Title: FOR CONTINUING STRANGE (27)
Author: Annie Harris
Email: annie_mouse2001@yahoo.co.uk
Pairing: Legolas/Gimli
Rating: R.
Summary: Gimli tries archery. Trouble at t' gate.
Disclaimer: The usual: No claims, no pack drill - and of course no
profit. Just living in the gaps and round the edges.
Warning: None.
Archive: LoM, Axe & Bow Yahoogroup message archive. Anyone interested
just ask.


27

As he walked down through the shadowed ways of the city, Gimli
suddenly halted and exclaimed:
'Pans!'

Legolas stopped as well.

'What was that?'

'Pans! I said I'd make new ones for Sam, did I not? How long ago? And
it had gone clean out of my mind.'

'That's because so many other things have been getting in!' smiled
Legolas as they walked on again. - 'Will it take long?'

'No, not once I have found the right mild steel that can be shaped by
hammering. Hmm - I think I know where to ask; or maybe Bergthor could
help, though it's not his line of work. I'll be about it tomorrow!'

'Ha! No, not tomorrow. You agreed to rest!'

'So I did. But I can think out the details, and then the work will go
quicker.'

Legolas laughed and shook his head, thinking that being unable to
work on something, anything, must be the greatest misfortune a Dwarf
could suffer.


In the morning Gimli awoke early, feeling well refreshed, and found
that Legolas had risen earlier still, for the Elf was already in the
kitchen and had made a few cakes of lembas, which were baking on the
griddle and filling the room with a delicious scent.

'There are no mallorn leaves here to wrap them, but since this is
just a day's walking for pleasure, a linen cloth will serve.'

'We shall reach the very top of the mountain with such food!' said
Gimli.

'Ah! These will not be so good as the lembas of the Golden Wood,'
Legolas replied; - 'But good enough, none the less.'

When they set out, Legolas took his bow and a dozen arrows, for he
missed his archery.

'You did go out to the butts once or twice while I was working, did
you not?' Gimli asked as they walked along.

'Yes, a few times,' answered the Elf; - 'But ...'

'But you outshot them all, and would not be seen to set yourself up
over them.'

'I cannot say 'all' for I have not shot against all, but you have hit
it well enough.'

'Then we must go up the mountain, well away from all folk, and find
you some hard targets.'

As they went towards the gate, they passed various traders opening up
their shops and stalls, and in one place a man was setting out
walking sticks and staffs. Gimli's eye fell upon a stout blackthorn
with a knobbly handle and a good ferrule. It proved to be the right
length for him, so he promptly bought it.

'It was waiting for you,' said the trader, which Gimli took to be a
polite way of saying that he had been unable to sell it because it
was too short for most men in the city.

As they went on their way again, Gimli swung the stick and said:
'It still feels strange to walk out unarmed. I feel more at home with
this.'

'If we are to go up the mountain, it may prove more use than an axe!'
When they came to the great gateway, now cleared of all rubble, Gimli
looked up at the south tower and frowned:
'It has shifted further!'

'Do you think so?'

'I'm sure of it.'

The Dwarf walked around, looking up at the high stone walls from
different angles. Then suddenly he turned his attention to the white
marble paving on which they stood, and Legolas quickly realised what
had caught his attention. The gaps between the slabs were no longer
close and regular: a distinct dark line was visible across the width
of the roadway.

'I don't recall seeing that before,' said the Dwarf.

'Had it been there, you would have seen it,' said Legolas; - 'It
looks as if the ground is opening.'

'I fear it may be doing exactly that.'

Gimli walked around again, and tapped the paving stones with his new
stick in various places, but formed no definite idea of what was
happening. There was no one among the morning bustle with whom to
discuss the matter, so they went on their way, but Gimli resolved to
speak to Faramir or even the King himself about the tower as soon as
possible. If it did not present an immediate danger, it was highly
likely that the rebuilding of the gate would be more difficult than
had first appeared.

Legolas found that he was beginning to understand something of
Gimli's way of looking at the world. He thought that if there was
some weakness in the earth beneath the tower, signs might perhaps be
found outside the walls as well as inside.

They moved down the approach ramp side by side, both looking at the
paved way beneath their feet (as well as they could among the morning
traffic) and both together saw the slight flaw, on the right hand or
southern side, where three or four paving slabs seemed to have tilted
a little, as if they had been forced against their neighbours. They
turned to eachother and drew breath to speak at the same moment.
Legolas made a 'you first' gesture of such clarity that Gimli felt
for one dislocated moment as if he were conversing with a fellow
Dwarf in iglishmêk sign language, but realised at once that it was
also a common, almost instinctive movement, and not peculiar to
Dwarves.

'You think this may be another sign, Legolas?'

'Do you? I am only guessing.'

'Well, you begin to guess like a Dwarf. I think it is.'

Gimli moved on down the broad ramp, and looked back towards the city
and the gaping hole in the wall where the gate had been, eyeing the
south tower and the ground before it, estimating angles and
distances.

'Will it fall?' asked Legolas, coming to stand beside him.

'If it does not, it should be pulled down. It will be better built
afresh than repaired. But today is our holiday, and itwill stand a
while yet!'

So they went out and took much the same way as on their earlier
expedition, except that this time they crossed the stream beyond the
oak grove, and made straight for the mountain side.

'Every day more life returns to the kingdom,' said Gimli; - 'I do not
recall the swifts and swallows flying the last time we came out.'

'That might have been because of the wind and weather; but you are
right, more life returns.'

They went on through the bright morning, until walking became
climbing, as they moved northward and westward along the lower slopes
of the mountains, pausing now and again to look out at the wide lands
about them, green and fair in the sunshine. The great river gleamed
in the distance, and the forests of Ithilien rose rich and dark
beyond, fading towards the mountains that ringed Moria. They looked
eastwards, and tried to imagine the dreadful place of Frodo's and
Sam's description, now lying empty and barren yet free in the clear
air of day.

Already light, wind and rain would have begun their long work of
healing, and any smoke and vapour from the dying volcano were not
longer visible in Gondor, even from the height on which the two now
stood.

They followed one of Mindolluin's many noisy rushing streams steadily
upwards, Gimli feeling glad of his blackthorn stick as the way grew
steeper, until they came to a broad shelf on the mountainside.

'Now Legolas, are you far enough from habitation to practise your
shooting in safety?'

Legolas eyed the long, narrowish sloping area of rough grass, gorse,
juniper bushes and scattered white rocks.

'I think this will do very well.'

'And what shall you use for a target?'

Legolas smiled.

'An old dishcloth from the kitchen will serve, when I have made up a
base of dry grass,' he said, taking the greyish object from a pocket
of his gambeson. - 'And a gorse bush will hold it.'

He began to pluck large handfulls of the longest grasses, and twist
them quickly into a thick sort of rope. Gimli fished in one of the
pockets of his jerkin, brought out a neat coil of thin twine, and
handed it over silently. Legolas thanked him with a smile, and worked
on, with Gimli helping by bringing more bundles of grass to bind
together, so that he soon had a useful target, no more than a foot
across, but of a good thickness.

He looked around for a suitable place to fix his mark, and Gimli sat
down on the grass while the Elf ran off to a large gorse bush a
couple of hundred yards away, hooked his makeshift target onto a
branch, and then pinned the old cloth to the grass target with a few
long thorns.. Gimli simply sat and admired the light swift stride,
and wondered how he had managed to keep pace on the run across Rohan.
Legolas returned, took up his bow and braced it for stringing with
the quick action that Gimli delighted to see, trapping the long stave
between instep and thigh, fixing the string, and sending the first
arrow on its way to the target in one smooth flowing movement of
elvish grace, economy and power.

The Elf shot a dozen arrows without pausing, each one striking the
target and quickly shredding it.

'I think you have little need to practise,' said Gimli.

'No more than you have to work at your hammering and shaping.'

'Hmph!' Gimli grunted assent.

Legolas loosed the remaining arrows, all with the same speed and
accuracy as before.

'At home we practise with moving targets as well - discs of wood or
plaited withies that can be thrown into the air or across a forest
glade. But for that you need several people, to throw the targets and
mark the fall of arrows, and so on.'

Legolas unstrung the bow and laid it on the grass beside Gimli before
racing off to retrieve his arrows. Gimli enjoyed the sight of his
speed and grace, his bright hair flying as he leaped over the rocks
and small bushes. Then the bow drew his eye as it rested on the
ground; a self bow of mallorn wood, the stave now lying straight but
subtly tapered, with horn nocks and a dark glossy string, the longbow
of Galadriel, as long as the Elf was tall.

He touched the smooth wood lightly as Legolas came running back with
the arrows, and wondered how it would feel to use a bow like this.
Suddenly the Elf stood before him.

'Would you like to try it?'

'Well, I was wondering - but it's too long for me.'

'Not very practical, I agree, but if you hold it across, you could
try it. You have seen me shoot so at times.'

That was true enough.

'Very well; I should like to try. We Dwarves can be very curious!'

Legolas laughed, took up the bow and strung it again for him, and
when the Dwarf took it he said:
'Why, it is no more too long for you than the archlute, and you are
master of that.'

Gimli smiled his thanks for the compliement, though he knew that the
excessive size of the archlute was appearance rather than reality,
and tried drawing the bow in the position suggested. Legolas was
surprised to see that, despite its unsuitable length, the Dwarf was
well up to the heavy pull, and drew it, as far as his physique
permitted, more easily than some of Faramir's Rangers of Ithilien
whom he had allowed to try it on the Archery Fields south of the city
gate. He handed Gimli an arrow.

'We shall make an archer of you yet!'

'Dwarves do use bows at need,' Gimli said; - 'Though they are not
best suited for underground.'

He could not draw to the full length of the arrow, yet it flew well
enough, though short of the target. Gimli blinked at the light
coloured mark, which seemed very far away.

'I feel like a mole in the sunlight,' he grumbled suddenly.

Though he had discovered early in the Quest that Legolas could see
much better than he at a distance, leaving Dwarf delvings for the
open air had never troubled him before.

'The change will do your eyes good,' said Legolas.

'Well, I don't know about that, but if a change is as good as a rest,
as Sam often tells us, then maybe so.'

Legolas went haring off again to retrieve the arrow and move the
target to a more suitable distance., and then Gimli shot a couple
more arrows, which went rather wide; yet it seemed that things
further off were becoming clearer, and he found he was enjoying the
attempt at an unfamiliar skill.	

When Legolas returned with the arrows, he shot again, with improving
effect.

'We who dwell so much underground have little need of the long sight
of the Elves, yet it seems I can find something of it now.'

'You need not see every detail of your target to be able to hit it,'
said Legolas; - 'Seeing and aiming are not the same. With a bow that
suited you properly, I think you would do well. Perhaps we may find
one in the city, though I think the balance of size and weight might
be hard to hit. Or I could make one for you, if you wish it,' he
added shyly.

'You could make a bow?'

'Yes indeed, we all can - must - be able to make a usable bow out of
anything in times of danger; but some of us are bowyers by calling.'
Gimli reached out and grasped the Elf's hand.

'A bow made by these hands would be a treasure indeed.'

'Then you shall have one; and we shall change places in the workshop
for a while.'

Legolas laughed with delight at the idea, raised Gimli's hand to his
lips, and kissed each finger in turn.

'Now, shoot again, and show me how you improve.'

'Nay, I could shoot at random all day for the joy of seeing you run
to fetch the arrows!'

'If you shoot wide, then YOU must run, Master Dwarf! And stretch your
eyes to mark the fall of the arrows. If you lose them you must make
new ones for me.'

'Cunning Elf! You find a sure way to improve my aim.'

Gimli laughed, feeling free and content in this forester's world in
he way he would once not even have wished for. His next arrow pierced
the target, and the next. He needed only practice with the right bow
to develop his natural ability.

Legolas was about to go for the arrows when Gimli stopped him and ran
off, bounding nimbly over the uneven ground, and it was then, seeing
him at a distance, that Legolas realised the change in him. It was
not only that he had become used to dwarvish ways or the 'dwarvish
racket' that Bilbo had once complained about; Gimli did indeed move
differently now, more lightly; he was becoming, very slightly,
elvish.

Legolas stared at the bright world, shocked. What had he begun, by
laying the burden of his love upon one of so different a kindred?
Would it end by dividing Gimli from his own people? And what of
himself? Would he too change, become dwarvish, so that they would be
two of a new kind, alone in Middle-earth? Already he could look at
the stone walls of the city with less of his first dislike and a
little understanding of what a Dwarf might look out for. Would he end
by taking an interest in drains?

Suddenly he felt his face stretch into a grin. Was it so bad to be
different, to be new? Gimli's own father had said in Imladris that
all enemies of the Enemy should unite. Well, they had done that with
a vengeance.

He was still smiling as Gimli came leaping back with the arrows.

'There! I have not missed one.'

He looked and sounded happy: lively, interested and happy. Legolas
felt his spirits lift. Gimli's dark, deep set eyes twinkled with
amusement as he counted the arrows over again, to be sure.

'Why should I not be a Dwarf-bowman as well as axe-wielder? That way
I may deal with any Orcs that still plague the earth, far off as well
as near.'

Legolas laughed aloud, delighted.

'Reasonable Dwarf! That is excellent sense; for it is surely not
reasonable to think that all such evils have left the earth at one
stroke.'

They spent some time longer taking turns at shooting, and Gimli's
improved further, till the tatters of the cloth on the target were
fit to blow away in the wind. 

Then Legolas took his makeshift targe from the branch and dismantled
it, carefully undoing the twine, which he gave back to Gimli, before
thrusting the loosened grasses into the gorse bush, to make a nest
for some wild bird or small animal.  Even the shreds of cloth might
serve to keep a mouse warm.

Now that the day was past noon, they took their rest by a little
sparkling stream that descended from the snows high above. They ate
some of the small lembas cakes and drank the stream water. Then Gimli
looked at the longbow again, especially the string.

'What is this made of? Is it really Elf hair?'

'Indeed it is. The black sort is much favoured, being very strong.
And it does not stretch when properly spun.'

'Is that why Elves grow their hair so long, to make bowstrings?'

'No; rather the other way about. The hair is used for bowstrings
because it is so long. Elves hardly ever cut their hair. But we do
make bowstrings from flax thread and the Lorien Elves use hithlain as
well.'

'Dwarves do not cut their hair either; and certainly never the
beards!'

Legolas moved closer to the Dwarf, and stroked that fascinating
beard, feeling the furry texture of the loose hair and the firm
smoothness of the braids.

'And what of sparks from the forge? Have they never singed this
wondrous pelt?'

'Accidents do happen!' said Gimli; - 'But not often. We have our high
leather aprons, of course, and for casting and other dangerous work
we still use steel masks such as aided our folk against the
fire-drakes in the great wars of old.'

'That is well,' said Legolas.

Then he moved closer still, and nuzzled his face against the beard,
holding Gimli tight, while he stroked the Elf's smooth hair, so cool
and fine, so unlike Dwarf hair. They rested together, quiet and
content in the noonday sun. Gimli leaned back against the grassy
bank. All he could hear was the gentle splash of the stream, the
whisper of the breeze through the grasses, and from time to time the
trills and whistles of a few mountain birds.

Soft high clouds drifted slowly by, and a warm haze veiled the view
of the valley and the dark woodland of Ithilien in the distance.
Legolas lay across his friend's breast, eyes closed, the warmth of
the 'wondrous pelt' under his cheek and of the sun on his back. This
was peace and plenty, and he savoured every minute of a time that
must soon end, hoarding memories for colder days to come.
When at last they stirred and sat up, he asked Gimli if his eyes felt
better for the time outdoors, and turned the Dwarf's face towards the
sun with a cool palm against his cheek.

'Yes, much better. And I have never thought to take such a rest
before. I must be turning elvish! Is that possible? Shall we grow
more like eachother, think you? Though I would not wish you to
change.'

Legolas was surprised to hear his own thought echoed.

'I believe I have changed, though it is not something you could see.

Was I not looking for the same signs around the South Tower as you?'

'Yes, true. Such a change would not mar your beauty, and can only
improve your brains!'

Legolas pushed him over in response to this, saying:
'Dwarvish impudence!'

Then he held Gimli's arms to the ground and leaned down to kiss his
eyelids, delighting in the sensation of thick, soft, curly eyelashes
against his lips. Gimli guessed it from the lightness of the touch,
and fluttered his lashes in response. Legolas gave a little moan of
pleasure, and in moments they were lost in passionate embraces on the
springy mountain turf.

Afterwards they washed in the chilly water of the mountain stream,
then sat still again., Gimli on a little hummock of grass with
Legolas between his feet, using his knees like chair arms. Gimli
gripped the slim body gently between his hard-muscled thighs, and
Legolas leaned back contentedly against him.

'You are hard as stone, warm as fire, clothed in living velvet and
fur! Your body matches the mysteries of your dwarvish heart: grim and
tender, patient and fierce; maker and slayer.'

The Elf crooned his words of love softly and dreamily, while Gimli
enjoyed doing what Legolas liked to do: resting his chin on the
other's head, feeling the shape of the elvish skull against his jaw
and throat.

'Legolas?'

'Hmm?'

'Why did this not happen before? In Lórien, when you took me about
with you? That was the place for peace and love, and surely I loved
you then, for you saved me in Moria.'

'Why? Yes, I have wondered too, and I think maybe it was because we
still had more to learn, about eachother, about ourselves; but
perhaps also it was because we had other work to do, something more
important than us.'

'Aye, the Quest. You are right, it was out duty. And I think that
even then, even after the death, as we thought, of Gandalf, we - I at
least, I cannot speak for all - still did not truly realise the
greatness of the task, not until we had left Lórien '

'Maybe Galadriel herself saw to it that we should put nothing before
the Quest! And I feel also that we were given only the burdens we
were ready to bear. To have loved you as I do now would have been too
much for me, I think. I am not saying this well, but I feel I have
come to you step by step, from mistrust to respect, friendship and
love.'

'Then it has always been as we said, the night we made our
declaration: step by step, one gate at a time, and - oh!'

Legolas felt the sudden startle run through the Dwarf's body.

'Oh, I could not have borne it, had we been as we are now, before we
passed the Paths of the Dead! You did not see my shame, and I am
glad. I would have turned back, run mad, died alone in the dark like
the one whose bones we saw, rather than have you see me as I was
then.'

'What?'

Legolas moved abruptly, turning about so that he knelt facing Gimli.

'What are you saying? You DID pass through! I saw nothing to be
counted shame.'

'Just so!' said Gimli, looking steadily into the clear grey eyes now
on a level with his own. - 'You saw nothing! It was a burden we both
were spared - my disgrace! A Dwarf underground, and terrified beyond
reason! The Dead had no business with me, and yet I feared them. Did
the Lady protect me? Certain it is that I could not have endured both
the terror of the Dead and the shame of of revealing such weakness to
you who passed through unscathed.'

'But now you HAVE told me!'

Legolas straightened up, still on his knees, and smiled gently at
Gimli, looking into his eyes.

'Truly, I did not understand, and perhaps, as you say, it is well. I
could not share your fear, and so might not have aided you. I might
even have made matters worse by trying.'

'I feel that also, Legolas. I am glad you agree.'

'But nonetheless, you made the journey, you overcame your fear: there
is no shame!'

'Yes, I made the journey, I returned to you. But I fear I could not
make it again, though all my heart's desire lay at the end.'

'You cannot make it again, my friend; nor can any one. The Paths
remain, but the Dead are gone, gone! And the hollow way will be no
more than that - a way under the mountain, that any may use at need.
If we should see it again, it will be but an underground way: dark,
but nothing more.'

'I hope it will be long before I see that place again,' said Gimli
fervently, - 'And if I should, I trust you may be proved right.'
Legolas leaned up and kissed his brow tenderly.

'Who knows where we may walk in days to come? I would gladly see this
fair earth by your side in the years that lie before us. There is
work in prospect, yet surely we may look for some reward at times!'

'Well, my Legolas, may we not hope for both work and travel? May we
not go about at times at the King's behest to deal with our kindred
in other places?'

Legolas laughed.

'Oh, reasonable Dwarf! I must study this art of yours, this
reasonableness! It could have its uses.'

'But then I should miss your elvish nonsense!'

Then they both laughed, and sat for a while content to watch the
cloud shadows drifting across the wide lands before them. Legolas
could see people working in the fields of Pelennor, making haste to
save what they could of the ravaged crops, plant anything that might
bring a late harvest, repair buildings, walls and fences, all
striving to undo the damage of war. Gimli's sight would never be so
keen at a distance, and he could not make out all the things Legolas
tried to describe to him, but he greatly enjoyed studying what was
closer to hand: anything from the seed heads of the mountain grasses
to the wings of the little blue butterflies that flittered about
restlessly until Legolas' elvish words kept them still long enough
for him to see what he wanted.

At last the sun began to sink. Even this long summer day would end.

'We could stay out all night,' said Legolas, - 'It will be fine and
warm.'

'Our friends' tempers may take the place of a thunderstorm if we
vanish without a word. All seems safe here, indeed, yet it may not be
so. I have no wish to begin by incurring the King's displeasure.'

'Ah! Reason again. You are right. We must go down before the barrier
is closed. Yet I feel peace here such as I have not felt since
Lórien. '

'Yes ... yes; but it was different, too; almost a sleep. We walked
and talked and looked as if in a dream, or so it seems to me now.'
'That is the way of the Golden Wood. It is at the heart of things,
and yet outside the world.'

Slowly they began to descend from their breezy green shelf on the
mountainside, and the fine bars of soft cloud drifting far away in
the east glowed with the light of the setting sun. Going down the
mountain proved harder than climbing up, and Gimli was glad of his
stout blackthorn.

'Shall I see the Golden Wood again?' Gimli wondered aloud, and
aswered himself: 'Perhaps, for it lies on our homeward way.'
'But surely you shall see her who is the heart of the heart. She will
come to the wedding. Gandalf has hinted as much.'

'He is a master of hints, most of them like the smoke from his pipe!
But that Galadriel should come to Arwen's wedding, that is -
reasonable.'

They scrambled down the last steep rocky slopes, among the boulders
and slabs of white rocks that gave the Ered Nimrais their name. As
the wind dropped to evening stillness, small sounds floated up to
them from the fields and the city: cattle lowing, the bark of a dog,
a trumpet signaling a change of guard: life going on in
Middle-earth.

Deep shadow was spreading in the grove of live-oaks, and the two
smiled at eachother in the quiet green gloom, remembering. As they
left, Legolas cut a small spray of leaves from a low branch.

'I shall keep this.'

'Have you many such treasures at home?' Gimli asked, smiling.

'A few. Mostly they remind me of things my mother taught me before
she sailed.'

'Ah! When you say that, I can see how a brown leaf might be worth
more than gold. But will the day come when nothing more remains of me
but withered leaves?'

Legolas halted, facing him, and said softly:
'Do not let doubt distress you. It comes and goes like cloudy
weather. Did not you say that the end will be as we shape it?'

Gimli rubbed a hand over his face as if clearing away a cobweb he had
walked into.

'Forgive me, Legolas. Even a Dwarf may falter on a new road. I could
see you, alone, with nothing but the leaves and your memories. Such
visions must be part of my burden, trees to whose roots I must lay my
axe!'

Many years would pass before he knew that the fleeting vision of a
golden-haired Elf alone with a handful of dried leaves and his
memories had shown him not Legolas but another.

Legolas tucked the spray of leaves into the top of his quiver, among
the arrows.

'I shall have you, and the leaves, and the memory of our days on the
mountainside - for who knows when we may walk this way again?'

He laid his hands on Gimli's shoulders, looking steadily into his
eyes.

'I meant the leaves as a memory of this day, nothing more or less. It
is I who should ask forgiveness.'

'You are forgiven. I am but a foolish Dwarf. You have brought me joy,
yet it is joy like a cliff-edge at times, from which one may fall and
be dashed to pieces.'

'Truly I believe that all great joys are such. We shall walk on the
heights, and we may stumble, but while we are true we shall not
fall.'

He drew Gimli close and held him tightly.

'Furnace of a Dwarf! We must return before the barrier is closed, and
seek our joy within the walls, away from cliff-edges!'

They reached the gate just in time and hurried in, but Legolas halted
in the paved square, looking down at the flagstones in the fading
light.

'It is dusk, and the light grows dim, yet it seems to me that this
gap is wider now than it was this morning - or do I presume too much
on seeing in a dwarvish way?'

Gimli looked as well.

'You do not presume, my friend. The gap is wider, though by no more
than the width of a grain of wheat - and it is longer too. See how it
reaches almost to the north side of the square? I like this not. I
must speak with the Guard Captain.'

Legolas tilted his head, listening.

'Gimli, can you hear - ?'

Instantly Gimli realised that, in the quiet of the evening, he could.

'Yes; water. An underground stream - a river, by the sound of it. I
begin to understand.'

He turned back to find the captain in charge of the Gate Guard.
Soon messengers were hurrying through the city to tell Faramir and
the Chief Surveyor of what seemed to be happening, and by the time
darkness had fallen, a lamplit council had assembled on the north
side of the square.

Plan were produced which confirmed the course of the stream beneath
the South Tower. Faramir ordered the tower barred to all, and the
adjacent part of the wall likewise. The guard were also to keep
people from using the track close to the wall when the barriers were
opened in the morning.

When the orders had been given, Legolas heard one of the soldiers
saying:
'That'll be why the sergeant's old cat's gone. Stayed all through the
fighting, she did, in the top guard room and had her kittens there
last week. And now she's gone, and taken the little ones with her -
Sergeant hasn't found her yet, getting really worried. Now it sounds
like she'll be all right and it's us that should worry!'

'They know things, animals do,' said a second voice in the shadows.

'He's right,' said Legolas; - 'They do.'

'Then I too think that the end of the South Tower is not far off,'
said Gimli; - 'Though there is little more to be done about it till
daylight.'

They spoke with Faramir and agreed to return early in the morning to
see the state of things, and then went home, leaving the guard and
some of the Surveyor's men to make sure no one went near the tower.
Once in bed they lay spooned together, the Elf's long body curled
around the Dwarf. Gimli was soon asleep, the question of the tower
set aside until morning, while Legolas travelled back in his mind to
his father's halls, and the river that ran under the mountain and out
at the water gate. He wanted to search for anything he could recall
that might help in dealing with the stream under the tower.
The next day was one of great activity at the gate, and sensation
throughout the city. The King himself came down, with Prince Imrahil
and the chief counsellors; Gandalf, Faramir and many others were
there, and the Chief Surveyor and his people came armed with all the
available plans and records.

It seemed that the underground stream or river passed under the
square roughly from north-west to south-east, turning more sharply
southwards thereafter, apparently following the line of the mountains
towards Anduin rather than flowing out under the Pelennor.

'Where rivers flow,' said Gimli, - 'Often there are waters under the
earth also, but the two are not always found together. I would like
to know more of the course of this stream, but wherever it flows, the
tower must come down.'

Some of the officials looked greatly dismayed by this, but the King
was ready to discuss the idea. The Chief Surveyor pointed out that
there was a way provided to go down into a chamber or tunnel under
the square through which the stream flowed. The entrance was in the
cellar of a small strongly built stone house, used as a Customs
House, in the south-east corner of the square.

'Aha!' said Gimli; - 'There will be much more to learn underground of
how this work was done at the first.'

Aragorn sood ordered a small party to investigate: the Chief Surveyor
and his clerk, Faramir, Gandalf, Gimli, a couple of guards to carry
extra lanterns; the King himself, and Legolas, who was determined to
go where Gimli went, and wished to compare this underground river
with his own.

The trap door in the Customs House cellar was very old, very heavy,
and had been secured with bolts, locks and chains, all of which had
long rusted with disuse and the inevitable dampness. The Surveyor's
clerk had all the keys, but they still had to send out for tools so
that Gimli could smash one lock off its shackle with a cold chisel
and a very heavy hammer before they could get in. It took four men to
lift the trap.

Gandalf decided to lead the way, conjuring from the tip of his staff
a strong white light which revealed broad stone steps leading down
into darkness filled with a loud noise of water. Small wonder that
Elf and Dwarf had heard it from above ground. 

The steps were of  well-cut stone, all part of the rock on which the
city was built, which formed both the steps and side walls, but the
roof was of masonry, as if an open space had been covered over to
form the square.

The stairs opened into a long chamber like an underground wharf with
a stone quay. When the investigators stepped out and looked to their
left, they could see where the noisy water gushed out of a natural
opening in the rock, to race in dark and gleaming turbulence, flecked
with white foam, past the smooth damp pavement, and vanish on their
right under a low arch of masonry.

Gimli had to raise his voice to tell Legolas that the river channel
should have been smoothed to make the water flow more quietly.

'How would you do that?' asked the Elf, interested.

'Cofferdams,' said Gimli succinctly.

The party turned their attention to the archway, walking carefully on
the slippery stone. Gandalf held his staff high, and with the light
from that and the lanterns they could soon see that there was
something amiss about the archway.

It seemed to have been built to strengthen a second natural opening
in the rock: rock which, as Gimli saw at once, was of a different
kind from that which formed the other end of the chamber. There was
evidently a some sort of fault line at the foot of the mountain, and
the ancient builders of Minas Anor had decided to work over it to
place their gate as they wished. But the second rock was of a less
strong and stable kind than the first - whence the arch.

Gimli hurried forward, expecting to find that the pavement in the
chamber would continue, at least as a narrow footway, under the arch
to allow inspection or repair, but it did not. Then, looking up, he
saw clearly something to give real cause for alarm. Above the stone
arch was a black rent in the rock, like a narrow mouth. He pointed,
and Gandalf came nearer with his staff. It seemed to the Dwarf that,
without yet losing much of its proper form, the arch had dropped
downwards, away from the rock it was meant to support.
The look on the face of the Surveyor as he saw the hole was the
confirmation of the Dwarf's fears, and a downward slope in the paving
at the end of the chamber told the same tale.

'We should take a look inside that hole,' said Gimli.

The height of it was a few inches beyond the reach of Legolas' long
arms. He looked at Gimli inquiringly, and the Dwarf, setting his back
against the wall, linked his strong hands to make a step for the Elf,
and lifted him up. He put rather too much effort into it, and almost
cracked Legolas' head on the rocky roof.

'Careful, Gimli!' cried Gandalf, as Legolas ducked and laughed,
catching hold of the rough edge of the fissure. Soon he was standing
on Gimli's shoulders, while Gandalf held his staff up.

'There seems to be quite a large space in here,' said the Elf. 

The reverberation of his strong clear voice bore this out. Suddenly
he heaved himself up and squeezed through the opening, long legs
disappearing with a wriggle and a kick.

A moment later his face appeared out of the darkness, and he reached
down a hand to take the lantern held up by one of the guards.

'Mad Elf!' muttered Gimli, half anxious and half envious. - 'Must
think he's a ferret!'

But he had to admit that he would probably not have got through the
gap so easily.

Before long Legolas came back and handed down the lantern; then he
turned around and slithered out feet first, stepping onto Gimli's
shoulders before jumping to the ground.

Everyone trooped back up the stairs and out into the square to hear
his report without the background roar of the water.

With the aid of the Surveyor's plans they could see that the archway
was the entrance to a tunnel, partly masonry and partly natural, that
seemed to extend out under the walls and then continue as the course
of the underground stream. From what Legolas had seen in the cavity,
it appeared that the far end of the masonry tunnel had suffered a
partial collapse, no doubt due to the weight and the shocks of Grond,
not severe enough to block the stream, but sufficient to destabilise
the ground and the city wall above.

'I felt the rock above me,' said the Elf; - 'and it seemed to me that
it cannot hold for long. It is not strong, and is being crushed by
the weight of the work above. I could sense it in the stone.'

'I believe it is as Legolas says,' said Gimli; - 'Though it may be
wise to make another survey before anything is done.'
Turning to Legolas, he said:

'You have become as a second pair of eyes to me, my friend, and I
scarcely need to look for myself. But it is as I feared,' he went on;
- 'There is great danger here, for this tower will surely fall if it
is not pulled down first. And it must be rebuilt from the lowest
foundations if Minas Tirith is to have a strong gate again.'

Aragorn listened attentively, wasting no time on thinking how
narrowly the city had escaped a massive breach in the defenses.

'That would be a great undertaking, the labour of many hands, for
many years. Yet it seems it may well be so. Firstly, then: what must
be done that the tower may fall with the least harm? And how shall
the city be secured while the new work is in hand? For what that work
must be cannot be known until the roots of the tower are laid open.'
The party went out down the causeway and looked up at the tall and
mighty tower beside the broken gate. Many of the city officials were
reluctant to believe that the tower either might or should fall. It
looked much as it always had.

Gimli prowled about, tapping the ground here and there with his
staff, and sometimes lying down on the ground, the better to hear the
voices of rock and hidden waters. Everything he saw and heard
persuaded him that the tower would fall.

'Have you sappers in your army here?' he asked Faramir.

'No; we have few with such skill. It is long since our people were
able to war against the enemy by those means.'

'Then if it does not fall of itself first, I may need to train up a
few of your men to aid me in bringing it down safely. It would take
far too long to send for any of my own folk.'

'We must await a decision on that.'

Afterwards Gimli grumbled to Legolas about the fondness of men for
talking and debating, and also about the lack of knowledge, even
among the most skilled in the city.

'This kingdom has declined further than it knows. Aragorn returned
just in time, I think.'

Debates about the tower continued for another day, and things moved
only slowly, as people began to accept that the tower might fall.

'How long do you think it could stand?' asked Legolas, when Gimli
returned, still grumbling, from another long discussion; - 'A month?
A year?'

'Maybe three or four days,' said the Dwarf.

He had been up to the top of the North Tower and studied it
carefully, to get an idea of the weight of stone at the top. He had
soon realised that it was much greater than appeared from below.
'Days?' said Legolas, incredulous.

'I'm sure of it, for the more it moves, though by but a little, the
next move is so much the easier. See, if you hold a banner on a
staff, it is harder to hold it out at an angle than upright, and if
the weight is no a mere banner, but the top of a great stone tower
... Yet I cannot convince them.'

The look on the Elf's face showed that he needed no more explanation
or convincing.

Neither did the tower, for in the early hours of the third morning
after Gimli had spoken, the city was awakened by a mighty rumbling
crash, and in seconds the tower lay in ruins beside the causeway.
Like everyone else, Elf and Dwarf started awake in the faint pre-dawn
light, and realised what had happened.

'Well, that's that!' said Gimli, and settled down again. - 'At this
hour there should have been none about to be hurt by it.'

Legolas shook his head, smiling. He could hear the city stirring
already as alarm and curiosity got the better of almost everyone,
while Gimli curled up on his side, ready to go back to sleep until a
more reasonable hour.

<Reasonable Dwarf!> he thought fondly, and snuggled beside him while
the city buzzed with unreasonably early and useless activity.