Chapter 9: Khaza-Dum the Black Pit
Author's Note: OK, I really apologize for the obscenely long delay. I got caught up in another writing project and also real life, so there was a great big delay. That and I wasn't sure how to continue this for a while. But here's now, so thanks to everything who's been patient, and I hope you enjoy my take on the single best chunk of Fellowship of the Ring!
"Speak friend…and enter!"
"Well what does it mean?"
"Simple really" Gandalf said matter-of-factly. "If you're a friend you speak the password, and the doors will open"
And with that the Gray Wizard took to saying a variety of things that to Susan and her brother's ears sounded like nothing but nonsense. But evidently Gandalf thought they had some meaning. But that didn't change the fact that the stone doors with glowing inscriptions on them were not opening.
Susan sighed. The Fellowship's journey had taken them to this stone door with intricate designs and writing in a language only Gandalf seemed to understand, and apparently they were expected to go through it. When asked why, Susan was told that it was the ideal route to take if they wanted to get to Mordor as safely as possible. The door would lead to a set of Dwarf-run mines named Moria led by Gimli's cousin. It had been the Dwarf who had suggested the route in the first place.
Deciding to occupy their time while Gandalf tried out different passwords, two of the hobbits, Pippin and Merry if Susan remembered correctly, took to skipping stones into the river until Aragorn stopped them.
"Do not disturb the water" he said in a grave tone that brooked no argument. Nodding, Pippin and Merry ceased in their stone skipping and just sat still…until then deciding to walk over to Susan.
Oh no…
"So…uh…its "Suzie" right?"
"Susan Pip" Merry corrected him.
Pippin nodded. "Right, right, my apologies. So, I've been wondering, and I know you've been asked this before, but…what's it like over in your world?"
Truth be told the last thing Susan wanted was to tell the members of the Fellowship about her world for the hundredth time. But nevertheless she decided to be a good sport for once and humor the hobbit: "Well, for starters we don't have second breakfast" she said with a smirk, recalling the hobbit's apparent fondness for that meal.
"What? Shocking! Shocking I say! How can you people do without second breakfast? What about tea?"
Susan nodded. "Yes, we have that"
"Ah good, good. So…any partying? Us Hobbits love a good party you see"
"Yes, we do. Mostly birthday parties though…and Christmas I guess"
"What is "Christmas"?"
"Oh, it's a holiday we have where we spend time with our families and receive presents and celebrate—"
Susan was cut off by the sound of the stone doors finally opening with a creaking sound. Turning to face the now open door, Susan and the two Hobbits began to make their way in with everyone else. As they did, Susan, curious, asked Gandalf: "So what was the password?"
"Mellon, the Elvish word for Friend"
With the doors now opened, the members of the Fellowship began to file into the ominous-looking entrance to what could only be described as total darkness. A doorway into a void.
There is no life, in the Void…only…death. The words of the giant eye of fire from Susan's nightmare came to the forefront of her mind and she shook her head to be rid of said images. Then her ears picked up what sounded like rustling, but not the kind of rustling one heard from leaves or mud but…water.
Turning back around, Susan saw nothing, and then quickly turned back around to follow the Fellowship and her brother into the darkness of the mines. As the group made their way through the darkened halls, Gimli spoke to Legolas, his booming voice echoing through the cavernous depths: "Soon, master elf, you will enjoy the fabled hospitality of the dwarves; roaring fires, malt beer, red meat off the bone. This, my friend, is the home of my cousin, Balin...and they call it a Mine...a Mine!"
Gimli chuckled, but his mirth was cut short when Gandalf lit up the darkness with his staff, and the horrors the shadows had hidden were presented to the group's eyes in all their ghastliness.
Everywhere around them, the skeletons of Dwarves long dead lied, many of the corpses riddled with black arrows identical to the ones used by the Goblins that had pursued Susan and Peter earlier. Others had different crude weapons embedded into their bones, their now rusting armor having proven to be an inadequate defense.
"This is no mine…" Boromir said grimly "It's a tomb"
Legolas yanked out one of the black arrows embedded in the chest of the nearest Dwarf skeleton. He needed only a quick look at it to deduce what Peter and Susan already knew: "Goblins"
Boromir turned to Gandalf: "We make for the Gap of Rohan. We should never have come here"
Before Gandalf could even think about the situation the Fellowship was now in, a loud thud caught everyone's attention. Whipping around to the source of it, Susan and the others turned just in time to see a long, spindly thing, a tentacle, Susan quickly deduced, shoot out of the water and wrap itself around Frodo's ankle. As Susan and all of the others looked on in horror, Frodo was pulled back by the thing, screaming in terror as he was hoisted into the air by it. And then, out of the murky waters came the source of the tentacle.
In her short time in Middle-Earth, Susan had seen her share of ghastly sights, but this creature that lurked beneath the water was possibly the worst of them all. The thing resembled the monsters and abominations described by an American author Edmund was a fan of, with a stretched out face resembling an octopus with circular, medium-sized shiny black eyes and a mouth resembling the maw of a piranha.
As Aragorn and Boromir raced forward to try and get to Frodo, several more tentacles, as few as eleven or as many as twenty or more, Susan couldn't tell, burst out of the waters and whipped around so quickly that she was hard-pressed to keep track of how many there were. Either way, the mess of sickly, snake-like limbs kept the two warriors at bay, even with Aragorn and Boromir doing their best to hack off as many as they could. They could not, it seemed, get them all, and as a result the Lovecraftian abomination continued to have Frodo in its clutches, dangling the Hobbit over its tooth-filled maw, with Frodo screaming in terror the whole time. Susan couldn't blame him. The monster was the most terrifying thing she had yet seen during her brief time in Middle-Earth.
Legolas raced forward and fired an arrow into one of the creatures black eyes. The creature howled in pain and finally threw Frodo to the ground where Aragorn caught him. As the two made a run into the mines, Boromir followed, also trying to continue to keep the foul beast at bay. Finally, the three made their way through the entrance, and not a moment too soon, as the creature then lashed out with its remaining tentacles, striking the stone doorway and causing it to break apart, a mass of rubble raining down over the entrance and trapping the Fellowship in the pitch-black mines. Privately, Susan was actually relieved that this had happened, if for no other reason than she was now safe from the monstrosity outside.
"We now have but one choice" Gandalf said simply as he lit up the darkness with his staff once again. "We must face the long dark of Moria"
And so it was that the Fellowship began to make its way through the pitch-black hallways and caverns of the now lifeless Mines of Moria. As the trek continued, Susan's earlier relief at being in the mines and safely away from the monster in the water began to dissipate, the tight confines of the mines, lack of light aside from the one coming from Gandalf's staff, and the almost unbearable smell of death and decay that punctuated the entire mine all combined to give off a claustrophobic atmosphere that Susan wasn't sure she would be able to stand for too much longer.
"Everyone stay close" Gandalf had cautioned. "It is a four day journey to the other side, and there are older and fouler things than Orcs and Goblins in these mines..."
Eventually, the Fellowship came to a large set of stone steps leading to three different doorways. At this junction the Fellowship paused as Gandalf looked at the three different routes with a puzzled and confused expression.
"I have no memory of this place..."
And so Gandalf the Gray sat in front of the three different routes for what felt like hours as he tried to decide which one the Fellowship should go through. As the minutes ticked by at an unbearably slow speed, Susan could hear the hobbits Merry and Pippin start to whisper amongst themselves, with Pippin whining that he was hungry. Susan shook her head. If those two were any indication of what most hobbits were like, she couldn't claim to be a fan.
Susan's thoughts were interrupted when she saw Frodo see something off in the distance and then make his way over to Gandalf. As he spoke to him, Susan willed herself to listen in: "...he's been following us for three days"
As Gandalf said this, Susan panicked and looked around for any sign that someone other than the members of the Fellowship was there. But she saw nothing. Only darkness. Whatever Frodo had seen and whatever Gandalf knew was there was well-hidden.
Susan's ears could hear more of Gandalf and Frodo speaking: "...its a pity Bilbo didn't kill him when he had the chance" Frodo said ruefully.
"Pity? It was pity that stayed Bilbo's hand. Many who live deserve death, and some who die deserve life. Do not be too quick to deal out death and fatal judgment. My heart tells me that Gollum still has part to play in this, for good or ill..."
Gollum. So that was their pursuers name. Susan looked out again to see if she could see him but her eyes saw nothing, save for a shadow that seemed to move away from the Fellowship. Could that be Gollum?
Seeing his sister distressed, Peter walked over to her. "Is everything alright?" Peter asked. Susan felt like snapping at him, as the answer was quite obviously no, and she was still mad at him for thinking it would be a good idea for them to stay in Middle-Earth in the first place, but rather than give her brother anymore grief, Susan said in as calm a tone as she could manage: "No, no its not. We're stuck wandering around in this dark, filthy place, surrounded by death..." she shook her head. "...its so unpleasant. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I miss that boring old mansion..."
Peter made a light smile. "Yeah, so do I. Who would have thought right? That we would actually want to go back to that old place...but then again..." Peter looked out at the caverns. "...I suppose we never expected to end up in a place like this did we?"
Susan shook her head. "Absolutely not. I never imagined anything remotely like this, not even in my wildest dreams. Elves, Dwarves, Goblins, Wizards...it all seems like something out of a book doesn't it? Like we're part of some fantasy or story..."
"Well technically we are part of a story. This world's story. And I think its as good a story as any other personally"
"Really? You don't think all of the monsters trying to kill us and some "Great Eye" that wants to destroy the world isn't at least a little bit distressing?"
Peter smiled. "Yeah, I suppose all of that's no fun, but every story needs a conflict."
As Peter said this Susan couldn't help but smile. Her brother meant well, and always looked after her, Edmund, and Lucy, even when they didn't appreciate it. It really did mean something to her, having an older brother who loved and looked after her, and now that the two of them were stuck in this situation, lost in another world and still separated from their younger siblings, she couldn't help but appreciate his attempts at making light of their current predicament.
Then after a few more moments passed Gandalf stood up and made his way over to one of the three passages. "Its this way" he said.
"So you finally remembered?" Merry asked.
Gandalf shook his head. "No, but the air doesn't smell so foul down there. When in doubt Meriadoc, always follow your nose"
The Fellowship made their way down the passage, venturing further and deeper into the mines. Finally, they came to stairs leading up. Taking them, they came to a massive cavernous space with large pillars as far as the eye could see and blackened walls.
"Behold! The great realm and Dwarf City of Dwarrowdelf. Founded by the first of the Dwarven Race: Durin the Deathless. Come, we still have a ways to go before we reach the Bridge of Khaza-Dum, and we cannot linger..."
But as Gandalf said this, Gimli caught sight of a smashed up wooden doorway leading to another room, and within a pedestal atop which lay a white marble coffin that a ray of light shone down on. Embedded in the door where many black arrows and to the sides were small skeletons clad in rusting armor identical to the ones worn by the Goblins that had chased Susan and Peter earlier.
Gimli rushed forward, ignoring Gandalf's calling out to him. The other members of the Fellowship followed him inside the room, where the graveyard that it was became fully evident. Dwarf and Goblin skeletons were everywhere, with mostly broken weapons littering the floor like leaves in a forest. Rushing up to the sarcophagus in the center, Gimli sank to his knees.
"No..."
As Gimli began to burst into sobs, Gandalf walked up to the sarcophagus and read the inscription written upon it in Khazdul: "Here lies Balin. Son of Fundin. Lord of Moria. He is dead then. It's as I feared."
As Gandalf said this Gimli began to sob louder and louder. Legolas turned to Aragorn and whispered: "We must move on. We cannot linger"
"This is a nightmare..." Susan whispered, finding the overwhelming amount of death greatly upsetting to say the least. She wondered if this was at all what it was like for her father and the other soldiers fighting against the Third Reich...
As Susan thought this, she turned to see Gandalf grab a rotting book that was being held in the clutches of its long-dead writer. As Gandalf did this and read some of the book's contents she realized to her horror that this, all of it, was exactly what she had seen in her dream, save that now the Dwarves were all long dead. The Goblins had killed them all.
"...they have taken the bridge, and the second hall. We have barred the gates, but we cannot hold them for long. The ground shakes. Drums...drums, in the deep. We cannot get out. A shadow moves in the dark...we cannot get out...they are coming"
Susan found a growing terror rising in the pit of her stomach. The current situation she was in was bad enough, but now the events of what she had only hoped was a mere nightmare had proven to be a prophecy of sorts, and in fact even more complicated than that. She had seen the Dwarves in their last moments alive, seen the long dead Dwarf whose skeleton still clutched the book Gandalf now read write down exactly what he had just read out loud. It had been happening, or had happened, and Susan had seen it. What did it all mean?
A loud series of clangs and ringing noises harshly shook Susan out of her thoughts. She and everyone else whipped around to the source, which was coming from a stone well that was off to the corner of the room. Standing next to it was Pippin, who had evidently knocked something down into the well, if the embarrassed wincing expression on his face was anything to go by.
A few moments passed, but there was only silence, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Gandalf shut the book and put it under his cloak.
"Fool of a Took!" the old wizard said harshly before reclaiming his hat from the hobbit. "Throw yourself in next time and rid us of your stupidity!"
As Gandalf berated Pippin, Peter took to looking around the room. As he did he happened upon a Dwarf Skeleton wearing a fearsome looking helmet that was still intact. Taking it off, Peter turned to Gimli, now resting his head on the sarcophagus.
"Excuse me, uh...Mr. Dwarf. What is this?"
Turning his head, Gimli's eyes lit up at the sight of the helmet Peter now held in his hands.
"That...that is a Dragon-Helm" Gimli said in a tone that was paradoxically both excited and gruff. "Worn by only the fiercest of Dwarven warriors. They are said to be able to protect the wearer from even the flames of a dragon, hence the name and design."
"I can assure you they do no such thing" Gandalf said gruffly, to which Gimli only snorted in annoyance.
Then, all of a sudden, a thudding, drumming sound could be heard echoing throughout the mines. As the Fellowship listened to it, it was clear that it was the thudding rhythm of drums, banging again and again. Frodo drew his sword, and the blade was glowing blue.
"Goblins!" Legolas hissed.
"Get back!" Aragorn shouted to the hobbits "Stay close to Gandalf!" As he said this, Aragorn grabbed some discarded axes and propped them up against the door as Boromir swung it closed, saying in an exasperated tone as he did: "They have a Cave Troll"
As Boromir said this, Merry, Pippin, and Sam nervously drew their swords alongside Frodo as Boromir took out his broadsword and shield. Aragorn and Legolas aimed their bows at the door, and Susan hesitantly followed suit. Instinctively donning the Dragon Helm he still held in his hands, Peter readied his own sword and stood in-between his sister and Boromir. Drawing his axe as well as grabbing a second one he found amongst his fallen kin, Gimli stood atop the sarcophagus and growled: "Let them come. There is one Dwarf yet in Moria who still draws breath!"
As the Fellowship got into their positions, banging resounded throughout the cavernous depths of Moria as the army of Goblins that had been summoned by Pippin's foolishness attempted to break down the doors. Pieces of wood were pushed forward and splinters and loose chips of wood were both sent flying as the often jagged black blades of the Goblins pushed through some parts of the doors. As this happened, Susan and Peter both felt themselves tensing up and panicking. Neither one had ever been in a fight before, never mind one where their enemies would try to kill them, and they in turn would have to kill to defend themselves. Suddenly both Peter and Susan realized what they'd gotten themselves into, and how it was likely them biting off more than they could chew.
We're in a war" a horrified Susan thought. "And this is a battle"
Aragorn and Legolas each let fly with arrows that sailed through the holes in the door made by the Goblins, each one finding its target in a Goblin, all of whom let out a shriek of pain as they were hit. Then the goblins finally managed to break down the doors completely, and the two large pieces of rotting wood collapsed to the ground as a horde of the same lithe, light-green skinned creatures clad in black armor that had attacked Susan and Peter earlier came surging forward in a sea of bloodlusted hatred.
Letting out battle-cries, the Fellowship met the horde of Goblins head-on, Boromir blocking one's sword strike with his shield and screaming as he brought the full might of his broadsword down on the goblin. Aragorn and Legolas managed to shoot a few more dead before Aragorn drew his sword and engaged the Goblins in fierce hand-to-hand fighting. Panicking, Susan found herself nervously backing up further and further as the army of horrifying monsters continued to swarm through into the room in an unstoppable surge. She fired out an arrow, and missed completely. Now sweating and struggling not to lose her nerve, Susan nervously readied another arrow only to fumble it. Not bothering to waste time picking it up, Susan just drew a third arrow and fired. This one bounced off of a Goblin's shield.
Two more goblins ran at Susan. Shrieking in terror, Susan nevertheless tried to ready another arrow and fired it. Once again she failed to fell one of the loathsome creatures, but Legolas saw them in time to shoot them both dead before they could reach Susan. As their dead bodies fell near her feet, Susan fought the urge to vomit and shot a look over to Peter, who was having similar trouble, his one goblin opponent managing to push him back further and further as Peter awkwardly tried to fight him off with the sword skills Aragorn and Boromir had taught him. Skills he was struggling to remember now that true battle was upon him.
Then, as Susan saw the disgusting sight of Aragorn separating one Goblin's head from its body, the situation went from bad to infinitely worse. Bursting through the entrance and sending pieces of stone flying in the process was a massive, lumbering beast that was vaugely humanoid in shape with bluish-gray skin, beady little eyes, and a rocky hide. In one hand it held a club and on its neck was an iron clamp that a chain was attached to. A Goblin was holding the chain to lead the Cave Troll in, and with the beast's entrance came more Goblins, including a larger one with its face fully covered by those "beetle-helmets" so many of the other Goblins wore as well as a cape around its neck made from the white fur of some skinned animal. With a roar that the Cave Troll mirrored, this Goblin leader directed his men to overrun the Fellowship.
Frozen in place with fear, Susan looked on helplessly as the Goblins continued to advance. Peter too was frozen in terror, but Gandalf managed to move in and slay the Goblins that attempted to kill the Pensive siblings.
"Do not just stand there" Gandalf said exasperated. "Fight! These creatures know no empathy, compassion, or remorse. They will kill you both and devour you, unless you fight to defend yourselves! Do you understand?"
Peter and Susan both nodded meekly. As Gandalf said this, they could see Boromir be swung into one of the room's upper ledges by the Cave Troll. A helmeted goblin jumped down on him only to be slain when Aragorn hurled his sword at him. The weapon briefly sailed through the air before imbedding itself in the Goblin's neck.
More goblins rushed the Pensive siblings. Peter swung out with his sword, and managed through sheer luck to hit a Goblin square in the chest and knock him down. Another Goblin made several downward slashes and thrusts that Peter nearly fell down trying to block. Finally the Goblin managed to leave a slight cut in Peter's side. Gasping in pain as blood flowed from his wound Peter sank to his knees and the Goblin raised his sword over his head for the kill, licking his lips and revealing a mouth full of broken teeth as he prepared to deliver the coup de grae...
...only for an arrow fired by Susan to embed itself in the goblin's side. Distracted and knocked back a bit, the goblin was easy prey for Peter, who struck out with his sword and slew the beast.
Susan shot a brief look to her left. The Cave Troll brought its club down on the sarcophagus Gimli was standing on, smashing the marble block to pieces and nearly Gimli too had the dwarf not leaped off in time. Rolling on the ground, Gimli staggered to his feet as the Cave Troll lumbered towards him, swatting aside two unlucky goblins as it tried to kill Gimli. Legolas fired two arrows into the beast's shoulder, and Susan fired one that managed to hit the creature's leg. All three arrows had little effect, merely bouncing off of the troll and/or breaking outright upon contact with the creature's tough skin. Staggering to his feet, Gimli cut down a goblin that had been moving in to try and stab him while he was on his back.
As Gandalf fought with both staff and sword against the Goblins that attacked him, Peter stood at his sister's side and swung his sword out at the goblins that approached them. But the goblins were able to tell from the awkward and inexperienced way he swung his weapon that Peter was no swordsman and very soon they began to advance. Seeing this, Susan picked up the arrow she had dropped and shot it at one of the goblins. This time her arrow managed to hit its target, piercing the goblin's armor and dropping him in an instant.
As the Cave Troll swung its length of chain at Legolas again and again, the two Pensive siblings stayed close to each other as the goblins continued to come their way, with Peter blindly swinging out at the goblins nearest to them while Susan did her best to shoot down the ones that were attacking the other members of the Fellowship. Through the chaos of it all, the larger goblin continued to order his minions with shouts and growls in a black tongue Susan and Peter did not understand. Then something seemed to get his attention out of the corner of his eye and he ran after it.
Another two goblins ran at the Pensive siblings. Peter swung his sword out and decapitated one of them, his helmeted head rolling across the floor as Susan fired out another arrow. The shot staggered him and Peter finished him. Susan fired out another arrow that managed to hit one goblin and kill him.
"I think we might be getting the hang of this Sue..."
"Damn you to hell for making us stay here Peter" Susan hissed under her breath as she shot out another arrow that missed its mark.
Then a gasp of pain that was not a goblin's dying screams rang out and the two Pensive siblings whipped around to the source of it. There, slumped up against a corner, with a large, long spear embedded in him, was Frodo, wincing in pain before slumping over. Both the Cave Troll and the Goblin Chieftain were standing over him, and from where Susan and Peter where it was unclear which monster had done the deed.
With an anguished cry of rage, Pippin and Merry both leaped on top of the Cave Troll, plunging their short swords into the creature's rock-like back. Roaring in pain and anger, the Cave Troll thrashed and flailed about as it tried to force the two hobbits off of him. But they held firm as meanwhile the other members of the Fellowship threw themselves at the remaining Goblins with reckless abandon as their rage at Frodo's death consumed them. The goblins fell in droves as the world seemed to slow around the watching Pensive children. Caught up in the blood-rage the rest of the Fellowship was feeling, Peter and Susan both rushed forward as well, Peter now fighting more ferociously as he hacked and slashed at the goblins in his way. Susan shot out an arrow that went through one goblin's eye. The Goblin chieftain's larger form came into view and he tackled Peter. Forcing him to the ground, he bared his slightly curved black blade over him.
"Let's put a maggot-hole in your belly" he hissed.
Susan fired an arrow at him. It missed, but got his attention. As he rose however the tip of Boromir's broadsword burst through his chest, now covered in the goblin's black blood. He staggered for a minute before collapsing dead.
Looking out, Susan could see the Cave Troll still thrashing this way and that, until at last Pippin and Merry, with their swords still dug into the creature's rocky hide, forced it to stand up completely straight, which exposed its vulnerable neck. Then Legolas fired an arrow into it. The creature let out a moan and flailed about before finally falling forward with such force that Merry and Pippin were flung off of it. The Cave Troll was now dead, and what few goblins were not also dead ran out through the entrance to the tomb in terror.
An anguished gasp rang through the air, and everyone turned to see that Frodo was still breathing.
"He's alive" Sam said relieved and on the verge of tears as he rushed to Frodo's side.
"You should be dead" Aragorn said bluntly. "That spear would have skewered a wild boar"
Gandalf smiled. "I think there's more to this hobbit, than meets the eye"
As Gandalf said this, Frodo pulled back his brown coat to reveal a shiny silvery white shirt underneath, still fully intact. The substance actually gave off quite a shine, like a ray of light.
"Mithril..." Gimli whispered in awe before adding: "You're full of surprises master Baggins"
The moment of relief that washed over all the members of the Fellowship was very short-lived, as the sounds of more Goblins could be heard resounding through the halls, and it was getting louder. Gandalf turned to the others.
"To the bridge of Khazad-Dum" he said hurriedly, before running out of the entrance to the room, with the rest of the Fellowship following right behind. As they ran through the darkened halls, all around them Goblins swarmed in, with dozens upon dozens coming out of the fissures in the ground and also, as Susan and Peter saw when they looked up, a large hole in the ceiling. And despite their best efforts to outrun them, the Fellowship soon surrounded by a massive army of the black-armored fiends, many of whom looked to be reveling in their victory, their chartreuse colored eyes lighting up with sadistic glee and their mouths forming into wicked smiles that showed their rat-like teeth. Several also took to banging their black swords against their shields as they steadily began to close in around the eleven members of the Fellowship...
Then a loud noise vaguely similar to the explosions of the bombs Nazi pilots had dropped on the Pensive's home rang out through the halls, and all of the Goblins stopped in their tracks, suddenly panicking and looking around in terror. Then, with yelps of fear, all of the goblins fled as quickly as they had come, running like frightened rabbits being hunted.
Watching it, Gimli smiled triumphantly, pleased that the Fellowship had by some unknown miracle succeeded in scaring all of the goblins away.
Only it wasn't the Fellowship that had frightened the goblins.
Off in the distance, the source of the booming sound was lit up with a fiery orange hue, as if just around the corner was a well-lit room.
"What is this new devilry?" Boromir whispered to Gandalf. Gandalf shut his eyes for a moment as loud thuds rang through the halls before responding gravely: "A Balrog. A demon of the ancient world. This foe is beyond any of you..." then, turning to all of the members of the Fellowship he shouted: "RUN!"
Taking heed to the urgency in Gandalf's tone, the entire Fellowship ran as fast as their legs could carry them down the halls of Dwarrodelf, with Gandalf the Gray leading them as the fiery orange glow began to spread across the halls behind them. Racing through a waiting doorway, they came to a massive cavern lit up in an intense orange by fires below. Boromir was the first one through and nearly fell to his death when the massive stairs turned out to be broken. Legolas grabbed Boromir and pulled him back. Turning, the Fellowship raced down the stairway until they came to a gap. Boromir grabbed Sam and leaped across the chasm with him, the two miraculously managing to land on the other side. Next to jump across was Gandalf, followed by Pippin, Merry, Peter, and Susan all being tossed across by Aragorn, with all of them screaming as he did. But when Aragorn got ready to grab GImi and toss him across as well, he held up a hand.
"Nobody tosses a Dwarf". Gimli said before he leaped across on his own only to just barely make it to the other side. He nearly fell backwards and into the fiery chasm below, but Legolas grabbed his beard and pulled him forward.
"NOT THE BEARD!"
No sooner was Gimli pulled safely forward did black arrows begin to whiz through the air, all of them narrowly missing the members of the Fellowship. Turning, Legolas fired out return shots at the goblins lining the wall facing the stairs the Fellowship were on. Each goblin hit by one of the elf's arrows went tumbling over into the fiery abyss below.
Finally, Aragorn and Frodo made it across as well just as the half of the stairs they had just been on broke off from its foundations and smashed to pieces. Wasting no time to catch their breath, the Fellowship continued to run as fast as they could, all the while Gandalf urging them to run ever faster.
"Over the bridge. FLY!"
As they did, Susan and Peter dared to shoot a look over to what was pursuing them and paid dearly for their curiosity.
Out of the flames burst a sight that would haunt both siblings' nightmares for the rest of their lives. It was a massive beast with skin that resembled magma and burning coals. It had clawed hands and a head that eerily resembled a ram's skull, complete with fearsome-looking horns. Its eyes were small with burning embers in place of any pupils or irises, and when it roared, its mouth was like the inside of a furnace. Finally, its whole form appeared to be lit aflame, and there may have also been wings atop the creature's back, but it was difficult to say for certain because of all the fire and shadow, and in any event Peter and Susan were both so terrified that they weren't paying attention to such details. They were too busy being utterly consumed by fear. It was like staring at the embodiment of everything they had been told about hell in church. Fire, embers, shadow, and a horned demon that was master of them all.
"RUN!" Gandalf shouted. Shaken out of their paralysis, Peter and Susan ran even faster than before, outpacing the other members of the Fellowship as all continued to flee the Balrog across the narrow length of stone that was the Bridge of Khazad-Dum. Not to be dissuaded, the Balrog slowly lumbered after them, the darkness trailing behind it and clinging to it almost like some kind of whispy black cloak. With each footstep it left a burning hole in the floor, and behind it a tail whipped around.
Gandalf was the last one across the bridge, but rather than run to the end, he stopped mid-way across and turned around to confront the Balrog. All of the other members of the Fellowship looked on in silent horror as the Balrog slowly stopped on the bridge to face down Gandalf.
"You cannot pass!" Gandalf shouted.
"Gandalf!" Frodo shouted. The Balrog advanced on Gandalf more and more, and reached into its flaming torso. From its own being it drew a sword of fire and held it above its head.
"I am a servant of the secret fire" Gandalf growled, "wielder of the flame of Arnor!" and then, raising both his voice and his weapons he shouted: "The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udun!"
The Balrog roared and brought its flaming sword down on Gandalf, who raised his wooden staff into the air. A small, protective bubble of sky-blue colored light covered Gandalf as the fiery blade came down on him. The effect of it colliding with the bubble was nothing short of spectacular. There was a blinding flash as the Balrog's fire sword disintegrated into a pile of magma and harmless sparks. Growling in anger, the Balrog drew another fiery sword from its being as well as a long whip of flame that it cracked challegingly, each crack of it looking like a flash of lightning in the sky.
"Go back to the shadow..." Gandalf growled. Then, as the Balrog readied itself for another attack, Gandalf brought his sword and staff together, raised them into the air and shouted: "YOOOOOU...SHALL NOOOOT...PAAAAS!"
Gandalf slammed his staff down onto the bridge, sending out a ripple that shook the watching members of the Fellowship to their cores. For a moment after nothing happened, but then the Balrog just continued to advance...only for the now weakened bridge to break under the Balrog's weight and send the monster plummeting into the abyss below. Gandalf had vanquished the fiend of fire and shadow.
Or so all thought.
As Gandalf turned to leave, the Balrog's whip of fire wrapped itself around his leg and pulled him down, causing him to drop his staff and sword into the chasm.
"Gandalf!" Frodo shouted as all of the other members of the Fellowship looked on in horror. Gandalf stared them all down.
"Fly you fools"
And then, he vanished, pulled into the abyss to join the Balrog in the shadows below. Frodo screamed in agony while everyone else was left almost catatonic by what they had just witnessed.
Gandalf the Gray had fallen into shadow, and with him Peter and Susan's only hope of getting back home.
Author's Note: OK, lot to say, so let's get started:
First off, I know this is just my take on the Mines of Moria bit, but fear not! I have some wholly original plans for this crossover. Its just that a lot of this is again, the events of the actual stories fused together. Hence the novelization aspect.
I know Gimli doesn't have his "Not the Beard" bit in the books, but this is the books AND the movies, and I love that scene too much to leave it out. Also, having it be unclear who stabbed Frodo was a reference to a difference between the book and the movie. It's a Goblin that stabs Frodo in the book, not the Cave Troll.
I hope Susan isn't coming off as too off-putting. Keep in mind she and her brother are two teenagers being thrusted into an apocalyptic war they don't understand, and they definitely have no experience fighting and killing. So I figured they be a little squeamish at first, and also rather inexperienced.
