"Rowan, drop the barrier!" Lúthien said urgently, divine power stirring in her voice as she prepared to sing the moment the seal fell.
Galadriel stepped forward at the same time, light flaring around her as she moved to buy Lúthien those precious seconds.
"No," Rowan said calmly. "Not yet. Stay back. I'll finish this."
He caught Galadriel by the collar before she could fully charge, lifting her bodily and setting her aside, then covered Lúthien's mouth with his other hand to stop the first note from leaving her lips.
"Rowan—" Lúthien pulled his hand away, eyes full of worry. She still remembered how pale he had looked after purging the Death Valley days ago.
"I'm fine," Rowan said, smiling easily. "Fully recovered. And when I sparred with Galadriel before, I wasn't even using a tenth of my strength. Sauron isn't my match."
In Doriath, he had restrained himself, unwilling to drain the ancient trees nurtured by Melian. Here, he had no such hesitation. Moments ago, he had already replenished everything he'd spent.
Galadriel bristled. "You're telling me you were holding back that much against me?"
"You'll see soon enough," Rowan replied.
He spread his wings and rose into the air, murmuring a spell under his breath.
"Animagus transformation."
His body expanded violently, flesh and bone reshaping in a thunderous surge. In an instant, the man was gone, replaced by a colossal dragon more than five hundred meters long, scales gleaming like forged steel beneath the sky.
This was the first winged dragon Middle-earth had ever seen.
Across the battlefield, Sauron's expression finally cracked.
"That form… that isn't possible."
Winged dragons were not legends to him. They were his master's unfinished work, still growing deep beneath Angband's volcanoes. And yet here one stood, fully realized, born not of Morgoth's design but of a human's magic.
Before he could make sense of it, the air screamed.
"Light Magic. Fairy Law."
A magic circle ten times larger than before unfolded beneath the dragon's chest, flooding the valley with overwhelming radiance. In this form, Rowan's physical power, magic output, and vitality dwarfed anything he could achieve as a human.
The light fell like judgment.
Every vampire Sauron had brought with him disintegrated instantly, reduced to drifting ash.
Sauron screamed.
Even with the ring shielding him, the light tore into his body, burning through corrupted flesh and spirit alike.
Before the glow had fully faded, Rowan struck again.
"Fairy Law."
Another pillar of light crashed down.
And another.
Dragon-form Rowan did not need to pause. His recovery was fast enough to sustain repeated casts, and against beings steeped in darkness, there was no reason to switch tactics. Light was the perfect blade.
After the fifth strike, Sauron broke.
He twisted his form, abandoning his battered body and transforming into a monstrous serpent, forcing himself forward through the burning radiance in a desperate bid to escape.
Pride meant nothing now. Survival did.
He slammed into an invisible wall.
Again. And again.
The sealing barrier held.
Realization struck him then. The five giants anchoring the array. Destroy one, and the structure should collapse.
With a furious hiss, Sauron lunged and crushed the nearest earth giant with his jaws, shattering it into dust.
Less than a second later, it reformed.
His heart sank.
Metal. Wood. Water. Fire. He tried them all. Each time, the result was the same. Destruction meant nothing. The giants simply returned.
High above, Rowan watched without intervening, allowing Fairy Law to continue its relentless work.
The more Sauron suffered now, the easier the end would be.
Given enough days, Sauron might have unraveled the seal through study. But hours were not enough. The barrier was not built from Middle-earth's magic alone.
At last, cornered and furious, Sauron made his choice.
"Then I'll kill you!"
He poured every scrap of darkness he had left into his body and hurled himself skyward, jaws opening wide as he lunged for Rowan's throat.