All of Greenwood was in panic. The ground was literally falling away under their feets and while most tried to run from it, it was inevitable. Sooner or later, most of them would disappear in the void beneath them.
~*~*~*~*~
Varonwe was running behind Victoria who was skillfully jumping over some endless cracks in the forest ground. "Where must we go?" she asked out of breath, meanwhile glancing over her shoulder. They couldn't keep running forever.
Varonwe surveyed the area around him. He tried as best as he could to ignore the screams of terror that occasionally reached his ears. This was a dark day for all of Middle Earth. So much loss and they couldn't even fight it off. There was no death as pointless as this. Varonwe wondered how far the power of Ummamrod reached. There had to be some restriction to it, right? Then all they had do to for now was to reach the boundary. He tried to think as Ummamrod; Thranduil had known about the creature so Ummamrod was angry at him. It would want to see Greenwood fall first. They had to leave the forest as quickly as possible.
"To the river," he answered her. The river would lead them straight out of Greenwood. Maybe they could actually make it. It wasn't far.
"I do not know how to get there from-," her sentence was cut short when the ground under her feet fell away. Time seemed to slow down as Varonwe jumped forward in an attempt to grab her hand. His right hand reached for Victoria's while his left hand clasped around a twig from a still standing tree next to him. His fingers missed hers with only a few inches apart. His heart skipped a beat and Victoria's scream in agony was all that rang through his mind.
He had been too slow.
~*~*~*~*~
"Get up," Narsil demanded as she ran towards Aragorn and Arwen. Caladhiel, Elrohir and Elladan were right behind her. The ground rolled and twisted, and even got the Elves almost out of balance. They couldn't stay here. They had to run for their lives. Arwen en Narsil helped Aragorn to get back on his feet.
Amarië appeared out of the shadows of the trees behind them and ran towards her human best friend. Ayleen was still exhausted from the fight with the gigantic monsters but did what Narsil said as well. With the help of Am she managed to stay on her feet. She glanced over shoulder, pondering about the question of the Elven King's Hall would be safe, but massive cracks appeared in it and one side already started to sag. It wouldn't take long before it would've been completely collapsed.
Arwen supported Aragorn as his back was sore from the smack he had made.
Eight started to run, but only six survived. Aragorn and Elrohir both lost a part of their heart that day. An empty space that no one ever could fill. If they both hadn't had an elleth to comfort them during their almost unbearable loss, who knows what would've become of them. However, Amarië would never be the same. The terrified look on Ayleen's face was all she would see during her dreams at night. It would haunt her forever and would continue to break her heart over and over again.
So much pointless deaths.
~*~*~*~*~
Thranduil had grabbed his sons when the face in the sky had disappeared. He didn't have to wait and see to know that this was a bad sign. Ummamrod cared only for one thing; revenge.
"Let's go," he shouted, dragging the princes with him.
Legolas tried to protest as Livianna didn't noticed anything. She just stared at the sky with her sister Norin. Thranduil however was stronger than his son and Legolas' protests got silenced when the ground started to shake. Huge gaps and cracks appeared all around them and agonizing screams filled the night sky.
He had to save them!
Legolas glanced over his shoulder but Livianna and Norin were nowhere to be seen. Tears sprang in his eyes and numb he followed his father.
~*~*~*~*~
Norin had tried to save her sister. She really had tried but it had been too unexpected. Even though they had been holding hands a few moments before, Norin had not managed to keep a hold of her sister. Who did something like that?
Fury filled her heart. She was angry at herself for failing. For not trying hard enough. It was her fault her sister would never get married to Legolas.
Flames surrounded her as her powers could no longer be controlled because of her anger. It consumed everything around her that Ummamrod hadn't destroyed yet. Norin let out a furious scream and fixated her powers downwards. The fire streamed out of her hands and she used the power to soar up in the air. She would destroy that Ummamrod even it would be the last thing she did.
Norin would be ready for him when he would show his face again. He would feel her wraith.
~*~*~*~*~
The hobbits tried to run for their lives of course, but their small legs couldn't carry them fast enough or over the great gaps. Merry, Pippin and Esmerelda all fell in the nothingness that lay below them. They would never see the daylight again.
If only they had stayed in the Shire.
If only the Dúnedain had done as they had said several weeks ago. But they had failed to protect them. It would remind them once more not to make promises you cannot keep.
~*~*~*~*~
The Shade Caligo couldn't believe his eyes. His legion of Urgals wiped away, in a blink of an eye. Ummamrod was a madman. If he even was a man at all. Caligo felt betrayed and it stung him deep within his soul.
Ummamrod did not deserve to destroy this world. He was a liar and a traitor. This world should be ruled over but now, Caligo finally understood that was not Ummamrod's intention. Then, Caligo should stop him and after that, he would conquer this Middle Earth. The inhabitants would thank him and when he had won their trust, he would use it to make it their master.
Caligo was shortminded and blinded by all the spirits inside him. He didn't realise he would do the same to them as Ummamrod had done to him. He would betray Middle Earth.
In the corner of his eye, Caligo saw fire and when he turned his head you could say he was very surprised to see a person using the fire shooting out of her hands to soar up in the air. An idea came to his mind and he flew towards the other person. Her eyes were red as fire and her black hair swirled around her pale face. She looked as if she was the godess of Fire itself. He thought she looked oddly familiar and that's when it hit him; she had been with the company that guided him towards this forest. What was her name... Norin?
Yes. Norin. That was her name. Caligo never could have imagined the fragile looking girl could've hold so much power.
Norin, however, recognised Caligo as well even though his appearance had changed a bit. Her eyes were literally spitting fire and Caligo darted out of the way to avoid being scorched by the flames.
"You!" she screamed and another heatwave was send in his direction. They had helped him, he had suddenly disappeared and now he was suddenly flying in the air?! He was bad news, Norin was sure of it.
"Wait, wait!" Caligo begged, though his tone was not very pleadingly. It more sounded like a demand, but still, Norin paused for a moment. After all, Norin had only known him as Cal; she didn't know what he had got to do with all this. Not exactly at least. She had her suspicion, yes, but didn't know he had freed Ummamrod from his prison.
"We can defeat him." Caligo said straight to the point before the fire Elf would decide to burn him to ashes. "Together. If I lure him back out here, we have to unleash all of our powers at him. It would destroy him."
Norin slightly tilted her head. She didn't know if she could trust him. She didn't even know who he was, in fact. For a moment, she closed her eyes and Livianna's face appeared in front of her. A tear escaped from her eyes. Norin promised she would destroy Ummamrod even it would be the last thing she would do. It did not matter how she would do it, though.
Slowly, she opened her eyes again and nodded. But, if Cal would betray her, Norin would take him with her in her fall. That was also a promise.
~*~*~*~*~
A/N: One chapter left! (Possibly two.)
This was a very hard chapter to write, tbh. I killed quite a lot of characters. Sorry if I killed yours, but it was not all in vain! Their deaths serve a higher purpose. :)