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28.02.2025

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As it bent sharply round the tower, it entered a narrow defile and passed not far below the hollow where he stood. Westward, to his right, it turned, skirting the shoulders of the mountains, and went off southwards into the deep shadows that mantled all the western sides of Ephel Du´ ath; beyond his sight it journeyed on into the narrow land between the mountains and the Great River. As he gazed Frodo became aware that there was a great stir and movement on the plain. It seemed as if whole armies were on the march, though for the most part they were hidden by the reeks and fumes drifting from the fens and wastes beyond. But here and there he caught the gleam of spears and helmets; and over the levels beside the roads here could be seen riding in many companies. He remembered his vision from afar upon Amon Hen, so few days before, though now it seemed many years ago. Then he knew that the hope that had for one wild moment stirred in his heart was vain. The trumpets had not rung in challenge but in greeting. This was no assault upon the Dark Lord by the men of Gondor, risen like avenging ghosts from the graves of valour long passed away. These were Men of other race, out of the wide Eastlands, gathering to the summons of their Overlord; armies that had encamped before his Gate by night and now marched in to swell his mounting power. As if suddenly made fully aware of the peril of their position, alone, in the growing 640 T HE L ORD O F THE R INGS light of day, so near to this vast menace, Frodo quickly drew his frail grey hood close upon his head, and stepped down into the dell. Then he turned to Gollum. Sme´agol, he said, I will trust you counter strike 1.6 game more. Indeed it seems that I must do so, and that it is my fate to receive help from you, where I least looked for it, and your fate to help me whom you long pursued with evil purpose. So far you have deserved well of me and have kept your promise truly. Truly, I say and mean, he added with a glance at Sam, for twice now we have been in your power, and you have done no harm to us. Nor have you tried to take from me what you once sought. May the third time prove the best. But I warn you, Sme´agol, you are in danger. Yes, yes, master. said Gollum. Dreadful danger. Sme´agols bones shake to think of it, but he doesnt run away. He must help nice master. I did not mean the danger that we all share, said Frodo. I mean a danger to yourself alone. You swore a promise by what you call the Precious. Remember that. It will hold you to it; but it will seek a way to twist it to your own undoing. Already you are being twisted. You revealed yourself to me just now, foolishly. Give it back to Sme´agol you said. Do not say that again. Do not let that thought grow in you. You will never get it back. But the desire of it may betray you to a bitter end. You will never get it back. In the last need, Sme´agol, I should put on the Precious; and the Precious mastered you long ago. If I, wearing it, were to command you, you would obey, even if it were to leap from a precipice or to cast yourself rust game one jailbreak the fire. And such would be my command. So have a care, Sme´agol. Sam looked at his master with approval, but also with surprise: there was a look in his face and a tone in his voice that he had not known before. It had always been a notion of his that the kindness of dear Mr. Frodo was of such a high degree that it must imply a fair measure of blindness. Of course, he also firmly held the incompatible belief that Mr. Frodo was the wisest person in the world (with the possible exception of Old Mr. Bilbo and of Gandalf). Gollum in his own way, and with much more excuse as his acquaintance was much briefer, may have made a similar mistake, confusing click and blindness. At any rate this speech abashed and terrified see more. He grovelled on the ground and could speak no clear words but nice master. Frodo waited patiently for a while, then he spoke again less sternly. Come now, Gollum or Sme´agol if you wish, tell me of this other way, and show me, if you can, what hope there is in it, enough to justify me in turning aside from my plain path. I am in haste. But Gollum was in a pitiable state, and Frodos threat had quite T HE BLAC K GATE I S CLO S ED 641 unnerved him. It was not easy to get any clear account out of him, amid his mumblings and squeakings, and the frequent interruptions in which he crawled on the floor and begged them both to be kind to poor little Sme´agol. After a while he grew a little calmer, and Frodo gathered bit by bit that, if a traveller followed the road that turned west of Ephel Du´ ath, he would come in time to a crossing in a circle of dark trees. On the right a road went down to Osgiliath and the bridges of the Anduin; in the middle the road went on southwards. On, on, on, said Gollum. We never went that way, but they say it goes a hundred leagues, until you can see the Great Water that is never still. There are lots of fishes there, and big birds eat fishes: nice birds: but we never went there, alas no. we never had a chance. And further still there are more lands, they say, but the Yellow Face is very hot there, and there are seldom any clouds, and the men are fierce and have dark faces. We do not want to see that land. said Frodo. But do not wander from your road. What of the third turning. O yes, O yes, there is a third way, said Gollum. That is the road to the left. At once it begins to climb up, up, winding and climbing back towards the tall shadows. When it turns round the black rock, youll see it, suddenly youll see it above you, and youll want to hide. See it, see it. What will you see. The old fortress, very old, very horrible now. We used to hear tales from the South, when Sme´agol was young, long ago. O yes, we used to tell lots of tales in the evening, sitting by the banks of the Great River, in the willow-lands, when the River was younger too, gollum, gollum. He began to weep and mutter. The hobbits waited patiently. Tales out of the South, Gollum went on again, about the tall Men with the shining eyes, and their houses like hills of stone, and the silver crown of their King and his White Tree: wonderful tales. They built very tall towers, and one they raised was silver-white, and in it there was a stone like the Moon, and round it were great white walls. O yes, there were many tales about the Tower of the Moon. That would be Minas Ithil that Isildur the son of Elendil built, said Frodo. It was Isildur who cut off the finger of the Enemy. Yes, He has only four on the Black Hand, but they are enough, said Gollum shuddering. And He hated Isildurs city. What does he not hate. said Frodo. But what has the Tower of the Moon to do with us. Well, master, there it was and there it is: the tall tower and the white houses and the wall; but not nice now, not beautiful. He 642 T HE L ORD O F THE R INGS conquered it long ago. It is a very terrible place now. Travellers shiver when they see it, they creep out of sight, they avoid its shadow. But master will have to go that way. That is the only other way. For the mountains are play video game download store in pubg there, and the old road goes up and up, until it reaches a dark pass at the top, and then it goes down, down, again to Gorgoroth. His voice sank to a whisper and he shuddered. But how will that help us. asked Sam. Surely the Enemy knows all about his own mountains, and that road will be guarded as close as this. The tower isnt empty, is it. O no, not empty. whispered Gollum. It seems empty, but it isnt, O no. Very dreadful things live there. Orcs, yes always Orcs; but worse things, worse things live there too. The road climbs right under the shadow of the walls and passes the gate. Nothing moves on the road that they dont know about. The things inside know: the Silent Watchers. So thats your advice is it, said Sam, that we should go another long march south, to find ourselves in the same fix or a worse one, when we get there, if we ever do. No, no indeed, said Gollum. Hobbits must see, must try to understand. He does not expect attack that way. His Eye is all round, but it attends more to some places than to others. He cant see everything all at once, not yet. You see, He has conquered all the country west of the Shadowy Mountains down to the River, and He holds the bridges now. He thinks no one can come to the Moontower without fighting big battle at the bridges, or getting lots of boats which they cannot hide and He will know about. You seem to know a lot about what Hes doing and thinking, said Sam. Have you been talking to Him lately. Or just hobnobbing with Orcs. Not nice hobbit, not sensible, said Gollum, giving Sam an angry glance and turning to Frodo. Sme´agol has talked to Orcs, yes of course, before he met master, and to many peoples: he has walked very far. And what he says now many peoples are saying. Its here in the North that the big danger is for Him, and for us. He will come out of the Black Gate one day, one day soon. That is the only way big armies can come. But away down https://strategygamespc.cloud/pubg-gameloop/pubg-gameloop-hacks-pro.php He is not afraid, and there are the Silent Watchers. Just so. said Sam, not to be put off. And so we are to walk up and knock at their gate and ask if were on the right road Steam punk fashion ideas Mordor. Or are they too silent to answer. Its not sense. Https://strategygamespc.cloud/apex-legends/apex-legends-anti-cheat-fix.php might as well do it here, and save ourselves a long tramp. Dont make jokes about it, hissed Gollum. It isnt funny, O no. Not amusing. Its not sense to try naraka bladepoint size get into Mordor at all. But if master says I must go or I will go, then he must try some way. But he T HE BLAC K GATE I S CLO S ED 643 must not go to the terrible city, O no, of course not. That is where Sme´agol helps, nice Sme´agol, though no one tells him what it is all about. Sme´agol helps again. He found it. He knows it. What did you find. asked Frodo. Gollum crouched down and his voice sank to a whisper again. A little path leading up into the mountains; and then a stair, a narrow stair, Learn more here yes, very long and narrow. And then more stairs. And then his voice sank even lower a tunnel, a dark tunnel; and at last a little cleft, and a path high above the main pass. It was that way that Sme´agol got out of the darkness. But it was years ago. The path may have vanished now; but perhaps not, perhaps not. I dont like the sound of it at all, said Sam. Sounds too easy at any rate in the telling. If that path is still there, itll be guarded too. Wasnt it guarded, Gollum. As he said this, he caught or fancied he caught a green gleam in Gollums eye. Gollum muttered but did not reply. Is it not guarded. asked Frodo sternly. And did you escape out of the darkness, Sme´agol. Were you not rather permitted to depart, upon an errand. That at least is what Aragorn thought, who found you by the Dead Marshes some years ago. Its a lie. hissed Gollum, and an evil light came into his eyes at the naming of Aragorn. He lied on me, yes he did. I did escape, all by my poor self. Indeed I was told to seek for the Precious; and I have searched and searched, of course I have. But not for the Black One. The Precious was ours, it was mine I tell you. I did escape. Frodo felt a strange certainty that in this matter Gollum was for once not so far from the truth as might be suspected; that he had somehow found a way out of Mordor, and at least believed that it was by his own cunning. For one thing, he noted that Gollum used I, and that seemed usually to be a sign, on Steam punk fashion ideas rare appearances, that some remnants of old truth and sincerity were for the moment on top. But even if Gollum could be trusted on this point, Frodo did not forget the wiles of the Enemy. The escape may have been allowed or arranged, and well known in the Dark Tower. And in any case Gollum was plainly keeping a good deal back. I ask you again, he said: is not this secret way guarded. But the name of Aragorn had put Gollum into a sullen mood. He had all the injured air of a liar suspected when for once he has told the truth, or part of it. He did not answer. Is it not guarded. Frodo repeated. Yes, yes, perhaps. No safe places in this country, said Gollum sulkily. No safe places. But master must try it or go home. No other way. They could not get him to say more. The name of the perilous place and the high pass he could not tell, or would not. 644 T HE L ORD O F THE R INGS Its name was Cirith Ungol, a name of dreadful rumour. Aragorn could perhaps have told them that name and its significance; Gandalf would have warned them. Xbox elite controller settings for apex they were alone, and Aragorn was far away, and Gandalf stood amid the ruin of Isengard and strove with Saruman, delayed by treason. Yet even as he spoke his last words to Saruman, and the palantı´r crashed in fire upon the steps of Orthanc, his thought was ever upon Frodo and Samwise, over the long leagues his mind sought for them in hope and pity. Maybe Frodo felt it, not knowing it, as he had upon Amon Hen, even though he believed that Gandalf was gone, gone for ever into the shadow in Moria far away. He sat upon the ground for a long while, silent, his head bowed, striving to recall all that Gandalf had said to him. But for this choice he could recall no counsel. Indeed Gandalfs guidance had been taken from them too soon, too soon, while the Dark Land was still very far away. How they should enter it at the last Gandalf had not said. Perhaps he could not say. Into the stronghold of the Enemy in the North, into Dol Guldur, he had once ventured. But into Mordor, to the Mountain of Fire and to Barad-duˆr, since the Dark Lord rose in power again, had he ever journeyed there. Frodo did not think so. And here he was a little halfling from the Shire, a simple hobbit of the quiet countryside, expected to find a way where the great ones could not go, or dared not go. It was an evil fate. But he had taken it on himself in his own sitting-room in the far-off spring of another year, so remote now that it was like a chapter in a story of the worlds youth, when the Trees of Silver and Gold were still in bloom. This was an evil choice. Which way should he choose. And if both led to terror and death, what good lay in choice. The day drew on. A deep silence fell upon the little grey hollow where they lay, so near to the borders of the land of fear: a silence that could be felt, as if it were a thick veil that cut them off from all the world about them. Above them was a dome of pale sky barred with https://strategygamespc.cloud/game/baldurs-gate-official-site-game.php smoke, but it seemed high and far away, as if seen through great deeps of air heavy with brooding thought. Not even an eagle poised against the sun would have marked the hobbits sitting there, under the weight of doom, silent, not moving, shrouded in their thin grey cloaks. For a moment he might have paused to consider Gollum, a tiny figure sprawling on the ground: there perhaps lay the famished skeleton of some child of Men, its ragged garment still clinging to it, its long arms and legs almost bone-white and bone-thin: no flesh worth a peck. Frodos head was bowed over his knees, but Sam leaned back, with hands behind his head, staring out of his hood at the empty sky. T HE BLAC K GATE I S CLO S ED 645 At least for a long while it was empty. Then presently Sam thought he saw a dark bird-like figure wheel into the circle of his sight, and hover, and then wheel away again. Two more followed, and then a fourth. They were very small to look at, yet he knew, somehow, that they were huge, with a vast stretch of pinion, flying at a great height. He covered his eyes and bent forward, cowering. The same warning fear Steam punk fashion ideas on him as he had felt in the presence of the Black Riders, the helpless horror that had come with the cry in the wind and the shadow on the moon, though now it was not so crushing or compelling: the menace was more remote. But menace it was. Frodo felt it too. His thought was broken. He stirred and shivered, but he did not look up. Gollum huddled himself together like a cornered spider. The winged shapes wheeled, and stooped swiftly down, speeding back to Mordor. Sam took a deep breath. The Riders are about again, up in the air, he said in a hoarse whisper. I saw them. Do you think they could see us. They were very high up. And if they are Black Riders, same as before, then they cant see much by daylight, can they. No, perhaps not, said Frodo. But their steeds could see. And these winged creatures that they ride on now, they can probably see more than any other creature. They are like great carrion birds. They are looking for something: the Download forever trackmania nations is on the watch, I fear. The feeling of dread passed, but the enfolding silence was broken. For some time they had been cut off from the world, as if in an invisible island; now they were laid bare again, peril had returned. But still Frodo did not speak to Gollum or make his choice. His eyes were closed, as if he were dreaming, or looking inward into his heart and memory. At last he stirred and stood up, and it seemed that he was about to speak and to decide. But hark. he said. What is that. A new fear was upon them. They heard singing and hoarse shouting. At first it seemed a long way off, but it drew nearer: it was coming towards them. It leaped into all their minds that the Black Wings had spied them and had sent armed soldiers to seize them: no speed seemed too great for these terrible servants of Sauron. They crouched, listening. The voices click here the clink of weapons and harness were very close. Frodo and Sam loosened their small swords in their sheaths. Flight was impossible. Gollum rose slowly and crawled insect-like to the lip of the hollow. Very cautiously he raised himself inch by inch, until he could peer over it between two broken points of stone. He remained there without moving for some time, making no sound. Presently the voices began to recede again, and then they slowly faded away. Far off a 646 T HE L ORD O F THE R INGS horn blew on the ramparts of the Morannon. Then quietly Gollum drew back and slipped down into the hollow. More Men going to Mordor, he said in a low voice. Dark faces. We have not seen Men like these before, no, Sme´agol has not. They are fierce. They have black eyes, and long black hair, and gold rings in their ears; yes, lots of beautiful gold. And some have red paint on their cheeks, and red cloaks; and their flags are red, and the tips of their spears; and they have round shields, yellow and black with big spikes. Not nice; very cruel wicked Men they look. Almost as bad as Orcs, and much bigger. Sme´agol thinks they have come out of the South beyond the Great Rivers end: they came up that road. They have passed on to the Black Gate; but more may follow. Always more people coming Steam punk fashion ideas Mordor. One day all the peoples will be inside. Were there any oliphaunts. asked Sam, forgetting his fear in his eagerness for news of strange places. No, no oliphaunts. What are oliphaunts. said Gollum.

Gandalf smiled. I have heard all about Sam, he said. He has no more doubts now. I am glad, Grand theft over 100k Frodo. For I have become very fond of Strider. Well, fond is not the right word. I mean he is dear to me; though he is strange, and grim at times. In fact, he reminds me often of you. I didnt know that any of the Big People were like that. I thought, well, that they were just big, and rather stupid: Grand theft over 100k and stupid like M Grand theft over 100k Y MEET INGS 221 Butterbur; or stupid and wicked like More info Ferny. But then we dont know much about Men in the Shire, except perhaps the Bree-landers. You dont know much even about them, if you think old Barliman is stupid, said Gandalf. He is wise enough on his own ground. He thinks less than he talks, and slower; yet he can see through a brick wall in time (as they say in Bree). But there are few left in Middleearth like Aragorn son of Arathorn. The race of the Kings from over the Sea is nearly at an end. It may be that this War of the Ring will be their last adventure. Do you really mean that Strider is one of the people of the old Kings. said Frodo in wonder. I thought they had all vanished long ago. I thought he was only a Ranger. Only a Ranger. cried Gandalf. My dear Frodo, that is just what the Rangers are: the last remnant in the North of the great people, the Men visit web page the West. They have helped me before; and I shall need happens. pubg game meaning y8 here help in the days to come; for we have reached Rivendell, but the Ring is not yet at rest. I suppose not, said Frodo. But so far my only thought has been to get here; and I hope I shant have to go any further. It is very pleasant just to rest. I have had a month of exile and adventure, and I find that has been as much as I Grand theft over 100k. He fell silent and shut his eyes. After a while he spoke again. I have been reckoning, he said, and I cant bring the total up to October the twenty-fourth. It ought to be the twenty-first. We must have reached the Ford by the twentieth. You have talked and reckoned more than is good for you, said Gandalf. How do the side and shoulder feel now. I dont know, Frodo answered. They dont feel at all: which is an improvement, but he made an effort I can move my arm again a little. Yes, it is coming back to life. It is not cold, he added, touching his left hand with his right. Good. said Gandalf.