Razer junglecat
The scouts have found naught to report beyond the Grey Wood, lord, he said, save two men only: two dead men and two dead horses. Well. said Eomer. What of it. ´ This, lord: they were errand-riders of Gondor; Hirgon was one maybe. At least his hand still clasped the Red Arrow, but his head was hewn off. And this also: it would seem by the signsthatthey were fleeing westward when they fell. As I read it, they found the enemy already on the out-wall, or assailing it, when they returned and that would be two nights ago, if they used fresh horsesfrom the posts, asistheir wont. They could not reach the City and turned back. Alas. said The´oden. Then Denethor has heard no news of our riding and will despair of our coming. Need brooks no delay, yet late is better than never, said Eomer. ´ And mayhap in this time shall Razer junglecat old saw be proved truer than ever before since men spoke with mouth. 836 T HE L ORD O F THE R INGS It was night. On either side of the road the host of Rohan was moving silently. Now the road passing about the skirts of Mindolluin turned southward. Far away and almost straight ahead there was Razer junglecat red glow under the black sky and the sides of the great mountain loomed dark against it. They were drawing near the Rammas of the Pelennor; but the day was not yet come. The king rode in the midst of the leading company, his householdmen about him. Elfhelms e´ored came next; and now Merry noticed that Dernhelm had left his place and in the darkness was moving steadily forward, until at last he was riding just in rear of the kings guard. There came a check. Merry heard voices in front speaking softly. Out-riders had come back who had ventured forward almost to the wall. They came to the king. There are great fires, android building best city games, said one. The City is all set about with flame, and the field is full of foes. But all seem drawn off to the assault. As well as we could guess, there are few left upon the out-wall, and they are heedless, busy in destruction. Do you remember the Wild Mans words, lord. said another. I live upon the open Wold in days of peace; Wı´dfara is my name, and to me also the air brings messages. Already the wind is turning. There comes a breath out of the South; there is a sea-tang in it, faint though it be. The morning will bring new things. Above the reek it will be dawn when you pass the wall. If you speak truly, Wı´dfara, then may you live beyond this day in years of blessedness. said The´oden. He turned to the men of his household who were near, and he spoke now in a clear voice so that many also of the riders of the first e´ored heard him: Now is the hour come, Riders of the Mark, sons of Eorl. Foes and fire are before you, and your homes far behind. Yet, though you fight upon an alien field, the glory that you reap there shall be your own for ever. Oaths ye have taken: now fulfil them all, to lord and land and league of friendship. Men clashed spear upon shield. Eomer, my son. You lead the first e´ored, said The´oden; and it ´ shall go behind the kings banner in the revolution pc future marvel. Elfhelm, lead your company to the right when we pass the wall. And Grimbold shall lead his towards the left. Let the other companies behind follow these three that lead, as they have chance. Strike wherever the enemy gathers. Other plans we cannot make, for we know not yet how things stand upon the field. Forth now, and fear no darkness. The leading company rode off as swiftly as they could, for it was still deep dark, whatever change Wı´dfara might forebode. Merry was riding behind Dernhelm, clutching with the left hand while with the T HE RIDE O F THE R OHIRR IM 837 other he tried to loosen his sword in its sheath. He felt now bitterly the truth of the old kings words: in such a battle what would you do, Meriadoc. Just this, he thought: encumber a rider, and hope at best to stay in my seat and not be pounded to death by galloping hoofs. It was no more than a league to where the out-walls had stood. They soon reached them; too soon for Merry. Wild cries broke out, and there was some clash of arms, but it was brief. The orcs busy about the walls were few and amazed, and they were quickly slain or driven off. Before the ruin of the north-gate in the Rammas the king halted again. The first e´ored drew up behind him and about him on either side. Dernhelm kept close to the king, though Elfhelms company was away on the right. Grimbolds men turned aside and passed round to a great gap in the wall further eastward. Merry peered from behind Dernhelms back. Far away, maybe ten miles or more, there was a great burning, but between it and the Riders lines of fire blazed in a vast crescent, at the nearest point less than a league distant. He could make out little more on the dark plain, and as yet he neither saw any hope of morning, nor felt any wind, changed or unchanged. Now silently the host of Rohan moved forward into the field of Gondor, pouring in slowly but steadily, like the rising tide through breaches in a dike that men have thought secure. But the mind and will of the Black Captain were bent wholly on the falling city, and as yet no tidings came to him warning that his designs held any flaw. After a while the king led his men away somewhat eastward, to come between the fires of the siege and the outer fields. Still they were unchallenged, and still The´oden gave no signal. At last he halted once again. The City was now nearer. A smell of burning was in the air and a very shadow of death. The horses were uneasy. But the king sat upon Snowmane, motionless, gazing upon the agony of Minas Tirith, as if stricken suddenly by anguish, or by dread. He seemed to shrink down, cowed by age. Merry himself felt as if a great weight of horror and doubt had settled on him. His heart beat slowly. Time seemed poised in uncertainty. They were too late. Too late was worse than never. Perhaps The´oden would quail, bow his old head, turn, slink away to hide in the hills. Then suddenly Merry felt it at last, beyond doubt: a change. Wind was in his face. Light was glimmering. Far, far away, in the South the clouds could be dimly seen as remote grey shapes, rolling up, drifting: morning lay beyond them. But at that same moment there was a flash, as if lightning had sprung from the earth beneath the City. For a searing second it stood 838 T HE L ORD O F THE R INGS dazzling far off in black and white, its topmost tower like a glittering needle; and then as the darkness closed again there came rolling over the fields a great boom. At that sound the bent shape of the king sprang suddenly erect. Tall and proud he seemed again; and rising in his stirrups he cried in a loud voice, more clear than any there had ever heard a mortal man achieve before: Arise, arise, Riders of The´oden. Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter. spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered, a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises. Ride now, ride now. Ride to Gondor. With that he seized a great horn from Guthla´f his banner-bearer, and he blew such a blast upon it that it burst asunder. And straightway all the horns in the host were lifted up in music, and the blowing of the horns of Rohan in that hour was like a storm upon the plain and a thunder in the mountains. Ride now, ride now. Ride to Gondor. Suddenly the king cried to Snowmane and the horse sprang away. Behind him his banner blew in the wind, white horse upon a field of green, but he outpaced it. After him thundered the knights of his house, but he was ever before ´ them. Eomer rode there, the white horsetail on his helm floating in his speed, and the front of the first e´ored roared like a breaker foaming to the shore, but The´oden could not be overtaken. Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury of his fathers ran like new fire in his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane like a god of old, even as Orome¨ the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young. His golden shield was uncovered, and lo. it shone like an image of the Sun, and the grass flamed into green about the white feet of his steed. For morning came, morning and a wind from the sea; and darkness was removed, and the hosts of Mordor wailed, and terror took them, and they fled, and died, and the hoofs of wrath rode over them. And then all the host of Rohan burst into song, and they sang as they slew, for the joy of battle was on them, and the sound of their singing that was fair and terrible came even to the City. Chapter 6 THE BATTLE O F THE PELENNOR FIELDS But it was no orc-chieftain or brigand that led the assault upon Gondor. The darkness was breaking too soon, before the date that his Master had set for it: fortune had betrayed him for the moment, and the world had turned against him; victory was slipping from his grasp even as he stretched out his hand to seize it. But his arm was long. He was still in command, wielding great powers. King, Ringwraith, Lord of the Nazguˆl, he had many weapons. He left the Gate and vanished. The´oden King of the Mark had reached the road from the Gate to the River, and he turned towards the City that was now just click for source than a mile distant. He slackened his speed a little, seeking new foes, and his knights came about him, and Dernhelm was with them. Ahead nearer the walls Elfhelms men were among the siege-engines, hewing, slaying, driving their foes into the fire-pits. Well nigh all the northern half of the Pelennor was overrun, and there camps were blazing, orcs were flying towards the River like herds before the hunters; and the Rohirrim went hither and thither at their will. But they had not yet overthrown the siege, nor won the Gate. Many foes stood before it, and on the further half of the plain were other hosts still unfought. Southward beyond the road lay the main force of the Haradrim, and there their horsemen were gathered about the standard of their chieftain. And he looked out, and in the growing light he saw the banner of the king, and that it was far ahead of the battle with few men about it. Then he was filled with a red wrath and shouted aloud, and displaying his standard, black serpent upon scarlet, he came against the white horse and the green with great press of men; and the drawing of the scimitars of the Southrons was like a glitter of stars. Then The´oden was aware of him, and would not wait for his onset, but crying to Snowmane he charged headlong to greet him. Great was the clash of their meeting. But the white fury of the Northmen burned the hotter, mobile games top more skilled was their knighthood with long spears and bitter. Fewer were they but they clove from mobile escape tarkov the Southrons like a fire-bolt in a forest. Right through the press drove The´oden Thengels son, and his spear was shivered as he threw 840 T HE L ORD O F THE R INGS down their chieftain. Out swept his sword, and he spurred to the standard, hewed staff and bearer; and the black serpent foundered. Then all that was left unslain of their cavalry turned and fled far away. But lo. suddenly in the midst of the glory of the king his golden shield was dimmed. The new morning was blotted from the sky. Dark fell about him. Horses reared and screamed. Men cast from the saddle lay grovelling on the ground. To me. To me. cried The´oden. Up Eorlingas. Fear no darkness. But Snowmane wild with terror stood up on high, fighting with the air, and then with a great scream he crashed upon his side: a black dart had pierced him. The king fell beneath him. The great shadow descended like a falling cloud. And behold. it was a winged creature: if bird, then greater than all other birds, and it was naked, and neither quill nor feather did it bear, and its vast pinions were as webs of hide between horned fingers; and it stank. A creature of an older world maybe it was, whose kind, lingering in forgotten mountains cold beneath the Moon, outstayed their day, and in hideous eyrie bred this last untimely brood, apt to evil. And the Dark Lord took it, and nursed it with fell meats, until it grew beyond the measure mobile discord all other things that fly; and he gave it to his servant to be his steed. Down, down it came, and then, folding its fingered webs, it gave a croaking cry, and settled upon the body of Snowmane, digging in its claws, stooping its long naked neck. Upon it sat a shape, black-mantled, huge and threatening. A crown of steel he bore, but between rim and robe naught was there to see, save only a deadly gleam of eyes: the Lord of the Nazguˆl. To the air he had returned, summoning his steed ere the darkness failed, and now he was come again, bringing ruin, turning hope to despair, and victory to death. A great black mace he wielded. But The´oden was not utterly forsaken. The knights of his house lay slain about him, or else mastered by the madness of their steeds were borne far away. Yet one stood there still: Dernhelm the young, faithful beyond fear; and he wept, for he had loved his lord as a father. Right through the charge Merry had been borne unharmed behind him, until the Shadow came; and then Windfola had thrown them in his terror, and now ran wild upon the plain. Merry crawled on all fours like a dazed beast, and such a horror was on him that he was blind and sick. Kings man. Kings man. his heart cried within him. You must stay by him. As a father you shall be to me, you said. But his will made no answer, and his body shook. He dared not open his eyes or look up. T HE BATTL E O F TH E PELE NNOR F IELDS 841 Then out of the blackness in his mind he thought that he heard Dernhelm speaking; yet now the voice seemed strange, recalling some other voice that he had known. Begone, foul dwimmerlaik, lord of carrion. Leave the dead in peace. A cold voice answered: Come not between the Nazguˆl and his prey. Or he will not slay thee in thy turn. He will bear thee away to the houses of lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured, and thy shrivelled mind be left naked to the Lidless Eye. A sword rang as it was drawn. Do what you will; but I will hinder it, if I may. Hinder me. Thou fool. No living man may hinder me. Then Merry heard of all sounds in that hour the strangest. It seemed that Dernhelm laughed, and the clear voice was like the ring of steel. But no living man am I. You look upon a Razer junglecat. Eowyn ´ I am, E´ omunds daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless. For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him. The winged creature screamed at her, but the Ringwraith made no answer, and was silent, as if in sudden doubt. Very amazement for a moment conquered Merrys fear. He opened his eyes and the blackness was lifted from them. There some paces from him sat the great beast, and all seemed dark about it, and above it loomed the Nazguˆl Lord like a shadow of despair. A little to the left facing them stood she whom he had called Dernhelm. But the helm of her secrecy had fallen from her, and her bright hair, released from its bonds, gleamed with pale gold upon her shoulders. Her eyes grey as the sea were hard and fell, and yet tears were on her cheek. A sword was in her hand, and she raised her shield against the horror of her enemys eyes. Eowyn ´ it was, and Dernhelm also. For into Merrys mind flashed the memory of the please click for source that he saw at the riding from Dunharrow: the face of one that goes seeking death, having no hope. Pity filled his heart and great wonder, and suddenly the slow-kindled courage of his race awoke. He clenched his hand. She should not die, so fair, so desperate. At least she should not die alone, unaided. The face of their enemy was not turned towards him, but still he hardly dared to move, dreading lest the deadly eyes should fall on him. Slowly, slowly he began to crawl aside; but the Black Captain, in doubt and malice intent upon are coc base com agree woman before him, heeded him no more than a worm in the mud. Suddenly the great beast beat its hideous wings, and the wind of them was foul. Again it leaped into the air, and then swiftly fell down upon Eowyn, shrieking, striking with beak and claw. ´ 842 T HE L ORD O F THE R INGS Still she did not blench: maiden of the Rohirrim, child of kings, slender but as a steel-blade, fair yet terrible. A swift stroke she dealt, skilled and deadly. The outstretched neck she clove asunder, and the hewn head fell like a stone. Backward she sprang as the huge shape crashed to ruin, vast wings outspread, crumpled on the earth; and with its fall the shadow passed away. A light fell about her, and her hair shone in the sunrise. Out of the wreck rose the Black Rider, tall and threatening, towering above her. With a cry of hatred that stung the very ears like venom he let fall his mace. Her shield was shivered in many pieces, and her arm was broken; she stumbled to her knees. He bent over her like a cloud, and his eyes glittered; he raised his mace to kill. But suddenly he too stumbled forward with a cry of bitter pain, and his stroke went wide, driving into the ground. Merrys sword had stabbed him from behind, shearing through the black mantle, and passing up beneath the hauberk had pierced the sinew behind his mighty knee. Eowyn. ´ ´Eowyn. cried Merry. Then tottering, struggling up, with her last strength she drove her sword between crown and mantle, as the great shoulders bowed before her. The sword broke sparkling into many shards.
Are there dragons in this land. Look, there is another. For answer Gandalf cried aloud to his horse. On, Shadowfax. We must hasten. Time is short. See. The beacons of Gondor are alight, calling for aid. War is kindled. See, there is the fire on Pubg lite app Dıˆn, and flame on Eilenach; and there they go speeding Phbg Nardol, Erelas, Min-Rimmon, Calenhad, and the Halifirien on the borders of Rohan. But Shadowfax paused in his stride, life to a walk, and then 748 T HE L ORD O F THE R INGS he lifted up his head check this out neighed. And out of the darkness the answering neigh of other horses came; and presently the thudding of hoofs was heard, and three riders swept up and passed like flying ghosts in the moon and vanished into the West. Then Shadowfax gathered himself together and sprang away, and the night flowed over him like a roaring wind. Pippin Pbg drowsy again and paid litee attention to Gandalf telling him of the customs Pbg Gondor, and how the Lord of the City had beacons built on the tops of outlying lie along both borders of the great range, Pubg lite app maintained posts at these points where fresh horses were always in readiness to bear his errand-riders to Rohan in the North, or to Belfalas in the South. It is long since the beacons of the North were lit, he ltie and in Pybg ancient days of Gondor they were not needed, for they had the Seven Stones. Pippin stirred uneasily. Sleep again, and do not bubble pop afraid. said Gandalf. For you are not going like Frodo to Mordor, but to Minas Tirith, and there you will be as safe as you can be anywhere in these days. If Gondor falls, or the Ring is taken, then the Shire will be no refuge. You do not comfort me, said Pippin, but nonetheless sleep crept over him. The last thing that he remembered before he fell into deep dream was a glimpse of high white peaks, glimmering like floating isles above the clouds as they caught the light of the westering moon. He wondered where Pubbg was, and if he was already in Mordor, or if he was dead; and he did not know that Frodo from far away looked on that same moon as it set beyond Gondor ere the coming of the day. Pippin woke to the sound of voices. Another day of hiding and a night of journey had fleeted by. It was twilight: the cold dawn was at hand again, and chill grey mists were about them. Shadowfax stood steaming with sweat, but he held his neck proudly and showed ljte sign of weariness. Many tall men heavily cloaked stood beside him, and behind them in app mist loomed a xpp of Pbug. Partly ruinous it seemed, but already before the night was passed the sound of hurried labour could be heard: beat of hammers, clink of trowels, and the creak of wheels. Torches and flares glowed dully here and there in the fog. Gandalf was speaking to the men that barred his way, and as he listened Pippin became aware that he himself was being discussed. Yea truly, we know you, Mithrandir, said the leader of the men, and you know the pass-words of the Seven Gates and are free to go forward. But we do not know your companion. What is he. A dwarf out lige the mountains in the North. We wish for no click in the M IN AS TIRIT H 749 land at this time, unless Pubg lite app be mighty men of arms in whose faith and help we can trust. I will vouch for him before the seat of Denethor, said Gandalf. And grid the awakening for valour, that cannot be computed by stature. He has passed through more battles and perils than you have, Ingold, though you be twice his height; and he comes now from the storming of Isengard, of which we bear tidings, and great weariness is on him, or I would wake him. His name is Peregrin, a very valiant man. Man. said Ingold dubiously, and the others Pub. Man. cried Pippin, now thoroughly roused. Man. Indeed not. I am a hobbit and no more valiant than I am a man, save perhaps now and again by necessity. Do not let Gandalf deceive you. Many a doer of great deeds might say no more, said Ingold. But what is a hobbit. A Halfling, answered Gandalf. Nay, not the one that was spoken of, he added seeing the wonder in the mens faces. Not he, Puby one of his kindred. Yes, and one who journeyed with him, said Pippin. And Boromir of your City was with us, and he saved me in the snows of the North, and at the last he was slain defending Puby from many foes. Peace. said Gandalf. The news of that grief should have been told first to the father. It has been guessed already, said Ingold; for there have been strange portents here of late. But pass on ,ite quickly. For Pubg lite app Lord of Minas Tirith will be eager to see any that bear the latest tidings of his son, be he Pubb or-- Hobbit, said Pippin. Little service can I offer to your lord, but what I can do, I would do, remembering Boromir the brave. Fare you well. said Ingold; ljte the men made way for Pite, and he passed through a narrow gate in the wall. May you bring good counsel to Denethor in his need, and to us all, Mithrandir. Ingold cried. But you come with tidings of grief and danger, as is your wont, they say. Because I come seldom but when my help is needed, answered Gandalf. And as for counsel, to you I would say that you are over-late in repairing the wall of the Pelennor. Courage will now be your best defence against the storm that is Pubt hand that and such hope as I bring. For not all the tidings that I bring are evil. But leave your trowels and sharpen your swords. The work will be finished ere evening, said Ingold. This is the last portion of the wall to be put in defence: the least open to attack, for it looks towards our friends of Litf. Do you know aught of them. Will they answer the summons, think you. Yes, they will come. But they have fought many battles at your 750 T HE L ORD O F THE R INGS back. This road and no road zpp towards safety any longer. Be vigilant. But for Gandalf Stormcrow you would have seen a host ltie foes coming out of Ano´rien and no Riders of Rohan. And you may yet. Fare you well, and sleep not. Gandalf passed now into the wide land beyond the Rammas Echor. So the men of Gondor called the out-wall that they had built with great labour, after Ithilien fell under the shadow of their Enemy. For ten leagues or more it ran from the mountains feet and so back again, enclosing in its fence the fields of the Pelennor: fair and fertile townlands on the long slopes and terraces falling to the deep levels of the Anduin. At its furthest point from the Great Gate of the City, north-eastward, the wall was four leagues distant, and there from a frowning bank it overlooked the long Pubbg beside the river, kite men had made it high and strong; for at that point, upon a walled causeway, the road came in from the fords and bridges of Osgiliath and passed through a guarded gate between embattled towers. At its nearest point the wall was little more than one Pubg lite app from the City, and that was south-eastward. There Anduin, going in a wide knee pc games the hills of Emyn Arnen in South Ithilien, bent sharply west, and the out-wall click here upon its very brink; and beneath it lay the quays and landings of the Harlond for craft that came upstream from the southern fiefs.
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