~The Voice~

The torment is great. Here in the heart of Mordor, the Ring draws power, gaining footholds in my mind, breaking open my heart and soul.

You cannot hide,

You cannot win.

No! I shout in my mind. No, no, no, no, no!

You can have power.

I don’t want it!

You will rule many.

I won’t!

I will break you then.

And, oh, how you will fall.

“Mr. Frodo?” Sam’s voice for a moment drowns the incessant, ever stronger voice of the Ring.

“Hmm?” I amswer.

“I asked if you wanted to stop. You look’s if you’ll fall over, if you don’t mind my sayin’.”

I nod. “I could do with a rest,” I say.

He will die if you go on.

I squeeze my eyes shut in an effort to silence the voice, but it will not be silenced. I feel it’s malice seeping into my heart, breaking what remains of it. It fills my mind, and I see before me, not the bleak landscape of Mordor, but a giant wheel of flames, burning my eyes, my head. The voice fills all, taking precious memories of comfort from me and drawing all my focus to Itself.

Your friends will all die.

They will die because you refuse to give in.

No! They won’t! my resolve is weakening even as I think this.

You are mine, your soul belongs to me.

I say nothing this time, knowing in my heart what it says is true. I am nearly all in it’s power now. I hear an echo of laugher in my ears, dark and evil.

I have already won, then!

I hide my face in my arms, and feel Sam’s hand on my back.

“You all right, Mr. Frodo?” he asks.

What would I tell him? The truth will hurt him. He cannot help me with this. It will pain him to know that.

“Yes, Sam,” I say. “I’m fine.”

But I am not fine. My entire being is being destroyed. And no one can stop this.

~Finis~