Mo Ghile Mear

I'll Be Your Shoulder to Cry On

*Sera's POV*

"Gandalf!" I heard Frodo cry out. I jumped awake slightly, turning around to see that his back was facing me, but he was on his arms slightly, propping himself up a little. Hesitantly, I put a hand on his shoulder.

"Mr. Frodo?" I say quietly. "What is it?"

Frodo laid himself back down. I heard him sniffling slightly.

"N-Nothing, Sera," he stuttered. "Just a dream."

A dream about Gandalf's death.

Eventually, I laid back down too but didn't fall back to sleep, even though I pretended to. I listened to Frodo's soft sobs, causing my heart to break for him. After a while, I quietly turned around. Once I put my hand on Frodo's shoulder, his entire body tensed, and his soft sobs ceased. 

  "Frodo? It's alright, love. It's okay to cry," I cooed in a soft voice. He turned to face me. His eyes were shiny with tears. Some had already streamed down his cheeks, leaving trail marks behind. In an instant, I opened my arms out to give him a hug. He didn't hesitate to go into my arms, and he allowed me to embrace him into a warm, comforting hug. He continued to sob into my chest as we laid there, wrapped in each other's embrace. I ran my fingers softly through his hair. This seemed to calm him down some. And in little time, he was back asleep. 

We got up and began to look our way out of Emyn Muil again. We wandered everywhere, but with no luck. Finally, we stopped.

"Mordor," Sam grumbled. "The one place in Middle-Earth we don't want to go to. It's the one place in Middle-Earth that we're trying to get to. We just can't seem to get there. Let's face it, Mr. Frodo and Miss Sera. We're lost."

I looked at the volcano that was constantly erupting lava. Reddish-orange lightning illuminated the sky every few seconds.

"I don't think Gandalf meant for us to come this way," Sam finally concluded.

The loss of Gandalf had continued to take a toll on Frodo. I can tell that he is still saddened by the sudden loss of our guide and friend.

"He didn't mean for a lot of things to happen, Sam," Frodo finally answered, sounding saddened. "But they did."

Sam and I stared out into the distance where Mordor is, and I instantly thought of Athena. I wondered where she, Aragorn, and everyone else were. Surely, they're safe, right? I mean, Athena wouldn't let anyone get hurt. I wondered what she thought of Mordor at the moment. Surely, there was evil brewing there behind those Gates at this very moment.

Suddenly, Frodo gave a gasp behind me, and I whipped around to see him on the ground, breathing heavily.

"Mr. Frodo?" I gasped. "What is it?"

He didn't say anything. He just gripped at the Ring around his neck, and I instantly got the idea.

"It's the Ring, isn't it?" I finally said.

"It's getting heavier," Frodo finally said. Sam and I looked at each other in concern before sitting down. Frodo had his back turned to us. Sam gratefully set down his heavy backpack on the ground. "What food have we got left?" Frodo finally asked.

"Let's see," says Sam as he dug around in his pack. "Look! We've got Lembas bread. And here, we have more Lembas bread." He broke two chunks off it and tossed a piece to Frodo and then one to me. We ate in mostly silence before Sam spoke up again. "I don't really care much for foreign food. But this Elvish stuff. . . . it ain't so bad."

Frodo smiled slightly.

"Nothing ever dampens your spirit, does it, Sam," he finally said.

"Nope, not really," says Sam cheerfully before looking off to his left. There was a faint rumble of thunder in the air. He heaved a heavy sigh. "But those rain clouds might."