"No!" Zane’s shout echoed down the alley. "Zoe, stop! You can’t do it alone!" Zoe nearly skidded to a halt at the end of the pathway.

Still, she couldn’t just let that Black Rider get away! There was no turning back now. The Black Rider was fast, so Zoe mounted onto Fire Foot and gave chase.

"Zoe!" Zack shouted above the chaos. "Stop! Come back!" He then heard a whirring sound. Something zipped past his face. He turned to see what it was – and flinched at the sight of a short-handled hatchet that was sunken into wooden door a few yards away. It was still quivering.

He looked up and saw a sea of struggling, straining bodies on the second level, their faces grimy and reddened from battling the orcs, and trolls, and goblins, and Uruk-Hai. One of the Rohorrim soldiers shouted his apologies for the hatchet, before taking another blow from a yelling orc.

Zane tensed. "Let’s find Zoe!"

"Good idea." Zack rapidly scanned the battlefield and soon they were picking their way around as fast as they could, slashing and dodging threats that came their way. He shrieked as another ax hurtled through the air. It was heading straight for his brother’s back! There was no time to think. He flung up his hands and made a ‘halt’ gesture, palms outspread.

The ax froze in midair.

"Thanks," Zane said and stepped out the way. He gasped when a revelation hit him. "Wait! Your magic’s back?"

"Not completely." Zack shook his head solemnly. "I almost got zilch, nada, when I tired to freeze it." As if to prove his point, the ax suddenly unfroze and flew on its way, embedding its sharp point into the neck of an unsuspecting Uruk-Hai. "My freezes usually last longer than that."

"Come on," Zane said, plunging deep in among the throng of straight-faced soldiers. "We’ve gotta find Zoe!"

He’d barely gotten the words out of his mouth and a shrill cry rang overhead and a shadow passed over the land.

Over their heads the Lord of the Nazgûl rode on a foul winged creature. A gigantic black shape against the fires beyond he loomed up, and all fled before his face.

All save one.

"Zoe? Zoe!" Zane yelled as he caught a glimpse of his sister, but he and Zack were soon lost amongst the sea of panicking soldiers.

Silent and waiting stilly before the Gate, sat Zoe upon Fire Foot: of which alone stood out among all free horses of the earth and endured the terror, unmoving and steadfast in the heat of battle.

"Go back to the abyss!" Zoe barked, her teeth bared. The huge shadow halted. "Go back, for even upon my deathbed, you shall not pass!"

The Black Rider flung back his hood, revealing his kingly crown; yet no head was visible where upon it had been set. Fire shone between it and from a mouth unseen emitted a deadly and malicious laughter.

"Come not between the Nazgûl and his hour of triumph!" he said. "Do you not know death when you see it? Die now and curse in vain!" With that the Witch King lifted his sword high into the air and swung the blade down at Fire Foot, cleaving its head asunder.

Wild with pain, the headless horse reeled up high and with a great crash he fell upon his side. Zoe fell beneath him.

The winged creature settled upon the body of Fire Foot, crushing Zoe with its weight. It gave a shrill and deafening cry.

Fearing that she had been completely forsaken, Zoe couldn’t help but start to give in to fear. Knights of Gondor or Rohan either lay slain about her, or were borne away by the madness of their steeds.

The Witch King rose his sword again, and with a great heave he launched himself at Zoe. Then came a searing flash of white fire and a clash of metal as, faithful beyond fear, a knight charged up and intercepted the attack with a shield of iron. Sturdy as it was, the shield burst into riven fragments and fell onto the ground.

The knight, his face masked by the helmet he wore, stared at the fragments in utter shock. He was, however, undeterred. His sword rang as it was drawn. "I will kill you if you touch her!"

Temporarily forgotten by the Black Rider, Zoe stirred and her body ached with numbness. She dared not open her eyes or look up. She thought she’d heard the knight speak, and wondered why the voice seemed so familiar before succumbing into darkness.

The winged creature screamed at the knight, and the Nazgûl answered in a cold voice, laughing in the cruelest fashion possible. "Kill me? You fool. No living man can." The great winged beast flapped its hideous wings, and it leaped into the air. Swiftly it came back down upon the knight, shrieking and striking with its beak and talons.

Still the knight did not falter. As the winged creature fell down upon him, he delivered a skilled stroke to its outstretched neck with deadly precision. The neck he’d cloven fell, and he sprang backwards as the huge shape crashed to ruins. Its vast wings lay outspread, and it crumpled onto the earth.

From the wreck the Black Rider rose, tall and threatening, towering above him. He bent over him like a thundercloud as he raised his mace to kill.

The knight saw his chance – an opening. Swift as lightning, he picked up the last of his strength and brought his sword up into the mighty knee of his foe, shearing through the black mantle and piercing through the sinew. The Witch King stumbled with a cry of bitter pain – so loud it stung the very ears like venom.

Struggling up, the knight threw his helm of secrecy onto the ground, and his bright hair shimmered gold in the sunlight. His eyes were as gray and as hard as the sea, but yet there were tears on his cheeks.

It was Zack.

"I am no man," he said, raising his sword. With a cry of hatred he drove his sword into the space between the crown, and the great body jerked spasmodically. The sword broke into sparkling shards, and the crown rolled away with a clang. The mantle and hauberk fell shapelessly onto the ground. They were empty. A ghostly wail went up into the shuddering air, and faded to a moan, passing with the wind before being swallowed up, never to be heard again.

With spite Zack spitted on the mantle. He took a breath of air and said, "I’m a witch." With that he tumbled and fell forward.