I'm sorry for the long delay. As school starts and my mom's classes start, I'm finding less and less time to work on this story. My inspiration also isn't helping since it came less often. The next update may have to wait for awhile. Meanwhile, enjoy this chapter!

I also thank Caunedhiel, Lady Demiya, and Juu50x very much for reviewing.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of LOTR, which belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien, who should have named all nine Nazgûl and that would have saved me a lot of trouble.

Terror.

A very interesting emotion. Sauron thought while he surveyed his gathering army from the top of Barad-dûr, just beside his flaming eye. He had felt the Witch King's terror when he saw that shieldmaiden of Rohan. It had been so intense that Sauron was unable to move for a few seconds.

He hadn't felt terror for years since Master Melkor had been taken away. There was nothing to be afraid of. Unless one counted Sauron's worry for his One Ring and the worry that one day his servants would fail him, and he would be defeated. Sauron didn't trust Khamûl and his followers at all and detested the Mouth. The Mouth of Sauron was a pathetic and mindless servant who only gained such a high position because of his cunning. But that was a long time ago.

Sauron felt unrest since the Nine had set out to find his Ring, and had been even more disturbed when they came back uncloaked and defeated. He saw the halfling carrying the Ring several times during the Nine's search and knew that the Ring was used by the halfling. Later he heard report from his spies that the balrog in the Mines of Moria was slain. Saruman, whom Sauron distrusted now without doubt, had sent his Uruk-hai army to attack Helm's Deep where the people of Rohan were sheltered and was defeated. His entire army was killed and not even one Uruk-hai was left. Then there was another day as Sauron was using his palantír to give Saruman a sound tongue lashing when he saw a halfling to his utmost surprise. He had guessed that this was the halfling that had his Ring, and tried to force his identity and location out of him. Not only did the halfling resist him, but Sauron accidentally let slip his plan to attack Minas Tirith in his shock. A few days after that came an event even more troublesome. Again Sauron was using his palantír and fighting a mental battle with Denethor, the Steward of Gondor. He had been interrupted by a man holding a sword in his vision. The man had shoulder length brown hair, short beard and blue eyes. The sword he held in his hand glowed with a brilliant light. The man said he was Aragorn, the heir of Isildur and was holding the shards of Narsil reforged. With those words, Sauron had seen the Battle of the Last Alliance again. Again he was holding his mace to strike Isildur, who had in the last minute sliced at his hand with his father's broken sword. Again he felt the agony as his middle finger was separated from his hand, the finger with the One Ring on it…

Sauron shook his head. His thoughts were becoming more troublesome day by day.

I do believe that man is the heir of Isildur, He thought, He has his likeness, and I remember the sword Narsil too well.

Why did I interfere with the Witch King during the Battle of the Pelennor fields? Perhaps he wouldn't have perished. Now is the worst time to lose one of my most trusted servants. He betrayed me! I knew he was never faithful to me since Númenor, but I did not know he had the nerve to do that. He was obedient, although I could sense it was reluctant. The Witch King never really argued with me in the past, although he irritated me sometimes. Even if the Witch King still lived, Mordor would have lost, with that heir of Isildur bringing in the army of the dead. Hmph...I can find no one to give all those statistics reports to now that he is dead.

Who will replace the Witch King's position as Lord of the Nazgûl? Definitely not Khamûl. The first thing he did upon returning was to ask if he could fill in that position.

Sauron was now puzzling about the position of the Lord of the Nazgûl. There was no one worthy of that position in his opinion. Khamûl was too unreliable and tended to cause dispute among the Nine. Previously, there was no one he trusted more than the Witch King.

I trusted him to carry out my commands. He did so without complaint in the past and did it willingly. But now I asked him to search for my Ring, and he said how did that concern him? I commanded him to attack Gondor, and he told me to send Khamûl instead. I thought he didn't have the nerve to disobey me, let along betray. But why? After all those years of being so trustworthy? Was that only a false impression he was trying to make on me? Didn't the Witch King realize how important the battle against Gondor was? He particularly forced me to possess him, which took most of my energy! And that wasn't the worst! He defeated me by fire sorcery! I thought the Nine were afraid of fire, and therefore the Witch King shouldn't be able to use it. He tried to trap me in his mind by his dying breath. I barely escaped the crumbling wrecks of it.

Footsteps were heard behind Sauron, clanking forlornly on the black obsidian that formed the tower. He turned around and faced the being, who was revealed to be none than Khamûl himself. Sauron felt a stab of irritation again.

"My Lord, have you finished contemplating about the candidate for the position of Lord of the Nazgûl?" Khamûl said in his low voice and bowed, "We need a leader to follow and to guide us….."

"I do not want you pestering me about this matter again, Khamûl." Sauron interrupted, "I do not find you trustworthy, and therefore the Nine shall remain leaderless."

Khamûl was no fool. He could sense that Sauron was not pleased at all. But he took his chances.

"Then who do you have in mind?"

"That will be none of your concern. Now get out of here before I lose my temper!" Sauron suddenly shouted and drew his sword.

Khamûl jumped back a step and backed away towards the stairway.

"I apologize for disturbing you, my Lord. I shall leave you to your thoughts." He said hurriedly and fled.

"Fortunately you know well enough to do that." Sauron said softly and returned his sword to its scabbard. He returned in looking out towards the land of Mordor.

Pestering minions.

For some strange reason Sauron felt quite pleased in terrifying away Khamûl. Although that Easterling was faithful to him, he did so in terror. Morgomir was worse. He tried to do anything that might please Sauron for his own benefit. But the worst was the Mouth, who groveled and begged when Sauron was angry. He schemed and whispered shrewd suggestions while Sauron was planning for something. He sulked and cursed when the free peoples of Middle-earth again had a victory. Never will Sauron let Khamûl or the Mouth become Lord of the Nazgûl.

Again there was the call of his Ring. Sauron could now sense it frequently, although not as keenly as the Nine. He could live without it. He could conquer Middle-earth with his vast army. But it would be easier if he had the Ring with him. As long as the Ring was intact, Sauron would endure. But if it were destroyed…

Sauron again shook himself out of those disturbing thoughts.

Really, if I go on thinking like this, it might be the end of me. No one can resist the power of my Ring for long, and soon the halfling will succumb to it. But I feel that it is somewhere near. Where then will it be? I am feeling extremely disturbed right now. Something isn't right. Something is amiss.

There was a sound of rushing air and darkness gathered into a column behind Sauron. He turned around again, now very irritated in been disturbed twice in a row. The darkness cleared away, revealing the distorted figure of the Mouth of Sauron.

Always using fancy pieces of sorcery just for transportation…

"My Lord, I have news!" The Mouth bowed so low that his head knocked against his knees.

"How dare you disturb me?" Sauron roared.

The Mouth gave a terrified squeak and fell groveling at Sauron's feet.

"Please do not be angry, my Lord. Your worthless servant does not know that you do not wished to be disturbed. You are free to administer any punishment on this detestable worm, my Lord…" He gabbled frantically.

"Cease your meaningless speech," Sauron said, disgusted. He gave the Mouth a hard kick in his side. He gave a whimper and managed to stand up again.

"What is the news you bring?"

"My Lord, the orcs at Cirith Ungol had captured a halfling near Shelob's Lair. He was probably a spy from the enemy." The Mouth spoke quickly, trying to hide the pain.

Hold on. The halfling may be the one carrying my Ring. Is this a coincidence? Sauron suddenly thought.

"Does this halfling have the Ring in his possession?" Sauron asked, now eager.

"I am truly sorry to say that he does not, my Lord. But a coat of mithril was found on the halfling." The Mouth added, producing a glittering chainmail coat from a bag he carried.

"I have no use for that." Sauron was now very annoyed and wished the Mouth would just leave, "You are positive that he does not have the Ring?"

"Nothing else of value was found on him."

A shout then ran out expectedly from the direction of the Black Gate. Sauron finally turned his attention to the source of the voice.

"Come forth! Let the Lord of the Black Land come forth! Justice shall be done upon him. For wrongfully he has made war upon Gondor and wrested its lands. Therefore the King of Gondor demands that he should atone for his evils, and depart then forever. Come forth!"

The one shouting was no other than the heir of Isildur himself, Aragorn. Behind him were the gathered armies of Gondor and Rohan. There were two other commanders standing side by side with Aragorn. One was probably a marshal of Rohan and another a captain of Gondor. Sauron laughed. Did they actually think they could actually defeat him with such a feeble army? They were all worn out during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

They better not be hoping that I would come out myself. Even that will cause panic among my own army. What do they hope to achieve by attacking me directly? Surely they know that they cannot win? Unless they are trying to draw my attention away… no, that can't be it. Draw my attention away from what?

"It seems like we must face this unexpected obstacle first. Muster my forces and march out to meet them. Take also the chainmail and go out to them. Tell them that we have caught one of their spies and in order to release him, they must surrender themselves to me." Sauron ordered.

"But I cannot get there fast enough, my Lord." The Mouth was reluctant.

"Then how did you get here?" Sauron said dangerously.

The Mouth gulped and quickly vanished in the same column of swirling darkness. Sauron turned his attention to his eye and focused it on the gathered army on the outside. He noticed a fourth leader that he didn't see earlier. The leader was an old man with long snow white beard and hair wearing robes of the purest white and carrying a staff. Sauron recognized him as Olórin the Maia, known more commonly as Gandalf the Grey.

What is Olórin doing here? Sauron thought, confused, I knew sometime in the Third Age that the Valar sent five Maia to help the people of Middle-earth. Olórin was probably the only one who did his job. But I hadn't seen him for at least a few hundred years. What is the cause of his appearance today? His power seemed to have grown stronger.

Sauron then contacted the mind of Khamûl. He preferred using the palantír, which required less of his power. The act of contacting the Witch King's mind during the search for the Ring, the Battle of the Pelennor Fields and the act of possessing him had taken much out from Sauron's power. He realized that he needed his Ring soon or Mordor will fall into ruin, for the desolate land was maintained with his power. He also realized that he had to temporarily put Khamûl in charge of the Nazgûl.

Khamûl, gather the others and attack the gathered armies of the West at the Black Gate. You must kill all of them. Keep a watch also for the Ring. They may also have it in their possession.

Yes, my Lord. We will wipe them out. None will escape alive.

I expect you to be true to your word.

Far off towards the Black Gate Sauron could already see the Eight circling in the sky on their fell beasts. The Mouth was on his horse and speaking to Aragorn, no doubt telling them about the conditions of surrender. But Olórin then shouted something, rode up to the Mouth and seized the chainmail away.

So they refuse to accept my generous terms of surrender. Sauron thought angrily. Never mind that then. That would have been too easy of a victory.

It was generous in his opinion. Most people would give up their land, freedom, and property just because they didn't want him to destroy them. It was rare for anybody to reject the terms.

The Mouth fled back into Mordor through the Gates as the army marched out. The forces of Mordor completely surrounded the armies of the West. There was no escape, and there was little hope that they would fight out of the circle. Soon they will pay the price for defying Sauron himself!

The two sides almost immediately started battle. Fighting was fierce among the orcs and men. Olórin felled many with his sword and staff while Aragorn battled a troll. The Nazgûl continued their tactic of making their fell beasts pick up many men at once and throwing them down. Sauron noticed three of them landing among the midst of the chaos and were fighting on foot. The three appeared to be Herumor, Fuinur and Eärnur.

Now why are they doing that?

If Sauron had looked closer, he would have seen the three were actually cutting down orcs, Easterlings and the Haradrim carefully. The armies of the West were fighting hard, but they were beginning to be pushed more and more together by the armies of Mordor. Sauron knew they would never win no matter how hard they fought. More men of the West fell slain than those of the armies of Mordor.

Suddenly the call of his Ring rang out loud and shrill. Sauron's vision was immediately drawn with lightning speed towards Mount Doom. He saw the halfling who possessed his Ring standing on the edge of the Cracks of Doom along with another halfling and a scrawny, ugly-looking creature whom he recognized as Gollum. The halfling had put on the Ring. For the first time in thousands of years, Sauron felt true terror and panic. His life depended on the Ring and if it were destroyed, he would go along with it. That would mean facing judgment before the Valar. That would mean getting sent to the Void. That would mean facing Master Melkor again.

No! My Ring in Mount Doom, the only place where it could be destroyed! How could I not notice the halfling creeping across Mordor the entire time? How could I not capture him already? How could I not sense the Ring at such a close range? How could I be so careless?

Khamûl! Sauron screamed into Khamûl's mind in panic, Forget the battle! Retrieve my Ring from the hands of the halfling in Mount Doom before it gets destroyed! Make haste!

Khamûl made no reply, but Sauron saw him steer his fell beast towards Mordor with the speed of wind while followed by Morgomir, Gothmog, Akhorahil, and Ji Indur. Herumor, Fuinur and Eärnur were still on the ground fighting. Sauron longed to use his powers to instantly arrive at the volcano, but that would again take too much of his power and perhaps use it all up. He was now facing a dilemma. Either Sauron could teleport to Mount Doom and lose all his powers, causing Mordor to fall into ruin or he could do nothing and hope the Nazgûl will arrive in time. Unexpectedly he thought what would the Witch King have responded if he called him to rescue the Ring. He turned his vision towards the fighting armies and saw the men of the West were now wearing hopeful looks on their faces. Suddenly Sauron noticed a figure fighting too, but on the outer edges of the Mordor army. He was causing chaos among them and they scattered in all directions. He took a closer look and saw the figure was cloaked in black, wielding both a mace and a sword and was using them with deadly precision. When Sauron saw his face, he nearly fell again from Barad-dûr in surprise and nearly forgot all about the peril of his Ring.

But he was dead! I saw him die! There is no way for him to survive! It's impossible for anyone to survive a wound like that! He thought frantically.

Hurry up, Khamûl! Sauron again shouted as he swung his eye towards Mount Doom. Khamûl was still flying right over Barad-dûr and had quite a distance to cover. Sauron had now made his decision and got ready to travel there. It was better for him to lose all his powers than to lose his life and spend eternity with Master Melkor. Sauron raised one arm, vanished in wisps of black smoke and flew as a gust of wind towards Mount Doom. He felt the power drain out of him, and the foundations of Barad-dûr shook. Despite that, Sauron saw what was happening inside the volcano clearly.

That wasn't too bad. Now what to do with the halfling…

The invisible halfling was now wrestling with Gollum. The creature bit off one of the halfling's fingers, the finger with the Ring. Now triumphant, Gollum danced on the edge, laughing madly. Sauron almost rejoiced that at least the Ring was claimed by another. He could use its influence to make the creature bring it to him easily. However Gollum slipped, and fell along with the Ring right into the fiery chasm of Mount Doom. At the same time Sauron materialized inside the volcano. None of the three noticed him.

To Sauron the whole thing seemed to happen in slow motion. The Ring fell slowly towards the lava, spinning and reflecting the fires with a brilliant orange. The inscription on it suddenly blazed white hot. He gave a terrible cry, ran towards the chasm and tried to reach for it. Khamûl was too late. Nobody could snatch the Ring now. The Nazgûl had failed Sauron in his most crucial moment. He was going to die.

The Ring hit the lava and sank like a stone. The gold melted like ice in fire.

Review please! Maybe I'll really win against Mom for the fight for the computer.