Vol 16 Chapter 27-2 (1/2)
Zheng's group had been on the road for three days without sleep. Zheng and Gandalf were physically fit enough to sustain the strain but Lan and Merry had no way of keeping up. The two of them fell asleep leaning against the other’s backs. They barely had any rests during this journey. Dawn of the fourth day came. A white city appeared through the morning sunlight.
“The capitol of Gondor, most magnificent city of men, Minas Tirith, City of Kings. It is the symbol of human regime. If the forces of Mordor breached the city, the end of men would be near.” Gandalf sighed. He patted Shadowfax and it ran toward the city.
Zheng followed right behind Gandalf. The guards on the wall were excited at the sight of a large silvery horse followed by a skeleton horse. The White Wizard had a high reputation in this world. Saruman’s fall from grace lowered his reputation but the majority of men still believed in him as the savior.
In contrast to the White Wizard, the guards were more familiar with and feared the skeleton horse. It was the mount of the Ringwraiths that couldn’t be replicated. Seeing the White Wizard being chased by the Ringwraith, a group of archers hurried up the city wall from their camps in a commotion.
The misunderstanding took an hour to dissolve. Zheng dismounted from the Nightmare and handed it to the troops from Gondor. They finally believed that the White Wizard kill a Ringwraith and seized the Nightmare as spoil. No one would believe anyone could kill a Ringwraith with human bodies.
“Feeling helpless?” Gandalf laughed. “The people of Gondor are stubborn as this. They will follow through the end on things they decided on, whether it be good or bad, as long as it is the path they want to walk.”
Zheng was rather inexperienced riding a war horse. The Gondor troops gave him the war horse after taking the Nightmare away. He wasn’t worried about not getting it back though. Normal human troops couldn’t stop him if he were to use brute force to get it back. Furthermore, Gandalf wouldn’t let this happen.
“Let’s go and see the steward!”
What followed was a narration of the plot. Anyway, the group went to see the steward but Denethor didn’t wish for the assistance of Rohan because he knew the heir of Gondor, Aragorn, was there. Gondor returning to the hands of the king was not what he wanted to see. It would leave him with no place in this kingdom. Thus, Denethor refused Gandalf’s advice to light the Beacons.
“Foolish! Truly foolish! Gondor is his but what would he get once Mordor razes it into ground? Nothing! Only death would await him. Why does he not return the kingdom to the king and leave himself a good reputation?” Gandalf marched out from the throne room. He walked to the courtyard. There he could see Mordor beyond the mountains. It was covered in red as if the air was burning.
Gandalf looked in downcast. “We have lost. The end of men is near. Sauron has returned. The One Ring has returned to him. And men are still fighting with themselves for that elusive authority. With such an army, and such regime, how can we defeat the Dark Lord? We lost.”
Zheng patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t give up. We made it through so many difficulties and battles already. We won’t lose to a worthless Steward. We have the riders of Rohan. We have the Ents on their way. We have a group of allies. The elves will aid us when Sauron comes back. Or they would have to run.”
Gandalf took a deep breath. “We will follow through our plan. Merry.”
Merry was gazing at the red sky. The sight was beautiful yet peculiar. As he turned his head around, he saw three pairs of eyes fixed on him. A bad feeling arose, as if he had boarded a pirate ship…
“Finally, the Beacons are lit.”
A young man with black hair sat on top a snowy mountain. He was breathing rhythmically. He looked down on the mountain below. The Beacons at the peak of the it were lit. The light was in view to people on the other mountain. And then a second mountain lit their Beacons. The lights came on one after another until they reached the mountains far, far away.