Gondolin gradually fell into darkness, and the pale light came on. In the Elven parlance, the blazing "Ana" has sunk from the west, and the soft "Ihir" slowly climbs into the night sky. Tonight, the city is very lively as the Summer Gate festival is taking place in the city. On the side of the King's Tower, in the King's Square, all the elves of Gondorin City were gathered.

The square is circular in shape, with a white stone fountain on the west-facing part, and a gold tree and a silver tree on the left and right sides, but both are carved. This symbolizes the twin sacred trees of Terperian and Laurilyn when they were in the Western Continent. A table was built with white stone on the side of the tree carving, and other tables and stools were arranged around the table.

At this time, the brightest place in the city is King's Square. All the elves came to the feast with the lamps of Fëanor. On the stone table, the waiters were filled with delicious delicacies. Soon all the elves were seated. They gathered around the table to drink, eat, and talk happily to each other. Today should be the time of the year when they talk the most. Some of the elves would suddenly stand up and sing praises to Uomu, the god of water, and Olomi, the god of hunting.

The square is surrounded by a ring of stone lamps, which are illuminated with blue crystals. There were many people who were leaning on stone lamps and playing beautiful music. The sound of recorders, flutes, harps, and drums echoed. Most of these people came from the two families of Yongquan and Harp. Among them, there is one man with the most beautiful flute sound. The sound of the flute was sometimes low, sometimes sharp. The man was dressed in a black robe, and at his waist was a sword with a slightly curved edge, on which was inscribed: "Oakris".

At the table where Turgong sat sat his sister Arettir, the lords of Gondolin, and the daughter of Turgon, Izar.

Ishel looked like she was just a young girl, and by human standards, she was probably eighteen years old. Her countenance was extraordinary, beautiful and pure, and she perfectly inherited her father's countenance. She has waist-length blond hair, which is supposed to be inherited from her mother. She smiled cutely, and then snuggled up in her father's arms from time to time. However, Turgon and Igher look more like brother and sister, as Turgong himself is unusually young. Turgong was drinking with the lords, while Arettir sat in his seat, silent and thoughtful.

A young man with black hair stood up. He was wearing a robe at this time, like all those who came to the banquet. After all, no one will attend in armor. He didn't have a weapon at his waist, but he had a mace on the ground next to him. He was young and looked like he had just come of age. His eyes burned like a fire. He is the young lord of the Angry Hammer family, Rog. "Lord Turgon, I have made a sword for you according to your request. Rog clapped his hands, and a dark-skinned elf walked up, knelt down in front of Turgon, and offered a sword in both hands.

Turgon looked at the hilt of the sword, which had intricate notches. Turgon drew his sword with his right hand. At that moment, a white light flashed, surprising everyone in the square. The performance stopped abruptly. The square is unusually quiet. "Good!" Turgong held his sword high, "what a sword! The world will call it Gramderin, after 'Defeat the Great Enemy'!"

"Congratulations, Your Majesty!" the lord of the Harp and Mole families stood up, his lips still locked. "This Gram Rin is as bright as day!"

At this time, the music started again, but only one sound. All eyes in the square were drawn to it. The man in black was playing the most beautiful piece of music he had just played on the flute. He's playing a solo tune right now. Elves are particularly sensitive to the meaning of music. Therefore, they immediately heard that this song was a reminiscence of the happiness of the time in the city of Tirien on the Western Continent.

Hearing this song, Arettir burst into tears, covered her face and left.

The crowd watched as she left in confusion. Salgant looked down for a moment and stood up, "Today is a summer festival! Everyone should have a good time!" he smiled, "Exerian's sword, Oakris, is said to be as sharp as a tiger's tooth." This sword has decapitated countless evil soldiers, 'Orc'. You'll be curious to see what sparks will happen when Octres and Gram Rin meet!"

Hearing his words, the people in the square began to heckle. It can be seen that he is very convincing. Turgong smiled faintly and stood up. The black-robed man, who had been holding the flute silently, tied the flute around his waist with a ribbon and walked to the white stone platform. His eyebrows were grim and his expression was sad. He drew his sword from his waist, the echo of its blade echoing in people's ears.

The black-robed man was Axerian, the lord of the Yongquan family. His family's army was placed to guard the mouth of the rift around the mountain. But he didn't go there very often.

A few strands of hair hung from his forehead and temples, fluttering in the wind. He leaped forward, landed on the platform with one foot, and raised his sword to Turgón. "Your Majesty Turgon!" he shouted.

Turgon's expression became serious, he walked to a table, jumped on the table with his feet, and a little on the table, one turned over on the table.

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In the King's Square, all the elves who went to the banquet stood up, afraid of missing something. They were looking forward to this contest. Turgong held Gram's sword aloft and swirled, a dazzling white light casting moving flares across the square. Exerian held his sword to his chest and flicked the blade with the fingers of his left hand, a crisp but loud clanging sound that echoed through the square.

- The contest between light and sound.

"Your Majesty, it's rude!" said Exserian. He stepped forward with his right foot, and the sword held in front of his chest fell backwards. He turned his right side forward, drew a perfect arc from the back to the front, and drew a perfect arc from the bottom to the top, picked it up, and slashed at Turgong with a backhand. Turgon immediately stepped back, braced himself with his sword, and fell backwards with his upper body, flying up his legs and kicking towards Exerian. The Lord of Springs was kicked in the chest and fell backwards. At the same time, Turgong also fell on his back because he lost his support.

There was a burst of applause from the audience, as if they were watching a good show.

Turgong rolled over and jumped up, while Exerian got up from the ground and clutched his chest: "Thank you, Your Majesty, if you didn't control that kick, I should have been injured." ”

Turgong nodded, beckoned to him, and motioned to continue. Then, Turgong flipped his raised sword to the side, and a white light flashed. Because Exerian was staring at his sword just now, he was caught by the light and closed his eyes. Turgon stepped forward with his left foot and slashed his sword from a high place with his right hand. "It's too loud!" Exerian raised Oakrest, keeping his eyes closed, and calmly caught Turgon's sword. At that moment, a light like day illuminated the entire plain, and the loud sound of metal was deafening.

Taken aback, Turgun let go of his sword and leaned back, stabbing it into Exerian's abdomen. In the next second, Exerian's actions stunned everyone in the square—the side of his sword perfectly pressed against the tip of Gram Rin's sword. The action did not stop there, and Exerian then turned Octist, and in turn pressed the tip of his sword against the side of the opponent's blade, pushed it away, and stepped forward to grab Turgon's right shoulder with his left hand. Turgong tried to block it with his sword, but the sword was frozen by the other party. Turgon, on the other hand, took a step back with his right foot, and turned around to get behind Exerian. Exerian closed his eyes, only to feel his left hand empty, his eyelids twitching. The two were facing back to back, and Turgong slashed his sword backwards from the top of his head. Exerian closed his eyes again. This time, the difference was that Exerian pushed the Gram Rin sword upwards with a sharp force, then opened his eyes, turned around and slashed the sword at Turgon's neck.

Instead of turning towards him, Turgon bent down and stabbed Exerian with his sword. Lord Yongquan was taken aback and immediately withdrew his sword to parry, but by this time the Gram Rin sword had already pressed against his chest, and his long hair was shaved off and fell to the ground.

Turgong continued to attack reflexively, one to the left and two to the right, irregularly. And Exerian can only rely on reaction to parry. Turgong attacked for a while, moving faster than before. The Fountain Lord began to gasp for breath as he was exhausted. In the next moment, Gramder's sword stabbed at Exerian's left waist, stabbing the ribbon that hung the flute, and the flute fell downward. Seeing the opportunity, Exerian jumped back and caught the flute with his foot and struck Turgon's left shoulder. He took the opportunity to take a step forward and stabbed his sword towards Turgon, and the moment the sword met Turgon's white robe, Turgon's Gram Rin also landed on his neck. After all, the sword has no eyes, and their weapons are about to hurt each other because of inertia.

An arrow shot up from under the stage, flicked off the swords of the two men with precision, and landed on the platform. On a stone table under the stage, Duirin was standing there, holding a wooden bow in his hand.

The two of them breathed a sigh of relief, and there was a round of applause from the audience. Two people, one black and one white, stood in the center of the stage.

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In the early hours of the morning, it was unusually cold.

There was no wind in the morning, so it was quiet. Arettir woke up in the room and looked out the window. It was still dark outside, and the sun had not risen. Arettir didn't know what time it was. There were faint tear stains in the corners of her eyes. Last night, she left King's Square very early and rested immediately. Now, she was ready to explain her escape to Turgon, as she had promised on the path of concealment.

She got out of bed, moved slowly, and stood barefoot on the carpet. When she was dressed and washed, she walked out of the house. But when she got to the door, she hesitated again. Therefore, instead of going to the main hall where Turgong usually discusses with people, she walked out of the King's Tower through the side door.

She took a deep breath of the fresh morning air and looked around. There are already some pedestrians on the street. In King's Square, many elves were moving stone tables to tidy up the venue for last night's banquet. When they saw Arityr, they saluted her.

She stood in the square for a moment and began to walk around the King's Tower. Round after round, she didn't know the purpose of her walk, but she knew that this time she went to Turgong and told him what she wanted. It made her nervous. The sky slowly brightened, and the sun seemed to rise into the sky.

Suddenly, she stood still again, looked down in thought, then pursed her lips and walked into the tower. This time she walked through the front door. There were two waiters standing at the door, the door was open, but there was no one inside. The two waiters, dressed in cloaks, looked at the princess with two eyes poking out of their hoods. Arettir looked at the empty palace and frowned. She walked over to one of the attendants, who looked up, his handsome face revealed. The waiter said in a deep voice, "Your Royal Highness, Lord Turgong is resting and cannot come to meet you yet. What's the matter with you?" the waiter's voice was steady, without any emotion.

The princess nodded: "Then I'll wait for him at the door of his dormitory." She walked through the small door next to the main hall into the depths of the tower. The waiter, for unknown reasons, looked at her suspiciously, and lowered his head again.

Arettir made his way to the center of the tower, where the spiraling steps followed. She walked up the steps to the dormitory in Turgon. Turgong lived on the top floor of the tower.

Soon she reached the top floor, and walked through a door to a corridor. At the end of the hallway is a window with a door next to it. From the window, you can see the sun rising between the mountains in the east.

She stood outside the door and waited, and the longer she waited, the tighter her brow became. She didn't know how Turgong would punish her for fleeing. After waiting for a long time, a voice came from the room: "Someone!" The two waiters came and opened the door from the outside, and Turgong came out of it with his clothes dressed and saw Arityr.

"Sister, have you come to explain to me what happened yesterday?" asked Turgon.

Arettir looked down at the ground, nodded slightly, and shook his head suddenly. Turgong looked at her and smiled lovingly: "Come! Go to the main hall, let's talk!"

Accompanied by the attendants, the brother and sister descended from the tower and entered the main hall. Arettir remained silent as he walked up the steps, not saying a word. And Turgong only felt confused in his heart. Upon arriving at the main hall, Turgong sat on a blackstone chair at the end of the palace, inlaid with diamonds. On the wall behind the stool hung a flag with the insignia of Turgon.

There were two rows of white jade benches on the sides, and Arantir sat down on one of the stools closest to the inside. The two attendants went to the inside of the main hall gate and stood still.

Turgon spoke: "Come, explain why you fled!" He spoke neither fast nor slow, neither humble nor arrogant.

"O my brother, Turgon, I know, all the Noldor elves, including me, remember life in the city of Tirien on the hill Tuna, where we can see the waves of Eldama Bay, where the swan ships of Okottidi are moored in the harbor, where we can see the stars of the eastern continent, where we can see the gold and silver of the holy twin sacred trees, where we can see the incarnation of Vera. Yet," she coughed, "Gondorin is not the city of Tirien, it's just a consolation to ourselves that we can't go back to the West." It is not in the blessed land, but in Middle-earth, which is full of darkness. In the West, we can always go to the plains of Valinor and gallop through the woods of Avanna, and here the people do not even have the right to leave the city! What is the difference between us being imprisoned and slaves? And you have ruthlessly imprisoned us only to keep your land, what is the difference between this and the evil enemy Morgoth? I am leaving Gondorim!"

Turgong was visibly surprised by her words. He paused, thinking for a moment. Her words reminded him of some dusty memory, as if another person he once knew was giving a speech. He looked at her and slowly stood up, putting his hand on the arm of the chair: "Your words just now are like Fëanor's speech in the West, which scares me, because you are as stubborn as him. And stubbornness will not bring good luck after all, just as Fëanor brought only curse and hatred to the Noldor. But if so, I will allow you to go out of the city hunting with me. ”

The princess shook her head, her brow furrowed, but her pant rang out, and her heart beat faster for she saw hope. "I don't agree, because Fëanor is stubborn, but he is also brave. His stubbornness led him to forge three Elven Diamonds. Maybe you, as the son of Fen Guoxuan, are prejudiced against Fen Guoxuan's brother, but I can see everything objectively. As for me, I believe that my stubbornness will also make me happier. And I don't want to go hunting with you, because I am still deprived of my freedom by you. Her face was unusually serious, and she spoke quickly, "I'm leaving Gondolin!"

So Turgong was silent again. He didn't expect that the city he cherished would be so disgusted by his sister. He sighed, "If you insist on this, I will allow you to leave Gondolin!" and his voice carried a kind of love for his sister as an older brother should have. Arettir also breathed a sigh of relief, and a bead of sweat fell from her forehead. But when she heard Turgon's next words, her brow locked again. "But you can only go to our brother Fingon. I'll arrange for the people I trust most to go with you, and I must make sure they come back as soon as possible. ”

Enraged by him, Arettir glared and shouted, "You don't need to be so fearful at all! If you don't hesitate to send someone with me, I can go by myself!And it should be me, not you, who decides where I go!" Arettir immediately stood up and turned to leave.

Turgong immediately caught up with her and put his hand on her shoulder: "Don't get me wrong!" Turgong said gracefully, "I just can't fully trust that the people traveling with you won't leak the location of the city halfway." I'm not stingy with giving you anything!"

Arettir turned around, looked at Turgon, smiled happily, nodded, and ran out of the main hall quickly. Turgong staggered back and sat back on the Blackstone Throne, holding his head in his hands.

"Someone!" he shouted. A waiter came running and stood in front of him respectfully, bowing his head. Turgong straightened up, "Go and get the three lords of Exerian, Grofindel, and Egalmos!"

Outside the temple, the sun was already high up, and Gondolin was dyed golden.

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It's three days after the Summer Gate. Gondolin spent a few more days in the unbearable heat. It's summer time. In the territory of Beleriand, it has always been extremely cold in winter and extremely hot in summer, which is related to its continental nature. This is different from the area where the coast is surrounded by mountains. The area was called Heslum and was ruled by Turgon's father and brothers, Finguo and Fingon. Due to the oceanic climate, there is not much difference in temperature throughout the year.

It's noon, and Egalmos, lord of the Rainbow and Winged Wings, is preparing in the stable. He stuffed a small amount of bread into a bag on horseback. The white steed was exhaling from the heat, flicking its mane. Egalmos wiped the sweat from his forehead and patted the horse's back. He drew his sword from his waist and looked at it. The sword was curved, and he was the only one in the city who used a sword of this shape.

"It's time to go, friend!"

Egalmos is a vibrant elf. He has long white hair and wears a ring on his head. His eyes are as gray as most of the Noldor elves. He was covered in a blue cloak with small crystals like stars.

He put his sword back into its scabbard, jumped on his horse, and walked slowly towards the King's Square. The sweat on his forehead was still falling. When he came to the square, the lords of the two families, Jinhua and Yongquan, were already waiting for him on white horses. Turgong did not ride a horse and stood aside. Seeing this, he immediately quickened his speed and stopped in front of everyone. Now the noise of the fountain is small, and the golden and silver trees shimmer brilliantly in the sun. Turgong looked at Egalmos: "Now that everyone is together, I will explain something to you." He said, "I have entrusted you to escort the princess to Heslum out of trust in you. Therefore I hope you will not betray me. He coughed, "There's one more thing besides. So far, although Beleriander has spent a long time in peace. The Siege of Angban may seem impregnable, but Morgoth's evil creatures, Orc, are often seen heading south across the Myzlos Line and the West Ryan Valley. So although this is an era of peace on the surface, what I see through the surface is a turbulent era. I'm sure you won't forget the monster dragon Graulon that crawled out of the Demon King's fortress Angban fifty years ago. At that time, he was not yet fully developed, so he was forced back to Angban by Fingon's archers. But the monster didn't die, and that always bothered me. I believe that once Glauron matures, Morgoth will go to war. For Angban was clearly vulnerable to this monster, and that day would not be far off. I'm afraid you'll run into Morgoth's minions on the way, so you'll have to protect my sister. Beads of sweat broke out of Turgon's forehead, and he wiped it away gracefully.

The sound of horses' hooves interrupted the conversation, and it was Arityl who came on a white horse. The three lords bent down to her. The few of them set out from King's Square and walked all the way down the street to the main entrance of the city. At the main gate, a man dressed as a blacksmith came to the princess.

"Your Majesty Turgon, Your Highness the White Princess, hello lords!" he knelt on one knee, looking at the etiquette should be a waiter-level person, "Our lord Rogge personally forged a short dagger for the White Princess. The waiter presented a medium-length sword with ornate notches on its body. The waiter said, "This dagger is forged with magical power, and when an Oak approaches, the blade of the sword glows with a faint blue light. The white princess nodded, took the dagger, and looked at it for a while. The waiter stood up and bent over. At this moment, the main door slowly opened.

"My sister," Turgon's voice choked, "I would advise you to stay, even if that hope is gone. It would be very unwise for you to leave this time, and it is most appropriate to compare it with Fëanor. I have a hunch that, like him, your trip will bring bad luck to yourself, and even to Gondolin. My hunch was never wrong. ”

Arettir just smiled and walked out of the gate with the three lords. As the four of them walked down the steps, Turgon's tears also slid down, intertwined with sweat.

"We'll see you again. He said, "I hope." ”

"It's raining......" But the sun was golden in the sky.

The main door was closed.