LordofUzkulak’s fanfics

The two horsemen sat atop the hill waiting.  Above them a soft wind blew wisps of cloud towards the east, revealing the stars shining bright in the heavens.  They watched as a lone rider made his way up the gentle slope towards them, his white mantle glowing silver in the grey moonlight.

“Hail Curumo,” said one as he approached, “Wherefore have you come seeking our council?”

“It is not to seek but to give I have come,” replied the rider, raising his black staff in greeting.  “I bare ill news from the mountains.”  The two horsemen, both blue-clad turned and gazed across the plain behind the white rider at the distant mountains.

“Then the Children of Aulë are no more in these lands?” asked the second horseman.

“Nay, Pallando” answered Curumo, “They still live, though few walk the true path.  Greed has ever been their weakness and I deem that it has become their undoing.  The Ironfists and the Stiffbeards quarrel amongst themselves, paying no heed to anything else, not even I, the messenger and greatest servant of the Father of their Fathers.  Graver still, the Dark Lord has bought the allegiance of the Blacklocks, and though the Stonefoots do not serve Him directly, neither do they openly oppose Him.  The glisten of gold blinds them, and willingly do they forge and mine for any who pay them what they deem a just price.”

“The Men of these realms are no better,” scowled the first “All across these lands, darkness holds sway.”

“Peace Alatar, my friend,” soothed Pallando, “All is not lost.  There are still open minds if we but look hard enough.”

“Aye,” replied Alatar, “But they are few and far between.  Guidance is needed to set them on the right path.”

“But is that not why we were sent here?” smiled Curumo in his silk-soft voice.  “Is not our mission to shepherd the Free Peoples?  To rally them in defiance of Sauron.”

Alatar shook his head.  “These people need more than wise words and platitudes.  They need leadership, and that is against our mandate.”

“We are only forbidden from matching Sauron might for might,” countered the white wizard, “But if the guidance these people need is leadership, is it not our prerogative, nay, our duty to offer it?  I talk not of seizing crowns and claiming oaths, but of teaching these poor fools the wisdom granted to us.  Can we be held accountable if they abuse our trust and use our gifts to free themselves from their shackles?”

“You speak of dangerous things Curumo,” sneered Alatar.  “One would almost think you sought the Dark Lord’s throne for yourself.”

“I did not speak of me but of us,” snapped Curumo, then regaining his composure persisted.  “My duties lie back west – I can do little good here, and what secrets and knowledge remains free of Sauron is hoarded in the libraries of Gondor, Lothlorien and Rivendell.  Besides, my energies will be better spent in the defence of the west than in the emancipation of the east; you two are accomplished lore masters and this task, while difficult is not beyond you, but of our brethren in the west…Aiwendil is a fool; ere I departed for these lands he was becoming enamoured of the wilderness of Eriador and Rhovanion and it will not be long before he gives mind only to their preservation.  As for the esteemed Olórin…I fear his compassion will be his undoing.  He will seek to nurture and coddle; he will spare the rod and spoil the child to use a mannish idiom.”

The three riders fell silent pondering this.  Presently, Curumo spoke.

“The night draws to a close; I must be off ere the sun rises.  Think about what I have said, my council seldom goes amiss.”

“Farewell friend,” replied Pallando, “You have given us much to think about.  By the Grace of the Valar, may your journey be swift and without event.”  He bowed his head in respect.  Alatar remind silent and looked Curumo in the eye.  The white wizard raised his staff in farewell, and with a click of his tongue sped off.  The Blue Wizards watched him go, remaining seated on their horses atop the hill until he had dwindled to a speck of dust racing across the plain.  In the east, the sky burned as the sun crept up over the mountains.

Shortly, Pallando turned to his friend and opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it when he saw Alatar’s stern gaze.  The wizard huddled in his cloak as he waited for Alatar’s mood to lighten.  Though they were days away from any substantial settlement, they were not far from one of the great roads built in the old days that ran towards Mordor, and it would not do to be caught by a force of men traversing it.  He shuddered at the thought of entering that land and glanced about; it was unlikely that any army of sufficient size to capture them could sneak up unnoticed, but who knew the extent of Sauron’s power?  Not to mention the Dark Lord had other servants he could call upon.

A howl echoed across the land, and Pallando twisted in his saddle to see where it had come from.  A wolf-like creature lopped up the slope towards them and he smiled as he recognised it as one of the wolfhounds bequeathed to him by Oromë.  Alatar still did not move, so deep in thought was he.  Pallando sighed.

“I must go now.  Will you be alright my friend?” he asked.

Alatar’s horse snorted as he kicked its flanks and it began to trot off.  Pallando sighed again – Curumo’s words had thrust deeply into Alatar’s mind and there would be no reaching him until he had thought it through.  Pallando pulled on the reigns of his horse and followed the hound as it padded off northwards.  He gave one last glance back, worried about his friend, then turned back with a shake of his head.  Alatar did not look back; instead his horse trotted off south.  Curumo had a point – men were weak; they needed an iron rod not kindness to save them.  Plans formed in his mind as he rode.  The East was all but lost; it was in the West that Hope lay, but perhaps there were other ways.  Why attempt the impossible task of freeing the East wholesale from the iron heel of Sauron, when the more manageable task of distraction could be undertaken?  If the Free Peoples of the West could unite, they’d have little hope against Sauron’s full might, but if some of that might could be bled away, then victory might just be possible.  Sometimes to control the board you had to sacrifice your pieces, and perhaps that is what was needed?  A smile crossed his face for the first time in years.  He knew now what he had to do…