The Ice Cave of Forochel, Resting Place of Karasu

[Alucard]

"Lord Aragorn," Alucard hissed, standing from the casket and approaching the King. "I should have known it was you. Few others could defeat Dwar." He frowned, "But that you did," He began to circle Aragorn, growling softly. "Dwar was a cocky fool, he believed that just because he was a Wight that he could not be bested in battle. I do not share his flaws. I shall defeat you this day, and then I shall throw your body to the Andromalii." He growled, and his wings flexed, shadowing over Aragorn.

"You have gotten this far, deciphering my masters hidden secrets, but no longer. You have no hope against me. If what I heard was correct, you could barely hold your own against a Werewolf..what makes you think you can hold up against a Vampire?" He hissed, "Come, then, Aragorn! Let us fight!" His voice flowed out like a poison as his wings stretched, and he rocketed into the air, wings flapping, engulfing himself in blackness.

While Aragorn was searching above for him, the vampire came down silently from behind, his wings hanging limp. He landed on his feet and slashed with his mighty claws.

[Envin]

The voice of Alucard slithered into the impenetrable silence of the cavern as so much venomed honey, soothing the ears and enrapturing the heart, calming his victim; after all, pacified meat is much more tender. But Aragorn steeled his heart and his mind against the poison of the Lord of Vampires, and stood firm before the darkened face of evil there, miles underground.

"For one so flawless, thou'rt cocky enow to fall harder with steel many an inch in thy heart," Aragorn answered him, mocking his foe. "And Dwar was a spirit, and much more of a challenge than aught with flesh and sinew. Yet thy Master was fool enow to make his secrets this simple to unravel - how much more of a simpleton must his servants be? It seems we shall discover such now. The waters of this place shall freeze thy putrid heart ere this day is done, vampire!"

And Aragorn was not to be taken at unawares by one so apt to the shadows of darkness. He leapt forward when Alucard vanished into the gloom, keeping to the light, and vaulted onto the casket in the very nick of time ere claws would have raked his back. He spun about in mid-air as he leapt, sending a kick flying at Alucard's fanged teeth, and landed sure-footed upon the icy coffin, and swung Anduril heavy-handed at his foe.

[Alucard]

Alucard growled, leaning his head back to dodge the kick and grabbing Anduril's blade with his claw, "You dare insult my master? You dare insult one who even after death will still haunt Middle-Earth?" He held Anduril firm, and raked at Aragorn across the eyes with his other claw.

[Envin]

Aragorn did not attempt to wrest the blade out of Alucard's grip, but instead twisted his end of the sword about so that the keen edge of Anduril met with the vampire's claws just ere they met Aragorn's eyelids, and Alucard howled with rage. Aragorn used the momentary distraction to pull firmly upon the sword and backflip off of the casket at the same instant, and the combined force wrenched the sword from Alucard's claw with a deep, hissing cut.

"Nay, I dare to insult thy slavedriver, whose care for thee is evident enow in that thou'rt here, and ere long will die!"

[Alucard]

"Me be the one to die?" He smirked, and ignored the cut in his hand for the moment. He jumped backwards, looking at Aragorn. "Come, then, my lord! Come and kill me!" He jumped again, dissapearing into the sky. He surveyed Aragorn from the air like a hawk, and descended once again, attacking with his claws from directly above Elessar.

[Envin]

Aragorn moved not when his sinister foe disappeared into the gloom, and kept up his guard, but he was nevertheless surprised at unawares when Alucard came screaming down from above. He lifted up Anduril too late and was sent reeling to the ground. The sword clattered from his hand. Several nasty cuts appeared on his face as the vampire claws sliced his flesh, but he landed upon his back, and with all his might swung his heavy bracered arm at Alucard's face, while with each foot he lashed out in a kick at the soft places of the joints on each of his wings. Then he had a swift moment in which to snatch up his sword and deal a heavy hack clean at Alucard's breast.

[Alucard]

Alucard growled, the kicks stopping him in flight momentarily, causing him to pause long enough so that the sword caught him, and he grunted for a moment. He let himself fall to the ground, and stared up to the black abyss above him, feinting defeat, while secretly he readied his claws.

[Envin]

Aragorn leapt up the moment Alucard reeled from his sword-blow, and backed away several paces. His eyes widened when he saw his foe collapse onto the ground, but then narrowed again. Aragorn knew he had not hit Alucard that strongly - the blow was only glancing and intended for a distracting pain. So he sprang up onto the casket that lay nearby, and from the carven sheath at his side he drew his Elven knife. Taking careful aim he threw it spinning through the frozen air, straight for Alucard’s heart.

[Alucard]

Alucard's hands shot up, fast as lightening, and grabbed the dagger from midair. He jumped up, and glared at Aragorn, growling softly, "Get off the little masters coffin. We wouldn't want him getting mad would we?" He growled, and jumped forward, slashing with his claw that didn't hold the blade.

[Envin]

"The little Master?" shot back Aragorn, "Then there is life 'neath this ice? Soon it shall gain the same fate as that of its guardian!" He met the swipe of the claw with his thick bracer, batting the attack away, while he kicked the knife out of Alucard's hand, and then with a well-timed flip he flew high into the air and sliced clean the Vampire's neck as he leapt.

[Alucard]

"You have no idea of what you speak! Even if you do defeat me, Karasu shall be unbeatable. Try as you might, he will always--" He was cut short, as the sword decapitated him, and his body fell to the ground, spurts of blood splattering on the ice.

[Karasu Immolo]

Karasu lay in wait, a scythe gripped in his hands. At the base of the blade was the crest of Angmar, and it lay dangerously close to his face. He had listened to the fight going on outside of his coffin, and had even shouted to the both of them, Alucard and Aragorn, trying to get freed. He looked at the lid of the coffin, begging someone silently to let him out. Noise would not leave the coffin, but it would get in. It was an odd enchantment put there by Morsereg. As he heard the last words of Alucard, he could only pray Aragorn would open his casket and give him time to speak.

[Envin]

For an ageless moment the body of the Vampire Alucard hung motionless in the air, his wings still beating their time in the dark. And then, slowly it seemed, he slumped to the ground as his head fell with a sickening crunch to the ice and rolled over so that his eyes stared with hate at Aragorn. The lips upon the head moved as if to speak, but no air crossed his windpipe, and no sound issued forth. Ere long the body was still, though in silence the lifeblood of him dripped from both of his severed necks, and such was the evil of it that it smoked upon the ice.

Aragorn shook his head , wiped the sweat from his long hair, and peered into the water around them. The fiends were not awake as of yet, but he had no idea when they would be. He turned with a shudder and walked to the casket. No seal could he see, but there was another crest of Angmar just like the one far above, and about it went the same engraving, but with one subtle detail: appended to the engraving were these words:

Sub specie æternitas

Then Aragorn spun about, and caught up the severed head of Alucard, still dripping silently with evil blood, and slapped the neck of it upon the coffin. For an instant the eyes gazed languidly at him, but then the ice began to melt away. Slowly it disappeared until Aragorn saw a remarkable likeness of Dindaedel there in the crypt. His breath caught as the man's eyes squinted at the light, but he knew that here was his quarry, and he lifted his blade to strike. But the man cried out for him to hold with a voice completely unlike Morsereg's, and Aragorn was compelled to stay his blade and hear him out, though he knew not why.



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[Karasu Immolo]

Karasu's eyes had squinted at first, but soon quickly widened. He slowly sat up, looking at Aragorn in amazement, "Aragorn..." He spoke softly, smirking, "You defeated Alucard, I see...you might want to watch out, he'll be back soon," His smirk widened slightly at the look on Aragorn's face as he spoke, "Cut off his head? Stabbed through his heart? Don't think of him as one of those vampires. He won't die from just that." He paused, taking a breath, "I, well...when I was one with Morsereg, spent 100 years gloriously building him into the ultimate undead..."

He turned his head to see Alucard's body begin to form into a swarm of many bats, and begin to form back into a whole body, "The Vampire Alucard." He laughed softly, and turned to Aragorn again, smiling somewhat, "When I...well, mainly Morsereg at that point, for I had been subdued to the back of his mind, when Morsereg killed Erkai, it ripped his soul in half, giving this half the body you see before you..."

"I am not like Morsereg, in the least. In all of his years, he had a little bit of good in him. He thought killing Erkai would destroy all the good in him, and it would split his evil soul in half so that if he were ever to die, he would still be on Middle-Earth. His plan backfired, for I am not evil. I am the good that was once in Morsereg. The way he truly should have been when he was sent from Valinor."

He heard groaning, and turned his head to see emerging from the waters thousands of the hideous Andromalii. "Aragorn, quick!" He tried standing up, but found himself barely unable to move. Besides him in the casket lay a scythe, and he grabbed it, holding it tight. "I cannot get up, yet...I will gather my strength, and join you in battle soon. Morsereg took all the magic, so I'm afraid I cannot attack from a distance." As Aragorn moved to fight, Karasu wispered, "Good luck."

[Envin]

Aragorn's mouth fell at this point, awed and amazed by what he had heard. If this were sooth, then Gondor and the rest of the Free Peoples of Middle-earth would have a new conrade indeed. His joy knew no bounds now, for he had discovered both an ally and what he hoped was a friend. And his joy uplifted him and filled him with resolve anew. He nodded solemnly at Karasu and spun about, the green light flickering as so much flame in his blade and in his eyes, and he entered his true element. With a bound he leapt toward the head of Alucard as the bats neared it, and with a hefty kick he sent it flying nearly seven score yards away, where it sank deeply into the water. That would delay Alucard somewhat. Then he jumped onto the coffin to defend Karasu, Anduril fairly singing as he flew through flesh and sinew and ground against bone. Here there fell a foe with cloven head and blood spurting across the ice, and there crumpled the split body of another, entrails flying. Aragorn sang as he slew, and stayed put atop the casket, feet spread and sure, and naught could dislodge him, though now and again he took a cut to the face and one to the leg, a gash in his arm here and there as score upon score of the Andromalii assaulted him in undying waves.