Aria the Black (Book 2 of the Daughters of Durin Trilogy)

Chapter 18: The Hunters

"It burns! It burns us! It freezes! Nasty Elves twisted it. Take it off us!" Gollum cried, speaking of the Elvish rope around his neck that Galadriel bestowed upon Sam. They had taken the creature prisoner, for they could not trust him to leave them alone. The Ring was his only purpose. As long as he knew Frodo carried it, he would stop at nothing to take it again for himself.

"Quiet, you!" Sam gruffly responded, tugging fiercely on the rope once again. Gollum cried as he fell at the unexpected blow, being dragged across the harsh rocky terrain, making Aria cringe.

"It's hopeless! Every Orc in Mordor's going to hear this racket! Let's just tie him up and leave him."

"Sam! Have you no heart?" Aria exclaimed at his proposition. She knew the creature was vile, and no doubt up to no good, but she still pitied him. His despicable ways were not his own doing. It had not been his choice to let the Ring corrupt him.

"No! That would kill us! Kill us!" He agreed with her.

"It's no more than you deserve!"

"Maybe he does deserve to die. But now that I see him, I do pity him." Frodo interjected.

"As you should." Aria hissed. "You know his current state is not his doing."

"Yes! We be nice to them if they be nice to us!" Gollum begged. "Take it off us. We swears to do what you wants. We swears!"

"Theres no promise you can make that I can trust." Frodo countered. He made a good point.

"We swears to serve the master of the precious. We swears on... on the precious!" He thought, seeming to be proud of himself for his quick thinking. "Gollum! Gollum!" He coughed.

"The Ring is treacherous. It will hold you to your word." Aria spoke from experience. Betraying the Ring to Gollum would be equal to giving up his own life; or rather, their lives.

"Yes... on the precious. On the precious."

"I don't believe you! Get down! I said, down!" Sam growled. Gollum began to shy away from them and climbed behind a boulder, scared. Sam jerked strongly at the rope as Gollum tried to get away from him. He crashed onto the ground, choking.

"Sam!"

"What are you doing? Do you hear nothing of what he says?" Frodo and Aria both scolded.

"He's trying to trick us! We let him go, and he'll throttle us in our sleep!" Sam ignored their retribution. Gollum lied on the ground, panting as he waited for their decision.

"Maybe he can be of use to us." Aria bartered, thinking quickly. "You know the way to Mordor?"

"Yes..." He nodded warily.

"You've been there before?" Frodo added.

"Yes."

Frodo reached out and took the rope noose off Gollum's neck, much to his surprise and relief. "You will lead us to the Black Gate."

"Yes! Yes, we wills! This way, hobbitses and dwarfses! Even though she does not have a beard. This way!"

...

The band of Uruk-Hai marched across the plain, with the hobbits bound to the backs of two of them. Pippin tried to call to Merry, who was unconscious with a gash on his right temple.

"Merry. Merry!"

Right afterwards, the leading Uruk-Hai put up his hand and signaled a stop.

"What is it? What do you smell?" Another grunted out.