The Pentagrid Net

[Mathron]

Sandor says cautiously, "Your men should be more than able, I think, to deal with the orcs we are hunting - but have them keep wary for other dangers, especially close to the forest. Their is a strange scent about the place, and I trust it not."

[Lief Erikson]

Erenfor agreed, for he knew that trees could easily be dangerous at times. He had found that out when he saw the trees that lived arount Tom Bombadil's house, when he had gone there long ago. The others had all spoke about going toward the Pentagrid forest as well to satisfy some strange urge.

Shayn arrived within the troops in the space of time Erenor had asked for them.

Erenfor looked at the assembled men and quickly organized a few scouts to scan the territory ahead of them as the force came. Then they began a hard, fast paced ride towards the Pentagrid.





BÃ*renath turned his head swiftly to the left as he heard a crackling in the brush in that direction. Swiftly he ducked down behind a bush, Turion right behind him.

The movement came closer and both had reached for their swords when a man came out from the bushes. He wore a tattered gray cloak and clutched a staff in one hand.

BÃ*renath rose, drawing his sword as he came up. "Who are you?" he demanded. "And what is your business at the Pentagrid Forest?"

But a voice spoke from behind him a second later and he felt a blade's steel against his neck. "Is that any way to greet friends?" it asked in wry amusement.

He turned and Tessar put up his blade, still smiling.

The old man stepped towards him and extended a hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Colmade and I need your help . . ."

[Arat-Falathion]

"...o'key... ..." BÃ*renath hesitated. Slythre came riding over at her horse. "Tessar! Finally! We've been looking for you." She smiled down at the dwarf, sitting on her horse. "I see you have made a new friend." Slythre turned to Colmade. "Who are you old man, and what is your buissness in these parts?" Colmade bowed and said. "I am Colmade and I live in these parts, watching over the Pentagrid forest. Orcs however are giving me a hard time these days, and I need help to save what I have been set to protect."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Falathion

[Mathron]

Harnauro rode upon the horse reluctantly, and the horse obviously felt the same - yet though uneasy beneath him, it followed his direction.

He rode in silence for a time, but eventually pulled up his horse beside Erenfor. Erenfor glanced at him, and at first Harnauro said nothing. Eventually, he spoke.

"We shall be working together in this, and fighting aside one another. I think it may be time for us to settle past differences, while battle still lies ahead of us, and not behind."

[Lief Erikson]

[Lief Erikson]

"In that case," answered Erenfor, looking at Harnauro sharply, "there are a few things you must explain to me if you want to begin to gain my trust."

"These questions," Harnauro asked slowly, "they relate to my past?"

"Mostly," Erenfor answered. He could see that this was difficult for the other man, but he couldn't bring himself to trust him without a thorough explanation. "Are you willing to answer?"

Harnauro hesitated, but finally nodded, so Erenfor asked his first. "Why did you join Morgoth in the first place?"





Slythre considered what Colmade said for only a moment before responding. "Our concern is not with the forest, but with the orcs. However, if your goal is to fight them then perhaps we can work together. Right now I am scouting for General Erenfor. He will be here in a few hours with a force of troops and will deal with the orcs."

Colmade glanced at the darkening sky above briefly before turning a slightly pale face toward Slythre. He spoke calmly, but with an excited energy of need. "I understand your position. But you have not heard what I have to say. A few hours will be too late if those orcs go unhindered, for as soon as nightfall comes they will penetrate the forest and take what they want."

"You mean they came here for the forest?" Slythre asked in a puzzled, disbelieving voice.

Colmade caught the tone. "I have guarded this forest for many years and its contents. There is a tower deep within the forest and within that tower is a power which the enemy will be overjoyed to possess. Indeed, it would bring them a serious step closer to dominating the free peoples of the world."

"What are you talking about?" Slythre asked sharply, but at least now she was paying attention.

So Colmade told her and her comrades, as quickly as he could the situation. He didn't go into the detail he had with Tessar, but Slythre caught the general gist of it. He also described to her the way into the forest and its location.

"So basically what you want us to do is guard the wood for you until Erenfor arrives?" she asked when he finished. "That is why you called Irid, Tessar and Kaytrien all to the wood, so that they could help you."

"My power is dwindling," Colmade told her, "and I needed help. I am becoming too old to continue the struggle on my own, and now Sauron's power is waxing greater than ever before. This orc band, it won't be the last attempt if it fails. Some sort of a permanent solution must be found."

"Destroy the books."

Colmade's breath caught in his throat and for a moment he was lost for words. "Destroy those books?" he asked, his voice high pitched in incredulity. "They are priceless! They are the only written works in all Middle Earth that contain the secret writings of the Istari!"

"Better that than them being seized by Sauron," Slythre said flatly.

"I will only be willing to let that happen in the utmost extremity," Colmade answered.

"Fine. Well we have to find these orcs. You and Tessar should be able to guard for while waiting. Nightfall is still about an hour away, so we have some time."

"Will you meet me at the pass through the Pentagrid Forest when you are done?" Colmade demanded to know.

"We'll try," Slythre said after a moment, "but I can't make any promises."

"Then I'll have to see what other help I can scrounge from these hills for while waiting," Colmade said. "Arat-Lumenion might help me, and there might be one or two of the trees who are enough themselves to respond to what I ask of them without simply trying to chop me down."

[Arat-Falathion]

"Arat-Lumënion?" BÃ*renath asked, breaking into their conversation. "You know my brother? He is alive?"

[Mathron]

"When first I started working as a Mercenary," Harnauro began, "I did not work for Morgoth. In those times, just before he truly gathered his might, he was merely a dark name, a legendary figure whose evil lurked in the north. The goblins and warbands that roamed... they were evil we could see and feel... and kill. Morgoth was just a name."

He trails off, and looks away, pain and anger warring for control of his features - and exhaustion winning in the end, as sorrow and weariness settle over his face like a cloud.

"For a while, I served the village I had grown up in. I was born to fight. To kill. Born under a dark omen in a grim sky, with a fate laid upon me from that day onward. I battled goblins and their kin for years, until there were too many to fight."

His voice is soft, almost a whisper, and yet it carries to Erenfor's ears over the howl of the wind streaming past the riders.

"A figure came to me. I did not know him. He knew me - I had gained a reputation as a warrior and a leader of men, a captain in battle without par. He offered me a choice - fall to the orc armies, or give my service to him. In return, he would ensure the orcs left my family and friends alone."

He grinned, bitterly, fiercely, and his teeth flashed white in the sunlight.

"I learned later who he truly was." The next words come out in a growl, a feral snarl. "His evil still lurks the land these days, and lingers like a sickness on all goodly folk!"

His breathing slowly calms, and he continues in a slightly less strained voice.

"I served Sauron for years, and my people were spared. Yet the darkness through the lands manifested in many more ways than mere goblins, and there lot was not a happy one... yet that is not the story I tell. I served Sauron, and my heart grew colder. Once one finds oneself bound into evil, it is hard to believe redemption possible. The deeds I did then still haunt me to this day."

"In the end, my dark fate still caught up with me, though I turned against the darkness I served. My lot with them had never been a happy one, and I was surprised at the ease at which I broke free - though the taint left upon me still remains."

He turns, and sends a level gaze towards Erenfor. "Does that answer your question?"

[Lief Erikson]

Erenfor turned his head toward the wood again. This did indeed answer his question, and the others that he had were made somehow trivial now by comparison.

"So how did you meet Slythre?" he asked, on a lighter tone. "And what have you done with yourself since you left Morgoth's service?"




Colmade shifted his gaze to BÃ*renath. "Your brother, eh?" he asked in mild surprise. "So that's why you've shown up in the Pentagrid?

"I see," he pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Yes, he's alive and well, if we're talking about the same Arat-Lumenion. Which I expect we are," he said, looking at BÃ*renath's face more closely. "There's a resemblence between the two of you. Well! While Slythre and her comrades go ahead and seek out the orcs, what do you say you and I hunt up Arat-Lumenion and the few trees who will be willing to join us? On the way, I'd be interested in hearing your story, young man. As much of it as you're willing to tell, at any rate."

[Mathron]

"Since then," says Harnauro, "I have suffered, and travelled, beneath a dark curse. Sauron's revenge against my betrayal. I have spent many centuries alone, in dark woods and wilderness, and only in recent years have I come forth - scenting the growing darkness. I met Slythre in a struggle against a dark demon in the north, now destroyed. We travelled for a time, clearing some of the evils throughout the land - though far too few, and none of them the darkness in the east."

He turns, and directs a frank look towards Erenfor. "Few know my full story. You are now one of them. I am still determined to repent for my sins of the past, especially against you. In this mission, my strength shall stand by your side against your foes."

[Mathron]

The forest was quiet, and Mal liked it that way. He enjoyed the silence, and blended with it.

He shied away from the boundary, as he sensed it close by. Circling around, and in the other direction, he came across something else - orc tracks. It would be simplicity itself to track them back to their base...

[Lief Erikson]

Erenfor finally turned back toward Harnauro again, his expression grave. "I cannot accept the service of Sandor, for his deeds are too black to be tolerated within my company."

Harnauro's heart clenched tightly and he turned his head away in sorrow.

"However," Erenfor continued, "I accept willingly the service of Harnauro. My heart tells me that you speak the truth and are worthy of respect, even honor. For most in your position would have remained loyal to the dark lord, not out of loyalty but simply out of fear; terror of his revenge. But you stood up to him and his revenge has been taken out upon you in hate. He has done his worst, yet you have come out the stronger.

"Join me," Erenfor said, extending a hand across the saddle of his horse to the other man. "It will be an honor to ride with you, Harnauro."

[Mathron]

Harnauro grins fiercely, teeth flashing pearl white in the darkening light, and he clenches Erenfor's hand tightly.

"Then let us ride, indeed, and we shall reach our comrades afore the sky turns dark!"

[Arat-Falathion]

"Alright" BÃ*renath said with a nod, comfirming his agreement.
"And I will have to come with you!" Turion said, "you still owe me that money, Arat-BÃ*renath."
"No," Colmade said. "You'd better stay with Slythre and the rest. They need all the help they can get fighting those orcs, and we will come back and join you in the battle!" Turion stood still looking unwillingly up at the old man. "... ... very well. We shall deal with my money later then." "Very well," Slythre said. "Go fast, as I have a feeling we'll need your help in this battle. May the Valar be with you!" Colmade glanced up at Slythre. "May the Valar be with you too. Goodby, until our next meeting."

And so their paths splitted and Colmade and BÃ*renath walked away into the bushes and dissapeared...

--------------------------------------------------------
- Falathion

[Lief Erikson]

Colmade moved at a quick pace for such an old man, BÃ*renath noted, but it was plainly simply the urgency of the errand that drove him so. He knew where he was going, though.

"I've already been to my brother's house," BÃ*renath told him as they continued. "He wasn't there."

"We're not going there," Colmade answered coolly. The urgency of the errand however could not get the better of his curiosity. "So, you're one of the few of this company who have a real reason for coming here? Why have you been seeking out Lumenion?"

[Arat-Falathion]

"As a promise made between brothers in those days when we were still too young to understand which comitments and loss it would forge, we promised to help each other, when one was in danger. This was in the time when my brother fell in love with Eänel, who had her whole family here in Middle Earth. After a few years they desided to leave the Blessed Realms for a life in Middle Earth. Eänel had told Lümenion of all the different creatures living here, and his heart acked to leave and meet his wife's family." BÃ*renath sighted and shoock his head. "I had three sons, and I brought two with me to these dark lands. They were both killed by an orcambush, and I hardly escaped myself." Tears filled BÃ*renaths eyes as he remembered his past family. "My brother is the only one I have left now, and I must seek him, and I must find him, for I shall stand by his side in the fight against Sauron, the dark lord."

----------------------------------
- Falathion

[Mathron]

Slythre stopped in her path, and the others with her froze, glancing about for whatever had alerted her.

Mal dropped from the trees ahead of them, dropping into a crouch, one hand balancing against the ground. He rose slowly, and then leaned against a tree, smirking, as the others calmed, recognizing him.

"You seem pleased with yourself," said Slythre, the only one not startled by his appearance. "I take it you've had success?"

Malagar swept one hand before him in wide bow, and said, "Most certainly I did! The orcs seem to have massed on the outskirts of the wood, and I counted some ten-score of them. They rest now, during the day, and will likely take action during the darkness of the night, though I know not what that action may be."

[Lief Erikson]

"We have discovered one possibility while you were away," Slythre told him. "While you were scouting out the enemy a wizard of the name Colmade approached us to get our help. He apparently lives in these parts and is worried about the orcs too, though for a different reason. He told BÃ*renath that he knows where his brother is, and they have gone to find him and get his help.

"The old man claims that the orcs are planning to make a foray through a secret path of safety in the wood to find certain books of magic spells in a tower at the forest's heart. He says that he and other Istari woke the trees years ago and set them as guards for the tower. There is also a strange magical defense on the forest called the Pentagrid Net, and Colmade has been supporting it for years. He is weakening and the enemy growing more determined, so he called out for the help of certain people in the world. That is why others were summoned here, not knowing what their calling to this wood was. Kaytrien, Irid and Tessar were these people, apparently. And we are here too."

"Well regardless as to whether this is true or not," Mal said, "these people may be helpful when it comes to a fight with the orcs, as it is sure to."

"I agree."

"So what do we do now?" Kaytrien asked.

"Probably find out if Colmade is right," Slythre answered. "We go and watch their camp. When darkness comes, if Erenfor hasn't arrived yet, we track them to their destination and try to impede their progress if their intent really is to go for the forest."





Colmade turned his head toward BÃ*renath as they continued. "Well, that will likely be soon. We've almost reached the place where he's just about sure to be. A place in these woods which he frequents. I don't know why he does, but if he's not at his house or at my place, that's generally where he is."

"Have you known him long?"

"Several years, yes. He's been a good friend."

They drifted into silence after that, and Colmade sensed that BÃ*renath's was a quiet of expectancy. There was excitement in him too, and anticipation.

Then they stepped out of the trees into a grove. Violet flowers covered the ground at the far end and there were thorn bushes near them. The ground was covered with soft green moss, and at the far end of the grove a man sat at his ease, staring off into space in quiet contemplation.

[Mathron]

"The shouldn't be far from here," said Harnauro as they entered the outskirts of the woods. Erenfor's men started to patrol, while Harnauro glanced around for tracks.

Erenfor signalled for his men to keep as quiet as they could - they didn't want to give away too much of their presence should their be any orcs in the woods. As well, since there were several others who had joined Malagar and Slythre, Erenfor had no desire to startle them with his forces.

---

Slythre and Malagar heard the distant sounds rustling through the forest at the same time, and exchanged a glance.

"Orcs?" asked Kaytrien, and the others tensed before Mal shook his head.

"I think the cavalry has arrived..."

[Lief Erikson]

Three riders rode swiftly out of the trees ahead of them and reined their horses to a stop. One of them nudged the sides of his horse lightly with his spurs and came toward them. He raised a hand in greeting.

"Slythre, my name is Jiyar. We have been sent out by General Erenfor."

"I know," she answered briefly. "Scouts?"

"Yes. The others are no more than a half hour behind us. We're naturally delighted to find you all safe. Aveth here will take the news back to General Erenfor. Will you wait here, or be going somewhere else?"

"We're going to be watching the orc camp."

"Ah yes," he answered, nodding and giving a smile. "We are keeping a close watch out for them. It would be very helpful if you were to tell us precisely where they are."

"Mal?" Slythre asked, turning to him.

He outlined the position as best he could, though it was difficult to explain without simply showing. Jiyar seemed to understand, though.

"Thank-you. Aveth, you got all that?"

"Yes."

"Then take that information back to the General as well.

"I suppose I'll stay with you for the time being," Jiyar continued, turning back to the group. "To get a closer look at the enemy camp, and another blade might end up being of some use. If General Erenfor doesn't get here first, that is," he continued with another small smile.

"I expect he will," Slythre answered. "It's still an hour before dark. Well, come along if you're joining us."

As he urged his horse forward to join theirs, Aveth turned his horse and rode back to camp. The third man continued into the trees on his scouting run, watching the undergrowth around himself closely for concealed enemies.





Galkier grimaced at the report which had just come in and savagely kicked the orc scout away. So Erenfor was on his way? The blasted elf was quick on the uptake, then. His orcs had killed a scout in the woods, and it was plainly a man coming before a force of troops, scouting out the surrounding brush.

Then . . . Galkier looked up at the sky and snarled angrily. If they wanted to reach the tower in the forest before Erenfor found them, they had to move fast. Which meant starting out even before sunset.

He gave the order, but one of his lieutenants simply groaned, squinted up at the sky and made a spiteful remark.

Furiously, Galkier drew his sword and gave the lieutenant a swift cut across the back. Yelping, the lieutenant jumped away, raising both hands for mercy. The other lieutenants got to their feet quickly, ready to serve.

"You heard me! Get out and gather the troops! You have two minutes! If my force isn't ready by then a few of your heads will roll for it!"