As stormclouds wrapped Rivendell in a dark shadow, the members of the Council of Elrond - that is, the surviving ones - gathered around
Dekes
, intent on taking his life:
You don't know how long this will have to keep going, how many more murders you'll have to bring yourselves to commit with the sword of your dead ally. And yet you pray that this is the last of the evil to root out.
As you surround Dekes he screams. And it isn't a scream
in
terror, it is a scream
of
sheer terror, shaking your bones, shattering your minds. As you fall back to hide from the horrendous noise the flight of a Fellbeast was heard overheard, and its wingbeats echo above the shrieks, driving you back in dread and fear.
VasudeVa
and
inHimshallibe
run outside to attempt to drive off the winged monster.
Dekes
pulls out an old sword, dark and cold, and charges the remainder of you, who shrink back. "No man can kill me!" he bellows, swinging at the cowering council members, his breath like the ice of the North. But like so many times before the sword of the West comes to life.
Locke Lamora
opens the armory door, letting Andúril fly and collide into Dekes' face. "But no man am I!" Locke shouts triumphantly.
Dekes drops to his knees, and his face contorts in pure agony as his metal helm crunches his invisible face and he dies, the end of the life of what had once been a man, corrupted into the service of Sauron so many years before. An explosion, like that of his master's, ended one of the oldest enemies of the Dúnedain.
Dekes, The Witch-King, Mordor Mafia One-shot Universal Backup, Lynched Day5!
As the council-members reconvene in the meeting room, the dying throes of the Fellbeast are heard as it crashes down into the vale below Rivendell.
VasudeVa, Legolas, Town Tracker (Survived and Won)
and
inHimshallibe, Boromir, Town Seraph Knight (Survived and Won)
entered the pavilion with a few minor wounds, but were alive.
"It's finally over," said
Locke Lamora, Eowyn, One-shot Bulletproof Townie (Survived and Won)
.
"Really? LEGOVAS AND MARIYTA ARE STILL SCUM!" bellowed
Edge, Prince Imrahil, Vanilla Townie (Survived and Won)
. "Why do I hear two voices in my head?"
Mariyta, Glorfindel, Town Voyeur (Survived and Won)
checked Dekes' hands, and retrieved only one ring: Narya, Elvish Ring of Fire. "Where are the other rings? Are they safe?"
Katy, Galadriel, Town Elven Ring Mason (Survived and Won)
and
jenniwren, Elrond, Town Elven Ring Mason (Survived and Won)
stepped forward and revealed their Elven Rings to be safe. "Aren't you glad you weren't killed by a Balrog again, Glorfindel?" jenniwren asked teasingly. Mariyta shuddered. Bad memories, those.
"Hey, where did Nero Cain go?" I asked, walking down from recording the events in the Red Book.
"That's odd," VasudeVa said. "I thought he stabbed the Dekes in the back." True enough, there was indeed a Hobbit-sized sword stuck in Dekes' back.
But as the council members and I looked for Merry,
Nero Cain, Gollum, Serially-Killing Survivor (Survived and Won)
was scampering away from Rivendell.
"My preciousssssssss" he said, clutching
to his chest. "We will keepses you safe forever! Gollum gollum gollum!"
A large celebration of certain grandeur was held in Rivendell, Minas Tirith, Edoras, Mirkwood, Dale, Erebor, Hobbiton, and every other free land of Middle-Earth. Once everyone got back there, that is.
But The One Ring was not destroyed, and evil still draws breath. While you have achieved victory, you cannot sleep peacefully forever. Evil will return so long as The One Ring exists.
, dead and yet not vanquished, laughs menacingly, biding his sweet time...
- The Elvish Baker