The Family Line Part 134 – Old Enemies

Part 134 – Old Enemies

Swooping down over Eleswith, a green colored creature much like the others falling upon the others descended upon her and grabbed her by the throat with her long, sharp talon baring foot. The creature crouched down and looked deep into her eyes with glee. “The world you know will fall. Already the staff, the key to Morgoth’s return, is coming and once it does, your incursion upon this city will die along with the rest of your precious Middle Earth.”

Eleswith struggled to talons of the creature’s that held her down but it was too strong. Darkness began to close in all around her as she began to slip into unconsciousness. All she could see before here was the evil glee the creature had as it pushed the talons of her foot deeper into her neck. Just as the sounds of battle began to fade, the creature lost its grip as it was knocked off of her. Eotheron had kicked the creature and tried to engage in combat with it but it jumped and flew away.

“Thank you,” Eleswith could barely say to Eotheron as she looked at Estonethiel.

“We cannot win this,” Estonethiel said to Sergee. “We must retreat!”

“No, we can’t,” Sergee said. “We’re so close.”

“This drake will surely end us,” Estonethiel said. “These morroval are too terrible a foe. We cannot win.”

“Then we continue through and kill those priests,” Eleswith yelled as she stood up while holding her neck. She quickly slit the throat of a nearby Angmarim with the little strength she had left.

Each of them looked at each other. Each of them knew that their last stand was not going to happen. They each knew that going after the priests was the last act they were going to perform. They knew they would soon die either before reaching the priests or soon after.

“Then we shall continue,” Estonethiel said. “To the end.”

“To the end,” Sergee agreed.

“To the end,” Eotheron said.

The last remaining light from the sky began to fall in the west as the wind began to pick up. The swirling clouds above increased and at the center of the vortex, an opening to an utter darkness formed. The pitch blackness of the opening grew and an evil sound like the cross between a moan and a growl encompassed the whole city. Two red flames came from inside the darkness. First small and far off but grew. They grew to terrible size, both as large as the surrounding hills. Monstrous they were and at that point, the company had known that it was Morgoth and that he had returned. Not long after, a light began to appear in the east though it was not yet dawn.

“Dawn should not now be approaching,” Eleswith said.

“What is it then?” Sergee asked.

“I will tell you what it is,” Eotheron said with fervently with wide eyes. “It is Theomin.”

 

Upon the crest of the hill that overlooked the dark wasted city of Annuminas, there came the army all were waiting for. Theomin lead men and women from Bree, Dunland, and the Lone Lands. He and the rest of the men and women looked down at the city as it was being ravaged by the dark forces that had set themselves upon it. All about, the creatures had their grip on the city and most prominently, he could see the terrible drake flying over and laying waste to the already decimated army there.

The men and women in Theomin’s army began to doubt their courage and pull back, almost showing signs of fear to quit. But Theomin pulled Bragga and forced her before his army. “Hold the line! Fear not by the sight before us! Fear not! Their numbers may be great, the sight may be horrific, but make no mistake, they have not what we have. They have not the heart that we will battle with today. Every last one of us have made a commitment not because we were chosen to do so, but because we chose to. Out of our free will we chose to be, here and now. Today we will not only make our enemies fear our sword and our strength, but we will make our voices heard from the beginning of battle until the end. We will scream loudly into the darkness that we will rebuke it and that all that is green and good will continue on here in Middle Earth.” He rose his staff and yelled loudly and proudly, “To triumph and let the enemy fall to our valor.” His horse backed as he yelled out, “To heart,” and the army repeated, “To strength,” and the army repeated again, “and to valor!” and the army repeated once more. And all the troops stood tall and proud and ready. “Charge!” he yelled as loudly as he could as he pushed Bragga to charge down the hill.

Over three hundred men and women advanced down the eastern hills of Evendim in a swift moving tidal wave as many of the dark creatures began to descend upon the bottom level of the city. They crawled and swooped down to the bottom and formed a line of darkness that was set to oppose the coming wave of troops flowing down the hillside. Soon, Theomin and Bragga were at the foot of the hill and Theomin flung his staff high in the air and a great light was drawn from it, great and bright like no other light as it blinded the creatures of darkness.

From the nearby waters of the lake, Elves came upon the dark creatures and let loose their arrows on the creatures. Led by Sylderan, they were the elves of Eregion who cared not for their beloved Middle Earth to be destroyed by another dark force coming. So they flew their arrows and destroyed every last one of the dark creatures, clearing the path for Theomin and all of his troops.

 

Overwelmed by the forces of Theomin’s, the creatures assailing the forces on the bridge of the Ariant let loose their grip on the men and women. It cleared the path for the almost decimated forces already battling the many creatures.

“We’re clear,” Sergee yelled out. “Now’s our chance!”

The rest of the forces stormed the bridge and laid waste to all the Angmarim that were already upon the bridge. They all made short work of them and made it to the other end where the bridge ascended to Tyl Annun.

“Sergee, Eleswith and Estonethiel,” Eotheron said, “You continue to the priests. You will need as many of your men as you can find. I will continue down to the lower level to find Teryndir and free him from this city.”

“We will go with you,” Krovrin said. “Besides, you need more by your side than just the few rangers we see with you.”

“Good,” Eotheron said. “Come with me.”

Eotheron, the rangers, Krovrin the hobbit and the other dwarves continued down the steps toward a lower level. There, amongst some Angmarim and a troll, Teryndir was laying still. The men and dwarves advanced on the Angmarim and troll as Eotheron said to them, “You are beaten. Let us take your prisoner in peace and no harm will come to you.”

“Harm?” one of the Angmarim laughed. “Can you not see. Our goal is in sight. Morgoth is here. Whether we live to see it or not, it is you who is under threat of death.”

“Kill them,” Eotheron told the rangers and dwarves. They ran toward the Angmarim and made very short work of them. The troll was slightly tougher to kill, but ultimately even the troll too fell to the might of the many dwarves and rangers.

Teryndir rose up and embraced Eotheron. “Thank you for saving me.”

“We must lead you out of the city,” Eotheron said. “Krovrin,” he turned to the dwarf. “I will lead him out. Take my rangers and continue with the rest of the troops toward the priests. They need all the help they can get. My path out of the city is easy.”

“Will do,” Krovrin said. He took his dwarves and the rangers and ran along with Eotheron and Tiryndir up to the second level.

 

The fighting up on Tyl Annun continued as Sergee looked back. He saw the many dwarves and rangers coming up to lend aid to the fighting on Tyl Annun. He then saw Eotheron come up with Teryndir. Revealed, he held up his hand and wanted to wave to his brother. Teryndir did not see Sergee and continued along with Eotheron. Something was wrong though. He continued to watch his brother just behind Eotheron. He seemed too close to him. Before Sergee could react in any way, he saw the glint of a small metallic piece come from Teryndir’s side as he forced it forward and stabbed Eotheron in the back. Eotheron fell to the dagger as Sergee yelled out, “NO!”

He ran down to the scene where Teryndir stabbed Eotheron. “Why?” Sergee yelled as he could not believe what he saw. Teryndir said nothing as he just stared at his brother. He shook his head. “We spent so much effort to free you, only to stab your friend in the back.”

“My friend?” Teryndir scoffed. “None of you were my friends nor where you my real brothers. You and Theomin, two brothers who never deserved father’s love. I was his only son. I was the only one he cared for. Me! You deserved not your place in Annuminas. Father and I fought long for this city. He should have left it only to me. Not you or Theomin. That is why it fell to the dark creatures.”

“It was you and the ones you call your friends who brought the dark creatures here. Not us,” Sergee said.

“You cared not to keep us safely here,” Teryndir said. “It is because of your lack of caring that led me to rejoin with Kronog and welcome the creature Morgoth. With Morgoth, I will be able to reign in Annuminas as father promised me. Now they promised me.”

“You care not for Middle Earth?” Sergee asked.

“I care for the rule of Annuminas to be mine, nothing else,” Teryndir said.

Sergee’s tears began to come into his tired eyes. He could not believe what he was hearing from his own brother. He finally said to Teryndir, “Father would be ashamed of you.”

“That is not true!” Teryndir yelled to Sergee. “Father would be proud. I will have the city back. It will be mine. Mine! And I will fight to keep it.”

“Then if you are against all of Middle Earth, you are against us,” Sergee sadly said. “You are then no better than the Angmarim.” He drew his sword and with reluctance, he stood ready for combat.

“Then if we must fight,” Teryndir said and picked up a sword of Eotheron’s and said again, “then we shall fight.”

 

Eleswith, Estonethiel, Krovrin and all of their troops did not expect the opposition to be as fierce as they encountered on Tyl Annun. A small island it seemed but it held many strong Angmarim. As they tried to battle their way through the opposition, one strong one came batteling through. His one strong axe tore through the few troops left. It was on the other side of all the Angmarim that the summoning priests could be seen.

The wind whipped and flung the hair of the troops as they desperately tried to make their way to the priests. But out of the sides of the two massive buildings of Ost Elendil were seven trolls that barreled their way toward the troops.

“It’s still too difficult!” Krovrin yelled. “They are decimating us!”

“We are so close!” Eleswith yelled back. “We have to fight through!”

So they continued to fight but with each passing minute, the many Angmarim and trolls pushed the forces back further and further toward the bridge. Without retreating, they were still being forced away from the island. With each passing minute, more of army were being killed and maimed. Some were flung off the bridge by the thwacking of the troll’s tree-like clubs as the trolls carelessly swung them back and forth, clearing the path of all opposing them.

 

To the small courtyard of Tirband, Sergee and Teryndir continued to fight. They pushed at each other and kicked at each other, fighting as passionately as they could. Sergee could not help but tear up as he fought his brother, swinging his sword and meeting with is. He did not want to kill his brother, but it appeared Teryndir wanted desperately to kill him.

They came to a lock in swords as Sergee pushed Teryndir. “How could you betray your own kin?”

“I have not betrayed my kin,” Teryndir said. “It is you who betrayed me and my father.”

“Your father is our father, Teryndir,” Sergee yelled to him. “How could you despise us so?”

“I despise you as one despises his enemy,” Teryndir said.

“We are family!” Sergee yelled.

“You’re my enemy!” Teryndir yelled back. He swung his sword as Sergee moved out of the way. Sergee swung the flat part of his sword and only smacked the back of Teryndir so as not to hurt him. He then kicked him away. “Come on,” Teryndir taunted Sergee, “You’re pulling your swings.”

Sergee shook his head, “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Teryndir looked at his brother with a hateful glee. “Then I suppose you’ll never beat me. I care not when I hurt you. If I have to, I’ll kill you all one at a time.”

Sergee then saw a large mass of men and women running up the way toward the Ariant. They were led by Theomin as he ran them as fast as he could with no opposition. “It’s over. Can’t you see there? Can’t you see all those troops running to take the city back? It is over.”

“Oh, but it is not over yet,” Teryndir said wickedly. “The last key to Morgoth’s return is on its way.”

 

Theomin approached the line of men and women including Eleswith and Estonethiel. He threw a firepot up above the line and it shattered amongst the Angmarim in the rear of the formation. He then looked to his own troops and called out, “Form a wedge formation.” No sooner than he said that did his troops form a “V” formation three men thick with the vertex of the pointing toward the enemy. At the head were the most hearty of the Dunlandings and elves lead by Magla. In the space inside were Theomin, Millie Cartwright, Lily and Sylderan who Theomin employed to accompany him to stop the summoning priests.

“Advance!” Theomin yelled out in a command to the troops and they advanced on the enemy. The wedge smashed into the enemy. They continued to push into the enemy and slicing a wedge into the enemy so as to split their forces in half. With not much effort, the strategy worked and the two sides of the wedge split the forces of the Angmarim in two. As the wedge opened up, Theomin, Millie, Sylderan and Lily pushed through to the other side and ran through the wedge. There, on the ledge of Tyl Annun just past the towers of Ost Elendil were priests engaging in the summoning ritual. Amongst the priests were some of the morrovial as they all stood in a circle with stones in hand much like Lily’s runes.

One morroval stood apart from the rest. Dressed in green with red trims and a pale skin she had. Her hair was like that of red flame as she approached on her vile legs toward Theomin. He recognized her as the creature he encountered in the caves beneath Aman Sul.

“The simple man,” it said in a vile tone. “Not so simple of a man, are you?”

“I am not,” Theomin said. “How did you escape from the caves, Azagod?”

“There are many parts to that cave many of us could have escaped from, simple man,” the creature said. “We just chose to wait until the time was right.” She came up to Theomin with a glean in her yellow eyes. “You have something that belongs to us. A certain staff that has long been our prize.”

“The staff?” Theomin said with shock, “The staff belongs not to you.”

“Oh, but it does,” she said. “We have sought after it for so long but none could retrieve it. We waited for just the right man to come and take it for his own. That was what we were waiting for. That was when we knew we had the right time to depart from that cave.”

“I will die before you take this staff from me,” Theomin snarled.

“That is the plan,” the creature said.

“Forget her,” Theomin commanded the others. “Kill the priests!”

A second later, Lily shot an electric bolt which slammed into a priest as Sylderan threw a javelin into another one of them. Lily then began to shoot another when she was distracted by something behind her. A large man came up without notice and almost swung his axe to remove her head. Like lightning, she sucked the swinging axe and instead, the axe smashed Sylderan in the face. He fell back and hit the ground hard. He soon fell unconscious.

Millie, looking to be out matched, slinked away from the scene. The vile morroval approached Lily and took her wrist and flung her with all her might into a nearby wall. Theomin threw a burning ember toward another of the priests which caught him ablaze and he threw himself off the cliff.

“Do you think that will stop my master Morgoth from coming by killing my summoners?” Azagod said. “Soon I will have that staff and I will open the door to the void. And when he comes, you will not live long enough to even see the beginning of his new reign.” From behind, Theomin felt a kick as he was flung to the ground. He held on tight the the staff as he turned to see who kicked him.

The large man came up to Theomin. He was the same as in the ruins in the Lone Lands long ago when they saved Millie Cartwright. He held his long two-handed axe in both hands. He had a hood which obscured his identity and below had thick armor. Something about his build looked very familiar as the man let go of his axe and placed a hand on his hood. He pulled the hood back and revealed who he was. It was Kronog, or known to Thoemin by his other name, Gerald.

“Recognize me?” Gerald said in a mocking tone. “Of course you do. I can see the fear that is coursing through your veins. I can see all those nights that I beat the spirit out of you. I have traced you all around Eriador but could never get to you. Once I had an army, I went after the only the only place in Eriador you could call home. Then I knew you would come to me. Know this, man from Rohan.” He smiled a devilish smile, “it was personal.” Gerald then swung his axe toward Theomin but quickly, Theomin stopped it with his staff. He turned his staff in such a way that it made the axe fling out of Gerald’s hands.

Theomin stood up, ready for Gerald as he picked up his axe, readying it to kill Theomin. He swung it but with each swing of Gerald’s axe, Theomin blocked it with his staff. With each stroke, Gerald looked more and more frustrated. But he continued, swinging and swinging and being stopped each time. Theomin felt, with each block, that his fear of Gerald was not justified and that he felt a new confidence he had never felt before with Gerald. Instead of defensive blocks, he began to swing in offensive strikes. He flung his staff, which struck the axe of Gerald one after the other. Gerald’s strength began to weign as Theomin’s furver began to mount.

At last, Gerald made an error in his blocking and Theomin’s staff struck Gerald’s arm, which then forced a booming bolt of lightning, which struck Gerald and knocked him down to the ground. Surprised, Theomin walked toward Gerald, now feeling as the victor. He looked down on Gerald as all the fear that Gerald forced in him was gone.

“Go ahead,” Gerald mocked Theomin. “Kill me! Go ahead. My death means nothing.”

“Kill him!” Azagod yelled to Theomin. “He’s right. Once you kill him, that is one less man we have to kill in our path to conquest.”

Theomin looked at the morrovial, confused. He raised his staff to the sky for a bolt to blast Gerald but no sooner did he raise his staff did he get a sudden knock back from the side. He was forced to the ground suddenly by someone’s shield. Such a force it was that as soon as he hit the ground he let go of his staff only for Azagod to then pick it up. Theomin looked up at who forced him to the ground so suddenly. It was Millie Cartwright.

“You can’t kill him,” Millie said, “You can’t. He’s my husband.”