Artíre's Revenge by WendWriter

Chapter 2

Sauron stood with his cohorts, gloating about the success of the inauguration. He was pleased that the people accepted without question everything told to them by their priests, and were willing to adhere to the word of Moko, no matter the cost.

Artíre entered the temple wearing Kanu's body. It felt awkward to the Maia, who had never taken a physical form. All of his concentration was required to move the legs and to keep himself upright. He had actually fallen on his face a few times already, but he did not feel any pain. The nerves which would have carried those sensations were no longer working, as Kanu's brain was no longer functioning. Seeing and hearing also required an extraordinary effort of will. Artíre could no longer rely on his Maiar awareness, mostly because he was so distracted by the frustration he felt at attempting to manoeuvre this cumbersome frame.

"Kanu!" a Man whispered loudly. "Where have you been?"

Artíre froze as he searched Kanu's memory for the name of this Man, losing control of the body as he did so.

"Kanu!" called Kanu's friend, concern in his voice. "Somebody help!"

A name crept into the Watcher's consciousness from the depths of Kanu's memory. Trindor. That was the name of the friend. Having crumpled to the floor due to the effort of thinking, Artíre, who had no desire to draw attention to himself, quickly stood up on Kanu's feet. "Trindor," he rasped, "I am well. Do not concern yourself, my friend."

Men had begun to gather around the sickly-looking Kanu and his concerned friend Trindor.

"Aieee, the blood has drained from his face!" declared one, pointing dramatically.

"Behold his skin, it is purple and waxy!" another hissed, horror tainting his voice.

Artíre tried to move the blood through the body by force of will, to no avail. Half an hour had elapsed between his possession of Kanu's body and his return to the temple, and Kanu's blood had begun to congeal. Kanu's body jerked awkwardly with Artíre's attempts to control it. His hands and feet were turning blue, and his eyes were becoming increasingly hard to control as they sank back into his skull. Since all of Kanu's muscles had completely relaxed, it was taking every bit of concentration the Watcher could muster just to keep on standing. He was carrying a dead weight in every sense of the word. Artíre was finding the whole experience increasingly oppressive, and longed to simply allow Kanu to fall. However, the attention of the people surrounding him was beginning to alert the people near the altar as well as the rebel Maiar to the fact that something strange was going on.

The irony of the situation he now found himself in compounded Artíre's discomfort. After all, he had sought Kanu's body out as a hiding place. Perhaps he could remain in it for a while longer if he allowed Kanu to drop and be declared dead. He could conceal himself in the corpse. Artíre looked towards the altar and saw Sauron moving towards him, and the Watcher realized he would have to end the pretense of being a Man.

Needing something to lean on, Artíre put his hand on Trindor's shoulder. Trindor leapt back in horror, unable to bear being touched by a dead Man's hand. He knew perfectly well that whoever was looking at him out of Kanu's glazed eyes, it was not the baker he had known for many years. Trindor struggled desperately against the corpse's grip, flailing wildly as he tried to flee the crowded temple.

The other Men nearest to Kanu, seeing Trindor's terror, also tried to escape, shoving other Men out of their way as they did so. Scuffles broke out as Men were pushed this way and that, and a rumour spread that a demon who devoured Men's souls had come inside the temple seeking victims to feast upon. Panic spread, and a riot began as some went to investigate while others tried to get away.

The King was furious that this display of outrageous behaviour should occur at the inauguration of the temple and demanded that the tumult cease forthwith. Striving to take command of the situation, he ordered his men to quell the violence and to restore order to the proceedings. His shouts fell on deaf ears as conflicting stories volleyed back and forth among Men of what had just occurred.

Sauron, who was standing beside the king, went to the main doors of the temple where the main fracas was, accompanied by some Maiar servants. Since they were all unembodied, they were not weighed down by the burden of bearing flesh, and could move easily between the agitated people as they roared incoherently about demons and monsters, spouting the superstitions Sauron and his minions had assiduously planted in their minds.

The temple would have emptied more easily if the temple guards at the main entrance were not trying so hard to force people back inside at spearpoint. Some of them laid about their fellow Men with cudgels, drawing blood as they as they beat them.

"What is happening?" the lieutenant shouted. He had never seen anything like this, though he had been present at scenes of drunken revelry at similar events.

"There is a demon in there, one who devours Men's souls!" screamed a desperate worshipper.

"At the inauguration? Surely you have been drinking!" scoffed the lieutenant. "Cease this foolish talk, you are starting a panic!"

Indeed, as he spoke these words, people were flooding out of the temple in a great wave like water from a burst dam. If he simply allowed it, people would trample each other underfoot and there would be unrest throughout the city as a result.

"Let me out!" begged another Man. "There is a Man in there who is dead, yet he walks and talks! He tried to seize me!"

"There is no dead Man, there is no demon, but there is a king who will surely punish us all if we do not calm down!" roared the lieutenant. What was wrong with these people? Had they gone mad?

"The demon is coming this way! Flee!" Trindor warned, scrabbling over some other Men in his haste to escape.

The lieutenant shouted in vain for order as a tide of Men overwhelmed him. As the lieutenant had predicted, people were indeed trampled underfoot as the crowd rushed out of the temple and unfortunately, he was one of them.

Sauron and his cohorts moved quickly to the doors, attempting to ascertain the source of the commotion, but by the time they arrived there, most of the common people had left. A few of them were lying injured or dead on the floor, some of them crushed beyond recognition. Sauron turned to his minions and said, "Go and walk among Men; listen to their conversations until you discover the cause of this commotion. I will not tolerate failure!"

He glanced briefly at the corpses lying around, trying to fathom the reasons for the panic he had witnessed, but nothing came to mind.

Artíre remained in his hiding place, keeping very still. He dared not do anything that might arouse Sauron's suspicions. He left Kanu's body as quickly as he could and found another one to house himself for the moment. Perhaps if he tried to seize a Man while he was asleep, he would be more successful. One of the limbs of the cadaver twitched, frightening the Watcher. What had he done to cause that movement? He dared not permit it to happen again. Surely Sauron would find him now, and would drag him back to Angband and report him to Melkor for ruining the inauguration of the temple of Moko. All hopes of sundering Sauron from Melkor would be dashed, and the punishments they would devise for him would surely be cruel.

Sauron noticed the movement and came to take a closer look.