"I have come", he said. "But I do not choose now to do what I came to do. I will not do this deed. The ring is mine!"

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

"Mr. Frodo, no!"

Frodo slipped the One Ring onto his finger and vanished from Sam's vision. The remaining hobbit was frozen in disbelief. To have come so far, to have braved so many hardships...this was madness. The Ring would bring nothing but suffering, pain and death to all who tried to wield it against its Master's will, Mr. Frodo knew that. Mr. Frodo knew that better than any of the Fellowship. Sam crawled towards the spot where Frodo had been, only moments before.

"Mr. Frodo? Where are y..." A dark shape hit Sam from behind, knocking him flat. A sibilant voice drifted to his horrified ears.

"Preciousssssssssssssssssssss..."

Gollum.

The wizened creature was thrashing about now, hissing all the while he fought his invisible opponent. His mutterings echoed disjointedly round the mountain, still audible despite the noise of an unseen battle.

"Preciousss...they has it, preciousss...nasty, tricksy little hobbitses...KILL THEM, PRECIOUSSS..."

A familiar voice screamed in pain and Frodo reappeared, clutching his hand, blood pouring from the stump that had once been a finger. The finger onto which he had slipped the Ring minutes earlier. Sam's stomach lurched as he saw what Gollum had in his mouth. He had the Ring, still attached to the severed digit of its previous bearer.

"My own...my preciousssssss"

As Gollum danced in glee, clutching his prize, he didn't notice the edge of the chasm until it was too late. He fell like a stone, still holding his only true love. His precious.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

A hand touched Sam's shoulder gently. He turned slowly and found himself looking into a pair of clear blue eyes.

"Mr. Frodo?"

Frodo smiled at his friend.

"It's over, Sam. Lets go home"

The two hobbits walked slowly through the stone doorway that led back to the mountain path. The only sound was the soft echo of footsteps and the occasional drip of blood. The reverberation died away slowly, leaving the cave in silence.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

"Hobbitses have gone, preciousss...nasty little creatures...should have killed them, precioussssss..."

A malevolent hiss came from the pit of flames, as Gollum pulled himself up the sheer rock face, clinging to the very outcrops that saved his life. He eventually reached the top and hauled himself out of the abyss. Exhausted, he lay down on the solid ground, panting. Gradually, he began to stir again, to once more gaze upon the object he still held.

"Preciousss...my precioussssssssss"

The gleaming circle in his hands was his life, his past, present and his future. He noticed nothing else, not even the dark shadow that began to fill the cavern. Not even the monolithic presence of the Dark Lord behind him. And not even the snapping of his own bones as he was crushed out of existence. The Ring's true Master had returned to claim what was his.