Bring Me With Her

I'll Follow Soon

It felt like forever before Thorin found himself at the entrance of Mount Doom. He forced himself into a run through the doorway. Heat rose all around him, and Thorin could feel sweat dripping down his body instantly. He allowed himself to stop when he found her. Thorin looked around to see that they were in a giant, rocky room that glowed a bright orange. Talia was standing at the end of a ledge that overlooked a sea of lava. Thorin called her name, it took a bit before she responded. She was completely slouched over, and her stance was unstable and wobbly. It made Thorin more nervous than he wanted to admit. One wrong move could cause her to lose her balance and fall.

Talia turned around slowly. She was breathing so heavy and her eyes were empty. "Thorin." she called back, and the Dwarf king swallowed hard. Her voice sounded like she was already dead.

"Where is the Ring?" he asked carefully.

The Terran removed the golden chain from around her neck, and slowly began to hold it over the edge. But Thorin widened his eyes when she didn't let go. This was what they came here for. Talia expressed countless times how she couldn't wait to be rid of the Ring. What was she waiting for? "Destroy it!" he finally shouted.

She didn't look back at him this time. Talia only continued to stare at the Ring. Thorin had a horrible idea of what was happening...but they had come so far, he didn't want to believe it. "Now Talia! Drop it into the fires!" he tried again. Still nothing. Thorin closed his eyes briefly from the dizziness the heat caused him. He wasn't sure how much longer he could last in this place. "Talia please! Just let it go!"

The Dwarf king gaped in shock when Talia brought the Ring back into her hand and turned around. He took a step back. There was no expression on her face. The color from her cheeks had completely vanished. Thorin had never seen her brows lay so still on her forehead before. And her eyes...they were two black holes that held nothing but the void. "The Ring is mine." she growled.

Thorin began to shake his head as she tore the chain apart. "No. No Talia. Please." he begged as she brought the Ring closer to her finger. "Don't do this!" he pressed. But it was too late. His Talia was gone. He blinked when the Ring slid onto her finger, causing her to vanish. "NO!" he cried. He couldn't give up. Thorin refused to lose Talia to the Ring.

His eyes quickly began to search the ground. He could see her footprints immediately. Thorin began to hold his arms up, ready to tackle her to the ground. All he had to do was wait for her to get a little closer. Thorin was about to lunge when a horrible smash hit him in the side of his head. The Dwarf king fell to the ground, groaning loudly. His brain was pounding against his skull, and it felt like his entire head would burst from the pressure.

But he blinked when he heard Talia scream. He looked with lop-sided vision to see Gollum floating in the air. The creature was on top of Talia...trying to get the Ring. The Dwarf king used all of his strength to press up from the ground. Thorin ran as fast as he could, managing to crash into Gollum just as he bit down on Talia.

Thorin ignored Talia's scream of pain at the moment, punching Gollum repeatedly in the face, beating him bloody. When he began to tire, Thorin quickly turned around only to trip over Talia. He still couldn't see her. Thorin allowed himself to sink his weight down on her as he felt for her slinged hand. The Dwarf king blocked out the sound of her animalistic growls of protest as he reached her hand, which was balled into a fist. "Take it off Talia! Now!" Thorin shouted.

"No!" Talia snarled.

He almost didn't know what to do when he felt some kind of liquid on his hand. Thorin looked to see that it was Talia's blood...it had to have come from where Gollum bit her. With that, the Dwarf king gave the source of the blood a crushing squeeze. Talia howled in pain...but her hand opened up. Thorin managed to grab her fingers and rip the Ring off of her. The Dwarf king dropped the trinket instantly. He wouldn't let that thing have any power over him, not after seeing it turn Talia into a complete stranger.