We arrived in the evening of the third day of our journey, back at Meneltarma. The journey had been mostly uneventful, except in a visit on the second night by Martamo. Aranellevanima woke us up from her position on the watch, and said, "There is someone here to see us." As Saironellotoron and I gathered out weapons and staffs, she said, "Leave them, they will have no effect." Trusting her, we left our weapons and followed her into a grove of trees, where we knew, as was soon confirmed, Martamo was waiting.
She turned to me and stated, "You are all making a mistake."
I rubbed my eyes, while Saironellotoron said "In what action have we made a mistake?"
She turned at him and ordered, "BE SILENT! I did not come here to bandy words with a companion, nor to waste my breath on a feeble half with such as yourself." She turned back to me, and saw my sword at her throat. She laughed, and gestured with her hand, causing my sword to fly out of my hand and become imbeded into a nearby tree. My friends drew their swords, and she looked at me as I held up a hand, stopping them in their tracks. "Saironelloistya, I suspected that you were the leader of this company of halfwits, but maybe through you, the quest can be saved."
"What mistake do you speak of?" I asked slowly and clearly, infuriated with her, but controlling it because we needed information.
"You lead this company, yet you know not the consequences of your actions. I cannot tell you, as I am bound by a Code from the Top of the Hierarchy, but instead I must warn you that a mistake will be made by you, that you will always regret. I can tell you no more than that."
"Please," I beseeched her, "you must tell us something more." I realized my pleas had fallen on not deaf ears, but lawful ones.
"I am sorry," Martamo replied empathetically, "but just as you are bound by the laws of your superiors, I am bound by the laws of mine. If I break them, it will come to no avail. I have already come as close as I can to breaking them as I am able to." I looked at her intently for the first time, and noticed how clearly her age showed. Her eyes shined iridescently, and were surrounded by laugh lines, but also greyed and bloodshot from the shedding of tears, and the gaining of years.
"You Gods are not so different than us after all?" I said with determination. "You laugh. You cry. You sing. You weep. You celebrate. You mourn. You also have free will."
"DO YOU LACK COMPREHENSION?" She shouted, catching us all of guard, and off of our feet, with the force of her shout. "I can not because the ends do not justify the means. I know everything! Did you ever stop to think that Godship could be a curse! To be omniscient, but unable to help those who you wish to, is a curse no one should have to bear, because it means that you are responsible for everything that has ever happened!" She took a deep breath, then continued in a quieter voice."I made my decision, because this is a fixed point. Whatever happens here, will mean death of the created races, but in different numbers. My decision will lead to hundreds, plausibly even thousands, of deaths, of elves, men, and ,dwarves. However, my decision is the more lenient and logical one, because otherwise many Gods, and all men, elves, dwarves, and every other thing that has ever tread upon the face of this planetary domain will perish if I choose the option that you would have me choose."
She looked resolute, but she also looked tired which as a God, I did not realise was possible. "Very well, I release you." I said, hating myself for not being intelligent enough to deduce what my mistake was going to be, and even more so because I had gotten my friends dragged into this accursed adventure.
Martamo looked at Aranellevanima curiously, and without looking back at her, Aranellevanima said almost empathetically, "You didn't make us come with you. In fact, If I remember correctly, you had no choice in the matter. And, you could not have predicted how this quest would turn out, so you are in no responsible for how the quest has gone. You have nothing to blame yourself for."
A tear ran down my face, and I wiped it away; then looked at it. "I'm sorry. " I said. "I am sorry for everything. I have made too many mistakes, to be worthy of friends such as you, or any position of leadership that you believe I have over you. I cannot ask or allow you to continue with me, as I will only make more mistakes." I turned to walk away, and Saironellotoron stopped me.
He said "You have not made only mistakes, and we have all made mistakes before. You have made many great decisions as well, which if for no other reason, is a reason for you to be our leader. Second, you are our leader, for many reasons. You often have said 'I am not worthy to be your leader,' yet this proves that you are humble, which means you are the most qualified of any of us."
Aranellevanima continued, "You are also logical, and a brilliant strategist, making you even more qualified. " She stated,
Martamo also had something to say. "In my short time with you, I have known you to be very insightful."
Aranellevanima smiled spitefully, and conjectured "You also can't really stop us from following you, especially if it is over an emotional basis."
I turned back to them, and forced a smile, then said, "I need some time to think." I noticed Martamo was gone, and said, "Get some sleep, I'll take the next watch, because I need to think anyways." The two of them agreed, and swiftly went to sleep, all of us forgetting Martamo's original purpose in appearing.

. . .

When we arrived at Meneltarma, I walked up to the main Gate slowly, while Aranellevanima and Saironellotoron ran ahead, to catch up with their masters, which they had once again, unnecessarily, asked me for permission to do, leading to an argument about whether I was technically the leader of our strange group or not. Finally, after our arrival, we agreed to pause the argument, so I could meet with Nimloth, and they could meet with their masters. Upon my arrival at the gate, Nimloth stepped out of the guard house, and walked over to me, signaling a guard, who brought a chest out and walked away. She said, "Use the spell 'hampaissëarsarinia' meaning 'Restrain Knowledge and Magic. It will put the Power into the gem, and it will be more easily retractable.'"
I replied, "Thank you Nimloth, we would never have completed the gem without you."
She looked down, and whispered, "I do not deserve you thanks, and I am unworthy of that praise. I merely did what had to be done. "
"Not everyone would do what needed to be done, yet you went above and beyond the call of duty." I offered.
She went to respond, choked on her words, and said, "I'll be back in an hour." Then she ran off, I assumed, to cry.
I put on the Gem, and I began to read, after casting the spell she instructed me to use. The experience was inexplicable, as I had never experienced anything like it before. I stored every spell I knew in there, and they were accessible at a thought. I stored all of my knowledge of lore, and it was accessible at a thought. I began to read the books she had provided, from spell tomes, to law books, to history chronicles. As I read, stored all of the information, and it too, was accessible, at a thought. By the time Nimloth returned, I had read all of the fourth some books twice, and had stored all of their knowledge in the Amulet. I held it out to her, and asked "Is this sufficient?"

She took the amulet, and put it on, her eyes widening from the vast stores of magic and knowledge stored inside, and replied, "Yes, this is just what was needed. " She turned to me, saying "Go gather your friends, so they can store their magic and knnowledge in here too."

I ran around to the front gate, and asked for my friend, Herulepillin, to come to the main gate. The guard shrugged, and ordered a nearby servant to gather him. A few moments later, Herulepillin, Saironellotoron, and Aranellevanima, all showed up at the gate. Sensing my confusion
H

erulepillin laughed and said, "I ran into them on their way back to you, so we all walked together."
Aranellevanima smiled, and casually said, "We could sense that you needed us, so we came."
"Only you could say such a thing so flippantly, Aranellevanima" Saironellotoron said with a laugh.
I nodded, and when the guards let them through, I brought them to Nimloth. She requested that they all store some of their magic, inside of the crystal, so that it was accessible at all times. They agreed, and I meditated for four hours, while they all, stored their magic and knowledge inside of the amulet for an hour each, with Nimloth starting, and Herulepillin finishing. When Herulepillin finished, and Aranellevanima and Saironellotoron all went back into the city to sleep off their exhaustion, Nimloth decided to hang back with me and talk. I could not enter the city, so I set up camp, with the door of my tent open and looking to Meneltarma, the place that I had spent nearly 8,000 years of my immortal life. Nimloth noticed this and smiled, melancholy showing plainly across her face. "You miss Meneltarma don't you?" She asked, sympathy radiating from her rich, yet soprano voice.
I thought for a moment, then I nodded, and stated "I think that I always shall, but I shall never see the inside of her glorious walls again. I did fail in my trial, and though the council made me a wizard, I would give that up to be able to live inside Meneltarma, for the rest of my days."
"If I told you, that I could get you back inside, would you do it?" She asked
I smiled, but shook my head no. "I love Meneltarma, there is no mistake about it. However, to go back inside, would violate my exile, and one of my favourite things about Meneltarma is the law, and the obedience of the law. I could not violate the law in that way."
Nimloth looked disappointed, as though she had hoped that I would be willing to break the law. She changed the subject, and requested, "Why don't you put another charge of magic in the gem, and I'll check back on you in another hour?"
"That is a fantastic idea. I may as well fill it whenever I can." I responded, before I slowly filled the gem up with even more magic, yet it seemed to have no point to which it was filled to maximum capacity. When I had sufficiently filled it, I saw that I had a half an hour, before Nimloth would return, and feeling drained, I went to sleep.

. . .

I was awakened by Nimloth, after what felt like a inadequate amount of rest, but Nimloth informed me that she had let me sleep for an hour and a half, after her arrival. Realising I head sleep for two hours, I stood up, and Nimloth beseeched me to let her check the fullness of the gem. I handed it off to her, and there, in the middle of the fields of Menelnienor, or "Heaven's Mourning,"  I felt goodness die. It was a strange feeling, and I did not recognise it at the time, but it was off putting. Suddenly, I realised that Nimloth had asked me something.
"What was that?" I asked her, and she had tears in her eyes. My feeling of mourning disappeared, and was instantaneously replaced by a feeling of concern.
Before I had time to ask what the issue was, she repeated, "I asked; Are you sure that you won't allow me to sneak you back into the city?"
I shook my head no determinedly, and resolutely. "To do so would be to disrespect everything I love about the city. I hope you understand, and can forgive me." I replied, watching the tears fall, and I went in for a sympathetic embrace.
As Nimloth wrapped her arms around me, she whispered, "avatyarni," meaning "Forgive me." I went to say you have done nothing that needs forgiving, but before I could, I felt an intense pain in my back, and Nimloth stepped away, holding a mithrel dagger coated with blood.
Looking back, I realise that I could have healed myself, and stopped all of the wanton death and destruction caused by this amulet,but I was too shocked to respond properly. As I fell to my knees, I saw tears in her eyes, and flowing down her cheeks. She hadn't wanted to do it, but I still didn't understand. "Why?" I asked with finality, before falling forwards onto my face, and seeing nothing but darkness.