The Witch of Mirkwood

Chapter 22 - The Diversion

Khamûl was once a man who ruled the lands of the east known as Rhun. He was a black Numenórean who was obssessed with becoming immortal. He was corrupted by the dark lord and became one of his servants. a ring wraith known as the Nazgul. Cursed to an existence of the undead, he longed to become his human form again but a more powerful immortal form. He practiced black magic and conjured up a spell that he thought would release him from his curse, he needed the blood of a rare race of Numenórean and elvish. Only one exisisted in middle earth, a female child born of this race, her mother who also practiced black magic counteracted his spell by casting another spell, his curse would only be broken if he bacame a mortal man, this could only happen if and when the child came of age (21) and only then could he try to break the curse, if the female fell in love with him and their love was consummated by a willing marriage then the curse of the undead would be broken and he would become an all powerful immortal being. His plan was to wed Nicassious by torturing her into submission.

If his plan failed he would become a wraith again.

Legolas and the three men had reached the valley below the fortress and had stopped to survey the area

'Dol guldur!' Aragorn said 'I thought this place was deserted and barren'

'It is surrounded by Orcs' Legolas spoke

'We will attack then!' Neymar growled

'No' Niall said 'we cannot risk it, we do not know what harm my come to her if we attack now'

'If she is even still alive!' Neymar replied

'She is alive' Legolas said calmly 'but we will not attack off guard'

'We must create a diversion' Aragorn announced

'How?' Nail asked the ranger

'I know a way in, this place used to be populated by the elves of the woodland realm, there are secret tunnels that lead into the dungeons below ' Legolas said as he spied a pile of wood that was stacked outside the gates of the fortress, he began to gather sticks to light a small fire

'what are you doing?' Niall Said

'creating a diversion' Legolas replied

Taking some strips of material from his saddlebag he tied them around the tip of an arrow, then lit the tip with the flames from the fire he aimed at the pile of wood, the orcs began to panic as the wood caught fire and quickly set alight and they scattered causing a commotion, allowing the elf and the men to sneak passed them around the side of the hill to the entrance of the secret tunnel.

The door of the cell opened and Nicassius half opened her eyes from her resting place on the cold floor, the huge Orc feet stepped towards her, then an arm leaned down and grabbed her by her wounded shoulder pulling her up to a standing position, she screamed out in pain as he dug his nails into her flesh

'On your feet' he ordered

Khamûl moved into the doorway as he watched the Orc shackle her to the chain above and her body went limp again

'Did I wake you my dear? Did you sleep well?' He taunted

She did not have the energy to lift her head to look at him so he took his dagger and scraped it slowly down the skin of her forearm leaving a deep cut as the blood began to trickle downwards

She closed her eyes tightly refusing to lift her head still, then she felt the knife cold against her other arm and he began to press it into her skin waiting for her response before he cut her again.

"Please stop' she begged unable to take to the pain

'Of course, you only had to ask' he whispered then he released her from the chains and caught her in his arms before she hit the floor. She was carried back up the stairs again and placed in the soft bed.

'See how much better things are when you are compliant?' he said and he began to clean up the wound on her arm as she turned away unable to hold back her tears.

The tunnels beneath the fortress had long since been closed off and as Legolas reached the large gate at the entrance it was chained shut. Aragorn searched for something the break the lock and came back with a large rock, beating the chain until it broke free, Legolas headed in first taking out his daggers as he began to ascend into the darkness

'It is pitch black' Neymar said as he hesitated to go in 'we cannot see where we are going'

'Just follow you instincts' Aragorn said as he followed the elf

'We have no choice' Niall shrugged to his brother as he went in next

Neymar finally stepped into the darkness not knowing where it might lead.