Disclaimer: Harry Potter and related characters and settings belong to J. K. Rowling. The Lord of the Rings and related mythology belong to the heirs of J. R. R. Tolkien.
A/N This is a Sindarin title. It translates closely to "fall of the Witch-King". At least, that's what I'm hoping it's close to. Actually it's more like "wraith-king" but same idea.
Chapter 26: Danto en Taurgul
The activities of magical transportation were astonishing. Portkeys, floo, apparation, all sorts of transportation at the disposal of the armies of the light were used and within three days a massive force consisting of wizards and witches, Elves, Dwarves, goblins, centaurs, and other sentient beings were now marching through the land that had once been the Black Sea. Now, it was literally once again a Black Land; a desert of decay where no living thing could survive save the foul filth whom were born from the darkness of these lands. Mordor it was once again, and towering above this land was the raging mountain of fire Oroduin, Mt. Doom. Perhaps it was luck that the land was so barren for the Armies of the light could easily proceed toward their target. Soon, they had surrounded the Dark Tower of Brad-dur: a siege reminiscent of the old days when the Last Alliance of Elves and Men led by Elendil and Gil-galad had laid siege on the tower.
At the head of the siege, Gilrandir observed the Dark Tower with a scrutinizing eye. "It is a blasphemy that the tower yet stands," he said. "It must be razed."
"Naturally," replied Dumbledore from right next to him, "that is what we are here for." He and the other commanders were taken aback however when the vast, front gates of the tower slowly opened with an earth shaking, grating sound. "Or perhaps," said Dumbledore, "they wish to conduct a parley first."
To the surprise of some of the wizards and witches present, the one who stepped forth from the open door was none other than Lucius Malfoy. "Well, well, welcome to our humble abode," he said, as if vast armies laying siege to their tower was an everyday occurrence.
"There is nothing 'humble' about this place I must say," replied Gilrandir.
"Elves, whom would have ever thought your kind would be here," sneered Lucius. "I am present to discuss the terms and conditions for your surrender."
"Surrender? Surely you presume much, Lucius," said Dumbledore. "I would've thought that I taught you better."
"There is nothing you taught me that was worth retaining you muggle-loving old fool," snarled Lucius. "You are the ones who presume much? Did you think your puny Army is any match for ours? Just because you have help from a few Elves? We have much more than just Orcs, trolls, and Death Eaters on our side? We have Dementors, vampires, werewolves, and giants amongst our ranks. We have Nazgul and Balrogs leading them. All are standing ready within the foundations of the tower, just itching to let loose their fury. You underestimate the power you face here."
"We will take our chances," declared Gilrandir.
"The conditions of surrender are as follows," said Lucius, ignoring the Elf Commander. "All Elves shall leave these shores immediately never to return. All wizards will declare their loyalty to the Dark Lord and forever serve him. All mudbloods shall be turned over: slavery if you wish to call it. The fate of the other races shall be determined at a later time but let it be known that all will swear fealty to the Dark Lord. Following the surrender, all wizards will assist in the muggle exterminations that will follow..." Lucius was cut short, literally when Gilrandir's blade swung forth, slicing him in half. The Death Eater fell to the ground, convulsing in his own blood before finally drawing his last breath.
"He was starting to annoy me," explained Gilrandir, as he swiped the blood off of his sword. Dumbledore merely shook his head and sighed.
"Well, now that negotiations are over," declared Angnathron, brandishing his battle axe and war hammer, "it's time to kick some Orcish arse!"
Perhaps the Dwarf had spoken too soon for as soon as the gates to Brad-dur opened legions open legions of Orcs flew out. The Elves were prepared for the onslaught and met the fury of the Orcs with their own strength and might. The air was soon filled with the clangs of metal upon metal and the swooshing of arrows through the air. Elf and Orc fell by each others' hands and the onslaught continued. Trolls started to make their ways onto the battlefield, their maces attempting to smash their enemies before them. They were met by the sheer strength and power of the Dwarves whom pushed them back and even dragged the trolls to the ground before letting them have it.
Soon, Magical blasts issued forth from within the tower itself. These were stopped by spells conjured by the wizards on the light side, but many times their feeble attempts were not enough to repel the full power of the curses. Undaunted, the wizards shot back many spells of their own, ramming some intense power into the structure and even occasionally taking out a Death Eater leading some Orcish legion.
The battle soon led to a fierce stalemate with neither side giving inch. The Orcs outnumbered all other warriors but it was the Elves whom had the most skill, one Elf killing about 75 Orcs on average within the first two hours of the battle. As the battle dragged on, the bodies were piling, yet there was clearly no end in sight.
Throughout the battle, Hermione was mostly with the wizards toward the back of the Light side forces. She was mostly helping with quick first aid but she often contributed to quick strategic advice she sent with messenger spells to the various commanders.
'I should be on the front lines,' she thought as she dressed the wounds of an Elf. 'I should be up there with Harry! Harry needs me, I have to... wait a minute.' It was at that moment when Hermione realized Harry wasn't fighting at the front lines making their way toward the tower, for she had just seen him climbing the slopes of Mt. Doom.
'Harry?' she thought. 'Why is he going up the volcano? He can't possibly... Oh no!' Realizing what Harry was up to Hermione abandoned her post and made a desperate dash toward the mountain of fire.
* * *
Harry climbed the slopes of the volcano steadily but surely. "I know... that you're not in the... tower," he muttered as he pulled himself over one particularly large boulder. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath. "I know that you're here! On the mountain," he said. "Somewhere..."
Harry took a moment to observe his surroundings. It was here upon these very slopes all those millennia ago that two Halflings struggled upward to destroy a thing of great evil. It upon these very slopes that long before even then, said thing of great evil was forged in deceit. And now, in the present time, Harry was racing up these slopes to once again confront that great evil.
Snapping himself out of his thoughts, Harry shook his and stood up once more, determined to make his way to the very Cracks of Doom where the Ring was made and later unmade. It would be there where he would finally confront his destiny: where he would face his mortal enemy one last time.
"Very clever, Potter, to realize where the Master really is," snarled a voice from above. Startled, Harry looked up to see a very familiar and unwelcome figure looking down from the top of another large boulder. He was dressed in a black robe the hood up similar more to the robes of the Nazgul rather than the Death Eaters or Dementors and he was carrying a large, jagged sword.
"Malfoy!" shouted Harry.
"Surprised Potter?" smirked Draco, as he leapt off the boulder. He stood menacingly in Harry's way as he brandished his sword.
"If you mean that I'm surprised to see that a pathetic wuss like you is my last challenge before facing the big guy himself, yes I'd say I'm surprised," replied Harry.
"Touchy, aren't you?" said Malfoy, still smirking. "Draw!"
"What? Can't beat me at magic so going to try to beat me at swordplay instead?" said Harry as he drew out Anduril. "Sorry to spoil this for you Draco but you're outclassed both ways."
"I suppose I should give your head as a gift to Granger," replied Malfoy. "Just before I have her that is; mudblood or not she's grown into a fine dish."
Anger blazed in Harry's eyes. Before he could say anything back however, Draco struck, his sword slashing toward Harry with ferocious precision. Harry parried every one of the blows as he took some steps back, searching for Draco to make a mistake. Draco soon grew a little too enthusiastic as he struck Harry with a particularly hard blow. The force of the blade as it clashed with Anduril caused Draco to lose his balance. Harry didn't miss his chance as he grabbed hold of Draco's sword arm with his free hand. He planted a firm backwards kick on the back of Draco's leg, effectively bringing him to the ground. Not allowing himself to be overwhelmed, Draco managed to land a kick on Harry's midsection, causing Harry to let go of him.
Draco rolled away and sprang to his feet. "Curses!" he snarled. He once again attacked with a furious rage. Harry merely either stepped out of the way or parried Draco's blows. Starting to get frustrated, Draco lunged at his opponent with a thrust only to have Harry calmly twist around him and ram the pommel of his sword painfully into the back of Draco's head.
Draco fell to his knees and let out a string of vicious swear words as he clutched at the back of his head in pain. "Is that all you've got?" asked Harry, coolly. "You're disappointing me, Draco."
"#$%@*& YOU, POTTER!" yelled Malfoy. He lunged at Harry again only to have Harry clobber his nose with a good right hook.
"You really are a pathetic whelp, aren't you?" said Harry. "Well I don't have all day to play with you, Malfoy." Harry suddenly went on the offensive slashing Anduril with a grace and mastery truly worthy of the Heir of Elessar. Draco started to panic as he barely managed to bloke most of Harry's blows. He wasn't quite good enough as one of Harry's slashes barely sliced into his chest. Draco screeched in pain but Harry showed no mercy as he landed a kick into Malfoy's abdomen before spinning around and backhanding him in the cheek with the hand that held his sword. Malfoy flew back and fell to the ground, blood starting flow a little from his chest and face.
"Give it up Malfoy," snarled Harry, standing over his fallen foe, "I don't have time for the likes of you."
Suddenly, Harry was taken aback when Malfoy started laughing. "You think you've beaten me, Potter?" he snarled. "Well, you think wrong, not so long as I have this!" Draco opened his right hand to show Harry his ring: The Ring of the Witch-King, greatest of the Nine.
Harry's eyes widened. "No! You mustn't..."
"Too late, Potter!" yelled Draco as he slipped the ring onto his finger. In an instant, he completely disappeared.
Harry didn't have a moment to react as an invisible fist connected into his cheek. He heard the ringing of a blade through the air and barely managed to leap out of the way as an invisible sword sliced at his arm.
"Ha! Who's the pathetic whelp, now!" taunted Draco's disembodied voice. Malfoy's laughter rang throughout the rocks. Harry however merely narrowed his eyes and let his fist fly loose, connecting with what was clearly Draco's face.
"What? How did you..." came Draco's voice. He clearly realized that Harry had followed Draco's voice and promptly shut up.
"Take the ring off, Draco!" yelled Harry. "Trust me, you don't want to spend eternity as a Nazgul."
"Don't assume, Potter!" said Draco's voice, this time from a safe distance. The ringing of a blade warned Harry and Harry barely managed to parry Draco's blow. Harry swung Anduril back but his blade only sliced through air.
"I know a lot more than you do," said Harry. "I know the truth about the Rings of Power! And they're not the blessing you clearly think they are."
"The Rings are ultimate power!" snarled Draco. "They will grant me the right to stand at my master's right hand for all eternity when you've become nothing more than a mere speck of annoying memory."
"Yes, but at what cost?" said Harry. He deflected another invisible blow but his own sword once again met nothing but air.
Draco started laughing again. "Swing all you want Potter. You may be able to block my blows but you'll never be able to hit me!" Harry slashed toward Draco's voice again but met nothing. "Miss me!"
Harry's green eyes narrowed before taking on a relaxed state. "This time, I won't."
"Oh really?" said Draco's voiced again. "Let's see about that, shall we?"
Confident in his invisibility, Draco struck Harry from behind. Harry merely lifted his left arm upward, expertly blocking Draco's blade with his sword. Draco rolled his eyes at seeing the pattern repeat itself when he realized that the sword Harry held was not Anduril but rather a smaller, ruby encrusted sword: The Sword of Gryffindor.
Then where was Anduril?
Draco got his answer a split second later when Harry spun around swinging his right arm upward. By blocking with Gryffindor's sword rather than the Sword Reforged Draco realized a bit too late that Harry had pinpointed precisely where Draco's hand was and...
Draco fell to his knees hollering in pain, clutching his hand, and very much visible. Fallen on the ground were his sword and the two cloven pieces of the Ring of the Witch-King. Although it was bleeding, his finger was still intact.
"You fool!" screamed Malfoy. "You've destroyed my Ring! Do you realize what you've done? DO YOU?"
Harry glared at Draco the grips on his swords growing tighter. "Yes, I realize precisely what I've done," he said. He rammed the pommel of Gryffindor's sword on the backside of Draco's head. Draco fell to the ground out cold. "I just saved your pathetic little life," snarled Harry.
With that, Harry continued up the volcano without sparing a glance back to his defeated foe.
To be continued...
A/N No. 1. Firstly, I am so, so, so, so, so, so, so, sorry that this chapter took so long to come out. My life is ridiculously busy but this fic is starting to wind down toward its end. Thanks for bearing with me.
No. 2. I am sick and tired of people asking me "what's up with the mugles?" or questions like that. To be completely honest, while I was planning the fic I didn't think at all about how muggles fit into the fic but went on ahead anyway. Then, I was taken aback when readers started asking me about muggle actions and military and such like that. Every time I offered an explanation some other reviewer would ask even more questions wanting to make me pull my hair out. SO ENOUGH ABOUT THE MUGGLES ALREADY!!! (pant, pant, pant). OK, now that that's off my chest, thank you for reading. More to come.