Sauron regains the one ring.
As Frodo, claims the one ring for him self in the Crack of Doom, Sauron see's his worst fears realised, for he could never conceive the idea of his enemies having enough will power to not only resist the power of the ring but also to take it to the very heart of Mordor. With a roar of sear terror and desperation, the foundations of Bard'dur shuck, with another roar his Nazgul flew at great speed to Mount Doom, seeking only the ring and willing to kill anything in there way.
Completely forgetting about the army of the west at his gates, now knowing they are nothing more than a distraction, his eye pierces all obstacles before him, he now see's the one ring, in the very place it was created, the one place it could be unmade, and with it all Sauron had rebuilt, even at high speeds the thought of his Nazgul getting there in time was filled with doubt as Frodo was already there in the Crack of Doom whereas the Nazgul where still on there way, all it would take is the drop of his ruling ring and he would be no more…
But hope remains as he can see Frodo has claimed the ring as his own, perhaps this momentary laps in reason would allow the Nazgul to reclaim the ring, as Sauron knows any wearer of the ring, with no control over it's power would only become invisible, out of sight to those who would try and do harm to the ring,. As he watch's helplessly from the summit of Bard'dur his hope continues to grow, as now Frodo is attempting to leave the crack of doom, his mind now completely succumb to it's power, he him self wants no harm to come to "his Precious".
He now dares to look away from the ring to see the progress of the battle with the remaining army of the west, to his great displeasure he see's his Orc army split and divided, they them selves confused over there masters reactions, not knowing why there master whom they believe to be all-powerful now cries in absolute fear, to his greater displeasure he see's some of his army's now marching on mount doom them selves thinking there masters time has ended and now they can take the ring for them selves. This did not bother Sauron as all who stood in his way would be destroyed when he got the ring back, but for those who have betrayed him at his darkest hour can only hope for death, if Sauron gets the ring back the one who betrayed him will suffer a lot more then his enemies will.
Now Sauron looks back to mount doom to see the ring, as he looks he can see his Orc's have done something good for him despite the fact they betrayed him, they have killed the creature Gollum, the foal thing that was addicted to the ring and may have unknowingly brought it to harm, if he had to fight Frodo over ownership, especially in the crack of doom where if either slipped or dropped the ring, Sauron would be undone. With Gollum dead there was nothing stopping Frodo leaving the crack of doom making it easier for the Nazgul to safely reclaim the ring.
A new problem had resin though, a army of traitorous Orc's now stood between the Nazgul and the ring, to get to Sauron's road and the crack of doom itself, Sauron would have to assist the Nazgul, he would have to have a strong servant here and now but none still lived, and then it came to him, revive the witch king, but to do this he would require a piece of him, anything could be used, a shard of armour or his sword, and then it came to him.
After the battle of Pellanor fields Sauron ordered the recovery of the witch kings helmet, it was in the encampment on the slopes of mount doom, the spell would be an easy thing to do once the helmet is recovered, a slaughter of any enemy to Sauron would work as the blood of the enemy would complete the spell and with the traitorous Orc's now all around mount doom they have become enemies to Sauron.
As he continues to watch his Nazgul make there assault on the now enemy controlled mount doom, Sauron turns his sights on his ring, seeing that Frodo has left the crack of doom completely and is making his way down Sauron's road and his way out of Mordor, finally his fear gone and in it's place shear happiness and delight as he was so close to returning to full power and nothing to stop him now, with this in mind he goes to see the progress of the Nazgul and sees them in precession of the witch kings helmet, now killing Orc's, one after another. The witch king was now ready to be reborn, with the piece of armour and sufficient amounts of enemy blood, Sauron used his magic to bring the witch king back to life.
With his champion reborn the Nazgul, embark on there task to reclaim the ring, now very close to where they are, Sauron commands them to be cautious as he won't underestimate a Hobbit again and that even the most unlikely thing could still happen. Frodo now making his way though the camps on the slopes of mount doom still under the invisibility effects of the ring is silently followed by the Nazgul, one by one they circle him, keeping to the shadows, four now follow behind, two from the left, two from the right and the witch king goes for a frontal assault, hopping that when seen Frodo will helplessly run in to one of the others. There plan works flawlessly the witch king once again faces Frodo face to face, like the time on weather top Frodo backs away but this time he is surrounded, blinded by his obsession with the ring, he cries out that the ring is his, to which the Nazgul with no will of there own just stab Frodo under Sauron's orders, with the last hope for Middle Earth dead, the witch king takes the ring from Frodo's finger and mounts his Fell beast and flies to Bard'dur to give his master what he has wanted for the last nine hundred years.
Now at Bard'dur the witch king begins the assent to the summit, to which he will give Sauron the ring, now at the height anyone can walk to, Sauron merges with the ring and reforms his body, at this time he give out a loud screech, to which all captains of the west watch and only hope it's a sign that the ring has been destroyed, but with the screech over, Bard'dur still stands, the only difference is the eye of Sauron isn't on the summit, with the army of the west seeing the army of Orc's seemingly retreating to Mordor and the black gates closing with the eye of Sauron gone they cheer as they believe victory has been gained. But to there great disappointment the black gates reopen moments later and out walks only one black silhouette of a man, tall and big, nearly the height of a cave troll but clad in black armour wielding a mace, the faces on the captains dropped, and suddenly turned to fear, they knew who had walked out of the black gates but didn't want to believe it. And with a bone chilling voice he spoke.
"Yes, your eyes don't deceive you, I am Sauron, king of men and all of middle earth" while showing his finger with the ring on it, glowing brightly with it's evil inscription shown as bright as sunlight. At this there was a sudden silence, non could think at what to say to this, but Aragorn stood firm and readied his sword, in ages past the same sword destroyed Sauron, therefore it was capable of doing it again, but that was due to Sauron's overconfidence, this time he won't be so careless and as fast as he could Aragorn ran towards Sauron ready to swing his sword at him, at the same time Sauron readied his mace for one swing. Where Sauron only had to hit Aragon with his mace once to kill him, Aragon himself had the harder task, to cut Sauron's finger off, a true test of skill to hit the correct finger with sword. But Sauron had waited for this monument for to long, to kill the last king of men, he would not be denied his victory, not here not now. And with one mighty swing from his mace he hit the king of men full in the chest, Aragorn at the last monument of his life knew that he failed all who followed him and now they would die because of his mistakes and failures. At the sight of Aragorn's body, lifeless on the ground what remained of the fellowship ran at Sauron who merely laughed at this foolish attempt to stop him, with another swing Aomer and Legoles where as Aragorn was, lifeless and limp, Gandalf now pointed his staff at Sauron ready to cast magic, saw his staff shatter in front of his eyes, then with a loud voice Sauron said "do you not know death when you see it? Old man… the age of men and elves is over, now the age of Sauron has begun" to which Gandalf could do nothing but listen with terror as he knew it to be true. Despite this now being reality Gandalf still charged at him with his sword hoping that somehow someway there was a way of stopping this incarnation of evil. But eventually Gandalf could not stand against the darkness and was killed, Gimmly, Merry and Pippin tried to stand against Sauron but non could stop him, in the end the fellowship of the ring where killed by what brought them together, with all the leaders dead, the remaining part of the army wear killed by Sauron casting a spell which split the ground and shock the mountains, completely encompassing the army of the west and with it the last chance for middle earth to be free.
With the army of men destroyed, Sauron knew the only threat left where the elves and the closest Elvin city was Lothlorin, with Galadriel and her ring of power. Sauron, at this point knew that now he had his ring back, the elves couldn't use there's or they would share the same fate as the nine kings of men in ages past, so all Sauron would have to deal with is the elves own magic which compared to his, was limited. To catch the elves by surprise, he and his lieutenant, the mouth of Sauron went to Lothlorin alone, he planned to give the elves a chance to surrender and live, but only for his own amusement as he knew if they where to fight they would lose.
He sent the mouth of Sauron in to Lothlorin, knowing that if they killed him they would choose death then life and that, Sauron would grant them. But to Sauron's amazement the mouth of Sauron reported that they wished to meet with him to settle the terms of surrender, curious about this but still wary about the elves, he decided to go in to Lothlorin, to not show any signs of weakness he chose to go alone. Sauron could not understand this strange reaction out of the elves, he only offered the surrender to them because he was certain they wouldn't agree, this strange turn of events though made him think that maybe they had a plan to rid Middle Earth of Sauron, maybe by trying to take the ring, or a surprise attack on Sauron, but still even with these possibilities in mind he was to drawn by there willing to see him face to face. So in to Lothlorin he went.
Sauron made his way to the borders of the forest, and could see elven warriors standing 50 meters away, directly in front of him, clearly this was the right way, and this must either be a frontal attack plan or escorts prepared to take Sauron the rest of the way. He approached the elves that he could tell where both disgusted and afraid to see him. With one look at the elf closest to him he took five steps back, then a elf to his right took two steps forward, and said " we will take you the rest of the way, we must tell you that any hostile actions taken will be acted on". To which Sauron merely looked at him out of amazement that this elf didn't show any fear when talking to him, and that this elf had enough courage to tell Sauron the consequences of acting aggressively. He him self was thinking, that under normal circumstances he would just kill anyone who spoke to him in this manner, but because of his curiosity and now amusement he didn't act and followed the elves.
Once in the heart of Lothlorin, Sauron could see the large Mallon trees glowing ever upward towards the sky, he looked from left to right and saw what could have been hundreds of elves, each with there eyes fixed on Sauron. Still following the elf escorts they began there accent on what must have been the biggest of the Mellon trees, now near the summit he could feel a presence that felt both familiar and foreign at the same time, he could only of guessed it to be the ring of power he gave to Galadriel, familiar due to it being made by Sauron, he did not why it felt foreign, though not as powerful as the ruling ring, still a powerful ring nevertheless. With Sauron now being able to feel this, he knew he was close to the elf witch.
Now at the summit, Sauron spoke, his voice echoed though the forest, the sky darkened and the ground shuck, to which the elves immediately froze, "Now that I'm here, where is the elf witch, where is Galadriel? I will not wait any longer!" at this the elves said nothing, in fear of might happen to the one that spoke first. But then a voice from a higher level was herd "I am here" the voice gave of a slight shake, but nothing compared to Sauron's voice. Sauron looked up, in front of him where stairs to the level Galadriel was on, she walked down, not shacking in fear, not nervous, and no sign of disgust, no emotions at all. Sauron, now able to see Galadriel, made sure he was to be the one to say the most, to be the dominating presence and so started by saying "you wanted to inform me of your surrender and that you recognise me as ruler of Middle Earth" to which Galadriel said "the elves are fading away, we don't want to be destroyed, and so would ask of you just to let what remains of us to leave these shores in peace, you have proven that you are strong and now there are non that can stand against you, what say you?" "You are mistaken, there are those who still stand against me, they are the elves, as long as there are elves there is resistance, you will not leave Middle Earth, you can have your lives, but you will forever stay in Middle Earth where you can be monitored and kept under control, the other option is death, to which I have no problem performing, the choice is yours, serve me or die? The elves all looked at Galadriel, knowing that her response would determine the fate of her race.
Sauron made sure that everyone could see his Ring, just a reminder to the elves of what power they would have to fight, also his mace, he tightened his grip read for a swing, as he knew what the response would be, but he was hoping to be surprised again. Then Galadriel spoke "we will never serve you, we would rather die", to which Sauron said "you have doomed yourselves and all who follow you" with that said he took his swing and missed, Galadriel had used her ring as and formed a protective barrier of light, Sauron thrown back by what just happened, so this may have been what was foreign about the ring, the elves may have tampered with it's magic, she was able to use it despite Sauron wearing his. After now understanding what she has done, Sauron turned to all other elves, to lessen there numbers, this was not going to be like the way it was on the slopes of mount doom so long ago, he was not going to be defeated this time, with several swings he destroyed most of the elves that accompanied him to Galadriel, with two more swings he took down an entire level on the Mallon tree. He raised his arms in the air and gave out a loud roar, then instantly huge rocks came crashing down form the sky hitting many Mellon trees and killing countless elves, he yelled at the top of his voice "There is only one lord of the rings, only one, AND ITS ME!" to this he turned to look at Galadriel, she was down on the floor, the impact of each flaming rock made her lose her footing and fell, if it wasn't for her ring she would be dead, but she managed to get on her feet and she fearlessly faced Sauron ready for a final conflict, he jumped from the great height and pointed his mace down ready to slam it deep in the ground, with a massive explosion he hit the ground, it made the ground split and behind him the few remaining Mellon trees that where standing fell, Lothlorin was all but destroyed. The small bits of the forest that remained burned and all others parts where gone, elves where seen running in every direction, Sauron knew the place they would go to, Rivendell the last city of the elves. Sauron faced Galadriel and looked her straight in the eye,
"You never intended to let us live did you"
"No, but if you had bowed down I may of let you live longer"
"We only asked to leave"
"Even if I said yes, you couldn't have gone"
"You have destroyed the gray havens?"
"While I've been here, as a distraction, my armies have crushed all the elven harbours, your not going anywhere"
"Only Rivendell remains and soon the darkness will cover over it"
"You truly are Evil and you must be stopped"
"YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN TRUE EVIL"
Sauron's last words shuck the ground and then he began to run towards Galadriel. She stood ready and waited until he was close enough, she put her hand behind her back a pulled out a small knife, it would only take a precise cut to rid the world of Sauron, and then the final monument came they where mere meters away, he stopped running and began to swing a full 360, if hit the shear power in the swing would completely destroy her, then she began to move with great speed, Sauron made a swing and missed by inches, Galadriel took this chance a drove the knife in to Sauron she missed his hand but got his wrist, he pulled back yelling, with it the dagger pulled from Galadriel's hands she was now weapon less. Sauron pulled the dagger out of his wrist and snapped it in front of her, she knew her time was over and now she didn't have enough power to even use her ring, she closed her eyes and waited for the end. Sauron didn't wait to see what she was doing; he wanted to make her pay for that foolish attempt and quickly swung his mace directly at her. In a flash of a second she fell, her body lifeless and the magic of the elves now left Lothlorin.
He stood over her body and removed the ring, holding it in the palm of his hand he crushed it and discarded the remains, his work now done he made a move to Rivendell, the mouth of Sauron was waiting on the borders of the forest, Sauron emerged and ordered him to lead a Orc army to attack Rivendell from the south while ordering the Nazgul to come form the north, Sauron himself would come in from the west, while the Orc army that attacked the gray havens come from the east.
Complete victory was now in his grasp and the final 48 hours of the elves had begun.
Now ready to make his final assault on the elves, he led the charge as Sauron himself went in first, he approached the main gate of Rivendell, and raised his arms and with a bone chilling cry the sky went red, and from nowhere huge boulders, coated in flames came crashing down, completely obliterating the main gates. So far no opposition, but Sauron knew that the elves this time, would not go without a fight, with a loud crash the foundations of the gate fell and then silence, Sauron looked up, a signal to his Nazgul, and without words they came, the nine came flying though the darkness of the sky and gave out a loud screech. Now the elves made there presence known, a volley of arrows came form the ground, all aimed at the Nazgul, to make things harder, Sauron herd a loud hawk from the sky, Eagles had come to help the elves, he gave the command to attack, and with this the two orc armies began to move towards the main gate, he himself walked around the outer walls to go though the back gate, he wanted Elrond for himself.
As Sauron made his way to the back gate, he noticed that there where more tree's here then normal, and in an odd layout, just standing in front of the back gate, he approached one as he came closer it began to move, these where no trees these where Ent's, the elves have gotten the aid of the Eagles and the Ent's. At this he raised his mace and swung it at the Ent, the Ent didn't go far, it merely fell over, but Sauron didn't have time to fight the Ent's, he wanted Elrond, he wanted his ring of power and wanted him dead. Sauron only attacked the Ent's if they came near him, he continued to the back gate.
Now at the back gate, Sauron swung his mace against it, with a loud crash the gate fell, with two ways in Sauron's army would just flood the city and destroy all in there path, the assault from the air was taking longer then planned because of the Eagles as three of the Nazgul where now grounded with there fell beasts dead, with six Nazgul still in the air, they moved off the eagles and began there planned assault on Rivendell, they began to dive at the elven catapult positions, sweeping them from the ground and taking many elven arches with them. Meanwhile the assault from the orc army at the front gate finally hit opposition, the elven army was standing ready for combat and charged at the orcs, the Mouth of Sauron led the charge to the elves slaying all that was in front of him, with all sides of this conflict in battle, Sauron was free to begin his search for Elrond, if seen at the front gate the mouth of Sauron would alert him, but Sauron had a feeling that Elrond would be apart of the last defence, at the house of Elrond, Sauron also knew of his daughter Arwen, she to would be apart of the last defence with her farther.
The battle was going well for Sauron despite the set backs of the Ent's and eagles, as he continued to search for the last elf king, he was frequently running into groups of elves that where going in to battle, Sauron easily despatched them, but now getting inpatient, that he couldn't find Elrond, Sauron gave out a loud roar and the remaining Nazgul in the air left the area, the eagles followed, the mouth of Sauron ordered a retreat and led the Orc's out of the city, Sauron himself turned towards the front gate where he alone would stay and wait for elven army, he alone would fight all that opposed him, also this would be a way of making sure he would face Elrond, and so at the confusion of the elves the armies of Mordor began to leave Rivendell. Now alone, without support or aid Sauron made a stand in the collapsed main entrance, facing the elven army, he gave out a small laugh. There must have been at least a thousand still remaining, all now charging towards him, Sauron lowed his mace, let the tip hit the ground, the elves where now right on top of him inches away, and with a mighty upward swing, groups of twenties went flying in the air, each swing threw more and more the body count was jumping each time Sauron lifted his mace, he didn't care how many died, he wanted Elrond, and killing his people was a way of drawing him out, Sauron yelled out for Elrond each time he swung his mace and finally an answer came.
"I am here, leave this place or suffer our wrath"
"Elrond of Rivendell, at last, your time has come"
"Evil will never rule, evil will never endue, and you will always have enemies, those who resist"
"Those who resist, DIE"
"You have been beaten before, you will be again"
"You're welcome to try"
At this, all other elves stood back, a one on one match had begun, two ring lords fighting over the fate of Middle Earth. Sauron took great pleasure in this fight as he knew, if he won Middle Earth was his and he had come too far to be stopped now. Elrond ran towards Sauron, calm and quiet, quick and swift. His sword held high, Sauron threw down his mace and pulled out a sword from his back, stood still and waited until Elrond was in reach. Less then four meters away Elrond yelled out and swung his sword at Sauron, Sauron moved slightly and the blade missed him by inches, he swung round and slammed his sword down, Elrond quickly moved his sword and blocked, now in a sword lock, each pushing there sword toward each other, Elrond was losing this fight of brute strength and pulled back, Sauron's sword came crashing down and hit Elrond on the edge of his shoulder, a wound but nothing life threatening, Elrond backed off, thinking of what to do next, but his time was short as Sauron almost leaped to life and began to run towards Elrond, the sound of his foot steps caused echo's in the ground, and each thump was getting closer, Elrond needed a plan of attack but time was running out. With great speed and power Sauron jumped up, ready to slam down hard on Elrond, Elrond moved out the way, but with know idea on how to fight Sauron he began to worry. Then out of nowhere Arwen leaped out, sword pointing down and stabbed Sauron across the back, he gave out a ground shacking roar, in rage he turned round and grabbed her by the throat.
"Elrond, is this your only daughter?, a shame it has come to this, but those who defy me face death"
And with no effort, he broke her neck, threw her down and faced Elrond, he didn't show it but he was utterly destroyed, a blind rage came out, Elrond ran towards Sauron and like a madman began waving his sword to no end, Sauron was taken back by this new furry in Elrond, he was cut several times, and then Sauron gave a swing of his arm and threw Elrond back, he hit the wall of the destroyed gate with such force, many among the elves thought he wasn't going to raise his head, but he did, and with one final cry he yelled, "attack", then he was gone, lifeless and no more. The elves followed his final order and began to run towards Sauron.
Sauron raised his hand, and it began to glow red, a red spark fired up in to the sky, with this the elves stopped, wondering what to make of this. To there delight nothing happened and started to fight one more, what Sauron had actually done was give a message to all those that retreated before to come back, in mere minutes the Nazgul where once again in the skies of Rivendell, although there where no eagles following them, one can only hope they escaped to fight another day. Sauron still in the middle of the battle continued to fight and kill, hundreds faced him and hundreds fell, the defences of Rivendell where gone, the gates where destroyed and there armies where decimated, but they continued to fight in the hopes that one would slay Sauron. The orcs ran wild though the city, killing all they saw, the Nazgul continued there assault from the air, sweeping the remaining elves as they saw them.
The slaughter now over victory was gained, in the recede of the city, there where just bodies, of elves and orcs, Sauron walked though the battle field looking for the spot where he slew Elrond, and at last he found it, his lifeless body still there, Sauron grabbed Elrond's hand and took the ring, like with Galadriel's he crushed it, at last he was the only one to posses a ring of power, and now he controlled all of Middle Earth. He looked up and began to speak in black speech, he uttered the words.
Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.
Middle Earth was now Sauron's and the war of the ring was over.
Now begins the forth age, the age of Sauron.
Liam Fitzgerald