The Battle of Gorgoroth

"You never write back, Talion." I chuckled at our parley with the Bright Lord, "It's like you just don't value our friendship. We have something special, Talion. Don't throw it away."

"Cease your mad rambling, Orc." the ranger spat.

"Why so glum, chum?" I asked, "Everyone who's anyone in Mordor is killing each other and you haven't needed to do a thing. Sounds like a flawless victory to me, if a tad boring and anticlimactic."

"The fight against evil in Middle Earth will never truly be won." Talion declared.

"Because you must slay the old evil in your heart as you rise each day, Tark." I nodded, "Cause it will find a way to come out if you let it fester. Evil always finds a way."

"We do not require an ethics lecture from a tainted creature such as you." Celebrimbor declared as his glowing blue wraith separated from Talion.

"Know the poison tree by its poison fruit, Elf." I barked at the specter, "You were made to be fair and wise by Iluvitar himself, but your legacy is corruption and death. And here you are Ages past making more rings and reaping more lives, the same thing all over again telling yourself, 'This time will be different.'"

"The New Ring is the difference!" Celebrimbor shouted, "It is free of Sauron's taint! It is pure, and it will lead us to victory over the darkness."

"It's not free of your taint, Elf." I chuckled.

"Accepting this parley was pointless." the wraith spat, "Call our forces to arms Talion, let the battle begin."

"Why did you call for parley?" Talion demanded instead of complying with the Elf, "Why have you been sending your 'lightning bolts' to me? What games are you playing, Orc? What do you want?"

"I want everything you can possibly imagine. I want money and women, power and sex, status, glory! I want everything this world's selling and eternity is topping the list! Understand?" I answered, the passion of my response causing the stoic ranger's jaw to drop.

"Vile and greedy creature!" The ghost Elf sneered, "Always out to take or destroy everything that does not belong to you!"

"We all want something, Elf." I stated in contempt, "You both want vengeance, to smote Sauron to the ground. To stand over him in victory and destroy him. I want this too."

Both of the undead partners raised their eyebrows at this.

"And now is the time to strike." I continued as I spotted one of my Bully Hawks circling overhead, slowly descending to me, "Sauron must meet Tar Goroth in the field lest the Balrog apply his full strength to the Dark Lords really cool, but really stupid tower. Barad Dur is one of those things that is so cool, but so stupid, but so cool, but so stupid."

"You intend treachery?" Talion inquired.

"Aren't you the ones who expect such behavior from me?" I laughed, "Say we march together and destroy the victor of Tar Goroth versus Sauron. Who is left to take over Mordor? Just you and me, and we have already proven that I can beat you anytime we fight. So what do you say? Team up and banish Sauron, we can shake and make it happen."

I extended my massive hand to the pair.

"No deal." the spirit spat.

"Deal." Talion shook, "So long as you call off your assassins and their cursed dagger."

"Agreed." I nodded.

"Damnit!" shouted Ishbug from some nearby shrubbery.

"We was fixin to murk the Tark right after negotiations broke down." Atbug leapt out of a covered pit in the ground.

"Sweet?" Burzronk emerged from a similar pit.

"Nah, the Tark teamed up with the boss." Ishbug answered.

"Sweet." Burzronk growled and used two fingers to indicate to his eyes and to the undead ranger.

"Nice work, boys." I laughed, "You almost surprised even me, and it smells like the Tark just shat himself."

It's good to have the boys back.

My Bully Hawk finally landed on my vambrace as we walked from the meeting and chirped and cawed out his message to me, causing my face to grin as I thought to myself, 'What a wonderful waaagh.'

____________________________________________________________________________

Our forces marched separately across the wasteland of Gorogorth, his lighter forces in both number and load keeping pace with my heavy troops and scorpion siege engines. We crested the final hill between us and the battle and mine eyes rarely beheld such awesome.

Over a hundred thousand combatants contested the field before us, slaying each other in great numbers and with great ferocity as their banners rippled with every clash of the true titans facing each other in the heart of the fray.

Sauron and his Nine Nazgul battled the flaming tower of Tar Goroth, but the Balrog was not alone. True to the message carried by my Bully Hawk, Durin's Bane stood beside him as the pair struck out with fire and fury, driving back the Dark Lord and his Ring Wraiths.

Our armies assembled unchallenged and I called my five thousand Orc archers forward as my elite Uruk Crossbowmen set up their tower shield mobile cover and my scorpions took position and loaded their mighty bolts.

"Convenient." I grinned under my golden helmet, "Target the banners of Thaurband."

The nearby forces of the city of slaves battled against a gilded detachment from Lithlad and both sides and their allies came under a dozen volleys of arrows. I myself took javelins from my attendant, Horza, covered in necrotic poison. I launched them across the field of war with as much power as the screaming scorpion bolts, and with unerring precision.

My javelins dealt death to trolls, Ologs, and Uruks of renown, causing the forces of Sauron to buckle against the lesser numbers of Tar Goroth's army. For minutes uninterrupted my forces rained down upon them, until our very last missile was spent.

I pulled myself into the saddle atop Damocles and took up my lance as the archers pulled back and our cavalry came forward. Six full companies, two riding Caragors and four more atop Wargs. Our lances aloft as we began our charge. The mettle of the Orcs and Uruks before shattered as they threw each other to the ground in an attempt to get away from our charge to absolutely no effect.

Our lances lowered and we impaled our foes, running over those unfortunate enough to not be skewered. Nothing broke our momentum as we carried the day, and behind us came our foot, Talion's undisciplined mob and my heavy pike leading our Orc levies behind them. Rows of spear tips met the flesh of those our charge missed, pushing constantly forward.

Eventually the raw scale of the battle saw them abandoning their unwieldy pikes for their axes and bucklers, as they roared and sang out the joy in their hearts for taking part in such glorious battle.

My great curved sword split shield and helm and sword as it rose and fell again and again. My great black beast of a mount clawing and biting, rending the foe in his jaws. At my side came my sons, hacking and bashing and piercing with great smiles drawn wide on their faces. Our charge carried us deep into battle, deeper than any of our allies and the enemies surrounded us. A head, behind, left and right they could not get away from us and we could slay in any direction.

We carved the foe whenever the press of bodies brought him before us, but it was not enough for me. The sight of Durin's Bane raising up a Nazgul in his hand and crushing him in his blazing mouth filled my heart with the desire to be there, to fight in the real battle.

Onward I urged Damocles who happily bulled through the throng, crushing Orc and Uruk beneath us. The closer we drew the greater my excitement rose and my vision tinted red, the hammering of my hearts pumping more than blood through my veins, but power.

My Warg broke out into a sprint and I drew back my great blade, roaring as I brought it to bear against Durin's Bane. My cursed sword burst through fire and shadow, cleaving the Balrog's leg from his body as we passed, and on the return stroke I split a Nazgul in twain, armor and cloak all.

Damocles turned sharply bringing us around as the Nazgul ghosted around us and the Balrog swung his flaming sword. The Black Warg leapt aside, and I hacked down into the fiery wrist. The demon pulled back a half severed hand, and the Nazgul fell upon him. He took with him two of the specters before the flail of the Witch King struck down on his head three times.

Only three Nazgul remained intact, two moving to aid their master as the Witch King remained.

"Thrag, Overlord of Nurn." The specter rasped.

I dismounted my Warg and stabbed my curved blade into the ground. From my belt came a dagger made with the same intentions as the Barrow-Blades of Arthedain. Around the Witch King a black vapor increased as the wraith gave up on trying to instill terror in me and ramped up his toxic miasma known and the Black Breath.

This curse too failed as I ran at the Witch King and dodged his mace, grabbing the follow up sword strike I pulled the Nazgul's arm his and ran his belly upon my dagger.

"Impossible." The Ring Wraith gasped as his form began imploding, "No man may slay me."

I just laughed in his dying face, "I don't give a fuck what fate Iluvitar set for you!" I continued laughing as the being exploded, a ripple of force driving me back a few steps and flapping my red feather cloak.

The blast caused Tar Goroth to miss a step, and though his whip destroyed the last Nazgul, Sauron struck him with a mighty blow to the chest that sent the Balrog to the earth. The Dark Lord climbed atop Tar Goroth and smashed down on his chest over and over until the demon was slain.

His gaze turned to me as I opened and closed my hand fighting off the curse poison of Witch King's invulnerability enchantment. He waited until I pulled my sword back up to my shoulder. We circled each other, neither weary from our battles, but both wary of the other's might.

I parried his opening strike, and came up to riposte as a streak of blue crossed the battlefield and materialized the pair of Talion and Celebrimbor. The wraith parried my strike as the ranger plunged his dagger into the Dark Lord before disengaging. They struck the earth and unleashed a blast of blue light and force that pushed me back a step.

"Now you show up." I laughed, "After all the legendary battling is done you interrupt the final duel. Get the fuck out of here!"

"You have proven your worth, Thrag." the Dark Lord spoke, "Help me slay this pair once and for all, and I shall crown you King of Mordor. You will lead all of Orc-kind as my right hand, and bring forth our final victory in the conquest of Middle Earth."

"You are no longer required." Celebrimbor mocked.

Silent to any other an arrow flew through the sky, yet not to me. I reached out my hand and snatched the arrow in flight.

"This is your plan to betray me?" I laughed, "Eltariel?"

The next arrow carried with it a flash of gold and a woman wielding a pair of curved blades that skid across my armor.

"A Vanyar Elf." I smiled under my helmet, "You really are my friend, Talion. For you give me the rarest of gifts. How'd you like the painting, love?"