I'm sad because this is the second last chapter of my biggest story yet! (sobs) Since you've been reading it, give it a rating in a review. It follows the same rating system as before: 1 is bad, 5 is good. And I'm not going to say what I say in the disclaimers, so you'll have to look at the other chapters. Now on with the story!

The group continued making their way to Bree, travelling day and night, never stopping or resting. They were thankful for the horses, and had regained some of their strength. Hope had returned to them, and they looked forward to seeing Valinor.

"Look!" shouted Legolas. "In the distance! We've come to Bree!"

They all looked and saw a wooden wall in the distance on a hill, faint candlelight peaking over the top. Without saying anything they galloped on, and soon came to the gate. Aragorn knocked, and a part of the gate slid away.

"Whaddaya want?" asked the gatekeeper.

"We have been travelling for many days and need somewhere to rest," Aragorn replied.

"How many hav' ya got there?"

"Eighty."

The gatekeeper closed the gap and opened the gate. "Elves!" he shouted in disbelief. "And dwarves! We never get your kinda folk round here, not at all. I dunno if I should trust ya. What's your purpose here?"

"I've already told you: we want a place to rest."

The gatekeeper muttered something under his breath and sighed. "All right, ya can find somewhere, but I'll be watchin' ya."

The group went inside the village and travelled through the streets. Men and even a few hobbits passed them by, looking in amazement. They soon came to the Prancing Pony and went inside. There were surprisingly very few people there, which meant they had a chance of getting a room. They went to the bar and Barliman Butterbur looked at them in surprise.

"Well, I never! King Aragorn! What a pleasure to meet you, my lord! And to think a few months ago you were coming here as Strider! How can I ever forgive you?"

"Do not bother, my good man," Aragorn cut in, stopping him from rambling on. "I am no longer king, for Gondor has fallen."

"What? How? I haven't heard any news of this, and I'm sure no one else has."

"There is no time to explain, my friend," said Gandalf. "For every moment we waste evil draws nearer. We wish to stay here for the night, then we'll be on our way."

"Alright then. You're in luck. There's hardly anyone here. You can have the rooms in the right side." He pointed to a door in the wall on the right of the bar. They went in and found themselves in a corridor with four doors on either side. They split up and went into different rooms. Gandalf, Frodo, Aragorn Legolas and Gimli shared one, Arwen, Éowyn, Éomer, Haldir, Celeborn and Glorfindel in another. Most of them fell asleep immediately, weary from their long journey.

*****

Outside the Prancing Pony, two shapes in black robes stood outside in the rain that had began falling, the few people in the streets taking no notice of them. They had saw the group going inside and had stood there since then.

"How far away are Sauron's forces?" one of them hissed.

"They should be here in the morning," the other replied.

"Good. When they leave, we will keep them occupied until he is done with this village. We must not fail him again."

*****

The morning came with a bright sun and the group had a quick breakfast, then prepared to set off. They were all happy for the rest they had got and felt refreshed. Saying goodbye to Butterbur, they gathered their horses and set off again. They continued their journey and soon came into a small forest. Everyone was in high spirits and feeling good, when there was a scream that echoed through the forest and froze them to the spot. Looking around in fear, they didn't see something sneak up behind them. A Nazgûl suddenly jumped at an elf and beheaded him, then cut down a dwarf.

"Run!" shouted Aragorn. "We have to flee!"

The horses sped off, leaving the Nazgûl behind. It let out another scream, and the trees in front of the group were suddenly crushed by a huge grey shape. The Witch-King sat on his fell beast, the group cowering in fear. There were a few moments of silence, then the thin, dark, fell hissing voice of the Nazgûl lord chilled their bones.

"You can go no further. Surrender while you can and you may yet live."

There was more silence, then a man who could bear it no longer yelled and charged at the fell beast. The creature simply swung its head and knocked the man down, killing him. The Witch-King turned back to the group. "It is decided then." He said as he drew his sword. His fell beast lunged at the front of the group, grabbing horses in its mouth and their riders falling off. It charged through them, though most of them got out of the way, but the Witch-King slashed at them.

An arrow then came out of nowhere and hit the beast's eye. Legolas prepared to fire again, Haldir doing the same. They both hit its neck, but before they could fire again it leaped into the air. It vanished for a while, then two claws ripped the trees up from behind and grabbed more of the group. They galloped on and on and on, the Witch-King gaining on them. They were soon out of the forest, but were not greeted with a happy sight. Eight more fell beasts came down to the front of them and started doing the same as the Witch-King. While they circled for another attack the group rushed ahead. All nine fell beasts flew down from behind, ripped through the group once more, then began flying away. Puzzled, the group looked back. As they did, orcs jumped out with swords drawn and cut down the back ranks. The rest of the group turned their horses and charged. Most of the orcs were killed, but more were coming out of the forest. Arrows flew from the trees and hit horses and riders alike. The orcs that were out of the forest had all fallen, and they now prepared to take out the archers. But there was a roar as two trolls appeared, smashing down more trees and swinging their maces. The elves fired more arrows at the parts the troll's armour left exposed, and they groped at their sides and neck. When enough arrows pierced the neck of one it fell with a thud. The other, however, was more successful in its attack. It and made its way through most of the group, who had moved to the side and were turning around, and was approaching Aragorn. The former King of Gondor drew his sword as he prepared to charge. The troll roared and lumbered over to him. Aragorn kicked his horse and headed forward. The troll brought its mace down but Aragorn dodged and went between its legs. He slashed both of them and the troll leaned back in pain. It tried to move away but Aragorn kept up and kept hitting the beast. The troll went wild and its foot kicked Aragorn's horse. He fell off and rolled away from the troll, his sword flying out of his hand. When he looked up the troll was towering above him. He reached for his sword, and as he brought it up to swing the troll lifted its mace. Before it could bring it down on Aragorn, an arrow hit it right between the eyes. Turning around, Aragorn saw Haldir loading another arrow, while Legolas was sneaking up behind the troll. He quickly climbed up its back and on top of its head. He fired an arrow while Haldir provided more cover fire. When the troll felt the arrow in the top of its head it began turning around in panic, Legolas just managing to hold on. He drew one of his knives and slashed at the head, making the troll even madder. Haldir delivered one final shot to its stomach, then it fell, Legolas gracefully sliding off.

"Thank you my friends," said Aragorn. "We must move quickly. We may be safe now, but that was only a scouting party. Sauron has a lot more forces to stop us with."

With that, they got new horses and sped on, always watching for any foul thing following them.

*****

The Nazgûl came to the pile of ash that was all that remained of the village of Bree. They told Sauron what had happened, but he was not angry.

"It was only a scouting raid. They still have to see what I have in store for them."

They left Bree's remains and began pursuing what was left of their enemies.

*****

The group once again continued their journey, moving further and further into the Shire. They soon came to the East Road and followed it, passing by the Old Forest. They passed over the Brandywine Bridge and came into the East Farthing. From there, they made their way to Hobbiton.

*****

Samwise Gamgee sat smoking his pipe outside his hobbit-hole. Rosie was inside making dinner and their children were playing in the back garden. He leaned back against his house, day-dreaming as he looked to the sky. A voice interrupted his thoughts. "Hello Sam!"

He looked at the gate and saw Merry and Pippin coming towards him. "Merry! Pippin!" he said in delight. The two younger hobbits came and sat beside him, taking out their pipes.

"All set for the big day then?" asked Pippin.

"Yes. Rosie's ecstatic. I think she's really looking forward to this birthday."

"Well, it'll be a good day for her," said Merry.

They continued talking and smoking when they heard hooves coming closer to the gate. A horse came into view and stopped, its rider looking at the hobbits. He was clad in white and held a staff of the same colour, with a beard that was white also. Behind him sat another hobbit.

"By the Gaffer!" exclaimed Sam in shock.

"Frodo!" Merry and Pippin shouted at the same time. The three of them ran over and hugged their old friend, who had dismounted the horse. They looked at Gandalf, who had dismounted his horse also. He came in through the gate, followed by Aragorn, Arwen, Legolas, Gimli, Éomer, Éowyn, Haldir, Celeborn and Glorfindel.

"What in the name of Baggins are you doing here?" asked Sam.

"I'm afraid there isn't much time," Gandalf said.

"Well, whether we have time or no, you look extremely tired. Come inside! We can talk over a nice good meal."

The hobbits and the heroes went inside, while the rest of the group stayed out watching. They were eyed suspiciously by hobbits passing by.

Inside Sam's house, Rosie greeted the heroes, amazed at the sight of the elves and the dwarf, then they had dinner. While they had it, the heroes told their story for the last time, the fall of Minas Tirith and their perilous journey west. The hobbits had gone white by the time they had finished.

"What do we do, then?" asked Pippin.

"Our forces are weakened," said Aragorn, "but with more help we may have an army big enough to rival Sauron's. Would hobbits be willing to fight?"

"Well, um... err..." the hobbits stammered.

"Aragorn, we cannot push them into this conflict," said Gandalf. "But if they're willing..."

"They may well be," said Merry. "I'm sure that if they heard about this they would do anything to protect the Shire, the land we all know and love. We could send messages to the four farthings."

"Very well. We shall await their verdict."

And the messages were sent to the four farthings, and were answered when hobbits from all over the Shire came to Hobbiton. Plans were set in motion as the final battle drew near. It was decided that the women and children should head to the Grey Havens first. However, that didn't go down well with Rosie.

"I'm not leaving you!" she shouted at Sam one day.

"You have to," he replied. "If you stay you'll only get killed! I know what's coming, I've faced it before! You and the children must leave."

Rosie started sobbing., "But it's my birthday."

"I know love, but when everything's done you'll come back, and we'll have a proper celebration."

Eventually the women and children gathered their belongings and travelled to the Grey Havens, where Círdan the Shipwright had allowed them passage to Valinor. When they left, plans were drawn up and the men began making armour and weapons for the hobbits. Soon they were ready, but so was Sauron.

*****

The great column of orcs, trolls, Nazgûl and the Balrog continued marching closer and closer to the Shire. After they left the forest where the scouting raid had taken place, they travelled for a while longer, but Sauron stopped them.

"It's here," he said. "Find it."

The orcs obeyed and began searching for something, sniffing the ground. One of them suddenly stopped. Checking the scent, he called for Sauron, who came over. The Dark Lord closed his eyes, then nodded in confirmation. Putting his hand on the ground, he pulled his arm up, and in his hand appeared a large, curved, elvish sword.

"Excellent," he said. "Now my plan can begin. But I wish our enemies to tremble in fear at the sight of it. We move on, to the final battle!"

I left you in big suspense there, didn't I. Well, everything will be revealed in the next chapter, including Sauron's plan and if our heroes will survive the battle that is to come. Also, I'm planning on writing a story where another author will star alongside me! What it is will be asking characters questions. The characters will be from LoTR, Star Wars, and possibly a bit of Doctor Who. It also contains twilight torture, if that's what you like. Who will the author starring with me be? That will be decided by your reviews! Whoever gives me the nicest review for this chapter and the next will star with me. I will then reveal the winner in the epilogue. So read, review, and remember the role up for grabs!