Deliver Us From Evil

One of the first things I had noticed when entering Middle-Earth was the freshness of the air. I hadn’t realized that the air I breathed in on a normal basis was so polluted until coming to a world that was pre-Industrial Revolution. I had thought that maybe the air was just that way because of Rivendell’s magic. Alas, when we set out on our journey, after a farewell speech from Lord Elrond, the air quality remained the same.

We found ourselves on the Eregion Hills, eating breakfast. Sam was at the campfire while Boromir practiced sword fighting with Merry and Pippin. Gimli and Gandalf were conversing and I turned my attention to them.

“If anyone were to ask for my opinion,” Gimli said, “which I note they have not, I would say we are taking the long way round. Gandalf, we can pass through the Mines of Moria. My cousin, Balin, would give us a royal welcome.”

“No, Gimli. I would not take the road through Moria unless I had no other choice.” His tone of voice set me on edge.

Legolas jumped onto a boulder and peered at the sky. Gandalf followed his gaze. Before I could, my attention was then drawn to the hobbits as they tackled Boromir. There was hearty laughter as Aragorn approached them, only to be pulled into the mock battle as well.

“What is that?” Sam asked.

“Nothing, it’s just a wisp of a cloud,” Gimli informed him.

“It’s moving fast, against the wind,” Boromir said worriedly after he had regained his footing.

“Crebain from Dunland!” Legolas shouted.

“Hide!” Aragon loudly ordered.

“Merry, Pippin, Sam, take cover!” Boromir said as Aragorn called for Frodo.

Quickly the fire was doused as our supplies were picked up as we hid under overhanging boulders, crevices, and bushes. I found myself pressed against Boromir in a shrub as what appeared to be black birds flew overhead. They squawked loudly, but quickly moved on.

“Spies of Saruman,” Gandalf said as he came out of his hiding place. “The passage south is being watched. We must take the pass of Caradhras!” Our gazes were directed to a tall snow capped mountain.

“Damn,” I muttered. “On the bright side, at least it’s just a ring.” Boromir gave me a strange look from his place next to me. “Can you imagine if we had to cart, like, a solid gold statue of Sauron around Middle-Earth?”

His expression turned amused. “You are right, Miss Daisy, for that would make Frodo’s burden much worse.”

***

In truth, I felt a sense of guilt and dread from hiding my species from the Fellowship. Guilt for lying to them, especially Frodo as I had pledged my life to him. Dread came from them finding out. I wanted to hold out as long as possible; gain their trust first. However, the truth set me free earlier than expected.

The sun was just beginning to set as we stopped to make camp at the base of the mountain. I had a strange feeling of uncertainty about the place. I trusted Legolas’s elven senses, but I felt a natural duty to inspect the area myself and guard everyone.

Sam had just started a fire and was going through our foodstuffs to start cooking when I rose from the rock I had been using as a seat. “I’ll be back in a little bit,” I mumbled to him. He gave me an apprehensive look but nodded anyway.

Once I was far enough and shielded by the trees, I transformed. I placed my clothing on the roots of a tree and followed my instincts. I kept my nose close to the ground and would raise it once in awhile to smell the air. I was about half a mile from camp when I caught the scent of a territory marker. Wolves.

I quickly turned to leave, but a deep growl stopped me. A large wolf stood several yards away from me. His fur had shades of browns, grays, and white and it stood on end. His black lips were pulled back to reveal off-white fangs. His eyes glowed a dangerous gold and his whole stance screamed violence.

As a husky, my tail naturally curled upwards. Unfortunately, to wolves this was a declaration of dominance. I would have normally run off and taken my chances of outrunning him, but I didn’t want to lead him back to camp. Logically, it was the smart move since the Fellowship could easily kill him. My canine instincts won me over in the moment.

We slowly circled each other, fangs bared and growls rumbling in our throats. He had the upper hand of strength and savagery, but I had the intelligence of a human. We broke the circle at the same instant and locked jaws, trying to reach the other’s throat. He used his heavier weight to knock me down. My front paws were pressed against his chest and kept him from my throat. I managed to kick him off with my back legs despite the pressure from his weight.

I was quick to gain my footing and launched myself at him. Before I could reach him, he rose from his tumble and prepared himself. His fangs dung into my shoulder causing me to yelp loudly. I bit his ear and the fur around it and pulled. The pain shocked him enough to release me. I used my new advantage and tore at his throat with my teeth. He whined and lower himself to the ground in surrender. I would have let him go, but the need to protect the Fellowship clouded my judgement. My white face and chest turned red as I ripped out his throat.

***

The adrenaline quickly wore off and my trembling legs barely made it back to camp. Pain flared through my right shoulder, causing me to whimper with every step. I heard voices as I neared camp.

“As I have said, she should not have joined us.”

“Nonetheless, we have to find her, Boromir. Look, Legolas found her clothing not more than several yards from here. There are no streams nearby to bathe in, so she must have been taken.”

“You must not assume the worst, Aragorn.”

“So she is simply wandering around naked?”

It was at this moment that I came into the campsite. Aragorn, Boromir, Gimli, and Legolas all reached for their weapons by reflex, but stopped when they saw the pitiful state I was in. I limped my way closer before dropping my back legs to the ground and lifting my right paw so not to put weight on it. With no other choice, I turned back into my human form.

I wrapped an arm around my chest to hide my bare skin from them. Aragorn was the first to recover from shock (with the exception of Gandalf who already knew of my abilities). He came to my side and wrapped a dark cloak around me.

“Thank you,” I said through clenched teeth as he helped me rise and walk to my bedroll. I held the cloak tighter but allowed him to inspect my torn shoulder. His eyes went to the blood that coated my face, neck, and chest. “It isn’t mine,” I told him. His expression was troubled but he nodded anyway.

“You’re a skin-changer!” Gimli gasped.

“She is not like Beorn, Master Gimli,” Gandalf told him.

“I don’t know who that is,” I said, “but my kind are called skinwalkers.” I flinched as Aragorn began to clean my wound.

“Are you a spy?” Boromir asked sharply.

“Miss Daisy is from a different world,” Gandalf answered for me. “I doubt they would be interested in Middle-Earth.”

“A different world?” Pippin gasped, his eyes wide in wonder.

“How did you get here?” Aragorn asked, making sure to get rid of whatever dirt could potentially cause an infection.

“A witch needed a skinwalker for a spell and she decided to use me. I don’t know if her intention was to send me to Middle-Earth, but here I am.”

“How do we know we can trust her?” Boromir asked, his spy theory still in the making. “She is a skin-changer! She could be working for Sauron.”

“Not a skin-changer,” I corrected him. “I already told you, I’m a skinwalker.”

His gray eyes narrowed at me. “You leave suddenly and return as a dog, covered in blood! Whose blood is it anyway?!”

“A wolf’s,” I snapped at him. “My animal instincts got the better of me,” I admitted.

“She is telling the truth; these wounds are a wolf’s bite,” Aragorn vouched for me.

“My world is very different from Middle-Earth,” I began to explain. “We’re more technologically advanced, among other things. But we don’t have hobbits, dwarves, elves, nor orcs; at least from what I know. We do have other creatures and monsters. Most people believe that just humans - or the Race of Men as you call them - and animals are the only ones inhabiting the world. There are some that know the truth however, most of them are hunters. They hunt down and kill anyone or anything that is not human or an animal.” I hissed in pain as Aragorn began to bandage my shoulder. “Some monsters do need to be stopped; they live to kill and cause destruction. But some of us have done no harm!”

“What kind of monsters?” Merry asked with a bit of fear in his eyes.

“Vampires for one; they’re blood drinkers. Werewolves are another; they’re considered cousins of skinwalkers.”

“And are you a monster?” Frodo asked.

I looked him straight in the eyes. “Some would say so. I admit that some of my kind are. All of us used to be human at some point, but we were turned.” I turned my gaze to the flames that were intentionally kept low. I recalled those years ago when I tried to be kind to a dog in an alley. I was surprised when it suddenly went from being welcoming to violent as it bit me. I had cleaned the wound, which was barely a scratch, and thought nothing of it. But I was horribly mistaken.

“When we bite another human, we spread our curse and change them into one of us. That’s what happened to me, the one that bit me, and all the other skinwalkers.” My eyes glanced at them. “I said we are cousins to werewolves, another species. They have an infectious bite as well, but the curse is so much worse. They do not change into a beast, but every full moon they lose control of themselves and go hunting. The damage they do to a person is horrendous, or so I’ve heard.” I swallowed. “I don’t blame you if you don’t want to journey with a monster or if you don’t trust me. I probably wouldn’t.”

“You’re one of us, Miss Daisy,” Frodo told me. “You promised your blood to me in Rivendell, and I do not believe anything has changed since then.”

I smiled brightly at him. “Thank you so much, Frodo.” Being accepted so easily truly warmed my heart. Because of the curse, I had left my life behind and could only find love and comfort inside a body of fur. For the first time since those jaws clamped over my flesh, I was accepted as a monster.