Chapter 16 of Tessa and the Stranger on the Plane

Posted by Aragorn from val-pm1-007.inetnebr.com on July 22, 1999 at 11:27:39:

Chapter 16: Escape

Brett Lambert stood in the library. His eyes scanned across the
volumes on the shelf, coming to rest upon a curious, red,
leatherbound tome with faded gold leaf where the title had once
been. It had worn off in time, though not long, for the leather
was not worn nor its color diminished. In curiosity, Brett pulled
it down from the shelf, only to be taken aback by it's tremendous
weight. He had not been expecting so much, and the book
toppled from his fingers and down onto his foot.

"Gosh-darn it!!" he whispered, as he leaned down to retrieve the
book. Brett placed it on the table, and opened it, and was taken
by surpise through too things. One was the title. "The Lord of
the Rings". He knew of this one, all right. Matt, that guy who
called himself 'Aragorn', was always ranting on about it, through
always ever email or forum.

Number two was the card inside the book, telling who had
checked it out and when. The most recent name was at the top,
and it said 'Tessa'. Brett knew her from the forum as well. More
curious was the date on the card. The day after tomorrow, 1999.

***

In the grayness of the morning mist, a gray-cloaked stranger
hastened toward the sea, silently as a shadow. Had none been
searching for him, he might have never been seen; had his
enemy's eyes not grown to be so sharp and clever, he might have
passed without incident. But the determination of darkness was
strong, and the stillness was interrupted by the wrenching scream
of shadow. They were upon him.

Aragorn was escaping. Long had he suspected;for a mere
moment had he truly known. A servant of that Dark Lord of an
age past had taken up his master's mantle, in hope of bringing
those longly lost days of darkness back to the world, and it was
through Aragorn that he wished it done. The curse of having
survived, or endured! Aragorn could remember the ancient days
well, though his memory of his life now would go back for only
19 years. His Arwen was gone, and the common life he lived
now was all that he had, with the books by a man named Tolkien.
There had been no warning in them, and yet he knew, as now he
tried to make his escape.

Black rivers of substanceless darkness crawled upon the road
behind him, sliding silently toward him, preparing to do their
master's bidding. Aragorn broke into a run as they drew nearer,
knowing that escape would not come easily.

He prayed that Gandalf had delivered his message; what happened through time might have already come to pass, and he would be taken away. There were friends he had to reach, before his journey to Valinor, that land that was West of the World.

On to 17...

Follow Ups:

• oops... Aragorn 11:29:31 7/22/99 (0)

Post a Followup:

Name:    
E-Mail:  
Subject: 
Comments:

Link URL:   
Link Title: 
Image URL: