The last chapter of the ultimate battle! What will happen? Gasp!!!

Disclaimer: Do I look dead to you? I own nothing from LoTR!

As the door on the fifth ring opened, Éomer prepared to throw his spear, expecting Uruk-Hai. However, it was only a weary Faramir and a group of his rangers. The Riders of Rohan felt relieved, but Faramir looked as if he had saw Morgoth himself. Éowyn jumped off her horse and rushed over to greet her husband. She leaned in to kiss him, but was gently pushed away.

"I'm afraid there isn't time to linger here," said Faramir. "We must retreat to the seventh level now."

"Why?" asked Éomer. "What happened?"

"Saruman's magic was too much. If he comes here, you will only experience the same fate nearly all my men did: death."

"You sound as if we are all doomed."

"We are. Get out of here while you can. We will have a better chance with Lord Aragorn, and Gandalf can deal with Saruman."

"Do not give up so easily, my friend," said Éomer, trying to comfort him. "We just need to think of the right strategy."

"I'm telling you, no matter what we try, Saruman will kill us! I'm very lucky just to be alive! We've lost!"

"Calm down. I have an idea that might just catch him off guard."

"You must be mad."

"Listen to me. He's come this far because he was ready. But what if we caught him by surprise?"

Faramir looked uncertain, but reluctantly said, "Very well. Now I must go to Lord Aragorn."

He quickly kissed Éowyn and wished good luck. As he hurried off with what was left of his men, Éomer and Éowyn tuned to carry out their plan.

*****

A few minutes later the Uruk-Hai marched up to the fifth ring. They expected to have arrows fly down from the wall, but the air was still. Ignoring it, they started breaking down the door. Saruman and Lurtz stood in the middle of the army, watching.

"Something is wrong," said Saruman. "There is no one here. Where are their soldiers?"

"They might be behind the door again," replied Lurtz. "Or else they've come to their senses. But that's not likely."

"Indeed. Well, if they're inside it still won't be enough to stop us."

As the door opened the Uruk-Hai charged forward with raised swords, expecting them to clash with those of men. But they stopped in their tracks when the realized no one was there. They looked about, confused, waiting for arrows to come flying out from around a corner, but still nothing. Saruman pushed through his forces to see what was wrong, and when he came to the front he was puzzled.

"What do we do master?" asked Lurtz who had come up behind him.

"March on to the next ring, but be wary. They could be hiding anywhere. I doubt they have retreated, but if they have it will make this a lot easier."

They eventually came to the sixth ring with no encounter of their enemies. Saruman was confident now as there were no defenders on this ring either. It was clear they were waiting on the last level. The battering ram once again broke down the door, and again nobody was on the other side. The Uruk-Hai jogged on to the next level, thinking they had frightened their prey. But as the last one passed through the door, a single horse came out from an alleyway. Its rider had drawn her sword, ready to charge.

"Hey!" she shouted. The Uruk-Hai looked about, trying to find the source of the noise. "Hey!" she repeated. This time they turned around. When she had their attention she continued. "You shall not go any further! Surrender and I will let you leave peacefully!" The Uruk-Hai just chucked at her foolishness.

"You're out of your mind!" one of them shouted. "What can do to stop us?"

"I can do this. Rohirrim!"

Immediately a large group of horses appeared behind her. Their riders wore armour and held spears. The Uruk-Hai's laughing immediately ceased and they started shaking.

"Charge!" Éowyn bellowed. The Riders of Rohan drew back their spears. As she pointed her sword forward they rushed towards the Uruk-Hai. When they were about to meet the riders threw their spears. After they hit their targets, the rest of the Uruk-Hai didn't have time to bring out spears and were cut down by blades so quick they could not be seen. War cries were heard as the riders cut down their enemies. The front lines fell, but the Uruk-Hai at the back were ready. The riders were now at a disadvantage: because they were surrounded they weren't able to move as easily, especially since they were in a city. As the riders moved to the back ranks they started falling. The horses reared at the sight of spears in front of them, throwing their riders off into the depths of the waiting Uruk-Hai.

As the Uruk-Hai hurried to the last level they seemed to carry the riders with them. Éowyn found her horse caught in the unstoppable tide. Her horse suddenly neighed in pain as it reared. Éowyn saw an Uruk-Hai had stabbed it with a spear, and it now drew its sword to finish the rider as she fell off. The horse fell on its side, limp. Éowyn had been near the back of the Uruk-Hai so most of them had gone past whenever she fell. When she got up the Uruk-Hai that had stabbed her horse was right in front of her. It brought its sword down but Éowyn blocked, immediately lifting her sword and cutting through its neck. She turned around as another one swung at her side, but its arm fell off before its head. When Éowyn looked around for her next opponent, an Uruk-Hai charged into her and knocked her down. When she looked up she saw it wore only a helmet and nothing on its torso. It held a rectangular sword in each hand. It brought one down on Éowyn's outstretched arm. She turned over a split second before it hit the ground. The Uruk-Hai brought down his other blade on her chest, but she turned over again. When it brought down its first blade again, she held up her sword and blocked. She pushed the Uruk-Hai's sword away and jumped to her feet, striking out with her blade. It was blocked, however, as the beast swung with its second sword. Each of them swung and blocked as they battled close to the main group of Uruk-Hai. Éowyn's opponent suddenly knocked her over and held her down. As it moved its sword for the final blow it abruptly stopped and let out a small groan. It fell on its face with a spear protruding from its back.

Éowyn looked up and saw her brother smiling down at her from the top of the slope. Behind him was the rest of the Rohirrim, their swords stained with blood. She realized they had surprised the Uruk-Hai and killed a good few of them. They had also frightened some of Saruman's army off, and they ran past Éowyn taking no notice, but the majority stayed and were ready.

Éomer let out a mighty war cry as he drew his sword and led the charge. The Riders of Rohan cut through with ease, the Uruk-Hai cowering and more running in fear. Éowyn stood up and held her sword, charging at the Uruk-Hai from behind. They had nowhere to run. The Uruk-Hai were losing.

*****

In the courtyard on the seventh level, Aragorn looked down on the slope that led up to where he stood. Éomer's forces were all that stood between the Uruk-Hai and the last level. Around him were the captains from the other levels and the four hobbits; Lady Arwen was in the throne room. Each captain had brought the remains of their forces to make a final stand. It was not a big army, but enough to hold them off for a couple of days.

Although everyone was pleased with how Éomer's battle was going, something troubled Aragorn: where was Saruman? The wizard would usually help his soldiers in a situation like this. His question was soon answered in a way that made him wish he hadn't asked.

"Hello everyone."

They all turned round and saw Saruman standing in front of the White Tree. The four guards immediately held up their spears, but the Black Wizard gave a flick of his hand and threw them back down to the first level.

"Saruman," said Aragorn. Everyone instantly drew their weapons but the wizard kept his calm composure. "You were a fool to come here. You underestimate our power. Now leave peacefully or die!"

"And what can you do to kill me, King Aragorn." He spat the last two words with disgust.

"Saruman, stop this madness now," said a voice. Gandalf stepped out from the crowd, one hand holding his staff, the other held out in a gesture of kindness.

"Well, if it isn't my old friend Gandalf. Not so powerful now, are you?"

"Saruman, listen! You have no idea what the Black Speech is doing to you!"

"It has given me power Gandalf! More than you could ever imagine!"

"Yes, you have power, but at a cost! It is slowly killing you, Saruman. It is eating your soul. But I can help you!"

"What kind of a fool do you take me for? Your lies will never trick me again!"

Gandalf's outstretched hand immediately fell along with his face. "Then...I'm sorry for what I'm about to do."

Everyone prepared to advance on the wizard and Gimli muttered to Legolas, "Whoever gets him wins." Gandalf stood on his own in front of the rest. "Saruman," he whispered, "I'm begging you, please..."

"I'll be glad when I no longer have to hear your voice."

Saruman thrust his staff at the air in front of him and Gandalf fell over on to his back. He was held in place as Saruman slowly advanced.

"Soon this world will be mine! Rohan has fallen, now Gondor follows. The rest doesn't matter. The rest is weak. When I kill you I shall rule Middle-Earth. And don't you think it's very fitting I should start it by killing you?"

He swung his staff over his head, sending Gandalf flying until he was at the edge of the courtyard. Upon impact his staff was knocked out of his hand. Saruman stood over him, his face filled with hate and anger. Behind him Aragorn and the rest moved forward.

"Don't come any closer!" Gandalf warned them. "If you do he'll kill you with a single thought!"

Saruman grinned as they moved back. "That's your weakness, Gandalf. You're willing to risk your life for others, but it would seem letting them die is the only way to kill me."

"There is another way, though."

"And what might that be?"

"You're armed with the Black Speech, I'm armed with this. Ata!"

Saruman fell over and slid back towards the citadel. Gandalf got up, picked up his staff and held it in front of him, ready. Saruman stood in the same position as the moved in a circle.

"I have no time for this nonsense," said Saruman. "Now, Gandalf the White, you die!"

"No, Saruman! You can't!"

"Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul!"

Gandalf closed his eyes and held his hands up for protection. After a while, he felt nothing. He opened his eyes and saw he was still alive. Saruman's face showed a mixture of anger and confusion. Gandalf was also mystified, along with everyone in the courtyard.

"You're not dead," Saruman whimpered. "You're not dead! What did you do?"

"I did nothing!" Gandalf replied. Then he realized what was happening. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Saruman."

"What are you talking about?"

"It appears that time is up. I warned you what the Black Speech was doing. Now it's finished. Your soul has been devoured."

"What do you mean? I'm still alive!" The Black Wizard was panicking now."

"And now it will pass out of your body and pass on, leaving it to rot."

"I can't die! I won't!"

"Goodbye, old friend."

Saruman's face briefly showed a flash of fear, but it vanished as he bent over in pain, screaming. His fingers curled as he fell on his knees. His body twitched as it was tortured. Then he bent back and let out a mighty scream.

"No! No, you can't kill me! I will never die! I will defeat you!"

Beams of black came out of invisible holes in his chest, then a huge one. There was a huge flash of white light as a massive plume of black smoke flew over the Uruk-Hai fighting the Riders of Rohan. As it did, they all turned to dust, leaving the riders shocked. The smoke faded away into the sky.

In the courtyard the only thing that lay in Saruman's place was his robes, now restored to their original colour of white. As Gandalf approached the heap, the robe was thrown back to reveal Saruman the White, huddled up and rocking back and forth, whimpering. Everyone was shocked, especially Gandalf.

"How?" asked Aragorn. "He's still alive! How?"

"I think I know," replied Gandalf. "The Black Speech was too strong for his soul but not for his mind. That was enough to keep him alive. But because he has no soul, he's more like an animal." He bent down beside Saruman and reached put a hand on his back. "Here, let me help you." Saruman suddenly reached for Gandalf, but he jumped out of the way. Then Saruman gave out another scream as he turned into a white beam which rose into the air, moved in an arch and flew into the distance.

Everyone stood staring as they realized what had happened. He had gone back to Isengard.

This wasn't over yet.

So, what did you think of the ultimate battle? There's going to be one more chapter, which I'll hopefully be posting soon, and then... (drum-roll) I'll be writing a sequel! It will carry on from the end of the next chapter. Until next time, au revoir et review!