Shadow of Mordor - The Novel

Chapter Ten - The Black Captain

Talion had followed the scout to the Barrows, both Men remaining silent most of the journey. They were a few minutes away from the entrance when a black crossbow bolt shot past Talion. He drew his sword and whirled towards where the bolt had come from, seeing an Uruk hunting party composed only of archers. One Uruk, presumably the leader, shouted and directed the party towards the Men. The Scout drew his short sword and readied for battle, while Talion set his stance and gritted his teeth. A hail of bolts flew towards Talion, who, using his Wraith-enhanced reflexes, dodged to the side to avoid the bolts. When he righted himself, his eyes widened. While he had avoided the projectiles, the scout had not been so lucky. His body lay on the sun-bleached stone, red blood leaking out of the many arrow-holes in his leather armor. His eyes were glassy, and stared off into the distance, unseeing. Talion's rage took hold. He roared in anger and charged straight towards the hunting party, so much power flowing through his veins that it extended through his hand into his sword. The blade shone with a blue light, burning bright even in the noonday sun. The archer leader took a step back, a momentary lapse in confidence, the hesitation giving Talion all the time he needed to reach the Uruks. He leaped forward and tackled one of the archers, standing up quickly and driving Urfael through the back of the Uruk' skull into the ground below. He lashed out at another and carved a large slash in its chest before stabbing upwards through the chin out the top of the head. Talion pulled the sword free and swung wildly behind him, chopping the head of the leader off of his shoulders. Five archers remained, all frantically trying to reload their crossbows before Talion got to them. The Ranger stepped to the side of one Uruk, slashing his legs out from under him then cutting off his head in midair. He drew his dagger in his left hand and stabbed Urfael into the stomach of an archer, then slashed the Uruk's throat with Acharn as he withdrew the sword, blood spurting from the severed jugular. One of the archers tried to run, but Talion drew and quickfired the bow, pinning the Uruk's ankle to the ground. The Ranger grabbed the archer closest to him and slammed its head against a nearby boulder over and over until it was just a red-black stain on the rock. The remaining two archers, one of which was pinned to the ground, both had wide eyes, yellow irises locked on the blazing blue eyes of the Gravewalker. Talion's sword blade sizzled slightly, the Uruk blood smoking against the glowing blue metal. He reached out and gripped the neck of the standing archer, the Uruk paralyzed with fear. Talion then lifted his enemy up into the air and tightened his grip, causing the Uruk to choke and squirm in his grasp. The scar on Talion's hand blazed bright blue, and he forced all the Wraith's power into the Uruk, the wriggling Orc screaming in agony. The Wraith's face appeared over Talion's and shouted,

"I am the Bright Lord of Mordor! I renounce the blessed realm, and will march forth from the shadow! You are MINE!"

Talion closed his fist and the Uruk's head exploded violently, his body going limp and his screams ceasing abruptly. Talion dropped the headless corpse and turned to the last archer, who was cowering on the ground, hands over his face, as if trying to hide in plain sight. Talion stalked over to the Uruk and raised his sword blade to the wretch's neck, the point digging into the soft flesh. Celebrimbor's face, still overlaid on Talion's, commanded the shaking archer in a loud voice,

"Go to your Captain. Tell him of what you saw here. Tell him that this is what shall happen to all the enemies of the Bright Lord."

He knelt and ripped the arrow out of the Uruk's leg, the ghostly shaft disappearing in his hand. The Orc, terrified beyond belief, scrambled to his feet and hobbled away as fast as his wounded leg would carry him. Talion's eyes stopped blazing, and his sword's glow dimmed until it turned back into the regular gray metal, the Uruk blood having evaporated off of it. He sheathed the weapon and turned back to the scout, his body already growing cold. Talion knelt by the Man and uttered a soft prayer for the Outcast's soul, then closed his eyes with a gentle movement and stood, facing the sun, its rays hot and dry against Talion's cold skin. The Ranger jumped off the ledge he was standing on and kept on his way back to the Outcast base.