A horseshoe to rule them all

by Bronycommander

Chapter 13 Shadows of the past

Chapter 13: Shadows of the past

Talion looked over the city and Dinky heard the Wraith say, “We need to secure the Palantir now. The city is weak, and it will not hold for much longer.”

“We cannot leave the Gondorians to their fate. Castamir is right. By protecting the city, we protect the Palantir.” Talion countered.

“Look.” “Celebrimbor said and Dinky saw that some of the towers of the city had what looked like a burning eye over them.

“The towers bear his mark.” The ranger concluded.

“Those were my towers once. Now Sauron’s corruption spreads beyond the borders of Mordor. He mocks me.”

“They give him sight.”

“Not without the Palantir.”

“We will dismantle his hold on Minas Ithil. We will shift the tide of war.” Talion concluded determined as suddenly, the horseshoe started to blink.

“What does that mean?” Apple Bloom wondered.

“It seems to want to lead us somewhere.” Fletcher suspected.

“Yes. You go ahead, I join you shortly.” Talion said and they nodded.

The horseshoe led them outside the city, yet they had little trouble avoiding the enemy.

Everypony wondered where the horseshoe was leading them. The location of the Palantir? A possibly to ease the Siege? None of them had an idea.

“This way,” Dinky said as it pointed among the outer wall.

Eventually, it brought them to what looked like an entrance to an ancient storehouse.

“Wow…” Dinky mumbled in awe as Talion joined them and the Wraith commented,

“If anywhere in Mordor is safe from Sauron, it is barrows like these, reminders that even the Dark Lord’s reach extends only so far.”

Entering, they all looked in awe to see several statues of soldiers, with two blue fires at the end of what seemed to be a tombstone.

“In a bygone age, my army marched on Mordor. We buried our honored dead in borrows like this one. Our greatest warriors are preserved here, protected by powerful magic. And we used all our arts to bring the virtues of the Elves with us as we marched.” Celebrimbor told with pride.

“And you had the one Ring.” The Ranger pointed out.

“Yes…and with it, I forged an army. I led the charge against Sauron.”

Dinky blinked and saw how the Elf fought against Orcs, the same battle she had seen when Talion touched the relics and it ended with him defeating the Dark Lord.

“The new Ring.” The Wraith as to the Ranger as Dinky was back in reality. “Our Ring-is not marred with his shadow. It is perfect.” He added before vanishing.

“What now?” Wolf asked.

“We go back to the city and ask Idril for the Palantir,” Talion replied.

“Alright, right behind you.” Midnight nodded.

On the way back, Caragor crossed their way but due to Wolf’s presence, the beast left the group alone.

Getting back to the city, the group saw the woman in a room with relics of all kind, together with a man. He had brown eyes and black hair with a beard, having noticeable a very dark skin. His armor had the same markings as that of Idril but broad in build and face.

“There’s no time. We can only take the most valuable.” He stated.

“We’re taking everything.” Idril insisted.

“Idril, sacrifices must be made.” He countered.

“I will not sacrifice our past to fear.” The woman replied with sight anger before the man spotted the Ranger.

“Ho there. Who are you?”

“Baranor, this is the Ranger I was telling you about.” She explained to him, glad to see Talion.

Baranor offered him a hand. “You’ve spilled much blood for Minas Ithil. We don’t even know your name.”

“Talion.” The ranger shook his hand.

“Gondor thanks you, Talion and your allies. But we need all warriors at the gate.”

“The Uruks seek the Palantir and they will not stop until it is theirs. Where is it?” Talion wanted to know.

“My father has hidden it,” Idril answered.

“There is nothing safe, hidden or otherwise. The Uruks will tear this city apart to find it.” The Gravewalker warned, yet Idril was not fazed.

“These are desperate times, but we will not surrender. And we will not fall. We cannot-“

Idril was cut off as the ceiling rumbled and everyone rushed outside to see what was going on. The eyes of the foals went wide as they saw that fireballs were launched into the city.

“I must defend the gate.” Baranor drew his sword, the others followed him into battle.

Once outside, the foals kicked, punched and used stun spells to assist the soldiers in holding the attackers back.

“Incoming!” Someone yelled and Dinky looked up to see a fireball coming right towards her and Fletcher. She had no time to react as he tried to jump out of the way but the explosion threw both against the wall and she cried in pain.

Her vision was blurry as she saw that the others were busy fighting the Orcs, Fletcher was dazed with Sweetie Belle and to her horror, one of those Orcs walked up to her, his sword drawn.

She just closed her eyes, preparing for the pain.

Then suddenly, a cry of pain and the sound of beating.

Slowly opening her eyes, she saw that the same Orc was now dead, lying in a puddle of blood. Another Orc stood above him, apparently armed with a guitar that had a blade attached to it

He wore no upper body armor, having strange markings on the chest as he faced her with a smile, having also a white beard. “People around here call me Orc-Slayer, because I take the pain away.” He said in a friendly tone and left.

Whoever that Orc was, he had just saved her life.

“Are you hurt?” Fray asked concerned as he levitated both fillies on his back, they shook their heads, seeing that all Orcs were defeated.

“That was only the beginning, there’ll be more! We have to find out what we’re dealing with, this way!” Idril exclaimed and took the lead.

The group followed her down the stairs to a balcony, seeing that several of those large beasts with crossbows on their backs were brought into the city.

“The city can’t take much more. I’ll handle the Siege Beasts.” Talion said and the woman nodded.

“We can handle here.”

As the knights and foals fought more Orcs, they saw how Talion fired arrows on two boxes mounted on the shoulders of the beast. It created an explosion that stunned it and killed the operator. Then he moved over to it and mounted it. He fired it at incoming Orcs and other Siege Beats in the area.

It forced the Orcs to retreat and he jumped off, firing an arrow at the beast and the crossbow on it exploded, taking the creature with it.

With the danger taken care off, the defenders returned to the gate and Idril looked over some destroyed relics.

“It’s not enough for them to destroy us.” She spoke to her fellow soldier, “They wish to wipe away our history.” She had a sad expression as Baranor turned to the Ranger.

“At least they don’t have the Seeing Stone.”

“The gates are holding.”

“These relics were my life,” Idril stated and lowered her head. “My father was right…We must salvage what we can and leave.

“You have a valuable weapon.” Talion pointed out. “The Seeing Stone gives you sight over your enemy. Use it.”

“It is too dangerous,” The other man warned, “The Palantir is poison to men. None can withstand it’s influence.”

“I can,” Talion replied confidently.

“Men before you have thought the same.” Idril protested.

“And if I’m wrong, I will fail as they have failed. But if I’m right, we win this war.” The Ranger countered.

Idril thought for a moment about it. “Then I will find my father and speak to him.”

“She will hold you to your oath, Ranger,” Baranor commented as he walked away.

Yet the children let out a sigh, they had held the siege once more.

But for how long?