Кирилл Еськов: The Last Ringbearer

“Wait, what does this mean – demise of our World?” That was Lord Cereborn; imagine the man actually waking up!

“Literally, o radiant Lord – one moment it exists, the other it doesn’t, and we along with it.”

“Then do something! Clofoel of Stars! You, too, clofoel of Tranquility! I… I order you as your Lord!”

What would we ever do without your orders, o precious liege – that was what showed clearly on the faces of the Big Four. The clofoel of Stars traded looks with the clofoels of the World and Tranquility, lingering a bit on the clofoel of Might, and finally uttered: “First, o radiant Lord, I must take a look at the Mirror immediately, without delay.”

“Yes, of course! Go right away!”

So this is my end, thought the clofoel of the World detachedly, staring at the play of the shades of green in the emerald of her ring. I can make no objection to her suggestion – she played her cards well and the entire Council, including that doddering fool, is on her side…

However, at that moment a figure clad in shining armor, its size and delicacy of features resembling those of the stone idols guarding lower Anduin, loomed over the table. While Eornis wondered idly whether the clofoel of Might ever took off his helmet and mithril mail (to make love, say), the man informed them of his opinion of cowards and civvies – which are really one and the same to him! – in plain soldier’s language. He, for one, feels no such ominous rhythms, and how would the clofoel of Stars and her dancers know this childbirth rhythm, anyway? Aren’t they supposed to be virgins? In any case, he has a direct order of the Lady not to let the clofoel of Stars to the Mirror, and any attempt to violate that order will be treated as rebellion, with all that follows… Yeah, and what did you think, o radiant Lord?!

“Yes, yes,” mumbled the Lord of Lórien (obviously the inescapable wrath of the Lady scared him a lot more than any hypothetical end of the world), “let’s wait for her return from the Dol Guldur expedition…”

“Come to your senses, radiant Lord!” Amazed, Eornis stared at the clofoel of Memory – the poor woman must’ve lost all grip on reality to utter such unthinkable words. “Our world is already sliding into an abyss, the only one who has any chance of saving it is the clofoel of Stars, and this helmeted idiot is standing on an order received ages ago! All right, can’t blame a man with a bronze lump for brains, but you all – Almighty Eru, can’t you rise above your petty intrigues even now, on the eve of destruction?!”

Suddenly Eornis realized that the timid book mouse has simply voiced what the entire dozen of lesser clofoels were thinking. Not just them, either, as became clear the next second when the enraged clofoel of Might tossed his chair aside – for the clofoel of Tranquility was already coming around the table towards him, stepping softly as a tiger, hand on the hilt of his sword, and a smile fit to freeze the Eternal Fire on his lips.

“You’ve just mentioned rebellion, esteemed clofoel of Might… that’s an interesting thought, isn’t it, o radiant Lord?”

“Hey, you… both of you…” the Lord mumbled and shrank in his chair: the lesser clofoels already backed to the walls, and…

“Stop!!” The solution that occurred to the clofoel of the World was akin to a flash of lightning: all the pieces of the puzzle she had been trying in vain to assemble suddenly fell together in the only possible way. “I am speaking to you, clofoel of Might!”

He probably would not have listened to anyone else, but over the last few years’ worth of intrigues she had always taken the Lady’s side, and thus had some influence over him. “The radiant Lady did mention – in passing and half-jokingly – that the clofoel of Stars was not to preen before her Mirror. However, she had imposed no restrictions on the other clofoels’ access to the crystal. Do you agree, esteemed clofoel of Might?”

“Yes, that’s true…”

“See? It’s settled, then: by the will of the Council I will ascend the Moon Tower. Of course, my magical capabilities can’t even be compared to the talents of the esteemed clofoel of Stars, but I’m at least capable of comprehensively reporting the Mirror’s condition to her.”

The clofoel of Stars shook her head. “Do you have any idea, esteemed clofoel of the World, how dangerous it is to look in the Mirror to anyone not protected by my magical talents, as you’ve referred to them?”

“I have no intention of looking in the Mirror – my selflessness doesn’t go that far,” laughed Eornis. “As far as I know, the radiant Lady uses Lórien’s human visitors for this purpose; they are mortal anyway, sooner or later. We happen to have one handy – that flying Troll. I hope he hasn’t been liquidated yet, has he, esteemed clofoel of Tranquility?”

“No, not yet. We’ll have to fix him up some, though: when the poor slob read his testimony, he totally fell apart – first tried to kill himself, then went catatonic.”

“That’s no obstacle to what we need to do. So it’s agreed – you will turn the Troll over to me before noon?”

“Agreed. However, esteemed clofoel of the World… I’m a little concerned for your safety. A Troll is a Troll – a wild and unpredictable creature. The three of us will go to the Moon Tower together – you, me, and him. That’ll be safer.”

“I am so touched by your concern, esteemed clofoel of Tranquility.”

“Not at all, esteemed clofoel of the World.”

The sun was already approaching its zenith when they have passed the guards of the clofoel

of Might at the entrance to the Moon Tower. The narrow spiral staircase forced them to go single-file. The clofoel of Tranquility went first, easily taking every other step; of course, he was not afraid of the Troll following him and had not even handcuffed him, relying on a Web spell instead. Milady Eornis brought up the rear, going over the details of her plan for one last time. Yes, there’s a chance of success, but it’s really minuscule, and the worst part is that everything depends on a myriad of coincidences, rather than her own abilities. In any event, her long game with the clofoel of Tranquility had reached its end – only one of them will be coming out of this tower, with only chance determining which one…

The top chamber of the Moon Tower was a round room about ten yards in diameter, the Mirror its only furniture. The crystal was set in a mithril setting with curved legs a foot and a half long, so that the whole thing resembled a small table. Six elongated windows offered an excellent view of Caras Galadhon. It’s funny, Eornis reflected in passing, that this Troll is probably the only Man to ever see the real sight of the Elvish capital, but he won’t relate it to anyone. Those guests that we intend to release are never allowed beyond the talien next to Nimrodel, so those simpletons leave believing that we actually live on those perches…

“Bring him up to the Mirror, clofoel of Tranquility, but don’t remove the Web just yet…”

Only after uttering these words did the clofoel of the World realize that the Mirror was, indeed, in a bad way. The crystal was ink-black, the blackness lit up by pulses of scarlet light at regular intervals; it felt distinctly like the Mirror was emitting one endless silent scream of terror and pain. Maybe it’s not good for it to be close to a palantír ? she wondered belatedly. Whatever, can’t change anything at this point. Please endure this a bit longer, she thought at the Mirror; this will all be over in a few minutes. As if in response, the crystal almost exploded from inside with a singularly powerful scarlet flash which for some reason reminded her of the Eternal Fire… The thought came and went as other matters occupied her attention: the clofoel of Tranquility had apparently noticed (felt, to be precise) that the room was not as empty as it seemed. According to her plan, that was exactly what he was supposed to do, without any prompting from her. Imagine the irony of relying on one’s mortal enemy’s intuition and professionalism!