Don Sample
2006-05-05 02:13:24 UTC
Part X: There's No Place Like Home
Glorfindel was teaching Estel how to fence, and Faith joined the
lessons. It gave her something to do while she waited for Gandalf to
return. He and Bilbo had left Imladris three weeks ago. It should take
them about a month to reach the Shire, so if he started on the return
journey right away, it would still be five weeks before she saw him
again. If Faith had had a calendar, she'd have been marking off the
days on it. It wasn't that she wasn't enjoying her stay in Imladris. It
was a beautiful place, and Glorfindel was providing her with a wonderful
distraction, but there was a sameness to all the days here that got very
boring after a while.
Glorfindel wasn't her only distraction. Estel was always fun to be
around. As a student in the use of the sword he was always surprising
her with how quickly he learned, and he brought a youthful exuberance to
everything he did: something that was generally lacking in the Eldar.
For all their laugher, songs and dancing, they always gave the
impression of great age. There was no urgency to anything they did.
Faith sometimes got the impression that they considered "soon" to be any
time in the next century or so. The reforging of her sword was something
that had taken place at a breakneck pace for them.
Word came to Faith one morning that visitors had arrived. At first she
was afraid that it might be Gandalf, back early for some reason, because
any reason that had him returning this quickly couldn't be good. She
quickly learned that this was not the case. A party of Dunedain had
arrived in Imladris.
---
Faith was a little surprised when Elrond summoned her, just before
lunch. Glorfindel led her to an elegant courtyard with a fountain,
shaded by blossoming apple trees. Elrond was there, with half a dozen
men. Most of them were tall, fit, and dark haired. One of them might
have been dark haired when he was younger, but now his hair was mostly
grey. She had been around the Eldar so much that at first he looked old
to her, but his back was straight, and his movements were sure. He
didn't have the ancient appearance of Gandalf. He was really no more
than middle aged. She decided that the word "distinguished" fitted him
perfectly. She thought that Giles might look much like this man, if he
grew his hair a foot, and dressed like someone out of a Robin Hood movie.
"*Faith, I would like to introduce you to Dirhael,*" said Elrond.
The man inclined his head in a slight bow to her. "*Lady Faith.*"
Faith bowed in turn, no more than he had, "*Faith, at your service,*"
she said, repeating the phrase that Bilbo had first taught her many
months ago, but now she knew what it meant.
"*And I am at yours,*" said Dirhael. "*Lord Elrond tells me that you may
be able to help us with a problem.*" He sounded a little doubtful.
"*What sort of problem?*" asked Faith.
"*There is an evil creature in the woods, north of here,*" said Dirhael.
"*It has killed several people, some of them among the finest of our
Rangers. We have been hunting it for weeks, but every time we get close,
it slips away from us. We came to Imladris, hoping that the Eldar could
help us eliminate this threat from the Western lands.*"
"*What sort of creature is it?*" asked Faith.
"*I can not say, for certain, for none who have seen it, have lived to
describe it,*" said Dirhael. "*From its spoor, we know it is large. It
walks sometimes on two legs, sometimes on four. Its hind feet are the
length of my forearm, with three toes, each with a claw as long as my
finger at the end of it. Its fore feet are half that size, but their
claws are larger. It is taller than a man, even when walking on all
fours.*"
"*That's a lot of description, for something that no one's seen.*" Faith
didn't say that it also sounded a lot like something she *had* seen.
"*It was plain, to even a novice tracker,*" said Dirhael, his doubts
about Faith's ability to help him plain in the tone of his voice.
"*I'm not much for the tracking,*" said Faith. "*I let others handle
that. I'm the girl who kills it after the trackers have found it.*"
That comment got derisive laughter from most of the men who were
present. It was a sound that Faith knew well. Once upon a time, it would
have led to men with broken bones, lying bleeding on the floor. Now,
she usually settled for bruising them. She looked toward Elrond, this
was his house after all, and they were his guests. She saw him give her
a slight nod in response.
Three seconds later, every man who had laughed was lying on the floor,
groaning in pain. Dirhael, and one other, were still on their feet. They
had backed away from the conflict, without entering it, but the other
man had drawn his sword as he pulled back, into a purely defensive
position.
Faith looked him in the eyes, as she drew her sword. "*Want to give me a
try, boy?*"
"*Faith,*" said Elrond, with a note of warning in his voice.
Faith glanced aside at him. "*I know, no bloodshed.*" She turned her
attention back to the man, and smiled. "*Just a little playing.*" Faith
passed her sword across into her left hand, and gave the man a Neoesque
"Come and get it." gesture with her right. She saw a look of
determination come into his eyes, and he attacked her.
Faith parried his attack easily. She knocked his sword down, grasped his
wrist with her free right hand, and pulled him toward her. Her sword
came up and stopped, just short of his throat. "*You lose.*"
His hand opened, dropping his sword. "*After what you did to the others,
I thought I might.*"
"*But you tried anyway,*" said Faith as she released him.
"*Sometimes, that is all that you can do,*" said the man.
"*I like you. What's your name?*"
"*Calrohn, Lady Faith.*"
"*Just 'Faith' will do.*" She looked to Dirhael, who hadn't moved since
the fight had begun. "*Satisfied?*"
"*My apologies, Lady Faith. Lord Elrond told me that you were a capable
warrior; I should not have doubted his word.*"
"*I believe that Faith and Glorfindel will be quite helpful to you, in
tracking and disposing of this creature,*" said Elrond.
They spent some time discussing their plans over lunch. Dirhael intended
to set out early the next morning, which was fine with Faith. It wasn't
like she had a lot she had to pack. The group broke up after lunch, with
most of the men going off to the rooms that had been prepared for them.
Faith told Dirhael that it was time for Estel's fencing lesson, and
Glorfindel invited him to come along. Dirhael accepted the invitation
quickly, and there was a look of anticipation about him that Faith found
puzzling. He seemed very eager to see a child's lesson. Glorfindel
wasn't the least bit surprised by his quick acceptance though.
Estel was already waiting for them in the fencing salle, and the reason
for Glorfindel's invitation, and Dirhael's quick acceptance became
instantly clear to Faith. "**Grandfather!**" cried Estel, and he
launched himself toward Dirhael.
Dirhael caught the boy as he jumped into his arms "**Ooof!* You've
grown, lad! I can't believe how strong you're getting!*" He set Estel
back down on the ground, after giving him a powerful hug.
"*Faith and Glorfindel have been teaching me the sword, Grandfather, and
Faith is also teaching me unarmed combat!*"
Dirhael gave Faith a look. "*Unarmed combat?*"
Faith shrugged. "*Sometimes, you don't have a sword, or a knife, or any
other weapons. All you've got is yourself. If you know what to do with
it, that's all you need.*"
---
Faith awoke before dawn, left Glorfindel sleeping in her bed, and packed
up the things she would need for this demon hunt. She had obtained
several Eldar gowns that she would not be bringing with her, though now
she did have several changes of underwear that went into her pack. She
considered leaving her keys, and her phone behind, but they had become
like good luck talismans to her, and so they went into their accustomed
places in her pockets.
Estel and Gilraen saw them off at first light the next morning. Faith
was back on the pony that Beorn had leant her, and feeling rather small,
surrounded by the men and Glorfindel, who were all riding horses. She
had wondered if she should have borrowed a horse from Elrond's stables,
but Glorfindel had assured her that her sturdy little pony would be well
suited to the trails that they would be following.
It became apparent within a day that Glorfindel was right. The men and
Eldar on their horses often had to duck under branches that Faith rode
under with clearance to spare, and the twisty paths they followed never
gave the horses a chance to move faster than a walk. Faith's pony had no
trouble keeping up with them. Indeed, at times, it seemed quite
impatient with the slow pace being set by the horses.
They travelled north for two days, before they reached the area where
the creature they were hunting had last been reported. They quartered
the area, looking for any sign of it. It didn't take long to find its
trail, but after following it for a few miles they lost it again. It
just seemed to stop. Dirhael estimated that the trail left by the
creature was about a week old. They spread out again, searching for any
sign. Faith wasn't much of a tracker, so she stuck close to Glorfindel,
trusting his eyes, and millennia of experience.
They found, and lost the trail again several times over the next few
days, but each time they seemed to be closer. The creature was moving
in a north-easterly direction. Near sundown on the fifth day, they
picked up the trail again. This time Dirhael and the other trackers
agreed that the spoor was only a few hours old. They were close, but
they didn't have enough daylight to pursue it. Faith wanted to
continue.
"*It is foolish, to try to hunt this creature at night,*" said Calrohn.
"*I do my best hunting in the dark,*" said Faith.
"*But you do not have the skill to track this beast,*" said Dirhael.
"*Especially in the dark.*"
"*I'm getting better,*" said Faith. "*There is a moon tonight; I can see
just fine. Glorfindel has taught me a lot this week, and we're close
enough that I don't need to see its tracks. I can feel it.*"
"*And she will not be alone,*" said Glorfindel. "*The Eldar also have
sharp eyes in the dark.*"
---
Faith and Glorfindel tracked the demon through the night. Faith was
sure that it was a demon now. She had been feeling its presence growing
for the last few days, a growing knot in her gut as they had closed in
on it, made all the sharper by not having sensed a demon since she had
arrived in Middle Earth. Neither the Orcs, Wargs, nor Troll had affected
her the way this thing was.
The knot wasn't just caused by what she was feeling. The more she saw
of this thing's tracks, the more she knew that she had seen tracks just
like them before.
---
Faith looked through a gap in the brush that she had been crawling
through, toward the sound of something up ahead. She saw the demon. "Oh
fuck!" She had been hoping against hope that she'd been wrong. That the
size of the thing, and the footprints it left had just been a
coincidence, but now there was no denying it. The demon looked
something like a small, furry, tailless, tyrannosaurus-rex. Small for a
tyrannosaurus, anyway, it still stood six feet tall at its haunches.
Its front legs were larger than a T-rex's as well. When moving slowly
it walked on all fours, but it could rise up onto its powerful hind legs
for a quick sprint after prey. Its head made up a third of its length,
and that head had a huge mouth, full of very sharp teeth.
It was an Unpronounceable Demon. That wasn't its real name, of course.
Its real name was full of clicks and whistles, and far too many
consonants to be pronounceable by Faith, but Andrew could produce an
acceptable approximation of it. At least he claimed it was acceptable,
and she hadn't bothered to check to see if he was right.
Glorfindel looked surprised by her outburst. "*Do you not think we can
kill this beast?*" he asked.
"*Oh, I can kill it, all right,*" said Faith. "*I've killed one of these
before. About six months ago.*"
"*Six months? But that is when you came to Middle Earth.*"
Faith saw dawning comprehension on Glorfindel's face. "*Exactly. And it
was one of this thing's cousins that sent me here.*" Faith tried to
climb to her feet. "*Well, it's been nice knowing you. Give my regards
to Gandalf when he gets back, and tell him 'thank you,' for all the help
he's given me.*"
Glorfindel grabbed her arm to hold her down. "*You don't mean to fight
this creature alone?*"
"*That's precisely what I mean to do,*" said Faith. "*If it happens
again, I don't want to see anyone else banished from their home.*"
"*There must be some other way. Attack it from a distance, with arrows.*"
"*That might work, if we had brought along a bow, but we didn't. And by
the time we go to get one, this thing will have moved on, and it might
have killed someone else.*"
"*I am *not* letting you face this creature alone!*"
"*Fine,*" said Faith. "*But it's my kill. You can help distract it.*"
Faith and Glorfindel's argument hadn't gone unnoticed by the demon. It
had turned its head in their direction, and sniffed the air. Luckily,
they were downwind from it, so it didn't catch their scent.
Unfortunately there was enough of a breeze to bring its scent to them.
Faith had forgotten how badly these things stank.
The demon was moving toward them now, with a malevolent glow in its
eyes. It didn't need to smell them to know they were there. It had
heard them, and that was enough. Faith and Glorfindel both knew that it
was useless to try to stay hidden, so they rose from behind the bushes
that were concealing them, and moved out into the open. They both drew
their swords and separated, a bit. Far enough apart that the demon
couldn't attack them both at once, but close enough to support each
other.
The demon didn't hesitate. It rose up and charged toward them. Its
mouth opened wide and it roared, showing rows of razor sharp teeth, and
slime dripped from its lower jaw.
It charged straight at Glorfindel, seeming to consider him either the
greatest threat, or the better meal, Faith didn't know, or care, which.
Glorfindel held his ground until the last instant before he danced
aside, while slashing at the demon with his sword. He struck its
shoulder with a glancing blow, drawing blood, but not enough to
seriously wound the beast. It turned its head to follow him, trying to
get its jaws into striking distance, but Glorfindel moved too quickly.
The demon's turn opened up its flank to Faith, and she struck, sinking
the tip of her blade between the creature's ribs. The creature screamed,
and continued its turn, nearly pulling Faith's sword from her hand as it
spun completely around. It roared again, spraying Faith with its slimy
saliva. Faith tried to slice her sword up through its throat, but the
demon pulled back too quickly, and she only nicked its chin.
Glorfindel hadn't been holding back. He attacked the demon from behind,
striking at the backs of the demon's legs in order to hamstring it. The
demon stumbled forward, just as Faith brought her sword back down. She
drove her blade between its jaws, up through its palate, and into its
brain.
Faith felt an intense deja-vu as the vortex began to form. She felt the
electricity jolt through her body. "*Stay back!*" she yelled at
Glorfindel, who had started toward her. The portal swelled, and
enveloped her.
---
This time she was ready for it, and she managed to land on her feet on a
slush covered hard surface. She inhaled, and smelt something foul
burning, garbage, and automobile exhaust. She could hear the noise of
traffic. She looked around and saw that she was in a dark alley, dimly
lit by a yellow sodium lamp at the far end of it. It was a familiar
location; one she had last seen six months ago. It seemed strange that
there was still slush and snow on the ground. She looked closer, and saw
the trail of the demon, and a single line of bootprints following it.
*Her* bootprints, still fresh in the snow. She had returned to the same
night that she had left this place.
The Unpronounceable Demon was a charred, smoking husk: the source of
most of the foul stench in the air. It smelled worse than burning Orc.
Faith looked at her sword, covered by its blood and slime. She used some
snow, and crumpled up newspaper from a pile of garbage to clean the
blade, and dried it by wiping it on her pant leg before returning it to
its scabbard.
Faith saw that sky was starting to brighten with the approaching sunrise
when she got clear of the alley, so she knew that some hours had passed
while she'd been away. She found her motorcycle right where she'd left
it. No one had touched it. Her sword slid into the holster mounted
beside the seat. She picked up her helmet and gloves off the seat, and
put them on. Normally she preferred not to wear the helmet, but in it
protected her from the cold wind of the autumn weather. It was nearly
time to put the bike away for the winter. Either that, or transfer to
someplace warmer; she thought that Vegas might be nice, this time of
year. She got on her bike, put her key into the ignition, and turned it.
The engine roared to life.
Faith pushed the bike forward off its stand, and goosed the throttle,
spinning the bike around to face the other way. She gave it a bit more
gas, and the bike leapt forward. Faith steered it toward the local
Council office.
Robin was *not* going to believe *this* after-action report.
Glorfindel was teaching Estel how to fence, and Faith joined the
lessons. It gave her something to do while she waited for Gandalf to
return. He and Bilbo had left Imladris three weeks ago. It should take
them about a month to reach the Shire, so if he started on the return
journey right away, it would still be five weeks before she saw him
again. If Faith had had a calendar, she'd have been marking off the
days on it. It wasn't that she wasn't enjoying her stay in Imladris. It
was a beautiful place, and Glorfindel was providing her with a wonderful
distraction, but there was a sameness to all the days here that got very
boring after a while.
Glorfindel wasn't her only distraction. Estel was always fun to be
around. As a student in the use of the sword he was always surprising
her with how quickly he learned, and he brought a youthful exuberance to
everything he did: something that was generally lacking in the Eldar.
For all their laugher, songs and dancing, they always gave the
impression of great age. There was no urgency to anything they did.
Faith sometimes got the impression that they considered "soon" to be any
time in the next century or so. The reforging of her sword was something
that had taken place at a breakneck pace for them.
Word came to Faith one morning that visitors had arrived. At first she
was afraid that it might be Gandalf, back early for some reason, because
any reason that had him returning this quickly couldn't be good. She
quickly learned that this was not the case. A party of Dunedain had
arrived in Imladris.
---
Faith was a little surprised when Elrond summoned her, just before
lunch. Glorfindel led her to an elegant courtyard with a fountain,
shaded by blossoming apple trees. Elrond was there, with half a dozen
men. Most of them were tall, fit, and dark haired. One of them might
have been dark haired when he was younger, but now his hair was mostly
grey. She had been around the Eldar so much that at first he looked old
to her, but his back was straight, and his movements were sure. He
didn't have the ancient appearance of Gandalf. He was really no more
than middle aged. She decided that the word "distinguished" fitted him
perfectly. She thought that Giles might look much like this man, if he
grew his hair a foot, and dressed like someone out of a Robin Hood movie.
"*Faith, I would like to introduce you to Dirhael,*" said Elrond.
The man inclined his head in a slight bow to her. "*Lady Faith.*"
Faith bowed in turn, no more than he had, "*Faith, at your service,*"
she said, repeating the phrase that Bilbo had first taught her many
months ago, but now she knew what it meant.
"*And I am at yours,*" said Dirhael. "*Lord Elrond tells me that you may
be able to help us with a problem.*" He sounded a little doubtful.
"*What sort of problem?*" asked Faith.
"*There is an evil creature in the woods, north of here,*" said Dirhael.
"*It has killed several people, some of them among the finest of our
Rangers. We have been hunting it for weeks, but every time we get close,
it slips away from us. We came to Imladris, hoping that the Eldar could
help us eliminate this threat from the Western lands.*"
"*What sort of creature is it?*" asked Faith.
"*I can not say, for certain, for none who have seen it, have lived to
describe it,*" said Dirhael. "*From its spoor, we know it is large. It
walks sometimes on two legs, sometimes on four. Its hind feet are the
length of my forearm, with three toes, each with a claw as long as my
finger at the end of it. Its fore feet are half that size, but their
claws are larger. It is taller than a man, even when walking on all
fours.*"
"*That's a lot of description, for something that no one's seen.*" Faith
didn't say that it also sounded a lot like something she *had* seen.
"*It was plain, to even a novice tracker,*" said Dirhael, his doubts
about Faith's ability to help him plain in the tone of his voice.
"*I'm not much for the tracking,*" said Faith. "*I let others handle
that. I'm the girl who kills it after the trackers have found it.*"
That comment got derisive laughter from most of the men who were
present. It was a sound that Faith knew well. Once upon a time, it would
have led to men with broken bones, lying bleeding on the floor. Now,
she usually settled for bruising them. She looked toward Elrond, this
was his house after all, and they were his guests. She saw him give her
a slight nod in response.
Three seconds later, every man who had laughed was lying on the floor,
groaning in pain. Dirhael, and one other, were still on their feet. They
had backed away from the conflict, without entering it, but the other
man had drawn his sword as he pulled back, into a purely defensive
position.
Faith looked him in the eyes, as she drew her sword. "*Want to give me a
try, boy?*"
"*Faith,*" said Elrond, with a note of warning in his voice.
Faith glanced aside at him. "*I know, no bloodshed.*" She turned her
attention back to the man, and smiled. "*Just a little playing.*" Faith
passed her sword across into her left hand, and gave the man a Neoesque
"Come and get it." gesture with her right. She saw a look of
determination come into his eyes, and he attacked her.
Faith parried his attack easily. She knocked his sword down, grasped his
wrist with her free right hand, and pulled him toward her. Her sword
came up and stopped, just short of his throat. "*You lose.*"
His hand opened, dropping his sword. "*After what you did to the others,
I thought I might.*"
"*But you tried anyway,*" said Faith as she released him.
"*Sometimes, that is all that you can do,*" said the man.
"*I like you. What's your name?*"
"*Calrohn, Lady Faith.*"
"*Just 'Faith' will do.*" She looked to Dirhael, who hadn't moved since
the fight had begun. "*Satisfied?*"
"*My apologies, Lady Faith. Lord Elrond told me that you were a capable
warrior; I should not have doubted his word.*"
"*I believe that Faith and Glorfindel will be quite helpful to you, in
tracking and disposing of this creature,*" said Elrond.
They spent some time discussing their plans over lunch. Dirhael intended
to set out early the next morning, which was fine with Faith. It wasn't
like she had a lot she had to pack. The group broke up after lunch, with
most of the men going off to the rooms that had been prepared for them.
Faith told Dirhael that it was time for Estel's fencing lesson, and
Glorfindel invited him to come along. Dirhael accepted the invitation
quickly, and there was a look of anticipation about him that Faith found
puzzling. He seemed very eager to see a child's lesson. Glorfindel
wasn't the least bit surprised by his quick acceptance though.
Estel was already waiting for them in the fencing salle, and the reason
for Glorfindel's invitation, and Dirhael's quick acceptance became
instantly clear to Faith. "**Grandfather!**" cried Estel, and he
launched himself toward Dirhael.
Dirhael caught the boy as he jumped into his arms "**Ooof!* You've
grown, lad! I can't believe how strong you're getting!*" He set Estel
back down on the ground, after giving him a powerful hug.
"*Faith and Glorfindel have been teaching me the sword, Grandfather, and
Faith is also teaching me unarmed combat!*"
Dirhael gave Faith a look. "*Unarmed combat?*"
Faith shrugged. "*Sometimes, you don't have a sword, or a knife, or any
other weapons. All you've got is yourself. If you know what to do with
it, that's all you need.*"
---
Faith awoke before dawn, left Glorfindel sleeping in her bed, and packed
up the things she would need for this demon hunt. She had obtained
several Eldar gowns that she would not be bringing with her, though now
she did have several changes of underwear that went into her pack. She
considered leaving her keys, and her phone behind, but they had become
like good luck talismans to her, and so they went into their accustomed
places in her pockets.
Estel and Gilraen saw them off at first light the next morning. Faith
was back on the pony that Beorn had leant her, and feeling rather small,
surrounded by the men and Glorfindel, who were all riding horses. She
had wondered if she should have borrowed a horse from Elrond's stables,
but Glorfindel had assured her that her sturdy little pony would be well
suited to the trails that they would be following.
It became apparent within a day that Glorfindel was right. The men and
Eldar on their horses often had to duck under branches that Faith rode
under with clearance to spare, and the twisty paths they followed never
gave the horses a chance to move faster than a walk. Faith's pony had no
trouble keeping up with them. Indeed, at times, it seemed quite
impatient with the slow pace being set by the horses.
They travelled north for two days, before they reached the area where
the creature they were hunting had last been reported. They quartered
the area, looking for any sign of it. It didn't take long to find its
trail, but after following it for a few miles they lost it again. It
just seemed to stop. Dirhael estimated that the trail left by the
creature was about a week old. They spread out again, searching for any
sign. Faith wasn't much of a tracker, so she stuck close to Glorfindel,
trusting his eyes, and millennia of experience.
They found, and lost the trail again several times over the next few
days, but each time they seemed to be closer. The creature was moving
in a north-easterly direction. Near sundown on the fifth day, they
picked up the trail again. This time Dirhael and the other trackers
agreed that the spoor was only a few hours old. They were close, but
they didn't have enough daylight to pursue it. Faith wanted to
continue.
"*It is foolish, to try to hunt this creature at night,*" said Calrohn.
"*I do my best hunting in the dark,*" said Faith.
"*But you do not have the skill to track this beast,*" said Dirhael.
"*Especially in the dark.*"
"*I'm getting better,*" said Faith. "*There is a moon tonight; I can see
just fine. Glorfindel has taught me a lot this week, and we're close
enough that I don't need to see its tracks. I can feel it.*"
"*And she will not be alone,*" said Glorfindel. "*The Eldar also have
sharp eyes in the dark.*"
---
Faith and Glorfindel tracked the demon through the night. Faith was
sure that it was a demon now. She had been feeling its presence growing
for the last few days, a growing knot in her gut as they had closed in
on it, made all the sharper by not having sensed a demon since she had
arrived in Middle Earth. Neither the Orcs, Wargs, nor Troll had affected
her the way this thing was.
The knot wasn't just caused by what she was feeling. The more she saw
of this thing's tracks, the more she knew that she had seen tracks just
like them before.
---
Faith looked through a gap in the brush that she had been crawling
through, toward the sound of something up ahead. She saw the demon. "Oh
fuck!" She had been hoping against hope that she'd been wrong. That the
size of the thing, and the footprints it left had just been a
coincidence, but now there was no denying it. The demon looked
something like a small, furry, tailless, tyrannosaurus-rex. Small for a
tyrannosaurus, anyway, it still stood six feet tall at its haunches.
Its front legs were larger than a T-rex's as well. When moving slowly
it walked on all fours, but it could rise up onto its powerful hind legs
for a quick sprint after prey. Its head made up a third of its length,
and that head had a huge mouth, full of very sharp teeth.
It was an Unpronounceable Demon. That wasn't its real name, of course.
Its real name was full of clicks and whistles, and far too many
consonants to be pronounceable by Faith, but Andrew could produce an
acceptable approximation of it. At least he claimed it was acceptable,
and she hadn't bothered to check to see if he was right.
Glorfindel looked surprised by her outburst. "*Do you not think we can
kill this beast?*" he asked.
"*Oh, I can kill it, all right,*" said Faith. "*I've killed one of these
before. About six months ago.*"
"*Six months? But that is when you came to Middle Earth.*"
Faith saw dawning comprehension on Glorfindel's face. "*Exactly. And it
was one of this thing's cousins that sent me here.*" Faith tried to
climb to her feet. "*Well, it's been nice knowing you. Give my regards
to Gandalf when he gets back, and tell him 'thank you,' for all the help
he's given me.*"
Glorfindel grabbed her arm to hold her down. "*You don't mean to fight
this creature alone?*"
"*That's precisely what I mean to do,*" said Faith. "*If it happens
again, I don't want to see anyone else banished from their home.*"
"*There must be some other way. Attack it from a distance, with arrows.*"
"*That might work, if we had brought along a bow, but we didn't. And by
the time we go to get one, this thing will have moved on, and it might
have killed someone else.*"
"*I am *not* letting you face this creature alone!*"
"*Fine,*" said Faith. "*But it's my kill. You can help distract it.*"
Faith and Glorfindel's argument hadn't gone unnoticed by the demon. It
had turned its head in their direction, and sniffed the air. Luckily,
they were downwind from it, so it didn't catch their scent.
Unfortunately there was enough of a breeze to bring its scent to them.
Faith had forgotten how badly these things stank.
The demon was moving toward them now, with a malevolent glow in its
eyes. It didn't need to smell them to know they were there. It had
heard them, and that was enough. Faith and Glorfindel both knew that it
was useless to try to stay hidden, so they rose from behind the bushes
that were concealing them, and moved out into the open. They both drew
their swords and separated, a bit. Far enough apart that the demon
couldn't attack them both at once, but close enough to support each
other.
The demon didn't hesitate. It rose up and charged toward them. Its
mouth opened wide and it roared, showing rows of razor sharp teeth, and
slime dripped from its lower jaw.
It charged straight at Glorfindel, seeming to consider him either the
greatest threat, or the better meal, Faith didn't know, or care, which.
Glorfindel held his ground until the last instant before he danced
aside, while slashing at the demon with his sword. He struck its
shoulder with a glancing blow, drawing blood, but not enough to
seriously wound the beast. It turned its head to follow him, trying to
get its jaws into striking distance, but Glorfindel moved too quickly.
The demon's turn opened up its flank to Faith, and she struck, sinking
the tip of her blade between the creature's ribs. The creature screamed,
and continued its turn, nearly pulling Faith's sword from her hand as it
spun completely around. It roared again, spraying Faith with its slimy
saliva. Faith tried to slice her sword up through its throat, but the
demon pulled back too quickly, and she only nicked its chin.
Glorfindel hadn't been holding back. He attacked the demon from behind,
striking at the backs of the demon's legs in order to hamstring it. The
demon stumbled forward, just as Faith brought her sword back down. She
drove her blade between its jaws, up through its palate, and into its
brain.
Faith felt an intense deja-vu as the vortex began to form. She felt the
electricity jolt through her body. "*Stay back!*" she yelled at
Glorfindel, who had started toward her. The portal swelled, and
enveloped her.
---
This time she was ready for it, and she managed to land on her feet on a
slush covered hard surface. She inhaled, and smelt something foul
burning, garbage, and automobile exhaust. She could hear the noise of
traffic. She looked around and saw that she was in a dark alley, dimly
lit by a yellow sodium lamp at the far end of it. It was a familiar
location; one she had last seen six months ago. It seemed strange that
there was still slush and snow on the ground. She looked closer, and saw
the trail of the demon, and a single line of bootprints following it.
*Her* bootprints, still fresh in the snow. She had returned to the same
night that she had left this place.
The Unpronounceable Demon was a charred, smoking husk: the source of
most of the foul stench in the air. It smelled worse than burning Orc.
Faith looked at her sword, covered by its blood and slime. She used some
snow, and crumpled up newspaper from a pile of garbage to clean the
blade, and dried it by wiping it on her pant leg before returning it to
its scabbard.
Faith saw that sky was starting to brighten with the approaching sunrise
when she got clear of the alley, so she knew that some hours had passed
while she'd been away. She found her motorcycle right where she'd left
it. No one had touched it. Her sword slid into the holster mounted
beside the seat. She picked up her helmet and gloves off the seat, and
put them on. Normally she preferred not to wear the helmet, but in it
protected her from the cold wind of the autumn weather. It was nearly
time to put the bike away for the winter. Either that, or transfer to
someplace warmer; she thought that Vegas might be nice, this time of
year. She got on her bike, put her key into the ignition, and turned it.
The engine roared to life.
Faith pushed the bike forward off its stand, and goosed the throttle,
spinning the bike around to face the other way. She gave it a bit more
gas, and the bike leapt forward. Faith steered it toward the local
Council office.
Robin was *not* going to believe *this* after-action report.
--
Quando omni flunkus moritati
Visit the Buffy Body Count at <http://homepage.mac.com/dsample/>
Quando omni flunkus moritati
Visit the Buffy Body Count at <http://homepage.mac.com/dsample/>