Once again the village was flustered as the day drew to an end. Accusations were flying everywhere and three guests were neck in neck for the chopping block. At the last minute, though,
Eönwë cast the deciding vote for
Inziladun.
But unlike
Fea,
Inziladun was not willing to make his death easy. He stood stone-still before the others. "Kill me," he said, "if you have the heart for it."
The guests looked uneasily at one another. "
Eönwë was the last one to cast the vote," said
Rikae. "Let him do it." They led
Inziladun to a nearby cave which seemed to double as a weapons storeroom.
McCaber handed him a throwing dagger, while
Pitchwife and
Lalaith turned
Inziladun around. "Aim for the back of the neck."
For a full two minutes
Eönwë stood there with the dagger in his hand. "Really," he said, "I don't think--"
Just then
Inziladun exploded in a mass of fur. The werewolf reached for
Lalaith's throat. Suddenly in a blaze of light
Pitchwife opened up his flannel jacket, and reached inside his pocket to draw out a glowing crystal. The wolf turned to eye it, and dazzled by its beauty, did the only logical thing he could in this situation:
He bit
Pitchwife's hand off.
Immediately
Inziladun yelped in pain as the holy light of the gem seared in his stomach. There was something worryingly human in his cries of agony. In his throes he snapped at
Shasta's stomach and tore it out.
Pitchwife stared in shocked fascination at the bloody stump where his hand used to be. "Holy smokes!" said
autume. "Where'd you get
that?"
He turned to her and smiled. "The Silmarils sear the flesh of those unworthy to touch it. Could only find one, but I thought it'd be good to have on hand... You know, just in case."
"Now what?" said
Nerwen.
Inziladun was proceeding to claw at some of the rocks at the edge of the cave, bloodying his paws.
Pitchwife looked at his arm again. "I think I know how this story ends," he said. "Might as well finish the job I've started. Shame I couldn't have protected you all longer."
With that, he drew out a knife and lunged at the mad wolf.
As
Inziladun lay panting, the knife wounds to his chest innumerable, he turned back into his human form. Tears were streaming down his face, mingling with the blood. "Hurts... so bad..." he said before he went still.
Pitchwife, meanwhile, backed away and leaned against the wall of the cave, bleeding from all the scratches. "I only wish I could see my own Lúthien again," he said.
McCaber reached inside
Inziladun's stomach to place the Silmaril in
Pitchwife's hand before he died.
Those guests who remained stared in shock at the tableau laid out before them. Then they looked down at themselves. Almost all of them were covered in blood.
"We'd better wash up," said
Rikae. "Is there any way of walling this cave in?" Just then a rain started from outside the cave. As one the guests walked out into it and only wished it could wash the stain from their hearts. In a loud bang lightning struck above the cave, and stones rained down before its mouth.
They returned to the guest wing in near silence.
Just when they were about to go inside their rooms,
Nogrod turned to
Eönwë, a black look in his eye. "Pity you didn't kill him when you had the chance," he said.
IT IS NOW NIGHT THREE
The Living:
Nessa Telrunya
McCaber
Nogrod
autume98
Lalaith
Nerwen
Rikae
Eönwë
The Dead:
Feanor of the Peredhil (werewolf)
Boromir88
Shastanis Althreduin
Inziladun (werewolf)
Pitchwife (ranger)