Dear Readers,

I AM BACK FROM THE DEAD! I did not leave you, I promise! There is SO much going on right now that I can hardly work on this and keep you happy, BUT I have stayed up many a night to compile this. I hope you are satisfied!

Thank you to all who have been sticking with the story and thank you to reviewers as well!

Questions, comments, thoughts, concerns? Message me! My inbox is always open.

- Bane

~*23*~

Adoniel was dying.

Not out of some physical wound or crippling disease, but out of curiosity. She returned to the fire after Boromir and Legolas had left a day ago and had found them chatting as if they were best friends. What the hell happened? Boromir had appeared to be scared to death and Legolas had looked…different, and now they were best friends? Adoniel couldn't place it. Something fishy was going on.

She shook her head. That happened last night, Adoniel. You have more important things to think about.

They had reached a giant mountain face. The walls of the humongous slab of rock were at a ninety degree angle, causing dizziness to those unfortunate to look up at their enormous height. At the moment, they were travelling around a dark, murky lake whose surface was untouched. There were no waves or ripples in the water. Adoniel knew what lurked beneath the water and she was afraid. Her heart pounded against her chest. How would she face something like…the Watcher? She shivered.

Gimli, who was up ahead of her, gasped in surprise and pointed. "I remember these walls! These are the Walls of Moria!"

The hobbits were thankful to see an optimistic sight (even if it was a giant slab of rock) and bounded towards the walls. Sam was tugging on Bill's bridle trying to get him to come along. The pony was reluctant. He was just as uneasy as Adoniel was as he was forced walk towards the water. Aragorn noticed her uneasiness and walked beside her.

"You sense something is wrong as well, do you not?" The Ranger said. He then whispered. "Naa rashwe?" (Is there trouble?)

Adoniel still stared at the water. "Amin dele." (I am worried.)

He nodded. "I see the pool troubles you." He paused. "There is something else bothering you, isn't there?"

"Ner thal lle hanya." (More than you know.)

The group trudged on. As they went to the walls, the hobbits collapsed. They were all tired from the extremely physically demanding journey, but Gandalf wasn't resting yet.

"Legolas, Gimli, Adoniel, get up!" He exclaimed. "No time for rest, you three! There is a door to find!"

The three of them groaned. Legolas was the first to get up. He held out his hand to Adoniel, who took it gratefully. Gimli was already set to work, hitting the stone with his mighty ax. He grumbled. "Dwarf doors are invisible when closed."

"Yes, Gimli." Gandalf commented. "Sometimes their own masters cannot find them, if their secrets are lost or forgotten."

"Why does that not surprise me?" Legolas mumbled under his breath. He yelped when Adoniel elbowed him in the ribs.

As Gimli wacked the stones with his weapon, Legolas and Adoniel were told to listen to the walls. Adoniel did not understand. She could hear nothing. The more silence she heard, the more frustrated she became.

"What is the point of this?" Adoniel said. "I can't hear a thing!"

Legolas shushed her as he pressed his ear against the rock. Disappointed, he kept going. "We're trying to listen for an echo."

"An echo?"

"Indeed," Legolas stated. "An echo can tell us if the inside is cavernous."

Gimli wacked his ax against the wall for the fortieth time (Adoniel was counting) when the two elves heard a noise. They both looked at each other in surprise and pressed their ears to the walls.

"Do that again, Gimli!" Adoniel said.

She closed her eyes and focused on just what she heard. Gimli hit his axe against the stone walls once more. Faintly through the thick stones, she could hear something. The sound of the contact was reverberating off of something. She smiled and looked at Legolas. He was smiling as well, almost smirking. He pushed away from the wall and told Gandalf. "The Door of Moria has been found."

The wizard jogged towards the wall, feeling it with his hands. His hands went over specific places, almost feeling something there. "Ithildin…mirrors only starlight and moonlight."

The Fellowship looked to the sky, depressed to find only layers upon layers of clouds. Gandalf gave a look to Adoniel. She sighed, raising her hands slightly and whispering the spell. From her hands came a sudden gust of wind that startled the group. The blast of air went into the sky, creating a giant hole in the clouds. In the humongous hole shone the moon which illuminated the Ithildin on the walls. Blue light shone from the walls, creating lines of illumination. There were inscriptions that said phrases in Elvish along with multiple other symbols. Gandalf smiled as he read the inscriptions.

"It reads 'The Doors of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak 'friend' and enter.'" He turned to Adoniel giving her a mischievous smile. "What does the bottom line say, my dear?"

Adoniel groaned. She was horrible at translating Elvish from the original texts. "Um, let's see…I…Narv—Narve?"

"Narvi." Gandalf assisted.

"I, Narvi, made them: Celebrimor of…Holland, no, Hollin drew these notes?"

"Very close!" Gandalf exclaimed. "That last word would be signs, but other than a couple of mistakes, excellent job!" He turned to Legolas. "You should be proud of your student."

Legolas nodded and gazed as Adoniel with full sincerity. "Indeed, I am." She blushed and pulled her hood over her face more.

"Well, what do you suppose that means?" Merry asked. "How shall we get inside?"

"Oh, it's quite simple!" Gandalf said. "If you are a friend, you speak the password and the doors will open." While holding his hands in the air, the wizard bellowed into the crisp air. "Annon edhellen, edro hi ammen!" (Gate of the Elves, open now for us!) When the doors did not move, Gandalf tried another phrase. "Fennas nogothrim, lasto beth lammen!" (Doorway of the Dwarf-folk listen to the word of my tongue!) The doors still remained shut. Everyone gazed at the wall suspiciously. Gandalf grew desperate and ran his shoulder into the door, attempting to barge it. It was steadfast. He grumbled to himself "I once knew every spell in the all the tongues of Elves, Men, and Orcs." He pushed the wall again, grunting. "I don't see why this isn't working!"

"What are you going to do then?" Pippin asked.

Gandalf turned around, his eyes flaming with fury. "Knock your head again these doors, Peregrin Took! And if that does not shatter them, and I am allowed a little peace from foolish questions, I will try to find the opening words!"

Pippin looked dejected as Gandalf began to pace. Aragorn put a hand on his shoulder and led the Fellowship away from Gandalf. "He just needs time." He said.

"Well, what can we do?" Frodo asked.

"Wait." Boromir said. "All we can do is wait."

The night had grown dark and Merry, Pippin, and Gimli had fallen asleep. The rest were fighting slumber as the darkness coaxed their eyes to close. Legolas and Adoniel were the only ones awake. Adoniel didn't understand how she could be so lively. There was really no explanation for it. The night before she had only gotten four hours of sleep. Ever since this journey started, she had less and less sleep. It wasn't just because of the nightmares; she just wasn't tired.

Because of this restlessness, she left the campsite and went off a ways. She went around the lake to find a place where she could look in the water. She wanted to see what was beneath it. Climbing up a small upgrade, she finally went downhill again to a small alcove. There was a rock jutting into the water that she could kneel on to see the water. Walking carefully, she first tested the rock to make sure she wouldn't fall in. She then kneeled down and looked into the water. She gasped.

She had just seen herself. Over the past three to four months, Adoniel hadn't received the chance to look at herself. With her hood and face mask on, she could see her head. Her short hair revealed her now pointed ears. Gently, almost as if petting a dangerous animal, she went to touch her ears. She pulled back her fingers, shocked, when she felt their tips. Gandalf had mentioned changing. She was finally getting to the elf stages of her development. Also, she looked at her face. No longer did she have a young, juvenile appearance. Her face had changed. She seemed more mature, almost twenty years old, but not quite there yet. Adoniel also noticed that her eyes were brighter. Looking at herself so much made her feel like a narcissist, but she couldn't help but marvel at the changes that her body underwent.

"Is this…me?" She whispered aloud. Touching her cheek, she stared at the water. Her reflection copied her movements, proving that what she saw was the truth.

She heard movement behind her. Whirling around, she pulled out her staff and was ready to strike the intruder, but it was only Legolas. Sighing in relief, she lowered her weapon.

"Good Lord, you scared the hell out of me."

"I apologize." He said, moving a branch so that it would not scratch his face and shoulder with its thorns. "What are you doing by yourself? It's not safe to be alone."

"I wanted to see what was in the water." Adoniel said. She looked down once again into the water. Her reflection stared back at her.

He smiled. "Come on." He took her hand. "You should come back with the others."

They walked together in silence. Adoniel just enjoyed Legolas' company. Although he was often erect, calm, and collected, there was still a side to him that was enjoyable and easily amused. There were things about him that she didn't like, but he was a good friend. She looked up at him. Their eyes met briefly before she quickly ducked her head down to hide her red cheeks.

When they returned, Gandalf had managed to open the doors. The Fellowship was standing in awe. Adoniel looked into the darkness and shuddered. She remembered what was in there. Absentmindedly, her hand went to the satchel where the book was hidden inside it. Aragorn looked at Gandalf, who nodded and strode into the darkness. The Ranger shook his head and followed after him, his hand on the hilt of his sword. He sensed that something was wrong too. Gimli ignored the doubts of the others and sprinted inside with Legolas following behind him. Adoniel stayed towards the back with the hobbits.

"Soon, Master Elf, you will enjoy the fabled hospitality of the Dwarves!" Gimli chuckled with mirth. "Roaring fires, malt beer, ripe meat off the bone!" He sighed, proud of his people as Gandalf shed some light on the area around them with his staff. "This, my friend, is the home of my cousin, Balin. And they call it a mine. A mine!"

The light from Gandalf's staff was finally enough to see the area around them. Adoniel cringed at the sight of all the corpses. Dwarves, rotten with age, were also speared with arrows. Spiders had spun their webs on the broken bodies of the warriors. Many skeletons were still clasping weapons in their hands. The hobbits, fear gripping their hearts, scurried away from the bodies. Gimli, finally noticing the bodies of his fellow race, shouted in fury.

"This is no mine." Boromir said quietly. "This is a tomb! We should make for the Gap of Rohan. We should never have come here."

Legolas examined an arrow from a body and scowled, immediately grabbing his bow and an arrow.

"Goblins." He hissed in disgust.

Then all hell broke loose.

Frodo screamed in panic as he was drug towards the water by a tentacle. Legolas was shooting arrows at a giant octopus-like creature. Boromir and Aragorn were slicing the tentacles off of the monster. As for Adoniel, she attempted to do some harm to the beast, but did little damage. The tentacles were moving too quickly. She finally found a place to slice it, but when she did, another tentacle came at her with tremendous force. Faintly, she remembered being thrown into the air, then everything went black…

When Adoniel awoke, she immediately knew that something was wrong. There was daylight. The Company always moved in the daytime. She scrambled up, screaming when her back crippled her with a great deal of pain. Falling down, she noticed her surroundings. There were many rocks. It was abnormal. Getting up again more slowly, she did a quick healing spell Gandalf showed her. Although the magic made her back better, she was also drained of energy. She felt tired. Noticing that there was a cliff in front of her, Adoniel moved closer to the edge. When she saw what was over it, it took her a while to realize what had happened. Her mouth hung open in surprise, panic, and sorrow.

They had been trapped inside the Mines without her. The doors had collapsed before the Company could get to her. She had been left up here, but not by their choice. Adoniel was alone.

Even worse: she couldn't save Gandalf even if she wanted to. He was doomed. With this realization, she sank to the ground in grief.

A/N: Ta-da! Finally she notices the Elven changes! I hope that answers some of the readers' questions from forever ago. I'm sorry if I'm leaving you on a cliff with this ending...