The orb had turned dark again. At first Denethor could not see anything beyond it’s black, oily surface. After a while he started to see something – little sparks flickering inside the stone, like red-hot sparks in a furnace.
Denethor felt sick. His stomach was grumbling and churning. He realized he was not afraid, only curious. He blinked at the glimmering sparks in the orb and imagined he was beginning to see a shape forming in it. A shape, like something resembling a face.
”Hello”, he said in a cracked and dry voice. ”Hello. Who is there?”
There was no answer, but the flickering of the sparks intensified. Suddenly Denethor felt overwhelmed by tiredness, but he forced his eyes to remain open as he stared into the orb, as if what was coming would be less dreadful if he could confront it with his eyes open.
”Don’t you know who I am?”
There was no sound, no voice, no audible words for him to hear. Yet Denethor could hear the thoughts clearly in his head as he gazed upon the horrible, skeletal, necrotic face that was staring back at him from the surface of the Anor-stone. The figure wore an ornate helmet covering most of his hideous face. His eyes were like burning holes in a furnace. Fire burned inside them.
”What are you doing?” Denethor said.
”What do you think I am doing? I am playing with the Ithil-stone.” The creature’s hideous features crinkled a little, as if it was trying to force a smile upon it’s rotten, wizened face that had very little left in the way of muscles.
”You are monstrous”, Denethor said.
”I want something. Something very important to me. You are going to help me get it.”
”Who are you? What do you want from me?”
”Don’t you know me, Steward of Gondor? Is your brain rotted already?”
Denethor felt faint and weak. He tried to turn his face away from the palantír, turn away and leave the chamber and never come back.
”Don’t do that.” The words in his mind were very sharp, commanding. ”Stay with me a while.”
”What do you want?” Denethor asked again.
”Peace.”
”Damn you, abomination!” Denethor cursed at the creature. ”You’re the one who’s been sending me all those visions! How long have you been able to reach me through the palantír?”
”From the beginning.”
”I want you to leave me alone”, Denethor said. ”I command you to leave me alone! I don’t ever want to see your hideous face again!”
”Oh no, Steward of Gondor. Nobody commands me. Very soon all creatures will obey only my commands. Either that, or be purged from the face of this earth.”
”Be cursed!”
”Look, Steward of Gondor. You don’t have much time. I don’t actually enjoy war and violence. A peaceful solution is always preferable, when it is achievable. Would you not agree? Thousands, hundreds of thousands of your citizens will die needlessly if you keep resisting. Would it not be better to allow them to keep living their little, insignificant lives? What use are all your traditions and beliefs in the grave? All you have to do is to bow down to me, swear allegiance to me. You know I will achieve victory, one way or the other.”
”You are mad, completely mad”, Denethor said suddenly, horror clutching at his throat. ”Leave me alone. Now!”
”No. Not now. First I want you to think, really think about your people and what might happen to them. You don’t have much time. This might be your last chance to save them. Think about it, Steward of Gondor. I only want peace. It is all I have ever wanted.”
”There is nothing I could do even if I wanted to”, Denethor said, feeling weak for the first time. He thought about his sons. He would never survive the coming war, he realized in a sudden, intense clarity. But could there still be hope for Boromir and Faramir? ”I might bow down, but Gondor will never surrender. Not to you, lich!”
”Is that all you have to say to me, Steward of Gondor? Don’t you care for your people? Don’t you care for your sons?”
”I haven’t forgotten about them. But there is nothing I could do even if I wanted to. I am not the rightful ruler of Gondor – I am merely a Steward in his stead. The people of Gondor would never bow down to the rule of Sauron. Boromir would never bend a knee to you, lich!”
”Oh please, Steward of Gondor. It would be so much easier. Go now, and think about it for a little while. Come back to see me later. I have something to show you. And while you are gone, think about your sons. Think about what is really important in life.”
”You monster”, Denethor said, but the flickering image in the Anor-stone dimmed until he was staring at the darkness again. He felt like he was being devoured by the darkness. Suddenly he felt like he had aged decades in a few moments.
