Chapter 404: Reunion
West of Barad-dûr. Mount Doom.
"No one?"
Levi stepped onto the scorched black earth and made a full circuit of the area, yet found no sign of life.
Maybe they haven't arrived yet.
After a moment's thought, he continued westward.
According to the Rangers under Faramir's command, Frodo and his companions had entered Mordor through a pass north of Minas Morgul.
As expected, it was Cirith Ungol.
Thinking of the situation there, Levi switched to the Blazewing Chestplate, shot into the air, and flew at full speed toward the place etched in his memory.
...
"I'm warning you one last time, Freak! Get out here, or I'll break in and turn you into paste!"
Outside the Tower of Cirith Ungol, Shagrat had gathered a hundred Orcs and surrounded the entrance, pounding on the gates and screaming threats.
With most of the garrison pulled away to defend Barad-dûr, a hundred fully armed Orcs was no small force.
Freak stood atop the wall, looking down at the mob below. His expression was grim.
Sauron's summons had come suddenly and without exception. Most of the tower's original garrison had been stripped away, leaving Freak with barely eighty Orcs under his command. The Uruk-hai among them could be counted on one hand.
In truth, if guarding Cirith Ungol had not been deemed essential, even those eighty would have been taken, and Freak himself marched off with them.
Under normal circumstances, forget eighty. With a wave of his hand, he could have gathered a thousand, even two thousand well-equipped Orc soldiers. He would never have ended up cornered like this.
"Are you starting a mutiny, Shagrat?"
Freak motioned for Frodo and Sam to stay hidden, then shouted his reply from the wall.
"Mutiny? You're the traitor here! My scouts saw something in that tower that wasn't an Orc. Short, too. Looked like a Dwarf with its beard shaved off. You're hiding spies."
Before Freak could even get angry, Sam beat him to it.
He whispered furiously to Frodo from behind the wall. "He said we're shaved Dwarves!"
"Outrageous. These uncultured Orcs."
Frodo could only pat Sam's arm and urge him to stay quiet.
"There are no spies here, Shagrat," Freak called down, his voice firm.
"I see how it is. You're the one plotting mutiny. You've been jealous of my position for years. You've wanted to replace me all along."
"In your dreams!" Shagrat spat. "Slippery-tongued wretch. Looks like we're settling this today."
"Then come and try!"
Just as Freak was about to lead his men out to fight, he stopped.
He looked up.
In the sky, a streak of fire was hurtling straight toward the tower.
The sudden arrival startled him, but as he watched more carefully, he realised the meteor was not aimed at the tower itself.
It was aimed at Shagrat's Orcs below.
His expression shifted to something unreadable. He watched the fireball descend, his gaze tracking it all the way down.
His mouth stayed firmly shut.
The meteor hit. Orcs screamed and went flying. Shagrat finally noticed what was happening overhead.
"What? What's going on?!"
He spun around toward the impact site.
And saw a figure that made every Orc's blood run cold.
The Orcs scattered like startled birds, all thought of fighting gone.
Only Shagrat stayed rooted to the spot, unable to move.
Because from the instant that person landed, those eyes had locked onto him. He did not dare twitch. If he could have run, he would already be gone.
"Tell me."
Levi grabbed Shagrat by the throat, lifted him off the ground, and asked, "Have you seen two Halflings?"
The heat from his gauntlets scorched Shagrat's skin. Shagrat did not waste time worrying about accuracy. He blurted out everything at once.
"Yes, my lord, yes! Inside the tower! They, those two short... short Halflings, they were locked up inside! It's got nothing to do with me, I swear I never touched them!"
Thud.
Levi tossed him aside. Shagrat lay on the ground, clutching his neck, not daring to move.
The two evil statues flanking the gate of Cirith Ungol crouched in silence, not making a sound.
If their legs could move, they would probably have gotten up and run too.
Clang!
As Levi reached the door, it swung open on its own.
Out walked a familiar Uruk-hai.
"My lord, you're here!"
Under the stunned gaze of every Orc in the tower, Freak led the two hobbits out.
"It's Levi!"
The two hobbits rushed forward, arms wide, ready for a hug, but Levi stopped them just in time.
He was still wearing the Dragonflame Steel armour. It would burn them.
"You've done well, Frodo. Sam."
"I always thought you..." Frodo looked up, eyes shining.
"I'm not that easy to kill. I just stepped away for a while. Like Gandalf."
"Gandalf?!"
Both hobbits' eyes went wide.
If Levi is back, does that mean Gandalf is also...
Levi grinned. "You'll have to see for yourselves."
"It's good to see you both. You've been all right?"
"Apart from eating some maggoty bread lately, and the conditions being a bit rough on the stomach, we're fine," Sam said.
Food and shelter. Always Sam's first concern.
Not that anyone could blame him. These were Orc provisions. Being alive at all counted as a win.
Beside him, Frodo had caught the deeper meaning behind the question.
He nodded. "I'm all right. I can hold on."
"Good."
After checking in on the hobbits, Levi turned to Freak.
"Well done."
"My honour, my lord!"
"I'm making it official. Your mission is complete, Freak. Sauron has been defeated. You don't need to stay undercover here any longer."
"I'm awarding you a Distinguished Commendation."
Levi pulled a medal from his pack, one he had not yet had the chance to hand out, and pinned it on Freak.
"This will mark who you are."
"As for the rest of the Orcs, and the Uruk-hai..."
Levi swept his gaze slowly across the gathered crowd. Every single Orc lowered its head, unable to meet his eyes.
"I pledge my loyalty to you!"
One Orc finally cracked under the pressure and stumbled forward to submit.
Then, like a chain reaction, the rest followed. Orcs and the handful of remaining Uruk-hai dropped to their knees one after another, swearing allegiance.
The Tower of Cirith Ungol fell without a fight. Its entire garrison switched sides.
Levi had not even drawn his weapon.
"Let's go. Time to finish what we came here to do."
With the tower secured, Levi set off with the two hobbits.
They walked east, toward the searing heat of Mount Doom.
After Levi left, a thin, creeping figure tried to follow.
But it had forgotten about the tower's new garrison.
Freak was in the middle of passing final judgment on Shagrat when, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something small and skulking.
"Gollum."
The wretched creature hissed and snarled as Orcs closed in around it.
"The lord mentioned two hobbits. He didn't mention anything else."
"So this one might actually be a spy."
"Even uglier than me," one Orc muttered in disgust.
After careful thought, not wanting to make a mistake, Freak decided against doing anything drastic.
"Lock him up. Don't touch him. We wait for the lord to come back and decide."
Clang!
The iron door slammed shut.
Gollum stared after his precious as it disappeared into the distance.
He would never get another chance.
(End of Chapter)