Dark Judgement 2

Dark Judgement

Part 2 - Beyond The Door Of Night

Posted: June 1, 2007

*****

Sauron’s POV

I felt them. I knew they were there - just outside the periphery of my vision. Holding back, they dared not touch me. I walked forward into the darkness, slowly at first, being unsure of the ground beneath my feet. My eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness and then I could see a land of black shadow and jagged rocks. Extending way beyond my sight went the path I knew I should follow. To either side of the path lay an unimaginably deep chasm whose bottom no eye could see. I walked slowly, trying to familiarise myself to the wasteland that seemed without end or beginning.

The Door, set at the end of the path, had no wall to the sides of it. Behind it extended empty space. It was desolate, a place of despair with no hope; a place of ultimate abandonment. Barad-dûr seemed a palace of sparkling sunlight compared to here. I felt a momentary regret for not trying harder to make my former home like this place, but dismissed the thought quickly. How could I have known that such darkness existed, so thick in nuance that it draped around the psyche and almost realized physical form? The total concealment of light, a torture that only the elves could truly appreciate for its terribleness, and yet I had failed to implement what should have been the simplest of states. There is always light somewhere, even in a completely dark room, but not here. This place is perfection.

The path led along a line of jagged rocks. Glowing yellow and red eyes looked out at me, then disappeared when I glanced back. They feared me. Walking further round the side of a great stone shaft, a plain appeared as if hidden before. A seething mass of wriggling forms writhed up to the edges of the path, but did not attempt to cross it. Their screams of agony played as soothing music to my ears and I was so lost in their suffering that I did not question why they were crying so. I felt like an amateur, as though I had not really tried hard enough on Middle-earth. I could have killed more. Instead, I played ridiculous power games for enjoyment, not wanting to win too soon so that I would not lose the pleasure of protracted misery in my name; I see that now.

The path through the clearing led to a huge circle and over the other side of the circle, in the distance, stood a figure. One never loses recognition of those they love, and I ran forward, elated that I would shortly meet the one taken from me so long ago. I do not know how long I ran - minutes or hours, I could not tell. It was not until I stopped running that the distance between us closed. On walking into his presence, I felt his power and the thrill that then rushed through my mind and body assured me that everything that had gone before was worth it for this one moment. I threw myself forward to lie prostrate before him and to await his indulgence.

“Master.”

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