Hope ↠ LOTR

X. Courage

There were many people that she wanted to speak to before she rode away but there was such little time, so instead she mounted Hasufel and helped Merry take his place behind her before they rode ahead. Her steed took its place beside his friend Arod and she met gazes with Legolas. She smiled at him, unsure if he would return the gesture after last night but much to her delight he did, even if his eyes held an indescribable sadness.

"Did I miss something?" Gimli asked from behind Legolas, looking between the two of them.

"Don't look at me, I don't know anything," Merry defended himself when the Dwarf glanced over at him.

Legolas and Athena's smiles widened a little at the comments from behind them but they said nothing and only followed Aragorn out of the gate, leaving the confines of Minas Tirith side by side.

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They continued to ride through the lands of Middle-earth with the army marching behind them until they reached the dreaded Black Gate, coming to a standstill in front of it but keeping a substantial amount of distance between them. It was dark and ominous, towering over them even from so far away with spiked edges above it. It was also the only thing that separated them from Mordor, but it was barren and there was nobody there to greet them as they had expected.

"Where are they?" Pippin asked, riding on Shadowfax and situated in front of Gandalf.

Everyone was wondering the same thing. Aragorn rode forwards and his companions followed him without question, a guard holding the flag of Gondor at their sides as they rode towards the Black Gate. Their horses stopped in front of it, waiting to see if anybody would come to greet them now that they were closer. They didn't, so Aragorn called out to them.

"Let the Lord of the Black Land come forth! Let justice be done upon him!"

It was silent for a few moments and just when they thought that they had completely failed a metallic creaking filled the air followed by a rumble, the gates beginning to open up in front of them. Athena had to tighten her hands on Hasufel's reins to keep him steady when he became unnerved at the sound and he listened to his rider and stilled again. A black horse carrying a cloaked figure emerged from the gate and made its way towards them, the face of the creature hidden to them other than it's disfigured mouth which was black accompanied with mangled scratches that went over it.

"My master, Sauron the Great, bids thee welcome," the Mouth of Sauron told them and she found herself feeling nauseous when he revealed his yellow and bloodied teeth to them. "Is there any in this rout with authority to treat with me?"

"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 answered him firmly.

The Mouth let out a sound akin to a mocking sneer. "Old Greybeard. I have a token I was bidden to show thee."

Their hearts momentarily stopped when he pulled out a coat made of silver metal. Mithril. It was the Mithril coat given to Bilbo by Thorin and then later given to Frodo by Bilbo—and they all knew he had been wearing it when they had parted.

"Frodo!" Pippin cried out in anguish.

"Silence," Gandalf ordered him.

"No!" Merry yelled, despair in his voice at believing one of his closest friends to be dead.

"Quiet, Merry," Athena instructed, trying to keep her voice steady while her eyes never left the Mouth of Sauron, anger bubbling inside her the more that she looked at the hideous creature in front of her.