The Fourth Age (closed)

[queenclaire]

Eruve saw Uther stumble, she quickly moved to his side, “My love, what is wrong?” She was worried about Uther. She was scared that something had been done to him that could not be undone. She hated to see him this way. He had been so strong and determined since she met him. Now not only had he pretty much given up, he could not move well.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I don't know..." he grunted weakly, trying so hard to stand, but he just couldn't. Legolas helped Eruve to stand him up, and Uther had to lean on them to continue. Luckily they found what was left of their forces camped close by. Something had clearly happened and less than fourty were left in all.

 

[queenclaire]

Eruve was happy to see that the group made it out, though their ranks were considerably smaller. She sighed as she looked upon their weary faces. She helped Uther to a place to sit. He needed to rest and she needed to know what was wrong with him. She looked him as she knelt beside him, “Do you need anything?” She wondered if he needed some food or water.

 

[KieranSoares]

"No... no, I just need... to sit still..." Uther laid on his side, his hand resting over his stomach. "That's all..." he muttered, along with, "I love you..."

Healers attended to Legolas and Uther, and Eruve learned that Merry, in his fight with Dache, had stolen Dache's necklace, but no one could touch it without a jolt of magic sparking out.

 

[queenclaire]

Eruve was deeply worried about Uther. Something was wrong with him and she did not know what it was. She nodded at his words and replied, “I love you, as well.” She moved out of the way so the healers could work on him. She wanted him to be himself again.

She wondered about the necklace. She wondered if it was a source of power for him. If they were lucky, it may be a large source of his power, but they were not catching many breaks at the moment. She was still worried about Uther. She would worry about him until she knew he was safe. She leaned against a tree, thinking about the necklace and Uther.

 

[KieranSoares]

The group finally had a rest of several days with only a few of the undead creatures attacking in the night, but the beasts seemed unfocused and sloppy and were easily destroyed. Uther was found to have been poisoned by magical means, but it seemed to just fade away hour by hour. This gave Aragorn more reason to believe Merry had managed to steal Kaan Dache's source of power, and the necklace was kept safeguarded in a chest.

Merry recovered well enough to move around again, but he and Pippin would keep to the back for now. Oswyn, even with his broken arm, was still plenty useful, and Legolas was just fine.

Still, once Uther was rested and up and around, something about him was missing. It was the extra warmth in his affection and the soul he put into all he did. He still acted normally and loved Eruve the same, but it was not so vehement as before, and Eruve could often catch him staring into space, deep in either thought or lack thereof. Rarely had he ever done such a thing previously. It was as if a piece of him was missing.

On the fourth morning, she caught him staring blankly into the cooking fire again, his eyes telling her his mind was devoid of thought at the moment; empty and depressed.

 

[queenclaire]

Eruve ached for Uther. She was not sure what was still truly wrong with him. It was as if he was not all there sometimes. She watched him by the fire as he stared at it, transfixed on nothing. He did not even seem to be thinking. She longed to do anything to help him…fix him…

She walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to pull him back into himself. “Uther,” she said softly, she was not even sure he would listen to her right now. “My love, you are scaring me,” her voice cracked slightly as she tried to keep from crying, “I don’t know what is wrong with out and I am not even sure you know what is wrong with you, but you seem broken. What happened to you down there?” She sighed softly and looked at the fire, wishing and hoping for a miracle with him.

 

[KieranSoares]

Uther looked up as she took his arm, but as she spoke, he looked down at the ground. "I... don't know... I don't remember anything but darkness..." He laid his head against her hand on his shoulder. "I just... don't feel whole."

"You shouldn't..." A familiar voice met their ears. From the dim of the morning appeared Kaan Dache's sister, and Uther rose to face her.

"What do you mean...?" Uther asked softly.

"My brother... he stole a piece of your soul. It's in that pendant, but only he or a great wizard could retrieve it. But now that you've stolen the pendant, my brother will stop at nothing to kill you all and retrieve it."

"What exactly is it?"

"It's half his power, it's what makes him immortal and able to move so quickly and silently, even teleport. You've left him with his raw magic and strength, which is equal to an evil the world faced years ago."

"If we destroy it-"

"No! No, don't do that. You'll destroy the piece of your soul and all of Delnirith and all that lives on it."

 

[queenclaire]

Eruve furrowed her brow as Dache’s sister spoke of the necklace having part of Uther’s soul. She felt rage rise up inside of her. She did not like the fact that someone took something from the man she loved more than life itself. Though, they could not destroy it, there was not much they could do. She looked to the women, “So, what would it take to get Dache to give Uther his soul back?” She was to the point she was willing to bargain and do whatever it took to get it back.

 

[KieranSoares]

"A soul for a soul, I imagine..." she sighed, "But Uther's is not a soul he will easily part with. Uther's heart, and yours, hold the keys to the destruction of my brother's thousands of years of work, and he knows it."

"Then what can we do...?" Uther looked at her with the smallest shred of hope still in his eyes.

"You must find something he wants more than your soul."

 

[queenclaire]

Eruve sighed, “Well, that should be easy. We can hand over Middle Earth and maybe then he will give it back to us.” She had no clue what Dache would want for Uther’s soul. And if what his sister said was true and they were the key to destroying what Dache had worked so hard to gain, then he was not going to give it back. He had taken away enough of Uther now to keep him from his passion of fighting.

“I say give him the female elf and maybe he will return whatever it is he took,” said a blonde woman with green eyes stepping out of the thicket. She was clearly human and dressed as if she was ready to fight. She had a sword at her back and throwing knives wrapped around her thighs. “He is an elf, right? Maybe he is lonely.” She smirked at the three of them as she stood there for a moment. Seems she was joining the group a bit late, they seemed beat already. “I am Aldreda. I have come to answer the call of King Aragorn and fight.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"Yer outta line, lassie," Gimli growled as he rose in defense of Eruve, facing the new woman. "We don' need th'help o' someone who'd give 'er own allies up."

"Peace, Gimli," Aragorn rose. "Though... I cannot argue with you."

"I've an idea," Gimli kept going, "give 'im th' blonde."

"Gimli!" Legolas hushed him.

 

[queenclaire]

Aldreda smirked at Gimli and bowed to King Aragorn. She may be rough around the edges, but she knew when to be civil. “King Aragorn, I was sent to aid you as you see fit,” she said rising up again.

Eruve eyed the new comer, she looked familiar. She could not place it though. “Who sent you?” Eruve was very curious as to where she came from.

“Does it matter?” Aldreda looked over at Eruve with a raised eyebrow.

“Kind of.”

Aldreda shrugged, “I did not come from much farther than you did, Lady Eruve. Don’t tell me you don’t remember the group of humans your father vowed to protect after we went into hiding after almost all dying.” She grinned, “When word came to us that Lord Faelon sent his own daughter to join the fight, they decided to send me along as well.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"Elves defending humans? Odd, that," Miras mused.
.
"Not so odd since the War of the Ring," Aragorn pointed out. "Welcome, Aldreda. I must ask you to keep your tongue in check, we've all been through quite a lot as of late... I don't want the dwarves' tempers boiling over and reopening wounds." Aragorn sat back down. "Come, join us."

 

[queenclaire]

Aldreda nodded at Aragorn’s warning, “Of course, King Aragorn. I did not mean to start anything.” She moved to sit with them. She looked to Miras since he had said something about elves defending humans. “In case you were wondering, we were at our end. Our village was destroyed and we did not have a place to go. The elves were kind enough to shelter us and help us heal. We never returned home though, we continued to live deep in the forest, hidden from everyone. Even the elves for the most part. It is no surprise Lady Eruve did not remember me as clearly as I remember her.” It was obvious there was some bitterness there, but she was not one to bring it up. Eruve was part of their group and she would respect that.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Friends are friends, no matter how they came to be such," Legolas offered a kind gesture of welcome to Aldreda. He was just as beautiful as the stories said.

"So what shall be our course of action...?" Lexan looked among them.

"We must retrieve the piece of Uther's soul... we cannot make it without the strength of our leaders. I suggest we make a bargain with Dache. We will return his necklace if he will free Uther's soul piece from it and return it," Oswyn offered.

" And how will we keep him to his word, should he accept?" Aragorn raised an eyebrow.

"Magic." Legolas rose. "The magicks of all the elves among us must be equal to his in his current state when combined. And if we lend that power to Eruve, she can strike fear into his black heart. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, am I correct?"

"A fine idea, my dear friend," Aragorn smiled hopefully.

"And if he should refuse or try to stab us in the back?" Oswyn looked up.

"Then he risks destruction. We can kill him in this state, but we cannot as he is the only one who knows how to restore Uther's soul."

"... I'll give 'er a go, lads," Gimli rose with his chest puffed out. "An' if we feel like it, we can be the tricksters an' slay 'im after 'e's returned Uther's soul bit."

"Indeed we could, but I prefer not to be so underhanded." Aragorn nodded. "If we must, we must."

 

[queenclaire]

Eruve listened to what the men had to offer as to what to do. She really could not think properly since she was worried about Uther. They needed his soul back at all cost. She looked to Legolas as he spoke up. She furrowed her brow slightly as she contemplated what he was saying. She shook her head ever so slightly, “But he will know that we cannot risk killing him because we need Uther’s soul piece and we need him to restore it. He is a clever devil and I am willing to try it, but I don’t know. He might be one step ahead of us again.”

Aldreda sat silently trying to catch up on what was going on with the group.

 

[KieranSoares]

"We must try, at the very least," Aragorn nodded. "He will come for us soon. We must be ready for his trickery should he try it. Gimli, Legolas, rouse the men and tell them to be on guard, then return to me. Uther, Eruve, keep close. The rest of you should rest but be prepared."

 

[queenclaire]

Eruve nodded at Aragorn’s words. She knew they had to try to get Uther back fully. They all needed him, he was so important to their group. He was so important to her. She looked at Uther with sadness in her eyes, “We will get the missing part of your soul back, my love. You will be whole again.” She just hoped it worked. Who knows if there was damage when a soul is gone for a while.

 

[KieranSoares]

Uther smiled weakly up at Eruve, "We will... and I'll make up for lost time."

It wasn't til the next night that Dache appeared from the collapsed halls, and approached the fighters coolly. He looked to be not so cocky as before, but still confident and sure that he was far better a warrior than any of them. "Pardon, if I may cut into your little gathering," he spoke up and everyone silenced. "I do believe you have a thief among you. A small burglar who stole a very precious necklace of mine. As is custom in these lands, I expect the item and the thief to be handed over."

"You'll never have Merry!" Little Pippin cried angrily.

"Peace, hobbit," Miras muttered.

"It is an ancient law of this island, not my own. It is custom and required, else you invoke the island's wrath."

"What wrath?" Aragorn asked warily.

"The dragon of Delnirith, Daud."

 

[queenclaire]

Eruve walked up as Dache approached, she furrowed her brow and crossed her arms over her chest as she listened to him. She stepped forward, “And? You stole something as well. I suppose you need to give that back and hand over the thief or do you not fall under the same rules?” She was expecting him to say that since he live in the island, not on it that the rules did not apply. Though, by that thought, neither would what Merry did since it happened in, not on. She just wanted Uther’s soul whole and back.

Aldreda approached the group. She paused as she laid eyes on Dache for the first time. She almost wanted to pull Eruve back and warn her to not provoke the dark elf. She could only stand and stare though.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Fair enough. I'd be willing to trade back and let this go, but... you see, a soul is not worth even half what that necklace is. A better offer is in order."

"Such as?" Uther growled.

"Anduril." Dache smirked.

"Like hell!" Uther snapped, but Aragorn stopped him.

"Uther... it's only a sword." Aragorn approached Dache, holding the necklace by the chain and pulling Anduril and its sheath from his belt. "Fine, you have a deal. But return his soul first."

"Very well." Dache chuckled and touched the pendant, and Uther suddenly collapsed to his knees with a yelp of pain. With a wave of his hand, Dache drew a white orb from the pendant. It shot into Uther's chest and Uther fell to the ground unconscious. Dache snatched the necklace and sword and disappeared.

 

[queenclaire]

Eruve was quite shocked when Dache agreed, then came the catch. She looked over as Uther protested it, but Aragorn was willing to give up his sword to get the piece of Uther’s soul. She was thankful beyond belief, but sad at the same time. She had to wonder what Dache had up his sleeve. He had to be planning something. All her thoughts vanished as she watched Uther fall to his knees and a white orb go inside of Uther.

When he collapsed, she ran to him. “Uther,” she all but screamed as she pulled his head into her lap. She caressed his cheek and whispered, “Please be okay…Uther…my heart and soul.”

 

[KieranSoares]

Uther lay entirely unconscious in her arms and a healer came running to see to him. With a sigh of relief after a few minutes, the healer sat back on his knees. "He's just fine... only knocked out. We'll see for sure when he wakes."

"Get him into a tent," Aragorn ordered two men, and they helped move the unconscious general to a place not so exposed.

 

[queenclaire]

Eruve was relieved to hear that Uther was just knocked out. She just hoped that Dache had actually returned Uther’s soul and did not do something else far more twisted. She just wanted Uther whole again. She looked to Aragorn as he had two men move him to a tent. “Forgive me if this question is ridiculous, but why does Dache want your sword?”