Summary: Gondor in the 4th Age. The Queen has been poisoned, and the King would do anything to save her. Will that be enough? And what about Sauron after the loss of his Ring? As the line between friends and enemies blurrs, Aragorn finds himself in a difficult situation.
A/N: This story was written for B2MeM 2012: "Bingo Baggins' Bingo Bash" organized by Silmarillion Writers' Guild. The bingo cards had thematic prompts on them, and you could claim as many as you wanted. Obviously, I claimed too many… (but they were so interesting!) And not only did I do that, but decided to write one continuous story with them as well! I didn't write it chronologically though, just added the prompts to the place where they fitted in the story, writing all chapters simultaneously. If the story seems strange to you, that might be the reason. I tried to edit it after the end of B2MeM. The state it is now is not as good as it could be, but it would need more time and effort to improve it, and I would like to bring this endeavour to closure already, so I'm going to post it at it is. It is not beta-ed for the same reason, as I'm not sure it's worth bothering my beta because of it.
I'll list the cards here, because they are a reason this story turned out as it did. Many times I already forgot which prompt on which card made me write something, so I was afraid to delete anything in case it was some prompt that I've already claimed. While reading, there will be chapters that you can miss without missing the plot. I will mark those chapters so you know which ones they are. Most of the chapters are short, but there are many of them, so I'll try to post one chapter a day when I'm able to.
Here's a list of the cards that can be found in this story:
Adûnaic
All Creatures, Foul and Fair
All OCs, All the Time
Artifacts and Weapons
Art Supplies
Aspects of Aragorn
Beasts
Book Title
Botany
Canon Couples
Colors
Deep Thoughts
Dwarves of the First Age
Elven Realms
Emotions
Evil Villians and Monsters
Facets of Faramir
Favorite Couples
Fëanátics!
Festivals and Celebrations
Finrod: The Quarter-Blood Prince
First Lines
Five Books, Five Characters
Food and Drink of Middle-earth
Forth Eorlingas!
Four Words (drabble)
Geography of The Silmarillion
Gondorian History
Here We Come A-Caroling
Horror
Hurt/Comfort
Injuries and Other Ailments
Landscape
Languages of Arda
Last Lines
Life Events
Love in Middle-earth
Magic and Real
March 3019, T.A.
Off the Map's Edge
Of The Sea
Powers and Underpowers
Powers of the World
Quenya and Sindarin
Rangers of the North
Rare Characters
Relationship
Riddle Me Writerly
Roles and Names of Aragorn
Second Age
Silmarillion Fanon
Smells
Snippets of Verse
Song Lyrics
Sons of Fëanor
The Steward and His Sons
Stewards Of Gondor
Talents and Skills
Textures
This Means War!
Tolkien's Trees
Waters
Weapons and Warfare
Weather
Winter Wonderland
Women of Arda
Women of The Silmarillion
Write What You Know
B2MeM 2012: A Spirit in Shadows
If it is destroyed, then he will fall; and his fall will be so low that none can foresee his arising ever again. For he will lose the best part of the strength that was native to him in his beginning, and all that was made or begun with that power will crumble, and he will be maimed for ever, becoming a mere spirit of malice that gnaws itself in the shadows, but cannot again grow or take shape.
-J. R. R. Tolkien : the Return of the King
1. The Shadow
In the Dwarven kingdom of Erebor, statues of ancestors looked down upon the living, reminding them on their history carved in stone. There were Thorin Oakenshield and his sister Dís. After the death of her sons Fili and Kili and her husband she married Dáin II, the father of Thorin III - father of the Dwarf that was looking at the statues now: the pictures of both his ancestors and descendants.
Sauron was there.
He had no form and no shape, no power to do anything, but even so, he could feel the eyes of the young Dwarf piercing him. He was a youngling, just staring to grow a beard, but in his eyes Sauron could see the knowledge of ages. A circlet wrought of mithril was upon his brow, and Sauron knew that it was the same one the dwarf made himself of the first mithril mined from Khazad Dûm in one of his previous lives.
"Aulendil…" Durin the Deathless said quietly, in a tone that was almost inviting. Sauron wanted to flee from that look, to hide in the darkness… but he stayed. The Dwarf before him was the son of Thorin III Stonehelm, who ruled Erebor after his father Dáin was killed during the War of the Ring – his Ring… But the thought of the Ring was fleeing, and did not torment him anymore like it used to before.
"I remember you…" the Dwarf smiled slightly, but there was no joy in that smile. "You were at Mahal's side when he taught us to speak, in the time when we were only his children."
The memory of that time was bitter and painful now, but still he welcomed it, driven to it like a moth to a flame. Aulë's wish for his own children did not go with Ilúvatar's plans, just like his own wish for order. Cursed creations, that had to be destroyed - and yet Ilúvatar took pity of them, and gave them their own will and place in the tales of Arda. But he did not take pity of him…
"I remember you…" Durin VII repeated, and now his voice sounded dark and merciless as it echoed in the carved halls. "You captured and killed Felagund, the Hewer of Caves. All hammers went quiet in that moment, and all forges cold."
Sauron shivered, remembering Finrod as their Songs fought each other, the light of the Two Trees in his eyes and firm determination in his face… and the same face pale and worn out as the Orcs dragged him away from Sauron's throne, unconscious. They were not gentle with the King of Nargorthrond, the friend of Men and Dwarves – they were dragging him by his hair, leaving a bloody trace on the floor…
"If you came her seeking forgiveness, Aulendil, I am not the one who can give it," Durin continued coldly, but there was a hint of sympathy in his voice.
Sauron though about his words, even as he fled from the Dwarven halls, wondering why he even went there and what did he hope to find.