New Dream Adventures of Raven Knight

2017, 05-16

The Madness of Denethor

I am walking on the streets of a city straight out of a fantasy game. The roads are long and curving, running between buildings of stone. There is a lot of commotion going on around me, and no one seems to be paying any attention to the fact I’m there. I walk along the road for a bit to try to find out what is going on here. I hear the sounds of a battle from the outside of the walls and I am thinking I should go there and do whatever I can to help out. I am about to go when someone comes up calling my name. It’s a hobbit, it’s Pippin! He says he’s looking for Gandalf, but maybe I can help… he says the Lord Denethor has taken leave of his senses and plans to burn himself and Faramir in the houses of the dead! I say I will help him, but as we go I ask what this is about Faramir, because last time I saw Faramir he was fine. Pippin says Faramir went out to battle but was brought back because he’d been struck down with a poison arrow, but he’s not dead yet and maybe can still be saved if Denethor would listen to reason. He says Denethor is somehow convinced Boromir has fallen in battle, and when Faramir was brought back wounded he seemed to lose it!

As Pippin and I make our way to the top of Minas Tirith and to the houses of the dead I see a lot of people look like giving up. I focus on the song Not Gonna Die by Skillet to try to give them positive energy and hope. “No, not gonna die tonight! We're gonna stand and fight forever! Don’t close your eyes… No, not gonna die tonight! We're gonna fight for us together! No, we’re not gonna die tonight!” We get to the door to the Steward House and find Beregond holding the door against other soldiers who seek to pass with torches. Pippen looks disheartened. He says he should have gotten Gandalf, no offense to me, but they won’t listen to just anyone. I don’t heed that, I just go over to the group. One of the soldiers trying to get in says they must do Denethor’s bidding. I comment that I thought they were supposed to protect the Lord Denethor… he immediately says they are! I tell him now the Lord Denethor is sick, and he needs to be protected from himself most of all. But I have the cure, just let me pass. Beregond steps aside and lets me in.

Inside I find Denethor and Faramir lying on a stone table with wood stacked around them. He looks up when he hears someone enter. I tell him this will stop now. He says no, Boromir is dead, he has seen it, Faramir is dying and already burning, all will burn… why wait? He stands and says he must do everything himself and walks towards the door. I block his path, using the song Not Gonna Die by Skillet. “Don’t you give up on me! You’re everything they need! This is how it feels when you take your life back, this is how it feels when you fight back!” A pillar of light energy erupts around Denethor, shining around and through him. “No, not gonna die tonight! We’re gonna stand and fight forever! Don’t close your eyes… No, not gonna die tonight! We're gonna fight for us together! No, we’re not gonna die tonight! Not gonna die! (Denethor: Not gonna die…) Not gonna die! (Denethor: Not gonna die!) Not gonna die tonight!” Shining with light energy Denethor says he’s not going to die, he’s going to fight! He tells the guards bringing torches that he now bids them follow him into battle and to victory! I go over to check on Faramir and find he is burning up with fever but definitely still alive. He should be in the Houses of Healing, not of the dead. I see Denethor is still there, he hasn’t gone off to battle just yet. He says he can’t leave his son… I tell him his son needs rest in the Houses of Healing, there’s nothing more Denethor can do for him right now. The men who had brought torches to Denethor now help carry the unconscious Faramir back to the Houses of Healing. Denethor is definitely ready to go fight now, he leads the others off to the battle. I think I should also go help, but everything fades to black and I wake up.