Lheuwen's story continues from here.
♦
Lheuwen had seen Isengard before, from a distance. There was a pass in the mountains above Woodhurst, still known only to a few; but in years past, just within living memory in the Stonedeans, it had been a viable way of passing from Rohan into Dunland via the Wizard’s Vale - as long as one managed to evade the Rohirrim checkpoints and patrols in the Heathfells. The pass itself had only become unsafe just before the War; and Lheuwen, who had always been an adventurous child, had glimpsed Isengard there from its heights, and marvelled at the strength of the Wizard’s fortress.
There was no mistaking the way: from the Gap of Rohan, all the three of them had to do - Lheuwen, Essult and Cadvan - was follow the Isen north. All the same, returning to it now, the transformation of the landscape was so complete that Lheu could scarcely believe it was the same place.
The mountainous ring of stones that had turned the Tower of Orthanc into a sprawling, impregnable fortress was gone. What had become of those vast rocks, Lheuwen could not imagine. But in her mind, levelling those towering stone walls could only have been the work of giants.
The Tower of Orthanc still stood, black and shining, at the centre of where once the ring of Isengard had been. It rose out of a clear pool, in the midst of a sprawling and varied arboretum; and a path led up to it, through the trees from where they stood, at its south end, where the great gates of the fortress used to stand.
There was the sound of birdsong amidst the young trees; and a doe, taking fright at their approach, sped away across the grassy floor to find a quieter spot. But there was no sign of any kind of any guardsman, nor of anything that could be an Ent.
There was certainly no sign of orcs. It was as though all trace of Saruman’s works had been scrubbed clean; either that, or they had stumbled into another world, where such things had never existed.
“Well. This must be the place,” Cadvan said, setting down his pack with a grunt, and flexing his shoulders.
He glanced sideways at Lheuwen.
“What now?”
It was a good question. For the moment at least, Lheuwen had no good answer to it. She was still in a state of wonder at the transformation that had taken place in the valley. But gradually the weight of Cadvan’s words began to sink in.
If Isengard had been so utterly wiped clean… what clue could she possibly hope to find as to what had happened to Saruman’s secretive drake experiments? Possibly abandoned, years before the War?
Essult set down her pack as well.
“It has been a long trail already. Let’s rest here, and eat something. Later we can decide what to do.”
♦
They rested, and ate - though they lit no fire. Lheuwen was concerned not to take any risks with the trees at all - in case there were Ents out there, hiding somewhere, watching them.
When they had finished, Essult drew a circle on the ground with a fallen branch, and began to sketch out details within it. It took Lheuwen a moment to recognise it as Isengard, as it used to be.
“Ess! Is this…? How do you…?”
Ess shot her a warning look.
“Never mind how. It was a long time ago. And I don’t wish to dwell on it any more than is strictly necessary.”
She felt that she had perhaps been a little sharp. She relented.
“... tell you all about it another time. What matters now is this.”
She tapped her finished map at the centre. There an X in a large box marked the tower of Orthanc, with a dot for its entrance on the eastern side.
“It’s time to think a little harder about what we’re looking for. And what might be left. Clearly the… the Ents?” Ess glanced at Lheu to confirm she was pronouncing the unfamiliar, Rohirric word correctly. Lheu nodded. “... the Ents have reworked the entire landscape of the valley, in a very short amount of time. The Wizard’s stronghold is hardly recognisable, save for the original Gondorian tower.” She tapped Orthanc again.
“Now. We know that, first of all, the Ents flooded the Ring of Isengard using the waters of Entwash. Second, they must have torn down those great stone walls, around the outside. (Where are the stones now? They must have taken them somewhere.) Third, they drained the floodwaters - perhaps channeling what was left all together into a single lake, surrounding the old tower on all sides, like a moat. Finally, they will have planted the vast tree-garden that we see now, within the old ring of stones. Though how they got the trees to grow so fast, I cannot say.”
Lheu and Cadvan nodded to show they understood. So Ess continued.
“So. On the surface, within the Ring of Isengard: I do not think we will find very much. We can look; but it seems to me that here the Ents have spent their greatest efforts, seeking to restore the landscape to how it once must have been - maybe, hundreds of years ago, before the Wizard ever came here.
“However... Much of the Wizard’s war-machine - many of his Orcs, but also his vast smithies, workshops and armouries - were actually hidden away, in secret, vast caverns below ground. So when the Ents flooded the Ring of Isengard on the surface… what will have happened to the caverns? They must either be largely, or completely flooded by now.” Ess glanced up at the other two again. “Agreed?”
Cadvan nodded. Lheuwen frowned.
“Unless… unless, since then, the waters have drained away. Perhaps, even deeper underground.” She looked up at Ess. “It’s possible, right? Unless… you have seen them?”
They were both suddenly conscious of the distance that had opened up between them. Ess had just matter-of-factly confessed to them both that she had been keeping an immense secret all this time; and the story was still untold. How did she know so much about Isengard? When had she been there? Part of Lheuwen’s mind was imagining the worst. What if she had actually fought for Saruman? What if she had been part of the invasion of Rohan, or even the attack on Helm’s Deep - while Lheuwen had been fighting off the Falcon-clan in the caves, where those too old or young to fight had sought refuge, hiding in fear and uncertainty?
But for now... all this would have been a distraction; and Lheuwen did not voice her fears. Nor did Ess - though Lheu thought she saw a shadow of doubt, or guilt, in her friend's usually confident gaze.
“No… no, I haven’t seen them since before the War,” Ess replied.
She took a breath. Brushed a strand of hair from her face. “You’re right. The waters may well have drained. Or, the caverns may never have flooded. Either way - I think it is worth finding out. We should try to find a way in. I think that could well be our best bet.”
Ess paused again, to see if either of the others had any further comments at this point. When they did not, she carried on.
“That leaves the old Gondorian tower. Orthanc, it is named in the tongue of the Forgoil.”
“The Tower of Cunning”, Lheuwen translated quietly. She seldom drew attention to her Rohirric heritage, now that she lived among her mother’s clan in Dunland: her father was of the Stonedeans, in West Rohan - Dunlending in culture, but half-Rohirric in blood. In fact, Lheuwen had pale-skinned, fair-haired first cousins in the Eastfold, whom she had never met. She was immediately conscious of all this: but neither Cadvan nor Ess reacted. It was no secret; and the initial scandal was over twenty years old, anyway. Things had moved on.
Ess continued.
“... I do not know what we would find in the Tower. It may be… that we would find the Wizard himself.”
Her voice fell to a hush.
“Does anyone know what happened to him? I have heard only rumour. Perhaps he escaped the Tower, somehow, after Isengard fell to the Ents… or perhaps he is still there. Biding his time.”
She shivered slightly, glancing again at the other two. But they too had heard only rumour.
“Well. Even if we tried, I doubt that we would be able to get into the Tower. I mean, we can look, but… I do think, in any case, it should probably be our very last resort. Agreed?”
The others nodded. Privately, Lheuwen wondered again how much more she knew. Could there be some other reason she was trying to keep them from the Tower? She couldn’t say. Was she doubting her friend too much?
“In that case,” Ess continued, “the first thing we should try… is to find our way into whatever is left of the caverns, below the surface. There used to be an entrance…” - she drew a small X near the north wall on her map - “... here. If there were ever more, I cannot say. But if we are… very lucky… perhaps we can still find it.”
Ess could still sense that new tension between herself and Lheuwen. She knew it was her fault. She wished she had told her sooner.
“Lheu… do you still want to go through with this?”
For a fraction of a second, Lheuwen hesitated. Then she nodded twice. Ess smiled back; and then she stood, grimly.
“Then we should get moving while we still have the light.”
♦
