Now Rainith has told us of her wounding during her brave battle with the Orc on the very borders of the wood, and how she stood between them and her Malledhrim friend, and suffered grave injury, almost losing her life, from the look of her. I am worried that she is too weary to travel, but she said she was not. Lord Belegos, at her urging, recounted the tale of our journey to her, omitting much, and fell asleep soon after, admitting to being very weary himself. We are all very weary, but nonetheless desire to return to the Valley as soon as we can. Here at Echad Eregion, we shall rest until daybreak, then continue north again. We should be descending into the Valley in a day or two. I was not in the mood for talk, and so I did not tell Rainith about the wicked Man in the Tower, the Castellan the others called him, and all he said and did.
When this dastard saw us gathered round with our swords drawn, he raised his hand, making a sign that he had something of importance to communicate. A silence fell upon the growling, filthy horde, his vanguard of foul creatures and cruel Men, and they seemed to look upon him as a seer. He playing upon their credulity and witlessness, pretended to prophesy for his Dark Master, and told of all the barbarous cruelties that would happen to us for daring to steal the possessions of the Necromancer. I was reminded of the loathsome gibbets swinging outside in the courtyard and their grisly innards; yet his drear words did not frighten me, nor did they have any power whatsoever over any of us, for he was only a deceitful, weak-willed Man. All at once, we fell viciously upon those who had put themselves between us and the door, the Lady Danel and Elloen chopping their swords at the limbs and necks of the orcs, while before us, Lord Estarfin plowed headlong into the orcs like a furious lion, and smashed them to the floor with his heavy shield as the Lord Belegos shot them through the eyes and throat, and dispatched at least thirty of them before they came in with even greater numbers. The Lady Danel’s boldness surprised us all; many of our enemies recoiled in terror from the light in her eyes, so I stayed close beside her. But then the Castellan snatched Urusse up, and sped from the treasure-vault with a wild cackle. We followed him swiftly, hoping to smite him down and reclaim what we had sworn to find in our folly.
It was then that we became separated from each other. More unclean creatures were waiting to spring upon us as we rushed through a shadowy corridor, and their teeth and claws snapped close upon our heels, but we foot it featly, and escaped without injury. At the end of the long hallway, the Lady Danel and I found ourselves apart, cut off from the rest. The man sent his most fearsome servants to deal with us as he made his cowardly escape. Now we faced a new foe, the largest Olog-Hai I ever laid seen in that part of the Greenwood! I raised my sword as it loomed close, and out of the corner of my eye, saw the Lady Danel dart off, hard on the heels of the wicked Castellan. Appalled at her sudden departure, I was distracted for a moment, and struck out at the Olog just as its club came down. My sword shattered to pieces; I was smote upon the shoulder, flung high into a wall, and fell to the floor.
‘We must fly from this place,’ I heard Lord Belegos telling someone, and I wondered why his voice sounded so strained. Then I recollected myself. A feeling of dread overcame me. Shadows seemed to gather; I sensed the presence of a malevolent spirit. Someone was waiting for us high inside the Tower. In terrible anguish I arose, trembling all over, and forced to betake myself to flight to save our lives, or bring death upon us all. I was unable to take but a few staggering steps, and I bethought myself of the idiotic words of my brother Culufinnel, when he told me, A pain is only a pain if you complain, so availing myself of this bit of useless advice, I clenched my teeth together, and made no sound - that is, until Lord Estarfin took hold of me, throwing me over his shoulder as if I were nothing, and in sore agony I cried out, feeling a sickening sensation from the bones grinding together. I begged him to release me, and he did speedily oblige by dropping me upon the hard flagstones, where I lay silent and pale as the dead, or so they told me. I must have fallen into a faint; I recall nothing until I found myself lying in the bleak wood again, at the foot of a great, gnarled, ugly old dead black pine tree, and Elloen was applying remedies to my wounds in that terrible forest dark, in spite of all my resistance, for the hideous pain was great, and I was greatly dismayed to see that we were still near the Tower. A cold rain was falling on me, and a great howling and baying of Wargs, and their evil snarling echoed in the dark woods all around. Verily my being was unsettled, and was striving within its broken shell, trying to regain its mastery; every breath was an agony; my head was sore troubled with fits of dizziness; and I could not move my right arm or use my fingers, for it had been wrenched complete out of joint, and hung like a dead thing by my side.
Mightily worried with these injuries, and thinking of the dreadful moment when the Lady Danel turned her back on me in my extremity, so that I was left to face the Olog with its iron club all full of spikes alone, and how my sword was shattered, and how my body was broken, my rage was kindled. I became wroth, and shook all over, and I thought that I would strike Elloen. I might have said a few things to him that I should not, judging from the strange surprised look on his face. I have no excuse but that my anguish was so violent, that I could not help myself, and I stung him with the bitterest reproaches: secretly hoping that he would fly into a fury, and then my companion would be just as miserable as myself. Instead, Elloen only laughed at all I could say, and told me, in mild and plain terms, that I must content myself with his leech-craft, although pain had made me extremely ill-tempered, but it would eventually pass. I bade him leave off his inane prattling and go away, lest his foolish words be the last I heard in this wretched world. Then I gave myself up to my sad and desperate condition, and shed a few tears, wiping them hastily away, putting a constraint on myself to conceal my weakness from the others.
I am grieved at heart for the loss of my sword, as well for the lack of it now in such need. It may not have been as fine a sword as Urusse, but it was a comfort to have. If I might have had assistance with the Olog-Hai - who else should I have looked to but the Lady Danel, whose great valour and skill might have aided mine in danger! I did not realize how strangely different she is from what I believed. I did her a service, and helped her win back her sword that could not have been gained for her without my ill fate, and the extreme peril of my life, which was her good fortune. But she has not spoken more than a few words to me. She will not even look at me. Now, at every place we halt to rest, I see the Lady Danel take out her sword, and marvel and gaze upon it in wonder and silence. I admit that it is a very rich and splendid thing, this sword from the West that she loves above her friends, or at least, those who thought themselves her friend, they who have worn themselves out in body and spirit following her commands. I wish to shout at her, “Here is the fine sword which you have won to my near destruction!” But seeing her back towards me, I can say nothing, knowing that I am nothing to her, and that what she rejoices is cause for my sorrow.
Everything beautiful attracts love, and the great delight and charm of beauty is in its attraction: it promises a graceful and happy life, full of friends – beauty attracts these things with its bright alluring flame. I have no beauty to attract love, nothing in my ill-favored appearance that I should be so desired. If I possessed myself of a little of this, perhaps it might have served me better amongst these elves, for beauty takes its own to itself, and appreciates its own as something concordant and genuine, a natural friend, a boon companion, something to be proud of and treasured. Then I might have garnered the admiration of this lady, and I would not have been cast aside, a miserable wreck abandoned when her precious sword was threatened. I have served the Lady Danel faithfully and well, and I swore to help her regain her sword, for her sake; but by her dishonourable act, she revealed what I am to her. The true friend is only known in time of need. She chose to follow after the sword when it was snatched from her grasp, rather than stand by me against the brutish Olog-Hai, and that is her choice. Such as I am, I had the will to serve her; however ugly I may be, and follow her into the deathly darkness.
Until I met the Lady Danel, I thought there was no one in the world who had the goodness and wisdom to match that of my Lord Anglachelm. I have sadly misjudged her character, and I must discharge my duty to the lady, and return to the Valley forthwith, lest I fall into a more wretched plight in this world. I have done her business for her now thoroughly, and I am not such a fool as she takes me for to keep company longer than is necessary. She is a very handsome lady, and is, it seems, not only a high-spirited one, but very self-seeking and rapacious. Seeing how I have been repaid by the lady gives me great desire to seek out my lord, for there is never any Tûr wiser or kinder to his people than the Lord Anglachelm. It is my good fortune to serve him, relying on his virtue and great nobleness; he has shown great courtesy and favour, and commanded me to act as his Ambassador, and gave me more honour than ever any other has received, me, such as I am, a person without fame of arms, nor wealth, nor beauty, and he gave me his seal-ring as proof of his esteem. And as the bearer of his signet, his most steadfast and obedient servant is bound to relate particular proceedings whereat he would find himself aggrieved, for I am the Lord Anglachelm’s representative outside the Valley, and his eyes and ears, as he told me. We have used our best endeavours upon all occasions, for the advancement of the noble and ancient household of Bar-En-Vanimar, and have left no good ways or means in our power unessayed, which might assist the lords and ladies of the House with their whims and wild fancies, and Lord Anglachelm will, of a surety, be very troubled to hear my sad news, and I am very sorry that I must load yet another care upon my lord’s overburdened heart, but his supreme fairness will by no means suffer his meanest servant to be mistreated by anyone, even though it were the highest and most important person of noble birth and connection.
I hope we may return to the Valley with all haste, so that I may give an account to my Lord Anglachelm of what has befallen since we left it. I can endure no delay, and as soon as I am in a state to ride, I will set out, for it does not befit me to rest or be at ease, till I am brought to where my heart desires to be.
