Another month and a week had passed since Delioron’s meeting with Tarîkbên at Parth Galen, and nothing had happened. The passing of days had no meaning to him anymore. Listening to the incessant rushing of the Falls of Rauros for weeks and months had started to make everything feel unreal to him – Tarîkbên, Parthadan, his mission here, his life in Gondor before Amon Hen. All of it felt unreal now, distant, almost immaterial.
The only thing that provided any variation to the numbing monotony of his days were his trips to Walstow every fortnight for supplies and the affair of loveless passion he had with Mildrith, the crofter’s daughter. During his lonely nights at Amon Hen he could almost imagine that the love between them was real. It was the only thing that could warm him up in this cold, barren ruin.
He would eat his rations sparingly, guard his fire with care and trust that the calls of the birds would warn him of intruders. Sometimes he would lie awake for hours, just listening to the howling of the wind. Sometimes he would crouch below the remnants of the gateway with a sword in hand, imagining he was hearing eerie voices calling his name through the rushing of Rauros. He would sweat with fear, and when the sun came up he would be ashamed.
Delioron was close to reaching his breaking point. The days passed by and nothing ever happened, but still he felt like he was being trapped inside a dead eye in the center of a hurricane.
When the calls of the birds woke him up and he heard the sound of footsteps from the courtyard, he was filled with dread. For a few seconds he sat still, all senses alert, clenching at the hilt of his sword with all his strength. When somebody called him it took a long time before he could manage a reply. The only word he spoke sounded alien and grisly even to his own ears. He stood up and walked down the stairs of the summit.
There was a dwarf standing in the courtyard, dressed in a padded dark gray mantle and brown cloak. He wore a sturdy battleaxe on his belt. It was never easy to guess the age of a dwarf, but there was no gray on his thick black beard.
”I beg your pardon, sir, but I noticed someone was camping here”, the dwarf said. ”Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Kimrin, from Zigil-jâbal. At your service, and your family’s!”
Delioron said nothing. He stared at the dwarf with the silence of a frozen expanse of snow.
”May I join you up there? I would like to talk to you”, Kimrin asked.
”You can talk to me from where you are”, Delioron said. ”I can hear you fine.”
”I can assure you that you have nothing to fear from me. I am just a weary traveler, come here to admire the stonework of these old ruins.”
”Me too”, Delioron replied.
Kimrin frowned. ”I didn’t mean to invade your privacy”, he said.
”No.”
”It’s just that I’ve been traveling for a long time and I haven’t seen or talked to anyone in weeks. Sometimes I get tired just talking to myself and wouldn’t mind an actual conversation with someone. Don’t you ever feel like that?”
”No”, said Delioron.
”I can hear from your accent that you hail from Gondor. May I ask you what is a traveler from Gondor doing this far from home?”
”Enjoying life.”
Kimrin stared. It took a while before he managed to conjure up a polite smile. ”I doubt there can be much enjoyment to be found in this desolate place.”
”I like desolate places. Nobody bothers me. Usually.”
”I see.” Kimrin’s smile vanished. ”Are you a scholar?”
”Everyone’s a scholar.”
Irritation was beginning to darken Kimrin’s features. ”I wasn’t trying to pry!”
”Of course you were.”
”I beg your pardon?”
”You are not here by coincidence”, Delioron said. ”You keep trying to put on a friendly face and fish for answers in spite of me giving you a cold shoulder. A random traveller would have taken the hint already.”
”You sure have a talent for rudeness, stranger!” Kimrin snapped. ”But alright, have it your way. I will leave you to your peace, but I will not go very far. Know that I have been keeping an eye on you for a week already. I know that you are waiting for something here, but I don’t know what or why.”
”Why do you care?”
”Because chances are you are waiting for the same thing I came to look for in here.”
”And what might that be?”
”Oh no. It could have been more pleasant if we could have sat down together to break bread and discuss things. Perhaps we could have helped each other out. But since this is how you want to play it, you won’t get anything out of me either. But don’t think for a second that I’m just going to disappear and go back home. You will have to kill me to get rid of me!”
Delioron said nothing to that. Kimrin the dwarf turned his back on Delioron and marched out of the courtyard through the gateway. Delioron watched him go.
A month and a week had passed since the meeting with Tarîkbên at Parth Galen, and finally something had happened. Delioron had no doubt that the sudden appearance of Kimrin the dwarf was somehow connected to the business of Tarîkbên and Thráin, but he could not piece together what kind of game was being played out here. It felt like a trap, but for whom it was intended to?
He had a feeling he would not have to wait much longer now.
