The two opponents stood facing each other. One wearing a forest green tunic, brown hair running down his shoulders and an elven-style curved sword in his hand. He normally had a happy attitude toward others, but not now. Now he had a look of steel as he spun in a circle with his enemy.

This enemy wore a long black dress in tatters and armor visible and a hooded ribbon hiding where his face should have been. Except there were no faces. Beneath that hood was a void filled with shadows and an icy breath coming out of it. With his armor in hand he held a long two-handed sword, the dark-skinned-looking blade skinned and bent toward the point. He was a specter, having no will but that of his master. He was a shadow of an old age, once a man corrupted by the power of the rings, for the rings made many promises to corrupt their bearers.

They ran at each other, clashing swords blocking each other. The specter swirled about to land another blow on his shoulder while letting out a high-pitched scream that pierced the eardrums.

The promise of fangs and fury, the promise of death on the wings.

Blocked. He released his sword and counterattacked on his chest.

The promise of glory and blood, the promise of an endless fight.

He disappeared. Above !

The promise of loyalty beyond death, the promise of the forsaken throne.

Dodged. To step back, to take some distance.

The promise of unity, the promise of slavery.

He runs toward me, sword first. Prepare to parry.

The promise of endless life in eternal servitude. The promise of power in deadly chaos.

...Vanish. Exterminate!

Rolnis felt an excruciating pain in his back and saw a sword point shoot out of his chest, piercing a lung.

It was a Nazgul, a Ringwraith. Not quite dead and not quite alive.

The Nazgul abruptly pulled the sword from his back. Rolnis fell to his knees and spat blood.

He put his hand on her wound and after concentrating, it started to glow. A few seconds later he removed it and the wound had closed, leaving only a horrible scar.

'It's not far, a little more and I will have fainted. ' He thought as he looked around for the Nazgul.

He was currently walking away from him watching the barrier without paying attention to him.

" The fight is not over!"He screamed and started to get up, only to feel immense pain at his wound.

" Yes, it is..." The specter suddenly said still without looking at him.

He fell back to the ground, the pain blocking his breathing.

' Why am I still in pain? However, I closed the wound.'

The Nazgul trailed his sword along the white stone, a thin line of blood left behind.

"I pierced you with a Morgul blade, the poison is already devouring you... It will spread and soon you will be like me, an empty man... "

' Morgul's poison? What kind of poison is this?' He thought worried. He felt his strength dwindle at high speed

"But don't worry..." He came back in his direction and stopping next to him "You won't suffer my fate... you will be dead long before..."

" You…you'll never win " he managed to say between breaths. The Nazgul slowly raised his sword ready to finish him off.

Suddenly he heard a dull noise in the sky, he turned his head to see and saw that the barrier was full of breaches. The cloud slowly infiltrating.

" We already have "

He lowered his sword.

Pallando turned his head when he felt the breaches appear. He ran towards the guardian Maia not far from them trying to understand why these cracks appeared. Esstel who wanted as many answers as he did ran after him with an Aerir trying to stop him.

They arrived next to the Maia named Olneam who was struggling to keep the spell active.

" What's going on Olneam? Why does the barrier dissolve?"He asked approaching her

She was out of breath and panicked until Pallando arrived, she calmed down a bit seeing him although she was still struggling with the barrier.

" I don't know, several Maiar have stopped feeding the barrier, I count sixteen missing. No seventeen now. Something must have happened to them but there aren't enough of us left to hold back the already starting to seep in." She fell to one knee exhausted from the effort .

They suddenly saw lights flying towards the breaches where the cloud was infiltrating. They exploded one after the other destroying the smoke that tried to enter inside.

"What…" Esstel does not finish her sentence too fascinated by the arrows of light

Aerir answered for her "It is Lord Oromë who does that, he prevents the cloud from entering the city. »

Pallando continued, "Yes, but he can't do it forever, he could shoot for days if he wanted to, but each arrow weakens him a little more, and with Sauron so close he can't afford to be weak. in power"

Alarm bells rang. All the soldiers were on the move to different destinations. "Oh, what's going on this time?" Esstel asked more and more stressed.

Aerir went to question a soldier "Why all this commotion?" »

"We have spotted several individuals who are causing chaos in the city"

" How many are they ? »

"We don't know, from what I understand there are about twenty of them but it's not clear, they disappear and reappear at will"

" What do they look like?" Pallando asked challenged by the description.

"I don't know Lord, they all wear black robes hiding their features and they let out screams that make our soldiers bend in pain"

"The Nazgul... that's bad " Pallando muttered to himself.

"What are the Nazgul?" Asked Aerir "I vaguely heard about it but nothing specific"

It was Esstel who answered in a dark tone.

"The Nazgul are Sauron's most fearsome servants, there are nine in all, each bearing one of the nine rings of power. These Men were some of the greatest kings, wizards, and warriors of the Second Age, but all were hungry for power, vengeance, or the immortality bestowed by the rings. Over time, the rings corrupted them, and they eventually died or fell to Sauron. Since then they have served him faithfully."

" How do you all know that?" Pallando questioned, impressed by her knowledge of the enemy.

"We were taught it in Lothlorien. We were at war with Sauron, we had to know who we were fighting and the Nazgul were part of it" Aerir felt that she didn't say all but decided to question her later.

Pallando thinks before asking the soldier " How many did you say there were ?" »

"About twenty my lord but I repeat it is chaos out there, nothing is clear. I was heading to the market when you stopped me. »

" It's strange" Olneam said drawing their attention. "There are only nine Nazguls. Yet about twenty of them attack. So if the Nazgul are there, who are the others? »

The question worked everyone but they didn't have time to finish when an explosion was heard further.

The elven soldier ran off "They reached the main square!"

" Pallando! » The said Maia turned to see Alatar approaching him « Lord Oromë is calling us, let's go! »

" Very well, Olneam can you continue?»

" Yes it should be fine, a few Maiar have replaced the missing ones . It's more manageable.»

"Perfect" He turned to Esstel and Aerir "You two will come with us."

" My lord ?" Aerir asked uncertainly.

" Esstel's knowledge of the enemy will be useful to us, few elves from Lothlorien have arrived in Aman, she may have information unknown to us "

And on this last word, they began to run in the direction of the palace where the Vala was shooting his arrows with the two elves following them.

In the large town square, two Nazgul were shooting down enemy soldiers like flies.

The first was tall, half a head taller than the other elves present, he wore the characteristic black robe of the ringwraiths and a Numenorian-style iron helmet showing only where his eyes, his nose or mouth should be if emptiness was not present there. He held a large sword in his hands which he wielded with agility despite his size, slicing through his enemies like butter.

The second him, unlike his counterpart, was no taller than the elves. In fact he was barely taller than a dwarf. He wore a dwarven style helmet showing no part of his face, he held a large double ax with the pommel pointed. He swung his weapon with force and destruction sending many of his enemies flying, shields breaking under the power of his blows.

Although the elves were still numerous, it was carnage on their side.

The small Nazgul ran at a soldier in front of him and twirled his ax coming to cut off the arm of the elf who looked in shock at his missing limb. He didn't have time to scream his pain before the ax made another turn to come crashing into his chest killing him instantly.

An archer aimed the Nazgul but at the time of shooting he felt suddenly attracted by an invisible force towards the second enemy which impaled him directly, he withdrew the body from his path and rushed towards the next one.

He dodged expert arrows without difficulty, his speed exceeding that of his pointy-eared foes. He struck obliquely on his target who tried to block with his own sword but it broke when the impact took place, he died instantly, his head split open.

The Nazgul with an ax after killing another unlucky one saw a new troop of elves arriving in the place. He turned to his brother Nazgul

" Burguul !" He shouted in a deep voice in a language unknown to the elves, the Nazgul with the sword looked at him then disappeared from the field, leaving him alone .

He turned to the newcomers and swung his ax overhead, a trail of black and dark green flame following the movement of the weapon.

" Mat Albai!" He screamed as he smashed his ax to the ground, a shockwave accompanied by green flame erupting from the ax and burning all the elves present who screamed in pain. Soon no more sounds except those of the flames could be heard on the main square. Charred bodies and blood were strewn everywhere.

The Numenorian-helmeted Nazgul stepped out of the shadows and stood beside his brother, also watching the carnage. But the hour was not to rest, they had to continue the fight until the arrival of their Master. Their rings flashed and the Nazgul disappeared again, ready for the slaughter to follow.

' That's what I thought ' Sauron thought contemptuously, 'All their hope of victory was based on the Maiar and Oromë, the elves of Aman have nothing to do with those of Endor, they do not know this beat.' Although it was positive for his plans, he was hoping for a little more resistance.

' At this rate I won't even have to intervene ' he joked although he knew that Oromë would be too big a challenge for his Nazgul, he would have to deal with it himself. He was eager to test his new powers against one of the mightiest Valar. Eönwë was defeated thanks to his ignorance of his abilities. Oromë will not let himself be defeated in the same way.

He was almost tempted to intervene now, just to force Oromë's hand to come and fight him.

But this was not the time for futile whims. He had a specific plan to follow.

He held out his hand in front of his palm and a black ball appeared. It was as black as night, and a strange aura emanated from it. He just stared at the ball whose insides were starting to move.

After a few moments of searching he finally found his target. He was asleep in his bed, an elven woman in his arms.

" You've rested long enough...Celebrimbor "

Celebrimbor was again in his throne room in Ost-in-Edhil, his former Second Age city. Destroyed by Sauron and his armies.

'I must have another nightmare' Although he found this one strange. For good reason, nothing happened. Normally the chaos should have already started but there was only silence. He tried to interact with his dream to modify it but nothing changed.

'I should be able to alter the environment since it's a lucid dream, so why…?'

'Cause it's not a dream Celebrimbor.'

A voice he had hoped never to hear again spoke behind him. He slowly turned around and saw once more this infamous being who haunted his dreams sitting carelessly on his throne. He was wearing that same finely stitched white tunic and had all the same facial features as the last time he had seen him. Except he didn't have blonde hair this time, now it was flames. He also had fiery, slit-like eyes like a serpent. If he didn't know better, he might have mistaken it for an incarnate Vala. His head rested against his fist where he could clearly make out the object of all his misfortunes, that cursed golden ring that enslaved half of Arda. He had a small smile on his face that Celebrimbor didn't know what to make of it. He stared at it waiting for he makes any movements ready to react. Sauron opened his mouth to speak and Celebrimbor tensed, ready to react to any magic that came out of it.

" How are you my old friend?"He asked with a big smile.

The elf lord was first shocked at such casualness and then felt the rage welling up inside him. All thoughts of safety and plans of action were forgotten as he ran towards his worst enemy. Celebrimbor jumped up the steps and threw his fist in Sauron's face who only smiled even more.

Celebrimbor suddenly felt frozen in mid-air, his fist held inches from his opponent's face. He tried to move but couldn't force a muscle.

" Very well, I see. As stupid as before. "He said in a tone that might sound happy to some or despicable to others. Celebrimbor could only look at him with hatred.

" Coward ! Free me to send you beyond the Gates of Night myself! »

Sauron just shook his head with a sigh.

" Ahh…. I was just hoping to get some news before tackling the nasty subjects, but apparently you're in a hurry to talk about it.»

He stood up and simply waved his hand. Celebrimbor felt himself pinned to his knees at the bottom of the throne stairs, his arms weighing a ton. Sauron descended the stairs and stood before him. He lost his smile, replaced by the familiar emotionless face he used for interrogations.

" Where is Nenya?" He asked emotionlessly " I already own Vilya and Narya, I know you know the location of the last elven ring"

"You can still dream Sauron!" He still shouted enraged "I'd rather die than betray my loved ones!"

Sauron rolled his eyes " How noble of you to sacrifice yourself to the Dark Lord to atone for your past sins. All right, I believe you when you say you'll die rather than tell me. But what about your wife and your daughter?" He asked curious to know how far his loyalty to the Valar would go.

"Don't touch them!" Celebrimbor cried out trying to free himself from his grasp.

Sauron remained unfazed " Then answer the question "

Celebrimbor stopped struggling and after giving Sauron his deadliest glare bowed his head in resignation. "I won't tell you anything..."

" Oh very interesting... you're willing to sacrifice everything you have to keep me from getting my property back"

"Nenya is not yours" Celebrimbor spat with hatred "All like the rest of the rings, you stole them"

Sauron knelt down to face level " Oh?And who do they belong to then? Yours ? To those who wear them. No."He sneered and Celebrimbor could see he was pissed off by his words.

" I had the idea for the rings. " I gave them life! And they only obey me! And no one else!"He ends up raising his voice before calming down.

" You are only the one who forged them. And again, without my knowledge and my help, you would never have been capable of such a feat. The proof is that I myself created the greatest artifact in Arda."He lifted the golden ring on his finger with a smile.

"Arda's greatest artifact?" Don't overestimate yourself Sauron » The elf looked at him with a mocking smile. "The One Ring may be your greatest creation, but it is nothing compared to the Silmarills. You couldn't beat my ancestor." He expected anger or even physical retaliation at his insult to his pride but Sauron only stood up and smiled wider. Celebrimbor was confused.

" Perhaps three thousand years ago." he says. " But now… " He started to laugh.

Celebrimbor did not understand what he was saying and it worried him to know that he was the prisoner of a madman.

Sauron finally stopped laughing and looked at him sideways

" But maybe a demonstration is better than words... " He repositioned himself in front of him " Last chance Celebrimbor. Where is Nenya? »

Celebrimbor looked at him unflinchingly into the flaming eyes. "I hope you get thrown into the void and Eru keeps you there even after Arda's revamp"

Sauron looked at him with his emotionless face "So be it.But you will tell me what I want to know whether you like it or not."He reached for the side of Celebrimbor's head and the Ring flashed. Celebrimbor sensed something was wrong when he sensed the Ring's power.

"What...what did you do to the Ring?! This energy can't be yours, it's too powerful!" He started to panic realizing that Sauron was trying to dominate him. The Maia only smiled.

Celebrimbor felt his will being attacked by Sauron's, he rushed to raise his mental barriers to push him back. He succeeded in blocking his intrusion but his power increased from second to second. After barely fifteen seconds, he felt Sauron shatter his defenses and violate his mind to control him. He cried out in pain

'That strength...' He barely managed to think 'He shouldn't have such powers... Even the Maiar have their limits... argh!'

' Maybe because I'm more than just a Maia now ' He heard his voice in his head but didn't have time to think of his words before Sauron totally broke his will.

Celebrimbor stopped moving and his head fell. Sauron pulled his hand away and released his grip on his body. He wasn't moving anymore but had his eyes open and was breathing calmly.

" You resisted more than the others, I recognize that."The Dark Lord bent his head in her ear and whispered " But you're still an elf " He put his hand back to his head and searched his broken mind for what he wanted to know.

Sauron came to his senses in front of Tirion, barely two minutes had passed in the physical world, though it took over an hour in his and Celebrimbor's minds. He focused again on the Palantir in his hand and plunged his mind into it in search of his armies. He felt a being respond to his call through his own Palantir and a hoarse voice came out.

" My lord." The being lowered his head where a large helmet hid almost his entire face except for his mouth strewn with crevices and rotten teeth.

" How are the preparations ?" Sauron asked his lieutenant.

"The cloud soon reaches the edges of the forest of Oromë my lord, the army follows closely but we will not be hidden much longer. »

" Tell Scatha and Smaug to start. May any Ents, Maiar or elves that get in your way be burned. Once done, begin the siege of the Halls of Aulë.»

"It will be done, though the dragons are increasingly rebellious against orders. »

" Remind them that they will be able to have all the spoils of the Valars when all is finished.»

"As you order, my lord." And the lieutenant withdrew from the vision, his orders given.

Sauron made the Palantir disappear and mumbled to himself not looking at anything in particular.

" Damn dragons, always hungry for more loot, it's a miracle I was able to convince them to leave their ratholes. I'll have to impose my dominance on them soon or they'll demand more of me like Ungoliant did to Morgoth. "

His thoughts raced to his former master and he seethed.

" This madman...a moron, an incompetent, a rascal"

He turned his gaze to the hidden sky and made a breach revealing the stars.

" And you, dear Father, why don't you do anything? » He asked his creator whom he knew observed all

« You did not stop Morgoth during his ascension when it was necessary, but you destroyed Numenor which the Valars could very well have managed themselves. And now… at the most critical hour… when I'm about to dominate them all, you do nothing. » He was waiting for an answer even though he knew he never would. What interest would the great Eru Illuvatar have who knows how to argue with the little Maia Sauron who longs for a period of order and peace.

" Is all this just a game for you?" »

All he heard in response was thunder.

OK

- The Nazgul are represented as in the hobbit when they appear against galadriel, but in physical form with the black robes of the original films

The representations of all the Nazgul can be found by typing 'Nazgul hobbit' on google, normally a drawing with all the nazguls + the necromencer with a blue background is there.

The first Nazgul was 'The Betrayer' and the one with the Numenorian helmet 'The Black Numenorean'

-I used Shadow of War quotes at the beginning of the chapter with all the 'The promise of...'

- Sauron dominated Celebrimbor thanks to the Palantir, he allows to control the spirits from a distance like Saruman does with Theoden. So the palantir combined with the power of the Unique works quite well.

-Smaug is here! YEAH! Oh and there's Scatha too. I don't know if there were any other Great Dragons left besides these two at the end of the Second Age. We will say that only them remained. Two large dragons is already a lot to take care of.