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Desolation surrounded Gil galad. The darkness was total and there was no light, not even hope in this final battle. The shadow of evil flourished in the sky of Mordor and above Mount Doom. The battle raged at the foot of the mountain and the alliance of men and elves fought for the liberation of Middle Earth, to defeat the darkness that engulfed it, to end this cycle of suffering and horror. All that remained was to cut off the serpent's head and bring everything to an end and allow light to triumph over darkness.
After defeating an orc, Gil-galad wrenched his spear Aeglos from his enemy's chest while looking for Elendil, scanning the battlefield covered with the bodies of their army, men and elves, but also orcs and all of Sauron's creatures of darkness. Together, they had to render their enemy harmless, together. They had promised each other that, and to die together if either of them should fall. The Dark Lord laughed at the advance of his army; the losses of men and elves were significant in relation to his own. He gloated. Gil-galad refused to accept such a defeat; it was time to cut the root of evil.
He ran through the bodies and the fighting to find his lover and look for his helmet, so characteristic of the king of Gondor and Arnor. On his way, he cut down and disemboweled his enemies with such grace, whirling and dodging so lightly as if gravity did not apply to his Noldo body.
« Elendil! Elendil ! »
After several minutes of trying to fight his way through the melee, Gil-galad finally found Elendil fighting alongside Isildur, his son, as the enemies came in such numbers and kept coming at them, almost endlessly. They were exhausted, covered in blood and entrails, but they continued to fight at all costs to repel this evil. They were the best fighters after all. An enemy cornered Elendil and attacked him very aggressively. The King of Arnor kept retreating in front of his opponent, having no advantage against him. He was losing, his strength was leaving him. Gil-galad's heart was pounding, anguished at the thought of losing him at that moment, still too far away to come to his lover's aid, even if he threw his weapon, he remained far too far away.
“Elendil! Elendil!”
At the same moment, Isildur impaled his opponent and then beheaded him, so much rage drove him to kill these vermin. Alarmed by the elf's pleading cries, he quickly turned to look for his father, ran up to the orc and plunged his sword into his spine to cut him down. He screamed to give himself even more courage, to show that he had won, to motivate him to continue, the battle was not over. Gil-galad breathed a sigh of relief and continued his way towards the two men.
Father and son looked at each other to thank each other for having each other's backs before seeing Gil-galad in his golden armor, disheveled in front of them.
“The time is now, Elendil! Sauron is isolated on the side of Mount Doom, he is waiting for us, we must cut off the serpent's head while he still believes he has the advantage!”
Elendil nodded before turning back to Isildur. He did not know if he would see him again after his confrontation with the Necromancer. He took his head with both hands on his cheeks. He looked him in the eyes, with emotion constantly overwhelming him, a lump in his stomach and throat. In a tender gesture, he caressed his cheeks with his thumbs. The king closed his eyes to find the courage to bid farewell to his son, he knew.
“Isildur, I love you, my son, my blood, my flesh, my bones. Your mother would be so proud of the man you have become, how humble and just a king you have become.”
He kissed him on the forehead before looking at him one last time before this final battle. Isildur had his gaze fixed on that of his father, he felt this heartbreak, this farewell, that he would no longer have the opportunity to embrace Elendil, that destiny had suddenly caught up with them. Tears mingled with blood and sweat on his face, unable to utter a single word of farewell. It couldn't be, for what reasons if no words came to him?
Reluctantly, the King of Gondor allowed his father to join Gil-galad and finally fight their enemy and face their destiny. However, he decided to follow them, providing rearguard support while clearing the way for them. At the same time, Elrond and Círdan rejoined Gil-galad to help their high king. All together they were ready to overcome their adversary.
Gil-galad struck down all the enemies in his path: orcs, trolls and even humans enlisted in the Enemy's army. He was lethal, violent in achieving his goal that no one could stop. He saw him as immense in his armor covering his entire body and even his face, which was said to be deformed, a lesser sacrifice for the incredible power of the One Ring. It was finally time to meet his destiny and deal with their Enemy. The Noldo knew he was invincible, especially with the One Ring on his finger. But like any being, Sauron could be defeated, and the stories of ancient times proved it.
The bodies of the enemies were piled up, torn to pieces on all sides, death trampled Mordor at their side with its dark knights. Gil-galad's heart leapt for joy; at last the moment had come, the final confrontation, especially with the help of Aeglos, but also of Narsil, two legendary blades ready to pierce the Enemy of the free peoples of Middle-earth. The Noldo could not deny the feeling of fear that enveloped them at the terrible sight of Sauron's greatness; even the greatest warriors felt fear.
Sauron stood before them in all his grandeur. He was at least three meters tall, but Gil-galad refused to bend the knee before him; he even eyed him with defiance. The Black Enemy stood tall and menacing in his black, skeletal, frightening full armor covering his entire body, we could say bruised, with his helmet looking like an elongated skull and his five-pointed crown. It was originally worn by Morgoth, Sauron's master. A somber reminder of who stood before them, the successor of evil incarnate.
The elf looked into Elendil's eyes one last time. There was no need to speak; they knew how to communicate only with their eyes, and he did not like what he read in his lover's eyes: farewell. Why did his heart and throat tighten as if it were their very last moment? This feeling would not leave him. Before he could launch their attack and think of a way to corner the Enemy as quickly as possible, Gil-galad shook Elendil's hand as discreetly as possible, to reassure himself, to feel his presence close to him, that he would not leave him any time soon.
Every battle has its sacrifices, Ereinion.
Sauron laughed again and again to try to destabilize Elendil and Gil-Galad, as if to interfere in their minds. Doubt set in in the heart of the high king, the fear of losing his beloved, even before this final battle began. Faced with such effrontery, he could not remain calm and wait for the signal from Elendil to attack. Gil-galad took guard, spear forward, before pouncing on the Necromancer. No tactics mattered any more, except the fight two against one. His rage motivated him even more to finish it, especially with this anguish refusing to leave him. Surprised, Elendil quickly joined the offensive given by the Noldo so as not to lose advantage and, above all, to attack at the same time to destabilize the enemy as much as possible to defeat him. They kept attacking Sauron with right-handed blows, each more powerful than the last, so that Sauron sometimes dodged to the right, sometimes to the left with a simple sidestep, sometimes even without moving excessively. The Elf and the Númenórean quickly grew tired of all these attacks in the void. A change of tactics was quickly needed before Sauron decided to unleash his full power and stop playing with them.
But before Elendil got to Sauron's back, he struck them both down with his oversized mace, which was bigger than the two fighters. His laughter still echoed in the deafening night of the battle.
“Is this all that the greatest fighters of the human and Noldor races have in store for me? Pathetic!”
Helping Elendil to get up, Gil-galad took advantage of this brief moment to dart behind Sauron and thus launch a heavy attack to damage him. Unfortunately for him, his opponent once again dodged his attack before turning back to Elendil, still panting on his feet. The King of Gondor and Arnor gripped his long sword Narsil tightly before rolling and taking the opportunity to attack Sauron's groin, which was exposed despite his heavy armor. Proud of himself, Elendil plunged his blade a little deeper into Maia's flesh. He smiled and was almost ready to claim victory. Unfortunately for him, his attack only made Sauron even more enraged. He struck him with all his strength with his mace to propel him against an enormous rock to finally get rid of him.
Elendil had time to pull his sword from his enemy before finding himself in the air, finally flying several meters high and falling miserably on Narsil, which broke in the violence of his landing, like all his bones. He could no longer move. Elendil spat blood again and again. His organs were affected... At the same moment, Gil-galad rushed towards his lover, forgetting Sauron's threat and going immediately to Elendil's side. He knew what was happening, and he could not hold back his tears at the horror before him. No, it was impossible.
“Elen!”
At the mention of his name, Elendil spat out more blood and clung to Gil-galad's arms to look at him one last time. Gil-galad removed Elendil's helmet as well as his own. Both looked at each other, studying each other's faces one last time so as not to forget any of the details. The tears kept flowing. The elf's insides were being torn out violently and daggers were mutilating him from all sides. He then embraced Elendil.
“Namárië, Gil...”
Gil-galad wanted to respond to this heartbreaking farewell, to tell him one last time how much he held his heart, but his throat was gripped by an enormous incandescent hand.
“ My star? Gil? “
Elendil had been awakened by his lover's pleas and the repetition of movements in bed. He was having nightmares and Elendil had to get him out of this infernal circle. He embraced him while gently touching his face to wake him from this bad dream. And then Gil Galad awoke, panic-stricken, looking for Elendil, to reassure him of the horrific vision he had witnessed. Never had he seen horror draw such a look from his elf. The anxiety grew more and more. The King of Arnor rocked his king gently to reassure him.
“It's over, Gil,“ he whispered to him in Quenya.
The Númenórean's fingers ran through the long black locks of the Ñoldo to soothe him even more.
“You're alive, Elen,” Gil-galad sighed with relief, looking at the peaceful face of his beloved just above his own.
“And I will still be present on Arda for at least another two hundred years,” Elendil reassured him, smiling.
“You died in my arms, killed by the Enemy and Narsil broken under your weight...”
“It's only a nightmare, we'll win against Sauron, I'm sure of it, Gil.”
The fear was still visible on the elf's face and especially in his eyes, as if everything seemed real to him, almost too real...
“If this were only a dream, Elendil... Everything was so real and my feelings so different from a dream, as if I had visions of the future, of an inescapable destiny...”
“A premonition? Did you ever have one while wearing the Sapphire Ring? asked Elendil, very concerned.
“No,” admitted Gil-galad. “But a persistent feeling and everything screams at me like destiny. I don't know who would send me this vision and it's impossible that it could be the Dark Lord.”
“Why send this dream? To draw what conclusion? If not to bring us down and force us to abandon our fight. How could he reach us even in our dreams? “
“No one knows the true powers of Sauron... But I cannot shake this feeling of destiny and inevitable end...” sighed Gil-galad.
“If that is the case, death is inevitable, we already know that, Gil, in this war against our enemy. Whether it is a ruse of the enemy or indeed fate, I will not cease to fight for light and hope in Middle Earth,” said Elendil optimistically. “Let us enjoy the last peaceful moments we have left. Let us not think about my terrible end, but rather about our goal of defeating our enemy and his ideas. For it is also our destiny, I am convinced”
“You truly are the rock we need in this storm of darkness.”
The High King hugged him a little tighter, burying his face in the hollow of Elendil's neck. He sighed with relief, happy to feel that skin and that comforting scent of mint mixed with cedar and citrus, reminiscent of the sweet scent of the sea. His heart was soothed by the words and voice of his beloved.
“A storm has never made me back down at sea, and I will not back down now, never, in the face of this storm of darkness,” concluded Elendil.
He kissed Gil Galad's scalp before running his fingers through those long black locks again. Together, nothing would frighten them, not even fate or death. They would be together until the end, whatever the cost, premonition or not.