"It is time for me to leave."
"Very soon."
"I do not know if I have the strength for this task."
"You have the strength."
"But is it enough?"
"It will be difficult."
"I am ready." As we walked she spoke to me of my coming trial. "Even the smallest of creatures has a kind of dignity."
"What of the enemy?"
"A twisted pride perhaps, but still worthy of respect." We walked through the Garden in the light of the moon. The grass was a riot of green earthy smells. The slender blades whispered as my feet pressed them down. She seemed to float above the green, the blades unbruised by her passing. The Light from her mantle outshone the moon in its path. "Respect?"
"He was once the mightiest servant of the mightiest of all the Valar."
"But he fell from that place when he defied them."
"It was his part in the Theme."
"I do not comprehend his part in it nor did I hear it's ending."
"Only Eru knows that piece."
"But you can see some of it?"
"I only glimpse shadows, echoes." The hollow we passed through cast dark shadows across the twilit sward. We passed through the shadows and out into the meadow beyond. The stars were up and seemed brighter than usual. I looked to the Seven, the Sickle, overhead. A warning to the Enemy and his servants. The blade pointed my path to me. East and South. "But his servants? They deserve respect as well?"
"They are alive. Maybe that's as shouldn't be, but there it is. Even the foulest has a heart that may be brought to the Light." As we walked, I was aware of the sound of the waves lapping the docks at the harbors. A small ship would be waiting for me. This was my last day with her. I looked into her eyes and knew that the task ahead would be more difficult than she or I had imagined. The Light dimmed slightly. I knew her mind as she knew mine. That Light would not be with me for many dark years. Years of hardship with little hope of returning. As we approached the boat, I saw, in the water, our reflection. I was clad in grey. A small shadow beneath her beautiful luminance. As I looked in that reflected Light, my own reflection began to fade, eclipsed by hers. "I may not return."
"You will."
"I thought you could not see the ending."
"I can't, but my part in the Music is ever one of hope. You will return to me Olorin."
"I will. Either in this place, or beyond the Walls." As the ship passed on from the dock, I watched her recede into the night's shade, until all I was aware of was the distant sound of the shore-break. I looked at my companions and felt a cold chill of foreboding. I looked up at the Sickle and I thought that the blade had turned red.
"Very soon."
"I do not know if I have the strength for this task."
"You have the strength."
"But is it enough?"
"It will be difficult."
"I am ready." As we walked she spoke to me of my coming trial. "Even the smallest of creatures has a kind of dignity."
"What of the enemy?"
"A twisted pride perhaps, but still worthy of respect." We walked through the Garden in the light of the moon. The grass was a riot of green earthy smells. The slender blades whispered as my feet pressed them down. She seemed to float above the green, the blades unbruised by her passing. The Light from her mantle outshone the moon in its path. "Respect?"
"He was once the mightiest servant of the mightiest of all the Valar."
"But he fell from that place when he defied them."
"It was his part in the Theme."
"I do not comprehend his part in it nor did I hear it's ending."
"Only Eru knows that piece."
"But you can see some of it?"
"I only glimpse shadows, echoes." The hollow we passed through cast dark shadows across the twilit sward. We passed through the shadows and out into the meadow beyond. The stars were up and seemed brighter than usual. I looked to the Seven, the Sickle, overhead. A warning to the Enemy and his servants. The blade pointed my path to me. East and South. "But his servants? They deserve respect as well?"
"They are alive. Maybe that's as shouldn't be, but there it is. Even the foulest has a heart that may be brought to the Light." As we walked, I was aware of the sound of the waves lapping the docks at the harbors. A small ship would be waiting for me. This was my last day with her. I looked into her eyes and knew that the task ahead would be more difficult than she or I had imagined. The Light dimmed slightly. I knew her mind as she knew mine. That Light would not be with me for many dark years. Years of hardship with little hope of returning. As we approached the boat, I saw, in the water, our reflection. I was clad in grey. A small shadow beneath her beautiful luminance. As I looked in that reflected Light, my own reflection began to fade, eclipsed by hers. "I may not return."
"You will."
"I thought you could not see the ending."
"I can't, but my part in the Music is ever one of hope. You will return to me Olorin."
"I will. Either in this place, or beyond the Walls." As the ship passed on from the dock, I watched her recede into the night's shade, until all I was aware of was the distant sound of the shore-break. I looked at my companions and felt a cold chill of foreboding. I looked up at the Sickle and I thought that the blade had turned red.