Darwatch on Mordor

Amandil and Miriel sat in a high watchpost overlooking Mordor. It was moonless night, but the light of Mount Doom's eruptions and the fires of a thousand furnaces at work below made it necessary to hide in the shadows. They had placed two more Watching Brooches, including one at their present post. Keeping vigil, they were staying put until dawn, when the Orcs would retreat underground and they could return safely. Huddled under a blanket, their mouths and ears were next to each other, so they murmured to each other softly to stay alert and awake. He said: "Are you sure we're safe here?"

"Yes. Josquil and I were watching farther down the slope two weeks ago, close to the roads. The best I can guess is one of the fell hounds caught our scent down there."

"There wasn't one with the Orcs who attacked you, and I didn't see signs of one at the pool in the pass. Perhaps Josquil was able to destroy it during this flight."

"Perhaps. Such a beast would have led them to me more quickly, and they wouldn't have sent it away."

A huge gout of flames leapt up from Mount Doom; several fell hounds bayed at the sight from a distance, and companies of Orcs chanted as the flames rose. He held her close and said: "Tell me your story, Miriel."

Miriel shook her head. "I grew up in Ithilien, before the Enemy started his great work, and when I was a maiden we had to flee across the Anduin. We huddled in the foothills between Rohan and the Great River, and in that time Brendor became my mate. There wasn't much time before fighting with the enemy crossed the River, and Brendor fell just after our daughter Mina was born. We went to Minas Tirith then, and my parents raised my daughter while I trained to take his place among the Rangers. Since then I've made my home here, on the edge of Darkness."

"Do you get news of her?"

"Sometimes. She married a warden of the Tower and they have two young ones. When the war is over, I'll visit them."

"Was Jonquil your second mate?"

"No, he wasn't. He was never attracted to women, and lived in guilt for his attraction to men. He felt strongly we needed to increase the race of Numenor, but he could never act on this ideal and it haunted him. We worked well together, but shared little time together apart from our joint patrols. His main dwelling was down near the River, and sometime soon I must go there and send his treasures to his parents in Dol Amroth. But not now, danger is too close."

"Yes, the war will come soon," he said distantly. "I felt it at the edges of the Dark Lord's thoughts last night: he wants to start soon, as soon as his troops are ready. He searches for something, and hopes to find it before he strikes."

A clashing of drums came from the plain below, and they could see a company of men march from North to South, playing the strident music of the Haradrim. Amandil shuddered as he heard it, and Miriel held him close. "Peace, my friend. If you're to be a watcher, you must control yourself."

"Yes, I know. I'll manage, I'm determined."

"I know that music's always meant danger to you, the music of ambush and slaughter. Put it aside, put it aside. It rattles me as well, but I have to think of the reason we're here. If we don't return to tell our tale, our vigil is in vain."

He nodded and they settled back into watching as well. She took his hand and squeezed it, and he kept it close to him as they shivered a little. An angry crescent moon rose above Mordor, creeping over the horizon two hours before sunrise. The Haradrim marched off to the South and their music faded into the distance. Their eyes followed them, counting the number of troops, and he murmured: "No Oliphants, must be infantry. The beasts probably wouldn't survive here; the Dark Lord will probably bring them up from the South when he attacks."

"Undoubtedly. Look at the camps around Barad-dur, they'll all Orc divisions. I've heard of men living for long periods of time around Lake Nurnen, but it would take a lot of organization to base them near the mountains. The amount of food and water they'd need to bring in would be enormous. Easier to put them outside the mountains."

"Something we'll have to look for."

Mount Doom sent another plume skyward and the foul beasts screamed their admiration. Miriel looked around and said: "By the way, are those your fingers playing with my breasts?"

There was a short pause. "Whose else would they be?"

She smiled. "I appreciate the attention, and my breasts haven't been fondled for decades, but we need to keep our attention on what's happening around us. We are doing the impossible by walking into Mordor, and to a man of one and twenty the idea of making love here may be appealing, but it's not a good idea. We can't take the chance of being captured: our friends in Ithilien would suffer. Focus, my child. Stay alert for the Enemy."

He sighed and stopped. She snuggled a little closer to him in consolation, and the night crawled onward. An hour before daybreak, clouds from the east swallowed the crippled Moon and they heard voices below. Orc voices reverberated off the stones.

"We gotta get outta here, my love. The war's comin' and we'll be marching out soon. The Eye wants the road to Osgiliath open, and we're supposed to do it."

"Yeah, Worm, we gotta go. You an' me. We find a hole and stay there until the sun dies forever."

The echoes of their motion faded down the pass below them, and Miriel stood up. Bending over, she whispered in his ear: "We've got to follow them. It's almost daybreak anyway, and it'll be safe enough to move. They aren't building a road to the hidden pass, but we've got to make sure these clowns don't find their way through by accident. Deserters have a way of going back if they think they've got something to offer."

He nodded and followed her, both of them moving as quiet as shadows. It wasn't difficult to trace them, and it took some effort not to come upon them too soon. They wanted to make their ambush in a place they felt they could win quickly without a lot of noise, particularly if it happened before sunrise.

"I'll set some illusions up on this path," he whispered in her ear.

"That will help matters if we're followed. What do you think?" An impulse took over and he kissed her ear before he pulled away.

"Focus, my friend, focus. Remember what we're here to do. Yes, I agree: if you can set up illusions to make this pass more difficult to find, the better. But won't the Dark Lord detect your magic?"

"Mithrandir taught me a special way. The illusion spell works in such a way its seem like it's a dark power spell, so almost anyone beside the Dark Riders or the Dark Lord wouldn't be able to tell its source. They'll think one of their own mages did it, and not look farther. From what we've seen, the Dark Lord has enough advantage without this pass, and he means to win the war taking the routes we expect him."

"Yes, I'm afraid you're right. The armies we've seen tonight are larger than ours. We need to be sure they don't come this way after all, though: the stakes are too high. We have to hope for a miracle, and work against a bad one."

The sky was growing faint as they came up against the fetid spring they found Josquil's body. The Orcs were pausing, resting from their walk, their armor off and they were gnawing a rubbery strip of dubious jerky. Amandil looked at Miriel, who shook her head: they didn't have a good angle of attack and the Orcs were too alert. Miriel decided that when it became light and they ducked into a cave, they could ambush them while asleep. To her surprise, she saw Amandil nodding his head.

The Orcs sat and talked. "At last we're safe, they didn't see us go. We can relax and just live."

"Yeah, and savor the finer things of life."

There was a pause, and the larger Orc put his arm around his companion's shoulder. "It's been too long, my wife, I think my dick's gonna blow apart. You gotta fuck me tonight."

"You think you're about to pop, Worm, I got it worse. All this drill, every day and every day, is driving me crazy. This is a nice place, and I can smell some fresh man meat nearby. We can hide here forever." The Orcs kissed each other passionately, with open mouths and didn't break for several moments. "Yeah, let's fuck, even if the sun comes up."

The Rangers heard a clinking and a grunt. "All right, Grizz, get started" This sent the wheels in Miriel's head spinning: if they were going to have sex right then and there, they'd be easy prey. They watched as the larger Orc started wrestling the smaller one, bearing her down and turning her around. Miriel held up her hand for her partner to wait. Amandil already had an Orc arrow nocked to his bow. The larger Orc took a glob from the pot and showed a big dollop up his wife's cunt, and followed by two more globs, working it in. His penis grew to amazing size, a foot and half long, and he stroked it, anointing it to make a slick entry. "C'mon Grizz, give it to me," Worm said. "I want it, I want your sweet meat in me."

With a lunge, the larger Orc impaled the smaller one, forcing it all the way in before rocking back and forth. An impossibly large arm reached underneath the bottom Orc, gasping his partner's groin in search of her clitoris and stroking it. The sky was starting to lighten, but the Orcs were so involved with each other they paid no attention to the approaching dawn. Amandil looked at Miriel, who seemed fascinated by what was going on, but when she broke her stare she gestured for him to wait a little longer. The Orcs continued their love making, and it seemed the larger one was getting close to finishing. When he threw back his head and howled in orgasm, two arrows went into his back and he fell over in the midst of his climax, dead before he hit the ground.

Amandil lept forward like a cat, knife out, and slit the smaller one's throat before the Orc could register what was happening to her. Rolling her over, it seemed her climax happened at the same time as her partner's, which clouded her mind and made her vulnerable.

Neither one of them were archers, so there were no arrows to salvage. After searching their packs they rolled the two bodies down a nearby ravine. Amandil was shaking from the effort, and Miriel was lost in thought, tears trailing from her eyes. "We couldn't let them live, they could have talked about the pass. They belonged to the Enemy. They were. . .so lost, so forsaken. All they wanted was a place they could be together. They were so desperate, but we had no choice." He had no choice but sit as wait as she mourned, weeping for two lovers beyond hope. In time, she recovered and they were able to resume their return journey. As daylight blossomed around them, they stopped twice for him to set up illusions to hide the trail.

Returning to her lair, she beckoned down the passage to the pool. "Go and wash yourself, get clean. I'll check the traps and see what game we have. We are safe for a while, and can rest."

He went down the passage, stripping off his gear and shivered as he entered the cold water. Homemade soap was on a ledge next to the pool, and he scrubbed himself vigorously. Sinking into the refreshing pool, he let the emotions of the killing slide from him: the Orcs had to die, but their desperation affected him and he could tell it affected her as well. It was similar to the feelings he caught from the Dark Lord: anxiety and fear, doubt and despair. Looking into a lost soul was looking down a well that sought to pull you in: it would be so easy to go over the edge.

Getting out of the pool, he returned to the main room to find it empty. A cloth hung by the passage door and he used it to dry himself; clean clothes hung in a dresser and he donned them, finding their fit perfect. She returned with two skinned rabbits and a smile several moments later, cutting them up for the pot and adding roots and herbs. "You look better clean," she said.

"Find everything all right?"

"Oh yes. Anything unusual in the woods?"

"It's quiet, like the ill will is focused elsewhere."

"That's my reading. The Dark Lord is focused North, and his creatures are resting as his gaze isn't on them."

Sitting down by a crack in the wall that served as a window, she took a large platter with a sand image on it into her lap, the sun shining off her unbound, luxurious blond hair. She wore a green blouse that exposed much of her chest and a blue skirt that wrapped around her waist several times. There was a container of colored sand, formed in a graceful pattern that invoked mystery and other emotions. Sighing, she picked up a small silver container with a delicate spigot and rubbed it with a matching stylus. A trickle of fine, red sand came down on the pattern, creating a sharp new line. "What's that?" he asked.

"A mandala. It's a hobby of mine, careful drawing with fine sand, something to remind me of beauty and my part in creation. I love working on these patterns with the wild flowers around me. Eru has created a wonderful world full of good things for us to live in, even here next to Mordor. We need to cultivate grace and beauty around us to make our home at the edge of Darkness if we aren't going to get sucked in."

He nodded and watched her. Her hands were nimble, and the image looked as if an artist painted it on canvas rather than drawn it in sand. "What do you do when you're done with it?'

"Oh, I'll spend a couple days just looking at it, imprinting the pattern in my memory. Then I have a ritual to disassemble it: all beauty is fleeting and I have no place to keep it long. I bring in flowers as well, but they fade and die. Savoring beauty while it lasts is life giving."

As she said this, her eyes sparkled. Outside the sun shone brightly, hinting at the Spring still two months distant. He sat and watched her create awesome beauty, and after a while found his voice humming with an old riding song from his distant home. A connection was made: just like the ambush on the trail, he could tell what she was thinking, see her surface emotions. The song got a little louder because he could tell she wanted to hear it, and soon the words were on his lips. A glow developed, starting with her and moving out to embrace him.

"You sing beautifully, Amandil. Do you know any other songs?"

"Yes, many. I play the harp as well, but it's back in Minas Tirith. Couldn't risk playing it here."

"Sing me another song." A spring song came to mind, and his tenor voice lilted in praise of blooming flowers and green leaves appearing on the trees. Song after song moved through him and he lost himself in his singing; she smiled and worked on her pattern. Together they spent the afternoon in beauty and peace.

At sunset, they ate and he got his basin to look around. Miriel watched him as he surveyed the pass, and no orange dot appeared to threaten him. "We're all right," he said when he emerged from his trance. "No sign of movement our direction: I think our work was enough. The Dark Lord still looks North."

"Good, then we have a rare night's peace. In a week, we should take the pass again to look closer for signs of the Enemy, but this is wonderful."

He smiled and looked at her, reaching out to touch her face. "My lady, you are beautiful."

Her face turned to accept his hand's embrace. A candle fired to life at her thought, and the light made her glow. The magnetism was irresistible, and his lips came forward to meet hers After a long kiss, she looked deep into his eyes. "I am too old for you, soldier. You are one and twenty; in the spring I will see my fourth decade."

"It doesn't matter, Miriel. You are beautiful and you have my heart. When I look at you, the pain of my past draws away. We are of the race of Numenor: youth will last longer for us than most men and women." He leaned forward to kiss her again, pulling her close and she surrendered to his embrace. "I could make my home on the edge of Darkness with you."

She shook her head, but said nothing. They pulled off each other's blouses, and kissed again, bare chest to bare chest. He turned his attention to her breasts: the nipples were incredibly huge, wider than his palm, and the nubs became rock hard with his touch. His tongue sought out her softness, running all around the edge her brown pillows, visiting the supple goodness of the center, sucking as much of the breast into his mouth as he could. Her reactions were an open book to him: she was floating on a cloud of happiness and wished it wouldn't stop.

They rolled over and she pulled down his trousers. Her hands caressed his manhood, running gently up and down his shaft, circling the tender orbs below. A drop of wetness appeared and she licked it off at once. Suddenly, his thoughts were open to her, and she sensed he wouldn't last long. He sense her intention and lay on his back ready for her. Sitting back on her legs, she unwrapped her skirt, rolling to get it off and knelt above him, naked.

Guided by instinct, his cock stood straight up and didn't need much guidance as she lowered herself onto him. She gasped as he penetrated her: a fullness she never felt before. He looked through his mind's eyes and discovered they were in a higher level of communication beyond words. A desire passed through her mind and they rolled over while still conjoined, and he took his position to thrust deeply into her, feeling her joyful response. Pacing himself, they lay together for a long time, moving as one as he penetrated her.

Soon it was time for his climax, and she rolled her hips to encourage him. Their pumping went faster and faster until they arrived at the high point of their loving together, holding each other tightly as their nectars combined.

Daylight was waning as they lay together on the bearskin in front of the fire. A look was all they needed to stand together and walk out to see the sunlight. Standing together hand in hand, naked and confident, they watched the sun as it went down over the horizon, forming the words of the Commemoration of the Lost Land in their minds.

Coming back in, he put some more wood on the fire. A fragrant branch sent a delicious perfume in the air, and they held each other on the bear skin. "I never knew this could happen," he said.

"What, finding love like this?"

"Yes, and. . ."

"Being able to read my thoughts. When was the first time?"

"During the ambush before dawn, when destroyed those Orcs fucking each other."

"I suspected as much. When you fought off the Dark Lord last night, I knew you were in a battle for your life, but when I was playing with your dick today, it hit me full force A few things go into that: Elvish blood, a sensitivity to magic, desire for each other. Can you just read my mind's surface, or does it go deeper?"

"Just the surface when emotions are high, like love or fear. It freaked me out, but it helped when I was seducing you. Every other time I tried, I had no idea what the girl was thinking, and did the wrong things at the wrong time."

She kissed him and held him close. They didn't need to talk, being able to read each other's minds, and spent the time until they feel asleep sharing their memories, experiences and fears.

They awakened together before dawn, and he settled at his basin to check his watch areas. "There's another pair of Orcs at the spring. One looks like a magician. He hasn't found my watch brooches, but he undid my illusions. They look like they're settling down in a nearby cave for the day. Used a spell to light a fire, taking a burning branch into the cave, I see which one. Looks like he's setting up wards. The other one looks malnourished, undersized, maybe a juvenile."

"You sure there's only two?" Her face was set in a frown, her brow furrowed in worry.

"Yeah, no group is following them. This one is probably acting on a hunch, doesn't want to share credit. A junior mage trying to work his way up. Doesn't know I'm watching him, so his magic is probably all battle magic."