Mairon had exhausted himself rather early on as he tried to fight and didn’t realize how weak a human body is.
He slumped, even dozing off from sheer exhaustion as they traveled on horse-back. Because of this, he didn’t even realize where they were. He could barely hear the waves as his hearing had been muted.
It was true that he had been terrified to the point of fainting – unconcious and weak in the wraith’s arms – but with all the ruckus going on and the shifting back and forth he couldn’t help but wake up.
And oh how he wished he hadn’t….
He startled and thrashed feebly, but there was no way he could get out of Ji-Indur’s firm grip. The cold numbed him, both from the water and the wraith’s body, but he still managed to jerk weakly in terror as he saw the gathering going on. Ji-Indur with his undead face and toxic breath – Ossë in all of his glory – the OCEAN…. And finally his brother.
He could have wept in relief.
“Brother…!” He cried out weakly, not even managing the courtesy of greeting his cousin.
“Please brother…! Get me out of here…!”
When the Fell Beast appeared, its dark shadow falling over those in the boat and water, Ji Indur lifted his head and his heart sunk. He had not expected Sauron to appear but it was no greater surprise either that the Maia’s brother would come to His rescue. Wood splintered, the rowboat reduced to something that barely floated by sharp claws, the creatures shrill voice even making the injured one hurry up the ladder before collapsing on the wooden planks on board of the Kraken, tended to by two of Ji’s crew while the others watched the scene unfolding with fear and a strange sense of awe. Never before had such a meeting be witnessed, three Maiar and an undead man, bound together through the red string of fate.
Sauron’s words made the wraith’s lips twitch then turn into a thin line. He knew that escaping these invisible chains was near impossible but to hear it said so brutally made his insides vibrate with anger, hand clamping roughly over Mairon’s mouth as the now mortal Maia stirred and begged for help. “You be quiet, you /filth/.” he hissed into His ear, eyes still glowing darkly, “or by Osse I will drown you here and now as you deserve it, you bastard.”
And then Sauron spoke of freeing him, of severing those ties for good and Ji Indur eyed him warily, disbelief written all over his face. Oh, how often had he been deceived by the Maia of Aule who was now his wet and helpless prisoner. And Sauron was not much better although he felt more respect for him and not just because he was not bound to His will. But deceivers they both were, likely liars, thorough the centuries they had manipulated and bound foolish men and elves, even other Maiar to them. Why should he now trust Him just because He had said all the right words?
But for now he listened, quietly, feeling his anger wash over him in waves. Was he being played with again. Looking to Osse he knew that Sauron’s offer to his cousin was one the Master of the Seas would definitely mull over. To watch Mairon grow old and feeble, wrinkled and with graying hair… For one who was so proud of His body, His looks… The wraith knew how much that would hurt. To face the mirror in such an aged withered form every day… Ah, such punishment sounded so sweet in Ji Indur’s ears. Still…
“How can we be sure you will keep your word?” he finally dared to ask, grip on Mairon tightening to show that he would drag him down into the depths should Sauron only lift His finger against them. “Once He is returned to you, you have no reason to follow through with what you promised. And can you really sever the tie? What about my brethren? Will they be free as well? And the orc too?”
“Do neither of you listen?! He is under my protection. I have given him my word I will keep him alive and intact for the duration of this curse! You give him to me, and I assist you both in your vengeance by making sure that curse is permanent: That is the exchange!” Sauron growled with an impatient flick of his hand.
He ground his teeth and exhaled slowly, pinching the bridge of his nose before continuing. “You doubt my intentions. That is understandable. You both think I am here to double-cross you. I assure you: that is not my intent. I am here to double-cross him.”
Mairon reached for him desperately from the surf in a delirium, his weak pleas for help falling on indifferent ears and a suddenly cold gaze.
“Cousin. He attacked you. He burnt you. He forced himself on you. I cannot, will not, tolerate such disgusting behavior from kin of mine. He has disgraced himself utterly. Please, for the sake of our past friendship, let me do this for you.”
Red eyes begged the maia of the sea for understanding.
“If you destroy him yourself in cold blood, in mortal form, it will be you who is dragged before the Valar for judgement! You would risk everything, but I have no more to lose.” Sauron struck his chest over the heart.
“He and I were born of the same fires, but my powers are intact. They are equal to his at their height. Whatever he has made, I can unmake– only I can give him the fate he truly deserves.”Looking to the surf and the drenched body that kicked and squirmed there, looking cold, helpless, slender-limbed, he spat on the ivory sand.
“…You know his vanity means more to him than his life. Let me take it from him, along with his freedom. It will be my pleasure to do so. That is why I will keep my end of the bargain,” he sneered. “As for the rest, do as you will. I shall unbind your ring, and beyond that I care not where you, nor any of his rebellious servants, go.”
An evil expression wrinkled his long, elegant face. “Perhaps I’ll set him in a chair atop Barad-dur. Wouldn’t you like to see that, dear Cousin?”
Ossë had been warily on the defense, but at the list of transgressions against him he straightened and flared out his fins in proud display. He had not shared that incident with many, and he did not look to the wraith as his eyes flashed to match the trails of light that danced along his skin. Striding forward in the surf, he bent to grab the mortal-Maia by his hair, lifting Mairon upright and snarling down at him before his gaze turned onto his cousin.
“I was going to chain him to the sea floor and keep him for my amusement, but I know I cannot constantly deal with his struggling and crying,” he rumbled, twisting his hand in the golden hair to make his point. “I was going to take him to the Valar and let them deal justice, where I imagine they would weigh his crimes against the Song and offer a suiting punishment, neither too cruel nor too lax.” He looked down into the face of his fragile foe..
“But I do not want fair justice,” the Ainu continued, lip curling and fangs growing to poke between his lips. “I want vengeance. I want him to suffer,” he hissed, an echo of his voice booming around them all, crashing in with the waves. “I want him to know only agony and misery and fear, and when he cannot take any more of it, I want him to shatter and be thrown into the Void!” Ossë snapped his attentions to Sauron, expression twisted in horrific fury, shadowed and sharp angled and alien, a mockery of the elven-styled face he usually wore. “And I want to watch it happen.”
Thrusting his arm out, he made as though to toss the limp form towards his cousin but didn’t release his grip on silken hair, and Mairon’s body jerked in his hand from the force of the throw. Though it seemed an offering, the distance and frothing water between them warned this was not yet a promise. “I know you get something out of this, cousin, even if you deny it. I am not a fool. But if you swear to me that I shall have my revenge, that my little pirate can once more be freed of another’s control – whatever your share, it is worth my reward.”
Tag: Reblogging for Context
It had taken him a while to tie the now mortal Maia up and drag him along but since Mairon had chosen to be bothersome and uncooperative Ji Indur had finally hoisted him over his shoulder and carried him away. Out of Barad Dûr and to the stables. On horseback they left Mordor, undisturbed by anybody as the wraith had made sure to gag his master and set a cloth bag over his head. Now they were making their way towards the place where Ji Indur’s ship was anchored, awaiting their arrival.
Mairon had exhausted himself rather early on as he tried to fight and didn’t realize how weak a human body is.
He slumped, even dozing off from sheer exhaustion as they traveled on horse-back. Because of this, he didn’t even realize where they were. He could barely hear the waves as his hearing had been muted.
Ji Indur felt Osse’s presence nearing them before he saw the Maia. The water underneath them started to stir and as he looked down into the depths, the bottom so close in the blue green, he notice the massive shape of the Master of the Seas, circling them like a dangerous predator before he broke the surface, causing the Kraken to sway and a wave to wash over man and wraith, almost dragging them under for a moment. The voice reverberated inside Ji Indur’s mind and he bowed his head in a display of respect.
“I am aware of it, oh mighty Osse and I would not have brought Him under normal circumstances. But the Grey Cloaks struck him with the curse of mortality for three days and I could have ended him there and then and freed myself but alas, it was not up to me to be the first to strike. He is one of the Ainur after all and seeing how He has treated you in the last centuries I decided to bring Jim to you so you can hold council and judge him according to the crimes He has committed against you. I hope you do not see any ill will on my part. Whatever you chose to do, I will accept it as His punishment. And I will not lay hand on him myself unless you tell me to do so.”
Ji Indur was serious with his words even if it might feel like betrayal to his friends. But he had to believe in Osse to find a punishment suitable for his cousin and to help the Nine -or those willing to- to break their chains. This was the moment where he offered the watery Maia more than just rum and gold- he was offering him his very existence, as terribly corrupted it was. If the Master of the Seas would turn his back on him as well then he knew that none of the higher beings had even a shred of empathy left for what they had created. Of course it was not meant as a test but it could be very well seen like one.
Suspense built in the tableau between wraith and maia, broken by the sound of distant wing beats, a pulsing thrum that grew into the crack of mighty sails as a shadow passed over the moon.
The sailors who had manned the craft bearing Ji and his captive fled splashing into the waves for safety, and a massive fell beast of raven-black scales and iron plate dropped out of the sky. The ship’s boat splintered under its claws where it landed, folding its wide, dark wings.
As if patiently awaiting instruction, the feel beast watched its master dismount with cold white eyes, sliding off its back saddle to the ground.
The rider approached, removing his flight mask, a tarnished red hammer slung at one hip, a silver-tipped nine-tails on the other.“Cousin, we beg your pardon for the sudden intrusion,” Sauron addressed Ossë with an inclination of his head. “But it seems you are discussing the fate of one I have already laid claim to. The mortal you have half-submerged there at your feet is currently under my protection.”
He looked from the towering figure in the sea to the corsair kneeling at the water’s edge, and gave half a chuckle. “Ji-Indur. Why am I not surprised by your treachery? I wondered who had managed to smuggle him out from my own fortress… it was a short list of those capable.”
Sauron tucked the black riding mask under one arm and smiled graciously at the wary gathering. “I understand that you both have significant grievances with my brother-self, and while he is in this… delicate, mortal condition, it would be a unique opportunity for you to seek retribution. I respect this. And though I cannot allow you to kill or maul him while under my protection, I am willing to strike a bargain.”
Moonlight glinted off a heavy ring on the hand that stretched out in offering, its twin around Mairon’s finger, limp and drifting in the wave swell. Sauron smiled, and gestured first to Ji.
“Wraith, your allegiance to my brother has long troubled you. If you kill him in this state, it is likely you will remain bound to his Ring and any remnant of his will, or else destroyed outright with his passing… An uncomfortable way to spend eternity, no?” He laughed. “Perhaps you will consider letting me sever the tie between your ring and his. Only I can do this for you, with a power of equal might to the original bond. You would live on, immortal and retaining some small amount of insight beyond the world of men, free of his manipulation, invisible to his eye, even if he returns to power.”
“…And you, Cousin,” Sauron shifted, lowering his gaze briefly in respect, “you of all here have the most claim to vengeance. You wish to see him suffer for his crimes, do you not? A mere moment of satisfaction, even if that moment is a long one, would not suffice.” His eyes glowed in the grave light of the moon, colorless and sharp. “To you I offer a lifetime of his suffering. Miserable, weak, aging into grey hair, sallow skin, and sagging flesh, trembling hands and feeble limbs, powerless to do harm to you or yours ever again.”
The lord of Mordor spread his hands. “Return him to me, and these shall be my gifts to you. Do we have an agreement?”
Ossë rumbled at the wraith’s words, his gaze transfixed on the limp, mortal shell that held his enemy bound in the surf. If any had the right to be bitter and vengeful, it was the wraith, the little pirate king who had been so free and so bold and bright, who had been chained and broken and forced to become a puppet for a lord of fire and rock. Yet here he had come, taking the fragile Maia and dragging him before another for judgment and destruction.
Oh, he surged into the choppy waters and burst forth again, foaming waters gathering around him eagerly. A dozen punishments, a hundred ideas for torment sprung into his mind – mortal flesh was full of mortal blood, which could be boiled or frozen or pulled from every opening in his body. He could repay his cousin’s ‘gifts’ a dozen times, a hundred times, a thousand times over! Even when Mairon regained his ‘strength’ he would be nothing in the Sea, nothing in the seat of Terror’s power.
But before he could respond, he felt another presence overhead and as Sauron came crashing down nearby, he sent the sea crashing higher up the coast and coiled protectively around the wraith and his guest. He knew that Sauron would be here for only one reason, and he was not about to see his prize stolen from him so swiftly.
“You say you will strike a bargain, yet I have not heard what you expect in return for your generosity. You will free the little pirate and give me a lifetime to watch him suffer – and what, I wonder, do you want in return? This seems too obvious, cousin, are you losing your touch? He is under your protection; you merely want us to rest our case and let you save his miserable, pathetic hide. You will not have him!”
((reblogging for context because the reply got snipped))
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