Chapter 25: Masquerade
It was night when Tulrah and his little army arrived at Minas-Tirith. They had managed to stay undetected in the shelter of the darkness. A few miles before they got into the closer range of the citadel they had got rid of their horses and were now moving soundlessly closer to their destination, their dark-grey cloaks blending perfectly with their surroundings, making them almost invisible.
Selina looked at the city in wonder, because she had never seen such an amazing thing in all her life. The citadel was protected by long circular walls and a large gate that left absolutely no possibility for their comparatively small number of men to enter this fortress. A mighty army would have been necessary to dare an attack or even think of invading this stronghold, everything other would have been suicide. The gates of Minas-Tirith were guarded by a few watchmen that wore the insignia of the White Tower, walking back and forth under the flickering light of various torches.
"How are you going to conquer this fortress, Tulrah?" she asked her brother with a bemused expression on her face.
"Don't you rack your brains about it! I already have it all planned out.", he smiled at her confidently. "The men we have with us are just here to create a little diversion. When all the attention is directed on them, we will sneak in and get what we came for."
"Unless you can transform into a gecko, I don't see how you will be able to climb those walls," she said dryly.
"We will get in easily and you will help me!" Tulrah hissed at her, shutting her up effectively, his eyes sparkling eerily in the darkness.
~
The guardsman squinted his eyes together and watched the two approaching figures with open suspicion in his gaze. The were walking slowly, almost slouching. Their faces and bodies were entirely hidden by the huge cloaks they wore. One of them was more slender and smaller than the other, perhaps a woman or a child, while the other was limping and leaned on its companion for support.
"Just so you know, I will cut your throat immediately if you even do so much as think about trying any of your little tricks. Is that understood?" Tulrah hissed under his breath to Selina as the slowly got closer to the gate.
"Of course, master. I'm on your side, remember?" she answered in a hushed voice and without hesitation.
They continued walking the last steps in silence. Selina's heart was pounding frenetically inside her chest. This was the opportunity she had waiting for all of the time. The tiniest word from her would have sufficed to destroy Tulrah's plans. The only thing that kept her from trying to betray him was the sharp blade of his dagger that was pressed to her side, an effective reminded of his power over her and that he could kill her any time he wanted. So she had to play along for now and wait until the next opportunity presented itself.
"Who are you and what do you want?" the guardsman asked with a commanding voice.
"My name Celia," she lied and indicated the hooded figure next to her, "And this is my father Sedrig. We require the assistance of Minas-Tirith's excellent healers, for we both suffer from a terrible sickness."
"Why don't you show your faces?" the soldier asked his eyes narrowed to tiny slits.
"The reason why we are clothed this way is, that if we so much as touch anybody we will infect him. Our bodies have been disfigured by the symptoms of the disease and we want to spare the world from the horror of our deformed faces."
The guardsman unconsciously took a step back, his eyes darting nervously between the two cloaked figures.
"Those are dangerous times. I don't know whether it would be wise to let you enter," the man said with uncertainty in his voice.
Suddenly the hooded figure that leaned on the woman for support began to cough violently. He was loudly gasping for air, drawing heavy, shuddering breaths. The soldier looked at him with compassion in his eyes. Little did he no that this was the signal for Tulrah's men to attack.
A loud scream came from the guards that were patrolling on the city walls "We are being attacked!", they screamed. "All soldiers to their main gate!"
The guardsman looked ahead and spotted in a hundred meter distance, about hundred dangerous looking men, storming into the direction of the gate with their swords poised to strike.
He couldn't let those two pitiful travellers die in this fight, defenceless and weak as they were. "Get inside! Quickly!" he ordered them and drew his sword ready to face the attackers that were storming towards them.
As the fight broke loose and the area around the main gate became alive with nervous activity, nobody paid attention to the two cloaked figures who quickly sneaked by, unnoticed by anybody. While they swiftly made their way through the city, they heard hectic screaming and saw soldiers rush past them with determined, grim looks on their faces.
Selina new with absolute certainty that Tulrah's men would be on the loosing side of this fight. By going on this mission they had willingly accepted their own death sentence, cruelly spoken by their vicious master. The soldiers of Minas-Tirith were well trained and even Turah's best men couldn't compete with the advantage the strong walls of the citadel posed.
She sadly shook her head, regretting that so many lives would be extinguished tonight, because of the dangerous insanity of one man. She couldn't think of any moment in which she had hated her brother more. He was a ruthless killer and literally walked over dead bodies, in order to achieve his goals.
The way towards the palace was leading upwards and behind them they could see a stream of torches rushing towards the area were the fight was raging.
"So you got us in, but the outcome of this whole mission seems rather uncertain and shaky to me. I mean, two people against an entire city, excuse my question, but isn't that a little bit pretentious?" she asked Tulrah while they were running.
He grinned at her, obviously good-humoured, because he was getting closer and closer to holding the eye staff in his greedy hands, "Have you seen anybody who tried to stop us?"
"But what about inside of the palace? Don't you think that the king will have the treasure chamber heavily guarded? And how do you think we will find it at all?" she enquired with raised eyebrows.
He stopped running and looked at her, his eyes sparkling dangerously in the dark. He was a predator on the hunt, thirsting for blood and pray. "Actually I'm counting on it. I can handle a few twenty men myself and I think it's also high time you made yourself useful. As to how we will get there - I have my followers everywhere. Or how did you suppose I knew where to find the palace? Now stop asking me those pesky question or I will slit you throat at the next word I hear coming out of your incessantly babbling mouth!" he hissed at her, his hand lying threateningly on the hilt of his sword.
After a few minutes they entered the palace through a huge doorway. They were careful not to make any sound at all, rushing over the courtyard towards their destination, protected from curious eyes by the darkness of the night. Their keen senses told them when they had company and special carefulness was required, so they could easily evade the danger of being detected.
They finally stood before a small door that was obviously mainly used by servants. An old man opened them quickly and motioned them to come in. His features were illuminated by the flickering light of a candle he held in his hands. His face was fallen, there were bags under his blood shot eyes and he had a bitter touch around his mouth. His narrow eyes briefly looked at Selina with distrust, but he decided on staying silent and not asking any questions. He walked ahead and let them quickly through the dark palace.
"I will not go any further with you! You have to walk down the next corridor, then turn left and you will be right in front of the treasure chamber where the eye staff is kept, " the old man announced finally and turned to leave, but was quickly stopped by a huge hand that wrapped around his arm in a vicelike grip. The servant's eyes widened in shock and he looked at Tulrah questioningly.
"Old fool," Tulrah laughed, "did you think this was the only service you would do me? You will be my hostage. This is the reward you get for betraying your people. Now move!"
Selina's heart was pounding like it wanted to break her chest as they got closer and closer to the treasure chamber, the place were the destiny of Middle-Earth would be sealed. The tiny hairs on the back of her neck raised and the foreboding of the fight that was about to come ran as a unpleasant shiver through her tense body.
As they stepped around the last corner the heads of twenty men whipped around in unison and they started at the intruders with open hostility in their eyes. The guards were all heavily armed and their polished armour shimmered in the light of the torches that illuminated the corridor.
Tulrah let out a humourless laugh, full of cruelty and malice, his huge frame towering threateningly a few inches over the human soldiers, "Excuse us, but we have lost our way. You can't possible tell us where we will find the treasure chamber, can you?"
The soldiers drew their swords in response and glared at the insolent man angrily. "Now, now were are your manners?", he forcefully drew the old servant towards himself and one of his huge hands closed tightly around his throat, so that the man began to squirm desperately under his firm grip. "Look what I found here, a little worm. Maybe I should crush him with my fist." He raised his arm, so that the dangling feet of the servant hovered a few inches over the ground. His head was already becoming red and loud gasps for air were coming from his gaping mouth.
The soldiers looked at the cruel spectacle in horror, frozen in place. The had seen a lot during the time in which they had been serving Gondor, but the cruelty and viciousness of this man-beast was incomparable to anything they had experienced before.
Tulrah's red eyes were sparkling like rubies and a evil grin spread over his face. Selina was standing next to him and had to witness everything helplessly. Tulrah stifled a fake yawn, "I thought taking a hostage would be a little bit more exciting, but this is just plain and simple boring. I'm not amused." With a hefty yank of his hand he killed the poor man and the terrifying sound of cracking bones could be heard, as his spine broke. Tulrah let the body slump to the floor unceremoniously and kicked it out of the way with his foot.
For a second there was absolute silence in the corridor. Then all hell broke loose as the soldiers stormed at them, crying angrily.
~
When Legolas and Sulrathi arrived at the main gate of Minas-Tirith, they were greeted by the sight of dead bodies and blood covering the ground everywhere. The she-panther let out a low growl that was full of disgust, as her nose smelt the mingled scents of blood and death. Though she was a dangerous predator she would never be able to wreak as much havoc as the humans did.
It must have only been a matter of minutes until all of Tulrah's men had been killed by the guards of the citadel, as Legolas only spotted five or six dead soldiers with the insignia of the White Tower on their uniforms, lying lifelessly in the midst of the dead attackers. The elf shook his head sadly as his horse passed the ground on which the victims of the massacre lay slain and finally arrived at the main gate.
"You have chosen a bad time for your visit, Master Elf!" a guard addressed him. The soldier was bleeding from an angry gash at his forehead and his once shining armour was stained by dirt and blood.
"I am Legolas Greenleaf, son of King Thandruil, Prince of Mirkwood, you will recognise my name and my title, as I am a friend of your king. Now let me pass, because I have an important mission to fulfil and every minute could decide over life and death!"
The guard nodded quickly and stepped aside. The elf rode past him in a hurry with a black panther following suit on tail. The soldier raised his brows in astonishment, would wonders never sees this night? First the two strange travellers, then this handful of men, foolish enough to attack one of the most powerful strongholds of Middle-Earth and now the Prince of Mirkwood who travelled in company of a black panther.
It was night when Tulrah and his little army arrived at Minas-Tirith. They had managed to stay undetected in the shelter of the darkness. A few miles before they got into the closer range of the citadel they had got rid of their horses and were now moving soundlessly closer to their destination, their dark-grey cloaks blending perfectly with their surroundings, making them almost invisible.
Selina looked at the city in wonder, because she had never seen such an amazing thing in all her life. The citadel was protected by long circular walls and a large gate that left absolutely no possibility for their comparatively small number of men to enter this fortress. A mighty army would have been necessary to dare an attack or even think of invading this stronghold, everything other would have been suicide. The gates of Minas-Tirith were guarded by a few watchmen that wore the insignia of the White Tower, walking back and forth under the flickering light of various torches.
"How are you going to conquer this fortress, Tulrah?" she asked her brother with a bemused expression on her face.
"Don't you rack your brains about it! I already have it all planned out.", he smiled at her confidently. "The men we have with us are just here to create a little diversion. When all the attention is directed on them, we will sneak in and get what we came for."
"Unless you can transform into a gecko, I don't see how you will be able to climb those walls," she said dryly.
"We will get in easily and you will help me!" Tulrah hissed at her, shutting her up effectively, his eyes sparkling eerily in the darkness.
~
The guardsman squinted his eyes together and watched the two approaching figures with open suspicion in his gaze. The were walking slowly, almost slouching. Their faces and bodies were entirely hidden by the huge cloaks they wore. One of them was more slender and smaller than the other, perhaps a woman or a child, while the other was limping and leaned on its companion for support.
"Just so you know, I will cut your throat immediately if you even do so much as think about trying any of your little tricks. Is that understood?" Tulrah hissed under his breath to Selina as the slowly got closer to the gate.
"Of course, master. I'm on your side, remember?" she answered in a hushed voice and without hesitation.
They continued walking the last steps in silence. Selina's heart was pounding frenetically inside her chest. This was the opportunity she had waiting for all of the time. The tiniest word from her would have sufficed to destroy Tulrah's plans. The only thing that kept her from trying to betray him was the sharp blade of his dagger that was pressed to her side, an effective reminded of his power over her and that he could kill her any time he wanted. So she had to play along for now and wait until the next opportunity presented itself.
"Who are you and what do you want?" the guardsman asked with a commanding voice.
"My name Celia," she lied and indicated the hooded figure next to her, "And this is my father Sedrig. We require the assistance of Minas-Tirith's excellent healers, for we both suffer from a terrible sickness."
"Why don't you show your faces?" the soldier asked his eyes narrowed to tiny slits.
"The reason why we are clothed this way is, that if we so much as touch anybody we will infect him. Our bodies have been disfigured by the symptoms of the disease and we want to spare the world from the horror of our deformed faces."
The guardsman unconsciously took a step back, his eyes darting nervously between the two cloaked figures.
"Those are dangerous times. I don't know whether it would be wise to let you enter," the man said with uncertainty in his voice.
Suddenly the hooded figure that leaned on the woman for support began to cough violently. He was loudly gasping for air, drawing heavy, shuddering breaths. The soldier looked at him with compassion in his eyes. Little did he no that this was the signal for Tulrah's men to attack.
A loud scream came from the guards that were patrolling on the city walls "We are being attacked!", they screamed. "All soldiers to their main gate!"
The guardsman looked ahead and spotted in a hundred meter distance, about hundred dangerous looking men, storming into the direction of the gate with their swords poised to strike.
He couldn't let those two pitiful travellers die in this fight, defenceless and weak as they were. "Get inside! Quickly!" he ordered them and drew his sword ready to face the attackers that were storming towards them.
As the fight broke loose and the area around the main gate became alive with nervous activity, nobody paid attention to the two cloaked figures who quickly sneaked by, unnoticed by anybody. While they swiftly made their way through the city, they heard hectic screaming and saw soldiers rush past them with determined, grim looks on their faces.
Selina new with absolute certainty that Tulrah's men would be on the loosing side of this fight. By going on this mission they had willingly accepted their own death sentence, cruelly spoken by their vicious master. The soldiers of Minas-Tirith were well trained and even Turah's best men couldn't compete with the advantage the strong walls of the citadel posed.
She sadly shook her head, regretting that so many lives would be extinguished tonight, because of the dangerous insanity of one man. She couldn't think of any moment in which she had hated her brother more. He was a ruthless killer and literally walked over dead bodies, in order to achieve his goals.
The way towards the palace was leading upwards and behind them they could see a stream of torches rushing towards the area were the fight was raging.
"So you got us in, but the outcome of this whole mission seems rather uncertain and shaky to me. I mean, two people against an entire city, excuse my question, but isn't that a little bit pretentious?" she asked Tulrah while they were running.
He grinned at her, obviously good-humoured, because he was getting closer and closer to holding the eye staff in his greedy hands, "Have you seen anybody who tried to stop us?"
"But what about inside of the palace? Don't you think that the king will have the treasure chamber heavily guarded? And how do you think we will find it at all?" she enquired with raised eyebrows.
He stopped running and looked at her, his eyes sparkling dangerously in the dark. He was a predator on the hunt, thirsting for blood and pray. "Actually I'm counting on it. I can handle a few twenty men myself and I think it's also high time you made yourself useful. As to how we will get there - I have my followers everywhere. Or how did you suppose I knew where to find the palace? Now stop asking me those pesky question or I will slit you throat at the next word I hear coming out of your incessantly babbling mouth!" he hissed at her, his hand lying threateningly on the hilt of his sword.
After a few minutes they entered the palace through a huge doorway. They were careful not to make any sound at all, rushing over the courtyard towards their destination, protected from curious eyes by the darkness of the night. Their keen senses told them when they had company and special carefulness was required, so they could easily evade the danger of being detected.
They finally stood before a small door that was obviously mainly used by servants. An old man opened them quickly and motioned them to come in. His features were illuminated by the flickering light of a candle he held in his hands. His face was fallen, there were bags under his blood shot eyes and he had a bitter touch around his mouth. His narrow eyes briefly looked at Selina with distrust, but he decided on staying silent and not asking any questions. He walked ahead and let them quickly through the dark palace.
"I will not go any further with you! You have to walk down the next corridor, then turn left and you will be right in front of the treasure chamber where the eye staff is kept, " the old man announced finally and turned to leave, but was quickly stopped by a huge hand that wrapped around his arm in a vicelike grip. The servant's eyes widened in shock and he looked at Tulrah questioningly.
"Old fool," Tulrah laughed, "did you think this was the only service you would do me? You will be my hostage. This is the reward you get for betraying your people. Now move!"
Selina's heart was pounding like it wanted to break her chest as they got closer and closer to the treasure chamber, the place were the destiny of Middle-Earth would be sealed. The tiny hairs on the back of her neck raised and the foreboding of the fight that was about to come ran as a unpleasant shiver through her tense body.
As they stepped around the last corner the heads of twenty men whipped around in unison and they started at the intruders with open hostility in their eyes. The guards were all heavily armed and their polished armour shimmered in the light of the torches that illuminated the corridor.
Tulrah let out a humourless laugh, full of cruelty and malice, his huge frame towering threateningly a few inches over the human soldiers, "Excuse us, but we have lost our way. You can't possible tell us where we will find the treasure chamber, can you?"
The soldiers drew their swords in response and glared at the insolent man angrily. "Now, now were are your manners?", he forcefully drew the old servant towards himself and one of his huge hands closed tightly around his throat, so that the man began to squirm desperately under his firm grip. "Look what I found here, a little worm. Maybe I should crush him with my fist." He raised his arm, so that the dangling feet of the servant hovered a few inches over the ground. His head was already becoming red and loud gasps for air were coming from his gaping mouth.
The soldiers looked at the cruel spectacle in horror, frozen in place. The had seen a lot during the time in which they had been serving Gondor, but the cruelty and viciousness of this man-beast was incomparable to anything they had experienced before.
Tulrah's red eyes were sparkling like rubies and a evil grin spread over his face. Selina was standing next to him and had to witness everything helplessly. Tulrah stifled a fake yawn, "I thought taking a hostage would be a little bit more exciting, but this is just plain and simple boring. I'm not amused." With a hefty yank of his hand he killed the poor man and the terrifying sound of cracking bones could be heard, as his spine broke. Tulrah let the body slump to the floor unceremoniously and kicked it out of the way with his foot.
For a second there was absolute silence in the corridor. Then all hell broke loose as the soldiers stormed at them, crying angrily.
~
When Legolas and Sulrathi arrived at the main gate of Minas-Tirith, they were greeted by the sight of dead bodies and blood covering the ground everywhere. The she-panther let out a low growl that was full of disgust, as her nose smelt the mingled scents of blood and death. Though she was a dangerous predator she would never be able to wreak as much havoc as the humans did.
It must have only been a matter of minutes until all of Tulrah's men had been killed by the guards of the citadel, as Legolas only spotted five or six dead soldiers with the insignia of the White Tower on their uniforms, lying lifelessly in the midst of the dead attackers. The elf shook his head sadly as his horse passed the ground on which the victims of the massacre lay slain and finally arrived at the main gate.
"You have chosen a bad time for your visit, Master Elf!" a guard addressed him. The soldier was bleeding from an angry gash at his forehead and his once shining armour was stained by dirt and blood.
"I am Legolas Greenleaf, son of King Thandruil, Prince of Mirkwood, you will recognise my name and my title, as I am a friend of your king. Now let me pass, because I have an important mission to fulfil and every minute could decide over life and death!"
The guard nodded quickly and stepped aside. The elf rode past him in a hurry with a black panther following suit on tail. The soldier raised his brows in astonishment, would wonders never sees this night? First the two strange travellers, then this handful of men, foolish enough to attack one of the most powerful strongholds of Middle-Earth and now the Prince of Mirkwood who travelled in company of a black panther.
