CHAPTER 15

THE MOUTH OF SAURON

Elizabeth's POV

I rode on Rayma behind Aragorn, who was wearing a breastplate with the "White Tree" symbol on it, mounted on top of Brego. Beside me was Boromir on top of Mikayla, Legolas and Gimli upon Arod, Gandalf on Shadowfax of course and Eomer and Merry on Eomer's his horse, whom I did not know the name of. It was day and the Black Gate and the towering Mountains of Mordor loomed ahead of us. I shuddered at that sight, and worried for Millie; she was beyond our reach and most likely struggling to achieve the quest. I slid my hand over and clutched Boromir's. I gazed deeply at him, my face and eyes etched with fear and concern. His eyes met mine and he gazed at me lovingly. "It'll be okay, we'll stay together and I promise I won't let any harm come to you."

I replied, "I won't let anything happen to you either."

We gazed lovingly at each other for a long moment until we neared the Black Gate. All was quiet; there was no sign of the enemy.

"Where are they?" asked Pippin warily.

Gandalf said nothing but nodded at Aragorn. Our cue. We (Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Gandalf, Merry, Pippin, Eomer, Boromir and I) galloped towards the Black Gate and stopped in front of it, less than fifty yards away. "Let the lord of the Black Land come forth." Aragorn said, "Let justice be done upon him." There was a block of silence, with nothing being heard but our deep breathing. Suddenly, the massive black doors opened and a single rider in black armor upon a black horse appeared. He was wearing a black helmet that covered his eyes so you could see only his mouth and his pale chin. His teeth were long, sharp and yellow, (gross).

"My Master, Sauron the Great bids thee welcome." He was ghastly to look at and his voice was deep and menacing. "Is there any in this rout with authority to treat with me?" he asked.

"We do not come to treat with Sauron, faithless and accursed. Tell your master this. The armies of Mordor must disband. He is to depart these lands, never to return." Gandalf said.

"Aha! Old Greybeard! I have a few tokens I was bidden to show thee." He held up Frodo's Mithril shirt in front of Gandalf and through it at him, he caught it swiftly.

"Frodo!" exclaimed Pippin.

"Silence!" Gandalf said.

"No." said Merry.

The figure then held out Sam's sword and showed it to us…"No.." I was dreading what he would present next. He held up the final trinket. My eyes widened and I stared at it in shock, terror…and sorrow because in his hand, he held Millie's glasses.

"No!" I screamed, "Millie! No…" I began to cry. Then, my temper rose to its boiling point. I let out a scream and ran forward, and with one slash of my sword, beheaded the thing. I jumped off my horse, put Sam's sword in my belt and cradled Millie's glasses to my heart, and sobbed huge rain-drop tears. My best friend was gone and I couldn't do anything about it. Boromir rode up to my side and jumped off of Mikayla. He picked me up and cradled me to his chest like a baby and rocked me as I sobbed my heart out.

"There is no way this could have happened." Boromir said.

"I do not believe it." Aragorn said to Boromir, "I will not."

I wiped my tears and put the glasses in my belt. "No matter what happens," I said, trying to keep my voice steady, "I am going to fight for her and I don't care if I live or die!" I was in a rage now, if this bull crap was true, then Sauron's dumb-butt forces would regret it….I am pissed…and determined to fight…and win now more than ever.

Millie's POV

We slid down over a scree bank to the road below, disguised in uncomfortable, heavy, smelly orc-armor. I was pretty annoyed because this was the only way into Mordor. I ignored it though and instead fixated my gaze onto plain even farther below us…thousands of orc-armies were marching away from Mount Doom. "Look the orcs," said Sam, "They're moving off. You see Mr. Frodo, some luck at last."

I smiled at Sam's spirit. We continued moving across the hell-like dry landscape of twisted volcanic rock and steaming fissures. I looked ahead of us, about forty miles away, Mount Doom arose, its head covered with a mass of ugly dark clouds. It seemed that I could faintly smell the ash and smoke. We walked in the smelly armor all day long, getting closer and closer to the mountain with every step. We began to climb upwards amongst the rocks. Frodo fell down between them, removing his helmet; we both looked back at him. "I can't! I can't manage the Ring," he gasped, "It's such a weight to carry…such a weight…"

We removed our helmets and Sam pointed towards the mountain, "We're going that way, straight as we can. There's no point carrying anything we're not sure to need." We helped Frodo up to our rock and threw away all the Orc gear and camping gear, though I kept Sharky and my blanket with my small, empty knapsack that they could fit in. Frodo collapsed and slept. I looked down at him sorrowfully, he looked tortured and miserable, pitiful, innocent and tiny and I felt so sorry for him. I covered him with my cloak, it was the least I could do. I propped up against my knapsack that I had stuffed my two things in. Sam looked up at the sky and pointed to something, "Look," I peered up, a single star was peeping over through the clouds. "There is light and beauty up there that no shadow can touch."

"Darkness can't destroy everything," I said, "Simple things like friendship, love, and a caring heart; they're like that star…darkness won't destroy them. I believe that if we keep those three things strong, nothing can harm us." I put a hand on the hobbit's shoulder and looked into his eyes, "We'll get through this…conquer this quest…and we won't die, no, we'll live out the rest of our lives and know that we did something right, did a good thing. I promise."

Sam forced a small smile, "We will get through this, together." He said.

"And even if we don't make it, we'll make sure Frodo does." I replied.

He nodded, "Love, friendship, and a caring heart."

"Love, friendship, and a caring heart," I repeated. I hugged Sam before lying down on the rough rock face, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." He replied. I took my two things out of the knapsack and looked up at the star again, before falling asleep.