The moon became shrouded in clouds, making Hobbiton fall into darkness. The foul stench of evil drifted like a thick smoke through the air. Mallyra’s mother fell to her knees, her screams of pain echoing around the room. By now, everyone in the Green Dragon was watching as Mallyra and Pippin tried to help her mother to her feet. As she stood, Mallyra’s mother put her hand to her chest.
‘RA! IT HURTS SO MUCH!’ she yelled, tears streaming down her burning cheeks. Mallyra went to touch the area she was pointing to,
"OUCH!" Mallyra yelped, pulling her hand back, it burned.
Suddenly, Mallyra’s mother shoved her and Pippin to the side, both of them falling to the floor. A small light appeared in the diamond that hung around her neck. With a burst of light, flames began to emerge from her mother’s chest. Mallyra watched in horror, as talons of flame rose out of her mother. People screamed and ran out of the pub, causing chaos. Small children that had lost their mothers, began to cry. Mallyra glanced around at Pippin, who had his eyes fixed upon her mother. He turned to look back at Mallyra, she had a small tear rolling down her cheek. Heart beat growing faster, Pippin crawled across the floor and helped Mallyra to her feet.
"What’s happening?" she cried, as she watched her mother get shrouded in flames. Pippin tried to pull Mallyra away from the heat, but she refused to move. Mallyra’s mother closed her eyes, and the flames that surrounded her, turned black. The scaled hand rose up into the air, knife like claws outstretched. Mallyra held her breath.
"Mum!" She gasped, watching with open eyes. The talons plummeted towards her mother again, grasping the diamond, and pulling it into her chest. It melted right through her skin, completely disappearing in the blink of an eye. Another flame sparked, and then the fire was drawn back into Mallyra’s mother, who was knelt breathlessly in the centre of the room.
The room fell silent. The only hobbit’s that remained inside the green dragon were Ra, Pippin, Sam, Merry and Frodo. Mallyra’s mother fell a little more, still clutching her chest. Mallyra ran to her side, tears streaming down her pale face.
‘MUM! MUM!’ she shook her mother violently by the shoulders, but her eyes stayed firmly closed. Pippin crouched down next to her, feeling for a pulse. He breathed a sigh of relief,
"she’s alive Ra," He said, as he watched her collapsed onto her mother’s shoulder. Sam, Frodo Merry, Pippin and Mallyra were now the only ones left in the Green Dragon. The door hung open loosely, blowing in the calming winds. Pippin stood up and walked over to his friends, who had stepped out of teh shadows a little more,
"She’s okay... I think. Well, she’s breathing," He said quietly, glancing back towards Mallyra. Frodo nodded slightly, as did Merry, but Sam shuffled over to where Mallyra was crouched, holding her mother hand.
"Do you want any help? We could move her? It’s not really ‘secretive’ here," he said gently, peering cautiously at her. Mallyra looked up at him, her eyes red with tears.
"y-yeah... ok,"she stuttered, nodding slowly. Sam held Mallyra’s mother upright, as Merry put his arm around her shoulder. Then, he and Merry carried her up to Mallyra’s house, Frodo, Pippin and Mallyra slowly walking behind them.
"It's all my fault.. It's all my fault!" Mallyra sighed, covering her face with one hand. Pippin glanced at her, before placing an arm around her shoulder.
"It's not Ra.. It's nobody's fault.." He whispered to her, attempting to comfort his distressed friend. Mallyra pushed opened her front door, and lead Sam and Merry through to her mother’s room. They laid her mother down on her bed before Mallyra tucked her in, gently kissing her on the forehead. Her mother’s eyes suddenly flashed open, making Mallyra fall backwards onto her knees. Her mothers eyes were still black, no life filled them, and her skin was almost white.
"Mum? Can you hear me?" Mallyra asked, waving her hand in front of her mother’s face. Nothing. Mallyra sighed heavily, and jumped when she heard a noise behind her, quickly turning to see Pippin stood in the doorway.
"oh... it’s only you," she sighed again, looking back towards her mother.
"well that was a nice welcome wasn’t it?" he chuckled, walking up to her, and crouching by her side.
"sorry... I didn’t mean it like that.. I thought you were my dad," Mallyra admitted, before she reached over and brushed the hair out of her Mother’s face. She looked down to the spot where the necklace would have hung, in its place, a black marking of a tear. Pippin pulled up a seat next to Mallyra, who was still looking at the mysterious mark.
"What are you doing?" he asked, standing up and peering over her shoulder. Mallyra was thinking, she’d seen the mark before. Only slightly, but she did recognise it. Quickly, she sat down, thinking again. where had she seen it before?
Her train of thought was stopped by Pippin, as he placed his hand on hers, concerned. "It’s going to be ok Ra, I promise," He said quietly, Mallyra looked glanced across at him, shaking her head.
"it’s all my fault. It was that necklace I gave her... How could I be so stupid?!’ She smacked her hand to her forehead, and sighed loudly.
"hey, everyone makes mistakes," he smiled again attempting to reassure her. Mallyra smirked at him slightly.
"some bigger than others... thanks for everything Pippin," she said quietly. Pippin smiled back, rubbing his hand across hers a little.
"That’s what friends ar-" Mallyra shot up half way through his words.
"GOT IT!" she exclaimed, causing Pippin to fall back a little. Mallyra ran through the door and through to her Dining room where Frodo, Merry and Sam where sat.
"Is your mum okay?" Merry asked. Mallyra ignored him, and continued to look and fumble around,
"are you.. okay?’ Frodo asked, confused. Mallyra continued to look through cupboards and draws, until she found what she was looking for.
"Here it is!" Mallyra breathed, holding up a book. The same book she had been reading earlier. She charged back into her mums room, the book still in her hand. Merry, Frodo and Sam all followed her with their eyes, trying to figure out what was going on, and then stood up and paced after. Mallyra sat down next to Pippin and flicked through the pages of the book, scanning her eyes as quickly as she could. Eventually, she got to the page about Etani. She flicked to the next page, and she saw it. The same marking. Mallyra fell speechless, and Pippin began to read the page aloud.
"The dark spirit of Etani was named Vasuka. It evil was ensnared inside the single tear that any dragon has ever cried. Etani's tear. The tear was taken into a cave, in the most in unlikely of places. The tear is guarded by a foul beast, from the very depths of Mordor. Never to be seen again. They say If the tear removed, it will seek out a host for Vasuka's soul to inhabit." Mallyra felt a lump form in her throat, as she heard those last words. Her mother was being taken over by a black dragon, and it was all her fault. Pippin swallowed hard, before reading out a caption that was under the image of the marking,
"This marking shows the presence of Vasuka... only white Wizards and Etani himself can save any soul under it's control." An awful silence fell over the room. Nobody knew what to say, until Merry sneezed loudly.
"Bless you," they all chorused quietly, Merry stood there awkwardly, smiling slightly at Pippin. He was trying to comfort Mallyra, who was sat, her head in her hands, everything rushing through her head. The world fell quiet around her as she closed her eyes. Nothing made sense to her, what was she to do? Mallyra sat quietly for a few more moments, until an idea wormed its way into her mind. She had one option. Mallyra had to find Etani. She stood up slowly, not saying a word to anybody, and walked out of her mother’s room. Pippin still had the book in his hands, staring down at the pages.
"so... her mum’s turning into an evil dragon that’s going to kill us all and take over Middle Earth... Can we sort this out?" Merry asked folding his arms across his chest, as he looked out the window. Frodo coughed, looking across at Pippin, who hadn’t heard what Merry had said.
"Pippin?" he repeated, concern filling his voice as he tilted his head to one side.
"I know what she’s going to do..." Pippin trailed, glancing up at his friends. The three other hobbits looked back at him, confused.
"Who’s she, Pippin?" Sam asked, shuffling forward a little. Pippin stood up and walked over to the door. He then turned and looked at them all again,
Pippin took a sharp breath, "Ra’s going to try and find that dragon, and we’ve got to stop her."