Y'all know how much I love battle music, so: Phalanx by Eric Ekholm and Bloody Tears, the remix by Friedrich Habetler.
Chapter 14: Shadows Are Burning
"Let me risk a little more light."
Quinn looked up as she walked through the doorway. She'd thought they were just entering another cavern, but as Gandalf brightened the glow at the end of the staff, she realized it was much more than that.
They were standing at the end of a massive hall, lined with thick stone columns that extended as far as they could see. Even in Erebor, Quinn didn't think she'd ever seen something like this. Beside her, Gimli let out a small gasp.
"Behold," Gandalf said, "the great realm and dwarf city of Dwarrowdelf."
"Damn," Quinn said as they started walking. "I bet I could get a sick echo out of this place."
"I'll remind you that we're supposed to be passing through quietly," Legolas said.
"Well, if someone heard me here, you know what they'd think?"
"What?"
"That's a sick echo."
Legolas rolled his eyes and looked around. "I would have thought there would be more than columns of stone in a dwarf city."
"Well, maybe this was a marketplace, like the one in Erebor. They tend to have more temporary stalls, which I guess wouldn't have lasted long after it was abandoned."
Toven appeared at her other shoulder. "Or maybe this is Dumugurûr."
Quinn glanced at him. "What's that?"
"The Hall of Echoes."
She high fived him.
"I see a light over there," Gimli said, pointing something on their right. Sure enough, there was a bit of daylight shining through a doorway. He started towards it.
"Gimli!" Gandalf called, but the dwarf had already taken off.
"I like light." Quinn tapped the handle of her sword and followed him.
There were several skeletons scattered around the entrance, and something about it made her stomach drop. She stepped through the door.
It was a medium-sized room, with raised stone ledges on either side. On the far wall, a small window allowed a beam of light through, illuminating several more skeletons and a stone coffin in the center.
Gimli was frozen in front of the coffin, slowly shaking his head.
Quinn didn't want to look, but she couldn't stop herself from walking forward and looking at the stone surface. Khuzdul runes were carved on the top, but she couldn't read them.
Gandalf stepped up beside her as the others filed into the room. "Here lies Balin, son of Fundin, Lord of Moria."
Quinn closed her eyes. "Fuck."
This was far from a surprise. The fear that her friends were dead had been in the back of her mind for a long time. But no matter how many times she lost someone, it never got any easier.
And Balin…he'd probably been killed by orcs, after he'd made it so far. Of all people, he deserved to die of old age, surrounded by his family.
Tears were streaming down Gimli's face and into his beard. He fell to his knees and leaned his head forward to rest gently against the edge of the coffin.
Gandalf had turned his attention to one of the skeletons leaning against the coffin. He gently lifted a worn, dusty book from its hands and opened it.
"Wait," Quinn said. Her own voice sounded faraway. "I know that handwriting."
She'd seen it enough times to know it was Ori's. She looked back down at the skeleton. The remains of a gray woolen scarf were wrapped around its neck.
A roaring filled her ears, and she backed away from the coffin. That was Ori. That was her friend. That skeleton was—
They'd sat together and made a dictionary of the slang from her world and his. They'd had tea with Dori and laughed about embarrassing stories from Nori's childhood. He'd taught her how to write with an ink and quill and given her drawing lessons.
Quinn sank down, her back against one of the stone columns. A sob rattled in her chest. Her friends had died here, years ago, alone in this cold fucking cave. She tried not to look at the dark eye holes of Ori's skull, but she could still feel them in her periphery.
Toven knelt down next to her. "Quinn?"
Gandalf turned the page of the book to the last page, and a layer of dust showered onto the floor. "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."
Quinn shut her eyes, her nails digging into her palm. Those are his last words stop reading them stop reading them—
"We cannot get out. A shadow moves in the dark. We cannot get out. They are coming."
Toven wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I'm so sorry."
Quinn dragged a fist across her cheeks. She couldn't break down, not until they were out of this hellhole.
A crash made them all jump. They looked over at Pippin, who was standing near a well at the back of the room. A skeleton sitting on the rim of the well tipped over backwards, followed by a rusty metal bucket. Both objects clanged against the stone as they fell, and the sound echoed for a full minute. Pippin winced with each crash, until they finally reached the bottom.
They waited in tense silence, but no other sound rose from the dark.
Gandalf snapped the book shut and rounded on Pippin. "Fool of a Took! Throw yourself in next time and rid us of your stupidity."
"Hey, lay off him!" Quinn leapt to her feet. "That was obviously an accident, and he doesn't need you giving him shit about it! You wanna talk about touching random stuff in a tomb?" She jabbed her finger at the book, which was laying on the edge of the coffin. "How 'bout you keep your hands off people's last fucking words?"
Gandalf drew himself up with a thunderous glare. But before he could say anything, a low thud came from the well. And then another.
A distant drumbeat started, echoing off the stone. Quinn couldn't tell where it was coming from, but it sounded like it was getting closer. And as she focused her hearing, she picked up on the squawking cries of goblins.
"Frodo!" Sam was looking at his friend's belt.
Frodo drew his sword, revealing a blue glow illuminating the blade.
Boromir ran to the door, then leapt back as two arrows pierced the wood, right where his face had been.
Aragorn turned to the hobbits. "Get back. Stay close to Gandalf."
"That sounds like a lot of them," Toven said, putting a hand on his sword as the cries and growls became louder. It was clear they were outnumbered, even counting the four hobbits with no combat experience.
"We'll have to hold our ground here." Aragorn joined Boromir by the door. "Legolas! Help us barricade the entrance."
Legolas picked up a discarded axe and tossed it to the two men, who used it to bar the door.
Gimli leapt onto the coffin with a growl. "Let them come. There is one dwarf yet in Moria who still draws breath!"
Quinn drew her sword and laid it over the coffin, letting the beam of light illuminate the blade. The tears on her face had dried, and a cold anger was starting to seep over her grief. She laid her other hand over the Khuzdul engraving.
We're gonna take out as many of these fuckers as we can. I promise.
The first orcs arrived, clashing against the rickety wooden door, which miraculously held. Gandalf drew his sword, and the hobbits followed suit. The wood began to crack as the tip of a spear punctured it, followed by the blade of an axe.
As soon as a large enough opening had been created, Legolas fired an arrow into it. The creature on the other side shrieked, and its spear disappeared momentarily. Before someone could take its place, Aragorn fired an arrow into the hole, striking a second creature.
Legolas nocked another arrow, and the doors broke open. He and Aragorn fired into the advancing wave, striking down three of the orcs, and then they were upon them.
"Du bekar!" Gimli leapt down, his axe arcing through the air and cleaving an orc's skull clean in half.
Quinn released a beam of light that cut down three orcs, then met the next wave with her blade ready, Boromir fighting on one side and Toven on the other. In seconds, the orcs flooded the room, surrounding them, but more and more fell on their swords. Somewhere else in the room, she could hear the hobbits crying out, but they didn't sound afraid—they sounded angry and battle-ready.
She caught sight of Sam jabbing his sword into an orc's stomach. Ducking beneath an orc's axe, she cut down another before it could strike him.
"Watch your back," she said, and that was all she had time for before she lost him in the chaos.
An orc swiped at her with its sword. Quinn stepped back, bracing one hand on the coffin, then swung her legs over, letting her blade catch the light with the movement. She spun towards another attacking orc and jabbed her sword right through its face. She twisted the blade, and light burst from it, sending a shower of black blood from the orc's skull as it shattered.
More were pouring in through the door, even as the corpses piled up around them. Aragorn and Toven were fighting back to back on the other side of the room. Boromir hacked at the orcs near the entrance while Legolas covered him with a flurry of arrows. Gimli slammed his axe into the chest of an orc, who fell onto Pippin's sword.
Quinn turned to the nearest orc and brought her sword down beneath its neck and shoulder, feeling its bones snap between the weight of her swing. She jerked the blade out and beheaded another orc in the same motion.
Something growled at the entrance. She spared a glance towards the doorway, where a couple of orcs were tugging on a chain attached to something outside.
The top of the doorway crumbled as a troll barged in and let out a guttural roar.
"Not one of these fucking things," Quinn muttered. She caught another bit of light and swung it towards the troll. The beam dissipated against its throat, and the troll swatted at the air as though dealing with a particularly annoying fly.
Fan-fucking-tastic. If her sword didn't do any good against the troll, they wouldn't be able to insta-kill it with sunlight, either. The last time she'd faced one of these, she'd dropped its own mace onto its head. Her eyes fell to its heavy iron club. Using that was worth a shot.
Legolas fired an arrow into the troll's shoulder. It snarled and brought its club down, just barely missing Sam, who dove between the creature's legs. It turned and tried to bring its foot down onto him, but Aragorn and Boromir grabbed the chain attached to the collar around its neck and pulled it back. Toven leapt forward and slashed at the back of its leg, causing it to fall backwards.
Quinn sidestepped as another orc tried to slice her arm. She wrapped her arm around its head, grabbed its chin, and pulled, snapping its neck. She used its body to deflect a spear from another orc, then jabbed her sword through its stomach.
Gimli let out a roar as the troll advanced, throwing a small axe from where he was standing on top of the coffin. He jumped to the side as the troll brought its club down, smashing the coffin and sending dust and chips of stone flying.
Quinn tightened her grip on her sword. Plan B. I'm gonna make this thing's head explode.
She held her sword to the light, trying hard not to look at the contents of the smashed coffin, then used the club as a step to leap up towards the troll's face. She grabbed its iron collar with one hand, then cocked her arm back and drove her sword into the troll's face.
Her strike missed the eye, the tip of the blade sinking just above its left nostril instead. The troll roared in pain and snatched one of her legs.
Okay. Bad plan, Quinn thought just before the troll spun and flung her across the room.
She hit the far wall hard enough for the impact to knock her out for a second. When she came to, there was dust in her mouth, which she spat out. She tried to stand up, but a sharp pain lanced through her side.
Hissing through her teeth, she looked down. Part of a spear was sticking out of the wall, and she'd been thrown right onto it, the broken haft embedded right above her hip and effectively thumb-tacking her to the wall.
At the other end of the room, Pippin let out a scream, and Quinn looked up to see the troll smash his club into the stone ledge as Frodo, Merry, and Pippin dove out of the way.
"Aragorn!" Frodo cried.
"Shit." Quinn grasped the spear, which was slick with her blood and tried to pull it out of the wall. It didn't budge.
Aragorn moved into her line of sight, cutting down a pair of orcs in a single stroke. He snatched up an abandoned spear and sprinted to the other end of the room.
Gritting her teeth, Quinn dug her fingers into the stone and tried to pull herself off the spear, but she couldn't get a decent grip.
"Frodo!" Sam yelled.
The desperation in his voice sent a wave of panic through her. Quinn twisted as far as she could and tightened her hand into a fist.
Come on. You've dealt with worse pain than this.
She brought her fist down on the spear as hard as she could, and the wood snapped in two. She bit back a curse as pain flared in her abdomen, then reached back and yanked out the remainder of the haft.
Quinn hopped down from the ledge and ran back into the main part of the room. Pippin was hanging for dear life on the troll's back, Gandalf, Gimli, and Toven circling it and slashing when they could, while Legolas nocked another arrow. He fired it right beneath its chin, and the monster gave a low moan. It stumbled for a few seconds, then fell forwards. Pippin cried out as he was tossed off its back.
She went to go help him up, and realized that the room had fallen silent. The floor was littered with the bodies of orcs, old dwarvish skeletons, and various pieces of rubble. But none of their enemies were standing anymore.
Gandalf rushed to the corner of the room, and the others followed him. Aragorn was kneeling over Frodo, who was lying face down, the haft of a spear visible beneath him.
Her legs nearly gave out, and Quinn stumbled closer. No, no, nonono—
Sam fell to his knees on Frodo's other side, his breath coming in short, sobbing gasps. Gently, Aragorn rolled him onto his back. Frodo coughed and clamped a hand over his side with a wince.
Relief broke over Sam's face like sunlight. "He's alive!" As Frodo sat up, Sam wrapped his arms around his neck.
Frodo returned the embrace, breathing hard. "I'm all right. I'm not hurt."
"You should be dead," Aragorn said, sounding slightly breathless himself. "That spear would have skewered a wild boar."
"I think there's more to this hobbit than meets the eye," Gandalf said.
Once Sam released him, Frodo pulled aside the collar of his shirt, revealing part of a silvery mail shirt.
Gimli gasped. "Mithril."
Of course. Of course. Quinn had the sudden, deranged urge to laugh. They'd been talking about that only a couple of days ago.
"You are full of surprises, Master Baggins," Gimli said with a smile.
Gandalf reached over to help Frodo to his feet. "If no one else is hurt, then we must continue on, and leave this place as quickly as possible."
"Quinn." Toven touched her elbow. "You're bleeding."
"Oh, yeah." She looked down at the wound in her side. It was throbbing, and blood had leaked down onto her pants. She didn't like the pain, but one of the most annoying parts was the cleanup after getting injured. "I don't remember what organ is supposed to go there. But I'll be fine. Let's keep moving."
Already, they could hear footsteps and shrieks as the second wave of orcs arrived.
Gandalf led the way out of the room. "To the Bridge of Khazad-dûm!"
Quinn spared one last look at the destroyed room, then swallowed back her grief and followed the others.
They ran back into the massive room, past seemingly endless rows of columns. Quinn risked a glance over her shoulder and saw an army of orcs coalescing behind them, brandishing torches and spears. More were coming from the sides, and as she looked up, she could see them crawling from the ceiling and down the columns.
Since when can these things climb up walls like Spiderman?
Pippin stumbled, and Quinn grabbed his elbow to help steady him. Aragorn was in the rear, to make sure none of the hobbits fell behind on their shorter legs. But even the ones in front weren't going to be able to make it. The orcs cut them off in front, forcing them to stop. The Fellowship pulled into a tight formation with the hobbits in the center, weapons out as the orcs surrounded them.
Shit. There were too many, at least twenty times the number that had attacked them in the tomb, and they wouldn't last long in an open space like this.
Quinn swallowed. It would take a lot of them to bring her down. She was more scared of losing her friends first.
A low growl sounded from the end of the hall, where they'd come. It was guttural and fiery, like a dragon's roar, but deeper than anything she'd heard before.
Whatever it was, it was enough to cause the orcs to fall silent. They looked around, their weapons faltering. Another growl sounded, louder this time, and the orcs began to scatter with a chorus of shrieks.
They turned to the doorway as an orange glow appeared from within. Whatever this thing was, Quinn had a feeling it hadn't scared off the orcs as a favor to them.
"What is this new devilry?" Boromir asked lowly.
"I think it's God giving us the middle finger," Quinn said.
"It is a Balrog," Gandalf said, sounding almost resigned. "A demon of the ancient world. This foe is beyond any of you." He turned to face them. "Run!"
That was all they needed to hear. They sprinted away from the glow as it began to grow brighter, followed by a loud, almost metallic roar.
They reached the doorway at the other end of the hall and rushed through. Immediately beyond was a flight of stairs that led them down to another hallway.
Quinn stumbled as her foot hit a crumbled section of the stairs. She really hoped this Balrog didn't plan on chasing them all the way to Mordor.
At the end of the hallway was another tall doorway, but they stopped short. The doorway had been blocked by a series of interlocking stones, about fifteen feet high. She'd seen that handiwork before in Erebor, and guessed the dwarves had tried to barricade this particular entrance.
Legolas took a running leap and climbed to the top of the barricade. "I need rope!"
Sam was already fumbling through his pack, and pulled out his coil of rope. "Here!"
Aragorn tossed it up to Legolas, who took hold of one end and beckoned for them to start climbing up.
Shit. Quinn glanced at the end of the hallway as another growl sounded from behind them. This is taking too long.
Aragorn ushered Frodo forward, and he took hold of the rope as Legolas began pulling him up.
Quinn looked back again. If the Balrog caught them here, they would be sitting ducks. There would be nowhere to run, and she didn't like their chances of fighting it—not after that troll had almost killed Frodo.
"I'm gonna buy us some time." She started towards the entrance of the hallway.
Toven grabbed her arm. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"I'm gonna keep it distracted until you're all over the barricade." She motioned for the others to continue as they turned to her with worried looks. "Just keep going. I'll catch up with you."
"You can't do this." Toven's voice was low and desperate as his grip on her arm tightened.
"I'm the only one who can." She pulled her arm from his grasp, finding it hard to look him in the eye for more than a few seconds.
"That creature will be the death of you," Gandalf said.
Quinn smiled and drew her sword. "That's my secret, Gandalf. I'm always dead."
With that, she took off at a sprint down the hallway. She wasn't sure how much of a lead they had on the Balrog, but she wanted to maintain that as much as possible. She took the stairs two at a time, and when she reached the large hall, she stopped short.
The Balrog was standing in the center, its body radiating heat. It was humanoid, but its muscular body was covered in tough, dark skin. Flames flickered on its shoulders and down its spine. Two curved horns framed a wide jaw that glowed like a furnace, and two round, sparking eyes.
Quinn spent a second seriously considering running away, then another second seriously considering accepting that they were all going to die. Gandalf had been right that this thing was beyond any of them. This thing was…a lot. It was like if the lake monster could shoot lasers out of its tentacles, or if Smaug had a machine gun.
The Balrog roared again, sparks spitting from its jaws, and Quinn remembered herself. She remembered her son and her friends waiting down that hallway, and how she was the only one standing between them and this hellbeast.
She glanced at Belekur, who had appeared beside her. "Any tips on how to beat this thing?"
"You won't be able to kill it," Belekur said, their eyes fixed on the Balrog. "It is more likely that it will destroy you."
"Thanks, that makes me feel so much better." She raised her sword. She just needed to buy her friends a few minutes. "Okay. Let's get this over with."
The Balrog spread its arms, and a flaming sword appeared in its hand. Quinn took off at a run, feeling a blast of heat as she got closer. The Balrog raised its sword for a downward strike, and Quinn dropped down, sliding between its legs as its blade crashed against the ground with enough force to send chips of stone flying through the air. She leapt up and slashed at the back of the creature's knee. It growled, but no blood came from the wound.
"It's gonna be like that, huh?" She took several steps back as the Balrog turned around. "You know, I'm open to just hitting you until you die."
The Balrog swung its sword again. Quinn dropped flat to the ground and the blade passed over her, close enough that she could feel the sting of intense heat for a second. She rolled to the side as the Balrog slammed its fist down.
She jumped up and pulled herself onto its arm, running up as far as she could before it could shake her off. She leapt forward and wrapped a hand around one of its horns, then jabbed her blade into its face. It went straight through the roof of its mouth, and the Balrog roared again. A blast of heat surged over her arm, and Quinn winced.
The Balrog grabbed her legs and tossed her aside. Quinn hit the floor, rolling several times before coming to a stop. Her arm was burning, and as she looked over, she realized it was literally burning. She patted out a few flames on her sleeve, hissing through her teeth as her fingers touched her bracer, which had turned red hot.
Okay. That wasn't smart. She pushed herself to her feet. Her right hand felt like it was still on fire, making any movement painful, but she would have even shittier aim if she switched to her left hand. She tightened her grip on her sword, the metal having thankfully cooled already, and turned to face the Balrog again.
It was walking towards her at an almost leisurely pace. It flicked its wrist, and the flaming sword began to bend and elongate. Quinn's eyes widened as a fiery whip extended from its fist.
"Okay, that's really cool. And also really bad for me."
The whip snaked out and struck her in the chest, sending her flying backwards. She landed on her back and slid to a stop. She was sure if her breastplate hadn't been in the way, it would have split her chest open.
Quinn tried to push herself up and gasped as her hand met open air. She glanced behind her. A rectangular chasm lined the long edge of the room, and she'd nearly fallen in.
"Of course. It wouldn't be a dwarf kingdom if there wasn't some chance of falling to your death." Quinn rolled to her feet and began running sideways, along the chasm as the Balrog advanced.
She put a decent amount of distance between it and herself, then turned around. It came at her and struck out with its whip, and she stepped behind a column. The length of it wrapped around the stone, and the darted forward, slicing the whip with her sword. Her blade clanged against the whip and bounced off, as though she'd tried to cut steel cables.
"Dammit." Quinn backed away as the Balrog pulled its whip free. It slashed at her again, and she leapt out of the way.
Gotta get closer to this thing.
She ducked around another column, diving low to avoid another slice from the whip, and ran forward, slicing at the Balrog's leg. She got in three hits before she had to spin away to avoid its grasping hand.
"Fuck." She backed away, switching her sword to her left hand so she could shake out her right. The burning sensation was getting harder to ignore, and the wound in her side wasn't doing much better.
The Balrog raised its whip again, and she raised her sword in an attempt to block the strike. The length of it wrapped around her blade several times, and pulled taught.
"Oh, shit," Quinn said as the Balrog cocked its arm back.
She was pulled off the ground as it swung her in a wide arc, right into one of the columns. A loud crack sounded, and she let out a strangled cry of pain. She fell to the ground, her vision doubling and growing hazy for a moment. She was pretty sure she'd broken something, but she was in too much pain to tell what.
The Balrog wrapped its hand around her chest and pulled her off the ground. Quinn groaned and spat out some blood. The monster stared at her with its glowing eyes, small flames spouting from its jaw.
"Just…" Quinn winced. Pain was sapping most of her strength, but somehow she'd managed to keep her grip on her sword. "Leave my friends the fuck alone!"
She jabbed her blade into the Balrog's wrist, and it dropped her. Her legs buckled when she landed, but she forced herself up and sprinted for the exit. Her spine felt like several knives were embedded in it, and the rest of her was either throbbing or burning or a combination of the two. Quinn stumbled down the stairs and made for the barricade. Someone had left the rope tied to the top, and she muttered a silent thanks as she leapt up and grabbed hold of it. The rope smarted against her burned hand, but she pulled herself up and jumped down to the other side.
So far she hadn't seen any sign of the others, which Quinn decided to consider a good thing. Another hallway led her to a wide chasm, with stairs leading down to the other side. Halfway down, the stairs were broken, leaving a large gap.
Fuck it. Without breaking her stride, she ran down the stairs and pushed off just before the gap. Her stomach turned as she sailed through the air and managed to land her upper half on the other side.
"I swear to god…" Gritting her teeth, Quinn pulled herself up. "I would give anything for a fat blunt right now."
She descended the stairs and entered another hall. So far she hadn't seen any sign of the Balrog, and a couple of the hallways had been too small—
The wall to her left exploded as the Balrog burst through with a roar.
"Of course." Quinn pushed herself to go faster. At the end of the hall was another chasm, spanned by a narrow bridge. And on the other side was the rest of the Fellowship.
She waved at them as she crossed the bridge. The pain was buzzing between her ears now, but she forced herself to stay standing as she reached them. They weren't out of this yet.
"Okay, guys, let's get the fuck out of here."
But the others were still watching the bridge. Quinn turned and realized Gandalf had walked past her and back onto the bridge. He stood in the center as the Balrog approached.
"You cannot pass!"
"Gandalf!" Frodo cried.
The Balrog growled and reared up to its full height, flames roaring on its back and shoulders.
"I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor." Gandalf raised his staff in one hand, the tip of it glowing brightly, as the other held his sword. The Balrog drew its own flaming sword in response. "The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn!"
The Balrog roared and brought down its sword in an overhead stroke. Gandalf blocked the blow with his staff, a flash of white light repelling the blade. Red-hot sparks showered around an invisible shield.
"Go back to the Shadow," Gandalf growled.
The Balrog changed its sword to a whip and swung it in a slithering pattern.
Gandalf raised his sword and staff. " You shall not pass!" He brought both weapons down onto the bridge.
Quinn had a strange feeling, almost like deja vu, but she didn't have time to dwell on it as the Balrog leapt forward, holding its whip aloft. The stone crumbled beneath its feet, and it roared as it began to fall. Its whip waved harmlessly as the shadows of the chasm swallowed up its flaming body.
Damn. Broke my fucking spine fighting that thing and Gandalf just pulls a Wile E. Coyote.
Gandalf turned away with a sigh. A fiery shaped snaked out of the darkness and wrapped around his ankle, pulling him off balance. His sword and staff fell from his grip as he grabbed the edge of the bridge.
"No!" Frodo ran forward, but Boromir held him back. "Gandalf!"
"I got it," Quinn said, jogging out onto the bridge. Have to do everything myself around here…
Gandalf struggled to gain a better grip on the uneven stone, then paused in his efforts. "Fly, you fools!"
"What—"
Something hit her hard in the side of the neck. The force was enough to throw her off balance, and Quinn landed on one knee. She reached up as a piercing agony split her throat, and felt the fletching of an arrow.
When she looked up, Gandalf was gone.
She pushed herself up to check the edge, but another arrow whizzed past her face. Quinn spat out a glob of blood and turned to the side of the room. Goblin archers were standing on one of the balconies, firing down at them.
She forced herself to move, and ran across the bridge to join the others. They ran up a set of stairs and through a doorway, Frodo being half-carried by Boromir as he cried out for Gandalf. White light illuminated the tunnel ahead of them, and in the next moment they were outside.
They ended up on a stretch of pale rocks, the sunlight almost blinding after days underground. Sam was the first to fall, and he stayed on his knees, shaking and sobbing quietly. Boromir held Gimli back as he started towards the gate again, spitting Khuzdul curses. Pippin fell to the ground, and Merry wrapped his arms around him.
Quinn sat down on a relatively flat rock and flopped down onto her back with a wince. Her throat was filling with blood.
She'd been five fucking feet from him. If she'd been a few seconds quicker, she could have helped Gandalf back up. But now he was…he was gone.
Toven's pale face filled her vision, bringing her back to the present. "Quinn?"
She gave him a shaky thumbs up.
"You're not okay, there's a fucking arrow in your neck." His breaths were trembling as he broke off the arrowhead, then slid the rest of it out of her.
Quinn sat up and spat out another mouthful of blood. She looked Toven up and down and pointed at him.
"I'm not hurt." But he was shaking, and looked like he was on the verge of tears.
She wrapped an arm around him, but he pushed it away and stood up.
"Legolas, get them up," Aragorn said.
Legolas turned to him and blinked. He looked more lost in that moment than Quinn had ever seen.
Boromir rounded on Aragorn. "Give them a moment, for pity's sake!"
"By nightfall these hills will be swarming with orcs," Aragorn said. The sternness in his voice was bracing. "We must reach the woods of Lothlórien."
He went to Sam and pulled him to his feet. Boromir started towards Merry and Pippin, while Legolas hesitantly approached Gimli.
Quinn pushed herself up. Toven was already moving towards the edge of the rocks, his posture stiff and angry. She wanted to reach out to him, to talk to him, but there was currently a hole in her neck and a ringing, echoing grief in her chest.
She spat out another mouthful of blood and forced herself to keep moving.
Credit to the Dwarrow Scholar for the Khuzdul. Writing in Khuzdul is weird because usually when I write in a second language it's Spanish, so I always have this weird instinct to put the upside down ! or ? in front of whatever's being said haha
Kinda liked giving Quinn some pretty brutal combat moves during the orc fight. I figured since ancient warriors are kind of tanks, and she's had some time to add some skill to her physique, she would be able to do stuff like that. (I'm also playing a lot of TLOU 2 so I'm kind of a sucker for gory finishers). Also, I have been waiting forever to write that Balrog fight, and when I finally got around to it, I went kinda crazy and wrote most of this chapter in one afternoon. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, and I hope you enjoyed reading it!