north downs

We have left Imladris behind us, riding mostly in silence and in quite a good order, all the way to the mustering point in Ost Guruth.

This place had changed much over the time, but not as much since my last stay here, when I was riding alone to Imladris on bidding of my old friend Alqualinde. I have never met his sister, which is quite odd, given the time we have known each other, but he always spoke of her, so I felt as if I knew her, if but a little.

[30.12.2007]

And so - it is done. The course is set, and even the loss of my fine horse cannot dampen my elation. The stone winnows as it will, but winnows not I.

I return triumphant to my men, alive, exultant. My blood taken and accepted. No taint of madness behind my eyes, not driven wild by the raging powers within the stone like a lesser man. My own men congratulate me while they look on sidelong. What may I yet become unsettles them, warring with the tantalising question... how high will they fly, in my train? Confident that my rise must now be assured.

The horses powerful haunches bunch beneath them as they attempt the steep descent. The loose grey slates and scree slither beneath their hooves, clattering together as the unstable hillside slowly begins to slide.

My men are tense, alert to the shifting rocks. Words are short and pointed. This descent tries even a skilled horseman. It is well that my men are almost as assured a-horse as I, the presence of the northmen in their  bolt-hole forcing us in this wide arc around them, onto this difficult mountainous route.