The Forgotten Ring-Bearer
Chapter 1- Quite By Accident
It is the year 2463 of the 2nd age. The king of Gondor, Isildur, son of Elendil has passed away….
It is a day of mourning for the people of Minas Tirith and indeed all of the realm of Gondor, we were scouting near the Anduin and discovered his corpse floating in the shallows, he had met as end at the tips of three arrows, most likely drawn from a Orc bow…
"It is a grim day indeed sir." Malen laments with sorrow as he shuts the lifeless eyes of our once great king.
"He must have floated far downstream before ending up here, the rangers so far have not seen any signs of recent battle." Another soldier replies as he helps two other soldiers wrap the body in cloth. "We must return him to Minas Tirith."
"He is re-united with Elendil." Malen says sadly as he sprinkles Athelas herbs onto Isildurs body before they wrap him in the linen. "Where are the others?" He asked looking around the riverbed.
"I sent them downstream sir, just in case there were any signs of orcs nearby." A heavily armoured soldier said gruffly as he stood watch near the road.
"Well call them back, the road is not safe and we have urgent news to deliver." Malen asks quickly.
"Yes sir." The soldier bows as he marches down the riverbank.
Malen looks around the lake and the nearby tree line. "Thus ends the line of royalty." He bows his head as he assists the other soldiers with the body of their late king.
Further on down the Anduin, two Ithilien rangers scour the riverbank and nearby ground for any signs of recent life, good or otherwise.
This is where my part in the story begins… My name is Kilaran, I am a ranger of Numenorean descent hailing from the land of Gondor, today marks a terrible day as the last in the line of Elendil has been cut down. We were tasked with searching the area with any hope of tracking his killers, but I am afraid it is hopeless, the body showed signs of considerable festering since death, but still we search.
I look around the edge of the water, whilst the other ranger looks further onto the bank. My keen eyes see nothing until….
Until… A small glint of gold from the water. I look in fascination as I find myself, without thinking, reaching into the water to grab the item. It is not too far into the water as I scoop it into my palm from the bottom of the shallow water.
I finally see the object that had caught my eye… A gleaming, golden ring.
It was beautiful. I found myself entranced as I moved it around my palm, I was enamoured as I began to stare at the golden surface of this enchanting piece of jewellery.
"Have you found anything Kilaran?!" The ranger shouted from afar, I jump slightly and closed my hand around the ring.
"I have found nothing I am afraid." Little did I know that the simple lie had sealed my fate, if I had known before, when I first picked it up, if only I had known what it was capable of doing.
After days of riding, we finally reached the safety of Minas Tirith, greatest city of Gondor according to Malen, my captain, we held a royal funeral as we admitted Isildur's body into the burial chamber where lay all the kings of Gondor and now our king was Amongst them, never to be disturbed again.
There was no feasting that night, nor any kind words spoken. Everyone was too grief stricken. I suppose I felt a slight pang of sadness, especially now that the line is broken and would end up with a steward sitting next to the throne, thinking himself royalty.
Despite recent events, my mind was still focusing on the object resting in my pocket, I hadn't noticed it but I rarely took my hand out of my pocket. I felt a trifling need to check of the ring I had found was still there, it seemed of great value and I was eager to sell it.
Even in the wake of the funeral, the markets were still open as a convenience spot to the citizens, I had changed out of my ranger robes and was now walking towards the stall where fine items were exchanged, sold and bought. I walked up, ready to hold out the ring and let the vendor assess its worth.
But something was wrong.
I didn't know why but I felt as though an invisible force was preventing me from letting anyone else hold it, I felt irritated at the thought of this merchant holding something so valuable. I decided to quickly walk back to my room on the 6th level of the city. I slammed the door behind me and sat down with my head in my hands.
I groaned in discomfort. "I wont sell it." I said to myself. "I wont sell it." I kept repeating it as I walked onto the stone balcony. Then I quietly took the ring from my pocket and looked again in awe as if I had just picked it up. There was something about it, that made me want to keep it on me and never let it go.
I looked out over the balcony, across the fields of the Pelennor and at the mountain border of Mordor. I had dark memories of that foul place. The very air we breathed throughout the battle was poisonous, and our enemies were beyond count. If it were not for the elves we had never stood a chance at the Black Gate.
And then he showed.
Sauron, the dark Maia, the servant of Morgoth. Arrived on the field of battle, all he soldiers nearest including myself stood in terror as he towered above us, he spoke no words and made no sound and giving no warning as he lifted his terrible mace and swung it in an arc.
Never in my existence had I witnessed such power. One swing of the dark lords mace send entire battalions flying as though they were leaves in the wind. Myself and many others found ourselves involuntarily moving backwards rapidly until…
Elendil our then king of Gondor, bravely charged the armoured behemoth sword drawn, the monster simply swept him aside like an author sweeping away a sheet of crumpled paper. His son and our prince, Isildur faced Sauron alone, all seemed lost as the dark lord destroyed Elendil's swords. We all looked on in sheer fright as Sauron leaned forward to end Isildur's life.
Then all of a sudden, the creature screamed in pain and leaped back, he began to light up. The light becoming more bright and the wind around us picking up. We all braced as an almighty flash clouded our vision and a unrelenting force sent us barreling onto our backs.
We found our feet and looked at the remainder of the greatest evil middle earth had known. Sauron, our greatest fear had been defeated and his power undone. The elf lord Elrond and Isildur went up to the mountain, but no one knew why. After the battle I had been promoted to a ranger, but the hardships of that battle remained and the damage done to us by the enemy was great, even more so with the death of our last king.
I couldn't get the image of Sauron out of my head. It felt as though Sauron himself was here, I hadn't felt his presence in a long time. I then felt back into my pocket and touched the ring.
I smiled contently. I was very fond of this little ring, I took it out of my pocket and held it up to the moonlight.
I felt a sudden flash come over my eyes, as I leaned against one of the stone pillars of the balcony and gasped in pain.
What in the name of Arda was that?
It happened again and the image of an eye flashed quickly in front of me. I then heard a faint, throaty whisper. I groaned in pain as I held my head.
I see you
I heard this in a long drawn out way, at that point I had never felt this much afraid. I looked around my room.
I see you
"Arrrgh!" I screamed as I fell to my knees, dropping my ring in the process, and at that point the voice went away.
I got back on my feet and looked around. At that point one of the maids burst into the room. "My lord, what is wrong!" She asked in a panicked tone.
I had to make up a false reply. I couldn't begin to explain what was going through my head. "I am well milady, it has just been a very stressful day."
The maid smiled slightly. "I heard you were one of the rangers who found him in the Anduin."
I nodded sadly. I may have been fearless as a ranger is. But being in the company of death is no easy task.
"I am sorry. I cant imagine what you must be going through."
I smiled. The maidens name was Mae, a lovely young woman in her own right.
She then smiled bigger, she looked amorous. "I have just finished work my lord, would you be interested in some comfort?"
I smiled back as she inched closer and touched her lips to mine. "It would be a pleasure milady."
The remainder of the night was pleasant as expected, but my dreams were much more different. As I lay with Mae, wrapped in my sheets. I woke with a small gasp. Thankfully she hadnt been woken despite stirring.
I looked over to the bedside table to see if it was still there.
The ring remained where I left it. I picked it up with my available hand and touched the ring to my lips. "I love you." I absentmindedly said to the ring as I held it closer.
"Mmm I love you too." Mae drearily replied.