The Vision

Barad-dûr, TA 3016

The Witch king of Angmar followed Sauron as they left the Audience Chamber. Sauron met with the ambassador fromSouth Harad, Mordor's close ally. After concluding the audience, they entered the robing room located behind the Dark Throne. Sauron pulled off the veil concealing his face and shrugged of his sable robe, handing them to an aide who stood waiting to receive them.

Formal duties discharged, they walked along the corridor to go back to whatever they were doing before the audience. Sauron paused, and put a hand over his heart. He drew a few deep breaths. "I feel so strange." he said, putting a hand on the wall for support. His face was colorless. He took a single step forward and collapsed.

"What happened?" asked one of the Black Númenorians, a trusted advisor.

Angmar knelt beside his Master. "He fainted." he said.

One of the others ran off to get Akhorahil, the fifth Nazgûl who was also Sauron's personal physician. Sauron didn't appear to be breathing, and Angmar couldn't find a pulse. He held his Master's lifeless hand, already growing cool. "Mairon [1], if you can hear me, squeeze my hand." Nothing. Angmar noticed that Sauron had the extreme stillness of a corpse, which can't be faked by a man holding his breath and lying very still. His lips and fingernails were blue. Angmar fought down a rising panic. He was a soldier, hardened by battle, but right then, he was as frightened as he had ever been.

Many images crowded in his mind at once, none of them welcome.

Of his Master lying in State on a bier before the High Altar, dressed in ceremonial robes, wearing a crown for the first time since Angmar had known him. Tar-Mairon, king and god, ought to lie in state wearing a crown. Angmar deeply regretted having to bury his Master without the Ring on his hand, but it was unavoidable since the Ring was still lost.

Of the almost certain internal disputes over who would be the next Dark Lord. The Witch King of Angmar, who didn't want it, was first in line to inherit the Dark Throne, while the Mouth of Sauron, a master of court intrigue who wanted it very badly, was second.

Of their enemies across the Anduin, who, as soon as they heard Sauron was gone, would strike hard and mercilessly. The orcs and trolls, normally under the Will of Sauron, would not answer to the Witch King. Without Sauron, they couldn't withstand the attack. Mordor was finished, and so were they.

Akhorahil arrived within a few minutes, carrying a medical kit. He knelt beside the patient. Angmar moved aside to give him room. Oddly, Akhorahil didn't look concerned. "He'll be all right." Akhorahil pronounced. "What do you mean, he'll be all right?" Angmar asked, his voice rising in near hysteria.

"He's having an out-of-body experience. It's a Maia thing. He warned me this might happen." said Akhorahil.

"How can you be sure?" pleaded Angmar.

"Think about it. When he was killed in theBattleof the Last Alliance, his body crumbled into dust. You witnessed it yourself. But that's not happening now, because he's coming back." said Akhorahil.

"When the Ring was cut from his hand, he hadn't yet crumbled into dust."

"He was mortally wounded, but he wasn't dead yet, he was unconscious from loss of blood. The Ring was cut from his hand, and he died a few minutes later." said Akhorahil.

Angmar looked away from Akhorahil and back at Sauron. He still wasn't breathing, but now he looked like a person lying very still, and not like a lifeless corpse. Angmar, who was still holding his Master's hand, felt his fingers twitch almost imperceptibly and felt the warmth was beginning to return to them. Presently his eyelids fluttered. "He's breathing." Akhorahil announced. He felt for a pulse. "And his pulse is back. See? I told you there was nothing to worry about."

When Angmar first entered his service, he didn't know Sauron was a Maia. Angmar had heard of the Valar and Maiar, had even studied their language and history in school. But to him, they were ancient beings who walked the earth before men existed. Who still walked the earth, but only in inaccessible Valinor in the uttermost West where the Ban forbade them to sail. Angmar did not expect to meet one of the Holy Ones in everyday life, ever.

As time went on, the Nazgûl speculated about their Master. They knew he was a powerful wizard and that he was exceedingly old. They knew only as much about his past as he told them, which was very little.

At first, because of his age and his vision into the non-physical world, they assumed he belonged to the race of Elves. And when he returned after the drowning of Númenor, they assumed that, against all odds, he'd escaped the disaster much like Isildur and Anárion had.

But after they saw him killed on the slopes of Orodruin and witnessed his body crumble away to dust, then saw him take form again a thousand years later, they knew it was something an elf could not do. That was when they really began to wonder it their Master was one of the Holy Ones. They asked him outright, but he was evasive. Finally Adûnaphel, the mouthy one, told him, "By the way, you can stop being coy about it, because we all know what race you belong to." She didn't, of course, but she pretended to.

Sauron never admitted he was a Maia, but after that, he became careless about concealing it, once letting it slip that he was older than the oldest of the elves. They knew he'd lived in Angband, but now he mentioned he'd been in Utumno as well. Angband was destroyed after the Awakening of the Elves, but Utumno was destroyed before.

Angmar smiled, thinking of how many discussions they'd on the subject and how long it had taken them to figure out their master was a Maia. Because with the knowledge he had now, he could spot a Maia easily by looking for the telltale off-round pupils they all had. The feature even had a name. Maia eyes.

After they left the robing room, Sauron found himself struggling to breath. He was taking in air, but not getting any benefit from it. He started to pass out. He couldn't see. He grabbed the wall for support, but staggered forward and fell.

He found himself on his knees in the Timeless Halls, looking up at Ilúvatar. He froze.

Ilúvatar spoke. "Mairon. You will go to Aman [2]."

"Oh no. Oh please no. No no no no no noooo!" He began to wail.

"Be silent. You will go on an errand for me …"

"Don't make me go there! Take me now! I'm begging you!" He said more, but it was unintelligible.

"Mairon! You're not a good listener, are you?" said Ilúvatar. With a motion of his hand, he struck Sauron dumb. Suddenly, he could make no sound other than his breathing, broken with sobbing.

"You will go to Aman, to the Mansions of Aulë. Yavanna is in Arda right now. She will tell you where to meet the ship, and when to be there."

"When you arrive, you will find a way to reconcile with your Master Aulë. How you do it is up to you. You will be there for two or three days. Manwë knows that you are under my protection and that you have immunity from arrest. Afterwards, you will return to Arda and continue doing … whatever it is you do."

Ilúvatar released Sauron from his constrained silence. "Do you have any questions?"

"Why is this happening now?" asked Sauron.

"I have recalled Aulë to the Timeless Halls. I want to give him a chance to say goodbye to all of his people, including yourself." replied Ilúvatar.

"One more question? What happened to Melkor after he went into the Void?" Sauron pleaded. "Please, is he all right?" Sauron prayed for Melkor often, so Ilúvatar was not surprised by the question. He just chose not to answer it.

Sauron opened his eyes and found himself lying on the stone floor in the corridor. He started to sit up, but Akhorahil gently pushed him down again.

He looked at Angmar with eyes that wouldn't focus yet. "Tindomul." he mumbled. [3]

"I'm here." said Angmar. What happened?"

"I had a vision. I have them sometimes." Sauron answered.

"Why didn't you didn't warn us about them?" said Angmar.

"Until now, they only happened when I was alone." Sauron answered.

"Are you going to tell us what you saw in the vision?"

"No." Sauron said firmly, and the matter was closed.

Later, Angmar asked his Master, "Why don't you wear a crown? Your master Melkor wore one, and so do I."

Sauron answered, "The first and only time I tried on a crown, it slipped off my head. I tried to grab it, but it landed on my foot and broke my toe. Since then, I haven't liked crowns much."

Angmar said, "My crown isn't heavy, even though it's made of steel. And crowns of gold can be thin, so they aren't heavy either. How did a crown break your toe? And how did you fail to catch it?"

"It was heavy because it was made of iron. And I did catch it, but I let go when it burned my hand. I never did like Silmarils, and after that, I liked them even less.

Notes:

[1] Mairon ('Admirable') is Sauron's Quenya name. Sauron ('Abhorred' or 'Lord of Filth') is his Sindarin name. He liked his Quenya name better.

[2] Aman refers to theUndyingLands, Valinor and Tol Eressëa, and Arda is Middle Earth.

[3] Tindomul son of Ciryatan is the name Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE) gave to the Witch King of Angmar. Tindomul is Quenya for 'Twilight Son', so named because he was born during a solar eclipse and because he has jet black