Emmett and Queenie at Narnia's End

When Emmett's party arrived at the village where people were addicted to the Potion of Long Years, they were met by a single Gondorian soldier, the equivalent of a corporal, whom Captain Beregond had left behind. This man reported: "A raven informed us that you would be coming to search for the missing woman. My commander therefore hurried on to the next village he has to investigate."

"And how is it with these villagers?" asked Ranger Timsarf.

"Two of them, old men in frail health, have died, in spite of all our efforts to aid them. The rest are hanging on to life. We cling to the hope that Queen Arwen will discover a cure for them."

"Listen, friend," said Emmett. "These two enlightened Trolls, and my Thunderpig Stella, would among them be able to haul any sort of wagons or sleds in the direction of Gondor at a pretty good pace. Cut down on the time for joinin' up with anyone comin' this way with help from Minas Tirith."

Since waiting around was doing little good, the corporal swiftly agreed with Emmett. A line of wagons was chained together for Stella to pull, with Timsarf staying by her because she knew him. Grup and Glag each took charge of pulling a large sled. The rest of the Ithilien Rangers who had come with Emmett joined this caravan to render help and protection, except for two men who stayed in the village with the corporal for the same purpose.

This left Emmett, Chaguzak and the borrowed hunting dog to set out in search of the kidnapped village woman. The woman's father, a weathered peasant named Bablunk, was among those not addicted to the deceptive potion, so he would go with Emmett as a guide for the local terrain.

Before the medical-evacuation caravan got underway, Emmett prayed over all of the victims. The Almighty God being perceived by Middle-Earth inhabitants as remote, most of those hearing Emmett were uncertain of what he was talking about. Nonetheless, all of them felt some strength returning to their bodies, and grew more hopeful of surviving long enough to receive some effective kind of treatment.
 
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As they went, Bablunk asked Emmett, "Do you know anything about this Eru Iluvatar that the Gondorians believe in? They say He is mightier than Sauron ever was -- even mightier than Morgoth who was before Sauron!"

"Yes, I know about Him, and yes, He is mightier. He's also known as the Lord God, One Godhead in Three Persons."

"But if He is the mightiest, why is it that, even with Sauron destroyed, He could not prevent my Perlasha from being abducted?"

"I don't know why these things happen," sighed Emmett. "But I know that I wouldn't want absolutely everything t'be all taken care of ahead'a time, leavin' me nothing to do that mattered."

"And I know that He has changed me, led me away from evil," declared Chaguzak the Orcling.

Hours later, near sundown, the hunting dog led them to the rim of a small, shallow canyon, with sides not too steep. Down in the canyon were the raiders, proxies of Weshgrod and Frulzess. None of the gunmen were currently with them, but they had added "ordinary" recruits from somewhere. Emmett counted forty-six hostiles in all.

"Hound, I want you to stay with Bablunk; help him and protect him. Bablunk, I'm gonna go over that way an' start killin' these owlhoots from a distance. The first two or three that I kill will be the ones farthest back in the opposite direction from where I went; after that, I'll change my aim and start pickin' men off closer to my end. You need to look for a place off yonder where you and the hound can climb down. I'll let the outlaws see me after my first few shots, so their attention'll be on me. While they try to get at me, y'all dash in and get your daughter away from them, take her back up to the top." Not wanting to worry his friend, Emmett omitted to mention that, unless he had more chance to reload than he expected to have, he was going to run out of shells in his guns before he ran out of enemies.

This being an exotic magical world, Perlasha was of course marvellously beautiful. And because this was a relatively FAMILY-FRIENDLY magical world, no serious harm had yet befallen her. And the raiders had just run out of time for any non-family-friendly hijinks.

The first men Emmett intended to slay were the most distant targets he was going to have, so he used his over-and-under express rifle. BOOM, BOOM, and two evildoers were dead. Noticing that Bablunk and the dog had not yet found a safe place to descend, and that the evildoers were not sure where the killing noise had come from, Emmett could after all take the time to reload the heavy two-shot weapon. BOOM, BOOM again, and two more enemies fell. But now he was going to have to shift his shooting closer as he had told his peasant companion, lest he endanger the old man with his own fire.

Taking the time to reload ONE barrel of the express gun, he used it on the one man he saw who might have survived a shot from one of his other firearms: a man, apparently the bandit leader, who wore battle armor. The express bullet penetrated -- helped by Emmett choosing what looked like an armor joint to shoot at -- and the man fell badly wounded, though not dead.

Setting down the rifle, Emmett hefted the pump shotgun, let himself be seen on the canyon rim, and shouted, "This is your only chance to live! Surrender now!" He was fortunate that he ducked back as soon as he said that, for his only answer was a flight of arrows from five or six archers.

Now came the really serious bloodletting. Though having to be careful about arrows, Emmett gradually slew bandit after bandit. But the survivors were still not giving up; they were looking for a way to flank him -- including by rushing out the canyon mouth to come around and up after him. Chaguzak helpfully slowed them down by throwing stones at them.

Budgeting a hurried moment to shove three more shells into the shotgun's receiver when it was empty, Emmett emptied it again. Then he put down the shotgun and drew both handguns. More confident of long-range accuracy with the magnum revolver, he used that to kill the first four men to start charging at him from outside the canyon. Meanwhile, Bablunk did reach his daughter; and the wolfhound fought off two bandits who tried to prevent her escape.

Emmett turned the 9mm semi-automatic against other men in the canyon, trying to make sure that no more of them went against Bablunk. The last two shots in his revolver went into the skulls of two enemy archers. When the semi-automatic went empty, he swapped in the last filled spare magazine he had with him. Four more of the enemies getting near him went down, dead or disabled; but five still were coming, and Emmett had just run out of time to reload. Backing up to a rocky spot where it would be hard for his foes to surround him, Emmett drew his hatchet and Bowie knife.

This was, of course, the grimmest part for Emmett. Helped by his choice of the ground to make a stand, he fought well. But his enemies were no amateurs, and they were not about to underestimate him at close quarters just because he preferred to shoot enemies when they outnumbered him almost fifty to one. Chaguzak tackled one, in an ugly close-quarters fight with knives. The others attacked Emmett in a sort of rotation, helping each other, which forced Emmett to use every bit of speed he could muster; and their swords gave them a longer reach. Emmett wounded one man's sword arm badly enough to put him out of the fight; but he was tiring, while his enemies could take turns and each get a breather.

Chaguzak slew his opponent, and then leaped onto another enemy from behind; but by now, the gunslinger was nearly spent. Just as a sword-stroke knocked Emmett's parrying knife out of his left hand.... a roar shook the very sky, loud as fifty daisy-cutter bombs being dropped on a Taliban base in Afghanistan. Almost as audible, a second later, were the sudden screams of barbarians being torn apart--

--by Grimbeorn, son of Beorn, in his bear shape.

 
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The peasant Bablunk, weeping with relief, helped Perlasha to her feet, and the two made their way toward where Grimbeorn had just helped Emmett and Chaguzak. When he noticed them approaching, Grimbeorn transformed himself back to human shape. Since he was a magical being, and since this was a family-friendly fantasy world, a complete suit of clothes materialized on Grimbeorn's body even as he changed form.

"You are the lord of the bears!" cried Perlasha, falling at Grimbeorn's feet. She intended to kiss his hand reverently; but her kneeling was badly aimed. Her left knee and right shin both got gashed by a sharp rock she hadn't noticed.

"Have you anything to bind those wounds?" Grimbeorn asked Emmett.

"I have!" exclaimed Chaguzak. "Just before we left Minas Tirith, our friends bundled up some cleansing salve and suchlike items, in case of a situation like this." He soon cleaned and dressed the young woman's torn skin. She tried to act appropriately grateful; but an Orc still was an Orc, and it was hard for her not to show any fear of him. Grimbeorn, on the other hand, seemed to cause her no alarm at all.

"Can y'all walk now, miss?" asked Emmett. Perlasha proved unable to walk at more than a slow and painful hobble.

"I can transport her, if she will consent to go with me," said the noble were-bear. "I say 'go with me,' because now that this kidnapped maiden is recovered, there is no reason for me to be ranging separately from my followers. In fact, I sense that they will soon be in great peril. Goodman Bablunk, I command no one here, but I sincerely believe that Perlasha will be safest if she rides on my back. Then, I promise to return her to your village as soon as I can."

"I believe him, father," said Perlasha, looking very much as if she wanted to go with Grimbeorn.

"I think it's okay," Emmett agreed.

So, only minutes later, Grimbeorn was in bear-form again, going on all fours with Perlasha riding on his shaggy back. Emmett, Bablunk and Chaguzak continued eastward with the dog, having in mind that Prince Faramir was supposed to be meeting the Haradrim officer Tebloru at the east edge of Mordor.

"That Human girl hardly seemed to notice how much YOU had risked to save her," Chaguzak muttered in the gunslinger's ear. "All she seemed to care about was going off with Grimbeorn."

"I ain't offended," Emmett assured the young Orc. "I'm a married man, while Grimbeorn isn't. He still is human, even though he can become a critter, and he's got as much right to be attracted to a gal as any single man. After all, Grimbeorn wouldn'ta gotten born at all if his pappy Beorn hadn't married a HUMAN woman. Weren't no she-bear Grimbeorn's momma. And that's a family line as ought to continue. It sure don't look like Bablunk has anything against the idea of havin' a shape-changin' son-in-law."
 
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Accept my word that Grimbeorn does marry Perlasha -- after he helps to overcome the squad of evil gunmen who were sent to attack his people. Note that I do NOT consider these were-beasts to be entirely immune to normal weapons, so there will have been actual danger for Grimbeorn to face. Accept my word also that Emmett singlehandedly defeats the rest of the evil gunmen in a spectacular shootout; that Frulzess and her son Rapnazak finally pay the price for their evil deeds; that the cursed necklace of the Witch-King gets destroyed; that the decent King Dbalgo of Harad is rescued from being overthrown; that the widowed Queen of Rhun is placed on her rightful throne; that the railway line to Osgiliath does get completed; that things turn out well for Grup, Glag, and the rest of the surviving demi-humans; that a cure is found for the addiction to the Potion of Long Years; and that Emmett safely returns to our world, where Queenie, Cora, Baby Augie, and Bat-Bat await him.

I'm just running out of real-world free time for my writing, and other projects have to take priority.
 
Oh, and the baby Eowyn bears to Faramir turns out to be TWO babies, twin brothers. So they name one Théoden and the other Boromir.
 
What's more, when conditions in Rhun, Khand and Harad are stabilized, Aragorn eventually sends a Marco Polo sort of expedition east to Ainukuo, led by Prince Imrahil and accompanied by Blademaster Tebloru of Harad. They introduce themselves to people of that far land, and succeed in opening diplomatic relations.
 
The story "At Narnia's End," the first half of this thread, features a visit to Bizm, literally JUST before the Narnian world does end. The edible jewels are depicted.
 
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