The snow had for the most part stopped. It was still falling, but very lightly. Gerithor could now see the vast expanse of Angmar before them. Jagged black rocks jutted from the ground in places, creating a stark contrast to the clean white snow that was blanketing the ground. It was sunny out, and was actually quite beautiful. Gerithor was surprised, when he pictured Angmar he imagined it as dark and evil. Perhaps they just weren't that far in yet.
Kalan strode alongside the ranger, eyes roving across the landscape.
"This certainly wasn't what I expected," the dwarf said, mirroring Gerithor's own thoughts.
"Not at all," Gerithor murmured, looking across the plains. To the west was a vast expanse of flatland, stretching as far as the eye could see. To the north were mountains in the distance, casting their shadows over the land below. To the south was the wall. The east was their path however.
A road wound through the hills to the east, and in that direction hung dark, menacing clouds.
"Well, that's not subtle at all," Kalan said, once again repeating exactly what Gerithor was thinking.
"Aye... Why do the forces of the enemy always hide behind shadow?" Gerithor mused.
"Because they're cowards." Kalan laughed and marched ahead. "Let's go lad! Off to kill ourselves a dark lord and all!"
Gerithor smiled at the dwarf's optimism. He didn't know what to do about his other friends.... Perhaps it was better this way. When they saw he went on without them they'd turn back and be saved. But what if they were in danger?
"Kalan wait!" Gerithor ran to the dwarf, who had been quickly moving eastward. Kalan stopped and looked at his friend.
"What is it lad? Let it out!"
"We can't leave the others behind. What if they're in trouble and need help?" Gerithor looked at the dwarf with a concerned expression on his face.
"I assumed you'd think it was better to leave them," Kalan said, raising an eyebrow.
"I did, but I changed my mind. We can't leave them if they're in danger."
"You're right lad. Well then, let's be about findin em!" The dwarf spun around and began walking west. Gerithor was invigorated by the dwarf's boundless energy and followed.
They walked for a ways, following the wall.
Kalan suddenly saw something and ran toward the wall. At the same time Gerithor saw something on the ground and crouched down to examine it.
"I found something!" He called to the dwarf.
"I did too!" Kalan shouted back.
"Mine's more important!" Gerithor yelled.
"Nay, mine is!" The dwarf said stubbornly.
"Would you just come over here?" Gerithor growled with exasperation.
"Fine!" The dwarf trotted over to him.
Gerithor pointed to the ground and smiled triumphantly. Kalan looked where he was pointing blankly.
"It's snow. It's everywhere in this Eru forsaken place."
"No, not that!" Gerithor animatedly pointed to several areas in the snow. "There are some slight imprints in it! The storm mostly covered them but there are tracks here, leading that way." Gerithor pointed northeast.
The dwarf stood silent, sulking.
"What is it you wanted to show me?" Gerithor asked.
"Well it doesn't really matter now." Kalan pouted.
"What was it?" Gerithor rolled his eyes.
"There's a gate over there, I was just going to say they could have got through that way. " Kalan pointed over to a segment of the wall.
"Well good work!" Gerithor patted the dwarf on the back and stood up.
"Let's go find them!" With that the two friends followed the trail north.
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Raldis had led Eldahir and Sarina to a large cave. Inside were weapons and tools, as well as frozen food.
"We can rest here for now, and go out and search once we're ready to." Raldis set his sword down in the back corner of the cave, then went to the middle of it where there was a ring of stones. He soon had a fire going, and Sarina led Eldahir over to it. He collapsed next to it, leaning his back against a rock.
Raldis rummaged around in a chest near the back of the cave and after a moment walked over, carrying a needle and some thread.
"I can stitch your wound up. It won't be pretty, but it'll help."
Sarina stepped in front of Eldahir defensively. "I'll do it. I know how."
Raldis handed the needle and thread to her and gave her a strange look. "Whatever works." He drifted off to the far side of the room, watching Sarina and Eldahir.
Sarina ignored him and pulled Eldahir's shirt away from the wound. It was open, and went all across his chest. Sarina tried not to grimace.
"Pretty ugly huh?" Eldahir grinned and looked at her. "It doesn't hurt as bad as it looks, don't worry."
"Well hopefully I can close the wound," Sarina said, her eyes meeting Eldahir's. For the first time she noticed how beautiful his eyes were. She looked at him a moment and didn't say anything.
"Is something wrong?" Eldahir raised an eyebrow.
Sarina broke out of her trance and began cleaning the wound, her face turning red. "No, nothing's wrong."
A moment later she picked up the needle and thread. "I'll try to make this as painless as possible." She carefully stitched the wound together. Eldahir winced once or twice, but other than that seemed to be alright. When Sarina was done she cleaned the wound again.
"Does it feel any better?" Sarina looked at Eldahir with concern.
"Yes, I-" he stopped talking. They had both heard the same thing.
Soft footsteps outside the cave.
Raldis quickly ran over and poured water on the fire. He moved and waved them over to the corner he had been in, which was quite dark. The whole cave was dark now.
A tall cloaked silhouette blocked out the light coming from the cave entrance. It had a sword drawn and slowly entered the cave. The shadows made the figure look inhumanly tall. It stopped moving and seemed to be scanning the cave. Its gaze seemed seemed to land on the fireplace. Smoke still rose from it and some of the logs still glowed orange.
The figure quickly turned and exited the cave.
"What do we do?" Sarina asked, her voice filled with panic.
"We'll get on either side of the cave entrance and attack if he reenters." Raldis drew his sword and moved over to the mouth of the cave, pressing himself against the wall of it to keep a low profile. Sarina followed and crouched on the other side, listening carefully.
After a moment a steady crunch of snow was heard as someone walked closer to the cave.
Sarina was holding a pot, which was the closest thing she had been able to grab. Her sword was propped against the far cave wall.
A short stocky figure walked through suddenly, and without waiting Sarina slammed the pot down on its head. It fell to one knee, cursing in Dwarvish. A second later the tall figure from before appeared and grabbed Sarina's arm, wrenching the pot away and forcefully pulling her out of the cave. She was face to face with Gerithor, who wore an angry expression and held a dagger to her neck.
His face softened in surprise and he lowered the dagger, at the same time loosening his grip on her. He was still holding her arm gently.
"Are you going to let me go?" Sarina said, trying not to sound as surprised as she felt.
Gerithor let her go, still trying to register what had just happened.
"Did you just hit Kalan over the head with a pot?" He asked with a surprised expression on his face.
"Aye, that she did." Kalan emerged from the cave, rubbing the top of his head tenderly.
Sarina looked embarrassedly at Kalan. "I'm sorry!" She said apologetically.
"Eh, Twas nothing. It's gonna take more than a pot to hurt this dwarf!" He thumped his chest proudly, then flinched and put a hand on his head.
"Is Eldahir safe?" Gerithor asked, wearing a concerned expression.
"Yes, he's inside. So is Raldis. Who I need to talk to you about." Sarina said awkwardly, not making eye contact with the ranger.
"I'll go inside and check on Eldie." Kalan winked at Gerithor and left.
"What do you wish to discuss?" Gerithor asked.
"Why are you trusting Raldis? Something seems off about him." Sarina narrowed her eyes at Gerithor.
"We won't find Arnakhor if we don't at least trust him a little. He's the only one who knows these lands. And if he had wanted to betray us, why wouldn't he have done it when the wargs attacked?"
Sarina thought for a moment. "I still don't trust him," she finally said.
"You don't have to. Just do what you need to do, I'll worry about Raldis." Gerithor tried to sound kind, but it came out flat and uncaring.
"Very well." With that Sarina walked back to check on Eldahir. Gerithor followed after a moment.
"Raldis! I need to speak with you alone." Gerithor motioned to Raldis and the man followed Gerithor back out of the cave.
"How far are we from Carn Dum?" Gerithor asked.
"A day's journey, no more." Raldis seemed slightly unsettled.
"What's wrong?"Gerithor asked, noticing the Black Numenorean's nervous behavior.
"Two things. For one, I'm surprised we haven't been attacked inside Angmar yet. It seems very odd. Second...." He trailed off. Gerithor raised an eyebrow.
"Second, my family is enslaved by Arnakhor. That's how they made me fight. They threatened to kill them if I didn't." Raldis' voice was shaky.
Gerithor looked at the young man, his expression softening to one full of pity.
"Where is your family?" He asked gently.
"In the mines of Carn Dum. I worked there until I became an adult and then they conscripted me into the army."
"Don't worry Raldis, if my mission succeeds your family will be safe." Gerithor said the words with more certainty than he felt.
"But what if you don't succeed? They'll know I helped you and they'll kill my family!" Raldis' eyes held a haunted look.
"Then you must hope that our quest succeeds, for your family's sake if for no other reason." Gerithor put a hand on the young man's shoulder.
Raldis smiled weakly, then turned and strode back into the cave.
They were only a day's journey away. The thought resonated in Gerithor's head. He felt some fear at having to face Arnakhor, but mostly he felt anger. Arnakhor would pay for what he'd done. He decided to get the group moving as soon as possible... They were nearly there.
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Arnakhor awoke from sleep with a jerk, sitting up abruptly. He was covered in sweat, and his glowing eyes looked around in fear.
He had had another dream. This time it showed the Lastborn killing him atop his own tower.
It couldn't be. It wouldn't happen! He tried to comfort himself with the thought that that was only one out of at least three scenarios. He still had a higher chance of surviving than the ranger.
He got out of bed and walked to his armory. He began to prepare himself for the fight. The time was soon.