Chapter 10

The Battle in the Crypt

It was day three of the Fellowships' trek through Moria, and Sarah had decided she was not very fond of that dark place. The silence was deafening and it had a strange effect on the company. They became reluctant to speak and all but Gimli wished desperately to be gone from its black halls.

She knew what was coming, yet she knew she could not hinder the battle with the orcs or the battle with the Balrog; it was Gandalf's fate and he would be fine. Still, she feared what the others would think of her when he plunged into the depths of Khazad-Dum. She did have the power to "save" him.

What Sarah wanted to do more than anything was the get out and polish her gun and take some practice shots. Despite her first aversion to it, the gun had become a small comfort and security. She was smart enough to know that taking pot-shots would only draw the orcs faster, so she suppressed that urge.

Then there was the glimmer of light ahead. It was about to begin.

The company began to hurry into the side room that had emitted the light and there Gimli went to his knees in despair. Gandalf walked slowly to the tomb and read aloud what Sarah had known all the time. "Balin Son of Fundin, Lord of Moria." He glanced around at the room looking for the evidence of the remains of Balin's company. "It is as I feared. Our chance at finding aid within these halls has past." The company found bones scattered around and Gandalf spotted a battered book. As he raised it to read it, Sarah sat down heavily and waited with her head in her hands; she felt she would be sick. The reality of the situation was hitting her like a sledge-hammer and fear was welling up inside her.

"Are you alright?" Aragorn asked concerned and he knelt down beside her. She remained silent as Gandalf began to read, "We cannot get out. We cannot get out. They have taken the bridge and the second hall. Frar and Loni and Nali fell there. The watcher in the water took Oin. We cannot get out. The end comes drums, drums in the deep. They are coming…What a sad fate they met. They made a valiant fight in the end, but there were not that many left by that time. We must go now." Everyone but Sarah had begun to leave but Aragorn called back, "Sarah, we must leave." When she didn't move he called a halt and hurried back to her, slightly afraid. "What's wrong, we must leave…"

Sarah said nothing but looked straight into Gandalf's face. Her eyes said everything she was thinking and Gandalf whispered, "They are coming." Instantly, as if waiting for that cue, the faint sound of drums could be heard in the distance. It caused the Fellowship to freeze in place and Gandalf had to yell everyone to life. "Bar the door!" He cried even as the sound of hundreds of feet began to echo the halls.

Aragorn and Boromir raced to close the doors and bar it with discarded axes and spears even as Legolas ushered the hobbits and Sarah behind Gandalf. "Stay near the wizard!" he said with urgency. The hobbits drew their short swords and Sarah made ready her bow. She wouldn't be much help up close, but she was sure she could manage to pick off a few goblins from afar. She was literally shaking in her boots when Sam, who always knew exactly the right thing to say, turned to her and said, "Don't worry about a thing, Lady Sarah. Stick close to us hobbits and you'll be fine!" There was a general "Here, here!" from the others to confirm his statement. Sarah wanted nothing more than to kneel down and squeeze Sam until he burst.

She didn't get the chance, for just then all hell broke loose. With a giant crash, the rotting doors flew open into splinters as dozens of blood-crazed orcs streamed through the doorway. Legolas and Aragorn immediately let loose their arrows, hitting their targets with fatal blows, but it took the hobbits a few seconds to grasp the situation before they charged yelling into the fray.

Sarah wasn't sure about what to do at first. Everything was happening so fast and the creatures were running everywhere, hacking and screaming as the Fellowship fought desperately to keep them at bay. It wasn't until a small, slimy looking goblin was almost on top of her that she remembered to lose her arrow. It smacked into the creatures chest and it let out a gurgled cry before slumping to the ground. Sarah was panicking now and she couldn't get a grip on another arrow in order to reload. More orcs were noticing her presence and began running in her direction. Damn! She couldn't get the arrow on the string, she was shaking so much!

"Draw your sword!" cried Boromir, as an orc slipped past his defenses and charged strait at Sarah. She was in no position to argue, and she instantly dropped her bow and grabbed for her sword hilt. The orc was only yards from her now, sword raised, and in a rush of God-given adrenalin Sarah drew her sword, screaming at the top of her lungs. She plunged it right into the orc's stomach. Sarah stood frozen as the orc slid off her sword onto the ground. The adrenalin was wearing off and the jitters returned; she was shaking so much she dropped her sword.

This was too much, just too much for her to handle. She wanted to curl into a ball and wake up from this hellish nightmare.

She was so afraid she didn't even notice the troll. But everyone else did. It came barreling into the chamber with its huge hammer swinging to kill, smashing walls and sending rocks flying. The Fellowship was trying desperately to bring him down, but they weren't fast enough. The troll rammed a spear strait into Frodo's side. "NO!" cried Aragorn and that woke Sarah up from her daze. Spying Frodo lying helplessly on the floor, she didn't think twice before grabbing her sword, leaping to her feet, and running to Frodo's side.

She was the perfect distraction. Seeing her run across the floor made the troll turn its ugly head away from the elf. Legolas didn't waste the opening and shot two arrows into the troll's exposed neck. It wavered and then fell to the floor with a gigantic thud.

Sarah had sheathed her sword and picked up Frodo when Aragorn ran to her. He grabbed her arm, pulling her away from the room, as Gandalf yelled, "To the Bridge of Khazad-Dum!" The Company raced from the room and down the great hall, even as the scores of orcs surfaced from the cracks in the floor.

Frodo was conscience now and Sarah didn't argue when he demanded to be let down. It was just in time too because the Fellowship was flanked on all sides now. They stood in a circle as the orcs sneered and laughed at the seemingly helpless group. Sarah had almost given up hope of surviving this when a strange sound echoed over the hall. The hoarse groan struck terror into the goblins and they scattered like mice back into their holes.

Only Gandalf and Sarah knew what horror it was. The battle was not finished yet.