A crystal clear pool lay before my feet- a beautiful pool of fresh water contrasted by its surroundings of black ash and jagged rock. I longed for the taste of the cool liquid and to soak in it. I fell to my knees and dipped my blackened hands into it, the grime dissolving from my skin, then I slid into it completely. I swam to the centre and looked up to the sky, but black clouds formed quickly overhead and began to rain down dark sludge. The water remained clear, but I felt sickened. The pool was no longer refreshing- all that was sweet and clean now felt vile and horrifying. I attempted to swim to the edge, but I felt it pulling me- pulling me down. I fought with all my might but could not make the slightest movement against the great force. My feet sank to the bottom, my head barely above the water. What was under my feet was not sand, nor was it rock or mud. It felt not unlike a collection of large shells. Somehow, I knew I had to look down, deep into the clear water and see what was below. Horror struck my heart as I saw directly below me a skull, and beside it, the bones of a hand reaching out, and the bones of a chest. Bones were covering the bed of the pond and formed entire skeletons, surrounding my feet, crawling over one another to ensnare me and pull me down farther. The depths grew as I sunk and the water passed over my head. It tasted salty and bitter. I fought against the pull to reach the surface and as I emerged, I saw eruptions of red spurting and spreading through the once clear and untouched water. The tendrils sprung from the depths like blood from a wound and in an instant the pool had transformed, now filled with the thick, red liquid. I was pulled under again and the taste of blood filled my mouth. The bodies pulled me down further and further, their sharp fingers tearing at my skin. The blood began to fill my lungs and I writhed and screamed as I was utterly consumed.

"Frodo!"

Sam! Sam was near and he heard me!

"SAM! HELP!" I yelled, desperately, "HELP ME!"

The very fabric of reality seemed to be ripping- I felt torn between two worlds. The bones dug deeper into my flesh and I let out an anguished and terrified, guttural scream. My eyes opened but I couldn't see. I thrashed my arms out to feel around me and I felt a pair of hands take firm hold of my wrists.

"Frodo! Shh! You're alright!"

I squirmed and tried to pull away.

"It's a dream, Frodo! You're dreaming!"

"Where are you?!" I called out frantically in the dark.

"I'm here. Your Sam's right here."

I shook violently, my forehead dripping with sweat. I wildly whirled my head about looking for any sign of light, and eventually found it;

The fireplace.

The fireplace in my room in Minas Tirith.

It was a dream.

It was a dream…

I couldn't escape the feeling of panic and doom- I couldn't breathe. I gasped and panted, tears running down my cheeks. My body was out of my control. It shook and twitched and I couldn't stop it.

"Just breathe. You're gonna be alright." Sam told me.

He tried to put his arm around my shoulders to make me feel safe, but I jerked away. I didn't want to be touched. I still felt the darkness of the dream lingering over me like a shadow and couldn't bear to be touched or restrained in any form. The beat of my heart got faster and faster and there was a cold, empty feeling inside my chest. The medicine kept the pain from completely consuming me as I whimpered and panted, but it aided my terror by making it very difficult to think clearly and all too easy to succumb to the fear and panic the dream had incited. I buried my face in my hands as it felt like the very life within was leaving my body.

"Oh, Sam… I'm going to die… I'm going to die…"

"No, you're not. It's just panic." he said, urgently.

"I can't breathe…" I said, gasping and clutching my chest, "I'm going to die…" I repeated in a whisper, now on the verge of suffocating.

"It's just one of those attacks. Remember what we did before? The slow breathing? Just try it."

I tried to take some slow breaths and calm down, but everything in me wanted to escape. I wanted to throw the covers off and run out onto the balcony just to be under the open sky, but I at least had the presence of mind to realise this was an insane idea and I likely would not even be able to support my own weight.

"You have to calm down. Breathe slowly, now. You can do it!" Sam said, being careful not to touch me.

I forced myself to do what he suggested and my heart rate did slow eventually.

I sat taking slow breaths for something around ten minutes, and at the end of it I was utterly drained, but my heart began to beat steadily and I only shook when I tensed my muscles.

"…I'm sorry." I told him after a moment, embarrassed about my outbreak, "Maybe you should go back to your room. I- I get overwhelmed sometimes... I never know when these things are going to happen…"

"Well, I'm certainly not leavin' you to go through it alone!"

"Haven't you been through enough without having to wake up to my screaming?"

"I just worry about you, is all. I know you're havin' a hard time... I want you to- To be alright." He said, clasping my shoulder, "I want you to know you're not alone." he added, in a softer tone.

"I don't want you to feel you have to stay just because-"

"I want to help you, Frodo. And, well, I know how it is. It's not easy being alone just now, is it? And we can count on each other to understand, can't we? 'Cause nobody else really knows what it was like, but we both do. That alone, it's a comfort in it's own way, isn't it?"

"…Yes, but... You need your rest and I don't want to keep-"

Sam interrupted me, speaking in a much firmer tone.

"I'll hear no more of this! I'm staying and that's that." he said, then altered his tone again, this time to a much softer one, "Unless- Unless you just don't want me to."

"I do want you to."

"Alright, then. Let's just… Try and get some sleep, hm?"

I nodded and he gave my shoulder a gentle pat before we settled back in for the night.

I slept as well as could be expected, and though my dreams were strange, I dreamt of nothing nearly as horrific as that one nightmare. Once during the night, I woke as Sam sat up suddenly with a jolt. I asked him what was wrong, but he dismissed my inquiry and told me to go back to sleep.

I felt bad for not talking with him and making sure he was alright, but I was so tired, I did what he said without arguing.