Chapter 4: Temptation
Gandalf's early return was welcomed rather gladly by the wizard's former companions. He had been absent only a few days, and Aragorn had not left the Shire yet. But the grave look on Gandalf's face was enough to make them all worry as they gathered in Frodo's garden.
Merry in particular seemed extremely nervous. He had told Pippin about his little talk with the witch, but his cousin assured him she might be crazy but the trick with the book was just about some special paper with invisible ink.
It did not convince Merry at all, and he still thought they might have made a mistake.
"You were quick," Frodo told the wizard.
"I was, indeed… I had already seen the symbol on the book before, hence I knew where to look… And Shadowfax is the fastest mount on Middle-earth…"
"So what information did you find?" Aragorn enquired.
"It was a long ride, maybe you want some rest first, Mithrandir?" Arwen asked soflty.
"I am afraid we do not have enough time for that." Gandalf looked down at Frodo who was half distressed and half excited. "Frodo, can you bring the book, please?"
Frodo nodded and ran into the house. While he took the book out of the chest where it was hid, the others kept silent in the courtyard; Merry gave a black glare at his cousin as he seemed to enjoy the situation.
The Hobbit came back, unwrapped some tissues around the book and gave it to Gandalf. However, the wizard dropped it willingly on the ground, and a strange déjà vu feeling overwhelmed Frodo. The friends formed a circle around the book and waited, watching it attentively, but nothing happened. Gandalf took something out of his pocket: it was a necklace with a shape matching the symbol. He delicately laid it down on the cover of the book.
As nothing happened, Merry began to calm down and relaxed. His cousin gave him a nudge while Gimli stared at them severely, beginning to suspect something.
Suddenly, the book opened on its own: the pages were turning but there was not enough wind to move them.
"No, no, no!" Pippin walked nearer the book. "You're not supposed to do that!"
Gandalf grabbed him before he reached the book. Pippin looked up at him pitifully. "Tell me it is one of your magical trick, Gandalf…"
"What in the Valar's name have you done, fool of a Took? " Gandalf's voice was grave and surly. Pippin had never seen him so angry after any of his previous pranks, and the wizard's lips were shaking as he tried to keep the control over himself.
They remained motionless for a short while. Pippin, still held by the collar, looked at everyone's faces. There was no sound but the pages turning over and over again. Merry finally stepped toward the wizard and put his hand on his arm, silently asking him to release his cousin.
"It was just a prank… We wanted to cheer you up, you all looked so sad… Frodo was brooding all day long and I am sure you all were."
Gimli looked down at Pippin and gave him a disapproving glare. The latter caught up his breath and continued.
"It's only invisible ink… You know I am not ill-intentioned, Gandalf, I… I am good … I just wanted to please you and to…"
"The book's pages stopped turning." Legolas noticed.
Their attention was now focused on the book. It was still lying on the ground, opened in the middle when words suddenly emerged.
"Who is Birdie?" Gimli asked as he was trying to make out the handwriting.
Merry looked at his cousin with scare. "She called you birdie… She said the new birdie was evil… It is your fault, Pippin!" Merry shouted.
"Who are you talking about?" Gandalf asked Merry as he was too angry to talk to the Took.
"The witch, or a kind of witch, in the Old Forest… Pippin went to her asking for something surprising! Her name is… Eeeerrr…"
"Lanera." Pippin whispered. "I did not want anything bad to happen; it's just a trick… just a trick…" The hobbit repeated it more to convince himself than to explain his behaviour. Frodo patted him gently.
"We will overcome this. Gandalf, will you tell us what this is?"
"Wait a second," Aragorn cut in, "I have heard that name before… Yes, Lanera… I think the symbol is hers… If I remember well, there was a tale saying she had been banished by her people thousands of years ago."
Gimli couldn't help making a connection. "Is that another friend of yours, Master elf?" he asked with a chuckle.
Legolas shook his head. "She is not an elf. Never an elf has ever been banished."
"That is right," Gandalf added, "she is an incarnation of a Barrow-wight. I am afraid the tale you heard, Aragorn, is highly inaccurate and improbable, as Barrow-wights are evil spirits dwelling in the Barrow-downs, to the east of the Shire. You told me you met one before, on the way to Bree at the very beginning of the Quest of the Ring," he said looking at the Hobbits. "But according to my searches it seems the Witch-king – King of Angmar and future Nazgul", Gandalf clarified mostly for the attention of the Hobbits, and Frodo shivered at the mention of the Nazgul, "granted one of them with a human incarnation and great powers. Lanera."
Both Pippin and Merry grew pale when they realized they had been in contact with an evil spirit.
Gandalf went on. "She did not stay in the Barrow-downs with her former fellow spirits but traveled around Middle-earth to eventually settle near the Grey Mountains."
"And she built a temple there…" Aragorn guessed. Seeing Gandalf's questioning glance, he added: "I have seen the ruins of this temple during a journey."
The wizard nodded. "This temple allowed her to increase her powers, but soon after the creation of the White Council we learned about it, and Saruman was sent to destroy the temple and cut off her powers." He paused. "But considering the existence of this book, it seems he did not fulfill his mission…"
"But why is she near the Shire now?" Arwen asked.
"It is more a way to get back near the Barrow-downs I guess…"
"And I assume she has the greatest powers one can have and wants to rule the world?" Gimli asked ironically.
"This is a serious issue, Gimli. This book is definitely cursed, and you have activated it Pippin. It called you by the name he knows you by."
"How could a book know my name?"
"She told it." Gimli's voice sounded suddenly very grave. He had read the answer on the page.
"I am afraid that this book is listening to us." Gandalf stated. "And it is answering you, Pippin."
"But… but… It's Frodo's now! And *you* put the necklace on!" Pippin almost yelled, pointing at Gandalf. "And… and… and I am not evil…" His last sentence was forceless.
The book wrote "Birdie is evil." No one went to the trouble of reading it aloud. Pippin fell on his knees and began to cry, still muttering he was not evil. Frodo stood besides him, patting his shoulders.
"I know you wanted to do good, Pippin." Frodo assured.
"We had better close it, now." Arwen suggested.
Gandalf looked down suspiciously at the book and closed it with the tip of his staff, but when he tried to lift it, the book stuck to the ground. Legolas immediately helped the wizard but they didn't managed to make it move a single inch.
Gimli turned his sleeves up and tried to lift it with all his strength but it was resolutely rooted in the ground.
"Have you taken off the necklace?" Sam asked Gandalf.
Aragorn was already trying unsuccessfully.
"How did you close it?" Sam asked.
Gandalf muttered to himself. He wasn't angry anymore, just extremely worried. Maybe *he* had actually activated it with the necklace…
Gimli indicated Pippin with a nod. "Since this thing is listening to him…" The dwarf suggested.
Pippin moved near the book and lifted it without any resistance. He took off the necklace and gave it to the wizard who folded the Hobbit's finger over the jewel. "We have some points to discuss…"
"It's clouding over," Frodo noticed. "It will be raining in a short while, we had better go inside.".
Everyone followed him into the house without a word. Merry went last; he looked up to the sky and whispered worryingly.
They all sat around the living room's table, only disturbed by the sound of the beginning rain outside.
"So what is the problem with this book?" Frodo asked. "It is magic, all right, but what is wrong with it?"
"It has been corrupted with the dark powers of the Witch-King through Lanera. Maybe even Saruman's." Gandalf answered. "Who knows what he might have done instead of cutting off her powers, like giving her some more…"
"For the moment the only manifestations of its powers are the writings, and the fact that it seems to be able to listen to us and understand us," Aragorn noticed.
"Does that mean the book is alive?" Sam suggested.
Gimli snorted. "How could paper be alive?"
"I will have you notice that paper comes from trees," Legolas answered, "and trees are very alive."
"But paper becomes paper only once the tree is "killed"," the dwarf retorted, emphasizing the last word and using it on purpose instead of 'cut down' as he would have said had the elf not been there.
To his greatest surprise, Gandalf added: "Not necessarily. I do not think it was the case with this book."
Gimli stared at the wizard. He was about to say something about paper being made with the tree still alive, but dismissed the thought as he quickly realized its absurdity. Or maybe it was not that absurd. He had always had troubles with the notion of trees being alive, and even after years spent at Legolas's side that elven concept was still quite beyond his understanding.
"Maybe Lanera has managed to catch a tree's essence in this book," Arwen suggested, "which would make it alive, before instilling dark powers in it."
"That is what I thought too," Gandalf agreed.
Gimli could not hold it anymore. "Oh. I see. So all we have to do is to free the essence of the poor tree trapped in this evil book," he said ironically.
Most of the others stared at him with amusement. Actually, all but Pippin and Merry. The first was staring down at his feet, guilt still overwhelming him, while the second was preoccupied by the deterioration of the weather. He jumped when thunder stroke. The rain then became lashing, and Merry cast a worried look at the window.
Aragorn noticed his unease. "Is anything wrong, Merry?"
"I… I am not sure, but…" he hesitated, but was interrupted by another thunder. He finally made up his mind and shrugged. After all it was the beginning of autumn, there was no need to worry about the weather… was there? He shook his head. "No, nothing…"
Aragorn cast a last glance at him before turning to Gandalf. "What are the extents of this book's power?"
"That, I could not find in the documents I consulted," the wizard answered. "Unfortunately, the most recent facts retold about that Barrow-wight are almost as old as the creation of the White Council, and no information about her since Saruman was sent to cut off her powers was recorded. It was then that the necklace was filed, I only guessed its use."
Pippin slightly opened his hand to give a look at the jewel. It was surely one of the most beautiful gems he had ever seen, and he probably would have thought it to be a great gift for Diamond had he not known about its origin. How could such a pretty thing rise so much evil?
"It seems she has adopted a low profile since then…" Gandalf went on.
"But if the necklace was found before the destruction of Lanera's temple," Frodo began, "it means the book might as well have been built by…" his voice trailed off.
"Saruman," Legolas finished for him.
A noisy lightning echoed outside as if to punctuate the sentence, providing the ambiance with an eerie gravity. Merry gave a new worried look at the window, and almost fell of his chair of surprise when the main door opened.
They all turned to look at the young Hobbit standing in the doorframe, soaked to the skin and water dripping from his clothes on the straw matting. Frodo quickly recognized the son of one of his neighbors and walked to him.
"What is going on, Melilot?"
"I am sorry to disturb you, Mister Baggins," the young Hobbit said almost out of breath, "but I have to inform you that because of the driving rain the river is flooding. It is getting dangerous down there, so you all better stay in until the end. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to warn the others."
He hurriedly left, closing the door behind him.
"Flooding…" Merry muttered to himself.
Gandalf had noticed his earlier unease, and eyed him suspiciously. "Do you have something to tell us, Meriadoc Brandybuck?"
The Hobbit looked up at the wizard with embarrassment. "Well… It is something that… huh… Barrow-wight said…"
Gandalf arched an eyebrow, inciting him to go on, which he did. He had never been able to endure the wizard's scrutinizing look very long, anyway. "She said the clouds would gather in the sky and the pond would flood, or something like that. And she also said something about exacerbating someone's wrath."
Gandalf remained silent a few seconds, pondering over the situation. The sudden degradation of the weather was indeed somewhat strange…
On his part, Pippin was getting more and more nervous as he felt a sudden urge to put the necklace down on the book. The jewel was almost burning in his hand, but he resisted firmly. Nonetheless, he had that strange impression that someone – or more likely something – wanted to talk to him. The book. He knew it was the book.
"This might be some kind of curse," Gandalf eventually said, and for a second Pippin wondered if he was talking about him or just answering Merry. "I fear the only way to get to the bottom it would be to go see this Lanera…" he finished, getting up.
Aragorn immediately got up as well. "I will come with you."
Before anyone else could offer their help, Gandalf dismissed them with a quick movement of the hand. "I will go alone. There is no need for the presence of any of you. I will very likely have to deal with her magic, and I am afraid I am the only one here able to face it and to cut off her powers, as should have been done long ago."
Pippin took several long and deep breaths. The urge was growing stronger, and he was not sure he would be able to resist it very long. His gaze rested on the cover of the book for a few seconds. It was so close to him… Within his reach… He jumped when he heard his name and turned to face the wizard.
"Pippin, where is she to be found exactly in the Old Forest?"
He immediately gave him indications to find his way, and when Gandalf focused his attention back to the rest of his audience, his gaze returned on the book. But he quickly averted his eyes and tried to concentrate on the ongoing conversation.
The wizard had picked up his staff. "It should not be very long. Hopefully I will be back before nightfall."
"You mean, you want to go now?" Sam asked worriedly. "Melilot said it was dangerous down the river, and you will have to cross it if you wish to reach the Old Forest."
"That is true," Frodo added, "this might be too dangerous for the moment, you had better wait until tomorrow, it will be safer then."
"Maybe not. If all this," he said pointing at the window, "is the manifestation of some kind of curse, I had better hurry and find out what the real powers of that Lanera are."
The last part of the sentence was said like a statement, and no one would have dared contradict him.
Once more, Pippin's eyes discreetly laid on the book. He closed them, trying to resist the temptation. After all, what evil could befall them? It was just some kind of auto-writing book… And it wanted to tell him something… Who would notice anyway? He slowly opened his eyes, and the only thing he could think about was to put the necklace on the book's cover. This obsession soon had the better of him, and he tentatively laid out the hand with the jewel clenched in his fist.
As he was about to reach his goal, a hand grabbed his wrist, stopping his movement. Pippin looked up, and his eyes met Legolas's. The elf silently shook his head, slowly releasing his grasp. The Hobbit looked around. To his greatest relief, no one else seemed to have noticed as they all were worried by Gandalf's soon leaving. He was happy they had not all witnessed his weakness.
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Here we are again!
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~ The 3 She-geeks ~
