3. INTO THE KINGDOM OF THE ROHIRRIM

The Deithir rose from the dark waters like Nixie rising from the depths of its home. He slowly spun around, surveying where they had ended up while the Drowess collapsed upon a shelf of rock that ran along part of the small cave. While he was able to see well in the darkness, fine details were often difficult to decipher and noticing some strange markings on a far wall decided that a little illumination would be necessary.

Raising a hand high out of the water he spoke but a single foreign word and an orb of bright light flashed into existence. The micro-sun then rose slowly to the top of the cavern where it hovered bringing daylight to the eternal night of the Under Dark.

Swimming over to the Dark Elf, he pulled himself up onto the shelf and sat beside her. Her apology of her earlier behavior was touching, but unnecessary. "You were not yourself. Let us think not of it again." he told her then smiled mischievously, "Remember, I kissed you first.", he joked. "I had thought that my gift of the 'Nixie Breath' would have served you better, but it seemed the effects of the Chlorus Cave had somehow dampened my magic. The effects yet linger on, but I feel much stronger now."

In truth, the Deithir had been somewhat put ill at ease by the Drowess' display. It served to reinforce his belief that 'Natural' beings could not fight their nature but he was hardly one to sit in judgment. In his lifetime he had committed many atrocities and it had taken him the spans of many Human lives to gather the wisdom that they accumulated in such a short time. Thinking no more of the past he whipped his damp locks to the side and drew, Jin's attention to the other side of the cave with a motion of his eyes.

Jin could see that one half of the cavern they were in was water while the other, upon which she laid and Tiphereth sat was dry. The soft white orb of light above them reflected off of the stirring water casting rippling patterns across the walls and the one across from them in particular caught her eye.

Carved into the stone was a Drow relief, a grand scene depicting what the bard believed was a representation of some historical event, a cataclysm perhaps? On one half of the relief the terrorized Drow cowered from the light that fell upon them like rays of fire and on the other side the Drow were at peace, nestled within a great web. In the middle of the carved stone scene was a door that some of the people in the scene desperately reached for. The door, was life sized (for a Drow) and had such detail that it might be real. There were no other exits from the chamber they had found and so the bard dared to hope that the door might be real. In fact, there were the remains of a broken platform that was once beneath it, now only a narrow ridge that one could easily mistake for being part of the original relief. He was sure, however, that at one time there may have been a stairway that lead up to the ornate portal.

To Tiphereth's left on the dry side of the cave, the bard noted that the wall had the look of a collapsed tunnel. The loose stones had since melded into a solid wall, but there was no mistaking that at one time, this cave was once a chamber and part of the Under Dark.

Jin was glad the Deithir had the where with all about him to cast the spell that brought forth the light orb. Her vision was still a little disrupted, although it was improving by the moment. She felt a little better that Tiphereth didn’t take her actions as anything other than the effects the spores were having on her. But in the back of her mind, Jin could remember what his arms around her felt like when she pulled herself close against him and even now she felt a longing for that feeling again. Thankfully his attempt at lightheartedness worked in pulling her from her thoughts and she turned her head to give him a puzzled look. When he explained his ‘kiss’, she felt relieved to know it was his sharing of air he was referring to.

With a deep sigh that resulted in very little coughing, Jin finally sat up and began to wring her hair out. As her hand drew the white locks over her right shoulder and she squeezed from the base of her skull to the ends of her hair she noticed Tiphereth’s attention drawn to the opposite side of the cave. Furrowing her brows, she let her gaze slide to the other wall and she blinked.

”By the Goddess….”

Slowly getting to her feet, Jin let her eyes absorb the depiction of the scene carved upon the wall. She could almost hear the terrified screams of the Drow cowering from the light that was shining upon them. True to their nature, the other Drow were not offering any assistance in getting the terrified, trapped Drow to help them gain access to the sanctuary they had. Over and over her eyes started on one side and ended on the other as though she were reading it like a book. Finally her voice broke the silence that followed the discovery and she spoke in a voice that sounded as though she was afraid of disturbing something without taking her eyes off the scene.

”This is very old, Tiphereth. It was put here many, many years ago to symbolize an important event. And this was a very important event. The Drow on the side of the door where the light finds them were trapped there when the ceiling above them caved in. For some reason, the tunnel was not strong enough to sustain the ground above it. The collapse brought sunlight into the Under Dark causing the Drow to cower from the painful light.”

Her eyes darted form the scene to the evidence of the cave in one could still see then back to the scene.

”What I do not know is why the tunnel collapsed. The Runes simply ward against the door being opened again to prevent the light from flooding the Under Dark to protect the People from the deadly rays. It almost looks as though the ones protected by the door knew this was going to happen and sacrificed the ones who died in order to protect the….”

Jin suddenly stopped talking and the look that crossed her face was sheer terror. Swallowing hard, she spoke again but her voice was clearly shaking.

”They were not Drow. At least…..not when the light hit them. Look closely at their faces, Tiphereth. They have no skin upon them. Nothing but bone.”

She looked over at Tiphereth then.

”They were Gorrinvul. Drow Gorrinvul. And the tunnel was opened up to rain daylight down upon them.”

The Drowess' description of the ancient relief left, Tiphereth very curious indeed. Had the Gorrinvul, really consumed and raised a Drow army at one time? If it were true then it was only a matter of time before the undead army sought to prey upon the Dark Elves which meant that it was in their best interests if their mission were a successful one.

The Deithir stood and without word, leapt out into the water. He laid down light step that rippled the waters and skipped to land upon the broken ledge beneath the engraved doorway. Running his fingers along the edges he became convinced that it was indeed an actual portal. Digging his fingers into the cracks, he pulled and felt the stone slab move.

"There is a passage behind this stone depiction of a doorway." he told the Drowess, "Maybe it is a way out."

The Deithir groaned and his muscles surged with power as he pried the piece stone out of the wall. Slowy, little by lot, he pulled it out until the heavy slab teetered within his grasp. He pivoted, and allowed the Drow-sized door way to fall into the water with a loud splash.

With a wave of his hand the light source that hovered at the top of the cavern floated down and entered into the narrow corridor. It went on for what he assumed was fifty feet then it made a sharp turn to the right. The Phaerie was now even more curious as he surmised that something very special indeed must be hidden behind the ancient relief, but had no idea what it may be.

Moving aside from the portal, the bard awaited the Drowess to take the lead. The corridor was tight, and though he could fit would not be able to effectively fight should the need arise, not as well as the Drowess would be able to.

As the gaurds stapped to attention, mighty bolts could be heard unlatching and the doors swung slowly open. Out walked Hama, , Door Warden of King Theoden and by his side Gamling, , First Knight of King Theoden. Both stood grim faced and determined. Hama spoke sternly "I am Hama door warden to Theoden King of Rohan what brings you to these doors, in the company of these riders of the north?"

Lac bowed his head slightly in respect and answered "I am Lac'Nala of Oron_D_Narr, I come to seek consul with the noble King Of Rohan and bring him news of his lands to the north."

Hama glanced at Gamling who in turned noded slightly. "If it be consul you seek, I cannot allow you so armed in the presence of King Theoden." Gamling said.

Lac nodded to his companions and began handing the gaurds his silver and eboney hilted, mithrial bladed elven long sword, two elven daggers, two ebony mitrial enlaid hilted / mithrial bladed elven long knives, two elvan daggers, an elven longbow and a quiver of leather containing phosphorous and silver tipped arrows. Lac had removed all his weapons, except two Elven daggers that were hidden in his boots.

As Tiphereth began testing the cracks around the depiction, Jin hissed a curse under her breath. What ever happened here should not be disturbed, or so she had always believed. And from the look of the relief, it would be a good idea to keep it that way. As she watched Tiphereth pulled the stone slab out, Jin held her breath certain something was waiting on the other side to lunge out at them.

When nothing appeared to be waiting on the other side, Jin grew curious, especially when Tiphereth sent the glowing orb of light into the passageway that existed. As Jin made her way to the opening Tiphereth made for them, she watched as the orb slipped down the tunnel then made a sharp right. Blinking, she looked back up at Tiphereth who gestured for her to lead them onward.

Furrowing her brows, she made her way into the hidden tunnel pulling her cross bow from her cloak once more preparing for what ever may come up the tunnel towards them.

”Have you ever heard the human expression ‘curiosity killed the cat?’ Basically it means too much curiosity can lead to deadly situations. I pray that is not the case we have just found ourselves in. Sometimes it is better to leave things be. Although, in our case, we followed that rule, we would slow die in that place.”

When they reached the sharp turn, Jin stopped and placed her back against the wall and glanced back at Tiphereth. She didn’t want to laugh because the situation was quite serious but to see the Deithir hunched over and trying his best to make it through the tunnel she couldn’t help but smile devilishly at him.

”I wish you could see yourself through my eyes right now. You would look back upon this moment and find some humor in it.”

Seeing the way Tiphereth furrowed his brow, she took on a serious look, cleared her throat softly then leaned forward to peer around the corner to make sure they weren’t going to be attacked. The orb was still flowing down the tunnel and so Jin turned the corner and followed the orb curious to see where they would wind up. It would be interesting, to say the least, to find out what lay at the end of this maze of a tunnel.

Tiphereth would remember the Drowess' wry comment. The passage was so narrow that it forced him to twist his broad shoulders to the side while he hunched his near six and half foot frame over in the tight space. Able to move at a normal pace through the corridor which would be considered tight by Drow standards, Jin was constantly pausing to allow the much larger Phaerie time to catch her up. For him the journey seemed to be taking the better part of the afternoon as they followed the single winding passage, but when he checked his watch it had only been a little over an hour, but was an hour of hell for the long limbed Deithir.

"Where does this passage go?" The pondering bard said aloud. He could make no sense of it. The hidden passage obviously had to lead somewhere, but there had not been a single deterrent. No signs, no omens, no traps, it was just a narrow corridor that had been slowly winding its way westward. He did note something though. After an hour of travel the stone had continued to show the same kind of weathering, which was obviously smoothed by the constant rush of water.

"I believe this passage was once used to transport water." Remarked the bard, "For some reason, though, your Drow ancestors decided to seal the water way, perhaps if only because the water ceased flow."

The light orb had long since extinguished and the two had made their way through the black corridor by their 'dark-sight' alone. The passage once more slanted upward and the Deithir groaned as he shambled along behind his smaller lithe companion, but then finally she emerged into a much larger chamber.

The Deithir sighed with relief as he pulled himself out of the hole and stood upon the rocky shore of a large underground lake. His theory had been correct, the passage was indeed once a water way, but apparently the water level of the lake had greatly receded over time. Tiphereth stretched and rotated his stiff neck while the Drowess sniffed about and studied their surroundings. He was aware that he had tampered with a taboo object and perhaps, Jin was still expecting some sort of divine retribution but there was nothing. Then a flash of light from across the lake caught their eyes.

Instinctively both Tiphereth and Jin crouched low like cats, their bodies tense and ready to move. The light source continued to bob and weave about, but it was too far away to illuminate them and so they both relaxed.

It became apparent to them both that the distant flickering light was from a single torch being carried by some sort of bipedal creature on the far side of the lake. Allowing his eyes to breech the distance the Deithir focused as well as he could on the torch bearer and though he could not completely make out its features saw enough to know what it was.

"Gorrinvul." Whispered Tiphereth, then he pointed a ways behind where the creature was walking from, to a cave entrance, "That must be the entrance to their lair." he said, "It appears we have come full circle and bypassed the Chlorus Cave."

Jin felt bad for Tiphereth having to maneuver through the tunnel the way he did. To make matters worse she would constantly advance further than he could causing her to pause and wait for him to catch up. Not once did she say anything, jokingly or otherwise, to his lagging behind. The fact that it was just plain rude was enough to still her tongue, no matter how much she wanted to make light of the situation.

As they continued through the narrow passageway, Jin observed the smooth wall like Tiphereth did. When he remarked about what he thought the tunnel was, Jin had made the same conclusion about the same time and nodded.

”I believe you are correct. It is not uncommon for the Drow to tap into water sources from the surface and the occasional rare underground water source if it is large enough. I just hope we do not get swept away by a sudden rush of water. Although I do not believe that shall be the case. The walls are dry and have been for quite some time.”

When they finally emerged into the large cavern and Jin saw the lake, she whispered softly.

”By the Goddess…..The Black Lake. I thought this was just a myth but I see it is as real as the nose upon our faces.”

At almost the exact same time, both of them caught sight of the bobbing light and crouched ready to pounce. As they watched the figure moving along and relaxed knowing they were out of range of the lone light it carried, Jin let her eyes focus on the moving creature. Just as Tiphereth whispered the word, Jin’s eyes had registered what it was as well. Nodding in agreement to his deduction of where they wound up, Jin studied their options carefully then looked over at her Deithir friend and smiled devilishly.

”Feel like getting wet again, my tall friend? We can cross the expanse of the lake and emerge on the other side and see where we are led from there. I have the strength to cast an air bubble spell that will allow me to remain underwater until we reach the other side. What do you say in paying that bitch of a Queen an uninvited visit?”

With their goal in sight, Tiphereth could feel the eagerness building within the Drowess. She restrained it well, but her unbridled nature residing behind a warrior's discipline raged like flames before the Phaerie's eyes. He too longed to put the prophet's words to the test and destroy the maggot-queen, but the task before them would be hardly an easy one. She was their life and so every Gorrinvul's existence was forfeit in her presence. They would fight to their last breath flowed from their rotted lungs.

While the Drowess revered the mythical, 'Black Lake', the Deithir sat upon a smooth flat rock and leaned back on his arms. He was tired. The spores of the Chlorus Cave had taken their toll, and the bard longed for good rest in order to replenish himself but as he checked his watch he saw that they had precious little time. Much more time had elapsed than he had originally thought, and it occurred to him that effects of the cave must have lingered on even as they traversed the water way. Fortunately now, he felt himself but as, Jin prepared to enter the Gorrinvul caves and suggested swimming beneath the lake a wide yawn escaped the Deithir before he answered.

"Oh, forgive me." The bard apologized with a shake of his head to dispel the sleepiness. He then cast his gaze into the waters and nervously chewed the inside of his lip. "We do not know what, if anything lurks in those dark waters." he stated, but then as he surveyed the borders of the underground lake he saw that there was little of shore line they could use to walk around the water.

Tiphereth considered flying over the waters but then he quickly noticed the many great spider webs above them. Strung between the stalactites, the covered the entire roof of the cavern and the Deithir did not care to risk awaking the creatures that built them.

"Very well." He agreed, "Let us swim this lake to the far shore and find this queen o'the hive."

Jin knew the Chlorus Cavern had affected Tiphereth as it affected her but on a different level. And the fact they hadn’t rally had the chance to rest properly to built up their strength and rid themselves of any remaining affects of the toxic spores didn’t help matters. But both knew they didn’t have the luxury of taking the time to rest the way they wanted to. Brief moments were all they were allowed right now. While Jin didn’t have a watch she knew they were running out of time and something was urging her onward as though she knew the scales had been tipped in favor of the Gorrinvul. While traversing beneath the waters was not the way she truly wanted to go, it was the only logical way. What ever lived beneath the dark waters of the Black Lake they would have to deal with when they crossed paths.

When Tiphereth yawned, Jin gave him a soft, knowing smile. Reaching over and touching his shoulder gently, she tilted her head slightly causing her white hair to fall over her shoulder now that it was completely free of any bindings. Her voice was soft and seemed to have a soothing tone to it as she spoke.

”The day will come, Tiphereth, when we will have the rest we so desperately need. And then some. I understand your weariness. I pray the our bodies will finally purge what toxins remain in our bodies from that horrible cavern. Until then, we must press forward. Rohan’s future depends upon our success for failure is not an option.”

Seeing the resolve in the Deithir’s black eyes, Jin’s smile grew and she nodded then eased over to the shore of the lake and looked at her reflection in the waters dark surface. She was still not used to seeing her appearance and for a moment, she had forgotten of her younger image. Shaking it off, she cast the spell that put an air bubble around her head so she could breathe under water. Silently easing herself into the water, there was only the sound of the water breaking gently against the shore.

Once she was below the surface, she realized why this particular body of water was called the “Black Lake”. She could only see a few feet in front of her before the blackness of the lake encompassed everything around her. Even her dark sight was of no use to her here. Already Tiphereth’s words were echoing in her mind, ‘we do not know what, if anything, lurks in those dark waters’.

When Tiphereth joined her beneath the surface, she looked over at him. The look he had on his handsome features mirrored her own. Still, they knew this had to be the way so they pushed off and started swimming the dark waters. They stayed within sight range of each other which meant they were less than a foot away from the other. Jin’s swimming was not near as strong as Tiphereth’s and the bard had to slow his strokes in order for the smaller Drowess to keep up with him.

They had been in the water a few minutes when something swam behind them close enough that Jin felt the water move against her. Daring to look back she saw nothing and kept pressing forward. Their swimming became just a little faster then. While they couldn’t see anything, they knew they weren’t alone in these waters, just as Tiphereth had suspected.

They swam a few more feet when a dark figure suddenly appeared to the right of Tiphereth. The first thing Jin noticed was its size. It was longer than the Deithir was tall but it was three times as big around. And it had strange eyes. They were very, very small. The next thing she noticed were the huge, razor sharp teeth protruding from both the upper and lower jaw. Its body was covered in a scaly looking skin that looked as though it had sharp edges. It swam directly towards the bard and instead of opening it’s mouth to bite at the bard, it bumped into Tiphereth as it tried to gauge his location and size. Jin gasped and instantly stopped moving, reaching out to take Tiphereth’s hand. The last thing they needed right now was to get separated but if they needed to fight, they would have to use both hands.

As they treaded water beneath the lake’s surface, Jin could feel the water around them moving telling her the creature. or creatures, was circling them. Through the dark water she could see the large form swimming and realized what it was doing. Pulling Tiphereth close, she whispered as softly as she could to him.

”It is using the vibrations of our movements to locate us. When we stop it cannot sense us. We will need to figure out a way to send this thing in a different direction.”

The thing swam closer then and Jin had to move her head out of the way for fear of the thing running into her. She followed it until she lost sight of it in the dark waters that surrounded them. It was a few moments later when she caught sight of the behemoth form swimming directly at Tiphereth again and when it came into view this time, it’s mouth was open and many more rows of those razor sharp teeth could be seen coming directly for the Deithir. Jin’s eyes grew wide and she yelled Tiphereth’s name.

”TIPHERETH!”

Hama and Gamling escorted Lac, Joneff and Skajirnir into the Great Hall of Edoras. The hall was dim and a sullen air was all about. King Theoden sat hungkered on his throne, a withered, pale sickly image of the once strong and vibrant man that Lac'nala recalled from his youth. Knelling at his side was a pale dark haired man with an ilfavored look about him. The man spoke softly to Theoden "Ill news this ill favored guest brings to you. ...... This Ranger and these you have banished are not welcomed here, My Lord."
Theoden looked up at Lac and his companions as the approached and spoke in a weak crackeled voice. "What bring you, a Ranger from the north and these that have betrayed Rohan to the Halls of Edoras?"
"A wise question My Lord." the pale man beside Theoden said as his rose and glared at Lac and his companions.

Lac bowed his head slightly in respect for Theoden and said "Your halls, I remmbered as joyous and bright when last I was here, Theoden King of Rohan, have grown dark and sullen as of late."

"And why should I welcome you Ranger?' Theoden asked
"Another just question My Lord." The pale man, now standing and resting his hand upon Theoden's throne, said, glarring at Lac with hatred and just a faint glint of fear in his eyes.

In the shadows of the rafters, Jalisa observed the happenings below. When she looked upon Theoden she could see a dark veil that seemed to be draped over his head. While she was certain Lac’Nala was aware something was amiss, he couldn’t see what she was able. Theoden had certainly become a shell of the man he used to be and the way he treated the riders was nothing short of rude.

But it was the dark haired man beside Theoden that drew her attention the most. Furrowing her brow, she watched him with sharp eyes. The fact he was so close to Theoden and the fact he seemed to be whispering words in the old Kings ears disturbed her. With a whispered word in the ancient tongue she used, she could see strings attached to the strange man leading to that dark veil over Theoden’s head.

Crouching low in the rafters, she hopped closer so that she was almost directly over head. She watched, tensely, to see what Lac’Nala was going to do. He was a wise man and surely he could tell this sniveling human next to Theoden was the sickness infecting the old King. She was interested to see how the half Elven prince would handle the situation. Just in case, though, she was ready to intervene if necessary.

Slowly the golem made it's way to the keep, pounding the ground as it traveled. Many small animals that lived among the rocky foothills ran before the mighty golem. Rabbits, fox and a few deer raced ahead of the giant as it thundered towards the old keep.

As the golem traveled a chilly mist led the way, it rolled over the foothills like a bank of storm clouds. The Rohirrim lookouts at the keep would see the mist now, and from the edge of it the frightened animals running to escape it. Every few moments the golem's footfalls sounded, and the sound was like a drum of war.

"THOOM...THOOM!" Sounded the steps of the mighty golem as it crossed the rocky landscape. The golem towered above mist, it's 'head' and shoulders could be seen from the top of the fog. Breac had two torches lit in his seat atop the golem, the torches burned like two eyes in the dark night. From a distance the golem appeared like a dark skinned giant with red/orange eyes.

When the golem was closer to the keep Breac blew a horn of war and he and the other creatures began to howl and cry out in anticipation of the battle. As Breac blew his horn the 50 Gorrinvul foot soldiers that shadowed the golem ran before it, they raced to the keep eager to do harm to the humans.

The 50 Gorrinvul would make the keep first, they ran swiftly for undead, they broke into different groups as before a number of them made for the main gates, another platoon made for the ramparts. They climbed quickly up the sides of the ancient keep, grunting and howling as they moved.

The proud Dwarf stood high upon the crenulations of the fore-wall his brawny arms folded over his heavy chest. He met the approaching fog with a unfettered stare of raw determination, rivaled only by the icy glare of the the lord who stood beside him. This mist descended upon them. It washed over the ancient bridge and quickly covered the ground until like a creeping hand, pulled itself up and over the walls of the keep. All around them was obscured. All but the giant dark image that slowly swayed back and forth on the horizon. The golem waded through the undulating sea of soft green glowing mist, it's fiery eyes fixed upon the bastion stirring a deep seeded fear in the Rohirrim. The stories that had in their youth been used to teach through fear were rooted within them and seeing that thing which they as children feared the most unnerved even the bravest of them. Even Ceolwulf muttered a silent prayer under his breath.

Only the Dwarf stood firm. He was like a rock, a permanent defense of the wall as if had always been and always would be.

"Com'on ye maggoted Troll!" Othargren growled, "You'll not topple this wall. Not while I yet draw breath."

The Dwarf then looked to Ceolwulf. His head remained rigid and only his eyes flicked him a glance.

"M'lord. I will stand on this wall. I will meet this golem if you would allow me the honor."

Ceolwulf bowed his head gratefully. "I shall man the east and Sighere once more the west." he announced to all of his men. "Positions everyone! We are few and they are many so keep yer heads!"

The lord then turned and searched the rampart, peering through the thick luminescent mist for the druid. "Augustine! Now is the time for your magic! The Gorrinvul come with the mist and soon they will be upon the wall."


As the great fish bore down upon the bard he kicked with such powerful strokes that he moved fluidly away from the beast's deadly maw. His golden orange hair was but flashing streak as he darted to the side with incredible speed and as it swam by he lashed out with his long knife. The blade merely glanced off the hard carapace and the creature vanished once more into the blackness.

Tiphereth beathed deep. He did not know how many times he could exert the force required to move quickly through the water and he feared that the Drowess may succumb to these creatures far before he. At least, he could adapt to this environment and battle these creatures unhindered by the need for an 'air spell' and it was at that moment that he knew what had to be done. Once more they would have to split in order to survive their mission.

Hovering close to the Drowess, the Deithir who was still able speak beneath the water communicated his plan. "If you are slip into the Gorrinvul's lair you will need a distraction." he told her, "I am afraid we must part once more."

It would seem that the Deithir's plan was not for debate as he was already floating away from, Jin.

"Go!" He told her and just then pulled back the sleeve of his jacket and drew the long knife across his forearm. A cloud of blood instantly spewed forth and the water churned about them and the massive fish began to frenzy.

Tiphereth darted through the water. Swimming with impressive velocity, forcing his body to perform beyond its limitations as he used a combination of magic and brute force to stay ahead of the monsters and the lead them on a merry chase. He headed for the shore line drawing behind him the frenzied fish and he drew near burst from the water, landing between the cave entrance and the torch bearing watchman that was in fact not a Gorrinvul. Of course that made sense. The Gorrinvul could not tolerate light, but the watchman was in fact undead, but merely a zombie.

The fish creatures slammed into the rocky shore line and the waters became a turbulent mess of flippers and tails as they searched feverishly for their quarry. Tiphereth then acted fast. In one swift motion he grabbed the arm of the zombie and hurled it into the waters where it was efficiently dismembered by the monsters. He then ran toward the cave entrance and hurled the zombies torch into the darkness. It was at that point then that the bard observed something he was not aware of. As the Gorrinvul neared the torch, the very light it cast seemed to bend as if it was suppressed by shadow. The single source of light was subdued by the presence of the creatures until it was extinguished completely. When the Gorrinvul were in vast numbers they emitted a darkness that would repel weaker light sources.

The horrid screams of many of the humanoids echoed through the cave and into the vast cavern of the Black Lake. Immediately following the unnerving roars, several of the Gorrinvul charged forth. Three scores at least poured out and pursued the fleeing Deithir who lead them to the shoreline. Tiphereth allowed the creatures to gain on him. They needed to be close if his diversion was to work.

Tiphereth ran toward the turbulent waters of frenzied sea monsters with a troop of Gorrinvul upon him. The descent to the water was a steep one and the undead horde could not see the fish of which they were no doubt accustomed to so they did not slow their pace. They had no fear of water and they cared only to destroy the intruder that trespassed into their territory and so they followed the golden haired Phaerie as he leapt into the air.

It was a sound plan, the creatures leapt to their certain deaths, into the vicious maws of the armoured fish and during the chaos the Drowess could easily slip into the Gorrinvul caves and search for the queen without worry. He figured then she would only have to deal with a few personal guards which he would be able to assist her with after he flew back to the shore. Unfortunately things did not go according to plan. As he dove into the air, one fleet footed Gorrinvul managed to grab hold of his leg, dragging him down into the black waters. He slashed the creatures arm with his knife, nearly severing hand from limb and yet the thing held on. Into the dark waters he plunged, surrounded by Gorrinvul and the giant fish that had taste for the living more so than the dead.

Jin shook her head gently at first then with more conviction as Tiphereth explained what they would have to do. She was truly frightful if they separated in these dark waters she would never see him again and that scared her more than these huge, hungry fish.

”No…NO! I do not want to lose you! PLEASE!”

Her plees fell on deaf ears as the Deithir turned and floated away from her to distract the aquatic predators. When she saw what he was doing to attract them, she hissed a curse under her breath promising herself she would let him know just how upset she was with him for doing such a thing.

As the blood attracted the fish Tiphereth’s direction, Jin set off swimming towards their initial destination. Swimming with strength she didn’t know she had, Jin made her way to the shoreline as quickly as her body would take her. She wanted to be out of these waters and the sooner the better. Reaching out ahead of her she finally felt the rocky incline that would bring her up out of the water. Ever so carefully she scaled the rocks and slowly ascended out of the water.

As her head broke the surface she heard the screaming of the horde of Gorrinvul. Quickly assessing the situation, she caught sight of the bard running in the opposite direction she had just emerged. Sinking as far as she could into the water to conceal her presence, she saw the horde rush past her, eager to attack the enemy that had dared enter their world.

Seeing the churning waters on the far end of the shore as the Gorrinvul fell into the frenzied feeding of the hungry predators in the water, she watched, horrified, as Tiphereth leapt into the air only to be drug down unexpectedly by a quick acting Gorrinvul. Gasping, she stifled a scream as she watched his body fall into the water with the feeding fish.

Jin had seen many horrible things in her life. She had even been the cause of many of the things she witnessed and not once did she look away. But now, as she saw her friend fall into the black waters knowing what was taking place, she quickly turned her head away, closed her eyes tight, and held her breath. She would have put her hands over her ears to keep from hearing his screams of pain if she didn’t need them to hold onto the rocks.

After a few moments, she forced herself to move and clenching her jaw, Jin pulled herself up out of the water and slithered into the tunnel the Gorrinvul had charged from. Glancing down the tunnel then back at the horde of Gorrinvul, she quickly turned and made her way into the tunnel. All the times she had been on missions by herself, now, she felt truly alone. The Deithir had been a true friend to her and had aided her in a way she would never be able to explain. His loss was as painful as a dagger to her heart right now. But Jin knew that was the risk they took on this mission. One or both of them could fail. Now. It was up to her to finish this task. And she was more determined to do that than ever.

Moving with her stealth like ability, Jin moved through the tunnel using all of her senses. Now that she was alone, she would have to revert to the tactics she always used and that was everything and everyone was the enemy.

The tunnel was straight for the longest way then took an abrupt turn to the left. Peering down the tunnel to make sure the area was clear, Jin turned the corner and moved in an almost sideways walk. Her back was to the tunnel wall for the most part and she kept checking ahead of and behind her. The tunnel made a few more turns both left and right before it once more opened up to a larger area. Slowly easing her lithe frame out of the tunnel, Jin quickly sought shelter behind what she thought was a stalagmite. It wasn’t until she started looking around that she realized what she had walked into, literally.

Bodies. Hundreds of them. Wrapped up in a cocoon like, sticky substance. Some were on the floor, some were on the walls, some were even suspended from the ceiling. The only thing that was visible were their heads. Their faces were pale and Jin was certain they were all dead but when she saw one of the heads move she realized they were all still alive. If that’s what you wanted to call it. Slowly standing up, Jin began to weave her way through this collection of humans and found she was completely appalled by what she was seeing here.

Jin became so engrossed in looking at the collection of bodies that she didn’t see the object moving from a corner of the ceiling to descend silently to the floor of the large cavern behind her. Stopping before one of the unfortunate souls, Jin reached out to touch what ever the sticky substance was that held them in place and found it had a strange consistency. It reminded her of some sort of spider web.

That’s when she felt it. Her eyes looked straight ahead of her and she slowly lowered her hand. The hairs on the back of her neck rose in warning and ever so carefully and ever so slowly Jin turned to look into the eight, black, round eyes of the biggest spider she had ever seen in her life. It towered over her and she estimated it was a good three feet taller than Tiphereth had been. Its body was every bit of twenty feet long and the eight legs it used to move around on were longer than a tree trunks and just as big around.

As Jin’s eyes moved to look at all of these things, she noticed the fangs protruding from the front of the spider’s mouth and swallowed hard. Already she could see they were dripping with venom. The thing was moving slowly towards her and Jin took a step back away from it, slowly so as not to cause it to attack outright.

When she felt the sticky cocoon of another person behind her, Jin realized she would have to make a quick, evasive maneuver to keep from getting attacked by the spider. And that’s just what she did. Diving to her left, the spider lunged and hit the cocoon of the person already wrapped up but the spider was quicker than Jin thought and within seconds was coming after her again.

It was a deadly game of cat and mouse and Jin was thankful the bodies littered the floor the way they did for she was able to use them as obstacles to hide behind and dart between. This game went on for several moments until Jin found a tunnel opening on the far side of the cavern. Making a dash for it, knowing the spider was too large to fit inside, she dove for the entrance when she felt herself snatched back so violently she felt the air forced from her lungs. Landing with a hard thump onto the rocky floor of the cavern, she coughed as she forced air back into her lungs.

Desperately trying to scramble to the cave entrance, Jin found herself unable to move. When she glanced behind her so saw why. To her horror the spider was covering her legs with its sticky webbing. As it began to advance upon her once more, Jin scrambled once more but not to get up. Quickly reaching into the folds of her cloak, Jin pulled her cross bow from within the secret pocket and twisted the upper half of her body and fired.

The bolt struck the spider in the head and glanced off. With another bolt ready to go, Jin remembered what part of the spider she would need to reach. Uttering words in her native language, the bolt began to glow an eerie purple color and just as the sticky webbing began to cover the upper half of her body, Jin fired the bolt. It flew towards the spider, looped under it then stuck into the tender under belly of the spiders abdominal section.

The thing screamed but kept covering her upper body with the sticky webbing. Finally it fell forward and on top of Jin. For several minutes, nothing happened. Then, the body of the spider began to wiggle a little then a little more until finally from beneath the thing, Jin crawled out, panting and gasping for air.

Peeling herself out from beneath the spider and its webbing that had covered her, she crawled away from the creature and picked as much of the webbing off of her as she could as she regained her breath. The webbing was still stuck in her hair and on her clothes when she finally stood up and started making her way towards the tunnel again. Knowing things would only get worse from here, Jin clenched her jaw and pressed onward. No doubt this was just one of many things she would have to face to reach the queen. And now, more than ever, she was going to be glad to meet that bitch face to face.

Jin glanced back at the chamber of the spider once last time. As her eyes scanned the area, she saw the multitude of bodies that littered the place and felt a strange chill run up the length of her spine. She had a feeling this was somehow connected to the Gorrinvul but how, she didn’t want to imagine. Already her mind was taking avenues on this subject she would rather it didn’t take.

Ever so careful Jin crept down the tunnel as silent as a church mouse. She could feel a distinct difference in the tunnel now. The air was growing cooler and moving a little faster. She was getting ready to turn the corner when she caught something out the corner of her eyes and she pushed herself back against ht e tunnel wall, flattening herself as best she could. Four Gorrinvul guards stood motionless in a chamber ahead. It wasn’t a very large chamber, but it was larger than the tunnel.

Like sentries, they stood their post in key, strategic locations around the chamber so that no two guards could be struck down at the same time. Jin assessed the situation carefully and once more pulled out her trusted cross bow. As the bolt appeared, Jin drew a bead on the first guard and fired the shot. The bolt buried deep into the eye socket of the guard and he dropped like a rock. The other three guards quickly realized a true threat had come to their area and they readied to defend their queen.

As Jin emerged from the tunnel, she drew a bead on the second guard and fired. Her aim was a little off as the guard moved at the last moment and her bolt struck him in the arm. Undaunted by the attack, the Gorrinvul charged towards Jin. Gritting her teeth, she took off running right for them in kind and at the last moment, she used her momentum to propel her up and over the leading guards body. Her cross bow was now replaced by twin short swords that filled the chamber with the sound of metal scraping metal. When she landed on her feet behind the lead guard, he dropped to his knees as his head rolled free from his body.

The other two guards were upon her quicker than she realized and she had to defend herself against both of them while taking the offensive at the same time. While she was light and agile on her feet, the Gorrinvul had brute strength and there were two of them. Jin spun, twisted, jabbed, sliced, parried and danced around the attacking guards as though she were in some sort of deadly ballet. Her blades, made of fine Dark Elf craftsmanship, withstood the shuddering force of the Gorrinvul’s blows again and again.

Unfortunately, for the Drowess, she had not counted on any more guards so when four more appeared, Jin suddenly found herself out numbered. Not that it mattered to the Drowess. She had worse odds than this before. With her back to the chamber wall, Jin crouched low, ready to strike at the Gorrinvul when another thought came to her mind. Releasing the hilt of her blades, the dangled from her wrists by thin, leather strips. Her hands moved as she began to cast a spell. And that’s when everything went suddenly black.

When Jin began to come around, she felt like she was waist deep in some sort of tar pit. When she tried to move her feet, she found they felt heavily weighted and her arms ached form being held over her head in iron shackles for quite some time. There was a pounding in the back of her head that made her see stars every time she tried to focus. When she finally DID focus, she wished she hadn’t.

The place was lit with a green glow that reminded her of the Chlorus Cavern. It was deadly silent in this place as well. As she began to look around, Jin’s groggy mind tried to figure out what happened and how she got here. Remembering Tiphereth, she called out his name.

”Tiphereth?”

She was rewarded with a hissing sound followed by what she could only describe as the sound of something sloshing in thick soup. To her horror she felt something slithering around her lower body and she quickly pushed all the grogginess from her head. That’s when she saw the most hideous sight she had ever seen before. The look on her face showed how grotesque she thought the thing to be.

Sitting upon a throne was an old crow looking woman who barely had any skin left to her body. What skin was there was sagging horribly and threatening to fall off completely. Multiple appendages protruded from her form and beneath her Jin saw what appeared to be some sort of….egg sack? And the stench of the place made the Drowess turn her head away and gag.

When Jin could finally look back at the creature again, she realized what, or more precisely who, she was seeing.

The Gorrinvul Queen.

The certainty and finality in the Queens voice when she told Jin Tiphereth was dead was all the proof she needed to hear. After all, she saw for herself how he fell into the churning wasters where the giant, predatory fish were in a feeding frenzy. What other proof did she need?

There was no hiding the horror on Jin’s face when she saw what was happening beneath the Queen. Recognizing what she saw, she felt her stomach churn again and whatever was left within her could no longer be held down. Glancing up she took note of the now closed tunnel the spider, that was three times bigger than the one she killed in the outer chamber, traveled in. But her attention was diverted for only a few moments when she saw the Queen dip a skull into the black mire and drink the thick, black liquid.

When the Queen approached, Jin pushed back as far as she could to leave space between herself and the Queen but with her back against a hard surface, she was only able to go so far. Still, Jin’s red eyes glowed red and the disgust, horror and growing hatred shone brilliantly in her red depths. Watching the Queen move, she noticed she was not as steady on her feet as she once was. Perhaps something to keep in mind.

Glancing up at her shackled wrists that held her arms well over her head, Jin couldn’t feel her hands any longer and the burning pain in her arms was just her muscles protesting, desperately telling her they needed the blood that was being denied them right now. Still, she tried to move her fingers and hands to no avail. She wouldn’t be able to cast a spell properly right now in this condition. At least not one that would aid her in escaping.

As the Queen brought herself back over to where Jin practically hung, the Drowess leveled a hateful glare at the monstrosity. When the accusing finger was thrust in her direction, Jin didn’t flinch. She would not give this creature, this misplaced being the satisfaction of seeing her discomfort and weakness again. As the Queen rambled on about ruling over the Drow and abandoning the sun dwellers, Jin’s anger was barely kept in check. As the Queen explained her conditions for ruling beside her, Jin said nothing for a few moments. Finally, when she felt as though she had her composure back, Jin began to speak. Her voice was quiet in the strange chamber of the Queen but, not so soft as her words were not heard.

”The Goddess you speak of is not MY Goddess. Not since she abandoned me and allowed madness to rule over the Drow and murdered my family for no other reason than to try and fulfill empty dreams and promises never meant to be kept. You ask me why I care about the sun dwellers. It is simple, really. They accept me for who I am, not what I am. To them, I am Jin. To them, I am a friend. To them, I am equal. Unlike those of the world I grew up in who saw me as a stepping stone. A burden. An insignificant insect they needed to squash. You want me to embrace you as my Goddess and drink from this black pool so we can rule over Drowdom together? I would tell you to rot in hell but you are already doing that. So I will tell this to you simply. You are nothing more than an old crone who has refused to cross over to the other side. Your desperate hold upon this world is pathetic. And you cannot see when you are being played for the fool. A weak minded creature such as yourself is driven by one thing and one thing only, the want of power. You reek of the Dark Lord himself and you are too stupid to see he is using you as a tool to dispose of the proud warriors who stand in his way. What do you think will happen to you when you defeat the horse warriors of Rohan? You will never rule anything but this prison of a chamber. Like me, you are shackled here but where my shackles are iron and will eventually rust away, you are shackled here for eternity to that birthing chamber you have so willingly sold your soul to become. I will not now nor shall I ever become attached to you in any way. I will die before I let you or anyone else from this retched place rule ANYTHING but the squallering hell you call home.”

Jin could see the Queen’s white, dead eyes as she spoke and knew the creature was displeased and growing more and more angry with each sentence the Drowess spoke. She didn’t care. Never had the Drowess held any of her emotions back and she was not about to start now. If she were to die, she would die on her own terms and not cowering from some horrific creature she thought could only exist in nightmares of human children. To add insult to injury, Jin yelled out as loud as she could in her native language knowing it would most likely be the straw that broke the camels back.

” ULU ELLISTRAE TLU L' BEL'LA D' DRO! (TO ELLISTRAE BE HONOR AND LIFE) VERVE DRO L' UR'THALRSS D' ROHAN! (LONG LIVE THE RIDERS OF ROHAN!”

Jorneff and Skarimir stood silently on either side of Lac'nala as Thoden spoke. When the pale man stood and spoke Skarimir stepped foward and glared at the man. "And who might you be, to consul the King of Rohan as to who he is to welcome?" he then bowed respefctfully to Theoden and asked "My Lord and Uncle has your mind become so clouded that you do not recognize your own kin?"

As Skarimir spoke an image passed before Lac's mind. An image of a drow priestest in chains in a dark cavern. He could sense the Drow's pain and anguish. Slowly the features of the chained priestess became clear. Lac reached out with his mind and and said to the priestess "Jin remember all is not always as it seems. There is always hope. Much to do and share have you and I and our hearts." Lac then drew his attention Theoden.
It was then that a young woman with long blonde hair came running into the great hall. She stopped suddenly and looked at Skariimir in disbelief. The words almost silent, came upon her lips "Brother?"

Jin knew she disliked Kallus for more than one reason and now she knew why. There was something about the Drowess Jin couldn’t quite place her finger on but now, listening to Dyllaloth she knew with a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach. The powerful, ancient Drowess had set her and Tiphereth up like dominos in a deadly game. How could she have been so stupid? Because she stopped seeing everyone as the enemy and actually began to trust and now, that cost her dearly.

As Jin watched the Queen, she wanted to hurl as many insults at the monster as she could but it would do nothing but vex her even more than she already was and she needed to save her energy. For what, she wasn’t exactly sure but she knew this wasn’t the end. Jin refused to let herself think this.

As the Queen walked back to her throne and told Jin what her fate was going to be, the Drowess couldn’t believe the old crone actually fell asleep. Blinking in disbelief, Jin was motionless for a moment before she began to move. Her movement, unfortunately, caught the attention of Dyllaloth’s chamber pets and the large centipede slithered over the floor and up the wall to hover dangerously close to Jin. When it got close Jin could see the fangs dripping from the things maw just ready to sink them into the Drowess’ tender flesh.

Ceasing her movement, Jin eyed the centipede warily. When the thing realized Jin wasn’t going to press her luck, the centipede slithered over her head, across the wall then disappeared around a corner. Jin knew it wasn’t far from its mistress and would return as soon as it felt her move once more.

Jin was going to have to do this with the greatest stealth skill she could muster and even then the risks were going to be great. Glancing up at her arms, Jin pushed away the pain she was feeling form her burning muscles and forced her hands to move. The process was extremely slow and painful and many times she had to stop and clench her jaw so she could work through some of the more painful movements.

Moving her legs to keep the circulation moving through them, Jin felt something slither around them and once more ceased her movements. Glancing down at the thick ichor she was waist deep in Jin saw something raise its head out of the mire and gasped. It was a deadly adder viper and knew one bite from this serpent would mean almost instant death. But not before suffering immeasurable pain in those last moments.

The odds were stacked well against her and Jin looked up making her hands and fingers move again. As the pain rippled through her arms and shoulders, she felt a wave of despair wash over her and she gave into that wave. Letting the shackles around her wrists hold her weight, Jin lowered her head and sobbed silently. There was just no way she could get out of this situation. It was impossible.

In her despair, Jin suddenly felt a presence in her mind and in her heart. The soft voice of Lac’Nala filled her mind with his words of strength and reassurance and Jin ceased her silent sobbing to listen to those words. ‘Jin remember all is not always as it seems. There is always hope. Much to do and share have you and I and our hearts.’

Lac’Nala was still alive. And he was reaching out to her. But how? Jin didn’t care. Who was she to question anything at this point? With renewed conviction, Jin clenched her jaw and looked up at her hands once more. Willing her fingers to move, she finally saw her digits twitch. The burn in her arms increased but she refused to stop and give into it now. Slowly, agonizingly so, Jin’s fingers moved and stretched to reach her wrist. Just when she thought she couldn’t do it, she felt the thin, metal on her fingertips and with one last urge of strength jammed her fingers into her tunic’s sleeve. Pulling back the edge of her glove, Jin removed a thin sliver of metal.

Glancing at the still sleeping Dyllaloth, Jin took a hold of the metal sliver and began seeking the lock on the shackles that bound her wrists. The chains rattled softly as Jin moved and she glanced around to see if the Queen’s pets had been alerted. The centipede came creeping along from behind Dyllaloth’s sleeping form and Jin once more ceased her movements. The thing seemed to be satisfied and slithered away once more.

Jin knew she was running out of time and once more worked on the shackles locks. Finally the shackle on her right hand snapped open and her arm fell limply to her side. The pain this movement brought Jin caused her to gasp and see stars. Quickly glancing at the centipede she noticed it had settled at the feet of the Queen and appeared to also be resting.

Slowly moving her arm to return the circulation to it, Jin felt the tingling sensation associated with blood returning to the muscles. As soon as she could move her arm, Jin reached up and unlocked her left hand and repeated the process. Glancing around again, Jin saw that now her arms were free, she was still waist deep in the thick mire and she could feel the adder slithering around her legs.

She couldn’t walk out of the liquid. The adder would bite her for certain not to mention alerting the centipede and quite possibly Dyllaloth herself. Jin’s eyes finally drifted up and saw the webbing of the spider. It was her only hope, but that would mean drawing the spider’s attention her way. It was just a risk she would have to take. She couldn’t just stand here and wait for the Queen to awaken.

Reaching up towards the chains of her shackles once more, Jin gripped the rusted links in her gloved hands and took several deep breaths before she slowly used her upper body muscles to slowly ease her body up out of the thick liquid. Slowly bending her knees, her arms began to tremor with the strain on them so soon after freeing them from their bonds. As soon as her feet were free of the mire, she used the wall for leverage and pushed herself off then flipped up so she was hanging upside down on the wall. Glancing up, she used the wall anchor the shackles were attached to set her small feet on and shimmied up the chains so she could now use them as leverage and righted herself on the wall.

Balanced precariously on the wall anchor with just the tips of her toes, Jin glanced up at the spiders web and gauged the distance to the piece of webbing dangling down. Taking a few more deep breaths, Jin slowly stood up then leapt for the webbing. The instant she grabbed a hold of the webbing, she felt the vibrations of something much larger and knew it was only a matter of moments before the spider came down through the tunnel.

Using the momentum of her jump and the swing of the webbing, Jin let go of the web string and landed almost silently on the other side of the chamber, behind Dyllaloth then rolled. Almost instantly the centipede was alerted as well. Jumping towards Dyllaloth’s throne, Jin quickly cast an invisibility spell upon her self and remained crouched behind the throne as best she could.

The Tunnel overhead opened up and the spider descended with a quickness that belied its huge size. The things moved around in search of what had disturbed its web as did the centipede in search of the object that moved. Jin grit her teeth as she felt herself weakening. The spell wouldn’t last much longer as she wasn’t quite strong enough to cast spells just yet but it was the only thing she could think of at the moment.

Squeezing her eyes shut tight, Jin prayed silently that her strength would hold out long enough to elude the creatures and before Dyllaloth awoke from her death slumber.
Just…a….few….more….minutes…..please….

Jalisa watched on with interest. This man beside Theoden was not a Rohirrim. He was something else. His dark hair was the first thing that gave away the fact he was no native. But it was the dark shadow Jalisa could see surrounding him that seemed to infect Theoden she found most disturbing. The old Kings eyes were clouded with deception. It was time to put an end to this charade now.

As she stood up in the rafters, ready to swoop down and deliver a killing blow to this dark haired stranger, something caught out the corner of her eye. Movement from the opposite side of the great hall. When Jalisa saw it was a blonde haired woman, she crouched back down in the rafters and watched with renewed interest. When the woman spoke to Skarimir, calling him brother, Jalisa quirked a dark brow and let her gaze settle on the Rider of Rohan who had addressed the king.

It was dark. Suspended in the icy blackness 'The Wind of Sorrows' knew well the sensation of his passing but then he felt something press against his back and he slowly became aware that he lay upon the rocky bottom of the Black Lake. Reaching down to his leg, he tore the severed hand of the wretched Gorrinvul that had dragged him down into the savage waters. Discarding the memento of his near death experience he closed his eyes once more for a while and rested comfortably despite the great pressure around him. It would seem that he had crossed into what would be his world and the physical nature of it differed. There was no crushing pressure at great depths nor did the air thin and fade away at the heights of the tallest mountains. He was home... But how?

Long had he fought against the giant fish. He was tossed too and fro, several times being caught in between their massive bodies while he defended himself against the relentless attacks of the Gorrinvul. As the fish snapped them in half and tore at their flesh they cared they continued to pursue him, caring little for their own bodies. Several times he felt the sharp teeth of the fish press into his flesh. Were it not for the enchanted clothes upon his body (a conjuring of his talisquetric markings) he would have been torn asunder several times over. As it was, he suffered many superficial punctures from the snapping bites and felt his strength bleed away. Weakened he fell into darkness, ever drifting downward he fortunately descended beyond the depths of the giant 'cave fish' and passed from one realm to another. Such was not an uncharacteristic event for the Deithirin bard to experience, but it was not his time. He should not have been able to pass through the veil and where were the Aelaeydium? It was at such moments that they appeared if only to offer their sage advice after the fact and he had not yet had the pleasure of Death's boney hands prodding him. There was only one answer.

Slowly he moved his hand up to his chest and let his hand lie over the part of his chest where the image of the Dragon token was upon his skin. It offered a power he had never dared to dream of. He was bound, but this protective binding that allowed his kind to ignore the trappings of the physical laws always came with a price. There was none. The strength of the Dragon flowed freely and allowed him slip between the veils. He had found sanctuary at the bottom of the Black Lake where it must have touched upon another body of water in his native world. Where that was he could not say, but it was obvious that he could not fully cross over. He would if he were able, nothing held him to this world except the governance of the Aelaeydium. Those he called friends would live on just as well without the meddling of his kind, but as he yet lacked the power he would honour his commitments.

The holes and tatters of his clothing had mended to new but beneath the wounds yet remained. He slowly sat up at the bottom of the lake, adapted to the environment as a Nymph to the sea and inspected his injuries. Tiphereth was surprised that he was not more worse for his wear, but then though the teeth of the fish were many and as sharp as daggers, they were much shorter and the strength of their bites was far less than he had expected. What they lacked in the strength, however, they made up in volume and he his body was riddled with punctures.

Focusing he concentrated upon utilizing his mystical talents to heal his body. He summoned his remaining strength and allowed the energy to flow through his veins as he had been taught. His strength would return, as he would to the world of Rohirrim and Drow but it would take time. Tiphereth needed to heal before he could make the ascent and even hope to deal with any more of the Gorrinvul.

Sitting at the bottom of the Black lake, shrouded in utter darkness the Deithir wondered what had become of Jin. He had no sense of her, but then he remembered he was between worlds and would not have awareness of anything. Had she successfully killed the queen? He hoped, for the very survival of their friends on the surface depended upon her demise. Only by her death would the Gorrinvul truly die. Without her they would perish within a few days, die off like discarded drones and plague the world no more.

As Jalisa sat crouched in the rafters of King Theoden’s grand hall, she felt a strange sensation come over her. Gasping softly, she began to see an image with her minds eye. The Deithir lay at the bottom of dark water. Injured and weak he looked up as though he were awaiting death. But Jalisa felt her power circulating through him. The earring he possessed had bound itself to him and in doing so, bound him to her now. As long as he remained in possession of the trinket, they would share this bond until one of them died. And when that happened, the other would perish as well. Unless he willfully and freely returned the earring to her. But Jalisa doubted he would do that. Once a taste of the power the possessor held they refused to relinquish such power.

While she was glad the Pharie was still alive, she now feared if he were wounded bad enough to die, she would as well thus preventing her form keeping her word to Loki and completing her mission. AS the image of the Deithir slowly sitting up on the bottom of this dark water began to fade, Jalisa clenched her jaw tight. She would HAVE to find a way to get the Pharie to return the earring to her. She liked her freedom way too much to have herself tied to anyone.

Hopefully he would survive and when she next met up with him, she would be able to convince him to give her the trinket in a way that would be his free will. Her influence would not work now that he was bonded with her, neither would her dragonfear so she would have to find a more clever way to get him to give it to her.

Jin’s luck ran out. Her spell could not be held in place and all too soon she came into view near the Queen’s throne. Fortunately, she was still enough where the spider nor centipede saw her.
Slowly reaching into her cloak, she withdrew a pouch from her cloak and opened it., Pulling something out of it, she put it in her mouth and chewed then closed the pouch and put it back. As she sat in the eerie green light of the chamber, she dared to peer over the throne and look at the spider and centipede.

The two creatures were not completely convinced what ever had disturbed them was gone and they continued to search. The herb Jin chewed upon was something that would help bring some strength back to her. While it had a bitter aftertaste, the taste as she chewed was not all that unpleasant.

Turning back around with her back propped up against the skull throne, Jin sighed silently. What was she going to do now? She was free from her shackles but she was far from being free of the Queen’s domain. And how much longer the Queen would rest she didn’t know. An hour longer? Shorter? Somehow she had a feeling it was going to be a little longer than an hour. The Queen obviously expended a great deal of energy and needed to replenish her strength.

With a disgusted look on her face, Jin looked down at herself and wrinkled her nose. The black ichor of the pit she had been dangling in pretty much covered her from head to toe now and that sick smell permeated her nostrils to the point where she knew she would forever smell it for as long as she lived. She could be as silent as a church mouse but they would smell her from a mile away. Of course Jin had a sudden revelation then. If she was covered in the smell then the creatures wouldn’t be able to smell her. All they would smell was the ichor of the Queen upon her body.

Speaking of the Queen. While she was in close proximity, Jin decided to get a better look at this strange birthing sack attached to the Throne. As much as it sickened her to look at it, Jin couldn’t take her eyes from it. The membrane itself seemed relatively thin yet when Jin placed her hand upon it she could tell it was quite durable and thick. She could see the black blood of the Queen circulating through the veins that pulsated throughout the thing.

The Queen moved slightly and Jin quickly removed her hand so as not to disturb her slumber again. Daring to look around, she noticed the spider had settled on the far side of the chamber while the centipede was crawling along the wall where she had been shackled. Cursing under her breath Jin knew it would be only a matter of time before the centipede stumbled across her in her special hiding place.

Glancing up once more, Jin saw the tunnel was still open and she couldn’t help but stare up into the place. If she thought the outer chamber had bodies then what she was seeing above her in the next chamber was astounding. There must have been at least four to five hundred of the bodies wrapped in the tight cocoons of the spider. Some of them were moving, some of them were very still but all of them were pulsating with dead life.

As Jin saw the vast number of cocoons and tried to fathom the men and women caught in the nightmare of becoming a living dead. She couldn’t help but wonder idly if Tiphereth had somehow survived the fish feeding frenzy just to end up as one of these creatures? Hopefully he was not up there now, struggling to escape a fate worse than that of the fish.

Hearing a noise to her left, Jin peered over the throne to see what the sound was and saw the centipede had found her empty shackles and was rattling them. As the rest of the herb she’d been chewing on was consumed, Jin clenched her jaw and cursed under her breath again. That damn thing was going to awaken Dyllaloth. Slowly easing her form around, Jin pulled her beloved crossbow from her cloak once more and drew a bead on the pesky creature.

Squeezing the trigger gently, the bolt flew from the bow and stuck into the head of the centipede. The thing instantly went limp and dangled on the wall from the bolt that now held it firm. Of course this caused the spider to stir and the thing moved with incredible speed once more. Jin knew the only reason it didn’t pounce on her was because it could not see her yet or she was too close to the Queen. Either way, the Drowess was glad the spider was unable to do what it yearned to do and that was kill the intruder in its mistress’ chambers.

Now all Jin had to do was figure out how she was going to get out of this chamber. The entrances she saw were protected with sigils and runes that would prevent her from using her magic to open them. And truth be told, did she really want to find out what was on the other side of that door? Not really. But she HAD to get out of here. Now, more than ever, Jin really wished Tiphereth was with her. Surely between the two of them they would be able to find a way out of this particular mess.