"See? See?" Gollum insisted once he led us out of Emyn Muil. "We've led you out!" He paused before turning to us. "Very lucky we find you."

  I snorted with laughter, though I tried to be quiet. Lucky was an understatement. The thief was trying to get to the Ring, and I knew that. I'm not dumb or stupid. 

  We began to climb down. I was the last one behind and stared the creature down. I did not trust him. There was something fishy about him, and I did not like it. Gollum cowarded away from me, clearly intimidated by my presence.

  "Nice Hobbit," he insisted nervously, before going off after the others. 

  After going on for a few miles, we decided to take a break and eat. Gollum was looking around for some real food until Frodo had enough sympathy for him to toss a bit of the Lembas bread that we collected before we left. Gollum hesitantly took it and took a bite out of the wafer before spitting it out, wailing in disgust. 

  "Nasty Hobbit's food!" he wailed. 

  Sam and I glanced at each other, clearly not amused with Gollum's actions towards our type of food. 

  "Elvish, actually," I corrected as I popped a chunk of the nearly flavorless wafer into my mouth. 

  "They tries to kill us!" Gollum continued, ignoring my remark. "We can't eat Hobbits food. We must starve!" he wailed dramatically. 

  "You can quit being dramatic, you know. It's not gonna help anything," I commented. 

  "Well starve, then. And for good riddance," said Sam with disgust. I couldn't help but smirk at Sam's stubbornness. I could tell that he was done with Gollum's griping and complaining. And so was I. 

  "Oh, cruel Hobbit," said Gollum desperately. "Does not care if we be hungry? He does not care if we should die?!"

  I rolled my eyes at him. I was not going to fall for his tricks. I'd rather have him die than lead us to any danger that could hurt Frodo.  

  He then turned to Frodo, who had his eyes on the ground. I noticed how tired he looked. He barely ate anything nowadays, which made me worried. Frodo usually ate a good amount, even if he didn't go back for seconds. But ever since Lothlórien, he's been eating less and less. He hadn't been sleeping much, either, and I noticed the dark circles under his eyes, causing my heart to break for him. My sweet Hobbit was slowly becoming unrecognizable, unlike what he used to be. 

  "Not like master." I could see the foul beast's eyes trailing to where the Ring hung around Frodo's neck. "Master cares. Master knows. Yes." Frodo's hand went straight to the Ring that hung around his neck, though he did not put it on. "Precious," Gollum continued. "Once it takes a hold of us, it never lets go."

  He began to reach for the Ring, and almost went too far, until Frodo shoved him away. 

  "Don't touch me!" 

  An awkward silence followed. I found this as my opportunity to defend Frodo. I got up from my seat and drew my long dagger from its sheath, aiming it at Gollum's neck. He looked at me with big, terrified eyes, while eyeing me with malice at the same time. 

  "If you try to hurt him, or touch him, in that matter, I will not hesitate to slit your throat," I growled defensively. 

  Gollum finally backed away, eyeing Frodo with jealousy. 

  Once Gollum got a good bit away from us, I made my way over towards Frodo and sat next to him. He glanced up at me. I smiled and hesitantly reached out and took his hand in my own. He didn't hesitate to hold it back. He rested his head tiredly on my shoulder, and I pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek. 

  "You didn't have to do that, Elyse," said Frodo in a tired voice. 

  I smiled softly and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek. 

  "You're my world, Frodo," I responded. "Of course I'm going to defend you in any way I can."

  Frodo looked up at me and smiled, before resting his head gently on my shoulder again. Unfortunately, our time together did not last. We were interrupted by Gollum once again. 

  "Are you lovebirds done, yet? We have to get going! Yes, we do."

  "Shove off," I whined, but I highly doubted that the wretched creature heard me. 

  I got to my feet and pulled Frodo up by the arm as well, and we continued our trek through the marshes, going hand in hand. 

  "It's a bog!" I yelped as I accidentally slipped my foot into an unknown pool of water. "He's led us into a swamp!" 

  "A swamp, yes," Gollum replied, his eyes gleaming with some sort of expression that I couldn't describe. "Orcs don't use it. Orcs don't know it. They go around and round, for miles and miles! Come, quickly! As soft, and quiet, as shadows, we must be!" 

  We continued to trek our way through the bog. An hour later, I noticed something odd. Candles were beginning to appear at the edge of the dry land. And I noticed faces. Not just any type of faces. Dead faces. 

  "There are dead things," I commented nervously. "Dead faces in the water."

  "Yes," Gollum replied. "Elves and Men and Orcses. A great battle long ago. The Dead Marshes. Yes, yes. That is their name. Come quickly. And don't follow the lights!"

  For once, I trusted Gollum with this, and did my best to not follow the lights. But my instincts told me to turn around. To my horror, Frodo stood at the edge of the pool, doing exactly as Gollum said not to do. 

  "FRODO!" I cried out in horror. 

  It was too late. Frodo had already fallen, face-first, into the water. 

  Panicking, I hurried over towards the pool that Frodo had fallen into. Gollum was faster, and managed to haul Frodo out of the pool. When he got back on land, Frodo was dripping from head to toe. He coughed water out of his mouth as Gollum pulled him towards dry land. 

  "G-Gollum?" Frodo stuttered, clearly shivering from the water that drenched his entire body.  

  "Don't follow the lights," Gollum growled.

  "Gollum!" Frodo pleaded desperately. 

  "Frodo!" I exclaimed, obviously relieved. 

  I hurried over to him and helped pull him all the way out of the water, as Gollum had not done that. I hugged him from behind, pressing gentle kisses along his cheek. In the meanwhile, I took off my own travelling cloak, as Frodo's teeth were chattering like crazy, and I wrapped it around his body. He stared at me, surprised. 

  "Y-Y-You don't have t-t-to, Elyse," he insisted, though his teeth chattered uncontrollably. 

  I just rolled my eyes and smiled softly at him and continued to wrap my cloak around his soaked body. He watched me with tired eyes. 

  "Your health is more important than mine, Frodo Baggins," I insisted in a quietly. 

  My hand went to his cheek and he leaned into my touch. He watched me intently with tired eyes. 

  "Let's get you to bed," I suggested. "I'm sure you're tired."

  Frodo nodded sleepily before making our way to a softer, drier spot on the ground. I quickly fell asleep, but I was quickly woken up when the familiar, spine-chilling shriek of the Nazgul filled the air. And I knew exactly who the shrieking belonged to. 

  "B-Black Riders!" I stuttered, obviously terrified. 

  "HIDE!" said Gollum in a panic. 

  And he took off. Sam scrambled around to grab his things, and I grabbed mine. I began to hurry towards the nearest hiding place. But I quickly spotted Frodo, who was lying on the ground, clutching at the wound on his shoulder, which I knew was hurting him again.

  "C'mon, Frodo!" I insisted, panicking slightly. I grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to safety. "C'mon!" 

  I set Frodo down next to me. His body trembled nearly as violently as it had been the night he had been stabbed by the Nazgul's Morgul blade, which made me feel bad for him.  I crouched down on my knees to avoid being seen by the Nazgûls. 

  "I thought that they were dead when I drowned them in the Bruinen!" I groaned. 

  Gollum turned to face me. 

  "Dead?" He blew a raspberry at me, as though I was stupid. "No, you cannot kill them. No!" 

  The shrieking of the Nazgul made us fall silent again. The only thing that could be heard was Frodo's slight shivering, and my heart thumping fiercely against my chest. I held my breath, hoping that the Nazgul would not be able to catch us. If they did, we'd be in huge trouble for sure. 

  The Wraiths soared overhead, and we ducked when they got too close. I crouched down super low to make sure they wouldn't spot me. 

  "Wraiths!" Gollum wailed, his eyes wide with fear. "Wraiths on wings!" 

  He turned his attention to the sky again, keeping an eye out for the Wraiths again. Finally, Gollum turned to face us, but my eyes were still in the foggy, gray sky. 

  "They are calling for it," Gollum breathed, a little too excitedly. "They are calling for the precious."

  At first, I didn't know what Gollum was talking about. But when I turned around to see Frodo, I could see that he looked strange. He looked frightened, and his eyes were clouded over slightly. His face was pale and his expression was unreadable. But worst of all, Frodo seemed to be in a possessed state, and he was trying to bring his hand slowly to the Ring. I managed to stop him before anything got worse by grabbing his hand and pulling it away from the Ring, and I immediately brought his hand closer to me. 

  "Frodo!" I said firmly. I held his hand tightly in mine, and began to speak soothing words to him. During that time, I began to brush some of the stray curls from his sweaty forehead. His eyes were wide and full of terror, his breathing short and laboured. And I didn't blame him. "It's alright, love. I'm here. I promise."

  I think that he recognized my voice, because he seemed to relax ever so slightly.  I continued to speak reassuring words to him and held onto his hand until the Nazgûl finally flew away. We waited a few more moments, just to be sure that the coast was clear. Finally, Frodo shakily propped himself up on his elbows. I noticed how pale his face looked. From a distance, Gollum watched us, looking concerned. That's the first time I've ever seen him look sympathetic towards Frodo. 

  "Come, Hobbitses," he finally quietly. "The Black Gates are very close."

  I helped Frodo to his feet, though he still stumbled slightly. I managed to catch him and embrace him into a warm, comforting hug. I knew that was what he would need. And I knew that he would feel safer in my embrace. He responded by burying his face into my neck, blocking the world out, as I held him gently in my arms. I made sure to keep my hugs reassuring and comforting. I gave him a gentle kiss on the top of his curly hair. 

  "Are you okay?" I asked in a quiet voice. 

  "I-I'm fine, now," he answered. But he continued to bury his face into the crook of my neck, sending pleasant chills down my spine. And I wanted more of his gentle touch. "Thank you, Elyse."

  "Of course," I answered. "I love you. I couldn't stand seeing you get hurt in any way, Frodo Baggins."

  "Are you lovey-dovey birds gonna hurry, or what?" said Gollum's voice from nearby. "The Black Gates are not far."

  Frodo and I glanced at each other. I could see a faint blush creeping up his cheeks, though I tried hard to ignore it. In truth, I thought that his blushing was adorable. Instead, I smiled softly at him and grabbed his hand gently. 

  "C'mon. For once, Gollum is right. We don't have far left to go."

  And we continued our trek to the Black Gates.