[Maegaladiel]

Lhingril strode down the darkened corridors of his maze, confidence in each step. The corsairs were attacking Minias Tirith. This provided a most convenient opportunity for taking the throne; it practically gift-wrapped the city and placed it in his hands. Gondor was a plum, ripe for the picking. And its harvest drew near.

While the guards were busy fighting the pirates, he and his army could sweep through the castle’s weak resistance like a knife through butter. Pathetically outnumbered and attacked on both fronts, Minias Tirith would be forced to surrender. And so would begin the Reign of the Spider. Today, he resolved, blood would flow like wine.
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Cadrir the guardsman shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He dearly wanted to be out with the others, fighting the wicked corsairs. But nooooo… He had to be stuck here guarding the castle from attack. Attack from what? Shadows? Peasants? Vicious squirrels? He wasn’t even stationed outside of the building, for Valar’s sake. Prince Imharil wanted a handful of guards to stay inside the castle to keep an eye out for danger. Danger. Hmph.

He really would have preferred joining in the search for the missing King Elessar and that scoundrel, Lhingril. To think that such a dirty louse would be admitted into the castle in the first place…

Cadrir’s attention was suddenly drawn to a small object skittering across the floor. It was a spider, the size of a large coin. Grimacing with disgust, the guard squished the creature with his shoe.

“Yeaaaachh!” he muttered, scuffing his boots on the floor in an attempt to wipe off its messy remains. Where the devil had that thing come from?

Cadrir leaned his back against the cold stone wall. His eyelids drooped, partially from boredom and partially from the resent of being left here to do nothing. As he rested, his ears picked up traces of a strange noise, reminiscent to knives or fingernails tapping on stone. The sound drew closer, growing in intensity with each passing moment.

“What the…?” Cadrir drew his sword. Now the sound was very close, echoing through the halls. Biting his lower lip, Cadrir peered around a corner into the dark corridors surrounding him. He gasped. The walls! They were moving!

The guard let out a startled oath as he realized the truth behind his observation. The walls were not moving. They were covered in giant black-and-red creatures, crawling towards him. Cadrir screamed. Spiders! Enormous spiders!

Before the unfortunate guard’s cries had ended, the living sea of legs and teeth engulfed him. The last thing he saw was a tall, dark man, striding besides the monsters. Cadrir reached to grasp the hem of his black cape, in a silent plead for help. The man looked down at him disdainfully, standing aside to let the creatures finish their first taste of Gondor's blood.

[ March 19, 2003: Message edited by: Maegaladiel ]