Running Shadows: Rebellion in Numenor

Alice was walking absent mindily, staring off to the horizen. She was visualizing possible encounters with foes they may come across. It was a proven fact that visualizing something that you wanted to do better helped just as much as phsyical training, something she planned on doing as well durring a break, which shouldn't come for many hours yet.

She only vaugely noticed Pan's words. They echoed through out her head, taking a moment to become clear. She snapped back to reality. "O-oh. I don't mind at all."

 

"Oh good, it really helps sometimes." Pantalimon expained, although what it helped she planned not to explain. For awhile she stayed quiet, hoping the droning voices would shut up by themselves. But as long as that city stayed in veiw, it was like being in it's street. So she began huming to herself, rasing and lowering the volume to match the voice's volume. It was an old tune, very much like the one she'd been singing before meeting Alice. She liked it because it was upbeat and she could play it on two instruments.

 

Goldwin nodded, swallowing the rest of her water and letting her breathing slow to a normal pace. "I need to ask Mother and Father about that boy and his Dragon, but I couldn't bring myself to talk to them anymore. I think... I think I'll have a letter sent to him telling him and he and his beast will be allowed within the country if they join the Numenor Army. Think about it; that seems to be a suitable contract for their situation, right? I mean, the people will feel more easy about the Dragon being here and not being killed, plus it will hopefully scare the living hell out of the damn Moranens... make them think twice before starting a war."

"That's possible," Trys replied. "But it's not your place to decree an order like that-"

"It is now," Goldwin interrupted strongly. "Trust me... we don't have a choice; I can't banish the boy and make him live somewhere else because he's found an exception in the species... nor can I just give him free reign to do whatever he wishes. The balance is the contract, the deal for his situation. I'll write it out and have a messenger find him up north before he runs out of food and provisions."

Trys nodded swiftly, not arguing further. He had his doubts, but voicing them would not make a difference in this situation.

Gabriel shut his eyes and thought; there were no famous warhorses he could think of that had died in the service of anyone well-known in Moraning... but that didn't matter; any spectral horse fueled with dark magic and without the limitations of a living beast were good enough for him. He walked out into the courtyard south of the castle and stretched out a hand, extending his strength and magic focused in his palm on whatever spirit was closest by him.

He could feel dozens of ghosts pulling at his power, draining it into themselves to use to make themselves visible, solid, useful... but Gabriel viciously yanked back the magic, waiting for the spirit of a horse to come his way... and the beast finally found it. He opened his eyes, shaking droplets of sweat off his forehead and blinked twice, amazed at what was in front of him:

A tall, black stallion, his color slightly tainted and hued a sickly, glowing green as the only sign showing the beast was not alive. He could smell the old leather of the tack and saddle on the animal, and laughed aloud when he reached out to grab a handful of its course, black mane.

"This is unbelievable," he smirked as he mounted the horse and wheeled it around to face north. The beast made no protest or sign of pain at the rough, uncalled-for movements of its rider; the only response were his muscles functioning as if it were alive. "Perfect," Gabriel muttered, and then bent low to whisper in the horse's ear: "How fast do you think we can make it to Numenor? An hour? Less? Let's find out."

 

Atreyu watched his footing carefully. He didn't know how well this mountain side would hold up. It could be soft from unseen animals treading it constantly, or it could be hard from the lack of life around here. He didn't know which it was and thought it best to play it safe.
There was a good sized tree a few paces in front of him, and others next to it. If he cut some branches from them, he could make a pretty decent fire. Keiran would do the lighting, of course. The limbs of the trees were thick and surprisingly well nuroushed for being so high in the mountains. Atreyu manged to cut loosed a few branches with his dagger and hands. Then he had a thought. If the trees were in such good shape, would they have fruit in them? He doubted fruit trees would grow in a place like this, but it didn't hurt to look. He set down what wood he'd gathered and climbed up the tree. There was no food of any kind in the one he climbed.
"Oh well. I still have what I brought. That should be good enough. And I'm sure Keiran can do some hunting if it becomes necessary." He convinced himself it was a reasonable plan, and right now he needed to get back to where he and Keiran split. They could look for some shelter together.

 

Pan's huming made it rather easy to go back to her day dream state, in fact Alice practically was already at that stage as soon as she started. However, she could only focus on the fighting strats for a breif moment.

The nomads taught her how to move on and forget, it was how they all were able to leave a town for another or for a place in a forest or mountian even if they found a love that was unwilling to be a nomad as well. But with all this talk of her old friend she couldn't help but to think of their times spent together. It was bittersweet, but instead of getting sad Alice only smiled as she remember the happier times.

 

Pantalimon continued humming but was starting to get annoyed. The voices wouldn't stop! and she was humming pretty darn loud now... So, her brilliant solution was to start singing instead. The song wasn't in the common tounge and she had never been told the translation but it sounded angry (like German!) She hoped it would get across the point and get her some quiet. As she sang she glanced back at Alice, who seemed lost in her own world. I wonder what she's thinking. she thought between verses, her eyes traveling back to the street in front of them. Somewhere down the flat road she saw some sort of dust cloud, a traveler maybe? It was still too far away to see clearly.

 

"It's getting dark," Trys commented, glancing out the window. "If you want to write that decree to that boy and have it sent out by tomorrow morning you'll have to start now and make preparations before dawn."

"I know," Goldwin returned. "But what would I do without you reminding me?"

They walked silently back into the castle, and, since the king and queen were unable to get out of bed, there was no formal dinner scheduled. Goldwin sat down at the writing desk in her room and had Trys find a messenger for her and bring her some food despite how late the hour was getting; her hours of unending practice had her starving.

Gabriel was amazed at the speed of the horse when it finally started moving; the spectral beast was draining his power considerably and steadily as they went, but within an hour he had already covered almost five times the distance he would on a living animal; trees and houses, landscapes of barren hills and distant rivers rushed by him in blurs of colors that made him slightly sick to his stomach. He found that shutting his eyes and mentally telling the ghost of a horse to transport him to Numenor would be the best way to stay on the amazingly fast beast without throwing up or falling off.

 

Atreyu found Keiran there, some kind meat hanging from his mouth. He was greeted with a look from Keiran that said a thousand words. The Dragon swallowed the morsel that was left from his meal and went over to the boy. He investigated the wood that Atreyu held. Being a Night Fury, Keiran had no use for fire at night, except when using it as a weapon. He didn't understand why Atreyu was lugging around that much wood.
"You'll see," Atreyu chuckled, reading the look in Keiran's eyes. "First, though, we need to find a cave or something. Some place to stay for the night. It could rain and I don't want to sleep in that. Not to mention that there must be other beasts up here, judging by whatever you just ate."
Keiran vaulted up the mountain a good ten feet. Displaced rocks tumbled down the mountain side, nearly hitting Atreyu. Keiran stopped by a niche just big enough for him to squeeze into; Atreyu would fit no problem.
"Great job, Keiran." Atreyu smiled. He thought it would take an hour or two to find some place that would suit their needs. Carefully adjusting his load of firewood, he started up after Keiran.

 

Alice was still dazed but now looking ahead. But when she saw someone coming up she snapped back to reality. "I wonder who that is..." Alice muttered and she prepared to fight. Unlike newbies, she did not have to say basic spells out loud. Simply thinking them was enough. But she could only do this for simple attack and defense spell and slight healing.

 

Pantaimon realized how fast the travler was coming almost too late. Her eyes widened and she grabbed Alice's arm without a second thought, throwing the girl off the road and following nearly too late. Alice would probably have protected herself, but she wasn't thinking of that when hooves nearly ran them over. The horse, which she only caught a glance off as it sped off, gave her a shiver down her spine. If she didn't know better she would say it wasn't actually alive. But what really caught her and made her head spin was the silence that followed the travler's passing. For the breif span of nearly being run over, no voices yelled in her ears. Because of this, even after they were safe, Pan didn't let go of Alice's arm; instead she stared after the disapearing figure, listening to the voices slowly return.

 

Alice was ready to move, but then suddenly Pan had done so for her. It would take some getting used to traveling in a group again.

"That thing... What was it?" Alice muttered, already pretty sure of the answer. Being a mage one most know of all sorts of magic, and that looked dead. "Nercomancy..." She answered her own question, heading back into town without really noticing she was doing so. She suddenly halted and looked back at Pan. "My friend took the vow to protect people from things like that, as did I and the rest of my clan. I must follow it, just in case it harms anyone. You can wait out here if you wish, but I cannot."

 

Goldwin sent the messenger on his way a little while later, with strict instructions to find the boy where she had told him to go with his Dragon. She looked down at her food and frowned; she found herself not hungry anymore.

"Trys," she began, and found that the man was already standing by the doorway, silently awaiting anything she may need.

"Mi'lady," he replied quietly.

"You're not afraid, are you?" she asked, staring out the window at the setting sun now. "I mean, things are going to change as soon as Moraning finds out we refuse to pay the higher percentage on the taxes... war is something we can't stop; we just have to brace ourselves."

"There's more to it than that," Trys commented, shaking his head. "You strategize, account your allies, build defenses, and prepate logically. Bracing won't solve anything, especially if it's Moraning against us."

Goldwin smiled ruefully. "You're always right, aren't you?" She stood and walked over to her bed, lying down on it with her hands behind her head. "Wake me at dawn," she said, shutting her eyes. "I want to practice as soon as it's light."

"Of course," Trys replied properly, and exited her room, ready to stand guard at the other side of the door for the evening.

Gabriel kept his head down, his eyes shut, unaware of how far he'd traveled at this point. He knew it was getting dark, but he would ride through the night, ready to impress everyone with how perfectly he'd managed his seemingly impossible task. Every time he opened his eyes to try and see where he was, a heavy wave of neausea rolled over him, and he flattened himself against his undead horse again. Soon, he'd have to slow down but for now there was enough time to let a few hours pass. I'm just glad I haven't hit anything... he thought, the idea suddenly coming to mind. Not many travelers on these roads, but there's no way I could see any... or if they'd even notice me... I don't know.

 

Pantalimon blinked at Alice. "It was quiet." she stated, looking to her companion with a sort of off kilter smile. Her gaze turned past Alice for a moment, towards the city she didn't like and a possible answer to her constant problem. Suddenly Alice's words clicked in her mind and she realized the girl wasn't as happy with whatever passed them as Pan was. Without explaining further, she walked up to tag along with Alice back to the noisy city.

 

Their unspoken conversation ened with a nod from Alice, they both were going back into the town. They made it far, huh? She expected to find the thing that had passed easily but it was nowehre to be seen. "Probably straight down the path..."

 

Pantalimon shrugged cheerfully, not very concerned with not seeing the creature. It had ridden so fast she wasn't expecting to see it for quite some time. But slowly her smile was fading as she watched Alice. Soon she was blatently not looking at the road but staring at Alice. Pan could go anywhere, she had no destination execpt to explore. But Alice had been crying not a moment ago over the girl she was trying to find. If the friend of Alice's was in such grave danger, why was she following the travler?Not that it's my buisness... she added to herself.

 

The messenger Princess Goldwin had sent grumbled angrily to himself as he made his way up the steep, worn, winding paths into the mountains. He understood why this boy and the Dragon had to flee beyond the border for the time being, and why it was so high up in the terrain, but the job was a pain for him.

"Just a couple more hours," he muttered to himself, trying to make the job seem easier in the dark. "The damn thing can't be hard to find.. give him the papers and you're good to go home."

A little while later, he saw what had to be the place the Dragon and the boy were staying in: trees and rocks the size of men had been displaced all over the mountain side, a small cave exposed just above him. He couldn't see anything from where he stood below, but he would climb and find out for sure.

As he started forward, scaling the almost-vertical cliff, he began to think: if this was the right place, and there was indeed a deadly Dragon and some kid that was somehow friends with him above him and he just barged in, in the dark, what would happen?

"Hello up there!" the messenger decided to shout suddenly. "Message from the King and Queen of Numenor for a Dragonrider! Anyone there?"

 

Without any warning a blue-white blast of fire came from the mouth of the cave, followed by a warning growl. Then there was Atreyu's voice saying, "Woah, woah! Don't burn him, Keiran. He's probably the messenger that Lady Goldwin told us about. Just stay here; you'll scare the guy witless."
Atreyu still kept his dagger with him though. At the back of his mind, there was the smallest suspicion that this person might not be a messenger. It could have been that Dragonhunter from before pretending to be the messenger. He never did like paranoid people, but it was best to be just a little paranoid in his situation.
Atreyu left the safety of the cave, leaving Keiran to sit at the entrance and watch him intently. The Dragon was masked by shadows, save for the bright green of his eyes. Atreyu climbed down to the messenger. He greeted the man with a simple, polite, "Good evening."

 

The messenger sighed and through himself up off the edge of the cliff, catching his breath. He tried to keep his eyes on the boy, but he knees were still shaking, and it was extremely hard to resist the urge to draw his sword.

"The Princess sent me to give you this," he said, getting right to the point, and handed the boy the information that Goldwin had given him. Before he even had a chance to read it, he began to explain the message: "She wants to grant you access to every area of the country without threat from Dragonhunters... under the condition of the two of you joining the army. The county's in a tough spot, if you didn't notice, so it'd be to our advantage..."

Goldwin did not sleep well; too much seemed to be on her mind, and she kept glancing out her window every time she opened her eyes from a rough dream, hoping the sky had lightened, but each time it was still dark.

Gabriel was beginning to weaken; he couldn't stay on this invincible horse forever, and by the time he even got to Numenor, his power would be drained to a point that he could even Summon a simple, newly-dead ghost. He glanced up at the horizon in front of him, but could only see the dull outline of mountains far north of him. Getting there... he thought. By dawn if I don't make it I'll have to stop...

 

Atreyu remembered suggesting that to Goldwin back in the woods. It didn't seem like a bad idea to him; in fact, it seemed like the perfect solution. Keiran, however, wasn't exactly on the same page. He still greatly disliked all humans for their treatment of him, and he wasn't willing to easily put that aside. His eyes narrowed at the messenger as the idea came to his head that he would make a good snack.
"I'm willing to accept her terms," Atreyu began, reading Goldwin's message. "But I'll need some time to talk Keiran into it. He isn't very trusting of people." Atreyu's statement was confirmed with a deep rumble from Keiran.

 

After calling it a day Blade decided to head into an inn to rest for a night. After opening the door to the inn, he noticed the inside of the inn filled with bandits that seemed to be from somewhere far away. In the corner of the inn were a bunch of innocent looking people, huddled together and looked scared.

The leader of the bandits sat on top of a table and grinned "good work men. This inn is the first of our victims. Numenor will go to war, its obvious. Threw that war we can create chaos in Numenor while the guardsmen are focused on the war." The leader said as the all the other bandits cheered. While the bandits enjoyed themselves one of the bandits noticed Blade "hey boss looks like we have company. He looks pretty tough with those swords" The bandit said. The leader looked up at Blade and laughed "don't be ridiculous. that wimp? tough? Those swords are just for show, to make him look tough so nobody will think of facing him. I bet he doesn't even know how to fight with those sword" the leader said and laughed along side the bandits

"leave this inn and people alone before I make you lowlifes leave" Blade said calmly with his arms crossed knowing no fear.

"oh so you think your tough? Boys lets slice him up" The leader yelled in anger as all the bandits rushed straight at Blade and drew their weapons.

Blade drew his black sword and charged forward. After a heated battle, Blade was the only one standing with a few minor scratches.

The people huddled in the corner got out and were so relieved to have been saved. An old man who seemed to be the owner of the inn walked up to Blade "I thank you on the behalf of me and all those here. " The owner said

"It was no problem. I'm glad I could help" Blade said calmly as paid for a room. The owner offered him a free room but Blade declined it and wanted to pay for it.

"by the way who are you? your skill are amazing" the owner said curiously

"I am Blade, traveling mercenary for hire who yields from Armania" Blade said as he headed to his room and ignored the looks he received. Some people wondered who he was while others were knew exactly who Blade was due to the rumors of his many feats. News of Blade began to spread