Chapter Four

{Barad-dúr, Hrívë 3000 SA (approx. December 16)}

Darkness seemed to shroud Ecthelion, clouding his sense of time passage and almost taking away his awareness of who he was.  His battles with the potion were increasing as his weariness, hunger, and despair grew, yet still, he fought it in the hopes that he could force it out of his body and faer. Sometimes he would cry out for Glorfindel, for Turgon, or for his friends whom he had lost, but knew that none would come. Nevertheless he did not give up hope. It flared in his heart as he stood locked in his shackles, giving him much needed bursts of energy to fight his dark fate. But it would not last for long.

The door creaking open caused Ecthelion to look up slowly, tiredly taking in the presence of his tormentor. Sauron smirked at him as he strode in, his otherworldly form clothed in satiny black robes that shone with the dim candle light within the dungeon room. He came over, carrying a tray of food that consisted of a bowl of weak broth and a lump of almost moldy bread. “Hungry are we?” he asked with amusement as Ecthelion gave him a glare. He glanced over at the pail of raw meat he had brought in for his panther and tilted an eyebrow as Ecthelion also glanced over and looked to be almost salivating at the sight of the raw bloodied meat. “Well now...this is an interesting development...” he murmured, grinning evilly as Ecthelion growled at him.

Only able to watch, Ecthelion straightened up as Sauron went over to the pail and drew out a dripping slab of meat. He swallowed hard in both revulsion and rising hunger as he caught the scent of blood when Sauron wafted the meat under his nose. He turned his head, trembling as he fought his need for this fresh meat, but could not fight it for long as his hunger took over. With a desperate snarl, he turned his head back and began eating the meat, tearing the soft muscle and devouring it as fast as he could.

Watching Ecthelion in rising amusement, Sauron held the meat steady until the last bit, then went over to the pail again and brought it over to the staring panther. He tossed them in and stepped back as the panther set to work on the oozing gobs of meat, tearing them apart with his fangs and growling as he watched Sauron warily. But soon, just as Ecthelion’s dinner, it was gone and the cat began cleaning himself properly, ignoring his captor as he licked his paws and body.

Chuckling softly, Sauron sat down at the table and watched Ecthelion, who was also licking around his face in an attempt to clean himself. “My, my Ecthelion...you have weakened in your battle against my magic,” he purred out, grinning again as Ecthelion glared at him with more heat now as his strength returned courtesy of the unexpected meal. Clicking his tongue against his teeth, Sauron shifted back in his chair, propped his elbow on the back of it, and leaned his chin on his fist as he watched the Elf. “And now you feel more powerful, yet to what edge is this power leaning towards?” he asked softly as he tapped his lips in contemplation.

“An edge to defeating your dark plans, Sauron,” Ecthelion retorted angrily, his grey blue eyes flashing with his renewed determination as he glowered at the Maiar. He smirked then, a most dark and evil looking smirk that had ever been seen on his face. “You will never win against me. You will be defeated by the very creatures you despise and work to control,” he hissed out almost maliciously.

Cocking an eyebrow as he sneered, Sauron leaned forward and whispered, “Not from where I am sitting now.” He stood slowly and went over to his potions once more, taking down a matching flask to the one that had caused Ecthelion’s downfall as he smirked over at the observing Elf Lord. “Your battles have only just begun, Elf Lord of Gondolin. You can not fight the darkness that is within your heart forever,” he stated softly as he went over to the drowsy panther.

“I will fight you with all I am until my last breath leaves me,” Ecthelion vowed heatedly as he stood taller in his chains, his eyes bright with his resolve. He watched grimly as Sauron snagged some fur once more from the now more aware panther and was once more slashed at.

Turning with a grin as he spread his blood over the fur, Sauron tilted his head as he chuckled. “Fight all you will, but you can not fight who you now are. In two nights the new moon shall be upon us. Do you know what that means?” he asked conversationally as he placed the blood soaked fur into the potion and swirled it as the maroon coloring turned to the indicative pale pink. Upon seeing the confusion on the pale shadowed face, he smiled malevolently as he sauntered over towards his chained prisoner. “On the night of the new moon, darkness rules the land for Ithil hides his face and the stars hold not enough power to chase the dark away. On that night, my power and the powers of the shadows are at their most potent, but most especially this new moon. Do you know why?” he queried almost sweetly. When Ecthelion shook his head slowly, eyes wide with dawning horror, Sauron knew he had won. Bending in, he whispered, “It is because it is the Winter Solstice. It is celebrated as the longest night of the year. On that night...you will be mine fully.”

Staring at Sauron in horrified dismay, Ecthelion could not fight back as his head was held with an iron hand and his jaw was forced open. He whimpered and struggled as the potion was poured down his throat, swallowing convulsively around the foul tasting liquid as it burned over his tongue and down his throat. He coughed and shuddered as he gagged, trying and hoping that his body would vomit out the accursed potion, but he was sadly mistaken as he felt the familiar well of fire rise once more within the pit of his belly. He cried out and trembled, shaking his head as he fought the onset of his transformation, struggling to keep himself. He half screamed, half roared as he succeeded once more, but barely, his eyes remaining slitted as he snarled at Sauron in defiance.

Aroused at the display of willpower, Sauron growled as well, smirking as he strode over and laced his fingers with the clawed digits while pressing his body against the shaking Elf’s body. “You fight so gallantly, Elf...you arouse me to senses that I thought not possible! I *will* have you as mine!” he whispered heatedly as he ground himself against the trembling body of his captive.

“Never! I will burn in Morgoth’s flames before giving myself to you!” Ecthelion cried out as he fought back while bucking and kicking a bit to push Sauron from him. He shouted angrily as he was kissed forcefully, biting the tongue that tried to invade his mouth before shaking his head roughly in an effort to deter the persistent Maiar. But when he tasted the blood, he growled and returned to the bleeding mouth, suckling and lapping hungrily at the bleeding orifice and tongue.

Lacing his hand in the ebony hair, Sauron yanked back on it, causing Ecthelion’s head to hit the wall slightly. He smirked as Ecthelion glared at him, lips smeared ruby red with blood as he panted wetly. “You are in my flames and I burn from Morgoth. You *are* mine,” he growled out huskily before kissing Ecthelion eagerly again, purring as Ecthelion moaned into his mouth while claws bit into the skin of his other hand. Releasing that hand, he moved his own hand down to their leggings, unlacing them distractedly as their kiss grew more savage and heated with the bloodlust that was now drowning Ecthelion.

With a snarl of triumph, he managed to unlace their leggings and crashed their lower halves together, bucking and grinding against the eager Elf’s hips as his hand shifted back to push the Elf’s hips forward. He gripped the rippling buttocks he encountered, growling again as Ecthelion snarled warningly while their hard leaking members rubbed coarsely against each other. He lifted his head to gaze into the dark eyes that glared defiantly back at him while they moved together, panting harshly into the other’s face as the battle of wills continued. Ecthelion’s slitted eyes shone with his determination not to give in, his blood covered mouth glinting in the faint light of the dungeon as he bared the hints of fangs his transformation had caused within his mouth. Turned on by the defiance, Sauron kissed Ecthelion again, his body pressing closer to grind cruelly into the pale body while his hands went up to grip the clawed fingers. He hissed as the sharpened nails dug into his hands, cutting them deeply as they clasped their hands tightly together with their rising ardor.

Suddenly, Ecthelion jerked his arms and the sound of snapping metal echoed within the room. Surprised, Sauron could only glimpse Ecthelion’s triumphant face before he was shoved back, spun around, and pushed roughly down onto the nearby table. Glass shattered as flasks and other items were sent careening onto the stone floor with a sweep of Ecthelion’s arm and splinters bit into the Maiar’s stomach as he was shifted onto the wooden top. He snarled at Ecthelion over his shoulder but then gasped as fangs pierced his neck in a quelling motion as the Elf pinned him. Sauron held his breath as he felt the press of a throbbing member at his unprepared entrance just before searing pain ripped through his body as he was split open by that invasive flesh. He cried out in distress but choked on his cry as a snarl rippled through his neck from the pinning mouth that held him, feeling blood trickle down his neck and legs from the wounds on his body. He groaned as Ecthelion began to thrust in him, short sharp thrusts that sent pain spiraling up his spine with each time.

It was a joining of lust, pain, and blood as Ecthelion used Sauron’s body for his rutting. His clawed fingers dug into the pale hips he pounded into while his fanged mouth held Sauron steady.  It was over quickly, mingled roars of release echoing in the room to replace the sounds of slapping skin. Pulling away as he panted for air, Ecthelion collapsed onto the floor, shuddering with both pleasure and his need for control as reality came crashing onto him once more. He stared over in a haze at Sauron as the Maiar slowly turned over and sat down on the rickety wooden bench. His eyes narrowed as Sauron began to laugh softly before he wiped his fingers through the mingled semen and blood between his legs and on his stomach.

The Elf Lord found he could not move as his captor stood slowly and walked over to his supine body. His eyes widened as the sneering Maiar knelt next to him, his fingers dripping with the thick mixture of semen and blood. His breath shuddered to a stop as the slender fingers traced around his heart through his torn tunic before circling around his neck, leaving a sticky mark as he spoke softly in the Black Speech of Mordor, “Bind to me and become my slave....forever you shall be mine in darkness until life leaves you.”

As soon as the circle was completed, Ecthelion shuddered, then screamed in agonizing pain as fire and ice seemed to collide through his body when the circle that had just been drawn began to glow. It pulsed in time to his heartbeat steadily as he writhed in pain, his screams swiftly becoming incoherent while he fought and lost against the powerful binding magic. After a while, he fell back onto the ground, shuddering as he gasped for air as the pain slowly left him. He opened his eyes after a bit and focused a little on Sauron as the smug Maiar watched him. “What...have you done to me?” he whispered hoarsely.

“Did you *really* believe I would be so overcome by you? I *wanted* you to give in...and now you are truly mine,” Sauron replied with a sneer before standing and lacing his leggings up again, all signs of their recent activities no longer in evidence on his body. He turned and faced the stricken Elf Lord and laughed again as he ran a hand through his hair before heading for the door. “The Winter Solstice is coming, Ecthelion of the House of the Fountain. I suggest you make peace with the last days of your freedom,” he added mockingly before leaving the room, the door shutting behind him with a thump of finality that sent Ecthelion’s heart plummeting into despair.

Sitting up carefully, Ecthelion held his head and sobbed in anguish. “Glorfindel! Why are you not here?!” he cried out on a wail, but his cry echoed dully around him, absorbed by the dark stone that was his prison. Curling up into a ball like an Elfling, he cried himself into an exhausted reverie, his sleep haunted by the nightmare his life had become.

Time seemed to crawl in the desolate dungeon, marked only by the occasional Orc appearing to deliver food for Ecthelion and the other creatures. The pain within the Elf Lord seemed to abate every now and then, but his battle was never ending as the spells that worked to control and change him were obstructed continuously by Ecthelion's willpower. Yet he knew that his control would not last as he felt the approach of the Winter Solstice rear up around him.

The day of the Winter Solstice had him pacing agitatedly within the confines of the dungeon. He had long freed the other creatures, which had either scurried off into the cracks or had become his and the panther's meal. However, Ecthelion found a certain kinship with the panther, almost as if they both knew that they were of the same blood now. The panther would soothe his feral instincts, calmly licking his wounds when his pain caused him to lash at himself in an effort to draw his concentration elsewhere.  But when the day of his doom dawned, Ecthelion felt an almost eerie calm wash over him and he paced quietly, as if waiting for the proper time to strike.

He did not have to wait overly long for it either. At noon when their lunch was delivered, Ecthelion struck swiftly, nearly unseen as he slashed out with his claws and cut through the Orc's throat, leaving it to bleed at the doorway as they walked over the corpse. Looking around warily, the two hunters stalked down the dank hallway, heading for the stairs and the source of light, melding with the shadows easily. Golden slitted eyes took in the surroundings and the panther moved forward quickly, creeping up on the guarding Orcs that were at the doorway. Nary had a sound left the two victims when their throats were sliced cleanly open before their bodies were dragged out of sight to earn them more time to escape. Both predators knew that escape was essential if they were to survive.

They came to the main courtroom and saw Sauron within discussing plans with the attending captains of his creatures. Ecthelion felt his blood boil at the sight of the Maiar who had destroyed his life, but ignored his impulse to rend and kill in order to escape. They crept down a side passage, avoiding as many of their enemies as they could before finally coming out a side entrance of Barad-dúr. But they both could only stare at the desolate field before them in the waning afternoon light. Ecthelion sat down in weariness and smiled slightly as his panther friend leaned against him encouragingly. He looked out over the smoking pits of basalt and magma covered the distance to their freedom that lay several leagues away. He sighed softly again and placed his head on his knees, then, with a frown of determination, stood and looked down at his friend. Nodding once in understanding, they took off stealthily over the terrain, keeping to the shadows that were surrounding them as they dodged the steaming pits of melted earth in their path towards the break in the mountains that they could see.

But just as freedom was at hand, their fortune left them. With a gasp of shock and intense pain, Ecthelion dropped heavily to his knees as he clutched his neck, scrabbling at his pale flesh as if to try and break someone’s hold on his neck...or a collar that kept him bound. The panther turned to him in worry, growling uneasily as he sensed the presence of the Dark One around his ‘kin’. He gently clamped his powerful jaws around a pale arm, tugging on it in an effort to encourage Ecthelion onward. But he was shaken off tenderly by his ‘kin’, confusing him further as Ecthelion grappled for control. Ecthelion finally managed a soft snarl and groan as tears rolled down his face.

Eyes widening at the command, the panther growled in defiance before whining slightly. Ecthelion growled back sorrowfully as another tear trickled down his cheek. Snuffling in sadness, the panther paced forward a bit and nuzzled the Elf’s face, licking his face in sorrowful farewell before turning and continuing his journey to freedom. He stopped only once to look back at the watching Elf Lord before resuming his bolt for the outside world.

Collapsing onto his side, Ecthelion snarled in despair as he fought the hold that Sauron had reestablished on his body. He went rigid with pain as another jolt of agonizing fire shot through his trembling frame as the sun went down. He growled angrily, glaring up at the sky as a shadow fell over him. He locked eyes with a smirking Sauron and hissed in rage. “You will never keep me here forever!” he declared almost gutturally as he stood up barely, his very faer fighting the evil that was now threatening to change him into a creature of Sauron’s making.

“You are mine....never forget it...” Sauron answered softly as he sneered, his pale face a mocking image of caring as he crossed his arms over his chest. “As the moon rises in its dark bed, you shall transform and do as I bid.”

“Never!” Ecthelion screamed in defiance before howling in rage and agony as icy fire seemed to ripple through his shaking frame. He trembled, and then lashed out, his hands curling as they began to become thicker, furrier, his fingers becoming claws within the fur. His arms thickened as well as dark fur continued to climb up along his racked frame. He roared in pain as he tore his clothes off, his body jerking and twitching as bones broke and muscles reformed, becoming a shape that it had not been made for as the dark glistening fur covered the contorting body. A long sleek tail grew from Ecthelion’s tailbone while his face elongated and thickened into a whiskered snout that snarled out his defiance and pain. His ears though stayed pointed and lengthened, becoming a mixture of cat and Elven ears with tufts of dark fur at the tips. Slitted golden cat eyes glared at Sauron as the transformation completed and Ecthelion stood on four gigantic paws before him. His fur was the same ebony as his hair, his eyes, while golden, were flecked with silver and blue. He had on his back a stripe of ivory fur that mingled amidst the black fur, shining in the starlight as Ecthelion roared into the twilight.

Pleased, Sauron slowly strode forward and placed his pale hand atop the huge head, stroking just behind the lengthy ears. “Remarkable...now, I have a task for you, my pet,” he murmured in amazement, then blinked as Ecthelion snarled at him and backed away. He sneered as he tapped his chin in surprise. “You still fight me? What an amazing Elf...we can not have that now can we?” he commented lightly before glaring at the growling panther. Ecthelion twitched and shuddered before hissing warningly as he fought against the control that Sauron was working to wrest from him. But it was a fight he could not win and soon became docile as he groaned in acceptance, tilting his head to the side in a show of submission. Satisfied, Sauron moved forward again and knelt down, nuzzling the dark fur with a purr of his own. “This night you will feast on the men that live in Ithilien. Go into their stronghold and kill their leaders. Return to me before dawn. Now go!” he ordered before standing and pointing towards the area that had been beckoning Ecthelion to freedom. Now it was to slavery that he bound along the path in an easy lope that quickly shortened the distance.

With a burst of speed, he went through the break in the wall and down into the treacherous rocks that surrounded the volcanic peaks. He navigated them surely until he came to the twilight touched trees of Ithilien and melded within the shadows past the watching guards that were on the borders. Moving silently, he traveled through the bushes until he came to the small encampment. He stopped, panting slightly with his exertions as he took in the numbers before him. It was a small troop of about three hundred Men, and that was not including the sentries that were currently keeping watch in the surrounding forest. Almost smirking, Ecthelion moved forward through the remaining bushes and stalked towards the nearest guard. Before an alarm could be given, he lashed out with his paw, tearing out the throat of the Man before stalking into the encampment. He tilted his ears forward warily, keeping a keen eye out for any who might stop him. But he came to the center relatively unharmed and circled the close knit tents that were there. He slipped into the outermost tent and went inside, ripping out the throat of the sleeping youth with his powerful jaws before leaving the tent. He licked his lips to obtain all of the blood on his snout before going into the next tent.

Systematically, he was able to go through eight of the twelve tents before the alarm was sounded. Snarling as he licked his lips from his latest kill, he knew that his first victims had been found. Darting out of the tent, he dodged the rousing Men as he went towards the next tent. With a snarling roar, he tackled the waking general, stopping his screams for help as he clamped his jaws on the slender throat and tore it out. He turned defensively as he heard the tent flap open and hissed before leaping to the attack, a black shadow on the move to kill. Screams of pain were swiftly followed by death gurgles as he killed his intruder before going to the next tent, smoothly avoiding the rallied troops. He finished off the last of the leaders and snuck out, dodging the searchers easily as he blended with the night and headed for Mordor. He stopped at the edge of the peaks and looked back coldly; licking his chops of the blood he had spilled that night. With a growling purr he turned and left the site that was now in an uproar of grief and rage as the Men took in the carnage that had been dealt them that night.

Just as dawn peeked out over the horizon, Ecthelion returned to Barad-dúr and went into the chamber room, sensing where his ‘master’ was. As dawn came, he snarled and roared in pain as he transformed back into himself, his bones cracking and reshaping themselves while his muscles rippled into their original form. The fur left his body to be replaced by sweat soaked hair and pale skin while the paws turned back into slender hands and feet and the lengthened ears and snout shortened to become a pale face and Elven ears. Collapsing onto the ground, Ecthelion panted heavily with the exertion of his transformation as he shuddered. He suddenly gagged and retched, heaving out the blood and gore he had digested from the previous night in his horror at what he had done. With a heartbreaking sob, he turned onto his back away from the mess, his arms and legs splayed out as his body struggled to regain breath and control.

The soft sounds of footsteps caused the blue grey eyes to focus blearily upwards onto the Maiar who had cursed him. Sauron smirked down at him as he stood above the Elf, hands behind his back nonchalantly. “Very good, my pet. You have done very well this first of many hunts,” he purred out before turning and walking out of the room.

Curling up into a fetal position, Ecthelion sobbed softly as he wept for the Men he had killed. How was he going to survive this curse? What did Sauron have plotted for him? Exhausted, he fell into a dreamless sleep on the cold hard floor, unable to find anymore spirit within him to fight or believe in escape. He was indeed doomed.

TBC

<<Home>>   <Previous Chapter   Next Chapter>