Twenty-Three: Our Flame Shall Endure

Prince Tjesh arrived a few days later, sailing upriver with a small retinue of guards and ministers. He wept to see Tiu free of Adûnaphel's dark influence, and embraced his brother gladly, walking out to the Farthest Shore to bid him a final farewell. Then, in a small ceremony, smaller than the ministers would have liked, he formally ascended the throne as the new Great House, blessed by priests of the cat-Ainu, called "Bast", among others.

Talion, Daerwen, Horza, and the Three Hunters stood as witnesses to the ceremony, Meresankh explaining what was happening and why by way of Jingyi, and helped the new Per-Ao and his people sift through the ruins for what they could salvage before at last they bade their own farewell.

The flight back to the sea was much more pleasant than the one away from it, but they did not spend another night in the temple. The land was coming alive again, and the people with it, and rather than trouble them with providing for them, they continued up along the coast, the waves crashing and gulls crying below them. They reached the strait between the Dark Lands and the Southern Reaches shortly after noon on their second day out, and this time they took the time to rest and enjoy the surf.

There were cries of shock all around when they discovered that after dark, the waves now glowed blue when they broke, the water frothing with light. "There is - something alive in the water that's causing this," Talion said, cupping his hands to catch the water and watching the light swirl around his fingers. "It's very small, like the tiny creatures that cause infections in wounds, but whatever it is, it's definitely alive; my Ring reacts to it. Barely, but it does."

Free of her harness for the night, Daerwen plunged into the waves, swirling around and flapping her wings to see the water glow. It's a shame we don't have something like this in Núrn. It's pretty!

"It is pretty," the wraith agreed.

The next morning, they flew north across the strait. Doubtless someone had already noticed the end of the Shadow to the south, but they still landed at the Fan compound for a few hours, informing them what had happened. Xiulan and Xiuying breathed a sigh of relief and thanked them gladly, and said that even if they never met again, it was wonderful to have known them.

Instead of turning north up the Orocarni again, this time Daerwen flew leisurely west along the coast of the Inner Seas. The lands there were thick with jungle, vibrant and green, similar to the Southern Reaches, but with rich and lively cities and towns everywhere there was a place for them, dark-skinned men and women and children in colorful clothing hurrying through the streets, hawking their wares, worshiping at their temples, and going home to their families just like everywhere else in Arda.

They did spend a day in one of the cities, one of the largest Talion had ever seen - larger even than Minas Tirith, as much as he would have thought that impossible if he had not seen it with his own eyes. When they wandered the streets, he whispered for a shade, who directed them to one among the living who was fluent in the Harad tongue that Serka and Baranor had spoken, and even had a basic grasp of one of the dialects of Black Speech together with a smattering of Westron. Between the main two, the Ringwraith was able to translate for the others, though both he and Horza had to shed their armor and go hooded and masked through the streets to avoid alarming the locals.

Daerwen was disappointed that she had to hide outside the city, unable to view the elegant arches and tall spires and temples carved directly from the living rock of their land. But she was mollified when Talion shared his sight with her through ósanwe and returned with food for her, a richly spiced dish the locals called kari or curri or something to that effect; the wraith tried to wrap his tongue around it but could not quite manage. "I thought about buying you a cloth I saw at the market," he said, dipping the bowl in the pot of the kari that he had bought before turning to pour it into the dragon's open maw. "The locals call it a sari or sadi; it was blue, very bright, and embroidered with gold thread, and I know it would have been especially vivid to your eyes. But it was very delicate too, almost like lacework - I don't think it would have survived even just the journey home, let alone any amount of time in Mordor."

A pity, the dragon rumbled, but nuzzled him just the same for thinking of her.

At last, they rounded a peninsula in the Hither Lands and followed the bay beyond up to a river that flowed from the Harad lands to the north. Here, too, the world was green, though grassland like Rhûn instead of forest, with great herds of gnu as far as the eye could see crossing the equally-vast plains. Daerwen hunted them with impunity but said they tasted little different than the great beasts of Mordor or the cattle in Gondor.

Because of the enduring threat of the Corsairs, even inland, they visited Masego and Dineo in Haradwaith for only one night, mostly so Talion could introduce the brothers and their people to Aragorn and arrange the beginnings of an alliance between them. It would be some time before anything truly came of it, but there was hope on both sides that they could have peace at last, and unite against a mutual enemy.

Then they continued north to the River Harnen, which formed the border between the Harad lands and Harondor, once part of Gondor but now contested land held by the Corsairs. Daerwen swung back and followed the river east and north, until at last the Ephel Dúath rose from the haze on the horizon.

Talion did not realize how tense he had grown being so far from Mordor until he returned and at last relaxed. The others felt the same, if the relieved sighs were anything to go by; Mordor was Horza's home, and it was not far from Gondor for the Three Hunters. "We will stop in Minas Gorthrim to rest for a few days, since I'm sure we're all tired of flying at this point. If you wish to depart from there for home or otherwise send messages on, feel free," the necromancer called back to them, even as Daerwen angled her wings to catch the rising winds and take them up into the mountains. "From there, we are bound for the ruins of Barad-dûr, then Mount Doom to destroy the other Eight, and then Dale if you truly wish to see Boromir."

The king absolutely did, so of course Legolas and Gimli were coming with him. "Besides," said the dwarf, "it will be a good time to visit our own kin, and perhaps even sneak Horza in to see Erebor."

The Orc perked up at that. "You - you really think we could?"

"At the very least, I am willing to try," said the dwarf.

Horza was delighted, of course, and Talion smiled. He was glad to know that this journey had forged at least one lasting acquaintance, if not a friendship.

Alatar and Pallando were still in Minas Gorthrim when they arrived. The city itself was almost finished, and the first inhabitants were already settled, both folk of Mordor and Harondor and even some Gondorians, mostly soldiers and Rangers now retired, ready to trade and travel and live in peace. Cheers went up from the streets when Daerwen swooped over the walls to alight in the citadel courtyard, and the two wizards came at once to meet them.

"It's done?" Alatar said, offering a hand up to the wraith in a reversal of their previous meeting.

Talion accepted and swung down from the dragon's back, then stepped aside to let the others down as well. He laid a hand on Daerwen's neck and said, "Yes. It's done."

The wizards both breathed a sigh of relief. "Then… we suppose it's time."

The Nazgûl blinked, then understood. "You're leaving us. Going west, to Valinor."

"Yes," said Pallando, leaning on his staff. "We will not be leaving right this instant, because there is still much work to be done, but in time all birds leave the nest. All of you - even you, Talion - must learn to stand on your own."

True enough.

"Perhaps we will go seek out Radagast, wherever he is," said Alatar, "and convince him to wander with us to tend to nature, before we all finally sail."

The wraith nodded with a sigh, then paused. "I do not know what you did in Valinor before, and what you will do when you return, but… if, while you are there, you see Celebrimbor…"

He hesitated. What did he want to say to the Elf who had been his closest friend for almost a decade before leaving him to die? What did he want to say to the Elf-lord, last scion of the House of Fëanor, cursed by the Valar, who had shared his body and mind and soul, who knew him better than anyone else, alive or dead?

What did he want to say to Celebrimbor after all these years of silence?

The wizards both tilted their heads in the exact same manner, which made him smile despite himself. "Tell him that I miss him," Talion said finally, "and that I hope he is well. I still have his armor, and the circlet and necklace, if you're willing to take them to him - and the hammer and chisel as well, though he might not want those back."

Both smiled sadly. "We will take them."