Chapter 9: The Bridge of Khazad-dûm
*New* A/N: So, updated and totally better fight scene and Valaina's reaction to Gandalf's death is...altered...enjoy!
Word count before: 3,869.
Word count after: 5,564.
Success...
For what? I have no idea XD
Thank you to wolfblade17 for favoriting this story 3
Wisdom's Stare: Thank you tons for your kind words 3
1412 karasu: Lol, thanks ^^. And you will find out XD I guess you can call it lycanthrope, as what it truly is will be revealed in the next chapter. I was thinking of calling it lycanthropy myself lol. As for the language...um...I'm using about five different translators XD I did not learn the language as I fail at that lol.
The drum beat grew louder as it reverberated within the chamber as though the mountain's heart had been revived. It pulsated and throbbed, the sound ringing throughout the halls. Valaina knew right away that whatever they had been avoiding, or half of it considering the slight relief in Gandalf's face that the sound was not something else, had noticed them. "Frodo!" Sam's voice brought Valaina out of her thoughts as they turned to the little hobbit.
Frodo gently pulled his sword out a little ways to show that it was glowing blue, and that could only mean one thing. "Orcs!" Valaina hissed at the same time as Legolas.
The eerie cries of orcs and goblins reached the Fellowship's ears just as the two elves said the single word. The hobbits began to bunch together near the wall in fear as Valaina started to hurry to the door as did Boromir. She stopped as Boromir raced out the doors to see if the enemy was close, but quickly pulled his head back as two arrows landed in the wooden doors where his head was moments before. "They are coming," Valaina muttered the last three words that Ori had written. "We'll get rid of them this time for good, Ori."
"Get behind Gandalf!" Aragorn yelled to the hobbits as he and Boromir closed the doors and locked them. "Valaina, Legolas, find something to bar the door!"
A loud, almost dragon-like cry sounded out, and Valaina groaned as she locked eyes with Aragorn, both knowing what else was the orcs and goblins had brought with them. "They have a cave troll!" Boromir informed the fellowship with mock enthusiasm voicing the ranger's and lycan's thought.
"Yay," Valaina added in the same tone.
"I thought you liked to have challenges," Aragorn stated as Valaina and Legolas tossed heavy, old, rusted battle axes and hammers to him and Boromir who were at the door, and used them as a temporary barricade against the oncoming orcs.
"I do like challenges, but a cave troll?! Remember the last time we went up against one?"
"It is hard to forget that time…you weren't stuck in troll dung!"
Gandalf drew his sword, which also had the faint blue glow, and gave a battle shout as the hobbits also drew their swords, though they seemed more frightened than anything. Valaina didn't blame them as this was to be their first actual battle in which they would fight. Legolas and Aragorn had their bows out and ready to fire as Boromir and Valaina unsheathed their swords. The orcs gave off loud battle cries as they began to hack and bang on the thick wooden doors, the weak and rotten wood giving away almost gratefully as they did so. Gimli gave a shout and a dwarvish growl as he stood on up his cousin's grave. "Let them come!" he shouted in fury. "There is one dwarf yet in Moria who still draws breath!"
And a lycan who wants revenge, Valaina thought with malice as a small growl escaped her lips.
The excitement of the upcoming battle sent a shiver down Valaina's spine as she glared at the doors, all the anger and sorrow she was feeling at the moment coming into play as she readied herself to take out her revenge on the orcs. Holes formed in the wooden doors, and both Legolas and Aragorn fired their arrows. They were rewarded with screeches of shocked and pained orcs as they continued to fire through the holes. With much persistence of the orcs, the doors opened wide and the enemy swarmed into the chamber. Valaina gave a loud snarl that mingled with the din of the orcs as she charged forward. "Valaina! Don't be rash! Valaina!" Aragorn shouted but the words fell on deaf ears as the blood roared in the lycan's ears, and red began to form at the very edges of her vision: she was enraged.
Valaina swung her blades and twisted her body about to avoid the blades of the orcs and goblins. She parried away from one and cut off the head of another before blocking a goblins and stabbing her left sword straight through another goblin's head. With a loud snarl she ripped the blade from the downed goblin as she dropped low to avoid an almost beheading from an orc before surging upwards with both blades to slice off both of the orc's arms. Valaina followed up with a swift slice through the orc's neck before she turned once more to block, parry, and stab another orc duo. She held back no mercy as she moved about the orcs in goblins in a viscous dance that lacked the gracefulness of a normal elf. Instead, she looked to calculate each move half a second before she made that move, and prepared herself to be attacked or parried away, yet she was always on guard for the next attack, her blazing, scarlet red eyes flashing toward each of her opponents. Those who had not seen Valaina fight in an actual battle before were stunned by the anger in which she fought as each movement the lycan made seemed to have a haze of rage about her, each way her sword moved it brought down vengeance upon its target. Her red eyes held a maddening look for blood, and it did not help that they swirled different shades of red each time she cut down another orc.
But as Valaina fought, she was not without injury. She ducked and dodged as best as she could in her half rage consumed mind, her arms and legs getting cut here and there when her guard dropped too low. She crossed her blades in an 'X' as an orc brought his blade down at her. They locked blades, both glaring and growling at the other. "Get your filthy blade off mine," Valaina growled before kicking the orc in the gut and finishing it off by stabbing her blade in its back.
She kept count of those she killed knowing the hidden game that Legolas and Gimli where betting on before they had entered the mines. She would not miss out on this.
Valaina turned to intercept another blade a tad bit too late as it came around and knocked her left blade out of her hand. The lycan found herself locking blades with another orc. She brought her fist around and it connected with the orc's jaw, the teeth cutting her hand as she did so leaving two nasty gashes on the top of her hand. "Damn it," she muttered as she examined her hand and sliced the orc's neck at the same time.
"Valaina, concentrate on the fight!" Aragorn shouted out at the lycan.
"I am!" Valaina waved him off as she dropped her hand and slashed another orc's chest before jumping over a swinging blade.
She rolled on the ground and grabbed her other dual blade before jumping up and cutting down the two orcs nearest her. Her excitement increased as more orcs came in, her blades already coated in their blood. She dodged another fatal stab just barely as it scraped her side before she turned and hacked the goblin's head off its shoulders in a swift movement. Valaina turned and caught sight of Gandalf close to her before killing another orc. "No!" he said to her as he dispatched another orc. "Do not think about it!"
"Why not?" Valaina growled as her wolf was slowly beginning to surface.
"Because it is neither the right place nor the right time!" Gandalf reprimanded as he cut down another goblin.
"What better time than now?" Valaina asked as she cut down an orc and stabbed another's head. "We are in the midst of a battle and could use a bit of help."
"No, Valaina. We do not have the luxury to explain to the company of your other side. Stay it for a while longer and we shall tell them!"
Valaina let out a loud snarl as she hacked off the head of an orc, furious at not being able to shift as her anger began to boil. Valaina was blocking an orc's attacks as it backed her up into something solid when she easily disarmed and killed the orc to turn around to face her next opponent. She stopped her blade just in time as it barely made a nick on Legolas's neck. "Slicing your friend's necks must be a new sort of greeting?" he asked hearitly as he quickly tapped away Valaina's short sword from his neck, the small cut bleeding ever so slightly.
Valaina didn't answer right away as she drove her sword inches from the elf prince's side and dispatched the goblin behind him getting rather close with Legolas for the first time during their travel togeth. "It is just for elf princes who get in my way," came the sneering, slightly growl laced response from the awkwardly close Valaina, her breath tickling Legolas's ear. "But you may want to watch your back…"
As Valaina darted away from the elf prince to help Aragorn, the troll's cry rang out in the chamber once more as a few goblins held it by a collar and chain while they dragged it into the chamber with them. It easily dispatched its captors and swung its heavy mace at anyone stupid enough to be near it at the moment. It yelled in pain as Legolas shot an arrow into its shoulder, making the cave troll all the more angry. "You miss at a time like this?" Valaina yelled incredulously at the elf.
"I'm a bit busy fighting my own fight at the moment, you know," Legolas grunted as he kicked away a dead orc. "I don't see you trying to fight it."
"I haven't had the chance yet!"
Aragorn caught a glimpse of Valaina as she killed another orc while talking with the elf prince, and he could see the crazed look in her scarlet red eyes when she got excited. He turned back around and grabbed an orc in a head lock before breaking its neck. Valaina kicked a goblin away before stabbing another in the gut, and proceeded to smash the head of an orc into the wall next to her. Boromir punched an orc away as he turned to Valaina who, at the present moment, seemed oblivious to the orc that came at her from behind. "Valaina, behind-" he started but didn't finish.
Valaina growled once before spinning violently and slashing the orc's midsection in complete half, an odd feat of strength that came from her wolf side and her raging anger. Boromir stood gawking at her for a moment before an arrow flew past his head and embedded itself in a goblin behind him which brought the Gondorian's thoughts back to the battle around him. A loud clang sounded throughout the chamber as Sam wielded his saucepan and smacked another orc in the face. "I think I'm getting the hang of this," he said in triumph as he nailed another orc's face.
Merry, Pippin, and Frodo had become the next target of the cave troll, yet what happened next, Valaina didn't know for she was then focused on two orcs that had seen Legolas distracted. She bounded over to the elf prince and slashed one's neck while Legolas stabbed the other in the throat with an arrow. "Thanks," he said before turning back to the cave troll.
"No problem," Valaina said in a tone that suggested she was slightly pissed off.
The orcs had diminished greatly, their bodies littering the ground, yet the cave troll was a different matter all-together. Valaina swiped her blade around in a diagonal arc right across an orc's chest before she turned to find Legolas. He stood on the open second level of the room, dodging the troll's attacks with the chain around its neck. The troll swung the chain around again and latched the chain around a pillar somehow. Legolas tested the chain's holding strength before racing up it to stand on the troll's shoulders. He notched two arrows and shot them right at the troll's head, but was shocked when the arrows just bounced off. Legolas had obviously never fought a cave troll for their heads were as hard as the rock they lived in. The troll cried out in pain, yet did not fall. Valaina gave a growl and went to sheath her swords, tired of the waiting and the anger burning her gut. She needed to spill more blood. "That's it…" she growled.
"Don't you dare, Valaina!" Gandalf bellowed to her.
"Why the hell not?!" Valaina asked in exasperation and anger as she turned to the wizard. "Are you going to take down the cave troll? Is anyone in here going to take it down? I can help! I can kill it!" she snarled the last bit as her anger reached its maximum boiling point.
Aragorn looked up from the ground where he had been thrown by the troll, and watched as Valaina glared dangerously at Gandalf, her red eyes swirling in anger and darkening in color. "Valaina, look out!" Legolas called too late as the cave troll rounded on the lycan after hearing her yelling.
The cave troll swung his arm around toward Valaina. She turned in time to see the cave troll's arm inches from her before it connect with her chest and face in a painful sound. The lycan was sent flying through the air into an already breaking pillar with such force that pillar collapsed the rest of the way on top of her. "Valaina!" Aragorn and Legolas yelled out, but their concentration had to be turned back to the troll as cornered Frodo in that moment.
Aragorn turned from the troll to look at the pile of rubble where a loud snarl had seemed to come from, yet nothing moved from the pile, and he felt his heart sink. He turned his anger back toward the troll and began to swing his sword around at it along with Boromir and Gandalf. Merry and Pippin had jumped onto the troll's back, and stabbed it their tiny blades. They were holding on as the troll turned about in a vain attempt to try and dislodge the two hobbits. Merry's sword came out of the troll's back as he went to stab it again along with Pippin. They stabbed the troll's back again causing the cave troll to throw its head back in a roar of pain. Legolas found his shot and let loose a single arrow and watched as it embedded itself in the troll's neck, the arrow head poking through the troll's bottom jaw into its skull. The troll looked stunned at the sudden shock as Boromir, Aragorn, Gandalf, and Legolas backed away from it as it took unsteady steps forward, a stupid look upon its face as it did so. It gave another moan before falling on its face dead.
Merry and Pippin dislodged their swords from the dead troll's back before the company rushed over to Frodo who had been stabbed by the troll with a large spear, the company completely oblivious to the missing lycan as their focus was on the ring bearer who needed to live to take the ring to have it destroyed. "Oh no," Aragorn said as he kneeled by the fallen hobbit.
He rolled the little hobbit over, and the fellowship found he was completely unharmed. "He's alive!" Sam said in awe and relief as he gave Frodo a smile.
"I'm alight. I'm not hurt," he gasped, though he may have been a little bruised.
"You should be dead!" Aragorn said in shear amazement. "That spear would have skewered a wild boar."
"I think there's more to this hobbit than what meets the eye," Gandalf said as he leaned against his staff, a knowing smile on his face.
Frodo unbuttoned the first few buttons of his shirt and revealed the white, somewhat glowing mithril chain mail armor he wore underneath. "Mithril. You are full of surprises, Master Baggins," Gimli said impressed at the sight.
As Frodo stood and looked around, he noticed something missing. "Where is Valaina?" he asked as he looked for the lycan's scarlet red eyes but did not find them.
Some unknown emotion flashed across Aragorn's face much like that a brother has for a lost sister mixed with realization and shock. "Valaina," he whispered before turning to the crumbled pillar he had seen her thrown into by the troll.
The fellowship turned and watched as a large stone of the crumbled pillar was forcefully pushed out of the way. "Stupid, god damn troll," they heard Valaina grumble as another large stone was pushed out of the way along with a string of profanities that were directed toward the now dead troll.
Aragorn rushed over to help Valaina, but was met with dark, glaring red eyes. She had a nasty gash running through her left eye from her above her eyebrow to her a little below her cheek bone, yet her eye was unharmed most likely due to it being closed when she was hit. "I don't need your help!" she yelled as she kicked away a piece of the pillar in anger.
Valaina wrenched her leg free from the rubble giving her a nasty gash on her leg and causing her to lose her balance once more. She ungracefully fell out from the pile of stones into a messed up heap on top of another broken pillar. "That was just down right graceful," she grumbled as she stood. "So fucking graceful."
She was cut up from the battle, and quite bruised, but she did not have any broken bones to the surprise of certain people who did not know of her wolf side that seemed to keep her alive and less broken especially when she was angry. "You're alright," Frodo breathed out in relief.
"Never better," the lycan grumbled as she began to pick herself up.
"You should have been killed from the impact," Boromir said in exasperation.
"How did you manage to survive that?" Legolas added.
Valaina waved them off with a stifled snarl. "I'm lucky," she grumbled before taking a deep, shuddering breath to rein in her anger, and even that was a feat for her.
She retrieved her glowing dual blades and cleaned them off on a fallen orc's cloth around his armor before sheathing them. "Well?" she nearly growled to Gandalf. "Are we just going to stand here all day and wait for those bastards to come back or are we going to get moving?"
As if to emphasize Valaina's point, more shrieks of goblins and orcs sounded from outside the chamber. "To the bridge of Khazad-dûm!" Gandalf said with a last glance at Valaina.
"I could-"
"To. The. Bridge," Gandalf snapped at Valaina.
The fellowship raced out of the chamber after Gandalf, each one drawing their blades once more as they did so. Valaina took up the rear behind the hobbits right next Legolas. The elf prince gave Valaina an odd look. "What?" she asked, or more like snapped, as they ran.
"You really should have died," he started. "How did you manage that?"
"You will see soon enough," was the only answer Legolas got as Valaina looked back over her shoulder. "Damn it, Gandalf…" she muttered.
"What is it?"
"Stupid wizard not letting me fight," Valaina said her voice laced with a furious, feral growl.
"I heard that, Valaina!" Gandalf called back to the lycan.
"Good!"
Legolas's eyes widened in shock. "Did you just…growl?" he asked in sheer confusion.
Valaina cleared her throat. "Nope."
The elf prince was very unconvinced. As they ran, orcs popped out of crevices and holes in the ceiling and floor before they scurried down the pillars and raced to the Fellowship like a hoard of ants. They were soon surrounded by thousands of orcs and goblins, each hissing and crying out at them in their horrid voices. Valaina twirled her blades dangerously before giving Gandalf a pointed look.
Before she could say anything though, a large grumbling growl sounded as if the earth was shaking and fire was stirring. It was unearthly, almost dragon-like in its sound, but far darker. The orcs paused and looked around in fright, their own cries hushing as they did so. The sound came again and a bright orange light lit up the far end of the hall as the ground shook. The orcs retreated fearfully, crying out in fright now as they disappeared back the way they came to not be seen again. The dragon-like growl came again, and Legolas had an arrow ready to be fired. He looked about for the enemy yet saw none as the orange light grew brighter. He lowered his bow slowly, a confused expression on his face as he turned to Valaina. The lycan was holding her head in her hands, blades pointed toward her forearms as the growl from the new creature came again. "What is this new devilry?" Boromir asked in a voice that sounded suspiciously like fear.
Gandalf closed his eyes for a moment, listening as the growl sounded again and the orange light grew brighter. His eyes opened as Valaina gave a small sound of pain while wiping blood from her left eye from the severe gash she had. "A Balrog; a demon of the ancient world," he stated darkly. "This foe is beyond any of you. Run!"
"No need to tell us twice," Valaina said as the fellowship turned and ran onward as the Balrog growled again.
As the light caught on a few more pillars, Valaina felt the wolf in her rage up to the new evil servant of Morgoth. She stumbled over herself in pain as she fought her wolf for a moment before pivoting to race after the Fellowship. They came upon an opening that lead to stairs, and Boromir ran on, not seeing the broken steps until he nearly fell off of them if Legolas had not run forward and pulled him back. Valaina was the last to enter the large cavern, clutching her stomach in pain as she stopped just inside the door. The cavern had another path that led to an intact staircase that stretched out over a long, dark drop branched by jagged rocks. "Lead them on, Aragorn," Valaina caught Gandalf's voice ahead of her. "The bridge is near."
Aragorn moved to Gandalf's aid but was pushed aside. "Do as I say! Swords are no more use here!" the wizard bellowed causing a hurt and confused look to appear on the ranger's face.
Another roar sounded and Valaina knew it was closer than it should have been. "We need more time, Gandalf!" she growled. "Swords may not be of use, but I might."
"No! You will be killed!" Aragorn shouted, alerting the fellowship to the conversation.
"We need time!" Valaina yelled, clearly in pain and anger as her wolf raged on. She was losing this battle. "I can stall it."
"I won't let you!" Aragorn argued.
"You cannot tarry any longer!" she yelled. "Go! I shall meet you at the stairs!"
Before Aragorn could argue against the stupid lycan anymore, Valaina disappeared back the way she came. She let her wolf take form, unable to hold it back any longer. She could not fight the Balrog, and she knew that. Only an idiot would really try to kill a Balrog single handedly. It took a wizard to kill a Balrog, but they needed time and Valaina was determined to give them some, and she needed to shift for the pain from holding her wolf back was becoming far too great. She did not have to run far before she met the large flames. A massive, burnt colored bone head came into view as the Balrog showed its face. Two bull-like horns curved around its face as it stood up on its hind legs showing its burnt colored, overly muscled humanoid-dragon body surrounded by a mane of hot flames. Two, white hot flaming eyes bore into Valaina's own red. It opened its mouth in a deafening roar that sounded like raging fire as Valaina snarled at it. "You woke a little too late," she growled into its mind. "The fight is already over."
"Get out of my way, wolf!" the Balrog's thoughts answered back.
"Piss off, demon!"
The Balrog roared again, causing Valaina to cover her ears with her paws. She growled at him as it smiled a wicked, sinister smile. "You think you can defeat me, wolf?"
"Not in the least bit."
"Pathetic! You are nothing more than a weakling, pup!"
"You are the one sleeping in the mountain like a coward! Come out to the real world and fight like a true demon you are!"
The Balrog looked past her and back to the red eyed wolf. "Your friends will never make it. They will fall, and they will burn!"
He gave a loud roar causing rocks to fall from the ceiling before he disappeared into the flames once more, tired of arguing a pointless, and quite honestly confusing, argument with the white wolf. Boromir's yell caught Valaina's attention, and she turned her eyes back to where she left her friends seeking out Aragorn's mind. She saw through his eyes Boromir, with Merry in one arm and Pippin in the other, jump across the ever growing gap in the stairs. "Oh, shit!" she screamed out in the halls at the thought of Aragorn, Sam, Frodo, and Gimli not making it over the gap. "G-damn it! Go freeze yourself, Balrog!"
Valaina turned on a dime and raced back to the door, her white paws eating up the distance as she used all the speed she could muster to make her way to her friends. She raced down the path as Gimli was being pulled up by his beard thanks to Legolas's quick reaction to grab something on the dwarf before he could fall into the dark abyss below. The gap widened even more making Aragorn and Frodo scramble backwards. "Hang on, Aragorn!" Valaina yelled to the ranger as the Balrog roared again causing a rather large piece of the ceiling to fall on the top half of the stairs cutting off their exit route.
The section of the stairs that Aragorn and Frodo were on pitched violently, going one direction and then the other. "Lean forward!" Aragorn yelled over the Balrog's roar.
But, even though Aragorn's tactic was smart, it wasn't going to work for another piece of the ceiling fell, going straight toward the stairs. Aragorn pick up Frodo and threw him into the arms of Boromir and Legolas just as the piece of ceiling crashed onto the stairs causing the whole section to begin to break in on itself just as Valaina was racing down the stairs. "Aragorn, hold on!" Valaina yelled as skid in a turn on the stairs, her white coat standing out against the colors of the chamber.
Aragorn stumbled on the crumbling stairs unable to get a foothold as it pitched backward again. "Just…hold on!" Valaina yelled again, not knowing what else to say as she came racing down the stairs.
"What the hell is that?" Boromir yelled. "Legolas, shoot it!"
"No, don't!" Aragorn called too late as Legolas shot an arrow at Valaina who veered off to the right barely avoiding getting impaled by the arrow as it scraped her left side, blood pooling out on her white fur.
The stairs went downward past the solid staircase the rest of the fellowship was on at the same time Valaina jumped down onto them. Aragorn grabbed Valaina's fur and scrambled onto her back as she touched down on the crumbling stairs. "I've got you," Valaina growled.
"Go, Valaina!" the ranger said as he held on tight to the wolf's fur.
"Aragorn!" Legolas and Boromir both shouted.
"Move you fools!" Valaina snapped at them before she jumped from the falling staircase.
She surged upward and caught hold of the steady staircase, her scarlet eyes glowing in the light as she heaved herself up onto the solid stairs and laid down. Aragorn rolled off her white furred back with a huff of relief before Valaina shifted back into an elf and gave Aragorn's shoulder a pat. "I told you I got you," she said through breaths.
"What in the name of-" Boromir started as Aragorn and Valaina stood up, the lycan stumbling slightly as she did so as blood pooled from her side from the arrow Legolas fired at her.
"I'll explain later! But for now, we have to go!" Valaina growled. "We aren't safe yet. Now go!"
Boromir and Legolas, now thoroughly confused as to how Valaina was able to shift, raced down the remaining stairs after the rest of the Fellowship and into another hall that led to the bridge, the hobbits keeping pace remarkably well along with Gimli. Flames licked the walls as the Balrog closed in on them, the flames roaring higher and higher as it reared its ugly face once more. The thin bridge came into view, much to the fellowship's relief, and Legolas passed over it quickly and was soon followed by Aragorn, Boromir and the hobbits. "Go, Valaina!" Gandalf said as Valaina hesitated. "Go, now!"
Valaina nodded once and passed over the bridge, yet Gandalf stopped halfway on the bridge. He stood in front of the Balrog, sword and staff raised toward Durin's Bain. "You cannot pass!" he shouted at the beast.
"Gandalf!" Frodo yelled out to the wizard.
"Are you serious right now? Let's go, Gandalf!" Valaina cried out desperately.
"I am the Servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor," Gandalf spoke with a fierceness to his voice as his staff began to glow. It threw a bright light across the bridge as the Balrog took a step forward. "The dark fire will not avail you, Flame of Udûn!" bellowed the wizard.
"No," Valaina whimpered. "Stop pulling a stupid ass move that I would do and get over here."
Legolas placed a hand on her shoulder, concern and confusion on his face as Valaina shook under his grip, her scarlet red eyes swirled and glowed in pain and anger. The Balrog pulled out a mighty sword of flame from the air and swiped it down at Gandalf who was encased in a glowing white orb. The sword shattered against the orb, a flash of bright white light filling the area upon the impact and blinding the fellowship for a moment. "Go back to the shadows!" Gandalf growled at the beast.
The beast took a defiant step onto the bridge as a fire whip whirled and cracked against the air. "You…shall not…pass!" Gandalf bellowed at the beast as he brought down his staff.
A flash of white light passed out from where the staff connected to the floor, and hope filled Valaina's companions as they saw the Balrog hesitate. The Balrog snorted in defiance and took another step onto the bridge. The bridge collapsed under the weight of the beast, sending it down into the black abyss with a mighty roar. Gandalf slumped slightly and leaning heavily on his staff as he looked weary and drained of energy from the amount of power he used against the Balrog. As he turned to leave the Balrog's whip came about and wrapped around Gandalf's ankle, and dragged the wizard down halfway over the edge. "Gandalf!" Valaina yelled out as she moved to run out to Gandalf's aid only for Legolas to grab her and pull her back.
"Valaina, stop," he said to her though she did not hear. "We can't help him!"
Gandalf's staff and sword clattered over the edge as he tried desperately to get a grasp on the bridge. "No, no!" Boromir yelled as he grabbed Frodo who had begun to run to Gandalf's aid just like Valaina.
"Gandalf!" Frodo's strangled cry pierced through Valaina's heart.
Valaina tore away from Legolas and ran forward, her eyes dead set on the wizard. "Hold on, Gandalf!" she cried out as she ran.
Before she could take another step on the bridge, Aragorn grabbed her waist and held her back as Gandalf gave her a glare. "Fly you fools!" Gandalf said to them before he let go to plummet down into the endless drop after the Balrog.
"No!" Frodo cried out as the same time Valaina did.
Shell shocked and unable to do anything, Valaina stood there staring at the spot Gandalf was just at, all feeling drained from her; her fierce eyes seemed to lose their fiery color as she stared at nothing. "Aragorn!" Boromir yelled as he, Legolas, and the hobbits made their way up the stairs to the outside.
Aragorn was the first to snap out of his trance, and grabbed Valaina and pulled her along with him. "No…" she muttered as they stumbled away from the bridge.
"I am not gone, Eärlindë," came a distant and weak thought from Gandalf, yet the words were still very much strong as they rang throughout Valaina's head. "We shall meet again."
Aragorn released the lycan as she overcame her shock as they ran up the stairs, down a hall, and out of the mines. Pippin had collapsed into sobs in Merry's arms; his cousin's eyes red and tear filled as tears streaked down his face as well. Boromir stood behind the hobbits, a hand on each other their shoulders. The Gondorian did not shed tears, but he held them back bitterly as he attempted to be strong for the little hobbits he had grown so fond of. Sam sat with tears streaming down his face, a hand on his forehead as if he couldn't fathom why Gandalf had given up as he did. Gimli was deeply upset by the loss of the wizard and those in Moria, and Legolas seemed like a lost puppy as he looked at the mines then to the distant forest of Lothlórien, and back to the mines.
Valaina did not know what to do. Her being was numbed as if death itself had taken her instead of Gandalf. She looked into the eyes of her fellow companions, the sorrow in their eyes feeling like a slap in her face. Aragorn was cleaning his weapons off as he watched Valaina with apprehension. He had no idea how she would take the wizard's death at the moment along with the others.
Valaina slowly sank to the ground, no longer able to stand at the moment as she put a hand to her head. Aragorn moved to the lycan's side as he sheathed his sword. "I feel sick," she mumbled, the pain behind her words nearly breaking Aragorn's somewhat calm appearance.
Aragorn knelt before Valaina and placed a hand on her shoulder as she buried her face in her hands. "Look at me," the ranger tried.
Valaina lifted her head to look at Aragorn, her red eyes with the swirling in sorrow. "I…I can't go…" she said quietly, the emotionless voice ripping through Aragorn.
"You have to. We can't leave you here," he responded evenly as he took a cloth and dabbed at the bloodied left side of her face.
"Just leave me here," Valaina said in the same tone.
"No."
"Aragorn-"
Aragorn stood and moved off. "Legolas, Gimli, get them up," he said.
"Give them a moment, for pity's sake!" Boromir yelled, his voice breaking in sorrow.
"By nightfall these hills will be swarming with orcs!"
Valaina was vaguely aware of Aragorn picking up Sam and then looking for Frodo. An arm wrapped around Valaina's shoulders and she was pulled to her feet by Legolas. "Come on, Valaina," he said to the broken lycan. "We have to move."
Boromir and Aragorn turned to look at the elf and the lycan, and watched as Valaina gave a sigh and nodded feebly. Legolas let go of Valaina as she stepped forward, her bones breaking and cracking quickly as her white fur sprouted and she shifted. The large white wolf was still very much bloodied from the battle, but looked far less proud and more broken than anything. She walked past Aragorn, her sorrow filled eyes boring into the ranger. "I need to be alone right now. I can't feel, and I can't think. I will rejoin with you later," she said to Aragorn before taking off down the mountain face, a mournful howl ripping from her throat as she did so.