By dawn, we left the hidden waterfall, making our way to Gondor, the Great City of Men. And by mid-afternoon, we were getting near. Frodo walked ahead of me, guarded by one of the guards. I could tell that he was struggling to keep his balance. And it hurt me that I could not do anything to help him. 

"Look," one of the guards commented, his voice quavering. We lifted our gaze to the burning city. "Osgiliath burns."

  "The Ring will not save Gondor," Frodo finally spoke up. I could tell just how tired and weak his voice sounded. I wanted to do everything that I could to comfort him. "It only has the power to destroy. Please. . . . let me go."

  "Hurry!" Faramir insisted. 

  One of the guards grabbed Frodo roughly by the shoulders, dragging him along. I managed to get myself out of my own captor's grip, and watched helplessly as Frodo continued to struggle. 

  "Faramir! You must let me go!" he pleaded. 

  Tears brimmed my eyes. I hated to see my sweet Hobbit be in so much pain. I then turned to glare at Faramir, who did not have an ounce of remorse, whatsoever. 

  We continued making our way to the City of Kings. By the time we'd gotten there, Frodo was nearly limp. I glanced ahead of us and saw how close we were to Mordor. I had chills up my spine when I saw the lightning flashing in the darkened sky of the evil land. 

  "Captain! Orcs have taken over the Eastern Shore," a captain declared. "By nightfall, we'll be overrun."

  Frodo suddenly yelped, catching my attention. I whipped around to face him to see that he was nearly doubled-over, gripping at the Ring around his neck. The Ring that had tortured him for months. 

  "Frodo, love?" I asked, clearly concerned. "What is it, sweetheart?" 

  He looked up at me with wide, terrified eyes. When he spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper. 

  "It's calling to him, Elyse. His Eye is almost on me!"

  "Hold on, Frodo, you'll be alright!" I insisted firmly, encouraging him with all that I had. I gripped his upper arm tightly to give him some balance. "You're strong, Frodo. You'll be alright. You have me by your side." 

  Frodo looked very confused, and I realized that he couldn't hear me. So I quit talking, only to reassure him with a determined look in my eyes. 

  "Take them to my father," Faramir finally demanded. He shoved the three of us away, handing us to some other Men. "Tell him that Faramir had sent him a mighty gift." I stared at him, shocked and angry. "One that could change our fortunes in this War." 

  They began to lead us away, but I had the sense to pull my wits together, and forcefully turned myself back around to face Faramir.  

  "Do you want to know what happened to Boromir?" I demanded angrily. That got Faramir to stop. He turned around to face me with a look of curiosity in his eyes. "Do you want to know what happened to your brother? He tried to take the Ring from Frodo! After swearing an oath to protect him! He tried to kill him, for heaven's sake! Do you want the same thing to happen to you?!"

  Faramir looked shocked, to say the least. I couldn't help but feel proud of myself. Proud that I finally stood up for Frodo. That I finally realized what had happened. Why Boromir was not himself when he tried to harass Frodo a few months ago. 

  "Watch out!" a guard from Osgiliath had cried out. 

  We watched as a large boulder slammed into the citadel tower. We watched, dumbfounded. I glanced over at Frodo, who did not look like himself. He looked almost possessed. And that greatly worried me. 

  "Mr. Frodo?" I asked, immediately concerned. 

  He didn't seem to have heard me again. His eyes were on the sky. 

  "They're here," he said in a demented voice. "They've come!"

  We didn't know what he meant, but we soon did. The familiar screech of a Nazgûl caught our ears. Apparently, Osgiliath wasn't new to Nazgûls, either. 

  "NAZGÛL!" Faramir screamed. "Take cover!"

  In an instant, he grabbed Frodo by the arm, and pulled him along. Sam and I had no choice but to follow him. I was glad that I followed, though. 

  "Stay here, and make sure he doesn't go anywhere!" Faramir demanded as he shoved us into some corners to keep us hidden. "Take cover!"

  I didn't know how long we were hidden. But eventually, Frodo began to move out of the hiding space. 

  "What are you doing?" I asked, fear lacing my voice. But Frodo didn't answer, and I realized that he was being possessed. I hurried after him and stopped, leaning against a pillar. "Where are you going?!"

  And, to my horror, he was leading himself straight to the Nazgûl. 

  Everything seemed to be going in slow motion. I found myself running up the steps that Frodo had taken, and managed to pull his hand away from him before he could disappear. Unfortunately, that ended with us tumbling down the stairs. I landed painfully on my side. Frodo managed to pin me down to the stone floor, with Sting pointed directly at my throat. 

  Tears began to collect at my eyes as I realized what happened. The maddened, demented look in Frodo's eyes pierced through my soul. I managed to grip the hand that was pinning my shoulder down in hopes that he recognized my touch. 

  "I-It's me," I pleaded chokingly. I made sure to keep my voice calm and reassuringly. Slowly, the demented look from Frodo's eyes began to disappear to a look of shock and horror. "It's your Elysia. Don't you know your Elysia?"

  A few moments passed before Frodo finally took his grip completely off of me and collapsed in shock. He dropped Sting and leaned against the nearest column. I coughed, the pressure released off me. 

  "I can't do this, Elyse," he murmured softly. 

  "I know," I choked. "It's all wrong. And, by rights, we shouldn't even be here! But we are." I stood up and looked out the archway. The Nazgûl that Faramir had shot just moments after I had grabbed Frodo to prevent him from putting on the Ring, had flown off, back to Mordor. Presumably to report to the Eye. "It's just like in those great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness, and danger, they were. And sometimes, you don't want them to end. Because how can the end be happy? But in the end, it's only passing thing, even the Shadow must pass. A new day will come.  And when the sun shines out, it will shine out the clearer! Those are the stories that stayed with you, and meant something. Even if you were too young to understand why. But I think, I think that I do understand! I know, now! Folks in those stories. . . . they had plenty of chances of turning back, only they didn't. Because they were holding onto something."

  "What are we holding onto, Elyse?" Frodo asked weakly. 

  I turned to glance over at him. My heart clenched painfully for him when I saw how tired and weak he looked. I smiled sympathetically at Frodo before offering him a hand. He took it, pulling him to his feet. Once he got to his feet, I put my hands gently on his cheeks, wiping away the tear stains on his cheeks. 

  My eyes glanced over at his lips before I hesitantly leaned in, kissing him, full on the lips. He kissed me back. The kiss was full of love, need, and compassion. I kept my arms around his neck, making sure that he was close to me. We didn't stop kissing until I decided to give him some words of reassurance. I put my hands on his cheeks again, before looking him firmly in the eye. I could see the tears that stained his cheeks. 

  "There's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo," I answered in a quiet voice as I gently wiped away the tear stains. "And it's worth fighting for."

  We continued to gaze lovingly at each other, and didn't move, until we heard footsteps behind us. I turned to face the person and saw Faramir standing not too far away from us. In an instant, I got extremely defensive, immediately putting myself in front of Frodo, silently daring him to fight me. 

  But what happened next surprised me. He smiled softly and nodded for me to move aside. I hesitantly did so and Faramir slowly approached Frodo, kneeling in front of him to get eye level. 

  "I think we understand one another now, Frodo Baggins," he said. 

  "You know the law," said one of the men. "The law of your country. The law of your father. If you let them go, your life will be forfeit."

  My mouth dropped open in shock. Faramir was willing to risk his life if he set us free?! 

  Faramir had a look of determination in his eyes. 

  "Then, it is forfeit," he declared. "Release them!"