Lord of the Rings 1. Prologue

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And There Were Four

By Aldesina

Chapter 1

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Disclaimer; As usual all the character in the Lord of the Rings books do not belong to me 

Author's note; This take place before the Lord of the Rings take place so while some of your favorite characters will be present, there will also be many of them missing. It's been awhile since I've seen this so it will be receiving some major overhauls.

Until then, Do Enjoy.

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"Are you certain about this?"

Fingers tapped a slow steady rhythm on the arm of a chair. "It would not be advantageous if you are mistaken."

"I swear that it is the truth"

"Do you now?"

"Yes"

"Why are you telling us this?" Another voice interjected.

"There doesn't seem to be anything in this for you. Why do you so willingly hand this information to us?"

A man dressed in a courtly tailored dark medieval armor bowed his head and looked up into the face of one of the four seated women in front of him. Despite their joint positions their personalities were quite different. He spread his arms wide as he looked up, hands out, palms upward; A sign of neutrality, a white flag.

"I do not believe it is practical to harm your good name. Since these imposters have done this, I feel that they should be punished."

"Practical!" One of them snorted, "And what does one such as yourself know about practicality?"

"You want them out of the way."

The man looked up to his right. What came to view was the only occupant in this room that had not spoken throughout the entire conversation. She like the others had an aura of power around herself, although it did not seem as strong, it seemed gentle, youthful, and had a tinge of hope in it, misleadingly green. He smiled inwardly to himself; a tiger in swan's clothing. He'd have to watch out for this one.

"Yes, that much I will admit to"

"Now why in the world would you want that? They seem to be doing no different then what you are trying to accomplish yourself, I don't see why you don't just form a truce with them and be done with it." The man turned his eyes back to the left side of the room. The woman who sat on the far left side had spoken, she seemed to be the youngest of them all. Although the idea she had just proposed to him had struck him beforehand he did not want such a compromise.

"I offered them such my lady, they did not take it."

"Liar" The quiet one on the far right spoke again.

"You offered them no such thing, you came to us first."

That aura of power rippled and expanded in a wave until it was just on the edge of touching the darkly dressed man. He shuddered and took a step back.

"Do you believe that we are assassins to be called upon whenever someone pleases?" Her voice did not raise but the gentle power around her flared once more, controlled, and snapping. The wave shot at him knocking the man backwards several feet.

"Sister! Was that necessary?" The one on the middle left stood up. She seemed to be the one in charge; he should try to appeal more to her.

"He is holding his own motives back my sister." The _swan_ had once again settled her power back in within herself; calm, gentle as waves lapping upon a beach. The man shuddered again, not a trace of the violent power that she had just unleashed lingered. Now the one on the left seemed to be overpowering her. He looked at the one on the far right again, it seemed that he was not the only one holding back.

"He has given us some very important information." The one in the center left continued, she angers easily he thought to himself.

"Which is why I did not kill him." The swan replied.

"Calm yourselves," The one in the center right said, she seemed to be second in the ranking order, and had spoken as much during the meeting as her other center seated sister. She now stood up to look at both her sisters on the left and right.

"I think we're done here, don't you agree?"

"I quite agree with her, we should not argue over this" The _swan_ said.

"There would not have been an argument if you had not just knocked our guest over." The center left sister was persisting even after the apology, how childish, the man stored away that piece of information for further usage.

"There would be no problems if you didn't have to point out every fault and flaw" The man raised an eyebrow, problems within the hierarchy? Perhaps, but to make a show of it in front of him?

"Do you wish to argue about this front of him" The woman on the far right said, she looked up, her features were perfectly composed, a swan's placidness, but her eyes flared once at the other woman; a tiger's challenge. The other woman shifted slightly, but did not change the expression on her face.

"Very will then, Sauron," The center left sister turned again to the man in front of her. "I thank you for your information, and we will soon come to inspect the situation."

"I thank you, my ladies" Sauron bowed his head deeply, this visit had deemed more fruitful then he had first thought it would be.

"Oh and Sauron. . . . . " Sauron the man who was dressed in medieval armor lifted his head again to look at the women, the little tiger in swan's clothing had spoke.

"We owe you a favor for this don't we?" Sauron smiled, it was what he had hoped for, for a split second triumph showed in his face, then was shattered by her next words.

"I think if we take care of these imposters and remove them from Middle Earth it will be enough to cover our debt to you." The woman in the far right smiled slightly as she said this; a slight upturning of one side of her lips. "Don't you think?"

"Of course my lady" Sauron bowed again, grimacing inwardly. That bitch.

"The means that we owe each other nothing, is that understood?"

"I wouldn't think any other way my lady." Sauron answered, head still bowed

"Well if that's all settled, I'll have Maren escort you out" The one in the left had spoken. Sauron lifted his head to the four seated women again, inclined his head slightly and followed the servant girl out. He had gotten only partly what he wanted, but no matter, he did not need the four of them to help him once his plan was set in order. All her needed to do was get rid of his four supposed superiors. The ones that had dared call themselves The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse. He followed the servant to the portal that had been opened for him; he stepped through it and was once again back in his tower. He grinned evilly as he looked down and saw four horsemen galloping toward the fortress. They would soon die. Once that was done, Middle Earth would be his.

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"Seal" 

With that one word the palace Sauron just left barricaded itself entirely turning into an impenetrable force. The walls glowed to life revealing for a split second their seals and spells that had been placed on them centuries before and strengthened every decade before dimming to darkness again. The air around the castle shimmered and stormed, power raged inside the clouds hiding the castle poured forth and caged the castle in fog, thunder and lightening. Without warning all dissipated taking the palace with it as if nothing had been there before. The castle itself now invisible shifted and launched itself airborne to a destination unknown. When it was completely off the ground it shimmered once again as if bidding farewell and disappeared for good. A cloaking device cleverly designed with magically enhanced mirrors reflected back and filled in the image of whatever the castle flew by, so no one would see the castle. No one would see what they were not supposed to see. The final and perhaps most visibly threatening defense were the creatures that suddenly appeared out of nowhere to guard the castle and perch upon the castles walls and the interior courtyard, They too were covered by the mirrors, but if something got to close to the castle they would see these creatures; floating menacing glaring at them suspended in the open air. The size and appearance of dragons, they were winged, fanged feathered and scaled and furred. Hopefully that was enough to warn the passerby to stay away. That is of course assuming they were not stupid.

"Do you think he bought it?"

The one seated in the middle left asked. She tilted her head toward her fellow sisters as she said this. She was short, even for a woman, with spiky white-blonde hair that barely framed her pointed face. She was pixie like, in every essence of the word. Not only in her hair but in her facial features as well. Her skin was pale and milky enhanced by the sapphire choker at her throat. She had large shining blue eyes, a pert nose and full pink lips. Her robes matched her eyes, a deeply saturated cerulean blue. It was light and flowing, belted at the natural waist and pleated down over her abdomen to her dark blue slippered feet. The sleeves were wide and bell shaped; tight and fitted across the shoulders and wide down by her wrists. The robe was cleverly designed to enhance her good features, and hide the not. Many men have looked upon her and remarked that she was a beauty. And with the fairy like body and energy she seemed herself to be one of the fey. But she was not.

"Oh I think that it worked well enough. Although he did not seem too happy when he realized that we weren't going to owe him a favor for his advice"

The one that had been sitting on the right of the blue robed woman stood up and walked over to the table and poured herself a cup of honeyed wine. She smiled at that comment. Her mouth was wide and did not have the full lips that her blue dressed sibling had. She had wide set eyes that swirled with shades of gold, light brown and white, like the sprinkling of fur across a fawn's back in the spring time. Her skin was tanned and golden shimmering like the single gold earring she worn in her right ear. Her hair mirrored her eyes. It was a light brown curtain shot with white that was drawn and fastened to the sides of her face by small gold clips. Her robe was green, with a turned over collar and straight wide sleeves. It was fastened at the nape of her neck, and split down the middle like a cloak to reveal a dark green spilt skirt dress with light green stitching. Unlike her blue sister she wore boots; dark brown and sensible suede. She was a handsome woman, with strong features, a contrast to her blue sister.

"Not like he could have done anything about it."

The woman on the far left smiled as she said this. She raised her hand and gestured at the wine pitcher that was beside her green sister. It lifted without a tremble and spilled a goodly amount of its contents into a empty goblet standing nearby. She signaled again with a wave and the pitcher sat itself down and the full wine goblet floated over to her smoothly and surely never even thinking of spilling a single drop. The woman in green stared at her.

"Show off"

"Yes I am"

The seated woman smiled even wider and drank from her cup. The color of the wine was so dark it was almost brown. It matched her hair perfectly. Unlike her other sisters who had hair that were all above waist level, hers flowed down her back in soft curly red waves past her waist resting at her hip. It framed her petite heart shaped face. She had wide doll like eyes that were a vibrant green like a cat's. It entranced every man that she met. Her lips were wide and full with a slight natural pout. Her skin was flawless, and light gold. This was only made more beautiful by the glittering gold necklaces that wrapped around her throat and gleamed sparkling in her eyes. She wore a shimmering white robe with a low square cut neck that left her shoulders bare and showed off her ample breasts. Her sleeves were gathered and tied three times down the arms and flowed draping over her hands where several gold rings lay. The front of her robe was gathered and tied under her breasts, pushing them up higher and then slimming down to show her slim waist. The robe ended at mid thigh exposing long legs, ending with small golden heeled sandals with white ribbons binding them to her ankles. She looked regal and utterly seductive. Many men have fallen to their knees at her whim, she looked great and she knew it. But beauty isn't always truth

"Well sister? What do you think?" You haven't said a word since he left."

The only sister left was the one that sat in the far right corner.

"I think we should go to middle earth and see what's really going on. If someone truly is impersonating us we should stop them. Besides," Her dark eyes clouded for a moment swirling in a bluish white mist. "Middle Earth's time has not yet come to an end."

She looked up as she said this turning her eyes to each one of her sisters in turn. Her eyes were dark dark blue and looked black to the naked human eye. They were long and had a shadowed look in them. They were just slightly wide set on her oval shaped face. She was also pale, but not as pale as her blue-attired sister, but her raven black hair made her skin seem lighter then it truly was. She had small cherry lips that were full and just as seductive as her white sister, but unlike her white sister whose face was strongly defined and set on her face, this woman's facial features were delicate, easily overlooked unless she wanted you to notice her. She wore a robe of black. A high collar surrounded the back of her neck that flowed to a low cut V that ran halfway down her abdomen. The top of her robe was fitted to her form and the sleeves were long and slim. From the hips the robe was heavy, with two slits in front of her thighs so it would not hinder her walking. They showed off a pair of black tights tucked into knee high soft leather boots. She was the tallest of the three of them, and dealt with her height well. She had her share of men lusting after her, a glance from her usually sent them scampering. It is said she possessed eyes that were colder then hell itself.

"Hmmm, I have to agree with you on that Iclyn" The blue robed woman addressed the black robed one.

"Is that the name that I will be using…Fauna?" Iclyn asked her slyly.

"Yes, and I think I will call myself Jezebel" Said the woman in white. Fauna snorted, "So what else is new, you and that harlot always did get along."

"Jealous?" Jezebel sent a flicker of wine in Fauna's direction.

"Call me, Lain" said the final woman in green. "And for the God's sake Jezebel, put a muzzle on that mouth of yours." A glance at the four women would put them at around the ages of twenty to early thirties. They were much older then they looked.

"I say we go open that portal again and go take a look at this Middle Earth" said Fauna. "It would be nice to see a world before it's time of destruction for once."

"Agreed."

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	2. Chapter 1

And There Were Four

By Aldesina

Chapter 2

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Disclaimer; All the characters in the Lord of the Rings books do not belong to me

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Middle Earth, Mordor

The man known as Sauron hurried down the stairs of the tower that he just transported to. He straightened his robes as his legs steadily carried him down steep narrow winding stairs. He was used to going up and down these stairs. He had done it many times before. The tower was the only place that he could have full privacy from the outside world. His four _masters_ did not allow him to have time to study magic alone. If he had time alone it meant that he could learn magic other then what they taught him. If that ever happened he could grow independent. Independence leads to disobedience. He had been disciplined before because they caught him trying to be more then he was. He reached the bottom of the stairs and waved his shielding spell into place then covered it with a tapestry of an old wizard dressed in pure white fighting off a volcanic beast.

_"What makes you think you will ever be a wizard?"_

Sauron was taunted by his masters. He was picked up by them as a child, stolen away from his parents in the middle of the night because his four masters had sensed his power. His power had to be controlled, they told him. Otherwise he might hurt himself, and his loved ones. His power had to be controlled, they told him, otherwise he might use it for wrong purposes. Meaning that he might actually learn to use them for himself instead of acting as a focus or a battery for his four masters. But Sauron had a plan. He had learned everything that his masters taught him; obedience, silence, patience, tolerance for pain, fear, war, all the things that they had forced him to know through their '_lessons_' But they had also taught him cruelty, pain, hate, stealth, trickery, intelligence, and more magic then they ever thought he was capable of, but most importantly they taught him evil. It seemed to be the 'ideal' way to go about things. For there is no such thing as evil, truly it's merely a means to an end. The process of the strong taking over the weak; those could not tend for themselves. Those who were stolen in the night. He vowed to never be that again, he quickly changed into the simple black robes of an apprentice mage and went to great the four horsemen.

"Welcome home my masters."

Sauron stood in the main hall bowing low to the four men that walked into the giant hall. It was huge, decorated and carved out of pure volcano rock. The rock had been transported here piece by piece by the minions that his masters had. Then they were maneuvered into place by the four themselves, constructing a grand fortress guarded by demons and lava which sat in a moat that was lined with its own cooled stones, paved smooth by magic. The lava was also transported here and kept hot and boiling by magic from a nearby active volcano. It made a very impressive moat.

"Sauron, see that the horses are taken care of and then come join us in the study"

The first horseman said. He was dressed in red and rode a red horse which spit blood when it reared and screamed at its foes. The man was dressed in leather armor from head to foot. The leather covered almost his entire body and hid a layer of metal armor that magically wrapped itself around him in such a way that it did nothing to hinder his movement. Both were screaming red. He had a matching cloak that ran from his shoulders to his heels. It too was red leather covering enchanted metal.

"Yes my lord Renister" Sauron said, head still bowed low. Renister looked at Sauron and in a sudden movement too quick to follow, he backhanded Sauron across the face. It threw Sauron across the hall and he landed on his side groaning.

"What have I told you to address me as?" Sauron spit the blood from his split lip onto his hand and prostrated himself in front of the red dressed man.

"Forgive me, my Lord War, my memory is bad, though that is not an excuse I cannot help my stupidity sometimes. Forgive me I implore you please."

"Stupid fool" The man who called himself War said. "Get up and tend to our horses!"

"Yes my Lord War" Sauron quickly got up onto his feet and kept his head low as each of his other masters past him and greeted them each by their '_names'_.

"Master Death, Master Famine, Master Pestilence."

He then quickly made his way to the stables, muttering under his breath as soon as he was sure they were out of hearing range. Borrowed names, borrowed power, hell they even had a borrowed castle, he smiled to himself thinking of what had transpired earlier on that day. They will soon learn their place. Sauron arrived at the stables looking at those four stupid horses in disgust. Actually there were nine different horses, five fresh ones that were already in the stables, and four tired ones that had just came back with his four masters from the ride. The horses were interchanged everyday to prevent exhaustion and sickness, it was also suppose to ease their tempers. Sauron did not think so. When he was younger and before he discovered the tower to practice magic in he had to personally stable, clean, feed and take care of those nine horses by hand. They had not treated him kindly. The horses, seem to be either dead terrified of Sauron or hated him with every pore on their bodies. Whenever he got near them they went crazy. Luckily he developed enough magic to be able to maneuver things with a wave of his hand. In a flash the horse's saddles were whipped off their backs, shined, and put on their hooks. The horses were then wiped down and dried instantly. He then waved a hand and lifted the horses themselves up and into their stalls. The horses never took to this kindly and screamed like the hounds of hell were after them. Good, Sauron thought, let them scream, he had plans for them too.

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Middle Earth, Mirkwood

On the other side of Middle Earth near the deep green forests of Mirkwood an unidentified portal opened. It was a small, and translucent blending in with its surroundings. A creature stepped out of the portal. It had no shape and looked as if it was made out of a drop of water. It too was translucent like the portal like they were made out of the same material. The portal closed behind it and the creature stretched what would be the head of its body toward the sky twitching like it was sniffing the air. It seemed to be satisfied for it lowered its neck and started to stretch out its body lengthwise. One large shape separated into two, and two separated into four. The four blobs twisted and bubbled gently and started to take shape and opacity in color. The first blob formed into the blonde pixie faced girl named Fauna. She was now dressed in a green sleeveless tunic over a white shirt with slim sleeves that covered her wrists. On her legs were a pair of black trousers tucked over a pair of calf length boots the color of the grass she was standing on. Her tunic was belted with a silver chain, the buckle of the belt was in the shape of a scythe. She carried daggers on the inside of her boots, safety tucked away out of view, and a short sword at her side.

The blob next to her twisted once more and then swirled upwards until it was taller then Fauna. The blob started to evaporate starting at the head and going down to the feet to reveal Iclyn; with eyes the color of midnight. She was still dressed in black, this time it was a simple long sleeved black collared shirt and sleeveless tunic. A pair of wide legged pants that looked like a skirt when she walked grace her legs. Underneath that was a pair of knee high boots. At her waist was a metal whip cleverly concealed as a belt. Her forearms where bound with a sheath each. Concealed within its bottom was row after row of poisoned needles. At her neck was a simple chain that had a pendant in the shape of a war scythe. Her shoulder length black hair was held back by small dagger shaped clips made of black glass. She flexed he hands and silver daggers flashed into them only to disappear again without warning, she liked to keep her weapons hidden.

The other two blobs also bubbled and boiled, the one on the left swirled up high, almost as tall as Iclyn and spilt down the middle to reveal Lain, with her golden fawn coloring but with wits sharper then any predator. She was dressed in black and green. An easy fitted black vest went over a black sleeveless shirt. She too had sheathes on her forearms. They carried two matching short daggers. She wore baggy pants that were tucked into a baggy pair of knee high boots. She turned her eyes around her surroundings as she emerged from the blob, one hand reaching for the other long knife that was strapped to her back, and one to her belt laced with throwing knives. She liked her weapons out in the open where she _and_ her opponent could see them. Her one gold earring was replaced by one silver scythe stud.

Last came Jezebel, radiant and shining, she was dressed in a dark plum red that blended in with her hair color. She wore a low cut short sleeved tunic that was tied tight at the waist and left flapping on her down to her knees. They covered black leggings and thigh high black books. She had a necklace that had seven dagger shaped pendants hanging down and a whip at her side. She also carried knives but they, like Fauna's were concealed in the top of her boots. She had earrings that looked like a crescent attached to a long stick, like a mini scythe.

"Don't you think the red is just a bit too eye catching?" Lain asked tsking at Jezabel.

"Not at all, besides it's a dark red it should blend right into the shadows"

"You do realize we're headed into a forest right?" Fauna asked raising an eyebrow.

"She should be fine with the red, it's the complementary color to green anyway and will probably just make the green leaves around her darker. It's the white that you're wearing that worries me." Iclyn said.

"Don't worry about it Iclyn," Lain said "It's actually quite a natural color in the forest, and besides the whites are muted, so it shouldn't be that eye catching." She said.

"I thought we wanted to be eye catching" Jezebel said tossing back her hair which had been braided and curled around her head into a bun. "You have to teach me how to you did that hair of yours one day"

"My secret" Lain smiled evilly. Her own hair had been twisted and tied trailing down her back.

"Can we please discuss glamour later?" Fauna asked exasperatedly.

"Certainly, let's go" Iclyn said heading into the forest.

"Now hold on there," Jezebel called, "Shouldn't we have more of a plan then just walk in and demand to know where the imposters are?" Iclyn raised her eyebrow at Jezebel.

"Didn't we already come with a plan?"

"Yes, but I still think it would be better to seduce some of those cute elves into cooperating." Jezebel said wiggling her eyebrows

"Or we could threaten them with disease" Lain put in

"Or death" Fauna smiled

Iclyn blinked at them "That disastrous plan will only put them on their guards and we will never be able to properly assess the situation in this world."

"Well we aren't exactly threatening you know, merely pushing in the right direction" Lain said.

"Yes and you know how much I love playing _ambassador_ to The _Real _Four Apocalyptic Horsemen" Fauna said with a wink. The other three just glared at her.

"Let's just get this over with." Iclyn said, and turned toward the forest. The other three shrugged and followed her. The faster they found the imposters and destroyed them, the faster they could go back to their originally scheduled tasks. After all, ends of worlds don't just happen on their own.

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Author's Note: Yes I realized I had sited Legolas as a character and he's a no show. Well you'll just have to read chapter 3 to see what he's up to then won't you? And besides, I bet you can guess who these women really are now. 

Until next time.


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Lord of the Rings, Adventure, Romance