Tears of the Valar.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the Original Characters and their adventures. Everything else belongs to JRR Tolkien, the Tolkien Estate, New Line Cinema/Peter Jackson, et. al. This was done purely for entertainment and as an exercise in creativity.
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“The Dark Force is growing restless,” Peferio announced as he entered the tent where Crasthion and Vetoran were going over the plans for the next advance of the army with their commanders. The men in the tent looked at him, then each other.

“If they are not allowed to hunt soon, they will turn on us,” one of the veteran commanders remarked and his comrades voiced their agreement. “They likely grow tired of feasting on the dead.”

“I do not see why,” Peferio mused. “They are fed well and do not need to work for it.”

“They enjoy the hunt and the kill, not just the feast,” Vetoran replied. “We must find something for them to do or it is true, they will turn on us simply for sport. Without the Leader here to control them, they barely tolerate us as it is. Any excuse they could find to attack us would be attractive to them.”

They discussed the problem with the creatures of darkness Lastharos kept for his private security force until the commanders were dismissed and the three generals were left alone. Crasthion, who had remained largely quiet during the discussion stood.

“Come, my friends. Let us look over the terrain.” He left the tent, followed by Peferio and Vetoran, all three knowing that the phrase meant they should go somewhere they could not be overheard.

Mounting their horses, the three rode a distance from the camp, to the top of one of the hills overlooking the valley below. To any who saw them, it would appear as if they were planning troop movements. The vantage point, however, allowed them to speak privately out of earshot of any of the soldiers---man or dark---and be able to see anyone who may be coming near them.

“We have kept the Dark Force leashed too long,” Peferio worried. “They will indeed turn on us soon if we do not give them free reign for a bit.”

“And we should turn our own people over to them?” Vetoran shook his head. “I would let them loose only upon Rhun.”

“But we are not yet near Rhun,” his fellow general pointed out. “They will not wait until then. You were not there, Vetoran. I was. I walked among them and talked to their keepers. If we do not do something soon, the creatures will take matters into their own … claws.”

“We will be near the Rhunian border within the next two months,” Crasthion cut into the growing debate. “Do you think we can hold them until then?”

Peferio shook his head. “I do not know. Their mood is ugly … well, uglier than usual. If they turn on us, they will be free to do as they please and the entire country will be at risk. We have managed to keep the casualties of our citizens to a minimum but if the Dark Force is unleashed …”

He did not need to finish his sentence. Lastharos’ creatures did not care who they hunted and killed. Only Lastharos’ hold on them kept them from killing the men who were designated as their keepers for the Khandun leader kept them under some sort of spell, though no one knew of its details.

The recent battles, however, had piqued their bloodlust and the creatures were beginning to grow restless. The smell of blood and fear and death called to them and they wanted to dash into the midst of it. Their appetites for destruction and perversion were matched only by the Khandun leader. Lastharos had promised them feasts and playthings and they wanted them. Now.

“If they get loose, they move much faster than we can; they can spread throughout the land killing at will,” Vetoran pointed out. “If we were not being so careful with our people, we would be closer to the Rhunian border and could let them seek prey in that land.”

“Had we been less careful, thousands more would be dead than are already,” Crasthion snapped irritably.

“Are the ones who live any better off?” Vetoran inquired gently. Those who had refused to ‘cooperate’ with the armies had been taken prisoner and subsequently sent on to Lastharos’ various homes around the country. None would likely ever see the light of day again unless the Leader desired for some outdoor play.

Indeed, they had left many of the citizens behind, arresting only the most vocal and resistant, making an example of them. Still, defiance had been surprisingly strong in each of the cities, towns and villages they had thus far swept through. It seemed the Supreme Ruler was not as beloved as he thought by his people.

“If the Dark Force is given free reign, they will not leave any alive,” Peferio sighed.

“At least we have managed to save some of our people,” Vetoran replied tiredly. “Perhaps once they are sated, we will be able to hold them again for a bit longer, at least until we get to Rhun.”

The thought of invading Rhun was not a pleasant one and each General thought the move folly. Still, they were bound to follow Lastharos’ orders even though they had defied him when leaving some of their people still breathing.

***

The sun was high in the sky and the market-place of the small town was crowded with people from the surrounding villages trading wares and gathering for the midday meal. Vendors sold small rounds of flat bread piled high with vegetables sautéed in spices and fragrant oils and the people munched on them as they walked through the various stalls of goods.

It was a warm day and children not old enough to be working were playing outside under the watchful eyes of their mothers or the household slaves who were doing laundry or working in the fields. They tried to draw pictures of their shadows, outlines of their forms in the sand, laughing as the shadows moved whenever they tried to get a better angle to pull the sticks along the ground.

Gradually, the shadows became fainter and one of the children looked up to see dark clouds covering the sun. He pouted---it would rain and he would have to go inside. Then, one of the slaves ran out and picked him up.

“Noooo!” The child shouted, struggling to get away. It was not raining yet.

“Hush, little one,” the man’s voice whispered as he ran with the child into the house. “You must remain quiet.” He and the others had seen the dark shapes obscuring the sun and realized quickly they were not clouds. The Dark Force of Lastharos was sweeping through the skies and all knew it meant death to any who were caught unawares.

In the crowded marketplace the imminent death from above took longer to register, but once it was recognized, panic set in as people tried to run for cover. The sheer numbers made any orderly flight impossible and when they tried to flee in horror, they wound up trapping themselves.

Those who were on the outer edges of the town’s market were, for the most part, trampled as their fellow townsmen tried to run, causing even more to trip and fall. Those in the inner parts of the market could go nowhere as the bodies piled up and so none could escape as the beasts suddenly swept down with piercing shrieks. Growls and snarls of warg and other beasts who did not fly signaled their entrance into the fray and those in the marketplace knew they were doomed.

The people hiding inside their homes huddled together, not daring to make a sound, hoping the creatures would be satisfied with what they had found outside and praying their friends and family members had managed to find shelter. Seldom did Lastharos send his vampires, his wolves, his shadow figures and other fell creatures out to terrorize the land, but the stories were told in hushed tones of how people disappeared when straying too far from the cities or their caravans. Some still blamed the disappearances on the Elves, villains from long past who took the mortals as slaves or worse. Others, however, knew there were no such things as Elves, despite what Lastharos claimed to have seen. They knew it was his Dark Force that hunted his realm, keeping the people under control. They would come in, kill a few, take a few back to their master, then leave them alone for years, even centuries. It was simply the way of life in Khand.

The sounds of slaughter continued unabated and the people hiding indoors began to grow restless. This was no ordinary raid to keep the people in line. A few dared to look out of the cracks in the shutters of the buildings and the sight that met their eyes was appalling. The ground was soggy as blood soaked into the dirt and made mud. Pieces of bodies were flung about and the creatures seemed in a feeding frenzy which showed no signs of diminishing.

Some of the people began to pray to long-forgotten Valar while others simply gave up. They were all going to die and they knew it. Soon, the doors and shuttered windows began to rattle as the beasts began to force their way into what the people had thought were secured homes. Children wailed, parents screamed, slaves cried and in their last moments, slave and master were equal as both became food for the dark creatures of Lastharos.


The leaders of the Khandun army sat on horseback far from the town, watching as the foul creatures of their ruler slaughtered at will. It was one thing to set the Dark Force loose on enemies of Khand---they had no compunction over such actions in the course of conquering or defense. But these were their own people, sentenced to death or enslavement by Lastharos’ order simply because they lived in the wrong direction from the capitol city.

Even at this distance, they could hear the screams of the dying and the shrieks of the creatures. The scent of blood was strong on the wind and there was nothing for the men in the legions to do but wait. Riders had gone ahead to order the borders closed between Rhun and Khand so none could flee, though with the widening path planned for this campaign, it would not matter. They would pursue any into Rhun who tired to escape.

Two Divisions each had gone on to further towns on either side of this one, sweeping through the remnants of what the creatures had left. Those who did not submit to enslavement were put to death, though the soldiers were ordered to make the executions quick and painless. Age did not matter. The very old and the very young were taken or killed in the same manner as those in between. Though it turned the stomachs of the Khandun men, all knew, from the generals on down, the shadow figures watched and listened when freely roaming and if any tried to avoid following Lastharos’ orders to the letter, they would find themselves in the halls of their fathers before they could think to hide.

“Do you think they have had enough?” Peferio asked his companions quietly, not daring to hope.

“They never have enough,” Vetoran replied. Indeed the Dark Force had been relentless and orders had arrived that they were to be given the freedom to roam the land at will. Apparently, word had gotten back to Lastharos that his Generals had displayed some mercy, and that simply would not do.

The cries from the town became fainter and fewer as the day turned into evening and by the time night fell, no sounds at all came from the town. The creatures began returning singly and by twos or threes to their area of the camp. Their keepers brought water to wash the blood and other unidentified but quite objectionable things from their bodies.

“We will go into the town at first light and see if any still live,” Crasthion told the others who nodded agreement. The town was surrounded---none would escape during the night.

The generals returned to their tents where each began the task of getting ready for the next target.