"Sam got up. He was dazed, and blood streaming from his head dripped in his eyes. He groped forward, and then he saw a strange and terrible thing..." –The Return of the King
Gollum was fighting with an unseen foe. He hissed as he swayed back and forth until finally, Gollum's hands found what he wanted. His eyes gleamed as he opened his mouth and bit down hard with his sharp fangs.
Suddenly, Frodo appeared clutching his gory hand. Sam's eyes widened with horror as he realized one of Frodo's fingers was gone. Gollum was dancing like a madman, holding the Ring aloft.
"Precious, Precious, Precious!" he yelled in ecstasy, until, even as Sam watched, he fell into the chasm. The Ring slipped out of Gollum's hands in a last attempt to save itself. It had abandoned Gollum once more.
"Precious! Precious, no!" Gollum screamed before he finally fell into the white-hot lava. The Ring, however, was dangling precariously on a ledge of the wall of the volcano.
Frodo finally tore his eyes from his bloodied hand and watched Gollum fall. Then he saw the Ring. No one could possibly reach it without jumping to their death. He picked himself up and stared at the Ring. He made his decision and got ready to jump, to pounce on the Ring like a cat. Frodo was past caring whether he lived or died. He bent his knees and…
"Mr. Frodo, no!" Sam said frantically holding his master to him. Frodo began to struggle wildly.
"Mr. Frodo! No! Stop! You're going to fall!" Sam said through tears. Frodo stopped struggling and seemed to notice Sam for the first time.
"Sam?"
"Yes, Mr. Frodo, it's your Sam. We'd best get out of here soon as possible. That cursed Ring is about to fall in any way with all this shaking going on." Sam glanced at the Ring, which still held on to the ledge.
"The Ring?" Frodo looked at it again. It was so beautiful, so shiny, so…precious. The glow from the lava below shined on it, causing it to appear to be glowing. The Ring was trying to prevent its inevitable doom. "How…how did it get there?"
"Don't you remember, Mr. Frodo? Gollum fell and the Ring landed there," Sam explained, concern covering his face. Sam seized Frodo's maimed hand. Why didn't his master remember? The ground trembled beneath them.
"Yes, Sam, I remember now," Frodo sighed. "What madness came over me?"
"It was the Ring, Mr. Frodo…" Sam started, but never finished. A screeching cry filled the air. It was full of wrath and was fearsome to hear it. The Nazgul had answered the call of the Ring and their master. How foolish they had been, not realizing the daring plan of their enemies. Frodo screamed in pain and fell to the ground. The lava licked the walls and the ground shook like an earthquake. The Ring slipped a fraction of an inch off the ledge, but still managed to hold on.
"Mr. Frodo!" Sam cried in alarm. He knelt beside Frodo, who was crying in pain and fear. His eyes stared at nothing, glazed and bloodshot. The Nazgul screeched again, louder and closer. Frodo clutched his shoulder with his bloody hand.
"Mr. Frodo! What do I do? We can't escape: the Nazgul will be out there and the Ring is not destroyed yet!" Sam exclaimed, panic creeping into his voice.
"Sam help me! They're stabbing me!" Frodo cried out pitifully from the ground, lost in memory of Weathertop. A moan escaped his lips.
"Frodo-"Sam began, but he could not continue. The ground began shaking more violently, the lava rose up higher, and it grew noisier than ever. The Nazgul were approaching the birthplace of the Ring, intent on their mission. "We've got to get out of here, whether or not the Nazgul are out there," Sam thought. "The ring should fall in any second." He scooped up Frodo from where he lay still clutching his shoulder in excruciating pain.
"It...It's alright. I...I can walk," Frodo said. He put his feet down. Immediately Frodo swayed and almost fell over.
"Let me help," Sam said, and he put an arm around his master. They half-walked, half-ran out of the volcano. Sam and Frodo made it to a large rock, where Frodo finally sank down again.
"I can't go on anymore, Sam," Frodo said. He looked up at Sam with tears in his big blue eyes.
"I know, I know, Mr. Frodo," Sam said through his own tears.
"Go on without me. I have nothing to live for. You at least have a chance," Frodo said in his despair.
"No! You've got to come with me. I won't just leave you here. We must try to hide before the Nazgul get here," Sam said. Frodo closed his eyes and sighed.
"Alright Sam," Frodo said, as Sam helped him get up. They never got farther than that. The Nazgul had arrived, and they would not let their prisoners escape again. Sauron would not make the same mistake twice.
A/N: Please review! This is my first time writing a fanfic. Updates will be prompt.
