Hey, everybody. I'm back with another chapter.
I'm sorry it's been so long since I updated this. I've been so focused on some of my other stories, mainly my Arrowverse-MCU stories, and I kind of lost interest in this story for a long time. Then, after finishing the Mandalorian TV show I decided to start working on this story again.
Let's get to it.
Chapter 8- Shadow and Flame
The cave troll bellows loudly as it stomps into the chamber. Legolas, reacting quickly, fires an arrow into its shoulder, but it affects the troll about as much as a bee sting.
The troll raises his hammer, ready to bring it down on Sam. Jakan reacts quickly, raising his right arm and shooting a quick jet of fire from his right vambrace at the troll, who roars in anger.
Deciding it's time to use it, Jakan reaches back and draws the Darksaber from his jetpack, activating it as he flies up using his jetpack. Coming down towards the troll, Jakan brings the Darksaber down on the troll's hammer, severing the head of it from the shaft.
The troll looks at the now useless staff in confusion for a few moments as Jakan returns the Darksaber to his jetpack, not wanting to use it for too long. Then, the troll turns to Jakan and roars angrily.
Jakan quickly draws his two blaster pistols and fires several shots at the troll. The bolts strike the troll's skin, but only slightly scorch him. The troll tries swiping the broken shaft of its hammer at Jakan, who leaps back firing more shots from his blasters.
Then, several Orcs run up to him. Jakan guns two of them down, then ducks under the blow of one of them, drawing his vibroblade and driving into one of the other Orc's chest. He then whips around to face the last one and roasts the Orc's face with a quick jet of flame.
As this is going on, the troll is looking for other victims. It charges towards Gimli, who is now on the ground. However, Legolas fires two arrows into the troll's other shoulder, forcing the troll back and allowing Gimli to attack Orcs with his axes.
Legolas, now on a ledge above the floor, cuts down several Orcs with one of his fighting knives. Resheathing it, he sees the troll swinging the chain around its neck like a whip.
The troll lashes the chain at Legolas, but the elf easily dodges it. The troll whips the chain again, but this time the chain gets caught around one of the pillars next to Legolas. Using his foot to hold the chain in place for a moment, Legolas uses it to run over to the troll and onto its shoulders. He draws an arrow and fires it down at the troll's head, but the arrow doesn't penetrate the troll's hide, and the troll roars angrily, throwing Legolas off. Jakan races in and fires several shots from his blasters. One barely misses the troll's eye, and the troll roars in pain, flailing its arms around, causing Jakan to run out of the way. Several more Orcs rush up to engage Jakan, who whips out Hadhafang and beheads three of the Orcs all in the same motion. He then dispatches the other two with two quick strokes of the Elvish sword.
Seeing more Orcs rushing into the chamber, Jakan again sheaths Hadhafang, redraws his second blaster, and begins firing away into the ranks of the Orcs, trying to aim for their faces in case their armor is enough to deflect a blaster bolt.
As Jakan is killing the last of the Orcs trying enter the chamber, across the chamber, Merry, Pippin, and Frodo are up on the ledge when the troll spots them. Roaring angrily, it attempts to attack them, but they dodge aside.
The troll, wondering where Frodo went, tries pearing around a pillar that Frodo has hidden behind. As it goes to check the other side, Frodo shifts sides, again evading the troll. The troll, disappears, and Frodo starts to shift back to the other side, only for the troll to pop it head around and roar at him.
Frodo stumbles back, and the troll comes around to the other side of the pillar. The troll reaches out and grabs for Frodo. Frodo desperately tries to grab for anything, but can't seem to find anything substantial to hold onto. "Aragorn! Aragorn!" Frodo cries.
Across the chamber, Aragorn, caught up fighting an Orc, hears Frodo's cries, and sees what's happening a split second later as Frodo uses Sting to cut the troll's finger, forcing the troll to drop him. Desperate to protect Frodo, Aragorn races across the chamber.
Frodo backs into a crevice in the wall, the troll right in front of him. Then, Aragorn leaps down into the crevice, holding a massive twelve foot spear. He steps forward and jams the spear into the troll's stomach. Unfortunately, it doesn't penetrate the troll's skin enough. The troll glares at Aragorn, then grabs the spear and swings it to the side, flying Aragorn into the rock wall, knocking him out.
Frodo hurries over Aragorn, trying to rouse him. Then, he hears something behind him. Turning around, he sees the troll standing behind him as it pulls the spear out of its stomach and roaring in anger. Frodo ducks, barely avoiding the spear as the troll stabs it into the rock right where his head had been.
Frodo tries to run, but the troll uses the spear to block Frodo's path and force him into a corner. Before Frodo can react, the troll stabs the spear right into his Frodo's stomach.
Frodo's eyes go wide and he gasps out loud. Right at that moment, both Gandalf and Jakan both happen to glance in the direction of Frodo, and see what has just happened. At the same time, Sam stares on in horror. Then, Merry and Pippin jump onto the troll's back, trying to stab their swords into the troll's thick hide.
"Frodo!" Sam calls as Frodo collapses, the spear still in his stomach. The rest of the Fellowship attacks with renwed vigor, determined to clean up the last few Orcs and get to Frodo.
Glaring at the troll from behind his mask, Jakan decides to end this. Putting his blasters back into their holsters, he draws the Darksaber again and activates it. He then activates his jetpack and soars into the air, heading right for the troll.
"Merry! Pippin! Get off the troll!" Jakan shouts loud enough for them to hear. Merry and Pippin look up, seeing Jakan flying right towards them, and let go of the troll, sliding down towards the ground. Jakan then comes down towards the troll, and before the troll can react, swings the Darksaber at it's neck. The blade passes through the troll's hide with ease, and in one smooth stroke, Jakan beheads the troll.
Jakan lands in front of the troll's now headless body, then jumps back to avoid being crushed under the troll. He stares down at it in satisfaction before deactivating the Darksaber and returning it to its place.
"Frod!" Sam cries again, drawing Jakan back to Frodo's plight. He turns towards the spot where Frodo fell, and sees Aragorn and Sam already kneeling over him.
"Oh, no," Aragorn says slightly. Then, as he turns Frodo over, Frodo coughs a bit and takes a deep breath.
"He's alive," Sam announces in relief. The same relief floods through the Fellowship.
Frodo sits up, breathing heavily, seeming no more wounded or physically affected than if he'd just run a mile. "I'm alright. I'm not hurt," he says, just sounding a little out of breath.
"You should be dead. That spear would've skewered a wild boar!" Aragorn says in amazement.
"I think there's more to this Hobbit than meets the eye," Gandalf says.
Frodo then looks down at his chest, and parts the upper part of his shirt, revealing a glittering set of chain mail, made of a metal unknown to Jakan, underneath it.
"Mithril," Gimli says in amazement, revealing the metal's identity. He then grins and says, "You're full of surprises, Master Baggins!"
Suddenly, more screeching hits their ears. Everyone looks towards the entrance to the chamber, and can hear the sounds of Orcs drawing closer.
"To the bridge of Kazad-dum!" Gandalf orders.
The entire Fellowship gets back to their feet and run as one out of the chamber. Gandalf leads the way down the massive hall outside, heading in the direction of the mentioned bridge.
Jakan glances behind the group as the run, and can see hundreds of Orcs following them. Glancing around, he sees more coming out of crevices in the floor, and more climbing down the columns that surround them.
"These things are not natural!" Jakan says as they keep running.
Before the Fellowship realizes it, Orcs begin to surround them, coming at them from every direction. The Fellowship stops in its tracks, forming into a circle with their backs to one another. Jakan draws a blaster, and prepares to throw a grenade into the Orcs.
"Alright, guys. Get ready for a real lightshow," he says. He is just about to press the button to activate the grenade when suddenly, a low, yet loud, and ominous rumble echoes through the hall.
Everything comes to a halt. Then, the rumble is heard again, and further down the hall, a red glow appears, illuminating the pillars. At the same moment, a feeling of incredible evil and darkness hits Jakan through his Force sensitivity, so much so that he almost feels sick. Even the One Ring didn't give him this incredible feeling of unbridled evil.
As the glow appears, the Orcs begin screeching again, this time seemingly in fear, and begin to run away, climbing up the pillars and disappearing into cracks in the floor. Within seconds, the massive army of Orcs that had surrounded them is gone.
But the Fellowship doesn't celebrate. Instead the entire Fellowship faces the direction of the glow, unnerved by a third rumble dragging out longer than the first two. Jakan is even more unnverved, because the rumble sounds too much like growls of certain very dangerous creatures he's encountered before.
Boromir slowly comes closer to Gandalf, and in a very nervous voice, asks in his ear, "What is this new devilry?"
Gandalf closes his eyes, as if trying to sense what it is. His unease growing by the second, he returns his blaster to his belt and instead draws the Darksaber, ready to activate it at a moment's notice.
Another loud rumbling growl echoes through the hall, and Gandalf opens his eyes. "A Balrog. A demon of the ancient world," he announces the sound's source.
Gandalf is quiet for a moment, then says, "This foe is beyond any of you. Run!"
Without hesitation, the entire Fellowship follows Gandalf, running as fast as they can in the opposite direction of the glow that is slowly spreading towards them.
The Fellowship reaches an arch in the rock wall. Boromir races through it first, racing down the stairs and emerging on the other side of it, only to almost fall off a sudden drop on the other end. Legolas runs up behind Boromir and pulls him back to stop him from feeling.
The rest of the Fellowship hurries down the stairs as well. Gandalf looks to Aragorn and Jakan and says, "Aragorn, Jakan, lead them on. The bridge is near."
Aragorn and Jakan glance into the distance, and see a rather narrow bridge extending across a deep chasm.
"Do as I say! Swords are no more use here!" Gandalf orders, shoving Aragorn onwards.
The Fellowship races down several flights of stairs at top speed. Then, to their horror, as they come to another flight of stairs, they realize there is a gap in the stairs. Thankfully, it's not too wide.
Legolas jumps across the gap first and turns around to prepare to catch the next person. As the Fellowship tries to decide in their minds who should go next, behind them, they can hear the Balrog's growls getting louder, and some of the stone workings beginning to crack from the rumblings of its steps.
"Gandalf!" Legolas says urgently. Gandalf, who had glanced back, leaps across the gap, Legolas catching him to make sure he doesn't stumble.
Suddenly there's a whistling sound, and an arrow hits the stairs.
Jakan whips his head around, and sees several Orc archers standing on platform several hundred yards off and about a hundred feet above them.
Reacting quickly, Jakan slings his rifle off his back and takes aim. Not worrying about the arrows penetrating his armor, which is made of durasteel and a little bit of beskar steel, at this distance, he uses his helmet's systems to zero in on the orcs, and fires a shot. The bolt kills an Orc, and Jakan moves on to the next target.
Feeling confident that Jakan can easily take care of the Orcs with his blaster rifle, Boromir grabs hold of Merry and Pippin and says, "Merry! Pippin! Hold on!" He the leaps across the gap, landing safely on the other side. As he does, a section of the stairs that had previously been under his feet gives way, widening the gap.
Jakan doesn't miss a beat, continuing to fire his blaster rifle at any Orc that comes into view, taking down an Orc with every shot. Feeling safe from arrows, Aragorn grabs hold of Sam and throws him across the gap. Legolas and Boromir catch him.
Aragorn turns around, ready to do the same or Gimli. Indignant, Gimli holds up his hand and declares, "Nobody tosses a dwarf!" He then leaps across the gap. His feet land on the other side, but not far enough onto the stone, and Gimli starts to fall backwards. Without another clear option, Legolas lunges forward and grabs Gimli's beard. Gimli cries out in pain and cries, "Not the beard!"
Suddenly, the stairs under Aragorn, Frodo, and Jakan's feet start to crumble. The three hurry back up the steps, just avoiding falling.
Now the gap is even wider, and far too wide for them to attempt to jump it. Hearing the Balrog getting closer, Jakan slings his blaster rifle back onto his back. He then grabs Aragorn and Frodo, and says, "Hold on tight." He then activates his jetpack, easily soaring over the gap, flying over the Fellowship and landing on a stair landing further down.
The Fellowship rushes up behind Jakan, Aragorn, and Frodo. "Hurry!" Gandalf says, and everyone hurries down the stairs.
They reach a level area, not too far from the bridge. Around them, flames are burning, but none are too close to be of concern.
"Over the bridge! Fly!" Gandalf orders. Everyone sprints towards the bridge.
As Jakan is just running past Gandalf, he hears the growl again behind him. He stops just a few feet behind Gandalf and turns around, and witnesses with Gandalf as the Balrog leaps onto landing.
The description of demon is not enough of a description for the Balrog in Jakan's mind. The beast is at least 16 feet tall, probably taller. It's skin itself is pitch black, but spotted with flames. It's head is a vision of terror, with black curved horns on either side of its head. It's back is wrapped in shadow, and Jakan can just make out what seem to be a pair of wings in the shadow. Embers drip from the Balrog's body. More than that, Jakan has never been able to feel the Force as much as right now as he feels the darkness that surrounds this creature.
The Balrog roars at them, a sound that sounds much like a volcanic eruption, which Jakan knows from a trip to Mustafar not too long ago.
Jakan fires his blaster pistol a few times, but the Balrog doesn't even seem to notice. Roaring loudly, it takes a step forward, the footfall echoing through the hall.
Realizing he can't fight this thing, Jakan turns and runs with Gandalf towards the bridge, the Balrog not far behind.
Jakan reaches the bridge first and sprints across it. Turning around as he begins to climb the stairs on the other side, he sees that Gandalf has stopped in the middle and turned to face the Balrog.
"You cannot pass!" Gandalf shouts.
"Gandalf!" Frodo cries out in fear for him.
The Balrog straightens up and ignites itself, flames running up its body as a show of power.
Gandalf is unintimidated. "I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the Flame of Anor!" he declares. He raises his staff as a white bubble of energy forms around him, at the same time as the Balrog draws a fiery sword seemingly from nowhere.
"The dark fire will not avail you, Flame of Udun!" Gandalf declares. The Balrog snorts a bit as it brings its sword down on Gandalf's energy shield. As it does, there is a flash of light, and the Balrog is thrust back a step, it's sword disintegrating.
The Balrog roars angrily at Gandalf, who angrily says, "Go back to the Shadow!"
The Balrog takes a step forward onto the bridge, conjuring a fiery whip, which it lashes around threateningly.
Gandalf, uncowed, raises both his staff and sword and shouts, "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" He then slams the butt of his staff down onto the bridge, sending out a flash of light.
At first, nothing seems to have happened. The Balrog snorts as if in amusement, then steps forward, raising its whip. As it does, suddenly, the bridge breaks apart under it. The Balrog roars loudly, but is unable to stop itself from tumbling into the chasm below.
Gandalf stares down at the falling Balrog, then turns to walk away. But, as it does, determined to get revenge, the Balrog lashes its whip up. The whip wraps around Gandalf's leg and drags over the edge of the bridge and causes him to lose his grip on his sword and staff, which tumble into the chasm.
Several members of the Fellowship cry out in alarm. Boromir has to grab Frodo to stop him from running towards Gandalf.
Jakan, horrified at what's happening before him, steps forward, ready to activate his jetpack to save Gandalf. But, he stops as Gandalf looks right at him. Gandalf looks at him for just a moment, and in that moment, gives Jakan a look that sends a clear message to him.
Then, Gandalf says, "Fly, you fools!" He then lets go and tumbles into the chasm, disappearing from sight.
Frodo cries out in emotional agony. Many of the Fellowship stand there for a moment in stunned silence. Jakan is one of those. He stares at the spot where Gandalf fell, wondering why he didn't just go and rescue the wizard. And yet, he remembers that look Gandalf gave him. A look that told him not to, but to protect Frodo and remain with the Fellowship.
An arrow hitting at his feet draws Jakan's attention back to the real world. He looks across the chasm, and sees Orcs running towards the edge of the chasm, some firing arrows. Growling angrily, Jakan fires his blasters into the midst of the Orcs a few times, killing several. However, he also realizes that the rest of the Fellowship is running for the exit.
Feeling more torn inside than he ever has in his life, Jakan turns his back on the bridge and follows the Fellowship out of Moria.
As they emerge out of Moria and onto a rocky plateau, the Fellowship slowly breaks apart into smaller groups and scatters over the rocks.
Jakan walks slowly over the rocks, then rips off his helmet and throws it down in anger. Being made of beskar steel, the throw doesn't damage the helmet in the slightest. He then punches a rock, which, thanks to the crushgaunts he's wearing (a special gift from the Council prior to the mission), cracks apart.
Taking several deep breaths to try and collect his emotions, Jakan looks up and around at everybody. The Fellowship is scattered across the rocks. Merry and Pippin are crying together. Sam is crying by himself. Boromir is trying to hold Gimli back from going back into Moria. Legolas looks unsure of what to do.
Aragorn, however, is cleaning his sword. Looking over at Legolas, he says, "Legolas. Get them up."
Legolas looks at Aragorn for a moment before he heads towards Merry and Pippin. Boromir, incensed at Aragorn's seeming insensitivity, angrily bursts out, "Give them a moment, for pity's sake!"
"By nightfall, these hills will be swarming with Orcs," Aragorn points out before declaring, "We must reach the woods of Lothlorien. Come, Boromir, Legolas, Gimli, get them up!"
Legolas and Gimli help Merry and Pippin up while Aragorn helps Sam to his feet. He then turns to Jakan and says simply, "Jakan."
Jakan takes a deep breath compose himself, then bends down, picks up his helmet, then slides it back onto his head. He then nods at Aragorn.
Aragorn returns to the nod, then looks around, calling out, "Frodo?" He then sees Frodo up ahead, walking away from the rest of the Fellowship, and calls after him, "Frodo!"
Frodo slowly turns around, a look on his face that is clearly showing the serious pain that he is going through, and his desire to be alone.
The Fellowship slowly reassembles, and begins moving over the rocks towards Lothlorien, now one member short.
And, I'll end there.
I hope this was a good first update in so long. I hope I did the rest of the fight in Moria justice.
So, next chapter will be up within the next week or two, hopefully, maybe sooner. Until then, please leave a review, and stay tuned!