Hunter of the Rings

Chapter 33

Screaming out in complete agony, Maddie fought the best she could, but it was no use; Gollum had sunk his teeth deep into her flesh, refusing to let go no matter what she did. Reluctantly, the pain forced the girl to open her once tightly fisted hand, revealing the ring as it began to fall; her attacker jumped from body, kicking the girl away to the floor as he caught the ring in his hands before it could hit the stone ledge. Cradling her hand, Maddie watched with wide fear filled eyes as Gollum, crazed by his lust for his "Precious" held up the One Ring between two of his fingers "yes! Yes!" he yelled out, his voice stained with a mixture of joy and relief to have the ring back in his possession. Maddie felt an irregular and uncharacteristic anger begin to form within her as she rose up from the ground; she stumbled towards the joyful creature whom seemed to have forgotten that he was not alone. "Precious! Precious! Precious!" Gollum began to cheer over and over with glee, jumping up and down excitedly, unaware of the young girl's approach until he heard her call out. "Hey!" Maddie glared as the creature silenced, turning to her with surprise before letting out a hateful growl as he held onto the ring with an iron grip "you can keep it" the girl declared. Such statement startled Gollum, glancing down at his hand before returning the teenager's gaze with suspicion and confusion. Not wasting another moment, Maddie kicked out her leg as hard and forceful as she could, colliding her foot against the creature who stumbled back from the impact; Gollum tried his best to keep his balance, flailing his arms around, but alas, it was pointless. He tripped over the edge of the stone ledge, free falling down into the stomach of the mountain; Maddie couldn't quite realise what she had done, but she was glad of it. Falling to her knees, the girl glanced over the edge once again, watching as Gollum landed into the lava below. Even in the horrible situation he found himself in, the creature's eyes never left the item in his hand; it was only as he began to sink into the lava, however, that a look of disbelief and terror consumed him. Gollum tried to hold the ring out of reach from the burning lava, but it was no use; he tried to cry out but was consumed by the lava before a sound could escape his lips. The One Ring, on the other hand, refused to sink. If anything, it almost looked as if it happily floated along the very top of the fiery substance. The inscription slowly began to appear around the golden band before melting into the lava, destroyed once and for all!

Their numbers were dwindling rapidly. They may have been good soldiers, their bravery speaking for themselves, but there was no denying the inevitable; they had been outnumbered from the very beginning. And just as their hope was beginning to dissolve entirely, the Eye of Sauron suddenly cried out in pain and despair, shrivelling as its light began fazed. All attention turned to the very top of the tower, both men and orcs halting their battle as they glanced to the Eye; the orcs spared a moment to shared an alarmed gaze with one another before it rested upon Mordor. None wasted a second, however, as every single orc or troll all began to flee, running as fast as they could past the worried and confused army of men. Left alone with no need to fight, Aragorn joined his friends as they each shared looks of wonder "what in the devil is going on?" Gimli exclaimed; they all looked on, staring passed the Black Gate as the tower of Barad-dûr slowly but surely began to fall, its one impenetrable walls crumbling and smashing to the ground below. As for the Eye of Sauron, it became smaller and weaker as it grew closer to the ground until it was nothing but a single flame, easily extinguished before letting lose a great shock-wave that all for miles and miles felt and gladly accepted. Realising such a sight meant only one thing, the army of the West began to cheer, yelling out their joys and sharing embraces with their brother-in-arms. Gimli was certainly one of the loudest there, friendly punching Legolas' arm whom, after so long of travelling with a dwarf, understood that it was a kind gesture and returned it. The firm ground beneath their feet began to shake and the surrounding landscape started to break; the Black Gate began to collapse as the ground caved in, taking much of Sauron's army with it as well. "She did it! Maddie did it!" Éomer grinned, turning to the Fellowship as his men yelled out in victory "she destroyed the ring!" he patted Aragorn on the shoulder, shaking him joyously.