You could never imagine my terror as he slipped on the ring. It had all
been in vain. Every step through that choked land. Over mountains. Days
through forests. Stung, poisoned, broken, wounded, scarred beyond any
thoughts. I couldn't believe what he had done! Mister Frodo was sacrificing
himself to evil. After all that. All that!
"No, please," I sobbed. But my words were nought more than slurs. I started to run forward, groping the air for my master. When a hiss struck up behind me. So close, right at my earhole, worse than a snake's or great lizards. For seconds I thought it had to be a geyser of some sort, throwing up its contents at my back. But I was suddenly knocked flat and something heavy rammed my head hard into the rocks. There was a crack behind my eyelids and the light flickered a moment. I struggled as the hissing went on in my ear. But the thumping in my head blurred the rest of the sounds and the buzz mingled with darkness and blinding colour and I was left in an empty room. I ran along a corridor filled with doors, opening each in turn. I came across a round hobbit-hole one. I tried the handle but it was locked. I turned to see a metal arched door. It had an eye welded into the face and flames curling up from it. In my fevered dream, I threw myself against it and fell heavily on earth again.
"Frodo." I said drowsily and clambered to my feet. I didn't see my master but instead Gollum. He was fighting in mid-air, rolling about the mountainside and in the smoky air I could almost make out my friend's blazing eyes.
"No, Mister Frodo!"
Gollum's jaws opened, revealing fangs yellow as corn. He threw his head back, lank hair flying in a gust of burning wind.
"It is ours!" he cried and his jaws came together. There was a piercing scream that echoed about the mountain chamber, resounding endlessly higher and higher to the crater at the top. I saw Frodo doubled up on the rock and I ran to him. What had Gollum done? He stirred and my heart stopped fluttering. Unlike someone else's.
"My precious! We have it! It's ours!" Gollum screeched, prancing about the ledge. I saw it though. Before his sole touched the edge of the precipice. As a gurgle of flame erupted behind him, Gollum slipped on a pebble. "Precious, all ours! It's- It's -oooouuuuuurrsss..--!" He tumbled down in a hail of ash, wailing and clutching at the object locked amid his fingers. There was a gentle slop as the lava swallowed him up. I wrapped my arms around Frodo's limp form as fire lashed about us. The whole mountain shuddered. I stood upright and hauled Mister Frodo up beside me. Huge boulders were tumbling around us, splashing into the rising flames. Lava trickled over the ledge and another distant explosion rocked Mount Doom.
"Come on, Mister Frodo," I grunted, "You've got to help me too."
He made no reply and I quickened my pace, feeling the muscles twinge in my back.
"Frodo?"
He moaned and pressed his feet to the rock. As he raised his left hand, I saw with horror that the index finger was...well, not an index finger anymore. The one which had held the ring. Gollum had bitten it off! I could see the sweat coursing down his brow. He was in spasms of pain and kept gasping every other step.
"Not far now. Come on, Mister Frodo. Please!"
I looked back over my shoulder at the leaking flow of molten rock following us. A snake making its way, solemnly, carefully. As though relishing the terror it caused. Making its victims suffer slowly.
"I-I'm trying, Sam," came Frodo's weak voice. I was so overjoyed to hear him speak that I failed to see the drop at the exit. We rolled down to lie panting at the bottom, staring up in horror at the desolation behind. Mount Doom was burning itself from the inside out. Blossoms of gold poured from the summit, sending sparks up for miles.
I helped Frodo back down the way we'd climbed and onto a large shelf off from the main path. It overlooked all of Mordor, it seemed. It was cracking apart, the very land splitting and sending torrents of blackness gushing into it. Frodo let out a long sigh beside me. And he was there. My master, my best friend was real again. I held my hands out to his face and he clutched them in his.
"So it is finished. I'm glad you're here with me. At the end of it all," he said.
"Mister Frodo, it's all over now. It's too wonderful to be true!" I cried. We both hugged tight and to the rear of him I could already make out the lava seeping down the path.
"But how do we escape?" I asked dolefully, withdrawing from Frodo's embrace. His expression was that of a man who has long made up his mind. He took in a shuddering breath and glanced behind at the oncoming flow. When he turned back, Frodo's eyes met mine directly, unflickering.
"Sam, do you remember what I told you? 'If the ring is cast into the fire and we are at hand' This is what I feared. My friend of friends. The one thing that matters to me is that I'm not alone."
His stern gaze did not frighten me, nor did his words. Just that I knew that I would never be alone again. And we'd done it! The quest was behind us.
"Lie back, close your eyes Sam. Go to sleep and dream of The Shire," said Frodo calmly. His eyes were filled with tears and his hand gripped mine. I put my back to the mountainside. The rough stone grated my sides but I was too weary to care. Frodo lay down beside me with a sigh. I could already sense the heat approaching. The flames licking the stone.
"Thank you, Sam," Frodo whispered, "I owe you everything."
And I was so frightened at that moment. For Frodo. He had just been released from so much torment only to find this. And yet.yet, he sounded so calm, so determined. I closed my eyes and ears the destruction around me. There was peace. And there was Frodo and me, in an eternal embrace, soaring over black mountains on the wings of an eagle.
"No, please," I sobbed. But my words were nought more than slurs. I started to run forward, groping the air for my master. When a hiss struck up behind me. So close, right at my earhole, worse than a snake's or great lizards. For seconds I thought it had to be a geyser of some sort, throwing up its contents at my back. But I was suddenly knocked flat and something heavy rammed my head hard into the rocks. There was a crack behind my eyelids and the light flickered a moment. I struggled as the hissing went on in my ear. But the thumping in my head blurred the rest of the sounds and the buzz mingled with darkness and blinding colour and I was left in an empty room. I ran along a corridor filled with doors, opening each in turn. I came across a round hobbit-hole one. I tried the handle but it was locked. I turned to see a metal arched door. It had an eye welded into the face and flames curling up from it. In my fevered dream, I threw myself against it and fell heavily on earth again.
"Frodo." I said drowsily and clambered to my feet. I didn't see my master but instead Gollum. He was fighting in mid-air, rolling about the mountainside and in the smoky air I could almost make out my friend's blazing eyes.
"No, Mister Frodo!"
Gollum's jaws opened, revealing fangs yellow as corn. He threw his head back, lank hair flying in a gust of burning wind.
"It is ours!" he cried and his jaws came together. There was a piercing scream that echoed about the mountain chamber, resounding endlessly higher and higher to the crater at the top. I saw Frodo doubled up on the rock and I ran to him. What had Gollum done? He stirred and my heart stopped fluttering. Unlike someone else's.
"My precious! We have it! It's ours!" Gollum screeched, prancing about the ledge. I saw it though. Before his sole touched the edge of the precipice. As a gurgle of flame erupted behind him, Gollum slipped on a pebble. "Precious, all ours! It's- It's -oooouuuuuurrsss..--!" He tumbled down in a hail of ash, wailing and clutching at the object locked amid his fingers. There was a gentle slop as the lava swallowed him up. I wrapped my arms around Frodo's limp form as fire lashed about us. The whole mountain shuddered. I stood upright and hauled Mister Frodo up beside me. Huge boulders were tumbling around us, splashing into the rising flames. Lava trickled over the ledge and another distant explosion rocked Mount Doom.
"Come on, Mister Frodo," I grunted, "You've got to help me too."
He made no reply and I quickened my pace, feeling the muscles twinge in my back.
"Frodo?"
He moaned and pressed his feet to the rock. As he raised his left hand, I saw with horror that the index finger was...well, not an index finger anymore. The one which had held the ring. Gollum had bitten it off! I could see the sweat coursing down his brow. He was in spasms of pain and kept gasping every other step.
"Not far now. Come on, Mister Frodo. Please!"
I looked back over my shoulder at the leaking flow of molten rock following us. A snake making its way, solemnly, carefully. As though relishing the terror it caused. Making its victims suffer slowly.
"I-I'm trying, Sam," came Frodo's weak voice. I was so overjoyed to hear him speak that I failed to see the drop at the exit. We rolled down to lie panting at the bottom, staring up in horror at the desolation behind. Mount Doom was burning itself from the inside out. Blossoms of gold poured from the summit, sending sparks up for miles.
I helped Frodo back down the way we'd climbed and onto a large shelf off from the main path. It overlooked all of Mordor, it seemed. It was cracking apart, the very land splitting and sending torrents of blackness gushing into it. Frodo let out a long sigh beside me. And he was there. My master, my best friend was real again. I held my hands out to his face and he clutched them in his.
"So it is finished. I'm glad you're here with me. At the end of it all," he said.
"Mister Frodo, it's all over now. It's too wonderful to be true!" I cried. We both hugged tight and to the rear of him I could already make out the lava seeping down the path.
"But how do we escape?" I asked dolefully, withdrawing from Frodo's embrace. His expression was that of a man who has long made up his mind. He took in a shuddering breath and glanced behind at the oncoming flow. When he turned back, Frodo's eyes met mine directly, unflickering.
"Sam, do you remember what I told you? 'If the ring is cast into the fire and we are at hand' This is what I feared. My friend of friends. The one thing that matters to me is that I'm not alone."
His stern gaze did not frighten me, nor did his words. Just that I knew that I would never be alone again. And we'd done it! The quest was behind us.
"Lie back, close your eyes Sam. Go to sleep and dream of The Shire," said Frodo calmly. His eyes were filled with tears and his hand gripped mine. I put my back to the mountainside. The rough stone grated my sides but I was too weary to care. Frodo lay down beside me with a sigh. I could already sense the heat approaching. The flames licking the stone.
"Thank you, Sam," Frodo whispered, "I owe you everything."
And I was so frightened at that moment. For Frodo. He had just been released from so much torment only to find this. And yet.yet, he sounded so calm, so determined. I closed my eyes and ears the destruction around me. There was peace. And there was Frodo and me, in an eternal embrace, soaring over black mountains on the wings of an eagle.