Edit:
The fellowship didn't go to Moria but I still wanted there to be a troll fight.
Annamir dove to the left as the troll's massive club came down, hitting the marshland with a slick thud. With the club firmly entrenched in the mud, Aragorn took advantage of the opportunity, stepping forward and jabbing the creature in his armpit in an attempt to disarm him. The troll gave an anguished yell but did not let go of his club, merely tugging it from the bog with a squelch and swinging it at the human. Aragorn was too slow, took the club squarely to his chest, and went flying through the air until he hit a nearby rocky outcropping and dropped to the ground like a child's ill-favoured toy. Annamir leapt at the troll from behind, burying her long-sword between its shoulder blades and holding on desperately as the troll reared and bucked in an attempt to dislodge her. She fell from his back, her long-sword leaving a ragged gash in the troll's back as she dropped. The wound oozed, coating her hands and the front of her armour in troll blood, and permeating the air with a foul, stale stench.
As she hit the ground, she saw Aragorn stagger to his feet and return to his assault on the troll. At the edge of her vision she could see the whirling grey of Gandalf's robes as he continued to hold back the orcish onslaught. His face looked grave and Annamir was tempted to make some witty comment reminding him of their time hunting cave trolls at Mount Gundabad. In an uncharacteristic moment of maturity, Anna decided that it wasn't the time for troll humour.
Pulling herself from the ground once more, Annamir felt a distinctive twinge in her chest – ah, a few broken ribs. Taking a step forward, she crumpled to the ground with an embarrassingly shrill shout of pain. A twisted ankle too then. She shook her head, as if she could shake away the pain, and rolled her shoulders. She had fought with worse injuries, and the troll was in a sorry state as well. She just needed a few more good hits and then the troll would be down, and all she would have to contend with was the unending stampede of bloodthirsty orcs. She let out a laugh, surprising herself at how unhinged she sounded.
Aragorn was hacking determinedly at the trolls legs, strafing aside intermittently to avoid the crushing weight of the troll's club. With his attention fully on Aragorn, the troll hadn't noticed that Anna was back on her feet. Annamir rushed forward, a newfound determination fuelling her steps even against the protests of her ankle. With a fierce roar, she clambered the beast's massive frame until they were face-to-face, then pushed her long-sword down into the junction between neck and shoulder. The troll's mouth opened in a scream but no noise came out; Anna must have punctured the windpipe. Instead blood, black like pitch, erupted upwards like a fountain and the mighty creature staggered forward and finally crumpled to the ground. Annamir pushed herself back with all the strength she could muster to avoid being crushed by the troll's massive weight as he fell. Sprawled on her back in the mud, Annamir drank in deep lungful's of air as she desperately tried to catch her breath. The troll was defeated but the orcs still came, their beady eyes staring gleefully at her prone form.
Oh fuck.
Suddenly a volley of arrows flew through the air and a throng of orcs immediately hit the ground. From her position splayed on the floor, Annamir couldn't really see what was happening but the first volley was followed by another and then another, until the air hummed with continuous arrow fire. The orc hordes finally stopped advancing, instead retreating into the rushes and disappearing into the marshland as quickly as they arrived.
When she was finally able to twist her body and sit up, Anna was faced with a unit of elven archers, longbows in hand and wearing grey hooded cloaks. Among their numbers was Nelwen, who, with her abnormally small stature and shock of dark curls, stood out starkly among the tall, fair archers. Ah, so she hadn't fled, merely gone to fetch reinforcements. Annamir felt mildly guilty for cursing her cowardice so vehemently.
Aragorn, looking surprisingly sprightly for someone who only moments before had become intimately acquainted with a rockface, stepped forward to great the elves and a conversation broke out in elvish. Gandalf looked relieved and grateful at the elves' arrival but also, Anna noted, somewhat apprehensive. Carefully treading over the bodies of orc and Northmen, Gandalf came to Annamir's side. He held out the end of his staff to his old friend and, with a strength that one did not expect from someone who looked so old and frail, pulled her to her feet.
"Thank you, old friend," she said, shaking Gandalf's hand. With a nod in the direction of the new arrivals, she continued, "who are the guys with the hair?"
"They are the elves of Lorien. Hopefully we can seek refuge at Lothlorien before continuing our journey south."
"Hopefully?"
"They do not take kindly to strangers," Gandalf explained, looking at Annamir pointedly.
As Anna and Gandalf approached the elves, she could hear that Aragorn was not just talking with the elf who appeared to be leader but in fact arguing fiercely. Nel stood quietly to the side, looking chastised but also hurt.
"What seems to be the problem here?" Anna asked as way of a greeting.
The boss elf looked perturbed by her interruption; Anna smiled at him broadly.
"Aragorn of the Dunedain has asked that we provide shelter for your fellowship under the golden boughs of Lorinand. But I sense that you carry great evil with you. I cannot risk inviting this evil into Caras Galadhon"
Nelwen shifted uncomfortably at his words, her left hand clutching at her tunic and the Ring underneath. It was odd watching the normally formidable elf fold in on herself and Annamir felt strangely sorry for her. Gandalf and Aragorn continued to argue with the elf in clipped elven tones. Annamir huffed at being excluded from the conversation but watched in curiosity as Nelwen's expression shifted from one of shame to one of anger. Finally, Nel interrupted.
"You are right, Haldir, there is great evil here, but it is not I that carry it. Eryn Galen has fallen into shadow, Saruman has sided with Sauron, and the orcs of Dol Guldur terrorise the Anduin Valley! There is evil here that long predates our arrival. We left Rivendell some months ago on an important quest and we stand before you now, tired and injured. Either you help us, dear friend, or you help Sauron. That is your choice; make it quick."
Suitably admonished, Haldir ducked his head at her words and turned to his men. "To Lorien," he commanded.