Hearing Sauron's probing question, Melina showed no interest in providing answers. Instead, she immediately channeled Golden Tree incantations, waves of healing energy flowing into Tarnes to rapidly restore his condition.
The moment Tarnes witnessed the destroyed Nazgûl resurrect effortlessly beside Sauron, he knew they were outmatched. Without hesitation, he swung the Godslayer's Greatsword in a wide arc, unleashing its devastating Ash of War.
Black and white flames erupted across the battlefield like hungry serpents, transforming the charging Orcs into screaming torches one by one. The acrid smell of burning flesh filled the night air as Melina's healing incantations continued to mend his battle-worn body.
Tarnes felt his strength returning and immediately tightened Torrent's reins. Without wasting another precious second, he wheeled the spirit steed around and galloped back toward the Black Gate's distant walls.
The odds were simply too overwhelming. Even though most of their enemies were expendable Orc fodder, Tarnes refused to gamble with both his and Melina's lives against such numbers.
His original purpose at the Black Gate had been straightforward: harvest Orc souls to fill his spirit vessels. While he'd anticipated eventually facing Sauron, he never expected the confrontation to come so swiftly and decisively.
Tarnes had envisioned slaughtering vast hordes of Orcs until Sauron could no longer tolerate the massacre of his minions and finally revealed himself. Instead, the Dark Lord had been watching from the shadows all along, appearing the moment one of his lieutenants fell.
But when exactly had Sauron begun targeting him?
A flash of memory struck him like lightning. The brief manifestation of black mist when he'd cleansed those two Nazgûl rings suddenly made perfect sense. Combined with how the Nazgûl could resurrect beside their master after death, the timeline became crystal clear.
Tarnes's guess proved accurate. The precise moment Sauron truly began hunting him was when the Dark Lord sensed those two Nazgûl rings lose their connection to his will.
An outsider wielding unknown power? The mysterious Golden Tree? These phenomena would merely spark Sauron's curiosity, nothing more.
But Tarnes effortlessly purifying the Nazgûl rings represented something far more dangerous to the Dark Lord's existence.
For Sauron, this revelation meant catastrophe. If the One Ring containing the majority of his power ever fell into Tarnes's hands, this wizard might possess the ability to destroy it as well.
In other words, Mount Doom was no longer the sole location capable of unmanning the One Ring. A second site now existed that could accomplish the same devastating result.
This possibility was absolutely intolerable to Sauron, especially with the One Ring's current whereabouts remaining unknown. Should the Ring truly fall into Tarnes's possession, Sauron could only hope the artifact's corrupting influence would seduce and twist the wizard to his cause.
If Tarnes instead chose to purify the Ring, Sauron would face immediate annihilation. What purpose would conquering Middle-earth serve then?
Confronted by Tarnes's Golden Tree and its potential to cleanse the One Ring, Sauron's first instinct had been pure terror.
But after the initial fear subsided, opportunity presented itself. If he could corrupt Tarnes through any means necessary, wouldn't conquering Middle-earth's Elves, humans, and Dwarves become dramatically easier?
Unfortunately, though Tarnes had carelessly fallen into the verbal snare, the mysterious girl behind him had somehow penetrated his deception and called the wizard's consciousness back to reality.
Sauron narrowed his burning eyes as he watched Tarnes's retreating form grow smaller in the distance, but he chose not to send the Nazgûl in pursuit. Instead, he commanded his remaining human servant [The Tower] to direct the Orc forces in continued harassment while departing with his wraiths.
Previously, when Sauron had been recuperating at Dol Guldur and Gandalf's expedition came calling, the Dark Lord had discovered that both Gandalf and Elrond carried weapons gifted by wizards from the Golden Tree. Still weakened from his recent defeats, he had chosen tactical withdrawal over direct confrontation.
Even now, Sauron's power remained far from its former peaks.
This was precisely why corrupting Tarnes held such appeal. Using this wizard and the Golden Tree's might to forge new magical rings would accelerate his return to full strength immeasurably.
With this thought, Sauron addressed the seven Nazgûl following in his wake. "Search the location where the Ring was last lost. Overlook no clues, no matter how insignificant they may seem."
The seven wraiths knelt as one behind their master. "Yes, lord."
Meanwhile, atop the Black Gate's towering walls, Talion had been watching Tarnes's distant battle unfold with growing alarm. When Shelob appeared on the battlefield, he'd already prepared his men for a rescue mission.
What Talion hadn't anticipated was the arrival of Nazgûl, followed by the unmistakable presence of their black-armored master. Every ranger at the Black Gate knew exactly who commanded such fell servants.
Yet Talion never hesitated. Even knowing they faced Sauron himself, he chose to lead his men in support of the wizard who had saved them all.
Even if Tarnes had ordered a suicidal charge directly at the Dark Lord, Talion and his rangers would have obeyed without question. They were stationed at this cursed place specifically to oppose Sauron's will. With their ultimate enemy personally present on the battlefield, the defenders could barely contain their eagerness to strike at him.
The thunder of hoofbeats accompanied by the distinctive twang of bowstrings echoed across the wasteland below the fortress. Volleys of arrows arced over Tarnes's position to strike the pursuing Orcs behind him, drawing pained howls from the creatures.
But this barrage served more as covering fire than a killing blow, since darkness still blanketed most of the battlefield. Only Tarnes's area remained illuminated by his Starlight sorcery, leaving the rangers to aim at vague shadows and distant sounds.
They compensated for poor visibility with sheer volume, hoping the arrow storm would provide enough harassment to aid Tarnes's escape.
"Tarnes!" Talion's voice boomed across the wasteland.
Tarnes had already spotted the rescue party racing to his aid. The moment they converged, he immediately called out, "We need to withdraw now! I don't know how many more enemies are lurking out there, and besides Sauron, there's also someone called Shelob. I'm not certain she's moved on."
This concern was well-founded. Though Tarnes had confirmed Shelob's retreat after severely wounding her, that didn't guarantee the giant spider wouldn't return once she detected his confrontation with Sauron.
He could handle Shelob without difficulty, but Talion and his rangers might not prove so fortunate.
Hearing the dreaded name "Shelob," Talion's expression darkened momentarily. Recognizing how perilous the night-shrouded wilderness had become, he immediately ordered his rangers to fall back to the Black Gate's safety.
Sure enough, as Tarnes had predicted, though the rangers escaped unharmed, some of the Orcs pursuing them suddenly erupted into panicked screams. The sounds of web-spinning and Shelob's hunting cries drifted through the darkness.
The severely wounded Shelob desperately needed fresh blood and flesh to regenerate her damaged body. After being mutilated by Tarnes, she'd initially planned immediate flight. But Sauron's unexpected appearance had changed her calculations entirely.
Shelob had decided to lurk nearby, hoping to play the mantis stalking the cicada while the oriole waits behind, ready to scavenge whatever advantages the confrontation might provide.
What left Shelob bitterly disappointed was that Tarnes and Sauron never actually engaged in serious combat. Denied her opportunity with the rangers, she reluctantly shifted her hunting focus to the pursuing Orcs.
Despite her burning desire to devour Tarnes in revenge for her wounds, Shelob recognized harsh reality. The sour, foul-smelling Orcs would have to suffice as consolation prizes while she plotted her eventual vengeance.