valinor, Aaron had learned to ride and was slightly chagrined by how easily Eve took to it. Legolas as always, had taught him how to ride and Aaron was proud to say that after a few lessons had become proficient enough to be comfortable on the animals. These days, he was actually quite a good rider although he missed his Jaguar still. The car was most likely sitting in storage somewhere or impounded by FBI who thought it would give them some clue as to his whereabouts since he was the prime suspect in the destruction of the Malcolm Building.

Galloping furiously away from the house, they made a slight change of plan, choosing to go to Bryan's first because there was more going on than Legolas would tell him and the elf seemed to think there was safety in numbers. Legolas' pace on the horse he had named Arod was unrelenting and Aaron was grateful that he was a proficient rider for he would not have been able to keep up. Of course, none of the humans could ride horses the way Eric could. For some reason or another, the newsman who used to be Eomer of Rohan was the best horseman of them all. Legolas had declared what else could they expect from the King of the Riddermark.

The sound grew louder and the swarm was spread across Valinor now, a dark cancer growing in malignancy as it closed the distance. Suddenly, Aaron began to hear things, screams and cries of terror; the sound clenched his heart. Rain had begun to pelt down from the weeping sky, heavy drops of it that splattered against the skin and covered the land in a further mist of gray. The wind had picked up and it was a sharp, icy wind. He could see his breath escape him in vapors as he panted on the heavy ride. It reminded him of winters in New York but far colder than that.

Anduril sat in its scabbard in the saddle of his horse and Aaron did not know why but seeing the weapon gave him comfort somehow. He wondered if this was how Aragorn had felt charging into battle, knowing that the weapon, the symbol of his kingship would be at his side. It was strange to feel such affection for a thing but ever since it had come into his keeping, it felt as if the gears of some cosmic wheel had started to shift. Galadriel said that it was a sign that all things were in readiness though the lady could be damned cryptic when she wished to be.

There was panic in Valinor, Aaron discovered. He could see it in Legolas' eyes and he could tell by the screams that he was hearing as the dark swarm swooped into the cities at long last. Suddenly he heard a great gusting sound, like a gale had found them and was pursuing them relentlessly. His horse Strider (Elladan and Elrohir's idea of a joke when they had made a gift of the animal), was tensing beneath him and rearing its elongated head uneasily. The same discourse was affecting Legolas' mount to and as Aaron looked over his shoulder he could see why.

The creature skin was gray. Its pallor was of something that had been rotting for a long time. Its skin looked flaky and brittle, despite the rain that had slicked its form. Its eyes were white, there were no irises and through its partly parted mouth, he saw teeth, long, yellow teeth, its breath escaping in snorts. The wings flapped like that of a birds but looked more like a bats, web like and angular. It was a vision that Dante himself could have imagine, a painting Dali would have drawn to depict the horrific and bizarre. However, there was no denying what it was even if Aaron's mind struggled to believe it.

A dragon.

It was a fucking dragon. It was almost as big as a house and it had set its sights on them.

"IS THAT WHAT I THINK IT IS!" Aaron shouted as he dug his heels into Strider's flanks, trying to force the stallion to increase its speed though Aaron had a feeling Strider knew exactly what was behind them long before he did.

"RIDE!" Legolas retorted. "RIDE OR THE URLOKI WILL KILL US BOTH!"

Aaron was not about to argue with that order nor did he missed the half-strangled terror that Legolas was trying to hide from his voice. Strider's gallop filled his world as he leaned forward in the saddle to brace himself for the ride of their lives. It was no easy feat outdistancing a creature that could fly and the first bellow from the dragon was followed by a blast of fire. A ball of flame surged past him, causing the air to sizzle when rain made contact with fire. It landed on a bush and immediately consumed it with flame.

They could see Bryan's house in the distance and knew that it had been a bad choice coming here because now it gave the dragon more than two targets. Bryan however, did have weapons a little more effective than a sword and Aaron hoped that would be enough to stop the creature behind them. Another heated blast ignited a tree and suddenly their path was becoming flanked by fire. As they neared the house, the creature let out another angry roar, fire following the cry. He could feel the heat surging past his skin, could feel its intensity prickling his flesh, a contrasting sensation against the cold.

Whether it was the glow of amber from the blazing trees, the eerie flapping of great wings or simply the tempest that had suddenly descended upon Valinor without warning, Aaron saw Bryan emerging from his house by the sea. The tall Englishman had only a moment to react before he was running back into the house. Aaron had no idea what it was Bryan thought he could do against the beast that was following them but he knew without hesitation that Bryan Miller was incapable of abandoning anyone without a fight. The man simply did not have it in him to turn tail and run.

Bryan emerged as Aaron and Legolas closed in on the house, practically falling from the saddle as they neared he Englishman. The horses bolted almost immediately, terrified by what was following them so closely.

"Get in the bloody cellar!" Bryan shouted as he saw the creature flying towards them, its great wings flapping almost gracefully as flames billowed out of his open mouth.

"You cannot fight this beast!" Legolas returned sharply, aware that Bryan's carrying of his modern weapons could only mean one thing.

"What do you suggest we do?" Bryan retorted as he saw the thing swooping in. For a moment, he was reminded of a fighter jet about to make a strafing run.

"RUN!" Legolas shouted. "You're weapons will not penetrate its hide! Its is virtually invulnerable!"

"Virtually means not entirely," Bryan retorted as he allowed himself to be pulled back towards the house. The others were already in the cellar, Elrohir, knowing what it was that they faced had wisely ordered Eric and Jason to take cover, though how much shelter that would provide was problematic. "There has to be some way."

"There is but you have to get underneath the goddamn thing!" Aaron shouted. "I read about these dragons. Only their underbelly is vulnerable!"

"Underbelly?" Bryan looked at him sharply.

Aaron saw the gears working in his head, "don't even think about it."

"Come on," Bryan looked at him with a grin and started towards the dragon that was turning the landscape around them into an inferno. "You don't want to live forever do you!"

Cocking the L85A1 rifle in his hand, Bryan saw the approaching dragon and considered quickly how to take his shot. During the journey to Valinor with David Saeran on board the Anemone, because it had simply not in his vocabulary to travel without a weapon of any kind. Even though the former lord of Mordor had been trapped in his comatose body for the entirety of the voyage, Bryan had been unwilling to take any chances. He ensured that both he and Eve had been supplied with a formidable cache of weapons in case Saeran had chosen to awake while they were travelling to Valinor. Considering what a Herculean effort it had taken to put Saeran in this position, no one argued with his reasoning.

"You're fucking insane!" Aaron shouted. "It will kill us before you can squeeze off a round!" Aaron shouted back as the flames drew terrifying close. Around them the calm of the area looked like a picture of hell. There wasn't much that was not ignited in flame. If he had deigned to look he would have seen the cities of Valinor were in similar state. Valinor was under the flame, not just here but everywhere, from Aqualonde to Tirion to Tol Eressea. It burned amidst the sudden shift in weather, winds brittle and cold scorched the land in an icy burn. The fires battled the spittle rain, often evaporating the moisture before it could do battle with the flames.

"No it won't," Bryan said throwing him a look, "and it doesn't matter anyway. That bloody thing will burn the house around us."

"You do not know if your bullets will hurt it!" Legolas protested as the former M16, SAS trained agent took a stance and aimed. Aaron and Legolas should have run but like the bystanders at an accident, remained rooted to the spot. Flames had ignited the trees around the house and the sky was alive with amber from the radiating glow of fire.

Legolas' word hung in the smoke filled, pregnant with ominous danger as the dragon, mouth breathed in flame, and its wings spanned across the sky swooped towards the human standing in almost bold defiance of its power. Bryan could feel the heat diminishing before him in balls of flame, each drawing closer with each breath. Legolas and Aaron remained at his side even though he knew they were afraid and they had good reason to be. He was being a damned cocky fool and he knew but Bryan Miller knew no other way to be.

"Yes but neither does it," Bryan said a split second before he opened fire.

As those who have never heard a gunfire before and experienced it for the first time can safely attest, there is no sound quite like it. On television it is dulled, treated and altered for the viewing audience, loud enough to sound threatening when an unnamed hero sails through a barrage of them. The reality of it for those unfortunate enough to be caught in such circumstances, is quite different. On the battlefield men come undone by the sound of exploding artillery, bursting about their ears in a confusing cadence surrounded by a thickening smoke that is more effective at causing fear than the corpses around them. Bryan counted on this effect upon the creature that was bearing down on him.

The sound of gunfire rose over the cackling of flame and the creature reared, momentarily startled by the unfamiliar noise. Its great saurian neck lifting high, its fiery breath creating balls of flame over is massive head. And that instant, it halted in mid air as its belly was exposed. Wasting no time, Bryan re-aimed and fired once more. This time, his shots were not to cause confusion but to kill. The barrage tore through the beast's gray flesh, causing spurts of brackish dark fluid to spray through the air from each bullet hole.

The creature uttered a powerful roar of pain, its neck raised even higher as it reared even further, trying to retreat from the white hot projectiles that were tearing through its most vulnerable flesh. It great wings flapped faster, fluttering almost in a frantic effort to escape. It hurled a gust of flame at the three who had caused it so much pain. Legolas whose reflexes were far swifter than his human comrades, dragged both men to the dirt as the flames blew past them, all the while hearing the powerful screeching about their ears. A stench gagged all three, like rotten eggs that Bryan realized was sulfur.

"It's leaving!" Aaron exclaimed as he saw the dragon withdraw into the darkness.

"No," Bryan shook his head getting to his feet quickly. "Its been surprised, that's all."

"It will return as soon as it discovers it is not injured terribly," Legolas answered, "the urloki are cunning. They are not merely mindless beasts like watchers or trolls. These are dragons."

"What in the hell is going on?" Aaron demanded, asking the question.

"Don't you recognize this?" Bryan said as he started striding towards the house.

"What do you mean?" The New Yorker asked as the dragon's departure had ceased the billowing waves of heat and allowed the rain to temporarily gain ascendance once more. He could feel moisture and wind blowing at him. The icy wind was a stark contrast to the sharp cold.

"This is what it looked like before we sailed through the barrier," Bryan retorted jogging into the house to get the others. He had ordered Elrohir, Jason and Eric to stay put incase his gambit did not work.

"Wait a minute," Aaron paused as the realization dawned on him. "Are you saying...?"

"We are in Arda," Legolas exclaimed, verbalizing it far sooner than Aaron was able. "We no longer exist in the Undying Lands. That is why the home of Manwe and Varda can no longer seen. It is not the mountain that is gone, it is us that has moved."

"Jesus Christ," Aaron hissed as they entered the familiar surroundings of Bryan's home. "We're probably somewhere close to the Arctic Circle. It would explain why it's so damned cold."

"It worse than that," Bryan sighed, "we're going to be open to global positioning and satellites. If the rest of the world doesn't know about this island, it won't take them long to find out. It's not going to take them long to want to investigate a new island just appearing on the map."

"Your people will come here," Legolas shuddered. "They will find us."

"Yes," Bryan nodded grimly, "they will."

"We've got to get to the women," Aaron declared. "We should try to stick together until we can work out what's going on."

"Good idea," Bryan agreed, aware that they seemed to be at their best when they were together. "Eric, Jason, Elrohir! Its safe!"

"Where's Tory and Fred?" Aaron asked.

"They were at the beach with Miranda and the kids," Bryan answered. "Even if we've shifted position and left the Undying lands, it doesn't explain where that thing came from. It was a dragon wasn't it?"

"Yes," Legolas nodded, as he saw the three men emerging from the basement of the house. "Elrohir, there are urloki in Valinor."

"Urloki!" Elrohir exclaimed. "Dragons? They have not existed since the Third Age."

"There were fucking dragons out there?" Eric stared at them in astonishment.

"Jesus, look outside," Jason said glancing at the window at the change in weather and the scenery breathed in flame. It was almost like the war zones they had seen during their careers as news journalists.

"Look does it really blood matter?" Bryan replied, more concerned about Tory and Fred out there alone and unprotected. He strode towards his weapons chest and proceeded to retrieve every gun he could find. "Where's Eve and Ariel?" He looked to Legolas.

"They're at the coast too," Aaron answered. "On the Anemone."

"Okay, here's the plan," Bryan said taking charge as usual and no one saw any reason to correct him. "We're riding out of here while we can. That dragon is going to come back once its worked out that the bullets don't hurt it as much as it makes noise. We head to the coast and get the women and decide what to do."

"We go to Tirion," Elrohir responded. "We got to find my father and my grandmother. If there are any answers as to how this has come about, they will know it."

"I don't know about that," Eric stared out the window at the fires burning briskly across Valinor and at the woods outside the house. If it were not for the fact that the forest thinned a hundred yards into plain open ground, this house too would be razed to the ground. "If this happened without the Valar having any inkling of it then the shit's hit the fan and there are no answers."

"Let's try and keep a little bit of optimism here," Bryan cast the jaded reporter a look. "We have a plan let's stick to it. We find Tory and the women first and work out the rest as we go."

It was a sound plan as any and considering the peril that was running rife through the island, a prudent one.

***********

There was chaos in the streets of Tirion.

Frank and Elrohir had been in each other's company when the world suddenly turned to madness. Through the great library, the mood was one of shock and fear as everyone tried to discern what had happened. Outside the window, it was as if the gates of the shadow world were flung open and all the fell creatures within had been unleashed upon the innocent. The beautiful city of crystal and pearl was under siege, tongues of flames snaking up pristine white columns. In the streets, screams could be heard as well as far more frightening sound of things dark and menacing. Bellowing howls and piercing screeches filled the night.

Frank and Elladan emerged from the library into this insanity, their eyes sweeping across the main walk of Tirion with an expression of growing horror. Dark shapes were perched on top of tower walls, appearing like vultures waiting for the feeding on a battlefield. They stared at the terrified masses in malevolent watchfulness, opening their massive jaws to hurl fire into the crowds below. Elsewhere, things that growled and bit tore across the ground, their massive fur covered bodies ripping with powerful musculature as they sought out fresh prey. There was a feeding frenzy taking place before them and the two beings could only stare in absolute horror at the carnage.

"What in God's name happened?" Frank managed to ask.

"There is no time to ponder the question," Elladan said grabbing him by the shoulder and dragging Frank across the steps of the great repository of books, "we must find my father and grandmother. They will know what is to be done."

Elladan's voice was tense and it was not because of everything that was happening around them or the fact that Mount Taniquetil had disappeared. It was that they appeared to be besieged by everything from urloki to wargs and he had no weapon on his person. There was foul craft sweeping through Valinor and its source was not only unknown but the Valar had done nothing to cede its progress. Elladan could not imagine that Manwe would allow this to destruction to sweep through his sacred lands, unless they were powerless to prevent it. The possibility frightened him almost as much as the knowledge that their presence was absent somehow, that everything that was happening to Valinor was due to this loss.

"I have to find Miranda and the kids!" Frank said filled with thoughts about his family alone in all this horror.

"Your wife is more than capable of caring for Sam and Pip, she will keep them safe until we can reach them," Elladan said brusquely, more focussed on getting them to safety at the moment. He saw a group of elves releasing a barrage of arrows at the warg that was tearing one of their own apart, only to spur the action of a winged beast that swooped down and scattered the group with a blast of its fiery breathe. "We need weapons," he said hurrying down a path, "or else we'll never make it to my father's alive."

Frank could not disagree as he kept pace with the elves. It seemed profoundly obscene that the city of Tirion should appear like this. During the last six months, he had become accustomed to the pristine beauty of this land. To see it like this, being raped by creatures beyond comprehension, its skies black with smoke and dark cloud, wind whistling through the high towers that was braced with cold and uneven rain, made him sick to his stomach. For the first time in millennia, the elves were under threat and judging by their efforts to cope with the rising tide of evil consuming their land, were struggling to regain their warring spirit to cope with this surprise attack.

They had reached a turn when suddenly, the ground rumbled beneath them. It felt like an earthquake except that it was rhythmic and it approached from a distance. Whatever was coming their way, Frank decided then, was bad. Judging by the ashen look on Elladan's face, there was good reason to fear.

"What is it?" Frank demanded as they looked down the path from which this danger seemed to be coming.

"RUN!" Elladan almost ripped his arm out of his socket as the elf sprinted forward dragging Frank with him. When Frank heard the screams that were emanating from that direction, he began to run too. He looked and saw the glow of amber moving down the narrow street, illuminating the way before its source actually arrived.

Frank ran and did not look back. What could frighten Elladan was not something he wanted to meet. They raced down the streets towards the house of Elrond, hopefully still a safe haven from the nightmare taking place around them. Behind them the footsteps, the great quaking footsteps were shaking the world with its approach. Each step was heralded with new screams of horror and death. The fear he felt for Miranda and the kids were almost threatening to overcome his good sense. He knew that it was wise to go to Elrond's home because the lord had horses and with the kids were on the coast, he would never reach them in time on foot.

A thundering sound, like a whip snapping, tore through the air and both man and elf paused long enough to see the side of building burst into flames as part of its wall collapsed. The creature that emerged was towering and huge. It was breathed in amber fire, carrying a lash of fire. With soulless eyes, it scanned the immediate vicinity for new victims and sighted Frank and Elladan. It opened its mouth and a gust of hot air gushed forward as it bellowed.

"What is it?" Frank asked, almost shaking.

"It is a balrog," Elladan said almost as gripped with fear. "I have not seen one in my life. They were servants of Morgoth."

"Can we run?" Frank asked quietly.

"We can try," Elladan replied and they started moving. As soon as they began running, the beast followed them.

The sound of thundering feet so loud that they knew without having to look or register the heat from its massive body radiating across their backs, that it was there. The houses flanking them were being set alight from the balrog's swinging whip. The city would be reduced to cinder by daylight if this madness did not end, Frank found himself thinking. He and Elladan would not last that long at this rate. The beast was bearing down them. He could feel the draft when its whips slashed through the air, inches from them. One lash would kill him in a death of fire and agony.

They turned the road and were suddenly faced with a tall golden haired warrior, carrying a long sword, a shield and armored as if he were about to ride to war. Flanking him on either side was a host of archers and elven warriors carrying sharp lances, tall and cruelly elegant in their appearance.

"Glorifindel!" Elladan said with utmost relief. "There is a balrog behind us."

"I know," the famous elven lord nodded. "There are many roaming through the length and breadth of Valinor on this day. Your father and mother are worried for you. Someone has been sent to the library to hasten your return but I see by your appearance here that he did not reach you."

"We left as soon as all this started," Elladan explained.

"There is not time for talk," Glorifindel ordered. "Go now!"

The balrog was in sight and closing in.

"You're not going to fight that thing!" Frank exclaimed, unable to believe anyone ought to try facing that monster armed with anything less than a shoulder launch SAM. A somewhat ironic statement from one who had brought swift end to a Nazgul lord.

Glorifindel met his gaze with a little smile, "I have some experienced in these matters."

**********

On the shores of the Valinor, neither balrogs, wargs nor dragons had found the former Ring Bearer.

However, there could be no denying the carnage that was taking place across the island. They could see its effects on Tol Eressea and in the distance, towards the heart of Valinor, as if it was not enough that Mount Taniquetil had disappear from their sight. A great evil was at foot and it seemed at the center of this maelstrom, the only one who understood just how dire the situation was an seven year old girl who was beginning to understand that this day was a dark day indeed and wept inside for it.

"We've got to get back to the others," Miranda said as she and Tory prepared the carriage attached to the horses for departure. "We'll go to your place first," the golden haired woman said with a look of focus that Tory had come to learn not to ignore.

In some ways, Miranda's determination was more fierce and powerful than any of them put together. There was strength inside of her that was almost blinding to look at. Tory had seen Bryan look at it in awe and anything that gained his respect so completely was not to be ignored. Therefore when Miranda had offered the suggestion, Tory did not even question it. She obeyed as she would obey Bryan, knowing her limitations and taking faith in Miranda's ability to lead.

"Okay," Tory nodded quickly, trying the straps of the reins. They had let the horses roam the grass pastures near the beach after arriving, seeing no reason to confine the spirited animals to the carriage for hours. "After that I'm sure he'll be thinking of nothing else but finding Frank." Tory added.

Miranda tried not to think of Frank who was in the city, in the heart of whatever that was taking place on Valinor at the moment. This place was meant to be a sanctuary, a safe haven from the Nazgul and all the evil they had faced. Yet it now appeared that not even the Undying Lands were safe for the walls of heaven were breached the brimstone of hell was burning the host into a cinder. She wiped the rain from her eyes and prayed that Frank had sense enough to stay down. Right now, the most important thing was to get the children to those who could protect them. Not just Bryan but Eric as well.

"Where are the children?" Miranda looked up and saw that Sam, Fred and Pip were gone.

*********

"Why are we hiding?" Pip asked Sam with concerned as they remained confined in the hollow of the tree they had found a close distance away.

"Because Fred says we have to," Sam replied somewhat distracted. Fred had not stopped crying since she had led them here. Inside the cramped confines, she sat with her knees under her chin, hugging them closely because she was crying so hard. There were not small whimpers but loud sobs, heavy and full of hurt. Sam did not understand the cause of it but they broke his heart each of time he heard it. "Sam please, tell me what's wrong. Why are we hiding here?"

"Because he's coming," she finally managed to say through her sobs.

"Whose coming?" Pip's small voice became even smaller than ever. In his dreams, Pip saw the terrible creature that had held him and Sam captive inside that dark cave beneath the earth. The creature that had no shape but stared at him in his nightmares with crimson eyes. The Witch King had become the embodiment of every terrifying thing he had ever imagined in this world and now Fred's word made filled him with terror that the beast was coming back for him.

"He is," Sam knew precisely who she meant. "The Lord of Mordor."

"Who?"

Fred looked up and met Sam's gaze with tear stained eyes. "He's coming for revenge. He's coming for revenge," she stuttered before breaking into fresh sobs.

"Then we should get to mum and Tory," Sam replied trying to understand why she was so distraught. Sam could understand that she was afraid and if the truth were known, he did not wish to face the one they all called Sauron but if that were the case, then they should be with mum and Tory, leaving this place before the dark lord found them. Instead Fred was insistent that they came here and hide. Sam could only imagine the terror that his mother must be feeling at finding them gone and felt terribly guilty but Fred's determination overrode that guilt and forced him to go along with this concealment.

Sam put his arm around her and seeing Pip's terrified expression, put a similarly comforting arm around his younger brother. "We won't let him find us," Sam said bravely as only Sam knew how, "we're safe here. We won't find us."

"No," Fred sobbed in anguish. "It's too late." Her blue orbs filling with new tears, "oh Sam, its too late!" Fred's thought fixed upon woman who had been like a mother to her this last year, who had wiped her tears when she wept, who had made her a pink dress with wings on the back like a fairy simply because Fred had said she like them. More than anything, Fred wanted to see Tory again but it was too late.

"He's here now."

***************

"Fred!" Tory shouted into the air as she and Miranda searched frantically for the children who had suddenly vanished.

"Sam! Pip!" Miranda added her voice their own. "Bloody hell get your arses here!"

"I don't understand," Tory said as they hurried along the shore of the sandy white beach. They had followed footsteps in the sand but the swell of the ocean tide was increasing, along with the rain that did not cease. It was hard to see through the wind and the rain but neither woman was about to stop search for the children. "What could have possessed them to do this! Especially now!"

"I don't know," Miranda replied, trying to read the footprints that were growing increasingly difficult to see thanks to the bad weather and the pooling moisture on the ground that was not just the sea becoming more turbulent. "But if they wandered off on their own I am going to kill them."

Tory knew that the threat meant that Miranda was near panic stations about her lost boys and it was a sentiment that Tory could understand well because with what was happening in Valinor and the disappearance of Mount Taniquetil, this was no time for the children to go wandering about. Yet Tory knew that Fred was not a child that did such things, not after everything they had been through. If she had departed on her own steam then there was good reason for it.

"Maybe something is here," Tory looked up at Miranda.

Miranda's expression hardened, indicating that she had considered this and wished more than anything that she had a weapon. Unfortunately, she had not even considered that she would need one in Valinor. "You may be right," she said tautly.

"Oh she certainly is," a new voice spoke.

Tory looked up and gasped, staggering a few feet away from him.

Miranda did not immediately recognised the man who stood before them wearing a long dark coat that hid a turtle neck sweater and dark pants. Piercing blue eyes studied her and chiseled features that sparked a memory.

"Saeran," Miranda hissed. David Saeran. The man whose return Irina Sadko was willingly to exchange the Silmaril to acquire, for whom the Nazgul had kidnapped her children and nearly murdered Sam. The Lord of Mordor.

Sauron.

"And you are Eowyn," Saeran said approaching her. If the woman was half as intelligent as he had been led to believe, she would know there was no point in running.

"Miranda," she stiffened seeing the fear in Tory's face. The woman wanted to run but was rooted to the spot, refusing to leave without her.

"That is a transitory name," Saeran responded, reaching for hand. Predictably, Miranda moved to strike but he caught her wrist easily and forced her palm to face down before bowing to kiss her knuckle gently. "You I have always wanted to meet," he said with an almost charming smile.

"Can't say I've had the pleasure," Miranda snatched her hand away, somewhat shaken by this effort at civility.

"You were always a woman ahead of your time," Saeran replied. "I admired that. The Shield Maiden of Rohan, the White Lady of Ithilien, who rode out as Dernhelm no less to fight at the battle of Pelennor Fields. A remarkable legend. I even like the fact that you felled Morgul in battle, he was always an arrogant snot. I had such trouble controlling him. I dare say that you humbled that ego most efficiently. He was actually tolerable after."

Morgul, the Witch King. That's who he was talking about. "What do you want?" Miranda barked.

"Oh the world in a ball of flames, crusted in iron and bone, preferably human or elf, tamed by my hand," he said nonchalantly.

"You did this?" Tory asked, staring at the skies and the fires in the distant.

"I may have had a part in it," Saeran said with some relish, "the Valar know nothing about keeping prisoners. Its a terrible failing. In the early ages, they let my former employer have the run of the place after he had been brought back a prisoner. Pure foolishness. Not only did he steal the Silmaril, he got Feanor almightily pissed. Now he was an elf my lady," he looked at Miranda. "You two would have gotten along famously."

"What have you done with my children!" Miranda demanded, certain now that the disappearance of Sam, Pip and Fred was related to this man's...lord's...whatever he was, appearance.

"I have done nothing to the little dears," Saeran replied, his expression darkening. "In fact, I do not see them at all which is rather...curious. I had hoped to say hello to little Fred but I have other matters to attend so I cannot linger here long. As they say, the world awaits and I must go to greet it."

"You're lying!" Tory snapped. "Where are they?"

"And you," Saeran turned his gaze to her for the first time as if he had not noticed Tory before. "You are the little nothing that stepped into this play by chance. You did no great deeds in the past, no songs of valor are sung are about you are they?"

He took a step towards her and suddenly Miranda was struck with a cold fear. "Get away from her!" She rushed him.

Miranda never had the chance to reach Saeran. She took no more than two steps before she was sent flying across the air, landing on the soft sand a few feet away. She landed hard on her shoulder, a cry of pain escaping her at the impact. The wet sand had the strength of concrete and she knew something had popped.

Tory tried to run but he was faster than her and he caught her arm before she could make her escape. "Let me go!" She shouted frantically.

"You are beautiful in your way," he said staring into her wide green eyes, her face in his grip. A finger strayed languidly across pale, creamy skin. "I can see many nights where he explores your flesh like Columbus across an unending sea. I see him whispering your name, I see you smiling at him and you are so beautiful when you smile are you not Tory? What love you must give him, what fulfillment you must provide for that hard, warrior spirit. This is the first time for you both, is it not? The first time that fate has allowed you to finally come together. Soul mates through the ages that had never connected until now."

"Please..." Tory started to cry, starting to suspect what he was going to do.

"Don't worry," Saeran's smile stretched. "I am not completely without heart. I won't take his vision of you away."

As she tried to understand what that meant, Saeran twisted sharply. Bone snapped with ease, like elastic breaking. She went limp in his arms almost instantly, without time enough to close her eyes as all that she was ended in that bone crunching break.

"NO! TORY!" Miranda wailed from where she was.

Saeran brushed a stray hair from the dead woman's face and allowed her to fall to the ground. Even in her fall, she was graceful and he smiled because she had been truly a lovely creature and to lose her would be far more effective a tool for vengeance than any he could construct by way of craft or dark sorcery.

"You bastard!" Miranda spat, tears streaking down her face.

Saeran straightened up, looked at her dispassionately and said, "tell the son of Gondor that we are now even."

TO BE CONTINUED