"I'll remember you, human."
Sauron shot Rowan Mercer a venomous look and issued the order for a full retreat.
Rowan had no intention of letting him go.
If Sauron escaped today, killing him later would only become harder. Far harder.
"Prince Finrod, we can't let him flee!"
"Kill him!"
Finrod didn't need convincing. Even before Rowan finished speaking, the elven prince surged forward with his blade.
"You're courting death!"
Sauron snarled and made a ruthless decision. He abandoned all efforts to stabilize the wound in his chest and instead unleashed the bulk of his remaining dark power. The pressure descended like a storm cloud, crushing down on both Finrod and Rowan, pinning them in place.
"The light of the Sacred Trees shines upon the elves," Finrod intoned, golden radiance pouring from his body. "For the honor of all our people, my blade will take your head!"
Against the suffocating darkness, he forced himself step by step toward Sauron.
Rowan moved at the same time.
A golden magic circle flared in front of him.
"Light Magic: Domain of Radiance!"
Holy light erupted outward, carving a pocket of clarity in the dark pressure. Rowan didn't advance. Instead, he vanished.
Apparition.
He reappeared behind Sauron, several meters away.
Teleporting directly onto a powerful enemy was suicide. Distance meant survival. His goal was simple: break free of the suppression.
"Summoning charm!"
An elven blade snapped into his hand. Lightning flashed as Rowan closed the gap in an instant, bringing the sword down in a clean, brutal overhead strike aimed at the back of Sauron's head.
Sauron reacted without hesitation. While continuing to restrain Finrod with dark power, he raised his cursed blade and blocked the strike.
Rowan followed through, thrusting with his other sword.
Clang.
The point struck Sauron's dark armor and stopped cold.
Rowan wasn't surprised. Without the blessing of the Sacred Trees, and wielding an ordinary elven blade, he couldn't pierce that armor. He hadn't expected to.
"Avada Kedavra."
The killing curse struck Sauron point-blank.
Green light slammed into his body, targeting the soul itself. Sauron froze, his dark pressure collapsing instantly.
Rowan never expected the spell to kill him. Against a master of dark power, that was unrealistic. He only needed one second.
That second was enough.
Finrod closed the distance.
"Damn it!"
Sauron realized the trap too late. He released the hand clutching his wounded chest and seized Rowan's blade, flooding it with searing hellfire. The elven sword melted in an instant.
At the same time, he prepared to detonate his dark power again, even if it worsened his injuries. Better that than losing his body entirely.
"Light Magic: Radiant Burst!"
Rowan interrupted him once more.
A thick pillar of holy light crashed down, locking Sauron in place yet again. The holy magic Rowan had learned mirrored the power of the Sacred Trees themselves, both equally lethal to Morgoth's corruption.
If he had access to greater spells, this might have ended differently. But this was enough.
Blood sprayed.
Sauron's right arm, the one holding his cursed blade, was severed cleanly.
Even for one of the greatest of the Maia, the cost was enormous. He avoided decapitation at the last moment, but the damage left him pale and unsteady.
Rowan pressed the advantage.
"Light Magic: Circle of Radiance!"
He chose speed and density over raw power, flooding the area with overlapping holy sigils to prevent escape.
Finrod surged forward again, blade raised to finish it.
And then it went wrong.
A massive wolf burst from behind Sauron, throwing itself into the storm of holy light. Another figure appeared at the same instant: a winged, pale-skinned woman with batlike wings and twin bone blades, intercepting Finrod head-on.
Sauron's most loyal servants had arrived.
The great wolf, Draugluin, and the vampire queen, Thuringwethil.
"Draugluin, cover the retreat!"
Thuringwethil clashed briefly with Finrod before dissolving into a cloud of blood-red mist. She swept up the gravely wounded Sauron and vanished into the withdrawing orc host.
Draugluin transformed into a colossal wolf, blocking Rowan and Finrod's path.
"So close," Rowan muttered.
He brought his hands together and tore them apart.
A plasma-charged electromagnetic blast roared straight into Draugluin's open jaws, ripping through throat and torso. The wolf crashed to the ground with a thunderous howl.
Finrod stepped in and ended it with a single stroke, severing the beast's head.
The orc army vanished into the rolling black smoke of the north.
Rowan stared after them, frustration flickering in his eyes. Beyond that smoke lay Morgoth's domain. Chasing further risked drawing the Dark Power himself into the fray.
It wasn't worth it.
The elven host regrouped.
Of the original force, barely a thousand remained.
They had won, but it was no easy victory.
Finrod looked at Rowan, gratitude clear in his eyes. Without him, this army and its prince would have been annihilated in the gorge.
Their lives had been bought by one human's intervention.