Sauron Defeated (63 page)

$31 For now, having the ear of men, Zigur with many arguments gainsaid all that the Avaloi had taught. And he bade men think that the world was not a circle closed, but there lay many seas and lands for their winning, wherein was wealth uncounted. And still, should they at the last come to the end thereof, beyond all lay the Ancient Darkness. 'And that is the Realm of the Lord of All, Arun the Greatest, who made this world out of the primeval Darkness; and other worlds he yet may make and give them in gift to those that serve him. And Darkness alone is truly holy,' he said and lied.

$32 Then Ar-Pharazon the king turned back to the worship of the Dark, and of Arun-Mulkher the Lord thereof; and the Menel-tubal was utterly deserted in those days, and no man might ascend to the high place, not even those of the Faithful who kept Eru in their hearts. But Zigur let build upon a hill in the midst of the city of the Eruhin, Ar-Minaleth the Golden, a mighty temple; and it was in the form of a circle at the base, and there the walls were fifty feet in thickness, and the width of their base was five hundred feet across the centre, and they rose from the ground five hundred feet, and they were crowned with a mighty dome; and it was wrought all of silver, but the silver was turned black. And from the topmost of the dome, where was an opening or great louver, there issued smoke; and ever the more often as the evil power of Zigur grew. For there men would sacrifice to Mulkher with spilling of blood and torment and great wickedness, that he should release them from Death. And ofttimes it was those of the Faithful that were chosen as victims; but never openly on the charge that they would not worship Mulkher, rather was cause sought against them that they hated the king and were his rebels, or that they plotted against their kin, devising lies and poisons. And these charges were for the most part false, save that wickedness breeds wickedness, and oppression brings forth murder.

$33 But for all this Death did not depart from the land.

Rather it came sooner and more often and in dreadful guise. For whereas aforetime men had grown slowly old and laid them down in the end to sleep, when they were weary at last of the world, now madness and sickness assailed them; and yet they were afraid to die and go out into the dark, the realm of the lord that they had taken; and they cursed themselves in their agony.

And men took weapons in those days and slew one another for little cause, for they were become quick to anger; and Zigur, or those whom he had bound unto himself, went about the land setting man against man, so that the people murmured against the king and the lords and any that had aught that they had not, and the men of power took hard revenge.

$34 Nonetheless for long it seemed to the Adunai that they prospered, and if they were not increased in happiness yet they grew more strong and their rich men ever richer. For with the aid of Zigur they multiplied their wealth and they devised many engines, and they built ever greater ships. And they sailed with power and armoury to Middle-earth, and they came no longer as the bringers of gifts, but as men of war. And they hunted the men of Middle-earth and took their goods and enslaved them, and many they slew cruelly upon their altars. For they built fortresses and temples and great tombs upon the western shores in those days; and men feared them, and the memory of the kindly kings of the Elder Days faded in the world and was darkened by many a tale of dread.

$35 Thus Ar-Pharazon the King of the land of the Star of Azrabel grew to the mightiest tyrant that had yet been seen in the world since the reign of Mulkher, though in truth Zigur ruled all from behind the throne. And the years passed, and lo! the king felt the shadow of Death approach as his days lengthened; and he was filled with rage and fear. And now came the hour that Zigur had planned and long awaited. And Zigur spoke to the king, saying evil of Eru, that he was but a phantom, a lie devised by the Avaloi to justify their own idleness and greed.

'For the Avaloi,' said he, 'withhold the gift of everlasting life out of avarice and fear, lest the kings of Men should wrest from them the rule of the world and take for themselves the Blessed Realm. And though, doubtless, the gift of everlasting life is not for all, but only for such as are worthy, being men of might and pride and great lineage, yet against all justice is it done, that this gift, which is his least due, should be withheld from the King, pe-Pharazon, mightiest of the sons of Earth, to whom Aman alone can be compared, if even he.' And Ar-Pharazon, being besotted, and walking under the shadow of Death, for his span was drawing to an end, harkened to Zigur; and he began to ponder in his heart how he might make war upon the Avaloi.

Long was he in preparing this design, and he spoke of it to few; yet it could not be hidden from all for ever.

$36 Now there dwelt still in the east of Anadune, nigh to the city of Ar-Minaleth, Arbazan, who was of the royal house, as has been told, and he was faithful; and yet so noble had he been and so mighty a captain of the sea that still he was honoured by all save the most besotted of the people, and though he had the hatred of Zigur, neither king nor counsellor dared lay hand on him as yet. And Arbazan learned of the secret counsels of the king, and his heart was filled with grief and great dread; for he knew that Men could not vanquish the Avaloi in war, and that great ruin must come upon the world, if this war were not stayed. Therefore he called his son Nimruzan, and he said to him: 'Behold! the days are dark and desperate. Therefore I am minded to try that rede which our forefather Azrabel took of old: to sail into the West (be there ban or no ban), and to speak to the Avaloi, yea, even to Aman himself, if may be, and beseech his aid ere all is lost.'

'Would you then bewray the King?' said Nimruzan.

'For that very thing do I purpose to go,' said Arbazan.

'And what then, think you, is like to befall those of your house whom you leave behind, when your deed becometh known?'

$37 'It must not become known,' said Arbazan. 'I will prepare my going in secret, and I will set sail into the East, whither daily many ships depart from our havens, and thereafter, as wind and chance may allow, I will go about through south or north back into the West, and seek what I may find.

'But you and your folk, my son, I counsel that you should prepare yourself other ships, and put aboard all such things as your hearts cannot bear to part with, and when the ships are ready you should take up your abode therein, keeping a sleepless watch. And you should lie in the eastern havens, and give out among men that you purpose, when you see your time, to set sail and follow me into the East. Arbazan is no longer so dear to our kinsman upon the throne that he will grieve over much, if we seek to depart for a season or for good. But let it not be seen that you intend to take many men, or he may become troubled because of the war that he now plots, for which he will need all the force that he may gather. Seek out rather the Faithful that are known to you, and let them lie ashore at call, if they are willing to go with you. But even to these men do not tell more of your design than is needful.'

$38 'And what shall that design be, that you make for me?*

said Nimruzan.

'Until I return, I cannot say,' his father answered. 'But to be sure most like is it that you must fly from fair Amatthane that is now defiled, and lose what you have loved, foretasting death in life, seeking a lesser land elsewhere. East or West, the Avaloi alone can say.

'And it may well prove that you shall see me never again, and that I shall show you no such sign as Azrabel showed of old. But hold you ever in readiness, for the end of the world that we have known is now at hand.'

$39 And it is said that Arbazan set sail in a small ship at night, and steered first eastward and then went about and passed into the West. And he took three servants with him, dear to his heart, and never again were they heard of by word or sign in this world; nor is there any tale or guess of their fate. But this much may be seen that Men could not a second time be saved by any such embassy, and for the treason of Anadune there was no easy assoiling. But Nimruzan did all that his father had bidden, and his ships lay off the east coast of the land, and he held himself secret and did not meddle with the deeds of those days.

At whiles he would journey to the western shores and gaze out upon the sea, for sorrow and yearning were upon him, for he had greatly loved his father; but nought could he descry but the fleets of Ar-Pharazon gathering in the havens of the west.

$40 Now aforetime in the isle of Anadune the weather was ever apt to the liking and the needs of men: rain in due seasons and ever in measure, and sunshine, now warm now cooler, and winds from over the sea; and when the wind was in the West, it seemed to many that it was filled with a fragrance, fleeting but sweet, heart-stirring, as of flowers that bloom for ever in undying meads and have no names on mortal shores. But all this was now changed. For the sky itself was darkened, and there were storms of rain and hail in those days, and violent winds; and ever and anon a great ship of the Adunai would founder and return not to haven, though never had such a grief betid before since the rising of the Star. And out of the West there would come at whiles a great cloud, shaped as it were an eagle, with pinions spread to the North and to the South; and slowly it would loom up, blotting out the sunset (for at that hour mostly was it seen), and then uttermost night would fall on Anadune.

And anon under the pinions of the eagles lightning was borne, and thunder rolled in heaven, such a sound as men of that land had not heard before.

$41 Then men grew afraid. 'Behold the Eagles of the Lords of the West! ' they cried; 'the Eagles of Aman are over Anadune! '

and they fell upon their faces. And some few would repent, but the others hardened their hearts and shook their fists at heaven, and said: 'The Lords of the West have desired this war. They strike first; the next blow shall be ours.' And these words the king himself spoke, but Zigur devised them.

$42 Then the lightnings increased and slew men upon the hills, and in the fields, and in the streets of the city; and a fiery bolt smote the dome of the Temple and it was wreathed in flame. But the Temple was unshaken; for Zigur himself stood upon the pinnacle and defied the lightnings; and in that hour men called him a god and did all that he would. When therefore the last portent came they heeded it little; for the land shook under them, and a groaning as of thunder underground was mingled with the roaring of the sea; and smoke appeared upon the top of Menil-Tubal [sic]. But still Ar-Pharazon pressed on with his designs.

$43 And now the fleets of the Adunai darkened the sea upon the west of the land, and they were like an archipelago of a thousand isles; their masts were as a forest upon the mountains, and their sails were like a brooding cloud; and their banners were black and golden like stars upon the fields of night. And all things now waited upon the word of Ar-Pharazon; and Zigur withdrew into the inmost circle of the Temple, and men brought him victims to be burned. Then the Eagles of the Lords of the West came up out of the dayfall, and they were arrayed as for battle, one after another in an endless line; and as they came their wings spread ever wider, grasping all the sky; but the West burned red behind them, and they glowed like living blood beneath, so that Anadune was illumined as with a dying fire, and men looked upon the faces of their fellows, and it seemed to them that they were filled with wrath.

$44 Then Ar-Pharazon hardened his heart, and he went aboard his mighty ship, Aglarrama, castle of the sea; many-oared it was and many-masted, golden and sable, and upon it the throne of Ar-Pharazon was set. Then he put on his panoply and his crown, and let raise his standard, and he gave the signal for the weighing of the anchors; and in that hour the trumpets of Anadune outrang the thunder.

$45 And so the fleets of the Adunai moved against the menace of the West; and there was little wind, but they had many oars, and many strong slaves to row beneath the lash. The sun went down, and there came a silence; and over the land and all the seas a dark stillness fell, while the world waited for what should betide. Slowly the fleets passed out of the sight of the watchers in the havens, and their lights faded upon the sea, and night took them; and in the morning they were gone. For at middle night a wind arose in the East (by Zigur's art, it is said), and it wafted them away; and they broke the ban of the Avaloi, and sailed into forbidden seas, going up with war against the Deathless Folk, to wrest from them life everlasting in the circle of the world.

$46 And who shall tell the tale of their fate? For neither ship nor man of all that host returned ever to the lands of living men.