3. Servant of the Secret Fire
"Fly, you fools!"
His last sight, as he feels his fingertips sliding helplessly from the chasm's edge, is of eight horrified faces staring into the abyss. I have failed them. The knowledge cuts deeper than the Balrog's whips of flame.
And yet, even as they plummet wrestling together into endless dark, as he smells hair and beard scorching and his nerve-endings sing with heat and pain, that thought kindles an answering flicker of anger within him which burns up into a fire of rage:
No; I have not failed them yet! Olórin summons all his power, and lifts his sword...
~~~
For the tolkien_weekly "Cut" challenge.
This is a work of fan fiction, written because the author has an abiding love for the works of J R R Tolkien. The characters, settings, places, and languages used in this work are the property of the Tolkien Estate, Tolkien Enterprises, and possibly New Line Cinema, except for certain original characters who belong to the author of the said work. The author will not receive any money or other remuneration for presenting the work on this archive site. The work is the intellectual property of the author, is available solely for the enjoyment of Henneth Annûn Story Archive readers, and may not be copied or redistributed by any means without the explicit written consent of the author.
