Chapter 3
"What are we?" ...continued...
The Commander read the last letter, and orders, from Amandil again. Hoping that, somehow, the words would have changed...
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Andunië April 3316
Dear Friend, do not think too harsh of me.
This journey... this mission of mine, I have to do without you by my side.
I know, you would have done anything... gone to any extreme, too join me in this... my distined voyage.
But this time, I will have to manage without you, my trustet and beloved Brother in heart, to aid, guide and protect me.
This fate, has always been mine... Your fate, takes another road.
You know about my dreams... the dreams with the eagles... The Eagle's of the West King-Lord, talking to me...
...well, my friend, the stories they told, were not all about me. Some was about my son and grandsons... and some was about you!
I only told you about, some of the dreams, regarding my family and myself... never has I told about my dream-visions regarding you. That is until now...
You already know about my journey, and why I believe it nessessary to be done.
In case of Ar-Pharazôn making his own, and false I may add, visions come true... and in case of failure, by my side, I have, by now, informed my son of my decision and given my instructions, regarding the gathering of the faithfuls and leaving Númenor towards the east.
By this time, I reckon that we have about two years, to fulfill our tasks, before Ar-Pharazôn has gathered enough strength, for him to dare the unspeakable.
If you, by then, have not heard from me or have been given any signs of my success, I urge you... no I beg you, to follow my instructions, to the very letter.
You may call them orders, if that makes you feel better, my friend...
My dreams :
I see you, on a ship, leaving an empty harbor, crying...
I see you, on a lonely ship riding the stormy waves, dancing and singing with the crew...
I see you, on a mountain, saving my son, by warning him of danger...
I see you, smiling and laughing, opun meeting me again...
My friend, here are my instructions for you...
1) You shall leave Númenor, and sail to the east, as the last ship to leave Romenna! Meaning, that you have to be sure no faithful is left behind.
2) You shall keep faith, hope and a good mood even when you seems to be alone, and in desperat situations! Meaning, your counsel, guidance and behaviour will make a difference.
3) You shall reach land and guide the rest of the faithfuls to safety! Meaning, You will be the reason, why the faithfuls reach the shores in the east.
4) Have faith, and keep it, my friend... We shall meet again!
I have selected three trustet boatsmen, to aid me on the ship... and have, by the time of your reading this, already set sail.
I have passed my Point-Of-No-Return, and shall, by the mercy of Eru, fulfill my destiny!
I trust you, my friend, in the fulfilling of yours as well, by believing in, and following of, my words.
One last order from your Lord :
I leave, in your care, the symbols of the Lord of Andunië, and the heritage of Silmariën, the Staff and the Ring!
To protect my family, and the faithfuls, I will keep the title as Lord of Andunië. That shall stand, until the day of departure of my son, where he shall be given the artifacts of Andunië but not claim the title!
With a pray to Eru, Ulmo and Ossë, for a safe journey, I bid you a Farewell...
Yours truely...
Lord of Andunië, Friend and brother!
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He still did not believe in the words of Amandil, how could he?... How could his Lord believe in thoughts, act upon and give orders based on dreams?
The moment of decision had come for Lord Amandil's Fleet-Commander. His own Point-Of-No-Return...
In the distant, you could hear the horns of the remaining land-troops of Ar-Pharazôn, under the command of his Counselor,
Sauron.
The Commander had followed the last order in the letter. The artifacts of Andunië, had been given to Elendil... and Elendil and his sons had already set sails.
"Commander, we have to leave... right now!", Captain Harafur shoutet his words out.
The Commander did not seem to listen... Inside he was fighting his own mental battle!
"If I Stand Ground... If I fight back, I could show them that we are no cowards... I will not leave my land, my
city, my house, all that I, my family and my familys ancestors have build, fought for and died for, without a fight! It might even be that, if I stay, others may join...", he thought for himself.
"The Captain is right... The Lord of Andunië is no more... He's not comming back. Elendil did not take the title... there's no Lord anymore. I serve the Lord of Andunië, but if there's no Lord... then who do I serve? If I leave, I'm obliged to serve Amandil's son... As long as I stay, I'm the highest rank... Am I in fact not Acting Lord of Andunië? If not I, then who should make a stand?"
The thoughts haunted him... when suddenly, to the sounds of the marching troops outside, he had a vision of his own...
He saw the birth of a boy, the same boy growing up, the boy becomming a man and then he saw the man die and perrish into oblivion!
Then he saw the same vision again... but this time, he also saw himself standing by the side of the boy, beside of the youth, besides the man and then he saw that mans son beeing born, and that boy growing up, becomming a man, becomming a father... and so on, and so on... for atleast 10 cycles, before that vision ended and another one started...
The last vision only lastet for a brief moment, but had the deepest impact... He saw Amandil... on a shiny white beach, waving to him... and besides him, a man-sized eagle...
He instantly knew the meaning of the visions... his doubts were all gone...
With the tears running down, he knew that the first boy, in the two first visions, was Elendil, and that only with his own presence, would the family-line of Valandil continue. And that the last vision, showed him the truth about Amandil... Not only was Amandils visions, and therefore his words, true, but that they were comming from, not the Lord of Andunië, but a betrustet and beloved friend and brother in heart and mind... and that he had found the wind of the great eagles and the way of Eärendil.
The Commander then realized, that he was all alone... His Captain had already boarded the ship and was on the verge of setting sails.
As fast as his feet could move, he ran to the harbor... the ship could not leave without him... it just couldn't... that would now be unbearable.
Just minuts before Sauron would have reached the Harbor and only seconds before the ship had left the pier, the Commander got there...
Almost out of breath, he called to the Captain...
"Permission for a fool of a Commander to enter the ship?", he shoutet as loud as he could, but startet to run up the gangway before he got any answer...
"Yeahh, you run you piece of...", the words faded in the wind, but were made perfectly clear by the gestures of the first soldiers that reached the harbor.
"Sail away, you cowards... you disbelievers... and don't come back... we'll be waiting for you, if you do...", they continued.
"Wellcome onboard, Commander, I'm glad that you change your mind...", Captain Harafur said.
"...Fool or no fool, we sure hoped that you would join us... something tells me, that you will be much needed on this voyage. What did change your mind, if I may ask?" he continued.
The ship left the pier and started its way out of the harbor and into the east...
The Commander stood and watched the empty harbor... with the tears running down, he realized that the first written vision of Amandils had come true...
"Lord Amandil did...", he answered, without any further explanations.
"I now know what we are...", he thought for himself,
"We are no cowards... No... We are the heirs of the last faithful Edain... We are the continuing of a long line of proud, powerfull and renowned men... We are the beginning of the new future!"
The tears startet running again...
"Praised be Eru... praised be all the West-Lords... and praised be you, Amandil, my friend and brother... my Lord... I'm so sorry for doubting you...", he shoutet in the wind.
"I now know what we are...."