Lightning streaked across the sky, heralding the arrival of a torrential downpour.
Boom!
"Ah!"
The guard, who had been cleaning the room, trembled violently and collapsed to the ground. Several sheets of parchment, inscribed with something disturbing, were scattered by the wind, stained with blood.
The candle suddenly went out, and the last bit of light in the room disappeared.
Unable to help himself, the guard turned to look at the window with its missing pane. The howling wind poured in, bringing with it damp air and darkness.
His mouth opened wider and wider, as the terror of something indescribable crept across his face.
"AHHHHH!"
The pounding rain arrived with the thunder and the scream.
"Quickly, quickly!"
The captain of the guard, upon receiving the news, hastily assembled a squad of elite soldiers and marched through the storm toward the hall at the highest point.
Clatter... clatter... clatter...
The synchronized footsteps woke many who had yet to fall asleep. Raindrops the size of coins hammered on their armor, making a rhythmic clang.
"What's happening?"
The residents asked anxiously but received no answers.
All they knew was that from that day on, the lord of the city moved out of the luxurious and sturdy hall with his entire family and every servant, as if something terrifying had taken residence there.
---
The next day, carpenters were summoned to the lord's new residence. Rumor had it that they were ordered to seal a room inside the hall completely.
"Please help us, messenger sent by the Great Eye! A wicked creature has taken hold of the hall!"
Inside a lavish villa, the city lord pleaded to a priest sent by Sauron.
This time, the priest finally took it seriously.
The prayers of the missing messenger could be dismissed as fevered dreams or cowardice. But today, it was the city lord himself speaking. And something had indeed happened inside that hall.
"Let me go examine it."
Mustering his courage, the priest followed the lord to that sealed room, ordering his men to violently smash open the newly nailed wooden planks with axes.
CRACK!
Dust filled the air. Sunlight streamed through a square gap in the window, landing directly on a clean writing desk.
On the desk lay a few neatly arranged pages of notes.
"There it is."
At the city lord's urging, the priest picked up the blood-stained pages and began reading them in order.
His breathing gradually slowed.
After a moment, he placed the notes back on the desk, coughed, and asked, "Have there been any suspicious individuals around recently?"
"No. We haven't found any suspicious persons in the city."
For some reason, the city lord felt the priest's voice was trembling slightly.
He pointed at the notes and asked, "What exactly is written there?"
"It's all dark scripture. Burn it!"
The city lord wasn't pleased with the commanding tone, but since the man was sent by the Great One of Mordor, he had no choice but to swallow his displeasure.
As the flames slowly rose, the pages were quickly devoured.
Watching the warm glow of the fire, the priest, who had always worshiped darkness, felt a rare moment of relief.
"I will report this matter to my master."
That very day, the priest departed from the mountain pass and headed straight for Mordor.
At the same time, a horrifying rumor swept through the city: the messenger from the capital, along with everything on his desk, had vanished, said to have been devoured by an unspeakable monster.
The moment the priest left, the city lord dispatched his most trusted men to the capital, stating that he needed to wait for the priest to return with instructions from the Eye. Furthermore, due to the potential presence of a terrifying force in the territory, he was unable to spare more personnel for the time being.
---
A few days later.
Mordor, Barad-dûr.
The priest knelt before the Dark Tower, reporting the rumors from the East to a Nazgûl.
"Fools."
A harsh voice echoed from the faint shadow before him.
"Nothing but vague rumors chasing shadows."
Most of the Nazgûl didn't take it seriously, except for one.
Khamûl stepped forward from among the Ringwraiths, lowered his head to look at the priest who had come from his homeland, and said, "Tell me everything you know."
The priest tried to recall, regret welling up in his heart.
Why had he foolishly burned those pages of notes?
But no matter the regret, what needed to be said still had to be said.
Forcing himself to remember, he braced himself and replied, "They say it's a monster that can breathe fire, clad in pitch-black armor. A golden light protects it, making it impossible for anyone to approach, and nothing can harm it."
"Moreover, it has some kind of mysterious power... it can make people have nightmares, and then emerge from those nightmares."
"One of the messengers fell victim to this power."
Khamûl exchanged a glance with another Nazgûl.
Wasn't he describing their master?
"I will investigate this myself."
He replied coldly, then faded from sight.
---
A few days later, a black horse galloped through the mountain pass. Khamûl had returned to this land.
He first arrived at the site of the messenger's disappearance, carefully searched the area, but concluded that there were no signs of any supernatural force present.
Next, at the city lord's request, he searched every inch of the hall, inside and out, up and down. In the end, he still found nothing.
The only suspicious feature of the entire scene was the neatly square-shaped gap in the window.
"Square..."
A certain clue flashed through his mind.
No, he should be west of the Misty Mountains. It's extremely unlikely he would appear this far east.
He dismissed the near-impossible thought.
He then declared on the spot, "The so-called 'monster' is merely a product of your fear and imagination."
"Place your faith in our Lord, in the Eye of Sauron. The Master will protect you from all strange and evil things."
Hearing even a Ringwraith say this, the city lord finally let out a breath of relief. He knelt in prayer, offered a great deal of treasure, and tightened security across the territory.
The emissary of the Eye delivered a decree: Do not believe rumors. Do not spread rumors. There are no monsters that crawl out of nightmares.
"The Eye watches over us."
---
Far from the capital, in a small town, three people gathered in a quiet alley.
"I brought considerable intelligence from the port city. I believe it will prove useful."
Halbarad pulled out a thick stack of notes and said, "Unexpectedly, the Easterlings have been concealing a fair amount of strength. Fortunately, some of their people weren't too tight-lipped. Otherwise, we might not have known any of this until war actually broke out."
"Well done."
Alatar praised him. "Even the best spies could do no better."
"And you? How did it go on your end?" Halbarad asked.
"Barely managed to meet my objectives. At least it should slow down the army's mobilization somewhat."
"I knew wizards always had a few tricks up their sleeves."
Hearing this, Alatar gave a vague, gentle smile.
"Yes... magical tricks."
Now only one person hadn't reported in.
The two turned to Garrett.
"To be honest... not very well."
Garrett said awkwardly, "At first, I caught up with the messenger's convoy, but I let him slip away when I wasn't paying close attention."
"Later, I tracked him to their mountain pass city. I originally planned to sneak into his room and capture him for interrogation."
"But that guy was really alert. Every time I moved, he'd look over. He startled me more than once by suddenly turning his head."
"After several failed attempts to sneak in, I just broke through the window. And then..."
"He jumped out through the window. Uh… clumsily. He even tripped over the chair while getting up, smashed his nose, and bled all over the desk."
"I figured he might have mental issues, so I didn't bother chasing him. But I took everything I could from his desk, some torn-up letters and troop count records."
"I guess... it wasn't a complete failure."
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150 = +1 bonus chapter
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100+ Advance chapters!