2: ACROSS THE PLAINS OF AZANULBIZAR

Jack stares up at the sky, still breathing heavily. "Have to...have to stop him." He finally drifts back to sleep with the cold compress on his head. Hopefully, he rests long enough for the herbs Lac placed on his wound to do their job.

Jin watched the others return to the tower ruins. The look upon her face beneath the cowl grew harder and harder until it was nothing but a sinister scowl. Cowards were not something she was fond of in the least bit and she was determined to let this coward know. She didn’t know this Ghost Walker, but he had agreed to be a part of the group and because of that, she knew she had to do what she could to help him.

This whole ‘help one another’ concept was so foreign to Jin but she would try to learn and understand it. It was the wish of her new Goddess and to gain favor with such a powerful deity she had to do all that was expected of her. But to reverse years of training was not something that was done overnight. She had to fight against her natural instinct to reject such things and accept them as part of her life now. It was like being forced to swallow a bitter pill that would make things better in the end. But getting that pill down was the hardest part.

When she reached the tower ruins, Jin pulled out a pouch from her cloak and opened it up. Slowly walking around the perimeter of the tower she sprinkled the granular substance on the ground as she began to chant softly. The more she sprinkled and walked, the more her chanting grew until it sounded almost like a haunting melody. Over and over her words grew louder and louder.

“Naust zhal k'lararl nindel ph'naut alissus” (None shall pass that are not invited)

When she reached the place she began, she made a complete circle with the granular substance and immediately a purple light flared up from the ring she had created. The light slowly faded to a soft glow and from a distance it looked as though the tower were in a ring of purple glowing embers. The magic ward she had put in place would stay until the first light of dawn and after that, they were unprotected once more.

Walking over to where Brianna tended Jack, the Drowess knelt next to the fevered man and pushed her hood back. Reaching up with her gloved hand, she touched his forehead and felt the heat radiating from him. Furrowing his brows, she knew he would have a difficult fight until the morning. Looking over at Brianna, she saw how exhausted the human was and nodded.

“Rest, I shall take watch over him.”

Seeing the look Brianna gave her, Jin actually chuckled and shook her head.

“I will not kill him. I give you my word.”

Glancing over at Lac, she could see how exhausted he was as well.

“You too. Rest. I shall alert you of anything but the ward I put in place will protect us until dawn.”

Lac looked up a Jin as he knelt and nodded, "Wake me in two hours and I shall relieve you." he then said to Brianna, go a get some rest, we have a long trying journey in the morning and we must start early. The Shadow Walker will be in good care."

Lac then stood and looked at Tiphereth and Beldegir "All of you should rest our journey may be more taxing tomorrow." Lac then walked over next to a fallen collum, drew his long sword and lain down the hilt in his hand, under his cloak.

Jin watched the camp settle down to slumbering, restful bodies. Even Jack seemed to settle down and get some rest as Lac’s herbs finally penetrated into the mans body to alleviate the pain he was feeling and lower his fever.

With one last silent foot patrol around everyone, Jin made sure everything was as it should be for now and went back to sit next to Jack. Her dark bow sat across her lap with another dark bolt set ready in the string. Crossing her legs beneath her, Jin sat with her back straight, shoulders squared and head straight ahead to enter her reverie.

Since she didn’t sleep like the others, her reverie was a restful period for her where she never lost contact with her surroundings. It was almost as though she were fully awake, but she wasn’t. All of her senses were still very alert.

At some point Jack became restless once more and Jin was instantly at his side. Her words were soft, soothing, almost seductive sounding as she spoke to him in a sing song like voice in her native language. For all anyone else knew she could have been cursing him with eternal death but they wouldn’t have cared because of the way she was saying it. Offering small sips of the cool water to Jack’s parched lips, Jin made sure she didn’t give the Ghost Walker more than he could handle and even soothed his warm brow with more cool clothes to his forehead. When Jack settled into a peaceful rest once more, only then did Jin dare to even think of resting once again herself.

The sky was barely showing signs of growing lighter when Jin walked over to Lac and knelt down beside the Ranger. She sat there watching him sleep for a few moments and studying his handsome face. He was a beautiful specimen of a male and she would love nothing more than to discover just how masculine he could be with her. If she could somehow make him forget, just for a moment, the weight he carried on his shoulders….than she would feel as though she had done something for him like he had done for her. Perhaps one day….

Reaching forward, she let her fingers tenderly move some hair from his brow before her bare hand rested on his cheek. When Lac’s eyes fluttered open, she pressed her finger to her lips to let him know to be quiet. Leaning down, she let her lips linger over his for a moment. So close to kissing him but never actually making contact, she moved her head to the side to whisper in his ear.

“The sun will rise soon, Lac’Nala. The ward I set in place will no longer protect us. You must awaken the others and move them onward, away from this place. I sense the Dark Lord has grown closer while we rested.”

Slowly moving away from Lac, she sat back up and Lac followed suite. She sat looking into his eyes for a long moment before she reached over and let her hand touch his cheek once more.

“I will follow behind you at a distance, leaving unpleasentries behind for those who follow us. With Jack’s injuries, it will slow you so I must give you time you do not have.”

Lac started to protest but Jin quickly silenced him by putting her finger to his lips and rising to her knees so she was just a hares breadth away from him. Her hands cupped his face as she once more looked into his gaze.

“Shhh. It is the only way, Ranger. I promise you. I will come to you when you have reached the next safe haven. Know that I would much rather be with you but this is the way it must be for now. Just know that I am behind you, watching you ever step of the way”

Leaning in closer Jin let her lips softly press against Lac’s as she pressed something into his hand. She would have deepened the kiss but there was no time for such exploration. Already she could feel the magic of her ward fading and there was no time to loose. Reluctantly pulling away from Lac, she she got to her feet in the blink of an eye. Her eyes still held Lac’s as she slowly pulled the hood of her cloak up over her head allowing her features to be swallowed by the darkness within.

“May the Goddess protect you.”

Before she changed her mind, Jin turned and dashed away like a shadow is dashed away by the sunshine. Lac was on his feet in the blink of an eye but it was still too slow for the Drowess had disappeared from view. When Lac looked down into his hand he would see the Drowess had given him a delicate silver chain with her House Crest charm on the end of it made of the finest silver and blood red ruby.



Jin clenched her jaw as she moved away from the others, keeping herself hidden from view. What she wouldn’t do to turn around and join Lac once more. But her Goddess came to her as she rested and told her she had to give the Ranger more time and there was only one way for that to happen. Not daring to look back for fear she would abandon her duty to her Goddess, she channeled her energy into her task and pushed these new, raw emotions she was feeling back. There would be a time later to explore them. Right now, she had to be the calculating, merciless, ruthless Drowess she was revered for being.

While Tiphereth rested near the Dwarf, he recounted the battle of the Ghost Walker and his ethereal foe. His eyes were able to see the two men in their ghostly forms in those moments when they were between the realms. When they could yet perceive both the physical and ethereal planes he could see what others could not, but when they entered the world of the dead they passed beyond his sight. His kind dared not look into the Grey World that for ages held their realm within it's timeless grasp and so even he could not tell what or where Jack Rose's assailant had gone.

As the sky begin to lighten and the Dwarf and Brianna yet slept soundly, Tiphereth awoke. He procured his book from his satchel and began to record what had transpired the previous day, then began to sketch a detailed picture of Jack Rose where he lay recovering from his wound. With each passing day he knew that this was not his fight, but he would assist when and if he was needed and so until then he would chronicle this tale and perhaps compile a song of their heroics.

Somewhere in the time that Jin went to Lac then left, the ghostwalker faded in and out of sight. None would hear the screams of agony as he was torn between two worlds both physically and spiritually. When he finally reappeared there were no signs of life in him. No heartbeat and no breathing would be detected. His spirit would cross to the other side where he stood before Death once more. The skeletal entity looked Jack over then rose a bony hand, pointing at the ghostwalker. The cold voice echoed across the dead plains, sending a shiver down his spine

"You are not mine to have yet. Leave this realm and return to your body. There is still much for you to do."

Jack's spirit was catapulted back to the physical world. His eyes would snap open and he sat up suddenly, breathing heavily and holding his gut. Everything hurt but the wound hurt the most. Slowly he started to stand, looking around for his sword.

As Tiphereth quickly sketched the form of the ghostwalker, the image that he captured with his lead and pen was not the physical form all knew to be Jack Rose but an eerie ghostly image. As Jack traveled between realms, he could see but for a moment his phantom self before he was pulled into the land of the dead. He was gone for some time, unseen by all, but when he became visible once more, the Phaerie could feel the presence of death waft over him with the ghostwalker's return.

One on his feet and sword in hand Jack looked over at Tiphereth. It was clear that the fever had not quite left him yet as he used the sword to help keep him up. Very slowly he starts to walk away from the camp. He doesn't get far though as he falls against the wall, with an arm over his wound. Sliding down the wall now Jack looks back at the Phaerie. "The look in your eyes tells me that you see something the others do not." He leans his head back against the wall as he sits there.

As Jack Rose leaned his head back against the wall in an attempt to steady himself, the Phaerie was suddenly kneeling at his side offering a supporting hand.

"I perceive the world very differently from the others, Master Rose, but I can only see that part of the Grey World that touches upon the Material. I dare not look beyond into the realm of the dead, that from which you come." Tiphereth informed Jack, narrowing his darkened eyes, still black in the dim light of the early morning, thinking that the ghost walker had no idea how similar the two of them actually were, both of them servants to a higher power.

"Life had left your body. Why has it returned?" He asked quietly with a strange curiosity.

"Death still has no claim on me. The one that has given me this gift, or curse depending on how you look at it, is not yet finished with me." He looks up at Tiphereth. "It is probably best that you not look into the land of the dead. It is a very dark and sometimes scary place and Death can be a very unforgiving lord sometimes. If you can see me when I cross then I'm guessing you have also seen the form I take."

Tiphereth studied Jack's features glowing with a ghostly paler as stark as, if not whiter than his own complexion. "I have seen the 'grey shrouds' before, the forms of those who can walk in both this world and the next." The Phaerie explained, his expression cold and full of regret at the memories of that vile place. "You are not meant to walk this place, this much I know and were we in the lands from which I hail from, you would be hunted." Tiphereth gravely admitted, staring at the ground as if ashamed, then he looked up his eyes blazing in a beam of dawn's light, "But I harbor you no ill will, Jack. I know that your kind does not walk the land of the living without purpose and yours bears a true course, unlike the dark one that seeks you."

Tiphereth smoothly rose and stood above the ghost-walker. "This other," he remarked, "he is like you but darkness enshrouds him. Will he ever stop hunting you? Should we all fear this man and call him enemy?"

Lac had risen, when Jin awakened him and told himof her plan. Standing looking out to the east
across the lands they must transverse he said to her "Isti dilos naeossatin lirisakalelda torhamistisata curayoluthurensileth onfor arthacuratinisaothnir yorolune hamalviretha ciruhamothsayevnay, borunetil istitir imsay weninsateth. Isa welossauthaelonday belest uthnaywiliststarest naeossatir tiros hamestandae yorothuthrae venanlayuthaearborlinev athdayvenistasilest athanaydel saeesteld tilhalesta wynistsatadaeothmor istinar imtor. Belelda sataanfaeetha minyor tarrinuthsatatynevadae fayrayinevnaeday artnaedae rayevatayunerelnay toron miryil sayisadayeth. ( Translation: I do not like this course of action you have chosen, but it is wise. I would be unwise not to hed your valuable advise and see the wisdom in it. Be safe my trusted friend and return to my side. "

Lac looked down at his hand and the medalion Jin had given him. He placed the medalion around his neck and said softly "Ith armin hiemossanelothrinevadil tarossa arthcuraecurestapertor tarhinithsor nironborlaeeth gulinfaytor astranayda winestarthrel inatyn panrinoluthaydillaeyid, branothtarhir athrenothuthunayda moryor neleldacurukel astrinordil ithnor mayyis halestaarrintir. Ista hinuthminbellaeethayis taehurarthunarkel yidothuthay." ( Translation: I am honored to accept this noble gift and wer it proudly, both around my neck and in my heart. I humbley thank you.) Lac then watched as Jin melted into the dawn shadows of the west.

Lac then turned his gaze once more to the east as he listened to the words of Tiphereth and The Ghost Walker. He too had stood before those held captive in the shadow world betwen life and death. A ghostly King and his armies calling them to the land of the living to finally do battle with the Dark Lord and his armies. To finally fullfill their oath of alliagance and lift the curse that held them between worlds. *Was this Ghost Walker an agent sent to once more guide Lac and his companions to a vast army of enslaved souls? To once more have them rise up against evil and free their souls?* These were the thoughts that crossed Lac's mind as he looked out over the wild.

The ranger had risen with the dawn. He came into view and stood with his back to Tiphereth and the Ghost-Walker looking toward the east, trying to predict the perils that would be set before them this day.

Turning away from Jack, Tiphereth silently fell to the side of the slumbering Dwarf but even as he bent close to rouse him Beldegir stirred and looked up. "Silent as ye be, yer betrayed by that stench o' wild flowers that follows you every where ye walk, Master Sorrelwind." he growled.

Tiphereth stood up, surprised. He had never considered that the fragrance of lilacs, clover and mint that seemed to permeate the flesh of his kind might betray his presence, but then he seldom walked such barren lands. As the Dwarf sat up and stretched he took note of the Elfling's worry and offered his own brand of consolation. "Perhaps if ye rolled about in the earth ye may not smell like a strumpet." he told him.

Moving away from the groggy, Dwarf who was apparently quite ill tempered in the morning, Tiphereth drew closer to Lac'Nal. He scanned the camp site for the Drowess who never seemed to stay very far from the ranger but he could not see nor feel her presence.

"Ranger. Where has the Dark Elf gone?" Tiphereth inquired.

Lac looked over at Tiphereth and then retuned his gaze to the east "The Drowess Ssinjin has fallen back to cover our backs. Her eyes will watch for any pursuers and she will lay spells and encantaions to hinder the approach of any from our rear." Lac said softly. "We must make the Watchtower of Driumril by nightfall and tomorrow the Forest of Lorien."

Lac then looked behind him an said "See the others are awake and refreshed we must make haste."

'Lothlorien?' Thought Tiphereth, 'Why turn south?' Far be it from him, an outlander to question a ranger, but he could make no sense of this course. Heading back he cast a spell, stirring the wind about Brianna's hair to awaken her while he knelt close to Beldegir and within ear shot of Jack.

"Southward to Lorien the ranger means to take us." he whispered to them.

Tiphereth was apprehensive of this decision. Though he was a stranger to these lands, his gods had imbued him with a common knowledge to help guide him. Lorien was a place he was to avoid and the concerned look of the Dwarf only seemed punctuate the Deithir's fears.

From his spot against the wall Jack noticed the look on Tiphereth's face and then the one on the Dwarf's. He pushes himself up and makes his way over to them, still leaning on his sword. His memories of the land were sketchy at best. Ocassionally he would find something that seemed familiar to him but nothing truly concrete. "What is about Lorien that makes you apprehesive?"

Beldegir stood up and approached Jack Rose. "'Tis a cursed place, Master Ghost-Walker. An Elven forest ruled by an evil Queen that can peer into your very soul!" He told him, the Dwarves eyes wild with apprehension.



Tiphereth nodded. "Aye, 'tis a place I am meant to avoid and avoid it we should." he agreed, "The Elves may not look kindly upon me. Better it would be to press eastward than enter that place." The Deithir added holding his spear high in defiance.

"I see. Have you told the ranger of your concerns. Perhaps he has a plan for when we reach this forest." As they described Lorien something stirred within him and a memory surfaced. One of the same warrior from his dreams standing outside of a dark forest. The memory ends with the warrior stepping bravely within the forbidden wood.

Lac glanced back at his companions, then looked forward. "We are going to see the Elve's my friends. We need the counsel of Galadrial and I must inform them of this new threat from Master Ghost Walker's world. The dark Lord has grown stronger than I first thought, and his reach has extended." Lac said flatly as he quickly lead the unlikely group of allies forward.

The companions made their way southward, toward Lothlorien, the Golden Wood, guided by the ranger Lac'Nala down paths seldom trodden. The morning was calm, a gentle breeze flowing from the west carrying the fragrance of flowers growing in the meadows beyond the barren valley.



As the winds gently tossed the Deithir's long golden orange locks to the side, his delicately pointed ears were exposed. By the dimness of dawn the fire in his eyes settled to a radiant violet hue and he appeared most like an Elf. Only the strange markings upon his skin betrayed the illusion, but to Elfin eyes his differences were far more distinct. Even if he were able to conceal his noticeable differences they would know him to be different and with every step closer to Lorien the Deithir grew more troubled.

Tiphereth smiled and looked down at Brianna, as he strode alongside of her. He did not believe his worries to be so great that they outwardly effected his mood, but if the Dunedain woman could see it in his face then no doubt the others were aware of it as well. "It can nigh be eased, but thank you." he replied and humbly bowed his head. "We are bound for a city called Caras Galadhon within the Golden Wood, a place I am told by my gods, is peaceful unless one brings evil with them. We walk in the shadow of the Dark Lord, Brianna and I fear that our presence may not be seen as fortuitous."

After speaking his half-truth the Deithir lifted his head into the sunlight, closing his eyes momentarily to the brightness and when they reopened they blazed with a violet fire. Tiphereth had only revealed part of what troubled him, for he also feared that the Elves may shun him or worse since while he was so like them physically they were worlds apart in essence.