Chapter 28: Joel's Tomb

"…Ah," Tommy said so suddenly as he gestured his head toward one of the passageways, "…it's that way!" Everyone hears the news.

"He's remembered!" said Hunter.

"No," Tommy replied.

Tommy then went to his preferred passageway.

"…But the air doesn't smell so foul down here," Tommy added as he turned to Hunter, "if in doubt, Hunter, always follow your nose."

The Fellowship began to proceed down the passageway with Tommy in the lead…

It led into a dark… large… hollow room…

"Let me risk," said Tommy, silently, "a little more light…"

Tommy commanded his staff to lighten even more…

His brightened staff showed a grandiose hall of stone, lined with tall pillars and arched ceilings as far as the eye can see. Members of the Fellowship, one by one, including Max… reacted and gasped in great and amazing awe as they observed their wondrous surroundings…

"Behold!" Tommy announced, "the great realm and Dwarf City of Dwarrowdelf."

"Well, there's an eye-opener and no mistake," said a speechless Conner.

The grandiose halls of Dwarrowdelf were a great wonder throughout the dreadful mines of Moria. This was certainly one wonder… that truly gave Moria something special. However, it was still a very dark place to be in.

As the Fellowship continued their long journey through Dwarrowdelf's grandiose halls of stone…

Max sees a brightened, opened chamber on his right… and suddenly ran toward it, with a loud, quick gasp.

"…Max!" Tommy called out.

Max continued to run towards the door… and passed through it. He slowly and stopped suddenly at a stone tomb, littered with Dwarf skeletons around it…

"No…" said Max, saddened with great grief and sorrow, "…no." The others came into the tomb slowly, seeing Max grieving over the tomb.

Tommy approached the tomb and read the Dwarven runes on top of the tomb…

"'Here lies Joel, son of Fundin… Lord of Moria'…

"He is dead then," finished Tommy as he took his hat off, "…its as I feared."

Max gently placed his forehead on the edge of the grave. Tommy handed his staff and hat to Blake. Max cried his heart out very loudly… and sadly.

Max, with great sorrow in his voice began chanting, "…kilmin malur ni zaram kalil ra narag. Kheled-zâram... Balin tazlifi…"

Max sadly chanted this memorial, in honor of Joel…

Tommy finds and picks up a book held by a skeleton leaning against the tomb, and brushed and blew off the dust that settled upon it.

Dustin, out of urgency, silently said to Trent, "we must move on, we cannot linger."

Trent nods in agreement.

Tommy began reading the book as everyone listened intently:

They have taken the bridge… and the second hall…

We have barred the gates, but cannot hold them for long…

The ground shakes…

Drums… drums in the deep…

Reaching the end of that page, Tommy turned the page and continued to read…

We cannot get out…

A shadow moves in the dark…

As the Fellowship continued to listen, as well as glancing around uncomfortably… Blake stumbled back slightly and sees a Dwarf corpse sitting by a stone well with an arrow in its chest. He turned towards it…

Tommy went on reading…

We cannot get out…

As he reached the bottom of the page… he saw that the last, single line, was a scrawl fading out at the bottom of the page. It's as if the writer was suddenly… attacked.

Tommy lifts his head to the Fellowship in the uncomfortable silence…

"…They are coming!'" Tommy finished.

Blake, out of curiosity, reached out… and lightly twisted the arrow in the corpse, but…

CRASH!

The skull slipped off, falling into the well with a resounding crash…

Tommy, as well as the others, whipped around, looking spooked. Blake turned to face the wizard, looking guilty. As he did…

The corpse slipped into the well, dragging with it a chain and bucket, its noise echoing from hall to hall far below…

CRRASSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH!

Where once was only silence… a ricocheting noise now filled every cranny…

Blake winces at each new wave of noise. The noise made a little more than enough noise to wake the dead…

CRASSSHHHH!

It lasted about a minute…

Moments later… the noise slowed down…

And stopped.

After the noise stopped, everyone let a few moments of silence

Tommy slammed the book shut, irritated at Blake.

"Fool of a Bradley Took!" the wizard said as he placed the book aside, "throw yourself in next time and rid us of your stupidity!" Tommy then snatched his hat and staff back from Blake.

When all seemed that they weren't heard… drums started to pound quietly. Tommy and the others slowly turned back towards the well and Blake turned back, also staring down into the well…

Boom…!

Boom…!

Boom…!

The pounding roamed throughout the mines, throughout every nook and cranny. The beat paused at first…

But the sound began pounding even louder and faster… like a heartbeat…

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Everyone was on alert as terror crept upon his or her faces and the pounding was closing in on them. Their battle in Moria was about to commence. Then Conner saw Ethan's sword starting to glow blue.

"Ethan," he said in a low voice.

Ethan also saw his sword glowing blue as he drew the blade, just a little.

Orcs!" Dustin called out in disgust.

Shane rushed to the door to have a look… but nearly got hit by two hissing arrows that hit the door, right in front of his face.

"Get back!" Trent cried out to the Hobbits, "you stay close to Tommy!"

Trent then dropped his torch and ran towards Shane, trying to help close the door.

As Trent and Shane closed the door… a bellow can be heard just outside.

"They have a cave troll," said Shane.

Dustin threw them weapons, in which Shane and Trent used to bar the door with. Tommy threw his hat aside and drew his sword.

"Yaaaahhh!" the wizard cried out.

The Hobbits drew their swords as well. The Orcs and many creatures beyond, reached the door… pounding outside, breaking the doors down…

As they did… Max roared as he stepped on top of the tomb.

"Aarrgghhh! Let them come!" Max cried out, "there is one Dwarf yet in Moria who still draws breath!"

The creatures continued to break the door. Weapons crashed through the splintering spaces…

The Fellowship, one by one, continued their vigilance for the impending battle…

Dustin and Trent stand poised, ready to shoot…

The Hobbits are ready as well, though fear clouds their eyes…

Dustin shot an arrow, which apparently hit something, that rang out a shrill cry. Then he shot another arrow. Trent also shot arrows and hits some of the Orcs as well. Then…

BASH!

The Orcs finally broke through the door…

And the battle began as the Orcs flooded into the tomb. Trent and Dustin pierce Orcs with their arrows while Shane smashes another with his sword. Gimli caught one right in the stomach.

Tommy then roared out, as he joined the fray. The Hobbits went with him.

The battle was intense. Many Orcs were killed in the fray. Trent beheaded an Orc and black blood spewed forth.

their attention drawn upwards. Aragorn and Shane look up as well…

A cave troll smashed through the doorway, appearing right in front of Conner. Chains led from its wrists to an Orc's hand.

Dustin shoots the cave troll in the shoulder and the beast growled clasping a hand to the wound. The troll roared. Conner slipped under the troll as it swung its club, striking the ground.

The Troll smashed the tomb Max is standing on top of, but misses Max, then kills several of the Orcs in its attempt to get the dwarf. Max fought more Orcs.

Dustin is on top of a ledge, killing each Orc that came along. The Troll uses its chain like a whip, trying to hit Dustin, but he dodges it. The chain became momentarily caught around a pillar, and Dustin ran up it to stand on top of the Troll's head and shot an arrow at its head, but jumped off when the Troll growled and tried to grab for his ankles.

Conner used his frying pan to hit the Orcs, one by one.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this!" Conner said as he hit another Orc.

The Cavetroll caught sight of the three Hobbits.

Trent look at Ethan's predicament.

"Ethan!" Trent cried out.

The Hobbits dodge, but Ethan went one way while Hunter, and Blake went the other way.

The Troll followed Ethan, who manages to stay on the opposite side of the pillar from the Troll. Ethan dodged around the pillar. The troll peered around it. Not being able to see him, it peered around the other side, causing Ethan to dodge out of its vision. It disappeared back. Ethan carefully looks around the pillar, and the troll was gone. He draws a deep breath…

ROOOAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!

Then the Troll, out of nowhere, blasts around the pillar, bellowing in Ethan's face, taking him by surprise as he fell down back behind the pillar in a corner.

The troll found him nevertheless and grabbed him. The troll lifted and dragged Ethan from the edge of a recess.

Ethan called out for help as he was being dragged, "Trent! Trent!"

"Ethan!" Trent yelled.

Ethan then cut the Troll's hand with the sword, Sting as Trent came to his rescue. The troll tried to reach for Ethan again but Trent grabbed a spear from the floor and stabbed the troll with it. It did not penetrate its flesh, but held the beast at bay.

Blake and Hunter began throwing stones at the troll's head,The troll, infuriated, swings his arm down and hits Trent, sending him flying across the room. He landed onto a wall and collapsed onto the floor.

Ethan went to shake Trent, but he couldn't get up. The troll grabbed the spear and aimed at Ethan. Luckily, he dodged the spear. He tried to run but the troll blocked his path, sending him against the wall. Before Ethan could move out of the way…

SLICE!

The Troll stabbed Ethan with the spear! Everyone was shocked…

Ethan panted out, "Unggggh!"

The troll, however, growled in great satisfaction…

Hunter, and Blake, out of anger and sorrow of Ethan's stabbing by the troll… jumped onto the troll from the ledge and attacked it, stabbing it wildly.

"Ethan?" asked a confused and shocked Conner…

"…Unggggh!" Ethan continued panting…

Tommy stared silently across the room, stunned at Ethan's stabbing…

"Ethan!" Conner cried out as he rushed bravely towards his friend.

Then… Trent regained consciousness… and saw that the troll stabbed Ethan. He gasped in great and anguished shock at this crisis…

Broken from their shocked trance, Trent, Shane, and Tommy fight madly to reach the Hobbit…

Ethan continued panting fatally until…

He slowly collapsed onto the floor with the spear sticking into his chest…

After the stabbing of Ethan by the Cavetroll, Hunter, and Blake.

continue to attack and stab the creature wildly. The Troll grabbed Hunter, and threw them off. Blake was the only one who continued his assault on top of the Troll…

Tommy and Max fought the Troll, Dustin aimed his arrow at the troll, hoping not to shoot Blake. Blake then stabbed it again hard, making the troll lean back, screaming. Dustin shot his arrow…

SWOOP!

And hit the Troll through the mouth through the brain. The Troll then began to swoon… and swoon even more until…

The Troll slowly collapsed onto the ground… with a loud thud, throwing Blake off of the monstrous creature.

Everyone looked at the dead creature.

" the Fellowship then rushed over to Ethan. They saw for themselves that Ethan was very much dead.

Conner, and Trent were the closest to him.

"Oh no," said Trent in great shock.

As Trent started to roll Ethan over…

Ethan quickly sat up, panting for breath… he was still alive!

The rest of the Fellowship lightened their expressions knowing that Ethan was still alive, after being stabbed.

"He's alive," said Conner in great relief.

Ethan placed his hand over the spot, where he was stabbed… but was miraculously unharmed by the troll's weapon.

"…I'm alright," said Ethan… continuing to gasp for breath, "…I'm not hurt."

"You should be dead," said a skeptical, but relieved Trent, "…that spear would've skewered a wild boar!"

"I think," opined Tommy, "there is more to this Hobbit than meets the eye,

Ethan showed them the reason for his survival as he pulled open his shirt to reveal… a protective undershirt made of Mithril that Zack gave him. The sight of its presence astounded everyone. Conner felt how soft the material was as it gleamed brightly.

"…Its Mithril," answered Max in great awe.

"You are full of surprises, Master James Baggins," Max added brightly.