"This is bullshit."

"Language."

"Oh, excuse me." Talion promptly switched to one of the more widely-used dialects of Black Speech and said, "This is FUCKING bullshit."

Eltariel shot him an unimpressed look, which he returned. Then they both looked away to hide their grins.

"I'm aware, Talion," said Celebrimbor, ignoring their aside, "Perhaps if things had been different, we could have saved Minas Ithil, but we will retake her.

"Now, Carnán first, or Brûz?"

Talion squinted off into Núrn. "...Carnán would be best, I think. If we can befriend her - or at least convince her that we aren't enemies - it will make things with the Avari a lot easier. Brûz will keep."

"You just want Dragon Song again," Eltariel returned.

"Excuse you, I remember how to summon drakes! But considering the fact that she's an immensely powerful nature spirit, I think it's important to be respectful and greet her before we go tearing through her land!"

"Mm, yes. This time around."

"Celebrimbor!"

Lomeya was laughing at him, and he felt Her take flight and soar over the rock ridges that ringed the greater part of Carnán's vast forest. He rolled his eyes. "Let's get our archers and go say hello. Eltariel, if you want to go play with the Nazgûl again, feel free; just please tell the other Elves and Rangers to come find us after Núrn's been taken - unless they want to participate."

The Elf-Blade and her caragor raced off, while the Ranger and the Elf lord hopped down from theirs and moved in secret to the orc encampment nearby.

As before, Lomeya did Her work well, shifting the orcs' loyalty while leaving all else intact; if Yaisaya did the same, Talion didn't notice. He jumped down amongst the other orc trainees and let the Ring work again when he made physical contact, saving who he could from their archers' fire.

After sending their orcs on their way to infiltrate Sauron's forces, the Ranger and the Elf lord walked side by side into Carnán's forest.

There were orcs in flight, of course, running from the many branches and roots that snaked after them, but Talion and Celebrimbor merely sidestepped them and continued deeper into the forest. If any of the Avari, the so-called "Dark Elves", came to look at them, Talion didn't see them, but based on the way Celebrimbor very carefully kept his gaze on the trail and a hand on his sword, they couldn't have been far.

They entered the clearing - and there was Carnán's tree, tall and strong. And there was Carnán herself, crouched in drake form in front of it, nose to nose with the invisible spirit of Lomeya. They were scenting one another, communicating without words, and Talion left them to it, taking a seat on a fallen log and letting the stillness of the Nazgûl settle over him, eyes slipping shut. After a moment, he felt Celebrimbor sit next to him, close enough that he could feel and take comfort from the Elf's warmth.

They sat in silence for many long minutes until Lomeya shimmered on his finger. Then breath - smelling powerfully of green and growing things - washed over him. Changéd and unlike this fleshling, hm. Where is your rot? Your buddings? Talion could feel her circling them in caragor form now, and no doubt Celebrimbor could do so as well, far better than him. Do you grow? Carnán asked, Do you wither? No… no, no. Echoes of the Shadow you carry. You die and die and have no rest - and give none to others. Not lifeless, but deathless - your circle is broken. A flesh-haunted thing you are.

She rumbled softly, and he opened his eyes to look at her. "We all have our burdens to bear. This is mine. As you say, I will know no rest until my task is done. But if there is anything we might do to aid you, speak, and we will answer if we are able."

Carnán rumbled again, then turned and entered the tree. Elf and Man exchanged glances, and after a moment, they followed.

The tree creaked and groaned around them as they wove through its branches to the heart, where Carnán's avatar waited, swaying steps carrying her out of the dark. "You have woken Tar Goroth, crackéd and creviced until now - until your calls for the dead to rise. Eye-opened the Dark Lord - he stokes its flames. Forges cage like kindling for shattering fire to come. Burn you, burn we! A fire for all it will be."

Talion's hair stood on end, and he felt Lomeya rub Her nose against his back. The New Ring had not been forged, yet his own Ring's call, the dead They had raised in Minas Ithil, had been enough to make the Balrog stir and catch Sauron's attention. He looked to Celebrimbor, who was just as horrified. The Elf took a deep breath, forced himself to relax, then looked back up at Carnán. "We hear your call. We will find Tar Goroth and throw him down again."

"Yes, you will," the nature spirit nearly growled, "Go now. Your Balrog waits - he rises in Doom Shadow. Fight to death and rise again, you will fight - soon and soon. Undeath will defeat undeath."

They left Carnán and her Elves behind, heading back to where they'd entered the forest. Stupid fucking Balrog, Talion growled, nearly stomping along ahead of the Elf lord, Why couldn't he have stayed in the ground where he belongs.

By the Valar, I wish it was that easy, Talion. Our lives would be a lot simpler if it were. Celebrimbor heaved a sigh. Brûz, then Tar Goroth?

Might as well, since we're here.

They bypassed a few patrols and circled around to the fight pits, where Brûz was taking on another captain - a different one this time, but the end result was the same. He ripped the other captain's head off, and their men started fighting all around them. With their greater experience and Rings of Power more closely attuned to them, it was almost easy to take down not only Brûz but most of his men as well.

Lomeya did the same work on the captain that She did on all the other orcs, but whether it would actually hold this time had yet to be seen. The New Ring had been incredibly powerful, yes, but Lomeya was more skilled, more in tune with Her Bearer without the malice of Sauron creeping in.

The Olog just shrugged in response. "Elf Lord, Dark Lord, same thing really. End result is me ripping spines out, which I like to do anyway, so either way is a win. Name's Brûz. From here on out, I will be your shadow; no one gets to you without my say-so."

Talion hummed and let Urfael slip back into its sheath, exchanging a brief amused glance with Celebrimbor. "We appreciate the sentiment, but we're getting ready to go fight a Balrog in Gorgoroth. You might consider sitting this one out."

"Oof. Yeah, not gonna touch that one. But elsewhere, you wanna plant your flag in Mordor, you're gonna have to do it deep. There's a fortress nearby; they say it's ruled by a two-headed troll, big as a mountain and deadly smart, which, well, I guess he'd have to be given the two heads. You take him down, you'll send a message to Sauron and get yourself some nice new digs as a part of the bargain."

"Once we're done with the Balrog, we'll take the fortress, but until then we'll be sending some other troops your way. Don't let them slack off."

"Ooh, that'll be fun."

"And don't kill them."

"That's less fun, but I can work with that."

Once Brûz headed off, the Ranger and the Elf lord triggered their Rings and sent out a slow ripple of power, directing the orcs they had taken to fall in with the Olog. When that was done, Talion steadied himself, took a second to breathe, then let out a whistle laced with the power of Dragon Song. If there were any fire drakes in range, they would hear and answer his call.

And they did. Two adults and their baby came soaring over the trees and landed heavily nearby, rumbling in their throats but not aggressive. The adults were strangers, but the hatchling Talion recognized by the patterning of odd navy blue scales on her head. "Deldúath!"

He scooped her up, and though the little drake didn't know him now, she still snuggled down into his arms and purred so hard that it felt like she was trying to vibrate right through him.

Her mother's head swung around, and the other drake scented him intently, staring at him with burning gold eyes. At last, she too purred and nuzzled him, then turned to do the same to the Elf lord, letting her mate move in to smell Talion.

"Nightshade?" Celebrimbor murmured, otherwise unmoving under the female drake's intense gaze.

"When I first found her, she was hiding in a nightshade bush. And before anyone calls it unimaginative, I had already taken Isildur's Ring; I wasn't going to waste effort figuring out a different name when there was already one near at hand." The Ranger set Deldúath on top of her father's head, then scratched the larger drake's throat, earning a warm purr.

Lomeya's power rippled through all three of the drakes, and the adults lowered themselves to the ground to let Talion and Celebrimbor climb on. Deldúath clawed her way down her father's neck to curl up in the Ranger's lap, then they all took to the skies, winging their way towards the pit in Gorgoroth.

Talion.

Yeah?

Zog.

THAT MOTHER-

Celebrimbor glanced over just in time to see Talion draw Azkâr, the bow spun from the silvery light of Isil overhead. The Man aimed - and rushed away in a cloud of smoke like the Nazgûl he had once been. Yet the cloud was not black mist lit with glowing green poison, but instead glittering stars in swirls of soft color, and it lingered around the Ranger for just a moment when he plunged Urfael into Zog, a snarl on his lips.

(All light is sacred to the Eldar, but the Wood Elves love best the light of the stars.)

(Not just Wood Elves.)

The orc ducked Talion's decapitation swing, overcoming his surprise and coming back around to retaliate. Celebrimbor took care of the acolytes, shadow-striking from one to the next to the next until it brought him back to Talion's side. Deldúath and her parents were helping as well, swooping in to attack orcs responding to the sounds of battle and also to spit fire at Zog when he disengaged and got too far from Talion. Even now, before his death and resurrection, the orc feared fire.

Celebrimbor channeled Yaisaya's power into his sword, heating the blade, and moved to join Talion against the orc necromancer. He was good, calling back his acolytes to fight by his side and try to delay them, but Talion was better. Even though necromancy was arguably the darkest of all magical arts, the Elf lord couldn't help but admire the ease and skill with which the former Nazgûl cut Zog's strings and wove his own, Lomeya working in perfect concert with him.

In moments, the tide had turned even further against the orc captain. The Elf lord saw that he was looking for a way out and moved to intercept -

Too late. Zog roared and shoulder-charged Talion, catching him off guard and slamming him off the edge and into the pit below. Then the orc vanished in a cloud of smoke, but he was already forgotten, Celebrimbor racing to the edge of the pit.

No no no no no - this will not unmake Lomeya, she was made in the Far West and only there may she be unmade -

Talion had already twisted in midair and called Azkâr, bringing the bow up to aim even as he fell-

Celebrimbor opened his arms to receive-

-the Man slammed into him and sent both of them tumbling back away from the edge, landing in a sprawl of limbs in the midst of Talion's undead. But they only had a moment to hold each other and relish their narrow escape; the ground began to rumble under their feet.

The Balrog was rising.

Talion pushed himself up and exchanged a horrified look with the Elf lord. Then they both scrambled to their feet and jumped safely down in the pit.

There were more acolytes on the far side of the pit, calling for the Balrog. Talion let Lomeya's power roll between his fingers, calling up the same night-black whip he'd used against Saruman - but then Celebrimbor grabbed his arm. "Don't kill them!" the Elven smith shouted over the chanting, the low roar of the magma and the ascending Balrog, "The sacrifice might empower him further!"

Talion cursed and let the power fade - even as the magma rippled in front of them, ballooned upward, and fell away to reveal the stone-like spikes of Tar Goroth's back. The Balrog roared, wings of flame spreading, then killed all five of the remaining acolytes.

Carnán rushed down from above and took the form of an elemental Graug. Woken by a Ring that sings to the dead. Flames burn us! You woke him. You woke him!

Tar Goroth turned and spotted them. As before, he roared and charged through the magma pool, then jumped up onto their ledge and slammed into Carnán.

Neither Elf nor Ranger needed instruction. Celebrimbor still called Azkâr to his hands, but this time Talion called Helm's Hammer and let it fly, actually making the Balrog stagger. Tar Goroth turned to him and shrieked, but that just left him open to the Elf lord's precision shot. They continued double-teaming the ancient Maia and avoiding both its stomping feet and the falling debris, until at last the Balrog decided that he had had enough, spread his skeletal, fiery wings, and jumped up out of the pit.

Tar Goroth cannot escape! Carnán roared, going to one knee Leap, we must leap!

Man and Elf both scrambled up onto her back and held tight as she followed the Balrog up and out. Talion pressed Lomeya against a thick branch and willed the Ring's power to give the nature spirit strength, even as Celebrimbor began diverting the fire and heat away from her graug-form. It was not enough to completely divert the Maia's own power, but it did spare Carnán the brunt of the punishment from the Balrog.

Again Tar Goroth fled from them, and as they scrambled up onto her back once more, Celebrimbor shouted, "Be wary, Carnán! He will be waiting for us at the top!"

If the nature spirit heard him, she didn't answer, only climbed the rest of the way to the edge of the pit. But she was ready when Tar Goroth lunged for her, trying to rip off her graug-form's head, and she smacked his hands away, then clawed at his face, roaring. The Balrog shrieked right back and shoulder-charged her the same way Zog had Talion, driving her back even as she tried to dig in, throwing her off the edge. Talion felt her graug-shape start to give way under him and leaped for the Elf lord next to him, already weaving Lomeya's power.

The changed Nazgûl mist rushed in around them, and for a moment in time, a second that seemed an Age, they were joined again as they had been, fëa to fëa, suspended in colorful clouds of dust and surrounded by newborn stars.

Talion-

-Celebrimbor.

And then they returned to Middle-earth, hitting the ground and skidding away from the pit, bowling over a few of Talion's surviving undead. Yet even as they staggered back to their feet, Carnán returned, swooping overhead in the form of a drake and scattering Deldúath and her parents. No rest for you, no rest for we, Deathless Ones.

Talion whistled for their own drakes, who dove out of the sky and landed only long enough for them to climb on. Yet even in those few seconds, Tar Goroth vanished, and Carnán pulled far enough ahead that there was no hope of catching her. Even so, Man and Elf flew hard after them towards the Mithram Spur of the Ash Mountains.

But the drakes were not tireless like their Ring-Bearing riders, and Talion and Celebrimbor left them to rest in the foothills. Man and Elf climbed as fast as they dared into the mountains, racing for Seregost while also avoiding as many patrols as they could. Tar Goroth needed to be dealt with at all speed, same as before; they could take the orcs later.

The Balrog was easy enough to follow; even when the flames went out, it left massive prints behind, roughly circular burns that scorched the ground long after he passed, visible even in the snow. They bypassed the Seregost fortress, even as the sun began to rise far to the east, beyond Lithlad in the distance.

(For a moment, Talion wanted to fly from Middle-earth, to call his drakes and follow the path the sunrise laid before him, to travel to lands no Man of Gondor had ever seen - and perhaps no Elf, either. He wanted to see if Arda truly was round now - if he flew far enough east, would he truly come back around from the west? What unknown lands and peoples and creatures lay between?)

(But then he forced those thoughts away. His fate was here, in the west.)

[In the West.]

Their Rings sustained their long sprint, until at last they came to fresh tracks.

And so did Carnán. Tar Goroth fouls earth and sky - plows a path of flame! the caragor-shape rumbled, scenting the air as she prowled towards them.

Talion let Lomeya touch Yaisaya. You handle this part of the run - you're the better archer, for in the cave. I'll take over at the lake.

Celebrimbor nodded and jumped up onto the caragor's back. Talion nodded himself, then crouched and jumped, rushing away in a whirl of colored dust and bright stars.

The Elf watched him go until he was but a speck in the distance, and Carnán hummed. A lover of the stars you are. She craned her head back to look at the Elf. You seek to hold them in your hands like precious jewels, Ringmaker, but no matter where the trail leads, you mean to keep them safe from the Dark Lord's fire - even if they are forever out of reach.

Her gaze was knowing, and the Elf lord blushed. "All the protections from Sauron I offer won't mean anything if we don't stop Tar Goroth."

Indeed. Haste, haste, haste! It rages across land, scorches a path.

"At least it will not be difficult to find." The Elven smith held on tight, pressed himself low to her back as she broke into a run, following the Balrog's burning prints through camp after camp. The orcs had been hit just as hard by Tar Goroth's flames and scattered out of the way when Carnán came barreling through.

As before, the Balrog had run for the ice caves, and as they drew near, Celebrimbor called, "It can't possibly be this easy - it has to be a trap!"

Lies in wait to rain down fire! the spirit growled even as they skidded to a stop in the loop of his prints, right at the mouth of the caves.

But then Tar Goroth thudded down behind them, and Carnán took off again, even as the Elf lord twisted on her back to bring up Azkâr and take aim at the icicles dangling precariously from the ceiling. Despite the tight quarters of the cave system, the Balrog could still move, and faster than Carnán in her caragor-shape; he hit every cluster that he could be sure would hit the Maia when they came down.

The caves ended, and they were racing across the frozen lake. Celebrimbor readied himself - and managed to roll back to his feet when Tar Goroth's whip took the caragor-shape out from under him.

But Carnán was not so easily destroyed. She returned in the form of a drake, and Talion appeared on her back in a starburst, leaving Celebrimbor free to turn, to take aim at one of the orcs from a nearby patrol, fleeing as fast as they could-

In the blink of an eye, he was in their midst, branding each one, stealing them from Sauron, but he let them keep running in favor of scaling the ridge above them and the ruins beyond. Then he turned in time to see Talion unshackle Lomeya's power. The rising sun dimmed, night returning, stars coming back out overhead - Varda's Path clearer than he had ever seen it, bright stars and dark clouds in a thick line that split the sky in two.

The moon had still set some hours ago, but even so Carnán nearly glowed with its gentle light, the Ring of Night lending strength to her wings and the ice she spat at the Balrog. Talion attacked Tar Goroth as well, throwing hammers of starfire and lances of silver light, then guiding Carnán once, twice, thrice to slam the Maia down into the frigid waters of the lake.

The fourth time saw both Carnán and Tar Goroth go plunging down into the depths, but Celebrimbor saw Talion leap free and tumble across the ice, rolling back to his feet and darting to a safe distance from the holes where the water still thrashed like the Balrog far below.

But soon even that went still, and with a night-chill whisper from Lomeya, the temperature dropped sharply, the lake freezing once more.

Celebrimbor jumped down from his perch and moved to join Talion on the ice, looking down at the Maia suspended below. His grandfather had died at the dawning of the First Age thousands of years ago, facing such creatures and Gothmog their commander, and, as before, he could see why; even the might and skill of the legendary Fëanor meant little to one Maia, much less many.

Carnán's leaves swirled around them. Undeath will defeat undeath.

For Talion's new Shadow-Strike/Nazgul teleport cloud, look up the Orion Nebula (NGC 1976) and imagine it with more stars, or NGC 602 with more dust clouds. For NGC 602, Wikipedia has a gorgeous composite x-ray-optical-infrared image; I highly recommend taking a look. God I fucking love space; if it didn't require so much math, I'd be an astronomer.