Part 24

They raced out of the valley ahead of the wave of destruction, the dirt streaming beneath their hooves and pouring into the abyss that had opened behind them. Half-way up the slope, Sighard’s heavy workhorse stumbled when the ground fell away under its hind feet, but the doughty beast kept its head, and ploughed on.

At the crest of the hill Legolas looked back over his shoulder.

The tower, now a mound of crumbling stone, was sinking into the pit. Orcs, entombed within the rubble, were wailing in terror.

“Ride on,” cried the elf.

They plunged into the freezing mist.

And, at that moment, the sun rose behind them and, burning through the pale vapour, transformed the frosty air into a veil of silvery gold.

It was beautiful.

A sign from the Valar, thought Legolas. He checked Arod and, raising his hand, signalled the others to slow down. “Will the curse have affected the rest of the reivers, Mistress Ayleth?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” she replied.

“Then we must proceed with caution,” he said.

...

They pressed on, weapons ready. At nightfall, they found again the shallow cave, screened by the tangle of êgvor bushes, where they had sheltered safely on the outward journey.

Haldir settled Ayleth in his own bedroll, and climbed onto the rocks to keep watch, tactfully declining Sighard’s assistance, since the man, though stout-hearted, was clearly exhausted.

Legolas sat down beside Eowyn.

...

“I am sorry,” she whispered.

Legolas’ heart threatened to break. “You tried to tell me, melmenya,” he replied, softly, “I realise that now. But I did not listen to you.” He took her in his arms.

For a while, she was silent. Then she said, “It chose me, Lassui. It knew that I was the weakest of the four of us, and it chose me as its dupe, using me to carry it back to its owner—”

“It exploited your pain, melmenya.”

“I thank the gods I have learned,” she said, so quietly he could barely hear her, “that there are far worse things than childlessness.” She said no more, and Legolas did not ask her what she meant, but he sensed—though he would not use their mental bond to be sure of it—that she was thinking of the ring’s temptation, and of how close she had come to betraying him. He hugged her tightly.

“I wonder what it promised the Warrior King?” she said, suddenly.

“I have wondered that myself, melmenya.”

“A woman, perhaps.”

“Perhaps...” Legolas raised his head and, leaning back against the rocks, looked up through the cage of thorny êgvor branches to the stars above. “But I doubt that it was anything so... wholesome, melmenya. Your heart is true, my darling, so it tempted you with love; his heart was corrupt. I imagine it promised him power.”

...

At dawn, having eaten the last of the Lembas, they continued on their way.

Throughout the previous day the mist had been thinning, and now only a few fine wisps remained, lurking in the deepest of hollows. “It’s as though,” said Sighard, thoughtfully, “the Warrior King himself had conjured it, and now he’s gone, it’s disappeared...”

They rode warily, and it was not until late in the day, as they approached the outskirts of Doro Lanthron, that they discovered the first of the reivers—in three strange, ragged depressions, where the ground seemed suddenly to have fallen away, lay heaps of ash-grey dust that, here and there, still suggested the forms of a horse and a rider...

In the town, a troop of Elven warriors, alerted by Sig-lad, were helping the townsfolk tend the injured, and shore up the fire-damaged buildings, and bury the dead—and Legolas noticed that several of the men were shovelling earth into holes identical to those that he and the others had seen on the road.

Valandil greeted him with obvious relief, and introduced him to the town’s head man.

“Thank you, my Lord,” said the man, “for sending us aid.”

“I fear it was too little, sir,” said Legolas, sadly, “and too late.”

“Without Master Valandil and his warriors,” the man insisted, “many more would have died.”

Legolas placed his hand upon his heart and bowed his head in acknowledgement. “They will help you rebuild your defences, sir,” he said, “and I will send our craftsman-builders, to help you restore the town.”

...

Mother Night

Two weeks later, at the start of the Yuletide celebrations, a special ceremony was held in the clearing beneath the city of Eryn Carantaur.

Before a crowd that included many of the townsfolk of Doro Lanthron, Legolas bestowed the newly-created Order of Caranlass, the Red Leaf, upon Master Sighard and young Sig-lad, and upon two of the townsmen, who had shown exceptional courage, saving several of their fellows from the reivers.

At the festive banquet afterwards, Eowyn touched Legolas’ hand. “You are troubled, my love.”

Legolas smiled. “No, melmenya. Not really. But I am finding it hard to shake off a niggling sense of foreboding. I fear we have not yet seen the last of Sauron’s ring.”

THE END