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Old 04-23-2005, 09:05 AM   #257
Estelyn Telcontar
Princess of Skwerlz
 
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Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: where the Sea is eastwards (WtR: 6060 miles)
Posts: 7,645
Estelyn Telcontar has reached the Cracks of Doom and destroyed the Ring!Estelyn Telcontar has reached the Cracks of Doom and destroyed the Ring!Estelyn Telcontar has reached the Cracks of Doom and destroyed the Ring!Estelyn Telcontar has reached the Cracks of Doom and destroyed the Ring!Estelyn Telcontar has reached the Cracks of Doom and destroyed the Ring!Estelyn Telcontar has reached the Cracks of Doom and destroyed the Ring!Estelyn Telcontar has reached the Cracks of Doom and destroyed the Ring!Estelyn Telcontar has reached the Cracks of Doom and destroyed the Ring!Estelyn Telcontar has reached the Cracks of Doom and destroyed the Ring!Estelyn Telcontar has reached the Cracks of Doom and destroyed the Ring!
A blackness came before Merisuwyniel’s eyes, and it seemed to her in a moment of silence that the world stood still, time stood still, her heart was dead and her last hope gone. No matter which choice she made, she was doomed to lose. She answered him not, but Greedhog saw her face grey with fear and the horror in her eyes, and he laughed. “Now he shall endure the slow torment of years,” he taunted, “as long and slow as our legal arts department in the Great Tower can contrive, and never be released, unless maybe when he is changed beyond recognition and broken, so that he may come to you, and you shall see what you have done.”

Merisu faltered. Her comrades saw the anguish in her face; now she seemed crushed, defeated at the last. She stretched out her hands to touch her beloved, and so powerful was the love and sorrow mirrored in her face that Greedhog and his minions dared not restrain her. The lovers clasped each others’ hands and said not a word, yet Gravlox had used his time in Mantoes’ halls wisely, learning the art of O-sanity. The two did not move or speak with mouth, looking from mind to mind; and only their eyes, shining with love and unshed tears, stirred and kindled as their thoughts went to and fro.

“Do not give in to the wicked ones,” Gravlox said to her. “For it is your task to complete the Quest entrusted to you. If you do not find a way, no one will. You might have chosen otherwise, but you have forsaken neither the Entish Parts nor your companions. Your faithful love, which moved the heart of Mantoes on my behalf, shall be rewarded someday.

“Weep not, my beloved,” he continued, “for ‘tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”

“Rubbish,” she answered with unwonted directness. “Memory is not what my heart desires; that is only a mirror - cold and flat. I have taken my worst wound in this renewed parting. Such is the way of it: to find and lose. May there be a final finding some day. Fare thee well, my love!” Reluctantly and in slow motion, she released his hands.

“You demand that I be faithless to my Sacred Quest for the release of this noble servant?” she called out, standing tall and straight.

Greedhog nodded eagerly. “That’s the general idea,” he gloated.

“What surety have I that Mogūl the Base Bildur of Treachery will keep his part?” she asked.

“Do not bandy words in your insolence with the Loyer of Mogūl,” he cried, enraged. “Surety you crave! Mogūl gives none. If you sue for his clemency, you must first do his bidding.”

“Dark is the Shadow,” she declaimed dramatically, “and yet my heart rejoices; for he, Gravlox, shall be among the great whose valour will destroy it. Alas! I cannot foresee it, and how it may come to pass is hidden from me. Yet with his hope I will hope. And the Shadow I utterly reject. Begone!”

Then the Messenger of Mogūl laughed no more. His face was twisted with amazement and anger to the likeness of some wild beast that, as it crouches on its prey, is smitten on the muzzle with a stinging rod. Rage filled him and his mouth slavered, and shapeless sounds of fury came strangling from his throat. He looked at the fell faces of the United-We-Stand-Ship and their deadly eyes, and fear overcame his wrath. He gave a great cry, and turned, leaped upon his Warg, and with his company colleagues galloped madly back to wherever it was that Mogūl had gone.

Last edited by Estelyn Telcontar; 04-23-2005 at 09:10 AM.
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