Chapter 5
On a particular day, Aurora was standing in the immense northern courtyard of the Barad Dur, awaiting Harfahlah, the servant of Lord Guthar to give her the sealed envelope she was to take to Minas Morgul.
Harfahlah, a half orc half troll, was taking a longer time than ever, and she was bored. it was a dreary day, it seemed the Lord Sauron was in a mood for rain, and the mists about the Tower were thicker than ever.
Aurora was in a incomplacent mood. She thought the whole thing a drag, and Minas morgul a bore. No one decent to talk to. And her company was trampling cross Ithilien now, in search for the Gondor rebels, and Huffa, one of the company, told her in confidence chances were they might be sent to Dol Guldur, where the Lord was now summoning great strenght.
Mirkwood, her heart sang, how she longed to see it! And there was witchcraft there, and sorcery, and blue stars above the leafs of gray, and rivers. But not here. There was here stone, and massive walls, and metal and nothing much else.
The courtyard was almost empty, and those that passed it were all in a hurry, and would not stop or look anywhere. The mist was growing. She thought how much better the western gate, the great gate, was. The courtyard there was constantly filled with an immense number of folk going to and fro, great eastern captains, Kings from the south, animals of all sorts, orcs and armies of trolls, and beasts, and an occasional monster.
It was all fun and different. The northern gate was vast, yet smaller than the others, and rarely used. She heard the Lord Sauron used it on occasions to walk to Orodruin, but all knew he had his own private path, yet none dared guess where it lay.
All to the northeast from the place she now stood was restricted, and guards kept it closely. besides, no one was mad to go looking. The mist descended thicker from the great Tower. Aurora looked up at it, a bit from where she stood, but could only see part of it, the rest enveloped in darkness and cloud.
It is actually close, she thought. If there was an entrance on the ground floor, where the courtyard lay, it would be nearer. Yet she knew the Lord Sauron only entered through the vast bridge of iron, and the gate of stone, and the gaping arcs of the passages, and the enormous hall, and the massive stairs that led to the upper floors, where only the Lords walked.
And then on, she guessed, up a tracing staircase, up and up, there into the night and the clouds. "Shoot" Aurora thought to herself " Why am I thinking so much about him! But still it wont hurt if I took a peak at the Tower. If I get to tell the company I touched the Tower, they would freak in joy!"
So she left the place she stood, and strolled toward the tower. She made a full circle, almost around the courtyard, and then to the north, where she thought she had seen a passage that seemed to lead toward the Tower.
On a particular day, Aurora was standing in the immense northern courtyard of the Barad Dur, awaiting Harfahlah, the servant of Lord Guthar to give her the sealed envelope she was to take to Minas Morgul.
Harfahlah, a half orc half troll, was taking a longer time than ever, and she was bored. it was a dreary day, it seemed the Lord Sauron was in a mood for rain, and the mists about the Tower were thicker than ever.
Aurora was in a incomplacent mood. She thought the whole thing a drag, and Minas morgul a bore. No one decent to talk to. And her company was trampling cross Ithilien now, in search for the Gondor rebels, and Huffa, one of the company, told her in confidence chances were they might be sent to Dol Guldur, where the Lord was now summoning great strenght.
Mirkwood, her heart sang, how she longed to see it! And there was witchcraft there, and sorcery, and blue stars above the leafs of gray, and rivers. But not here. There was here stone, and massive walls, and metal and nothing much else.
The courtyard was almost empty, and those that passed it were all in a hurry, and would not stop or look anywhere. The mist was growing. She thought how much better the western gate, the great gate, was. The courtyard there was constantly filled with an immense number of folk going to and fro, great eastern captains, Kings from the south, animals of all sorts, orcs and armies of trolls, and beasts, and an occasional monster.
It was all fun and different. The northern gate was vast, yet smaller than the others, and rarely used. She heard the Lord Sauron used it on occasions to walk to Orodruin, but all knew he had his own private path, yet none dared guess where it lay.
All to the northeast from the place she now stood was restricted, and guards kept it closely. besides, no one was mad to go looking. The mist descended thicker from the great Tower. Aurora looked up at it, a bit from where she stood, but could only see part of it, the rest enveloped in darkness and cloud.
It is actually close, she thought. If there was an entrance on the ground floor, where the courtyard lay, it would be nearer. Yet she knew the Lord Sauron only entered through the vast bridge of iron, and the gate of stone, and the gaping arcs of the passages, and the enormous hall, and the massive stairs that led to the upper floors, where only the Lords walked.
And then on, she guessed, up a tracing staircase, up and up, there into the night and the clouds. "Shoot" Aurora thought to herself " Why am I thinking so much about him! But still it wont hurt if I took a peak at the Tower. If I get to tell the company I touched the Tower, they would freak in joy!"
So she left the place she stood, and strolled toward the tower. She made a full circle, almost around the courtyard, and then to the north, where she thought she had seen a passage that seemed to lead toward the Tower.