The shrine of Melkor

Aragorn led Halbarad through the woods surrounding the village of Bree to where he had found the shrine to Melkor, or more commonly known as Morgoth, who was the first Dark Lord before Sauron. They came to the edge of a clearing deep in the woods, where they found a bunch of shady individuals surrounding a figure of Morgoth and chanting in a strange tongue. “What language is that?” Halbarad asked.

“Black speech.” Aragorn replied shortly. It had been a long time since the black speech had been heard this far away from Mordor. Aragorn turned his attention away from the cultists to a fresh pool of blood on an altar of sorts.

“I don’t see a body.” Halbarad noted seeing where Aragorn had turned his attention.

“Me neither. Are they mutilating themselves?” Aragorn asked.

“It’s possible. After we kill the cultists we can examine the area.” Halbarad said.

“Yeah, sounds like a plan.” Aragorn agreed as he drew his bow. Halbarad nodded at him as he did the same, and they began to shoot arrows into the cultists. After the first few fell, the rest began to realize what was happening. Those not shot down drew swords that they had around their wastes and charged at the two rangers. Aragorn looked at Halbarad curiously, it’s not often that you see cultists wearing swords, especially in a peaceful village.

Aragorn drew his own sword, while Halbarad continued to empty his quiver into the bodies of the cultists. Aragorn could tell that these cultists were not trained very well as he cut them down, but there was something that was throwing him off. Every once in a while, he heard a whisper of his name coming from somewhere, but he couldn’t tell where. It was getting so distracting, that he almost took a cultist’s blade in the ribs. Had it not been for Halbarad’s arrow sprouting from the cultist’s forehead, he wasn’t sure what would’ve happened. “Pay attention!” Halbarad shouted.

“I know! I think the idol is calling my name, it’s pretty distracting you know.” Aragorn said as he spun around a charging cultist and cut him down from behind.

“It almost seems as if their mindless.” Halbarad mused as he shot down the last of the cultists.

“You’re right.” Aragorn mused. “At first I thought they had stolen the swords because they used them so poorly, but now that I look at them more closely, they resemble the evil men from Dunland.”

“Dunland is pretty far away from here.” Halbarad said as he went around picking his arrows back up and cleaning the tips from the gore.

“True, but look here, isn’t this the Dunlending sigil?” Aragorn pointed out on a dead cultists jerkin. He wiped his sword on the man’s jacket and stood up and walked towards the altar.

“You’re right. That’s strange.” Halbarad said stooping over the body Aragorn had been examining. As Aragorn stepped closer to the altar, his name being whispered got louder and louder to him, until the voice was all he could hear.

“What is this?” Aragorn asked the voice.

“You killed my worshipers, son of kings. I should be angry, but it seems I am at your mercy.” The voice said.

“Give me a reason why I shouldn’t break this shrine right now.” Aragorn said preparing to do just that.

“I have information that you would really want to know. How about this, I give you the information and you decided whether to destroy this altar or not.”

‘Why would you give me that choice?” Aragorn asked.

“I have far more altars outside of Mordor than you think ranger, losing one will not affect me in the slightest.” The voice said.

“Are you Morgoth?” Aragorn asked scared to hear the response.

“I am. Ever since my defeat, I have been banished from this physical realm, I can only communicate with the world through shrines such as these.” The voice said.

“You expect me to believe that? Go on, tell me what you think I want to hear.” Aragorn said in disbelief.

“The creature you had been following, one gollum?” The voice said, shocking Aragorn. Indeed, he and Gandalf had long searched for the creature Gollum in hopes of catching him before he got caught by the enemy. “Well he has been caught inside of Mordor, and was recently set free.” The voice told Aragorn. Set free, why? “He gave his torturers the information they desired, they know the One Ring has been found, and they know it is in the Shire.” The Shire! So that’s why Gandalf has put a watch over the Hobbits.

“Why are you telling me this?” Aragorn asked.

“Because you must be the one to take the ring Aragorn. The ring must be destroyed, Sauron must fall.”

“It’s surprising to hear you want your most trusted servant to be destroyed.” Aragorn said.

“There needs to be a new Dark Lord, Sauron knows this, yet he has greedily held on to his power. This needs to stop.”

“Let me guess, you will replace him as Dark Lord?” Aragorn scoffed.

“Perhaps. If you don’t want to destroy the ring, you don’t have to Aragorn. The ring houses immense power, it can be used for good if your will is strong enough. You can save Gondor and sit on the throne for the first time since the line of Kings was broken. As a ranger, and of the line of kings, your will is strong, use the ring and do battle with evil. It will be fun to watch for sure.” Aragorn heard a ghostly chuckle. “All you have to do is take the ring from the Hobbit who carries it, it shouldn’t be hard for one as trained as you. You know what Gandalf will council, he will say to destroy the ring, but that will only bring about a new Dark Lord, you can harness the power of the ring, and banish evil for ever. Or at least you can try. If you fail, you will fall under Sauron’s influence, if you succeed you will be a hero. The choice is yours.” The voice went silent and Aragorn felt his shoulder being shaken.

“Aragorn! Come on! We should destroy this thing and leave before anyone stumbles on this place.” Halbarad said. Aragorn looked around and saw that all the bodies had been stowed away in the forest, so maybe Halbarad hadn’t heard his conversation.

“Did you hear anything suspicious? Anything at all?” Aragorn asked to see if his friend had heard anything.

“Nothing, which is good. Shall we destroy this thing?” Halbarad asked.

A) Destroy it

B) Leave it, Aragorn may want to come back for more advice

C) Leave a suggestion

What does Aragorn feel about what the voice said about the ring?

A) He thinks destroying it is still best

B) Maybe using its power for good can work

C) Leave a suggestion