The Witch of Mirkwood

Chapter 24 - The Wrath of Khamûl

The wind and rain howled through the night sky as Legolas scaled the wall of the fortress towards the tower above, he almost lost his footing when a loose piece of stone crumbled beneath him as he pressed his weight on it, he started to fall but quickly caught hold of a deep crevasse in the wall before he plunged any further.

Aragorn, Niall and Neymar made their way up the steep stone staircase as they were attacked by yet more orcs. One of the creatures caught Neymar off guard stabbing him in the thigh, he screamed as Niall came to his rescue, killing the orc and throwing his arm over his shoulder and lifting him up the rest of the stairs as Aragorn battled the orcs in front of them

Nicassius, weak from her injuries and loss of blood had gathered all her strength to push herself away from the clutches of Khamûl, she backed away slowly towards the wall as he edge forward giving off a menacing crackle at her feeble attempt to try and escape again

'Do not try to fight me' he whispered as he moved slowly towards her welding the knife 'I am sure your friends are already dead, they will not have beaten my army of orcs, it is just you and me now Nicassius'

'Your words are poison' she cried as he grabbed her by the hand pulling her back towards him then throwing her to the ground, he launched himself on top of her, pressing her body to the cold hard floor with all his weight. He pressed her thighs open pushing himself between her legs and she reached down to stop his hands from crawling upwards, unable to stop his forceful grasp she then remembered something. Something she had placed inside her boot, something she had forgotten was even there until now, in her desperation she pulled out the dagger Legolas had given her and then plunged it into his neck, his eyes widened in horror as he began to gasp for air and she paused and watched him suffer for a moment before pulling it back out and freeing herself from his grip. She ran towards the wall. At that same moment Legolas appeared through the arched opening of the tower grabbing her into his arms, making sure she was safe before he drew his bow. Khamûl was on his feet again by this time staggering towards them until Legolas knocked an arrow in his bow and fired it straight into his chest.

There was a high pitched screeching noise that came from his mouth as he began to turn back into a wraith and what looked like his soul, rose upwards in a mist of evilness as it left his once human form and dissipated into thin air. Legolas ran towards the door, lifting the heavy wooden slab from the hinge and throwing it at the wraith and knocking him to the ground, he grabbed Nicassius by the wrist and pulled her out

'It's not over, he will come after us' Legolas said as they reached the top of the stairs, at the very same time Aragorn appeared

'Go, get her to safety' he said to Legolas as he moved towards the room to fight back the darkness that followed, the wraith was coming after them with even more vengeance than before. Aragorn swiped his sword at him and he backed up towards the edge of the tower.

Leaving the ranger to fight the wraith Legolas and Nicassius escaped down the stairs. Half way down they saw Niall and Neymar. Neymar was back on his feet again, his adrenaline refusing to let his leg injury stop him from slaying orcs

'You are hurt!' Nicassius said to him in shock as she reached him

'I am fine. GO' he shouted to Legolas to get them out

There were more orcs coming up the stairway as the elf swiped his swords cutting a path through them, he pulled Nicassius back into the dungeon towards the tunnel as the front entrance was surrounded and he would never get her out that way. They reached the grate and climbed down into the darkness below.

Aragorn battled with the wraith who was enraged at him for helping Nicassius escape, he slashed his sword until he was backed up against the open archway of the tower, and with one final swipe he knocked the ghostly creature backwards and he fell through the opening and plummeted downwards. Aragorn looked over the edge to see the figure falling fast, and then he ran back towards the stairs to escape.

Legolas lifted Nicassius up into his arms as they ran through the dark tunnel, her breathing was laboured and she was too weak to run, he could hear the two brothers behind him, both had made their way into the tunnel, he just hope Aragorn had managed to escape too. They reached the opening and he placed Nicassius on the ground once they were a safe distance from the fortress.

'What did he do to you' he said looking at her stab wounds and her bruises

'I will be fine' she assured him 'where are the others?'

At that moment Niall and Neymar came running out of the entrance, then Aragorn appeared not far behind them, they were being chased by orcs, they closed off the large metal gate but the lock was broken and they needed something the hold it in place, Niall found a plank of wood and wedged it through the lock forcing the door shut and stopping the orcs from escaping. Legolas picked Nicassius back up and they headed towards the woods were they had left the horses

'We must head towards Lothlorien' Leoglas said as they reached the horses 'We will be safe there'