Strider gathered the heavy woolen traveling cloak about his shoulders, pulling the hood down over his face and tried to make his body as small a target as possible for the harsh, biting winds coming out of the north.  He hunkered down against the rock ledge overlooking the foothills near the Ettenmoors and rested for several minutes after the steep climb he had just made to reach this lookout point.  But it had started to snow and the cold flakes were now obscuring the landscape and making it difficult to make out much of anything in the graying twilight.

          Aragorn hated the snow and the cold; more so now as he grew older and each year passed that he had to be out in it without adequate clothing or shelter.  He vaguely remembered a time when he thought snow was wonderful, but he had been a child then and the cold had not affected him as it did these days, burrowing deep into his bones and joints, numbing his fingers and toes.  Being human, he also lacked the Elven ability to walk upon the snow without plunging into the deep, wet banks and soaking his legs and feet until they could barely move.  Thinking of snow, however, always reminded him of Legolas and he smiled at the thought of his long time friend.

          He wondered where the Wood Elf was these days, no doubt still in Mirkwood leading the daily surveillance patrols into the forests.  It had been much too long since he had last seen the Elf and he missed him greatly, but after the horrendous ordeal he had suffered in Dol Guldur, King Thranduil was keeping his son close to home on some pretense or another.  Not that Strider could blame him.   They had all come very close to losing Legolas to the demon that had resided in that tower.  Thank the Valar she had been vanquished and the tower was no longer a threat.

          Perhaps I can journey to see him after the last of the winter storms move over the mountains and the passes clear, he thought idly, and if this matter of Gundabad does not keep me overlong.

          The thought of Gundabad brought him back to the present and he squinted through the white flakes at the trail below.  Nothing.  Not a trace of activity of any kind.  It had been several days now since he had even seen livestock of any kind, let alone humans.  Lomyr had been right.  It appeared that all the settlements in this area had been abandoned, either by choice or by some force as yet unknown.

          Strider slowly stood, bracing himself against another icy blast of wind.  He would have to go down there onto the plains and methodically work his way from township to village one by one.  Maybe there were tracks or signs to be seen waiting out there that would clear up this mystery, or some person still left in one of the remote settlements who could tell him what was happening out here.  Slowly and carefully he clambered down from the ice covered rock outcroppings and then remounted his awaiting horse.  Turning the steed into the north wind, he set out for the next hamlet known to the Rangers and as far as anyone knew, still occupied.

          ////////////////////////////////

          When they reached the bottom of the hot core shaft, Udûn and Erashnâk made their way toward the goblin overseer who was busily whipping a young human male.  The youth had fallen to his knees and was about to collapse when Udûn stayed the beast’s hand and prevented another brutal whip lash.

          “If you kill him, he is of no use to me,” snapped the Dark Lord’s servant.

          The goblin lowered its ugly head and groveled before the demon.  “Forgive me, master,” it pleaded.  “I live only to serve you.”

          “Yes, I’m sure you do,” he drily remarked as he lowered his hand from the goblin’s forearm.  He signaled to several orc soldiers and when they scuttled to his side, he indicated the beaten youth.  “Take him back to his work station.”

          While the slave was being returned, Udûn turned his attention back to the overseer.  “How much longer will it be until they break through the rock shelf and reach the magma pools?”

          The goblin’s face brightened.  Perhaps he could return to good graces with pleasing news for the demon.  “It is done, master,” he grinned.  “We have already cracked the ceiling.  A huge cavern lies below.  Even now the slaves are removing the rock to widen the passage so that we can start erecting more scaffolding.”  He gestured toward the laboring human slaves and started toward the opening.  “Come.”

          As the threesome began their trek toward the hole in the shaft’s floor, a terrifying shriek rang through the cavern and humans and orcs alike began running from the newly opened rock fissure.  The sounds of gaseous explosions could be heard emanating from below the stones and a hideous growling, rumbling roar filled the shaft as the very ground beneath their feet began to shake and tremble.

          As they watched in astonishment, huge boulders and crags along the sides of the shaft wall fell inward and down into the hole, dragging the half constructed ladders and gibbets, chained humans and many of the orc and goblin guards down with them into the flaming pit below.  The screams of the dying could be heard intermingled with the tremendous bellows of the horrendous creature that was even now rising up from the depths of the fire pit.

          Naurnyar’s massive, spiked black head erupted from the flames and her yellow eyes scanned the upper cavern as those beasts and humans who had escaped the cave-in now ran for their lives, scrambling up the iron walkways, trying to reach the upper levels toward the top of the shaft.  Her nostrils flared and two jets of white hot flame spewed forth into the melee instantly incinerating the nearest group of fleeing slaves.  Her colossal jaws opened wide and snapped down upon the frantic orcs racing past her, trying to escape.  Their agonizing screeches could be heard as the dragon crushed them between her teeth and then swallowed them alive.

          As the huge behemoth’s ebony body emerged from the depths below, more rock and flooring disappeared into the flames and fires within the volcanic cavity where the beast had been sleeping.  As she arose to a height of stupendous proportions, her gigantic leathery wings unfolded and flapped viciously back and forth within the confined space, sending sheets of heated air swirling around the tunnel and knocking humans and orcs to the floor as they were swept away by the burning air currents generated from her beating wings.   Both Udûn and Erashnâk stared upward at the rising creature with incredulous wonder, bracing themselves as best they could against the howling winds created by her ponderous wings.

          “A dragon!” shouted Udûn above the roar. “Did you know there was a dragon within the pit?”

          The terrified uruk captain shook his head, unable to speak.  Udûn’s eyes glowed with excitement.  “Incredible!  I thought them all extinct!”  He grabbed the captain’s breastplate and shouted above the roaring dragon.  “Quickly!  Set the slaves to forging chains to hold this beast.  They must be made of black iron.”  He released the soldier’s armor and gazed up at the towering firebreather.  “Quickly!  Do as I say!”

          Before the uruk-hai could move, the dragon clumsily lumbered all the way up and out through the hole in the rock floor, dragging her enormous body out of the pit and freeing her long, sinuous tail.  It whipped back and forth across the cavern floor, striking those in its path and sending them crashing into the stone walls.  With a deafening scream, the winged beast lifted off the stones and shot upward into the shaft leaving rocks, dust and debris flying around inside the interior of the cavern.  The whirlwind left behind in the wake of her whipping wings added to the chaos and sent more slaves sliding across the cavern floor.

          “She’s escaping!” yelled Erashnâk, at a loss as to what he should be doing to try and stop the dragon from fleeing.

          “Let her go,” grinned Udûn.  “Just see to the forging of those chains.”  He pointed down into the fire pit from whence the dragon had emerged.  Several large yellow eggs were nestled in a rock bed about a hundred feet below the main floor.  “She’ll be back.”  He turned to face his captain.  “Get me those eggs.”

          Although still petrified with fear, the uruk nodded.  “Yes, my lord.”  He swiftly began ordering his men to climb down and fetch the dragon’s brood.  As he glanced back to his lord, he saw the dark demon grinning with delight.  He did not know if Udûn could master this foul creature.  It was said that only Morgoth alone could control these fire monsters and that particular Dark Lord had been banished from Middle Earth eons ago.  Did Udûn truly think he could harness this beast and bend it to his will?  Terror filled his black heart, but he could do no less than his master commanded.

  ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

          Once airborne, Naurnyar’s massive wings pounded the air within the shaft and her gigantic black form rose through the constrictive tunnel until she exploded into the main cavern of the mountain iron works.  Her sudden and unexpected appearance sent the humans and their masters screaming with terror and running for what cover they could find as a confused and outraged Naurnyar crashed into the stone cave seeking a way to freedom.

          She reared back upon her thick, muscular hind legs and threw back her mighty head, roaring out her anger at being disturbed from her nest.  The sound of her bellow was horrific and all who heard it covered their ears in an attempt to shut out the unbearable clamor.  Thick gouts of sulfurous fumes were expelled from her lungs and a sheet of flame churned out from her mouth spraying the fleeing humans with liquid fire.  The dead and dying lay before her as she scrambled through the grotto with a speed unhindered by her bulk and passed through the wider tunnels until she emerged from the side of the mountain and lifted off into the twilight skies.

          Within seconds the dragon was several thousand feet up into the atmosphere above Gundabad.  She easily circled the mountain peak in a slow, wide arc, surveying the terrain below her through slatted fiery eyes.  She did not know what manner of creatures had disturbed her lair, only that she would destroy them all if they harmed her young.  She did not like this cold air and wished to return to the warmth of her den’s fires, but she sensed a danger in returning, and so slowly winged her way in ever wider and wider circles about the mountain, searching for a place to alight, hide and think.

          Where was the nauraug* ?  His illumination should have greeted her as she arose from her slumbers.  This was imprinted in the memories of her kind, a ritual remembered from a time before time.  But no such being had eased her transition from the nothingness of the void to the spectacle of awareness.  Only those annoying unknown creatures had greeted her; invading her nest and defiling her den.

          Her mind reached out across the planes of existence, seeking out those of her race, but she touched only emptiness and she despaired.  Was she alone?  Were there no more of her kind in this wretched outer world?  All the more she needed to protect her young ones.  She would have to return to the den, and soon; her eggs were near their hatching time and she must be there when they emerged from their shells.  They would be hungry and she must find sustenance for them and for herself as well.  With a mournful wail she arose to the highest peaks of Gundabad and there settled upon a rocky tor, surveying the lands below.

*firebeing