Title & Chapter Number: War of Daenova 8/?
Author(s): - Author's Index
Fandom: LOTR Crossover with Legend of the Swords
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: "Lord of the Rings," "The Silmarillion" and "The Lost Tales" belong to J.R.R. Tolkien, and I'm borrowing them without permission. They will be returned when I am through. Legend of the Swords (LOTS) is owned by the Chroniclers of Khaenna, and I borrowed that with permission. This is a non-profit piece of fiction, so all you lawyers can just bugger off and find someone else to swindle.
Warnings: Character resurrection (Ereinion Gil-galad); the very fact that this is a crossover.
Betas: None
Cast: Major players in the Trilogy; characters from LOTS
Timeline: War of the Ring for LOTR; AU for LOTS
Spoilers: A lot of things from the Trilogy, particularly ROTK. If you've only seen the movies, then stay away from the middle parts of the fic until you've seen all three.
Summary: LOTR AU CROSSOVER. Gandalf has brought in strange new guests for Elrond's Council. They are a mysterious group of people who hid from the Free Races of Middle-Earth - until now. In the lead of their Queen, Caelis, they have decided that it is time to lift the veil over their existence and fight alongside Elves, Men, Dwarves and Hobbits for the freedom of Middle-Earth. But the War of the Ring is only the beginning of another War, for in the realm of Khaenna, Caelis must rise up to claim her birthright and lead her people in a bitter struggle to wrest their lands from the darkness of the Shadow.
Notes: Mostly bookverse, though there will be times when it will occasionally slip into movie-verse - but mostly when the two coincide so seamlessly that it is possible for one to have occured in the other. Thoughts will be written 'like so', and dialogue will be written "like so". Also, many of the conversations in Elvish will be written ^like so^. Many of the conversations in Daenovan will be written ~*like so*~. Any words/phrases that are written in their original, whether Elvish or Daenovan, shall have asterisks beside them and then they will have translations at the bottom of every chapter. Same thing goes for unfamiliar terms.
Chapter Eight: Failed Plans and New Plots
She stirred slowly back to wakefulness, a soft light shining against her eyes from the outside world. She slowly blinked her eyes open so that they would be accustomed to the light, and she realized that the dawn had finally risen. She smiled. 'We have made it through the night.'
"Are you awake now, Caelis?"
She turned to the source of the voice, and saw Gandalf looking at her. She smiled at the Wizard, and nodded. "Yes, I am awake now." She moved away from the cliff, wincing at the soreness in her back and shoulders. Smiling grimly, she rubbed her shoulders to ease the pain. "Unfortunately, dream walking while leaning against a wall is not exactly a very comfortable experience."
She joined the rest of the Company where they stood, staring at the landscape around them. As the light grew stronger it showed a silent shrouded world. Below their refuge were white humps and domes and shapeless deeps beneath which the path they had trodden was altogether lost; but the heights above were hidden in great clouds still heavy with the threat of snow.
Gimli looked up and shook his head. "Caradhras has not forgiven us," he said. "He has more snow yet to fling at us, if we go on. The sooner we go back and down the better."
To this all agreed, but their retreat was now difficult. It might very well prove impossible. Only a few paces from the ashes of their fire the snow lay many feet deep, higher than the heads of the Hobbits; in places it had been scooped and piled by the wind into great drifts against the cliff.
"This reminds me of the time when the Royal Palace in Dragonis got snowed in before we could leave the capital for the summer palaces," Caelis muttered. "The blizzards that time were horrid."
"If Gandalf would go before us with a bright flame, he might melt a path for you," said Legolas. The storm had troubled him little, and he alone of the Company still remained light of heart.
"If Elves could fly over mountains, they might fetch the Sun to save us," answered Gandalf. "But I must have something to work on. I cannot burn snow."
"Well," said Boromir, "when heads are at a loss bodies must seek a way. See! Though all is now snow-clad, our path, as we came up, turned about that shoulder of rock down yonder. It was there that the snow first began to burden us. If we could reach that point, maybe it would prove easier beyond. It is no more than a furlong off, I guess."
"Then let us force a path thither, you and I!" said Aragorn.
Caelis raised her hand. "I shall accompany you, My Lords."
The two Men paused, and looked over at her with surprise. "My Lady, there is no need for you to do such a thing," Boromir said. "Aragorn and I shall be all right."
She smiled slightly at them. "I have journeyed with this Company, hoping that I might provide some assistance and make the journey easier, and now you deny of such a chance? Allow me to show you what I mean, My Lords." So saying, she strode forward to the wall of snow that the Men were about to tackle. She raised her hands up in front of her, laying them against the wall, and concentrated. Bright beams of silvery starlight leaped from her fingertips and stabbed deep into the pile of snow. A hissing sound was to be heard, and the rest of the Company watched as the beams caused the snow to melt and crumble. Three feet of snow melted away and made the path clear.
Caelis turned, and bowed her head. "I can melt the snow, but I can only do so at intervals. That is why you must dig through it while I recover the strength to cast the spell again." She bowed her head. "Forgive me, but my magical strength is much diminished here in Middle-Earth. Were we in the same situation in Khaenna, there would have been no problems, but here... I can only do so much."
Aragorn smiled, and bowed. "We are grateful for whatever aid you can give us, My Lady. If you wish to accompany, us, then so be it."
The three of them trudged off into the snow. Aragorn was the tallest of the Company, but Boromir, little less in height, was broader and heavier in build. He led the way, and Aragorn and Caelis followed him. They followed a specific pattern with their work: Caelis would melt the snow whenever she had the strength to do it, while Boromir and Aragorn would dig through it the rest of the time to allow Caelis to recover. There were places where the snow was breast-high, and it was during these times that Caelis' powers were most useful.
After several long moments of digging and melting the snow, they watched as Legolas ran past them on top of the snow that they were trying to dig.
The Elf paused momentarily to watch them, and there was a smile on his face. "You need not walk through the snow, My Lady," he said, speaking to Caelis. "I know that you may walk light-footedly on the snow, if you should so wish."
"I could fly, in fact, if I so willed it," Caelis returned with a smile, "but a life that spans three millennia has taught me that the sweetest rewards are won through hard toil." She laughed, and waved her hand. "Get you gone, Master Elf! See if you can find an easier route than this."
Legolas laughed merrily, and soon he was running off into the distance.
~*~*~*~
The others waited huddled together, watching until Boromir, Aragorn, and Caelis dwindled into black specks in the whiteness. At length they too passed from sight. The time dragged on. The clouds lowered, and now a few flakes of snow came curling down again.
An hour, maybe, went by, though it seemed far longer, and then at last they saw Legolas coming back. At the same time Boromir and Aragorn reappeared round the bend far behind him and came laboring up the slope.
"Well," cried Legolas as he ran up, "I have not brought the Sun. She is walking the blue fields of the South, and a little wreath of snow on this Redhorn hillock troubles her not at all. But I have brought back a gleam of good hope for those who are doomed to go on feet. There is the greatest wind-drift of all just beyond the turn, and there our Strong Men and the Lady were almost buried. They despaired, for not even the Lady's powers could melt the snow, until I returned and told them that the drift was little wider than a wall. And on the other side the snow suddenly grows less, while further down it is no more than a white coverlet to cool a Hobbit's toes."
"Ah, it is as I said, and as the Lady said," growled Gimli. "It was no ordinary storm. Those foul Shadow Dragons must have known of our plan and wish to put a stop to us."
"But happily those Dragons have forgotten that there are Men here," said Boromir, who had came up at that moment. "And doughty Men too, if I may say it; though lesser men with spades might have served you better. Still, we have thrust a lane through the drift; and for that all here may be grateful who cannot run as light as Elves."
"But how are we to get down there, even if you have cut through the drift?" said Pippin, voicing the thought of all the Hobbits.
"Have hope!" said Boromir. "I am weary, but I still have some strength left, and Aragorn too. We will bear the little folk. The others no doubt will make shift to tread the path behind us. Come, Master Peregrin! I will begin with you. The Lady is waiting at the end of the path, and I do not think it fair that we make her wait for us so long."
So saying, he lifted Pippin onto his back, telling the Hobbit to cling to him because he would need his arms. Behind the two went Aragorn with Merry. They came at length to the great drift. It was flung across the mountain path like a sheer and sudden wall, and its crest, sharp as if shaped with knives, reared up more than twice the height of Boromir; but through the middle a passage had been beaten, rising and falling like a bridge.
Caelis sat on the snow on the far side, a weary smile on her face as she greeted those who had arrived. "You have made it at last, Little Masters!" she exclaimed as she slowly got to her feet, swaying a little as she did so. In moments, Legolas was at her side, steadying her.
"Be not hasty, My Lady," the Elf told her, chuckling as he supported her. "You are weary, and a little less quickness with regards to action would be beneficial to you."
"Playing healer, are you, Master Greenleaf?" Caelis asked teasingly as she reached out to take Merry and Pippin by the hand, drawing them to her side. "But you are right. In distance the journey from our camp last night to this point is relatively short, but it feels as if I have walked the whole night through."
Legolas smiled at her comfortingly. "Then rest, My Lady. Aragorn and Boromir will return soon with the others, and then we will have to continue our journey."
The Dragon Queen sighed, and nodded as she released her grip on Legolas' arm. Her feet were steady, and she did not sway anymore. "Aye, I suppose you are right."
After a while Boromir returned carrying Sam. Behind in the narrow but now well-trodden track came Gandalf, leading Bill with Gimli perched among the luggage. Last came Aragorn carrying Frodo. They passed through the lane; but hardly had Frodo touched the ground when with a deep rumble there rolled down a fall of stones and slithering snow. The spray of it half-blinded the Company as they crouched against the cliff, and when the air cleared again they saw that the path behind them was blocked.
Caelis shook her head sadly as she brushed snow off her shoulders. "That was the work of a Mountain Dragon." She closed her eyes, and clenched her fists. "By the Sentients, how many of them have been captured?! How many are suffering in the clutches of those despicable creatures?!" She whirled around, turning her back on the rest of the Company.
Frodo wished to ask her what was the matter, but Gandalf held him back. "No Frodo," the Wizard said softly as he gazed at Caelis' back. watching her shoulders shudder in a sob. "Leave her to her troubles. She does not wish to show her weakness to us, for that would break her pride, and that is a cruel thing to do to her. No need to compound more troubles on an already troubled soul."
"Does her responsibility indeed weigh that heavily on her, Gandalf?" Frodo asked softly.
"Unfortunately, it does. It is no easy thing, being the Queen of a divided and exiled nation." Gandalf raised his voice then. "Come along, we must move down the mountain as swiftly as we can. It would be very unwise to allow night to catch us upon these rocks."
Caelis' shoulders stopped shifting when she heard Gandalf's words, and she straightened up. Yet, she pulled the hood of her cloak over her head, hiding her face from the others as they trudged onwards.
As Legolas had reported, they found that the snow became steadily shallower as they went down, so that even the Hobbits could trudge along. Soon they all stood once more on the flat shelf at the head of the steep slope where they had felt the first flakes of snow the night before.
The morning was now far advanced. From the high place they looked westwards over the lower lands. Far away in the tumble of country that lay at the foot of the mountain was the dell from which they had started to climb the pass.
Frodo's legs ached. He was chilled to the bone, and hungry; and his head was dizzy as he thought of the long and painful march downhill. Black specks swam before his eyes. He rubbed them, but the black specks remained. In the distance below him, but still high above the lower foothills, dark dots were circling in the air.
"The birds again!" said Aragorn, pointing down.
"That cannot be helped now," said Gandalf. "Whether they are good or evil, or have nothing to do with us at all, we must go down at once. Not even on the knees of Caradhras will we wait for another night-fall!"
A cold wind flowed down behind them, as they turned their backs on the Redhorn Gate, and stumbled wearily down the slope. Caradhras had defeated them.
~*~*~*~
He frowned as he pulled his black cloak closer around him, trying to keep the cold at bay for as long as he could. 'That was not how it was supposed to go.' He held his left hand up in front of him, a small ball of black flame leaping to life as he did so. He muttered a few words, and waited.
A wild gust of wind blew against him, and after a while two figures appeared in front of him. One had deep gray hair, though he was not old at all, and his eyes were the same intense blue of lightning during a hot summer storm. The other had hair of a brown so dark it was almost black, and eyes light jade in hue. The former wore tattered robes of purple and cloud-gray, while the latter's robes were a stained green and gold. Both bore the iron collars that were marks of servitude to the Shadow Dragons.
Xunir, one of Ximtarien's most trusted generals, was NOT pleased.
~*You did not succeed,*~ he growled as he glared at the two prisoners in front of him. ~*I had assumed that you would be able to fulfill this very simple task.*~
The Mountain Dragon lifted his eyes, the intense green of them piercing into Xunir's own black ones. ~*Think you that I would let you get away with trying to bring this world to its knees? Is Daenova not enough for you? No, of course not. Your hearts are too black and too greedy to know the meaning of contentment.*~
Xunir's eyebrow twitched, and he lifted his finger. Immediately, the Mountain Dragon was lifted off his feet to hover around two feet off the ground, his eyes bulging as he scrabbled wildly at the collar around his neck. The iron seemed to throb, and the seal glowed coldly against it.
~*What have I told you, LORD Formiren?*~ Xunir asked, spitting out the title as he walked over to the former Lord of Urtielus. ~*Your attempts at disobedience shall not be tolerated. Rebellion would result in the loss of your life. Did I not make that clear to you before?*~
Formiren's eyes never lost the fierceness and intensity in their look, even though the iron band continued to tighten itself around his neck, squeezing all breath out of him. ~*I will never obey you. Long live the Silver Flame!*~
Xunir scowled, and waved his hand. Formiren flew over a rocky outcrop, and landed in a deep snowdrift. Moments later, his screams of agony were to be heard drifting back to Xunir and to the Storm Dragon, whose face paled as he shuddered.
~*Now then,*~ Xunir said almost casually as he turned to the Storm Dragon, ~*what to do with you? Ah.*~ As the thought occurred to him he waved his hand, causing the Storm Dragon to levitate in the same way that Formiren had moments ago, the iron band throbbing crazily with a sinister light. Xunir's hand clenched into a fist, and in a few moments, blood and gore sprayed across the snow as the Storm Dragon exploded - a result of one of the many spells that had been laid on the collar around his neck.
Xunir stepped away from the now-crimson snow, skirting the bits and pieces of body parts that stained the once-pristine powder. 'I can no longer linger here,' he thought. He turned to the south, and sighed. 'It is time I made my way back.' With that thought in mind, he closed his eyes, and, wrapping himself in a spell-cloud, took to the air, and made his way back to Isengard.
~*~*~*~
"So your slaves failed to do what you told them to?"
"Unfortunately so. They were extremely hardheaded, but I had no choice. A Mountain Dragon and a Storm Dragon were the best choices. We do not keep Flame Dragons as slaves because they are far too difficult to handle, and we usually kill them on-sight. We do not have Sea, Moon, and Star Dragons as slaves, because they either kill themselves or hide away in places we cannot reach them." Xunir the Shadow Dragon turned to face the interior of the tower. "But it is a small thing. I can easily call for more slaves if you would need them, Saruman."
Saruman, the master of Isengard, closed his eyes as he bowed his head in thought. "No Xunir, I do not think that will be necessary," he said slowly, thoughtfully.
"Really? How can you say that with such confidence?"
Saruman looked up, a cunning smile on his face. "Have I told you of Moria yet, Xunir?"
The Shadow Dragon shook his head. "I believe you have not. But what has that to do with your allowing that rag-tag band of self-styled adventurers to get away at the moment?"
"Oh, it has everything to do with those people," Saruman said. "Knowing Gandalf, he will try to lead his group through another path, now that I have closed off the Redhorn Gate to them. And there is only way to pass through the mountains at this point: the Mines of Moria.
"Long ago, Moria was a fair place, a great palace built in friendship by the Dwarves and the Elves of Eregion. But the Dwarves delved too greedily and too deep, seeking that which made them wealthy: the metal mithril, otherwise known as Moria silver and truesilver. It has the sheen of the same metal, but it never tarnishes, and is more durable than steel. In their quest for this precious metal, they awoke The Shadow and Flame - a dreaded Balrog of Morgoth.
"That is the reason why Gandalf has wished to take the Redhorn Gate, though it is a dangerous crossing in winter. He wishes to avoid going through Moria. But now it is unavoidable, and he will have to lead his group through there - even if it be at the cost of his own life."
Xunir listened intently to what Saruman had said, and nodded slowly. "Very well then, Saruman. If you desire our aid, inform me and I shall speak with Ximtarien." His flat, cold eyes gazed at the White Wizard. "I only hope that you will remember the deal that we have struck."
Saruman chuckled. "I remember it well, Xunir. Very well indeed."
~*~*~*~
Lord Formiren ~ former Lord of Urtielus; former leader of the Mountain Dragons; and Forwil's father. One of the many who were captured when Urtielus was sacked.
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