Mount Doom
At long last, the marching armies arrived at Mount Doom. They stood outside the Black Gate, which seemed to Rory an impenetrable fortress.
"Where are they?" Pippin whispered after they stood assembled outside the gate for several moments but nothing happened.
After a look from Aragorn, The Doctor, Rory, Gandalf, Boromir River, and Legolas, with Merry, Pippin and Gimli ridding with River, Gandalf, and Legolas respectively, followed Aragorn as he rode up to the Black Gate and stopped.
"Let the Lord of the Black Land come forth! Let justice be done upon him!" Aragorn challenged.
For a long moment, it was silent. Then, with a grating sound, the gate began to open.
"Didn't expect that to work," Rory muttered and The Doctor and River exchanged a glance, silently agreeing.
The Black Gate opened just wide enough for someone to emerge from behind it. A rider walked forward, riding a skeletal horse and dressed in armor that showed only a large mouth full of razor sharp teeth.
"My master, Sauron the Great, bids thee welcome," the rider said once he reached them. "I am called The Mouth of Sauron."
"So Sauron needs you to talk for him?" Rory asked dryly.
"I relay my master's wishes. Is there any in this rout with authority to treat with me?" The Mouth of Sauron asked mockingly.
"We did not come to treat with Sauron, faithless and accursed," Gandalf said and The Mouth of Sauron sneered. "Tell your Master this: The armies of Mordor are to be disbanded, he is to leave these lands, never to return."
"Oh, old Greybeard. I have a token I was bidden to show thee," The Mouth of Sauron told them before pulling out something that mad the Fellowship stare in horror.
It was Frodo's Mithril coat, and he held it high for all of them to see.
"Frodo," Pippin whispered horrified as The Mouth of Sauron tossed the coat to Gandalf. "Frodo!"
"Silence!" Gandalf roared.
"No!" Merry cried.
"Silence!" Gandalf repeated.
"The Halfling was dear to thee, I see. Know that he suffered greatly at the hands of his host," The Mouth of Sauron taunted.
"Then where is his body?" The Doctor demanded, his voice calm as The Mouth of Sauron stiffened. "Your Master would delight in letting us know he had the Ring and Frodo was dead. So why haven't you shown us his body?"
"Because he doesn't have Frodo or the Ring," Rory said, having come to the same conclusion. "Sauron is just trying to scare us."
"You dare speak my Master's name, Centurion?" The Mouth of Sauron snarled. "You cannot begin to grasp his greatness. And soon, you will all-"
A sword suddenly flew out, cutting off the Mouth of Sauron's head. As the head fell to the ground, they all looked to see River was the one who had thrown the sword.
"I got tired of hearing his nonsense," River said simply.
"Well, I guess that concludes negotiations," Gimli noted.
At that moment, the gate began to open and they turned their heads, watching with horror as the Armies of Mordor began marching towards them.
"Fall back! Fall back!" Aragorn ordered.
No one argued, all of them riding back towards their army. Said army shifted uneasily, all of them filled with fear at the sight of Sauron's army.
"Hold your Ground! Hold your ground!" Aragorn ordered, riding along the front of the army with Anduril held high. "Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of Men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship. But it is not this day! An hour of woe and shattered shields when the age of Men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!"
No one said a word, but it was clear from the looks on the faces of the men that Aragorn's words had had the desired effect. The Doctor noticing even Denethor looked inspired as the men raised their weapons. Rory privately thought that Aragorn was the equal to any general he had met in his time waiting for the Pandorica.
Aragorn then raised his sword, ready to lead the men into battle. The horses were led away by Shadowfox so they could not be used against them.
All the while, Sauron's eye shone down on them, as if in challenge to Aragorn's daring.
"Never thought it would end like this when I first agreed to come with you and Amy," Rory mentioned to The Doctor as they found themselves surrounded by the armies of Mordor.
"Do you regret it? If you had the chance to go back, would you stop yourself?" The Doctor asked and Rory was silent for a moment.
"No," Rory finally said, the two men looking at each other with understanding as River watched with a smile.
"Never thought I'd die fighting side by side with an Elf," Gimli muttered.
"How about side by side with a friend?" Legolas asked and Gimli looked over at him, the pair remembering all they had been through on this journey.
"Aye. I can do that," Gimli said as they shared a smile.
"Aragorn."
Aragorn heard the menacing whisper, knowing it was from Sauron. Aragorn stepped forward, knowing it was time. Then, he looked back at the armies of Gondor and Rohan, giving a slight smile.
"For Frodo."
With those words, Aragorn turned and began running towards the enemy. After a moment, Pippin and Merry roared before following after him, their swords held high. Barely a second passed before Rory, The Doctor, Gandalf, Legolas, River, Gimli, Boromir and Eomer followed after them, leading Denethor and the rest of the army into battle. Aragorn struck the first blow, striking an Orc with his sword before the armies met in the middle of the battlefield, truly beginning the battle for the fate of Middle-Earth.
Chaos reigned around them, the battle quickly devolving into a free for all melee. Rory swung his sword, taking off an Orc's head before he whirled around, making a large cut across another Orc's chest as, near him, Legolas cut down several Orcs.
River found herself fighting side by side with Boromir and Denethor, surprised by how quickly Denethor moved, taking out several Orcs as Boromir used a sword to behead another.
Denethor may not be a good ruler, but he was definitely a skilled warrior.
The Doctor found himself standing shoulder to shoulder with Aragorn, the two taking out as many Orcs as they could when they heard the screech of Nazguls. The Doctor looked up, dread filling him as he saw several approaching.
Gandalf paused as well, seeing a butterfly in front of him before it quickly flew up. Then he looked up as an eagle the size of a small plane flew in, attacking one of the Nazgul.
"The eagles. The Eagles are coming!" Pippin said in joy as more flew in, attacking the Nazgul.
"You don't see that every day," Rory muttered.
Boromir paused for a brief second at the sight before continuing fighting some Orcs. Behind him, an Uruk-Hai was sneaking up behind Boromir, intending on delivering a killing strike when Denethor moved over, stabbing the Uruk through the chest.
But so focused on saving his son, Denethor hadn't noticed a second Uruk coming up behind him and, before he could fully pull his sword out of the first Uruk, the second impaled him from behind.
"Father!" Boromir cried out in horror as he saw this, Denethor coughing up blood.
The Uruk pulled out the sword, laughing cruelly before Gandalf appeared behind him, beheading the Uruk with his sword.
"Father!" Boromir cried before he rushed to Denethor's side, as he had fallen to the ground.
"Boro…mir," Denethor gasped before he took his final breathe.
"So passes Denethor, Son of Ecthelion," Gandalf said solemnly before noticing the Nazguls leave the battlefield.
They weren't retreating. No, they were heading towards Mount Doom. A pit of dread formed in his stomach, a bad feeling coming over him.
Something was happening with Frodo and Sam.
Gandalf was broken out of his thoughts as a large Troll burst onto the scene, knocking The Doctor and Aragorn to the ground. Legolas fired two arrows, which struck the troll but this only seemed to annoy it. Legolas tried to get to them but was blocked by Orcs.
The Doctor and Aragorn looked up at the Troll as it loomed over them before, to their disbelief; Rory jumped on its back and stabbed his sword up through the back of its head.
"Get out of the way!" Rory shouted before yanking the sword out, now covered in Troll blood.
The Doctor and Aragorn rolled away as, with a large thud, the Troll fell, crushing a few Orcs as it did. But, as they got up, two more large Trolls began approaching.
"Oh Bloody Hell," Rory muttered as he turned his sword towards it.
Meanwhile, inside Mount Doom, Frodo and Gollum were struggling, fighting over the Ring when they made a wrong moment and both tripped, falling over the ledge.
While Frodo grabbed onto the ledge, stopping himself from falling, Gollum fell below, landing in the lava. Within second, Gollum had dissolved, leaving only the Ring.
Up above, as Sam helped Frodo up (to the best of his ability when Frodo only had four fingers), the writing appeared on the Ring, exposed by the lava. And, as Sam helped Frodo back up over the ledge, the Ring dissolved, destroyed forever.
The battle suddenly paused as they all heard a high, shrill screech. The enemy turned and fled, to the confusion of everyone. Then, they looked forward and saw Sauron's Eye, wailing in pain before the tower began to collapse. Smiles began to break out as they realized what had happened just before Sauron's Eye blinked out, creating a sonic boom.
"Frodo! Frodo!" Merry cheered.
"He did it. They actually did it," The Doctor chuckled.
The remaining Orcs began fleeing as the ground collapsed, most falling into the abyss as the smiles faded from the Fellowship. The volcano erupted, the lava striking the remaining Nazgul.
"Frodo. Sam," River whispered in horror.
The Doctor lowered his head as Merry and Pippin fell to their knees, weeping as Gandalf had a tear falling from his eye. Rory, Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas all wore masks of grief.
Vwoorp. Vwoorp.
The Doctor, River and Rory whipped their heads up at the familiar sound as, to their disbelief; the TARDIS appeared in front of them. For a beat, they all stared at the blue box. Then, The Doctor ran inside, opening the door.
On a large rock, away from the rest of the lava, Sam and Frodo were out cold when the TARDIS appeared. The Doctor rushed out, seeing them. Frantically checking their vitals, he saw they were exhausted but alive. With a smile, The Doctor threw one Hobbit under each arm and headed inside the TARDIS.
These two Hobbits had undergone quite the ordeal. And now, it was time to get them to safety.
Most definitely not as good as some other versions of the Battle at Mount Doom, but hope you enjoyed it all the same.
One more chapter to go and the first story in the series will finally be complete.