Disclaimer: I only own Danielle. Middle Earth and everything else in it belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien.

A/N: Welcome to my story. Thank you for letting me share my daydreams with you!

When Danielle woke up the first thing she felt was nausea; a powerful, incapacitating urge that started in her gut and climbed upward, threatening to break out. It came coupled with a headache that, rather than originating from inside her head seemed to be the result of hitting it on something - perhaps the ground, which felt hard and unforgiving. She wondered if she had fallen, and if that was why she couldn't remember getting there. Although it was also possible that this was a hangover, a forceful reminder from her body telling her that she couldn't drink anymore like she used to when she was in college.

Her back and legs were sore, and when she pushed off the ground she found little cuts scattered across her palms. She could feel their stinging presence, but she couldn't see them. Wherever she was, it must be night. She couldn't see anything.

Danielle felt a surge of panic that made her hands tremble. Where was she? She took a few deep breaths and tried to put together the information she had. The ground was hard and dirty. Either she was at someone's house who hadn't swept their floor in over a year, or she was on a large, rocky surface outside somewhere. Neither seemed particularly likely.

Thinking it best to start moving and to find her way back home, she rose her arms in front of her and shuffled her feet along. Even so, a fear of tripping and falling down a flight of stairs prickled in the back of her mind. If she was lucky, she would find a wall first.

For two full minutes, she shuffled around, but alone in the dark those minutes stretched on. As she continued, her heartbeat grew increasingly loud and more forceful, until her whole body seemed to jolt with each pump. Just as the overwhelmingly lonely feeling crept in that she was absolutely nowhere, her hand grazed against a rough surface. A rock wall, maybe? She ran her hands across it, trying to learn more. It went all the way to the ground, and rose up higher than she could reach.

Danielle wasn't sure what to do next. She contemplated staying where she was and hoping that she was out in the open. She might be able to see where she was once the sun rose, but what if she couldn't? When she looked up, she couldn't see the moon or the stars. She considered that they might be covered by a thick blanket of clouds, but an alternative lurked in the back of her mind, rising the hairs on the backs of her arms.

What if she wasn't outside? The rough rock walls and floors, the chill dampness in the stagnant air, the complete lack of light... was it possible this was a cave? Danielle took in a sharp breath of air at the irrational fear that there were bats around. It was easier to contemplate bats than the possibility that she might be lost and alone in a cave, though everything seemed to suggest that she was, indeed, somewhere underground. She heard no rustling of leaves or chirping insects. The only sound to accompany her was her ragged breathing, which grew heavier and more uneven as the true danger of her predicament settled over her.

She needed to find a way out. How she was going to do that when she couldn't see, she had no idea. She had no way of knowing how much of a maze this cave was, or whether there were any sudden drops.

Danielle kept her hand anchored to the wall as she recalled something a friend told her when she was younger. She knew that if she walked through a maze following one wall the whole time, she would find a way out eventually - so long as the wall didn't stand alone, at least. Without any better plans, Danielle proceeded forward, shuffling along cautiously.

She didn't make it far before her body protested against her efforts. Her head pounded and the nausea was growing stronger, and rising in her chest. Danielle crouched down to the ground to heave out the contents of her stomach, and found that she immediately felt better. It also made her situation that more dire. She knew she might not be able to replace the food and hydration she'd just lost any time soon.

Hours stretched on. Occasionally she would start shaking, although she couldn't be sure if it was due to nerves or the pervasive damp chill about her. She was finding, however, that the ground was fairly stable and level. It was an encouraging discovery she had not anticipated. She had also found a carved staircase leading upwards. This cave clearly must have been partially shaped by man, which meant that there had to be a way out somehow. Plus, so long as she was going up, she was undoubtedly making progress. Surely that was the way out of any cave.

Focused as she was on finding an exit, Danielle felt no hunger. Her body seemed to shut off all other functioning, as though recognizing that she couldn't afford to put energy toward anything other than escape. And so, although she stopped to rest a couple of times, she mostly continued on.

Eventually, Danielle came to a place where the wall gave way. She was terrified to lose her wall, which had been her only sense of security since she had woken up. She moved her foot around in front of herself, and found that the ground, too, came to an end. Rather than turning back around and returning the way she'd came, she got down on her hands and knees. This way, she could feel along the edge of this cliff and look for the way to continue forward.

About twenty yards down, she felt the ground extend further out. Feeling around with her hands, she found this to be the beginning of a bridge. It was narrow enough for her arms to easily reach across the entire width. She paused. She had no way of knowing how stable the bridge was. If it was old, it might have eroded to the point where it wouldn't hold her weight, but Danielle wasn't about to turn around and go back. Instead, she started her cautious crawl across the bridge, trying to keep her wits about her and forget her fears of the bridge collapsing. If it was going to collapse there was nothing she could do about it. She might as well get across and be done with it.

Danielle sighed, relieved, when she came to the end of the bridge. Even better, after another twenty yards along the cliff on this side, she came back in contact with the wall again. She was so glad to find it, it was as though she had been reconnected with a dear friend, but there was even more cause for celebration. There was some sort of symmetry to the layout of that bridge, so she was certain that someone had planned the cave out carefully. She clung to that bit of optimism just as devoutly as she did the wall.

Danielle sat against the wall and rested once again, wondering if she was getting any closer to finding a way out or if she was going deeper into its depths, but quickly stopped that line of thinking. Those worries could only bring about paralyzing fear, and she couldn't afford that. She had to keep going.

She was about to get back on her feet when she heard what sounded like a drum beat.

BOOM

The sound came from somewhere below, bouncing off the walls and reverberating through her body before the cave fell silent once more.

BOOM BOOM

Danielle dug her fingernails into her palms as the sound died, and then resumed once more. This time, the beating continued at a steady tempo, sounding much like a drum. Whatever was making that sound, it was man-made. She was not alone. This should have been comforting, and yet she felt no relief. A chill ran through her, and she felt the urge to run. The rhythmic beat sounded primal. Like a call to battle.

She got back up and continued on her way with new fervor, hoping beyond hope that she was putting distance between herself and the drums. On she went, tripping over rocks in her path several times, and yet she never found anyone.

The drums kept her motivated, and yet it wasn't long before she grew tired and her pace slowed. As she moved forward, she searched for a boulder or an alcove that she could use to hide herself for awhile in hopes that the danger would pass. Unfortunately, the wall continued steadily on.

Suddenly, she heard something new. She heard feet slamming into the ground paired with yells.

"Over the bridge!" someone said. "Fly!"

It was coming from somewhere ahead, not far away. With increased caution, Danielle continued forward. As she kept her hand along the wall, she found her path turning a corner.

For the first time since Danielle had woken up, she could see. Straight ahead the ground gave way to a vast chasm. She could not tell how deep it was. The bottom delved further down than she could see. Beyond the gaping hole there was another bridge, much like the one she had crossed earlier. A small group was running across it, and among them a few held lit torches or a staff that emitted a perfect white glow. There was another source of light that came from something she had no name for. This creature was monstrously large and engulfed in flames, and yet despite the light she could not properly see its body in the darkness.

Had Danielle not been paralyzed by her fear, she might have screamed. She might have wondered where she was, if something like that could walk among other living creatures. Instead, she couldn't put together a single coherent thought. Run? Hide? Her body's response seemed to be leaning dangerously towards fainting as a defense mechanism. She felt dizzy and unstable on her feet. Meanwhile, the only discernible thought that played through her mind was a chorus of 'Holy shit's.

A man clad in grey, the one with the staff, turned around and stopped to face the creature while the others continued until they reached the other side safely.

"You cannot pass!"

The others were crying out to this man. "Gandalf!"

The man in grey did not falter. "I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udun!"

Danielle regained her senses and crouched down, hoping to remain unseen as the creature stood up tall and spread out its wings, showing its full size in a menacing gesture. Her lungs seemed to forget how to draw in breath as she watched. The man named Gandalf was a fool-a brave fool. He would die, and surely his friends after him.

"Go back to the shadow!"

Then, the demon lashed out, but the man deflected the attack with a sword.

"You shall not pass!" the man cried, and he slammed his staff into the bridge in front of him. With a flash of blinding light the rock before him collapsed, impossibly leaving the bridge beneath his feet intact. The demon fell with the bridge, and with it Danielle's hand flew to her heart. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

Before Danielle's relief - for herself and for the man - settled in, the falling creature's fiery whip curled around the man's leg and he fell roughly, dragged off the edge of the bridge. He clawed at the ground, grasping at the edge for a few seconds while his company watched in horror. A few of them struggled, trying to reach him, but they were being held back. And then the man's struggles ceased.

"Fly, you fools!" he said and then let go, falling into the depths of the abyss.

"No!"

"Gandalf!" The company let out strangled yells at their loss, but others within their group pushed them on. Most of them turned to run off, but one remained on the bridge, looking into the gaping hole where the man had fallen.

"Aragorn!" someone yelled, and then he, too, turned to join the others.

Scattered thoughts ran through Danielle's mind. Anyone who could defeat a creature like that surely had to be better than the monster itself. She had no way of knowing if she would find anyone else to lead her out of the cave, and even if she could find her way out on her own, how was she then to find someplace with food? Or shelter? These people may not be the key to her survival, but she certainly would not have a chance if she didn't go with them, and so she ran after them.

The company was close enough ahead of Danielle that she could still see the ground beneath her feet. She had started on a different path from them, and so when she came to a fork in the road she had no way of knowing which route would lead her to them but to guess. They were also faster than her. Raw panic rose in her gut as the light around her started to dim, just as she came across another fork. The light did not reach into the depths of either tunnel, but she didn't have time to dwell and figure out the correct one. Danielle blindly picked one and ran on, her fingers gliding against the walls to make sure she didn't lose where she was. The darkness persisted, and her hopes sank with every stride. Maybe she had gone the wrong way.

Just as she feared that she had lost the group, as well as her last chance of living long enough to see light again, she saw a glow at the end. Now that she could see where she was heading again, she ran at a full sprint through the tunnel. Then, just ahead she saw it! The way out! And sunlight!

Danielle was so excited to have found the way out that she burst through the exit without thinking about those that she had followed or how much it would hurt adjusting to light so quickly. She came to a stop as she stepped out from the last bit of shadow and shielded her face against the burning light. She shut her eyes, and when she opened them again and the world around her fell into focus she found eight sets of eyes, scattered around the rocks outside the exit. All staring at her.

AN: I hope you like my first chapter! The story will pick up from here pretty quickly, I expect. Reviews are greatly appreciated :)

Should you want to read it, I wrote a brief explanation for this story in my profile.