In An Age Before – Part 259
"Umbar?" the lady repeated softly, dismay clearly writ on her face. "Art thou sure?"
"Pretty sure," said Helluin. "The walls of the fortress are much changed, but the shape of the bay is unmistakable. I saw it last in 1847 of the Second Age, just ere coming to thee in Belfalas. 'Twas an unfriendly place then and I wager 'tis no more friendly now. We cannot tarry."
"Umbar," the lady repeated in amazement. "I have ne'er stepped foot in Harad, and Umbar was not in my mind when I sought to project my conscious self to Lothlórien for to escape the cold as we flew o'er the Hithaeglir."
At her answer, Helluin groaned.
"I might have recalled of the heat of Umbar after thou mentioned the Helcaraxë," she hedged, "and the thought may have lingered."
At this, Galadriel choked, then her eyes widened in shock.
"'Twas thou that directed us hither, Helluin? I cannot fathom how that could be," she said. "I initiated the astral projection and therefore my choice should have determined the destination. I had not intended to project thee with me at all."
"If 'twas I who directed us hither, then I know not how. As for me being here, when we went to Imladris, thou clasped my hand," Helluin recalled, "and this time I had my arms 'round thy waist. Surely that contact must count for something."
"Indeed it doth," Galadriel admitted, "how could I have o'erlooked that?"
She sank to her knees, thankfully resting in the warm sand whilst she considered all else similar 'twixt this current mishap and the last. Helluin sat beside the princess and regarded her with a hopeful expression, wondering if the lady might apprehend some aspect to explain their predicament. It seemed to Galadriel that her attempts to astral project with Helluin had not only failed thus far, but had also created unexpected results in which 'twas only reasonable to reckon that Helluin herself played some part. What then differentiated her old friend from Celeborn, Álfrhestr, or any other that she had included in her past projections?
From a distance, she marked shouts in a harsh tongue that impinged on her concentration. Beside her, Helluin leapt to her feet and stood staring towards Umbar with a look of alarm.
"Artanis, if thou hast some inspiration, I pray we act upon it now," she urgently entreated.
From the east, just topping a trail at the edge of the promontory, came a mounted column of Haradrim, the leader bearing a lance and the next pair bows with arrows nocked on the strings. They had still some ways to ride ere they reached their shooting range. Helluin snatched her own bow from o'er her shoulder and nocked a pair of arrows. As she drew, a ril of Light blazed 'round her. Then she loosed and a heartbeat later, the pair of archers fell from their steeds. The leader faltered for a moment after seeing her supernatural Light, but then the next pair of archers in the column rode up behind to reinforce him.
"Helluin, take my hand and decrease thy Light," Galadriel cried out.
The riders were closing swiftly and in a heartbeat they would be in range to shoot. Helluin's natural inclination was to nock more arrows and shoot them first. She sighed.
Here we go again, she thought. Very well, princess, I shall trust thee and try to relax.
Helluin was still holding her bow, but she dimmed her Light as Galadriel seized her right hand.
"Lothlórien, Lothlórien," Finarfin's daughter chanted. Helluin whispered the word along with her and concentrated on a memory of the garden she had seen there on 24 Gwirith of 2061.
A dim glow surrounded them, the Haradrim archers loosed their arrows, and as she heard Galadriel desperately whispering, "There's no place like home, there's no place like home," the sands of Umbar vanished.
They appeared in the garden in Caras Galadhon with an audible 'thump' of air displacement. Bright sunlight filtered down through the leafy mellyrn canopy. Save for themselves, the place was deserted. As one, the two ellith heaved sighs of relief and sat on the grass.
"I am so glad we came not to Forochel or the ruins of Utumno," Helluin muttered. Galadriel laughed, then leant o'er and to Helluin's shock, wrapped her in a tight hug for a long moment.
They were still sitting there chatting when a company of Galadhrim archers found them, and these whooped in celebration at the return of their lady. It seemed but moments later that Celeborn and Arwen arrived, and they scooped Galadriel into a tearful family hug. Helluin met her eyes o'er Celeborn's shoulder and mouthed the words, Ne'er again! Galadriel laughed at her and winked.
"The date, mellon nín," Helluin asked of a Silvan archer who was standing 'nigh.
The ellon dipped his head to her and said, "22 Lothron, my lady."
"And the year?"
"2063 of the Third Age," he replied crisply, recalling the gossip he had heard from Imladris of how they had lost a year and a fortnight in 2062.
Again a fortnight and a year, Helluin thought, I would have thought a month and two or worse.
"Pray tell, does Galadhon of Tirion still tarry in the Wood?"
"Nay, he returned to Imladris two seasons past, hoping to aid Lord Elrond in securing the High Pass and perhaps hear tidings of thee should thou and the lady return," the archer said.
Helluin nodded to him in thanks for his answers, but then thought to ask, "Does Álfrhestr still abide hither?"
"The Oracle Horse? Aye, he doth," the ellon said, and Helluin perceived the pride in his voice.
Far from being shunned, that jackass hath achieved a measure of celebrity and shall be insufferable hereafter, she thought, the Lord of All Donkeys.
"I shall go and seek some rations," Helluin said, "I thank thee for thy tidings."
She left the garden and walked towards the city gate. There she found not only the sentry's mess, but also Álfrhestr, (who still appeared unchanged to her eyes), Herǫr, and a yearling colt standing in the grass outside the fosse and just beyond the bridge. Helluin took some food and went to join them. They turned to meet her gaze as she strode o'er the bridge and whickered in greeting.
Helluin, 'tis good to see thee, the stallion exclaimed. Congratulations on thy return. I trust ye followed your noses and the Lady Galadriel arrived with thee?
Aye, she did indeed, after some difficulties and an unexpected trip to Harad, she said.
Harad? That is far. Scant wonder ye have been absent another year, Herǫr said.
'Twas all very strange, mellyn nín. On both our trips, first to Imladris and then to Umbar, we seemed to arrive in an instant, only to find a year and a fortnight gone, Helluin said. I should not willingly travel thus again.
The horses nodded gravely to her. Only Álfrhestr had experienced a 'proper' astral projection, something not even Helluin could claim, but the thought of losing years chilled his bones. Then he bobbed his head and passed to more joyous tidings.
During thine absence, Herǫr and I have been blessed with the birth of our son, Garprhestr¹, he said with great pride. ¹(Garprhestr, Courageous Stallion = garpr(courageous, bold) + hestr(stallion) Old Norse)
That is a wonderful turn! I rejoice for ye both, Helluin said to Álfrhestr and Herǫr. Then she turned to the colt and said, I am honored to greet thee, Garprhestr. Thou hast my thanks for bringing such joy to my friends.
'Tis my honor to greet thee, Helluin Úlairdacil, teacher of warhorses, the colt said, and then added a dip of his head.
Helluin, Álfrhestr said, reclaiming the elleth's attention, a 'thing' came to me that I must share with thee. 'Twas when Galadhon was preparing to take his leave for to return to Imladris that I saw a vision of the trip ye took to question the three Yrch, and the bizarre experiences ye had.
To this declaration, Helluin cocked a brow in curiosity, for she had ne'er understood what had brought on their strange moods or the vexing obsessions that had led to the tiny chicken coop and the useless trebuchet.
I saw Galadhon in the cow pasture harvesting mushrooms, and I saw Aiwendil, that strange Wizard thou once introduced me to, Álfrhestr told her. I realized that Galadhon's mushrooms were of the same kind that Aiwendil eats to induce his visions. Unknowingly, ye partook of the alteration of your consciousness, though without the Ithron's intentions. I hope ye shall be able to avoid these mushrooms hereafter.
Being but a small incident already two years in the past, Helluin had to think to recall the mushroom laden pastry and the cauldron of vegetable stew. She shook her head in amazement and then dipped her head in gratitude to the horse.
Thou hast my thanks for thy warning, Álfrhestr. I realized not that we had been poisoning ourselves. I shall certainly avoid them hereafter.
The stallion nodded to her and then asked, so whither now, Helluin?
I shall cross Anduin and make my way to Suꝺriborg. I imagine the chickens shall have many complaints after my long absence. I must also seek tidings from the wolves, and then take up the watch against further incursions of the Yrch.
Álfrhestr nodded, having suspected as much and perhaps more.
I wish thee safe travels then, Helluin, and I shall keep watch for thee. May thy nose lead thy tail home. Pray give my regards to the horses, cows, and sheep. I doubt that many of the chickens shall recall me after my years away.
I shall do so. I wish ye fine forage and sweet water, sunny skies o'erhead and firm ground 'neath your hooves, my friends. Be well 'til next we meet, she said.
'Twas in the mid-morn of the following day, that being 23 Lothron, when Helluin came to the white stone hythe on the lower Celebrant. Arrangements for her conveyance 'cross Anduin had been made, for she would not beg leave to ride Álfrhestr or Herǫr whilst their days were consumed with their new family. At the hythe, she boarded a small boat paddled by two Silvan Elves, Lónadhor and Cabordál¹, which Helluin hoped were their epessi². These ellyn she found to be both quite jovial, for they spent their time jesting and singing gay ditties, and quite expert whilst paddling 'cross Anduin's current. They made good time, and after but the quarter part of an hour on the water, came to the eastern bank and bid Helluin a good day. ¹(Lónadhor, Swamp Rat = ló(swamp) + nadhor(rat) and Cabordál, Frog Foot = cabor(frog) + tál(foot) The –t becomes –d at the partition in proper nouns. Sindarin) ²(epessi, after-names, Honorific or nicknames (pl.). Quenya)
The Noldo reckoned that she was ninety miles west and forty miles south of Dol Guldur, or just o'er a hundred miles as the vulture flies. A longer trek lay 'twixt her and Suꝺriborg, one hundred sixty miles, or closer to one hundred eighty if she struck first for the north-south track.
One hundred miles to meet a monster and two hundred Yrch, or one hundred eighty miles to reach home and meet the complaints of the chickens, she thought, 'tis hardly any choice at all.
She set out northeast, not knowing that another two hundred Yrch had arrived at Dol Guldur a year past. She did know that the Yrch had followed a path west from the gates of the fortress to reach the Vale of Anduin and she intended to backtrack their route, in stealth, and hidden amongst the trees a furlong or two to the north. She deemed 'twas the easiest way to know where they were.
On her third day, Helluin reached the forest, having crossed seventy miles of grassland afoot. She found where the Orc trail exited the wood easily enough, for though 'twas a path meant for foot soldiers, there were trees needlessly hewn and left to rot 'nigh the entrance. The Yrch cared 'naught for concealing their presence, yet by the birdcalls she heard, Helluin deemed that none were 'nigh. A quick glance at the path within the forest confirmed this, for she saw no recent tracks. 'Twas 25 Lothron.
Now the Noldo went forward in stealth, walking a furlong north and parallel to the Orc path. Birds flitted through the branches, sang their songs, and displayed no signs of danger. Squirrels ran up and down the trunks of trees and chattered at her from above. She marked the recent hoof prints of forest deer. It seemed that the passage of Yrch was infrequent and insufficient to drive the native kelvar to take up the behavior of hunted creatures. Indeed, she was most surprised to find no evidence of spiders. Helluin deemed this a very good sign and covered the first fifteen miles more swiftly than she had expected to.
At nightfall of the 26th, Helluin was but a league from the fortress. The forest had passed from mingled deciduous species to twisted fir and pine that grew at odd angles and contended branch and bough with those that stood 'nigh. She expected the Yrch to be more active at night, but wondered what compliment of patrols they maintained 'round the fortress, for from of old, Dol Guldur was deemed accursed and no foes lingered 'nigh. Still, the Noldo mantled herself in the stealth of the Laiquendi and went forward with the utmost care. Closer and closer she drew to the walls, and still heard none on the road and met none to challenge her in the woods.
By a couple hours ere dawn, Helluin looked out 'cross the low ground to the heights of Amon Lanc. The causeway leading to the gate stood just a furlong to her south and she could easily see the gate. The Noldo marked a few torches on the walls and some Yrch pacing on watch 'twixt the guard towers, but she sensed no patrols walking the perimeter outside. 'Twas surprisingly incomplete security and more typical of a fortress already invested, yet no host was gathered to lay the siege.
That the occupation of Dol Guldur had been renewed was attested by the fresh dung heaps and midden piles that lay strewn 'neath the walls. Amongst these, she marked a few skeletons that she deemed had once belonged to the small mountain goats she and Prince Fram's company had seen in 1975. As she watched, an owl swept down on silent wings to snatch a rat from the refuse heap ere coasting back into the canopy to dine.
The presence of the Yrch within the fortress was quite evident. Shouts and occasional screams punctuated the darkness o'er a background of curses and bickering, all of these muffled by the height of the battlements and the thickness of the walls. 'Twas just as could be expected from an uncouth and nocturnal company wherein discipline was lax and brutality the rule. Contention was rife and Helluin had to wonder how many were murdered each night.
She had scarcely thought this ere a pair of Yrch furtively struggled down the wall walk dragging a burden. With effort, they pitched a body o'er the battlements and into a dung heap slightly further to the north. The pair of Orcs cringed at the dull thud when it struck the ground, but then shuffled away with haste. Helluin continued to keep watch and she marked some feeble movements as the victim struggled to lift itself on its forearms. It managed to crawl forward a couple yards, dragging its broken legs, but then slumped forward and moved no more.
Helluin waited out the remainder of the night, carefully watching for any signs of the monster, but save for the infrequent patrols of the sentries on the wall, she saw 'naught of any inside Dol Guldur. When dawn came, the torches on the wall walks were extinguished and the few windows that had been lit went dark. She settled down to allow the Yrch to finish hiding from the sunlight, and during that time, she reviewed a conversation with a local hunter wherein she had missed vital information whose import she had only recognized much later.
Praise to thee, mighty hunter, success and a full belly this night.
'Tis so this night, yet not so on all nights, though I hunt only to the west of the hill. Rare 'tis to find one of thy kindred amidst the wood, O bright one. Whence came thee?
I come from o'er the mountains seeking tidings of one abducted years ago. I believe she was brought to yonder tower. Pray tell, know thou if any linger there?
Lore tells of the long hunt of many Men and Yrch from the tower, seeking for something 'nigh the banks of the river. For centuries it continued, yet we learnt 'naught of what treasure they sought. Generations ago, most fled with their masters and but few remained.
The lynx who hunted the woods on the western side of the fortress had told her that Sauron's servants had hunted the riverbanks for centuries. Preoccupied with seeking an entrance into Dol Guldur and if foes lingered within, she had failed to recognize the value of what she had heard. For hundreds of years, Sauron had been searching for his Ring.
On this day, Helluin was already to the north of where she had met the lynx. She had approached Dol Guldur to the north of the causeway and was working her way 'round the western side of Amon Lanc. Her goal was the postern door that lay in a well-hidden cleft on the eastern side of the fortress. Along the way, she marked none of the small goats climbing the craggy precipices and reckoned that they had either been driven off by fear of the Yrch, or had been hunted, slain, and eaten.
At noon on the 27th, Helluin came to the place where the postern door lay, and she saw the narrow crevice in the rock face of the cliffs. The small stream that ran down was but a trickle of oily looking water, its bed stained black with iron and grown slick with algae. The few stunted trees were a bit larger now after eighty-eight years, but not by much, as if they were reluctant to bother growing in such depressing surroundings. Here she saw no middens or dung heaps, nor the bodies of rivals flung from the walls above. As she viewed it all from the verge of the pine forest, the scene seemed largely unchanged to her eyes.
Within the crevice lay a narrow, ascending stair that passed above the cliffs 'twixt walls of fitted stone o'er which a watchtower glowered, offering views down onto the landscape. The staircase exited inside the tower on the outer curtain wall. Helluin reviewed her memories and saw each step. She studied the memory of a quick glance out the tower window, marking where cover lay to hide her in case the tower was no longer empty now as it had been aforetime. A couple amendments to the route she had led Prince Fram and his riders on she made, the better to hide her approach, and then, deeming broad daylight close to noon the best time to evade the Yrch, she mantled herself in Laiquendi stealth and advanced from the forest.
Through cast shadows and 'twixt boulders Helluin picked her way, unseen by any eyes. She passed amongst the twisted trunks of the dwarfed trees and crossed the barren strip of land that lay before the cliffs of Amon Lanc. Finally, she stood hidden within the opening of the crevice and saw the steps carved from the living rock. Just as she remembered, the staircase rose steeply, stretching upwards into shadow.
In that narrow cleft, Helluin heard no sounds of Orcs. They were all likely far underground, hiding from the sun and awaiting the return of night. A gentle flow of air moved down from above, cooled by the great mass of stone, and it carried no stench of the Yrch. The Noldo sensed none ahead and she began to ascend, e'er wary, but expecting to be unopposed.
'Neath her feet, the hewn steps gave way to set stone blocks where the natural cliffs were replaced by the walls of the watch tower. Helluin continued upward, and after she reached the top and stood in the tower, she saw the dust on the floor, disturbed only by a faint trail of footprints, 'nigh certainly her own and those of Prince Fram's warriors, left behind eighty-eight years earlier. 'Twas the best sign she had seen yet, and though she would not deem the postern utterly forgotten, she did reckon that none of Sauron's current servants had bothered with it during their present occupation. Perhaps they knew it not, for 'twas likely that they had been told only what was required to fulfill their commands.
Now the Noldo looked out from the tower's door, finding the battlements atop the outer curtain wall deserted by daylight, just as she had expected. For many minutes, she remained hidden in the shadows of the doorway, surveying the outer bailey 'neath the wall, peering down into courts and onto rooves. Beyond it and slightly lower stood the inner curtain wall, directly ahead. From the shadowed doorway, she also studied the upper floors of such halls as could be seen within the inner bailey, and more distant, the Sorcerer's tower. All appeared still, yet 'twas mantled in watchfulness rather than lying at peace. There was an atmosphere of tension that blanketed the fortress, and it prompted Helluin to maintain her stealth.
When Helluin left the watchtower, she crawled down the wall walk in the shadow cast by the parapet 'til it passed into a greater shadow cast by the windowless back of a hall whose lower rear stories were built against the inner face of the curtain wall. There she slipped forward, crossing the wall walk and dropping onto the roof. Hidden there from any eyes in the fortress, she managed to descend using the joints 'twixt the blocks of stone in the wall as a ladder. The Noldo reached the ground, and despite seeing a lack of footprints in the wind-combed dust, carefully clove to the shadows as she crossed the paving of the outer bailey.
For the half part of an hour, Helluin slipped forward, cleaving to the shadows and maintaining her stealth. From doorway to doorway she advanced, making her way amongst the buildings in the outer bailey and drawing e'er closer to the inner curtain wall. Yet unlike in 1975 when she had come thither with Prince Fram and his riders, she knew that Dol Guldur was not empty and she could not use the staircases they had trod aforetime that led directly up and down the curtain walls. Her path therefore was far less direct and far more time consuming. Finally, after navigating amongst halls, workshops, and stables, she came to a warehouse that had perhaps once held material of war and entered therein, for this place she remembered from long ago.
In 1002 when she had come and driven Tindomul hence, slaughtered his minions, and rescued the ill-fated Inthuiril, she had seen a building in this same position against what had then been the inner side of the curtain wall of Dol Guldur. She had slain several Easterlings within it during her rampage. Now that the fortress had been expanded, she wagered that the warehouse she recalled had been extended as well, and perhaps 'twas connected 'neath ground level with the building that stood before her.
No scent of Yrch came to her nostrils, and no sounds did she perceive. The dust on the floor lay undisturbed. Perhaps none had walked hither since the Nazgûl had abandoned the fortress o'er two centuries ago. Helluin reckoned that 'twas a good thing, well 'nigh an invitation, and with a cold grin, she crossed the threshold and made her way forward.
Now when she had trod the length of the warehouse, Helluin came upon a wall, and by the character of its masonry, deemed that she had reached the inner curtain wall. There was neither door nor passage through it at ground level, but she had seen staircases leading both upwards and down, as well as openings in the floor meant for lifting and lowering crates and pallets by way of block and tackle. Her intuition told her to check on the floor below, for easier t'would hath been to tunnel 'neath the existing wall than to break through it above ground.
The Noldo backtracked, coming to the closest stairwell leading down into darkness, and there she descended. Such of a floor plan as she had marked on the ground floor above was repeated there on the floor 'neath the ground. 'Twas simply a large open space interrupted only by such columns as were required to maintain the structure. She made straightaway for the rear, and to her surprise, found a blank wall just as she had on the floor above. No staircase or ramp had Helluin marked leading further down, and so she could not but retrace her steps and then hope that she would find a passage on the floor above.
Soon enough, the Noldo climbed a staircase to the top floor, for there were only two stories aboveground. Unlike the two floors 'neath it, here the ceiling was lower save in the center where ran the peaked ridge of the roof. She made her way to the back wall, and there found an entryway broad enough for a wain to pass and hard by an opening in the floor. Above, dangling from the rafters, was a heavy block and tackle and thick ropes for the raising and lowering of crated wares, barrels, and bales.
Ere she tried to enter, Helluin stood listening and seeking for any sound or scent of Yrch. As she had at the outer entrance to the warehouse, she detected 'naught and deemed that this part of the building inside the inner curtain wall was likewise deserted. Having satisfied herself that she was alone, Helluin slipped forward in stealth and slammed face-first into an invisible barrier that blocked the threshold and forced her to an abrupt halt mid-stride.
What in Udûn? she sputtered, reaching up to massage her nose and lips after the impact. She could clearly see the empty space lying beyond.
After some moments for consideration, Helluin drew the Sarchram from her clip and pressed the blade against the obstruction. A flickering and sizzling marked the point of contact 'twixt her Ring and the barrier. It appeared as a line of sparks, akin to such discharges as come of cats stroked in cold, dry weather, and 'twas accompanied by a soft snap, crackle, pop.
Huh, 'tis bespelled, she realized, and little proof more need I to reckon that such a work comes of one greater than any Orch. I wager 'tis the gúl of the unholy spirit that clothed itself in a pelt of meat. Very well then, whether conjuror or daemon, I shall destroy thee, Helluin declared.
The Noldo laid both hands upon the barrier, and then she burst into a blinding ril, pitting the purity of Light of the Two Trees against the spell that isolated old Dol Guldur from all else in Arda. Instantly, the barrier went black, as if a solid wall of night itself had taken form in the doorway. The clash of powers was very great, a thing impossible to ignore by those with Sight as the concussion of the confrontation burst as a detonation upon the ethereal plane.
In Lothlórien, Álfrhestr jerked his head up from the turf he had been cropping and turned to face the east. 'Cross the river, his Sight revealed a flaring of Light that had exploded up out of the forest and against it stood a towering wall of darkness. He looked closer, concentration narrowing his eyes as if he squinted at the sun, and the conflict seemed to draw 'nigh. Soon, 'twas as if he stood right behind Helluin as she essayed to bring down the barrier spell. In shock, his consciousness retreated, back into the sunlight of the Golden Wood. This, the Lady Galadriel must learn, he thought.
In the next moment, the warhorse was galloping o'er the bridge and through the gates of Caras Galadhon. On the path 'nigh the mallorn that bore the Royal Talan, he saw Galadriel, her face grim with trepidation as she strode to meet him.
Come, my friend, she said, laying a hand on his neck, we go to Imladris. He nodded 'aye'.
Again, their unheralded appearance surprised the Peredhel. Lord Elrond had been staring out his window, his glance cast east towards the mountains, but he jerked 'round and stared at them o'er his desk, worry etched on his face. "My lady, Álfrhestr…" he began, but she cut him off.
"Mithrandir; is he here?" she demanded without preamble. At the Peredhel's nod 'aye', she urgently begged, "Pray summon him hither, meldir nín. There is not a moment to lose!"
Elrond immediately called out for his seneschal, "Lindir! Lindir!"
The ellon burst into the study in alarm. He became yet more alarmed when he saw Galadriel and the horse.
"Hír nín, Híril Artanis…" he barely managed to exclaim ere Elrond ordered, "Lord Mithrandir, find him at once! He is needed here urgently!"
The seneschal's eyes grew round at his lord's exigency. He offered a hasty bow to the room at large and fled to seek for the Ithron, not even remembering to close the door.
In the throne room at the base of the tower, Sauron whipped 'round, slinging a spray of reeking corpse juices 'cross the floor. Some power was challenging his incantation, striving to breach his defenses in a bid to seize his keep. 'Twas some mortal conjurer or petty sorcerer, he deemed, in service to a captain that sought to usurp his hegemony, gambling to take the lordship of Dol Guldur.
Probably believes this stronghold still abandoned, a misapprehension that shall prove fatal, he gloated.
Fallen Mairon sought for them with his Maia power, resolving to crush them like bugs, and yet he marked 'naught. The Dark Lord could perceive neither the place nor the identity of these brazen interlopers. He could not even divine how many they were. That he could not discern his foes upset him all the more.
So, they seek to shroud themselves in darkness as do I, but still, I shall break them, he averred. Yet for a sorcerer, he might find some use, having lost Akhôrahil Nazgûl. By their nature, all such sought after power.
The Lord of Thralls summoned the commander of his garrison and the terrified Orch prostrated himself on the floor before his master. If his fear had been great when Sauron rent the bodies of the Wainriders and donned their meat, he was far more fearful now after that flesh had spent two years rotting. No less fearsome was the great, flanged mace with its head of steel plates that the master had recovered from a subterranean armory in the long-sealed dungeon.
"Ye are four hundreds," the meat suit said. "Send forth fifty to each of the four entrances of the fortress and take the leaders of any that try to enter. Deploy the rest on the walls and 'round the tower should there be battle. Go." The Orch could not flee his presence fast enough.
Whosoe'er thou art, little sorcerer, thou shalt fail of thy gambit, and finding thee, I shall come to know if thou shalt wear a Ring and serve me, or be torn asunder to clothe me, Sauron said, spattering his rotting chest with the fetid fluids from his decomposing lips as he chuckled and savored the prospect.
Now in the warehouse, Helluin continued to assail the barrier. She was confident that t'would fall, for unlike a fire that swiftly consumes its fuel of branches and logs, maintaining her radiation of Light was more akin to opening a curtain to admit the sun. It mattered not a whit to the sun whether the curtain was opened or closed, whether it darkened or brightened the room behind the window, for the sunlight was constant. Even when Arien descends 'neath the western seas and night comes to Middle Earth, Anar, the last fruit of Laurelin, blazes still in the dark.
So too the Light that Helluin had once accumulated whilst standing 'neath the Two Trees. T'would have persisted past her death had she been allowed to fall, yet that fate had been forbidden in the doom of the Elder King. An irony 'twas that the one Noldo who could not die upon the Mortal Shores encompassed the repository of Vása, which her people called 'The Consuming Heart of Fire', harbinger of the Fading of the Elder Kindred.
Hour after hour Helluin stood whilst her Light strove against the barrier, and whilst her own power was not diminished, the spell that Sauron had cast was sorely tested. The challenge had soon forced him to expend energy in reinforcing his incantation, for 'twas an artifice, conjured and empowered by his own finite potency. It should have been a sign to him revealing the nature of his foe, yet the persistence of the challenge merely served to enrage him. By nightfall, (when some of the Yrch were finally willing to patrol the walls), he found the effort tiring. By midnight he was forced to yield lest he sap too much of his slowly accumulated power. More than e'er, he longed for his Ring.
After half a day, Helluin saw the barrier waver. Patches of blackness faded in and out. Then on a sudden, it collapsed inward from its edges and sputtered out at the center of the opening in the wall. Her foe had conceded his spell and relinquished control of the passage. The Light she was sending against it flared into the room beyond, blinding all within.
Helluin suddenly found herself facing half a hundred Yrch who were cowering and staggering, as if they had been temporarily blinded by the light of the hated sun. For a moment, she was as shocked as they were; the room beyond the doorway had been empty ere the barrier had blackened at her challenge, yet now 'twas filled with foes. Well wouldst thou look at that, she thought, huh. Whence did they come?
Her astonishment lasted but a heartbeat longer, and then Helluin charged into their midst screaming "Beltho huiniath!" and wielding Anguirél and the Sarchram.
"Sereg! Aníron sereg!¹" the Black Sword cried out, reveling in the anointment of blood. ¹(Sereg! Aníron sereg! Blood! I want blood! = sereg(blood) + aníro-(v. want) + -n(1st pers. sing. subj. pron. suff., I) + sereg(blood) Sindarin)
"Fëar! Fëar mílan narca!¹" the Sarchram declared. ¹(Fëar! Fëar mílan narca!, Spirits! Spirits I desire to rend! = fëar(spirits, pl, of fëa) + fëar(spirits, pl, of fëa) + míla-(v. desire) + -n(1st pers. sing. subj. pron. suff., I) + narca-(v. rend) The infinitive verb ending is the same as the 3rd pers. pres. (stem).Quenya)
So great was the terror of the Yrch when confronted with the blazing figure of Light and the weapons that called so urgently for their deaths that scarcely a one even raised a blade against her. Helluin waded in amongst them, slashing, stabbing, and striding from one foe to the next whilst cackling gleefully as she hewed heads from necks and lopped limbs from torsos. These Yrch had been bred in Sauron's new eastern stronghold, and save for backstabbing some of their own, had ne'er drawn the blood of a foe, nor seen actual battle. Before a warrior who had spent o'er sixty-one centuries in combat, they were as fodder. Save for a handful that fled, Helluin had exterminated those assigned to guard that entrance into Dol Guldur within the sixth part of an hour. A quick tally revealed forty-seven corpses.
Helluin had looked 'round, but seeing none moving, realized that she had no one left to question. Oops, she thought, t'would seem I got carried away. Ahhh well.
She could do 'naught but follow a trail of blood droplets down a staircase to the ground floor and then to a doorway opening into the inner bailey. Five fathoms ahead, one had fallen and the footprints of two others led away to the left. She regarded the body, but it moved not, a crude, black-fletched arrow lodged deep in its back. The fallen Orch was lying face down with sightless eyes staring toward at her as a pool of blood spread slowly from 'neath it.
Wounded, slower to flee, and then shot in the back by one of its own lest it be captured and divulge some secret, she thought, shaking her head at the lost opportunity. I wager this attests that there are indeed secrets to spill. I reckon it also proves that there are archers on the wall.
Knowing that the waiting shooters would expect her to pursue the fleeing survivors and reveal herself as she came into sight 'round the left front of the warehouse, Helluin instead turned right after exiting the door and clove to the wall. Whilst the Orkish archers trained their bows to the left of the building, Helluin slipped 'round the front corner and took aim at them from their blind right side. Moments later, she shot them and their bodies tumbled from the parapet into the inner bailey.
A quick survey of the battlements had revealed the nearest Yrch about fifteen yards further down the wall walk in a group of three. Being beyond the far side of the warehouse, they presented poor targets. Helluin charged 'cross the front of the building, and then sprinted after the tracks of the fleeing pair of Orcs. Harsh voices yelling in the Black Speech followed her. She rounded the corner of the next building, passing just out of their sight, paused a moment to nock three arrows, and then turned and shot the approaching trio on the wall ere resuming her chase of the survivors. 'Twas not long ere she deemed that they were heading for the tower.
Now Helluin met e'er greater numbers of Yrch on her way thither. She came upon them in groups of three to a dozen, deployed in increasing density. After slaying a couple dozen a few at a time, she slowed and resumed her stealth, moving forward in silence, the better to espy her foes ere they were aware of her. When she found them, she charged them after slipping in close, leaving them little time ere she was upon them and then slaughtering them with a few strokes of Anguirél and the Sarchram. Those who by chance or design were too far from cover for her to ambush she simply shot with her bow.
Much of the time at the starts of these engagements, she was able to line them up in such a fashion that a single arrow would pass through one and into another. Yet despite her efficiency and the recovery of many of her arrows from the dead, Helluin soon found her quiver emptied and was forced to shoulder her bow. Ere the Noldo had come halfway 'twixt the inner curtain wall and the tower, she reckoned that a hundred lay dead in her wake and deemed the garrison half spent, yet in truth, she had eliminated but one in four.
Helluin's assault on Dol Guldur was taking far long than she could have imagined. Night was fading and the dawn of 28 Lothron approaching, when after six hours of combat she was just o'er two-thirds of the way to the tower. A quick tally of the slain revealed o'er nine score remembered kills, yet there remained far too many for their total to have been two hundreds. The Noldo could not but shake her head and admit to herself that her expectations of the compliment of Dol Guldur were woefully out of date.
I shall be forced to spend so long in the slaughter of these miserable Orcs that the monster shall be fled or invisible ere I meet it, she chaffed. How irritating!
The monster's day was proceeding poorly as well. When Sauron cast his Sight 'round Dol Guldur, he found 'nigh half his soldiery lying dead. More vexing still was that half of the living had dragged their dead comrades into the darkness within random buildings to feast. The rest still stood their posts, but they had retreated into the shadows beside walls and cowered thither rather than patrolling the bailey and walls. Anor was rising and the Yrch were impaired by the sunlight that they abhorred. The Dark Lord resolved for what seemed the ten thousandth time to amend that weakness if 'twas the last thing he did. But mayhap my guest shall aid me in that cause by his great wisdom, he thought sarcastically, then thrust that train of thought into the future.
Yet the worst trial to Sauron Gorthaur was the fact that he was still deprived of the Sight of his foes. He knew not their identities, nor their numbers. He knew not whence they came, nor whither they advanced. Terrified of facing him for any reason, his Yrch would do 'aught rather than come to offer a report of failure, and so he had no tidings of the battle.
Another hour passed, then a second, and at last a third, each seeming longer than the one just gone by. Only a few sounds of fighting had come to the Dark Lord's ears, clash of steel, screams of the wounded. Finally, Sauron hefted his mace and contemplated going forth to seek combat, for if one wishes a thing done right, one must needs be willing to do it themself, he thought in exasperation. Then he froze, for from somewhere high above, he heard the unmistakable cry of an Eagle. Morgoth's milt, he silently cursed, what a wretched day this is become!
During the first hour, Helluin had followed the scent of smoke into building after building. Thither she came upon small bands of Yrch roasting and eating their dead. In disgust, she slew them all. To the good, the Noldo managed to recover a seven of her arrows from the carcasses as she slaughtered three score and ten diners. Thereafter, she took to the streets and shot more Orcs 'til she again expended her arrows.
The last Yrch she had shot had been found taking refuge from the morning sun in the shadows of walls and the entrances of buildings. These she deemed the most stalwart of their garrison, remaining on some stunted form of guard duty rather than abandoning their posts to gorge. As 'twas obvious that none lingered on the wall walks, she had little fear of being espied from above, and so she openly stalked the shaded alleys and the sides of buildings opposite the sun. Close now to the tower, she found many, and blazing brighter that the sun, she assailed them without respite.
She deemed them no more competent at swordplay, but less willing to flee than those encountered aforetime, and she gave thanks for this, for it meant that once engaged, she could slay them and not have to pursue the survivors, consuming thereby yet more precious time. For two hours, she hunted the precinct closest to the tower, and in that time, laid low 'nigh five score, increasing her tally by another hundred.
Ahhh, I forgot to include the three slain by wolves and the three slain after my interrogation, Helluin thought, making the count of the dead three hundred and forty-six.
She peered round a corner seeking more foes and before her lay the central court of Dol Guldur. 'Cross it stood the entrance of the tower. Before its doors were gathered a massed company of Orcs and she reckoned their count 'nigh half a hundred. They waited in the shrinking shadow of the west-facing façade, looking down the broad avenue that led two furlongs straight to the main gate. Helluin paused. From her travel bag she drew forth the coif of mithril rings and donned it. She set aside the bag, bow, and quiver, wrapping all in her travel cloak and baring her armor. Then she drew her weapons and burst into a blazing ril of Light.
Helluin came 'round the corner in full stride, Anguirél in one hand, the Sarchram in the other, and she fell upon the Yrch with a frenzy of strokes as her weapons cursed and threatened their foes. The Yrch met her battle mania with wild swings of their swords and clubs, but they were charged with guarding the doors and in any case, only a finite count could assail her at a time. Still they tried, surrounding her, emboldened by their advantage in numbers. 'Twas as a forest of black pines encircling an earth-bound star, and in the face of the Noldo's fury and blinding Light, they began to fall as trunks hewn by a daemoniacal woodsman.
The dark Noldo had slain half the Orcs when a great shadow passed o'erhead and she heard the cry of an Eagle. Only a moment's thought she gave it, for its coming was not welcome. Helluin would not allow herself to be carried off and dumped into the Anduin as had happened aforetime.
Not again shalt thou deprive me of satisfaction, Helluin thought. This is not the Sammath Naur, nor do I stand in Mordor, and I wait not upon the coming of Sauron! How wrong she was.
A few minutes passed and Helluin finished off the Yrch that surrounded her. One only remained, the commander who in the best tradition of the Glamhoth, led from the rear. He took a last look at her and then turned and tried to wrench open the door. Helluin charged after him, diagonally up the steps before the entrance to the tower, but just as she gained the broad, topmost step, the doors were flung open with tremendous force, striking the Orch commander full in the face and flinging his body past Helluin, out into the courtyard. So shocked was she that she extinguished her Light.
On the threshold, not a fathom in front of her stood the monster, a horrifying, piecemeal contrivance of rotting flesh and noisome stench, 'nigh two fathoms tall, and clasping a steel mace four feet long in its right hand. Footprints of corpse juice tracked its path to the doors and seeped down its decomposing legs to puddle at its feet. It regarded the broken Orc and then its attention shifted to the air above the avenue leading to the gate.
Helluin choked back her gorge at the stench and the appearance of the monster, and then chanced a glance at the focus of its attention. The Eagle Gwaihir was coasting to a landing at the far edge of the courtyard, and upon his back sat Mithrandir. For a moment, Helluin could not but stare in astonishment, and then she moved.
The Noldo spun in a pirouette as she stepped forward, gaining the greatest possible rotational speed for a sweeping stroke with Anguirél, and she hewed off the monster's left leg at the hip. As she leapt from the steps, the meat suit crashed to the ground with a fearsome cry. The great mace rang as it bounced on the paving stones and rolled away. Then the monster's eyes found her, clouded, shrunken, and dead, and she stood petrified for a heartbeat in horror.
Sauron could not believe what had come to pass in the last few moments. He had discovered the commander of his Yrch trying to flee and had unexpectedly rewarded him with death when he flung open the doors of the tower, but all that befallen him since had been an astonishing litany of misfortune.
The Dark Lord had been greatly vexed at the ineptitude of his troops, for they had clearly failed to halt the invasion of his fortress; he had been able to hear the fighting right outside the tower. Sauron had expected to find a meddlesome Eagle circling Dol Guldur, no doubt intending to reveal all it saw to his enemy 'cross the river in the Golden Wood. He had not expected to find it preparing to land, and the coming of Olórin was the last thing he had imagined. So consumed with astonishment at these things had he been, that he had literally o'erlooked the presence of his greatest foe, the one he had long been unable to see. She had stood somewhat to his left, barely o'er half his height, and his gaze had been fixated obliquely o'er her head. Then she had struck off his leg. The meat suit was irreparably crippled, (though quite honestly, he knew it was coming to the end of its usefulness anyway). Being a physical contrivance, it could not fight whilst it could not stand.
As Helluin watched, a cloud of what looked like dense, black smoke swiftly belched from the hewn hip, to gather o'er the fallen meat suit like a cloud of flies. She had seen just such a cloud upon a time. In the east, in Rhûn, she and Kanafinwë had assailed it with E-ngúrglaw during the destruction of Sheol.
With a cry, Helluin leapt forward brandishing the Sarchram. Her fear was that he would flee and escape her once again. After an Age, she was determined to send his abominable fëa to the Void to join his master.
But Sauron did not flee. This time, he attacked. The Noldo found herself engulfed in a cloud of blackness that slid, cold as the Helcaraxë, 'neath her armor and o'er her skin like a coat of oil. She lashed out in response, slashing with the Sarchram, but the cloud was insubstantial and she could not wound frost to extinguish Dor Daedeloth's chill. The foul vapor tried to suffocate her spirit with fear and hopelessness. Helluin knew not how long she could resist, and in desperation, she blazed with the Light of Aman. 'Twas as a distant star glowing through a bank of fog on a far away horizon, but now both she and Sauron felt the torment of being immersed in a hated element. Alone together, they suffered in the intimacy of anguish. 'Cross the courtyard, Mithrandir leapt from Gwaihir's back and bid the Eagle fly.
Well met, Helluin Maeg-mórmenel, Sauron said. The pain of having the Light of the Two Trees within his manifestation was as the torment of glowing coals forced into a body cavity. Yet for a while, he would endure it, for he had now a chance as had not come in all the Ages. I favor not thy destruction, Noldo, for rather would I call thee ally.
For a moment, Helluin's astonishment at his claim eclipsed even her terror of being consumed by his Darkness. She had e'er assumed that if he could not kill her, he would try to make her thrall, for he had attempted no less in S.A. 1600 during his bid to wrench away the Sarchram. Then she reminded herself that Sauron was the Lord of Lies and the Great Deceiver. Nine had fallen into his webs whilst pursuing their own aspirations for power. Those he called allies were cast aside, 'naught but thralls in the end. Sauron might delegate for his convenience, but he did not truly share power. After all, he had forged but one Ring and had conceived it to master all others. He had followed his nature as a compulsion.
To become thine ally, I would first become thy slave, Helluin said. I shall not wear a Ring and serve thee as do Murazor, Khamûl, and all the rest.
Whyfor would I bother to extend thy life as I have those of mortal Men when thou art Elda and already immortal? he asked, sounding surprisingly reasonable. I crave thy prowess and thine experience, and for thee to be captain of my hosts and viceroy of my empire. I need not make for thee a Ring, for thou hast already one of thine own, one as dark as any I might conceive.
And in that, I reckon is our difference shown, Helluin replied. My Ring sends foes to the Void. Thine bends them to thy purpose. I have no need of servants, for I seek not to rule.
Then thou wouldst continue as my adversary, Helluin? Thou wouldst refuse my patronage to aid in ordering this world in thine own image? Together, we could create of Arda a paradise. There would be then no need for battle, for the war would be won and the world at peace.
His words were meant to beguile, to tempt with the promise of conflict banished and peace attained, and yet they but revealed the perversion that he would wreak upon Arda. Not all peace was a blessing.
Save that marred by thee and thy master, the Valar had already made of this world a paradise, more than once. I understand thee, Mairon. None are so agreeable as the dead and nowhere so peaceful as a graveyard.
At her words, rage contended with humor, and surprisingly, even to himself, humor won out. He chuckled.
A graveyard is indeed peaceful, and a great artist such as thou would appreciate it so. I recall thine artworks, Butcher of Bruinen. Ne'er aforetime had I witnessed a rage so black in an Elder Child of the One. I saluted thee then, Helluin, and I longed for thine inspiration. Despite that thou hast refused me this day, I shall not slay thee, for life is long and we are both immortal. We shall resume our parlay another day.
With that, Sauron began to withdraw. The Shadow surrounding her seemed to lift and the pressure on her fëa began to diminish. She allowed her ril to fade. The Noldo was almost free of the black cloud when a bolt of Light lanced 'twixt them. Sauron withdrew from her so quickly that Helluin staggered and fell to her knees. She found that she was still in the courtyard before the tower of Dol Guldur. The meat suit lay flaccid on the pavers before her and Sauron's manifestation was coalescing into a violently roiling cloud of Darkness whence tentacles of shadow writhed. Then as one, they leapt towards Mithrandir who was projecting the beam of Light from his upraised palm.
Helluin's heart leapt into her throat; fear for her friend driving her to her feet. She charged towards the Ithron who was holding the tendrils of blackness at bay with a glow emanating from his entire body. Yet even as she drew 'nigh, Helluin marked that the tentacles of Sauron's Shadow were closing in on the Wizard. His face was grim and when he met her eyes, he gritted his teeth with the effort of resisting.
"Helluin, take my hand," he said, desperation in his voice.
Without a moment's hesitation, she grasped his hand tight, but knew not what to do to aid his cause or strengthen his defense.
"As thou did for Artanis when ye fled Umbar, pray grant me a fraction of thy Light," he begged.
Then Helluin nodded her understanding and she smiled, for she deemed the Ithron would teleport them away, but in her excitement, she blazed with a brilliant ril of Light.
The beam projecting from Mithrandir's hand immediately blazed just as blindingly as she, and it etched a deep furrow 'cross the façade of the tower. It clove the black cloud of Sauron's manifestation as easily as the stones, as easily as had E-ngúrglaw when she and Maglor had assailed the topmost chamber of the tower in Skator. Both Helluin and Mithrandir were struck dumb in amazement.
Sauron's scream of pain was silent, but it shook the foundation of Dol Guldur with its power and they felt it in their bones. Mithrandir screamed in pain as well, and in shock, Helluin ceased her luminosity at once. The Dark Lord's manifestation fled into the east, crying out in anguish, whilst the Grey Wizard fell to his knees, clutching his burnt hand to his chest. A glance revealed the blistering and redness of his flesh, as if he had grasped a rod of iron heated to yellow, and they could both smell scorched skin.
Maia though he was, Mithrandir's current incarnation was of mortal flesh and so he felt pain as would a mortal. He groaned as he rocked on his knees, the shock of the wound still too fresh to allow him to recall a healer's lore.
Sputtering apologies, Helluin raced to the place where she had left her cloak, bag, and bow, and then returned as fast as she could run. She dropped all and searched her bag for herbs of healing, her hands made clumsy 'neath her urgency. Finding dried athelas, she poured from her water skin to fill her mug and then heated it in her own bare hand. Steam rose and she made the healing infusion, and she used it to bathe her friend's wounded hand, all the while begging forgiveness as tears ran down her cheeks. She could not believe she had made such a mistake, no better than Eryniel, she thought, stupid, stupid, stupid.
Helluin had steeped in her self-condemnation somewhat longer than the herbs had steeped in hot water, when Mithrandir actually chuckled. She cast her reddened eyes to him in question.
"Curse thyself not, Helluin," he said. "I was simply shocked by the pain of the burn, but I shall heal. Indeed, I shall heal faster than any Man or Elf. Fear not, my friend."
Helluin met his eyes with thanksgiving, yet he gave thought to what had happened and he said, "With thine aid we have driven Sauron hence. No longer shall he have leave to explore Anduin. Thou hast my thanks, meldis nín."
"Thou art welcome of course," she replied, sniffling as she dried her eyes. "I thought thou intended to project us hence, perhaps to Lothlórien, but I failed to control my offering of Light. For that I am truly sorry."
"I was surprised at the outcome as well, for my other hand, the hand thou held, is unharmed." He shook his head in disbelief. "The beam, 'twas akin to that from the weapon of the Ithryn Luin was it not?"
"Aye," Helluin confirmed, "and if it differed, I mark not how. Its effects were certainly the same." She pointed to the deep furrow burnt into the masonry of the tower. "This could be a valuable weapon," she mused.
"Then we shall use thy hand next time," the Wizard joked, knowing full well that she could not project the Light as a beam without the aid of some forbidden device.
Helluin offered him a smile and asked, "So, thou shalt be well?" He nodded 'aye'. She cast a glance to the sky, and after a few moments' search said, "I mark that thou dismissed Gwaihir. How then shalt thou return west? 'Tis many miles to the ford and neither of us has a horse."
"I believe that with the threat of Dol Guldur ended for now, that I shall make my way north afoot. I should like to see Norðr-vestandóttir Bý, and after, I shall pay a visit to Rhosgobel to greet my old friend Aiwendil."
Helluin smiled, for it seemed that they would share the road together for many miles. Yet ere they took their leave of Dol Guldur, there was still one place more that she sought to examine.
"Ere we take our leave, I should like to revisit the dungeons, if possible. 'Twas inaccessible when I came hither with Prince Fram. Perhaps the stairs leading down have been freed of debris since then. I crave to make a last search for any signs of Beinvír's captivity."
The Ithron nodded, for ne'er would he deprive Helluin of a chance to learn 'aught of her beloved's disappearance. Dol Guldur was the last place the Green Elf was known to have been, for her ring of joining had been found in the throne room of the tower. Mithrandir just hoped that they would not find her bones.
"Let us depart then," he said, "for even absent Sauron, this is an unwholesome place. Pray lead on, my friend."
Helluin nodded in agreement and led Mithrandir from the courtyard, down a side street and into the entrance that she knew well from years gone by. Within they found a stairwell leading down. She had ascended that stair o'er a thousand years ago, coming from her slaughter of the gaolers to empty the fortress. Four score and eight years ago, she had been thwarted in her bid to enter by a mass of debris that had blocked the stairs. On this day, she found the descent restored, for the fallen masonry had been removed by the labor of many Orcs when Sauron had sought to recover his weapon.
Down into the darkness Helluin and Mithrandir strode, each glowing dimly with Light to illuminate their way. Then through low and dismal passages, they passed empty cells 'til they came to one whose door was barred with steel. Anguirél hissed from within her scabbard, for she and the Sarchram had been imprisoned therein when Helluin herself had been taken captive.
Helluin pulled open the door, surprised to find it unlocked. It opened grudgingly with a squeal of rusty hinges, its bottom edge grating 'cross the floor. Musty dampness came to their nostrils and the scent of centuries of fear so deep it had seeped into the masonry and anointed the stones with despair. Many a prisoner had entered therein and ne'er left.
Within lay a table and upon it, preserved for her torment through ten score and a dozen years by dark incantations were Beinvír's travel bag, her bow and quiver, and her paired fighting knives. In this cell, the Green Elf had been chained to the wall with the same manacles that had once constrained the Sarchram. Herein she had been imprisoned for five long years, bespelled, terrorized, and finally broken by Sauron and Khamûl. The Ithron softly sighed in thanksgiving, for there were no bodily remains.
Helluin laid her hands upon her beloved's possessions, but no Sight came to her, no clue more did she gain as to her lover's fate. Only did she know that upon a time, the Laiquende had been here and now was gone. The Noldo sighed softly in relief, for 'naught that they had discovered precluded that she yet lived, somewhere. In silence, she gathered her beloved's weapons, and then she turned from the cell and led Mithrandir back up into the sunlight.
"Let us be away, meldir nín," she said, "for Dol Guldur has e'er been an unwholesome place."
To Be Continued
Guest: Thanks for your review. Because Helluin absorbed so much Light from the Two Trees during her stay in Aman, and because she was emitting that Light (power), she caused the astral projection to become teleportation both times that Galadriel tried it with her. I figure that it is only because Galadriel had also lived in Aman and wears Nenya that she is enriched enough to do astral projection at all.
Btw, this is not book canon, but grows from the movie scene in The Hobbit (AUJ: "Why The Hobbit?"), where Galadriel appears to vanish from Imladris after reassuring Gandalf that she will aid him. The time loss during their teleportation was intended to be a side effect of transporting their physical selves rather than just projecting a representation of their fëar.
Thanks for continuing to follow the story. I'm glad you enjoyed the previous chapter.
Nicole1980: Thanks for favoriting and following this story. I hope that you continue to enjoy the read.