Seeing the enormous pale-golden dome envelop everyone, a sense of solidity and stability descended upon the battlefield. The light felt heavy and grounded, as though it were fused to the land itself, radiating an unshakable will.
Shock spread through the crowd.
"What… is this?" many murmured, staring in disbelief, completely unprepared for such a sudden transformation.
Sauron's eyes burned with a crimson light as his gaze locked onto the ring on Sylas's finger. Even Gandalf, Elrond, and Galadriel, standing closest to him, looked at the ring with astonishment. Clearly, even they had not known of this power.
Sylas stood calmly before everyone, his expression composed and steady. Raising his ringed hand, he released a golden radiance that wrapped around him, lending him the bearing of a god. Sauron's dark power surged forward like a raging flood, yet it was completely blocked by the golden light, unable to advance even a single inch.
Sauron's power was vast, like an endless ocean.
But, from beginning to end, his assault failed to breach the golden defense.
Realizing this, Sauron could no longer remain still.
He appeared instantly outside the golden dome, a massive spiked mace forming in his hand, and brought it crashing down upon the barrier above.
In an instant, the golden shield trembled, and the earth itself convulsed.
The ground shook violently, throwing many on the battlefield off balance. Fear rippled outward as all eyes fixed upon the collision. Even dozens of kilometers away, both Hogsmeade and Hogwarts felt the tremor. Though weaker than at the battlefield's center, it was still enough to drive people from their homes, believing an earthquake had struck.
Yet at the heart of the battlefield, Sauron's full-force strike still failed to break the golden shield.
The impact alone devastated the surrounding land. For more than ten miles, the earth split open; fissures spread, rivers burst their banks, and mountains collapsed, as though the world itself were ending. Only the region bathed in golden light remained untouched, intact, and unscarred.
Sauron finally halted, standing tall in the void, facing Sylas across the radiant barrier.
"What is that ring of yours?" he demanded, his voice edged with uncertainty and surprise.
Hearing this, Sylas raised his hand, letting the ring gleam openly.
"You mean this?" he replied calmly. "This is the Earth Ring I forged, Kaiya. And in truth, I should thank you. Without the knowledge behind your Rings of Power, I would never have succeeded in creating my own."
The ring upon Sylas's finger was one of his greatest achievements of the past decades.
He had studied the Three, those bound to air, water, and fire, and chose a different path. Of the world's foundations, he claimed earth as his own, using primordial forces to forge the Earth-Ring, Kaiya.
Its band was crafted from the last remnant of mother of mithril. Set within it was a golden gemstone of extraordinary origin, a precious gift from an adventuring wizard of his lands.
That wizard, while flying through the Misty Mountains, had unknowingly stumbled upon a battle between two Rock Giants. Towering like mountains themselves, they roamed the range unseen when still, indistinguishable from the land. Yet when they moved, landslides followed, and the earth shook beneath their steps.
For reasons unknown, the two giants fought like mortal enemies, intent on destroying one another. The wizard narrowly escaped their cataclysmic struggle, watching helplessly as one giant fell and the other, grievously wounded, collapsed into a deep slumber, perhaps to awaken centuries later, or perhaps to become a mountain forever.
From the fallen giant, the wizard recovered the golden gemstone, its core.
Most importantly, within it lay a single drop of ancient blood, and it was the true source of the gem's power.
If Ungoliant was the embodiment of the darkness beyond the world, then Tom Bombadil was its opposite, the living embodiment of Arda itself.
Tom was not a puppet, nor was he some manifestation of a, relic, or hidden artifact as Sylas had once speculated. He was the land made manifest, the earth, the hills, the rivers, and the forests given voice and will. That was why Goldberry could say: "You are the master of trees, of hills, and of waters."
Tom Bombadil did not care for the struggle between light and darkness. As long as neither side sought to wound the earth itself, he would never intervene. Kingdoms could rise and fall; shadows could spread or retreat, it meant nothing to him unless the land was harmed.
It was precisely because of this understanding that, when Sylas prepared to forge the Earth Ring, he thought of Tom.
Tom Bombadil was the incarnation of the earth, the supreme bearer of the earth-element, containing within himself the purest and most ancient terrestrial essence. Thus, Sylas traveled into the Old Forest to visit Tom and Goldberry, originally intending to ask for a strand of Tom's hair to extract and refine its power.
Tom, however, was generous beyond expectation.
When he learned that Sylas intended to forge a ring aligned with the earth itself, Tom gave him a drop of his blood instead. That drop was far more precious than hair, it carried the purest authority of the land.
Once infused into the gemstone, its nature underwent a fundamental transformation.
When the Earth Ring was completed, its bond with the land became absolute. As long as the wearer stood upon the earth, they would be blessed by it. Earth-aspected power would gather endlessly, flowing without exhaustion, becoming the bearer's greatest source of strength.
Sylas forged this ring to stand alongside the Three Elven Rings. As an earth-aligned ring, he named it Kaiya, meaning "Earth" in Quenya.
Thus, it became known as the Earth Ring.
The Three Rings were as follows:
Vilya, the Ring of Air- governing wind, freedom, insight, and healing
Nenya, the Ring of Water- embodying preservation, secrecy, and protection
Narya, the Ring of Fire- granting warmth, courage, inspiration, and resolve
Kaiya, the Earth Ring, differed from them.
Beyond control of earth itself, it embodied stability, reinforcement, nourishment, and endurance. In terms of defense alone, its power surpassed that of the Three Rings. By drawing upon the world's foundation, it could form the strongest of all protections.
Moreover, its nourishing aspect could restore blighted land, turn deserts into fertile fields, and return life to wastelands.
Upon the battlefield, Sauron, hearing Sylas's explanation, was struck with rare disbelief.
Sauron had not expected Sylas to be capable of creating a ring comparable to the Three Rings of the Elves. Such talent and insight genuinely astonished him. He knew well that the ancient Elven master-smith Celebrimbor had been able to forge the Rings of Power only because of the ring-lore Sauron himself had once imparted. And if a ring had been born of knowledge that ultimately traced back to him, Sauron was confident he could still assert dominance over it.
Thus, he attempted the same method he had once used on the Three: he chanted dark, incomprehensible incantations and sought to open a hidden channel into the Earth-ring, allowing his power to seep in and corrupt it from within.
But to his surprise, when the dark power surged toward the ring in Sylas's hand, it met absolute resistance.
The Earth Ring, Kaiya, remained completely untouched.
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