Bring Me With Her

She's Leaving

"None of us should wander alone, you least of all. So much depends on you. Talia?" The young woman looked up expressionless to see Boromir with a generous amount of firewood gathered in the crook of his arm. He gave Talia a look of concern. "I know why you seek solitude. You suffer. I see it day by day. You're sure you do not suffer needlessly? There are other ways, Talia, other paths that we might take." Boromir suggested.

Talia shook her head. "I know what you're gonna say. And it might sound like the smart way, or the wise thing to do, except-"

"Except what?" Boromir interrupted, which caused Talia to widen her eyes and take a small step back. Boromir began to take slow steps towards her. "We're all afraid, Talia. But to let that fear drive us to destroy what hope we have...don't you see, that is madness?" he challenged.

"There isn't another way, Boromir!" she tried, continuing to back away.

"I ask only for the strength to defend my people!" Boromir hissed, throwing the firewood onto the ground. "If you would but lend me the Ring-"

"No." Talia snapped, grabbing the golden chain around her neck.

"Why do you recoil? I am no thief." Boromir questioned.

The young woman shook her head. "Do you even hear yourself right now? This isn't you, Boromir!" Talia exclaimed.

The Man blinked at her words, but he didn't seem swayed. "What chance do you think you have?" Boromir taunted. "They will find you! They will take the Ring and you will beg for death before the end!" That was when Talia finally started to walk away, back toward the campsite. He was finally getting to her. He was beginning to scare her, and she wanted to get back to the fellowship as soon as she could, before Boromir could do anything that he would regret.

"You fool!" Boromir nearly shouted, and Talia turned around to find him glaring at her, and quickening his pace towards her. "It is not yours, save by unhappy chance! It could have been mine!" he shouted. The two of them were running at this point, and Talia's legs, small compared to Boromir's, just couldn't get away. Talia let out a scream as Boromir tackled her, and he dragged her back so that he was on top of her.

"It should be mine! Give it to me!" he bellowed. Talia began squirming and whimpering as Boromir began aggressively feeling around her neck, trying to reach the Ring. "Give it to me! Give me the Ring!"

"No!" Talia screamed, fighting to keep Boromir off her with one hand while trying to reach for the Ring with the other. Boromir only continued to shout in her face as she finally found it. She didn't have another choice. She would never be able to get his weight off of her, and she couldn't just lay there and hope someone would hear her and come to her rescue. Talia gripped the Ring as hard as she could, and slipped it onto her ring finger.

Boromir's grip released instantly once she was invisible to him. Talia gave him a hard kick in the gut before she got up and ran off. She could faintly hear him continue to shout at her as she tried to see in the dark world of shadows that the Ring had created. She kept running, making her way onto another stone platform and ducking down to hide.

The young woman looked up, and saw something in the distance...something that she knew wasn't there before. It was...a tall, dark tower. Barad-Dûr. It wasn't until the vision took her up to see it...the flaming, lidless eye, that Talia rushed to rip the Ring off her finger. The young woman let out a yelp as the Ring came off, and she fell off the edge of the platform.

Talia grunted as she landed on her back, and touched her face to feel that a few tears of fright had escaped. Boromir. Poor Boromir. He wasn't a bad person. He was her friend, and she liked him so much...and he attacked her. He came at her over the Ring. Talia blinked, and swallowed the rest of her emotions. It was time. The day had come, where the others could go no further with her. She had received all the help that she could get. Now she was on her own. The rest of this mission rested on her shoulders alone.