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~ Four ~
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Their ships clad in gold and black harbored and beached all along the inlet, and slowly they disembarked with their row boats and nervously came ashore. And so they began their march inland through the Light Pass. In the distance they could see Tirion shining gloriously like a lighthouse upon the hill of Tuna, and many among them felt a desire to go to it and see it up close for themselves. At the same time many hearts among them were misgiven again, fearing to continue, very much now questioning the wisdom of coming here and feeling an anxious desire to turn back urgently. But again the King, noticing much the same feelings begin to surface in his heart, spoke again with proud and challenging words and urged them onward, knowing that they at least must get through the pass to challenge those who call themselves the Lords of the West. The worry of the sailors was calmed, and their pride roused again, nevertheless their fighting spirit was now less fiery and more plagued by doubt.
Their march resumed, and they turned westward and continued on through the valley the rest of that day, the sheer mountainsides rising up menacingly around them. Every so often the king's heralds airing their battle horns. They came within close view of the city upon the hill. The king sent out a team of scouts to investigate it.
Very grand and fair was the town they found, with perfectly paved broadways adorned with flowers they had never seen before, lined with gleaming white buildings accented with gold and silver; the grandest building by the central square where there was a water fountain that surpassed anything they could have imagined. But they soon noticed the town was devoid of inhabitants, everywhere and anywhere they looked, with not even a bird singing in the great trees. The scouts returned to the valley below to report the empty city. The king paused in silence for several long moments, and his face grew grave. But he would not reveal his uncertainty, and declared again the land to be theirs now by right, dictating they should encamp there in the valleys and hills about the city, and move onward in the morning.
The sun sank low onto the horizon in the distance before them, and the lieutenant like many of his comrades was full of wonder and anxiety. Many felt a strong desire to continue on only for the sake of seeing the rest of the splendors of Aman for their own eyes, and all whether they would admit it or not were filled with varying levels dread as to what the response would be from the residents of this land. And far fewer now dared continue boasting proudly of their rights and lordship over it. The king himself was feeling this same doubt, but kept up his proud and fiery speech to himself and his troops.
The sun was sinking toward the horizon before them. Above however, as the soldiers had set up their camp for the night, dark clouds had gathered, and spread out for miles around except westward, and they were quite a sight by themselves with the setting sun lighting the blanket of deep grey.
The king gathered them round and started to speak again, to assuage their growing fears and inspire their confidence in their mission. But as he spoke lightning began to fall around them. First farther away, with a long pause before they heard the accompanying thunder rolling in the distance, but suddenly closer. In all directions they looked, it struck: the mountainsides, the fair city of Tirion, behind them toward the harbor, before them toward the far side of the pass.
Many among them still bespelled by the king's inciting words tried to brush off the strange weather. Nothing but an unfortunate storm, said some, the continued warnings of the now desperate and fearful Valar, said others.
But then the ground beneath their feet began to grumble. Some looked around nervously, yet many others were still defiant, shaking their fists at the great mountain rising up to their south and shouting taunts and challenges to the Valar they had not yet seen. But the king's cousin was now filled with dread and regret. He knew now that their time had come. The rumbling grew stronger, and louder, and fear began to overthrow some of the soldiers, and they threw themselves to the ground and covered their ears. The lieutenant looked back eastward the way they had come, himself now overcome with a desire to run mad back to the ships. The king himself was struck speechless now, looking around bewildered, confused, and now unable or unwilling to hide the fear that had now fully surfaced to his face. After a few minutes the ground beneath them then began to shake violently.
Chaos and panic erupted throughout the encampment of the king's forces. The lieutenant was struck frozen watching the scene unfold. Just then they began to notice small rocks tumbling down from high up on the mountain sides of the pass. The earth continued to grumble, ever louder, and lightning kept crashing down around the valley. The rocks sliding and now falling down from above were bigger now, and among the troops there was a swift growing awareness of their mistake, and that the consequences for their decisions would be far beyond anything they could have imagined.
No one was paying attention to anyone else anymore. Soldiers were running every which way, some aiming to run up toward the city on the hill, some looking for a cave or large boulder for shelter, some still standing steadfast around the king, some just struck frozen standing in place watching the panic ensue. Between the shaking earth and the roaring thunderstorm overhead no one could hear anyone else.
But for the king's cousin, the gnawing doubts that he had pushed down for so many years, his questions and concerns over the king's decisions, missing and sympathizing with his kin in Romenna, it all rushed to the surface of his mind. He rebuked himself for concealing his mind, even to himself, and following along so far, and now realized fully, over late, his mistakes. So he ran.
His crew were near, and he turned his head and beckoned them to follow. A few who were of like mood obliged, but most were too distracted and distraught by the scale of the attack. Due east he headed, straight toward the harbor at the start of the valley. He could not see the water from here, and he wondered if there was much hope of reaching the ships. Was it possible to reach the water? Possible to get home and warn those persecuted followers of Amandil of the impending peril, after begging forgiveness?
Now the rocks tumbling down from above looked to have grown steadily into large boulders. The captain didn't think too much about it. All he could think about was how fully he now realized just how wrong he had been to ignore and reject the doubts that had been gnawing at his heart for most of his life now, over his kinsman the king and what was happening to the kingdom he loved. And he was wroth with himself, for ever listening to this king or his counselor, and cursed his own cowardice for refusing to harken his own heart. He kept running. His few comrades that followed pulling up not far behind. More and more rocks were sliding, and falling down from above, as though the mountains above the valley were inhabited by rock giants that had commenced with the defense of Valinor. He looked up as he sped along, and realized the very tops of the mountains were crumbling off of them. His panic heightened, and he spurred on all the faster. The boulders were very large in size now, piling up in all directions: up along the mountainsides to his right, up the hillsides on his left toward the city, behind him along the valley amongst the comrades he left behind. He kept going. Suddenly there fell before him very great boulders and many smaller ones, filling up the opening of the pass before him. He slowed a moment in dismay, but sped up again, determined to simply go over it.
He stopped at the foot of the new wall formed before him, and started to climb. But the rocks and boulders continued to fall and slide, and before he knew it great chunks of the mountains landed behind, and more rock walls formed on either side. The smaller rocks and pebbles continued to come down, and the walls were literally closing in. Then suddenly another piece of mountain came down on top, and they were trapped. He climbed back down onto the valley floor, and there they were, trapped in complete darkness, and everything went silent.