Another Man's Trash by Uvatha the Horseman

---

Chapter 11 - Easy Come, Easy Go

---

Chapter 11 - Easy Come, Easy Go

Saruman stood on the slender bridge and considered how to pass through the Elvish camp unnoticed. If the Elves found the notebook on his person, they might take it from him That must not happen.

In the middle of camp, a group of Elvish warriors pressed around Urzahil. Two of them seized him by the arms, then frog-marched him into the largest tent. Saruman had no inclination to rescue the timid bureaucrat. Serves him right for running off.

He didn't think the Elves would hurt Sauron's clerk, but they would question him, and he would talk. It didn't matter. Urzahil knew nothing about the notebook.

Every eye in the Elvish camp was fixed on the arrest, which allowed Saruman to slip away unnoticed. He made it through without being stopped and hurried up the slope to his own camp.

When he reached their campsite, Wormtongue was tending the fire and threading pieces of rabbit meat onto skewers for their supper. One of the horses tossed its head, jingling the bridle. Saruman relaxed for the first time all day.

The horses were saddled and the gear was packed. He and Worm should leave now. Forget supper and just go. If they rode out of here right now, they could reach the bottom of the hairpin path before it got really dark.

"Worm, forget about supper. We're leaving now."

Worm left to get the horses. Saruman almost danced with impatience. As soon as Worm's back was turned, Saruman ducked into the cool darkness of the tent. There was nothing inside. Worm had finished packing, and had already stowed their gear behind the saddles.

Saruman sat in the hollow of sand where his bedroll used to be and drew the notebook from his sleeve. He turned the pages until he saw the drawing of a trebuchet in the margin. It was the right notebook.

He turned a few more pages and came to Sauron's Ring-making instructions. It was all there, the descriptions of the enchantments, trace elements and heat treatments. Once he'd read and understood the next five pages, he'd know how to make his own Great Ring. He smiled as a wave of triumph swept over him.

"Come outside, you need to see this." Worm's voice was tight.

"Not now, I'm busy."

"The Elves are coming up the hill. All of them."

Saruman dropped the notebook and leapt to his feet.

Outside, scores of Elves advanced up the hill. It appeared that the entire Elvish encampment had joined the group. Urzahil was there too, the only one among them clad in black.

The afternoon sun glinted from their helms and the tips of their spears. Even the prisoners were with them, and they were carrying weapons, too. Saruman couldn't guess what Urzahil had told them, but it must have been good.

Without turning his head, Saruman said, "Worm, there's a book in the tent. See that the Elves don't find it." Worm nodded and ducked inside.

Saruman took a few steps down the hill as if to meet them, anything to keep them away from camp and the notebook. He waited, affecting a relaxed posture.

The Elves came within hailing distance. Lord Enron fixed Saruman in an icy stare.

"Sauron's servant said some disturbing things about you." The Elf lord beckoned Urzahil forward. "Tell him what you told me."

The cringing bureaucrat glanced at the Elf lord. "Sauron and the White Wizard spoke together on the Palantir almost every day. I know this because I was in the room, taking notes."

If by "spoke together" you mean he talked without pause while I struggled to get a word in, then yes.

"The White Wizard badgered Sauron to name him as his successor."

He didn't even say no, he just laughed.

Behind him, Warm bustled around camp, moving between the brush pile and the fire. The heat grew uncomfortably warm against his back.

"He went into the Tower to look for anything Sauron wrote about making a Ring." Saruman glared at him, and Urzahil looked at the ground.

The Elves moved up the hill, their faces grim, their hands on the hilts of their weapons. Tremors from the eruptions matched the cadence of their steps.

Saruman backed away, putting the fire pit between himself and the Elves. It wasn't much of a defense, but it was something. He used an enchantment to make the fire burn more intensely. The flames rose up with a whoosh, and bluish smoke rose in coils.

The creosote reek from the desert scrub brush was joined by a second, more acrid smell. It reminded him of burning leather. He'd probably just incinerated their supper but he couldn't worry about that now.

The Elvish lord met his eye through the flames, then drew his sword. A resinous twig popped in the fire. Saruman glanced down. A corner of a leather-bound book poked out from the coals, all that remained of his precious notebook. Saruman stared at it, completely inarticulate.

"But you said to burn it," Wormtongue whined.

I meant the other one. The one which held nothing but meeting notes, now tucked away in Saruman's saddlebags. Saruman thought his head would explode.

Saruman considered killing his servant, actually killing him and making him dead. He pulled his dagger from its sheath, exposing two fingers of the blade. But then I wouldn't have a servant. He dropped the dagger back in its sheath.

A booming explosion rocked the air, a thrumming vibration more felt than heard. Lava fountained from the volcano, and the shaking made him stagger. The watchtower overbalanced, then broke loose and fell, raining bricks and roof tiles onto the walls below.

Stone blocks tumbled from the parapets and cracks appeared in the lower wall. The entire Tower seemed to tip, and the whole thing went over. Dust buried the debris like surf foaming over rocks. When it cleared, only one of the main gates was still standing. As they watched, it went over with a plink.

Where the Elvish encampment had been, Lord Enron's pennant stuck through the rubble, apparently unharmed. The Elves froze, staring at the devastation. Finally, one of them spoke, and Saruman learned a new Elvish word, although not one he could use in front of children.

Saruman edged toward the spot where their horses were tethered. "Well, Worm, let's get out of here before they notice we've gone."