And In The Dawn Save Them

Chapter 42 : The End Of All Things

Illustration: AI

Music to listen to on this chapter:

Night was falling and the sun had just set. All the armies of Gondor and Rohan were now gathered on the plain, ready to fight at the edge of the Fangorn forest. Éomer, Eowyn and Faramir, Aragorn and the Hobbits stood high up on the hill facing the woods, where they would have a better view of the approaching enemies. Faramir had just warned Aragorn that the forest ended not far from there, and that troops could very well appear from the other side to surround them. Aragorn had therefore ordered his armies to be ready in this direction too. If the enemy came this way, they would be in the front line to rush down the hill and launch an assault.

Around Lake Orthanc, the Orc troops were ready. Facing towards the forest, they were just waiting for a signal to go into battle.

They did not immediately notice that the level of the lake was rising, slowly and quietly, at their feet. And when they did, many were already knee-deep in water.

The Orcs closed in, but as they fled, panic broke out. They pushed, shouted and elbowed their way towards the forest. And when they tried to enter the woods, they were prevented by a wall of vegetation, impossible to get through.

Caught between the rising banks of the lake and the barrier of the forest, they were trapped.

In the middle of the room with the seven doors, Alcara had closed her eyes. Her pendant, brighter and more vibrant than ever, was growing hotter and hotter around her neck. But in her concentration, she didn't notice. In her hands, she held Saruman's broken staff and the black notebook.

And all around her, countless barrels of gunpowder. She had found them in the last room. Remnants of the gunpowder used to breach the ramparts of Helm's Deep in the past.

In her mind, vile enemies from whom nothing should remain, and above all, the unvarnished truth of who her father was. A contemptuous magician with no principles and no respect for the laws of Men or Gods. Evil, of which she now had to wipe out every trace.

Even if it meant sacrificing herself.

She raised her head, looked up at the sky and then exclaimed as loud as she could:

"Valar Gods, creators of Earth, Sky and Sea, I invoke you!

I am ready to see you, and to prove to you that I am not Saruman.

LOOK AT ME! See what I do with the gifts you have given me, AND ANSWER!!!"

On the hill, Aragorn and the others heard a great clamour. They prepared themselves, believing that the troops were coming. But the cries sounded more and more like fear, or panic. Seeing nothing in the forest, they looked at each other, puzzled.

Éomer was suddenly assailed by a terrible, all-consuming doubt: after all, maybe he should have listened to them. Perhaps he should have gone to see her. Now that the Forest of Fangorn seemed so close, despite the clamour of their many enemies, he thought he could still have gone to find her...

But then, sweeping away his hesitation, for it was too late, an immense white beam shot out of the tower of Orthanc and into the sky, similar to the greenish glow that had once pierced the sky from the top of the tower of Minas Morgul. Inwardly, they prayed that it was not the same kind of threat.