"Melina..."
Tarnes' trembling voice slowly permeated the entire courtyard like a stream, while the maiden not far in front observed him with eyes he couldn't fathom.
Of course, Tarnes also thought perhaps she was receiving memories from eight cycles like others who had just been summoned.
Melina was indeed organizing the memories that had suddenly appeared in her mind, just as Tarnes suspected.
Among the memories churning and surfacing in her mind, there were times she had hunted down Tarnished who walked the path of the Frenzied Flame, but more often there was the Tarnished on the snowy mountain who wouldn't let go of her hand even while magically put to sleep.
Melina let out a long breath, first curiously raising her hand to examine the flesh the Golden Tree had granted her anew, not realizing her action made Tarnes nervous.
Then her lips curved into a beautiful arc, still that familiar voice, as she said to Tarnes, "Hmm... I think you should have many things to say to me and many things to explain. But it's alright. This time we have plenty of time. I'll quietly listen to you tell the story I don't know about you."
Hearing Melina's words, Tarnes' eyes instantly reddened as some heavy burden finally lifted from his heart.
He had been truly afraid, very afraid, that Melina, having recovered her memories and knowing he had once devoted himself to the Frenzied Flame, would face him with that cold attitude filled with hatred and hostility.
Only you. I don't want to see you look at me with that tone again.
Tarnes said in his heart.
He took a deep breath, trying to stay calm, but the trembling in his voice betrayed his emotions. "Alright..."
The Golden Tree's radiance became gentle here, flowing like melted honey across the open space before the cathedral.
Melina's features were clearer than in Tarnes' memory. She lightly stepped over floating golden rune fragments, each step creating ripples like sparks.
Then she stood before Tarnes, easily removing his helmet to reveal the still young and handsome face beneath.
However, unlike when Melina first met him, Tarnes' eyes no longer shone with vitality as before but seemed to have experienced the vicissitudes of time.
Melina raised her hand, warm fingers gently stroking Tarnes' slightly stubbled cheek, then lowered it.
Tarnes met Melina's gaze, his throat bobbing as he said, "I haven't gained or lost weight."
But Melina looked him over, handed the helmet to Tarnes, and pinched her nose. "I wasn't thinking about whether you'd gained or lost weight. I just think you still don't like bathing as before. I can smell sweat as soon as you remove your helmet. And did you attend a banquet tonight? Your clothes reek of mixed wine and food smells. Even rats wouldn't want to come near."
But facing Melina's sharp tongue, Tarnes felt a long-missed familiarity.
He smiled and explained, "There was indeed a banquet tonight, and yesterday I was celebrating with new friends in a distant place after defeating a powerful enemy."
While pinching her nose, Melina asked with concern, "Are you injured anywhere?"
Tarnes shook his head, even complaining somewhat childishly, "No. You know I defeated many flying dragons and ancient dragons in the Lands Between, but Radahn refused to let me fight that dragon no matter what, while he enjoyed the fight himself. Though he later explained his reasons, I still feel a bit annoyed."
Melina asked in confusion, "Radahn?"
Tarnes held his helmet at his waist with one hand while extending the other to Melina. "Mm, the General Radahn you and I both know. But so much happened in between. Come with me to find a quiet place suitable for talking in the royal capital, and I'll tell you everything I've experienced during this time."
Without any hesitation, Melina placed her hand in Tarnes' palm, softly saying, "Alright."
Tarnes gripped Melina's hand tightly, as if afraid she might suddenly disappear, then whistled for his spirit steed to summon Torrent.
"Ah, Torrent, it's been so long. Thank you for staying by Tarnes' side all this time." After Tarnes helped her sit sideways on horseback, Melina gently stroked Torrent.
Seeing Melina, Torrent paused for a moment before happily wagging his tail and snorting, carrying the two slowly through the temporarily empty and quiet Royal Capital, Leyndell.
Seeing Torrent's behavior, Tarnes joked, "See, even Torrent missed you, Melina."
After Melina softly hummed in acknowledgment, she quietly prepared to listen to Tarnes tell the stories she didn't know.
Tarnes also tactfully didn't ask Melina where she wanted to start listening, directly telling her bit by bit about his experiences after coming to Middle-earth.
When the morning star fell into the horizon, Torrent's mane brushed away the last wisp of night mist.
Melina sat quietly behind Tarnes, her fingertips unconsciously stroking the cloak on the back of his armor.
Tarnes' narration rose and fell with the evening wind, while Melina's timely questions filled the gaps in his words.
"...That day Smaug's breath seemed to melt all of Dale, but Radahn used gravity magic to deflect the dragonfire elsewhere..."
"...When we stormed the Lonely Mountain, it was still Bilbo Baggins who reminded us where to find the enemy leader, then we came to the Mountain's depths. Just like when you and I traversed Leyndell's sewers, we found the enemy leader Azog..."
Melina kept her eyes lowered, watching Tarnes from behind, sometimes her fingers unconsciously gripping a corner of his cloak due to the thrilling experiences he described.
Torrent would occasionally stop to nibble dew-covered wild grass, the pouch hanging from the saddle swaying with the plot of Tarnes' story, as if containing Gandalf's pipe, Bard's harpoon, and Thorin's Icerind Hatchet all together.
When the first ray of sunlight broke through the clouds, Tarnes was just seeing Dain's iron hammer crush the last troll skull.
Unknowingly, Torrent had brought Tarnes and Melina to the top of the royal capital's main gate, where towering walls shrouded the city like a giant curtain while buildings within awakened in the morning light.
"Look, I knew Nepheli Loux and the others would definitely travel at night to come check the situation."
Standing on the wall, Tarnes pointed to the distance where a group of people could be faintly seen approaching outside the royal capital.
Only then did Melina realize Tarnes' narration had long since stopped. During this one night, Tarnes had ground his roughly two years in this world into fragments beneath Torrent's hoofbeats.
Melina looked at Tarnes and softly asked this Tarnished, who had willingly sought a way forward for the Lands Between because of her words, "Have you never hated me?"
Tarnes' movements stopped.
After an unknown period of silence, he said hoarsely, "Of course I once resented you. During those nights of gradual madness, I roared at Grace, demanding why I should burn myself for one person."
Melina pressed her lips together, but before she could speak, she was interrupted by Tarnes' clearer voice after he cleared his throat. "But perhaps because of your influence, I also developed feelings for the flowers and grass of the Lands Between. Though that world was broken and tattered, there were still people like you willing to mend it into something beautiful."
Then Melina saw Tarnes turn to her with the same silly smile from their first meeting. "So don't overthink this issue. Didn't I also once not listen to your advice about walking the path of the Frenzied Flame? And I did many strange things during that cycle's journey. Shall we call it even between us?"
Melina was made to smile by the silliness on Tarnes' face, then suddenly pinched his earlobe with her fingertip, making Tarnes grimace. "You think jumping into lava and stealing Rot spawn mushrooms counts as even? Someday when your brain gets roasted into honey pancakes by the Frenzied Flame, I could use rune fragments to make you a new brain, if your remaining intelligence is still enough to understand the word 'danger.'"
Tarnes quickly changed the subject. "Let's go down the wall first. Nepheli Loux is almost at the city gates."
Only then did Melina release Tarnes' earlobe, though there wasn't even a red mark from her pinching.
In the Lands Between, when Tarnes and Melina first came to the Royal Capital Leyndell, the main gate couldn't be opened.
But this time, the hundred-meter stone doors slowly opened to both sides, causing slight tremors on the ground. Even Tarnes, who had seen too many wondrous sights, was stirred by this scene.
"Tarnes!"
From far away, Nepheli Loux saw the tiny figure after Leyndell's massive gates opened and quickly called his name.
This time she had only brought her right and left hands, Storm Knights Oleg and Engvall, though Bilbo and Legolas were also curious about how they'd just lain down when golden light covered them, so they voluntarily followed.
The Elves, humans, and Dwarves who had long lived in the Golden Tree territory were already used to this phenomenon.
No matter. It was definitely Lord Tarnes performing his magical sorcery, summoning buildings from his homeland to this land.
The only thing affecting them was having to update and memorize their current location on maps again, lest they get lost when traveling far from home.
The most troubled might be Haight Fort, responsible for daily territorial patrols, as they'd definitely need to replan patrol routes with Stormveil Castle's relocation.
But with Stormveil Castle's storm eagles helping from the sky, surely their hardworking Kenneth Haight would successfully complete his work.
This time Tarnes summoned the Royal Capital Leyndell to replace Stormveil Castle's position, while the original Stormveil Castle was moved toward the direction between Shabard and the Great Port of Tarren Dell.
Simply put, Stormveil Castle currently lies southeast of Minas Tirith.
Of course, Stormveil Castle wasn't too far from the Royal Capital, Leyndell, or Nepheli Loux and the others wouldn't have been able to reach the royal capital in one night.
Tarnes brought Melina over, just in time to see Legolas staring wide-eyed at the Royal Capital Leyndell behind them.
His emerald pupils reflected the royal capital, where grandeur and decay coexisted, the Golden Tree's radiance dyeing his cheeks honey-colored.
Legolas exclaimed in admiration, "By great Ilúvatar above, there could be such miraculous architecture in the world."
After a brief surprise, Bilbo looked at Tarnes. He had noticed from the start the female figure who kept her face hidden under a hood behind Tarnes.
Therefore, Bilbo walked over and directly asked, "Tarnes, who is behind you...?"
The hobbit cleverly didn't say the name he suspected, as Tarnes had told him quite a few names of women he'd met, and Rogier's supplements had let Bilbo know more about Tarnes' complex relationships with these women.
Like Miss Millicent, whom he'd met at the Mountain, who clearly harbored indescribable emotions toward Tarnes.
Therefore, Bilbo thought if he randomly said a woman's name that didn't match the person behind Tarnes, he'd definitely bring some small troubles to Tarnes' future life.
So Bilbo chose to let Tarnes speak for himself.
Tarnes didn't understand Bilbo had thought so much in just a few seconds. Hearing the question, he happily answered, "I've told you her story. She's Melina."
Oh, the woman whose name Tarnes mentioned most frequently.
What was the name of the woman Tarnes mentioned second-most frequently? Seemed to be called Ranni?
Bilbo inconspicuously glanced at Tarnes, then smiled and nodded, standing on tiptoe to extend his hand to Melina in friendly greeting. "Hello, I'm Bilbo Baggins, Tarnes' first friend after coming here."
Melina paused, then lightly leaped down from Torrent, briefly shook hands with the hobbit before releasing, lowered her hood, and replied softly, "Hello, esteemed Mr. Bilbo. Last night Tarnes also told me about you. I'm very grateful you provided warm shelter and food when he most needed help."
Just as Bilbo was about to say it was nothing, he heard Melina continue, "Also, if Tarnes does things in front of you that can't be understood by normal thinking, like suddenly swinging a sword at walls claiming there are hidden doors, or suddenly smashing all the tables and chairs in a house, I apologize for him as well."
"Huh?" Now it was Bilbo's turn to be stunned.
Tarnes quickly said, "That's not true. I'm not some mental case. I can distinguish when to do what and when not to."
You really did such things!?
Bilbo suddenly looked up at Tarnes in surprise.
At this moment, Nepheli Loux stepped forward and said to Tarnes, "Congratulations on summoning Leyndell as well. In just one night you accomplished such a great feat."
Tarnes replied, "You didn't come specifically to say this, did you?"
Nepheli Loux shrugged. "Naturally not. After all, this isn't your first time summoning buildings. I was planning to tell you this morning when you came to the lord's hall anyway, since you just brought friends back yesterday and the Storm Legion also needed me to assess post-battle conditions."
Tarnes asked, "What is it?"
Nepheli Loux smiled lightly. "Relax, it's nothing urgent. While you were busy with Mountain affairs, two rangers claiming to be from the 'Black Gate' came. They heard about the Golden Tree and came to see, leaving a letter inviting Golden Tree territory people to visit the Black Gate. If you have time now, come back to Stormveil Castle with me. I'll give you the letter, and you can decide for yourself."