A/N: sorry for delay. I'm really gonna try and work on the Ella/Legolas
thing, but I make no promises. Anybody?? I'm desperate! Please tell me how
to do italics!!!
Ella awoke the next morning, shaken awake by eager hobbits. Despite her normal crabbiness in the morning, compounded with the soreness she felt from the previous day, Ella couldn't resist the hobbits. She got up and pulled her tunic over her head. She bound her hair in a ponytail at the nape of her neck and pulled her boots on. After all the walking Ella had been doing, they were broken in and fit her as snugly as a second skin. She bent to fold up her bedroll and winced when her muscles strenuously objected to the movement. Gimli, already awake, stomped over to her.
"Sore from yesterday, are you?" he asked.
"No," Ella said and tried to smile. It must have looked more like a grimace, for Gimli just laughed and handed her a flask, "Drink up," he ordered. Ella took a cautious sip, and almost spat the fiery liquid out. She swallowed with a gulp that left her throat stinging and her lungs battling for breath. A little ways away, Legolas, seeing the expression on her face, laughed.
"Did I do something to upset you yesterday?" she asked hesitantly, "Because if I did, next time you can just tell me. Save the poison for the orcs!"
The dwarf laughed, "I wager you're feeling a little more limber?" Ella did feel herself loosening up, and thanked him.
"I probably don't want to know what's in that, do I?" she asked. Gimli grinned and shook his head.
"Just warn me next time!" she said, "No wonder dwarves are short! That stuff could stunt the growth of a rhino!" Ella said, but seeing Gimli look strangely at her, she added, "Or a ---a troll." Gimli nodded. Legolas had been listening to the conversation between Ella and Gimli, and was again reminded of the peculiar things she sometimes said. He was still resolved to find out what Ella was hiding, and watched her stretching. Ella ate her morning ration of travel bread and dried fruits and pitched in readying to leave the camp.
Again, the Fellowship set off in single file led by Gandalf. At the beginning of the journey he told them of the course they would take.
"We must hold this course west of the Misty Mountains for forty days. If our luck holds, the Gap Rohan will still be open to us. From there our road turns east toward Mordor."
The terrain was becoming rockier, and the hobbits occasionally needed help scaling the steeper outcroppings of the grey rock that were becoming more and more frequent. The shrubbery that dotted the land was becoming scarcer, and so was the wildlife. There was a scarcity of everything except rocks.
Ella came to know the hobbits better during that time. She respected Sam for his obvious devotion to Frodo, and stout common sense. Merry and Pippin were happy-go-lucky optimists, and could animate any situation. Ella liked and admired Frodo for his quiet resolution and hoped that he would come out of the quest unharmed; she couldn't imagine bearing such a heavy burden.
They did not stop for a noon meal, instead they ate as they trudged onward. The jagged peaks of the mountains loomed in the distance, dominating the horizon. Ella didn't have much strength to spare, but she occasionally would perform small spells when she thought no one was looking. She began to understand why Gandalf was so powerful, yet used magic only when he was forced to. The drain upon the wizard's strength when magic was used was immense, even when the wizard used power from another source.
The days continued on, much the same. The Fellowship became even more close-knit. Gimli was able to overcome elfish prejudices, and became good friends with Legolas. Gandalf was busy leading the group, and did not have as much time to spend with Ella. She would have been unhappy, but she spent time with others instead, especially Legolas. She did not know why he was always ready to talk to her; she was just happy to have someone interesting to speak to during the long days. On several occasions, the path was wide enough to walk side by side. Ella walked next to Legolas most of the time.
" What was it like growing up as a prince?" she asked, trying to picture his background.
"Rather lonely," was the reply. Ella could sympathize. She remembered kids comparing her house to a palace, and avoiding her.
"Surely Lotheon and you were the best of friends," Ella said innocently. Legolas laughed ruefully and said, "More like the best of competitors. Archery, riding, staff fighting- we challenged each other at everything possible."
"I don't have any siblings," Ella said. Legolas was surprised she had said that, for she rarely said anything of her background. He decided to see if she would say anything else.
"Where are you parents?" he asked.
"My mother died," was the short answer, indicating her wish to end the subject. They walked in silence a little longer, and stopped when Gandalf called an early halt for the night. They stopped at a rocky outcropping, where Gandalf allowed a fire. Sam promptly set to work preparing a meal. Boromir taught Merry and Pippin more about defending themselves with swords, as Aragorn advised from the sidelines, "Move your feet!" Gandalf sat upon a grey rock, his robes blending in, and pensively puffed on his pipe, listening to Gimli. Ella was heading over to where Legolas stood upon a rock, scanning the horizon, to ask him for a bout with swords. She reached his side as he said, "What is that?"
"Nothing. It's just a whiff of cloud," Gimli replied, lounging against a rock.
"It's moving fast, against the wind," Boromir said warily, pausing his swordplay with Merry and Pippin.
"Crebain from Dunland!" cried Legolas.
"Hide!" Aragorn shouted, and reacting quickly, grabbing things nearest to him and shoving them under a nearby rock. Sam hurriedly doused the fire. Ella stared unmoving at the approaching birds. They looked like a flock of crows. She could feel a vast aura of power surrounding them, but the power was tainted, and Ella could feel it. Her feet felt attached to the rock that she stood upon. Legolas seized her tunic, and threw her on the ground, shoving her under a gap between the shrubbery and the ground. He followed her under the bushes. He couldn't avoid contact in the small space and stretched out parallel to Ella, the sides of their arms and legs touching. Ella could hear him breathing until the flapping of the birds' wings and the ugly cawing that emitted from their beaks interrupted the unruffled air, as they swooped down. The members of the Fellowship lay concealed under rocks and shrubbery, until the birds passed. They crawled out of their hiding spots, and watched the crebain become once more just a whiff of cloud.
"Spies from Saruman. The passage south has been watched. We must take the pass of Caradhras." Gandalf said.
No fire was lit that night, and food was eaten quickly. Ella again asked Legolas to read to her from her spell book. She listened intently to the words to a spell for light, knowing she had little strength to waste on failed attempts. Legolas pointed out a few of the characters to her, teaching her the alphabet. He was patient, which Ella appreciated it, for her mind felt woolly and refused to work. Ella studied his face, admiring the chiseled features and long blonde hair. Legolas looked up, and blue eyes met green. Quickly looking away, Ella colored a little and inwardly chided herself for having been caught staring. She refocused, and paid close attention to the lesson.
"Don't you have a song to help you remember this?" she grumbled after she forgot one of the characters for the second time. He looked at her curiously, and she said, "Never mind."
Confident that she knew the light spell, Ella chanted,
Turn into day; banish the night Rid us of the dark and bring us the light.
From her outstretched hand, a small bulb of green tinged light appeared. It extinguished quickly due to Ella's lack of strength, but it was light all the same. She smiled happily, and unrolled her blankets, falling asleep instantly. Legolas was on first watch, and sat upon a dead stump. Watching Ella sleep, he realized that he did not just spend time with her because of the mystery that surrounded her. He enjoyed the time spent with the unique witch, and found himself thinking about her often.
They next morning, the Fellowship encountered thick covering of snow. The men were tall enough to slog through it, Ella included, and Gimli plowed his way through. The hobbits trekked through it persistently, but they tripped frequently. Frodo had worked his way up a steep slope, only to slip on a stray rock and tumble down. Aragorn caught him and stopped his fall at the bottom of the slope. He set Frodo upright, and Frodo automatically felt inside his tunic, checking for the ring around his neck. He felt bare skin, and looked up the hill in alarm. Boromir knelt to pick up the ring on the silver chain, glinting in the sunlight. He held it up and hypnotically watched the ring dangle and spin round.
"It is a strange thing that we suffer so much fear and doubt over so small a thing," Boromir murmured, watching the ring.
Ella was further up the hill than Boromir, and Legolas was just behind her. She looked down at Boromir holding the ring, and exchanged an alarmed look with Legolas. She squeezed her eyes shut and prayed that nothing would come of this. She had seen Aragorn's hand go to the hilt of his sword, and she remembered Boromir's desire to use the ring at the Council.
"Boromir," Aragorn barked, "Give the ring to Frodo." Boromir walked down the hill and gave the ring to Frodo, affectionately tousling his hair.
The snow steadily deepened, and a blizzard struck. The snow passed the hobbits' heads, and soon Aragorn and Boromir carried them. Gandalf led the group, creating a rough path through the snow with his staff. Ella could see that Boromir was having trouble balancing hobbits and shield, so she turned Merry out of his arms. Merry put his arms around Ella's neck, and clung close for warmth. Legolas glided over the snow, not once sinking in. He acted as scout and rearguard at once.
"There is a foul voice on the air!" he exclaimed. Ella listened intently, but only heard the din of the blizzard.
"It's Saruman!" Gandalf bellowed over the blizzard. Rocks fell from the top of the cliff, bringing snow down with them in a mini avalanche.
"He's trying to bring down the mountain! Gandalf, we must turn back!" Aragorn shouted back.
Gandalf stepped to the edge of the path along the cliff and chanted in a deep and terrible voice that echoed through the mountain. Ella felt the force he put behind that spell, and was sure that he would break Saruman's will. Then she felt a buzzing in her ears as Saruman's dominion over the elements increased, and looked up in time to see a white bolt of lightening piercing the black of the angry clouds above the Fellowship. The lightening bolt collided with the cliff, sending a cascade of rock and snow down to bury the companions alive. Ella managed to react sooner than she had to the crebain, but she was still too late, and a shard of rock struck her temple. She fell forward, bringing a frantic Merry with her, and was buried in snow.
Legolas emerged first, followed soon by the Aragorn and Boromir. The rest surfaced, all except Ella and Merry. Everyone frantically started digging through the snow, searching for the missing companions. They must be found soon! Legolas thought. He didn't want to think of them suffocating under the pile of snow, and grimly shifted more snow to uncover a small hobbit hand.
"Merry!" he exclaimed, and hauled the numb hobbit out.
"Ella, " the hobbit murmured, "hit--- rock-"
Legolas didn't wait for him to finish, and shoveled more snow away, revealing auburn hair, bright against the snow. Breathing a sigh of relief, he shouted, "I found her!" Aragorn took Merry, and Boromir helped Legolas lift Ella out of the snow by her shoulders. Gimli held up his flask to Ella's lips.
"She will be difficult," Legolas wryly warned, remembering the last time Ella had been knocked out, "Better hold her nose," he advised.
Ella swallowed a little of the liquor and choked on it, abruptly waking. She blinked at the faces looked down at her, and seeing their concerned, said, "Don't worry, I'm fine. Nothing more than a slight headache," She tried to rise from the bed of snow, and unsuccessfully dropped back down with a groan. "This is the second time in a month I've been knocked out- more times in a month than in my entire lifetime! Gandalf, remind me why I came here!" Sam had pulled a linen bandage from one of his packs, and was binding it to her head to stop the blood from welling up further.
Gandalf smiled. "She's fine," he said.
"We must get off the mountain!" Boromir shouted. "Make for the Gap of Rohan and take the road to my city."
"The Gap of Rohan takes us too close to Isengard!" Aragorn objected.
"Let us go through the Mines of Moria!" Gimli yelled.
Gandalf hesitated.
"Let the ringbearer decide," he declared.
"We will go through the mines," Frodo decided.
The Fellowship traveled for days over the rough terrain until they reached the gate. They skidded down the loose grey rock until they reached the bottom of the incline where the Gates of Moria lay. The Fellowship watched as moonlight hit the sheer stone walls and lit up the outlines of the anvil and hammer and the columns of the Gate.
"The walls of Moria," Gimli breathed. Merry and Pippin picked up some of the loose rock, and hurled it into the water that almost met the walls of Moria. Aragorn grabbed Merry's arm from behind to prevent him from further disturbing the waters. Ella leaned against the walls and closed her eyes, listening to Gandalf attempt to find the password. She was exhausted from the mountain, and her head still hurt, though it had stopped bleeding. Frodo solved the riddle, and the Gates of Moria grudgingly opened with a rumble, revealing an impenetrable black maw. The Fellowship filed in cautiously. Gandalf waved a hand over his staff and lit the crystal embedded in the claw of his staff.
"Soon, Master Elf, you will enjoy the fabled hospitality of the dwarves! Roaring fires, malt beer, red meat off the bone! This, my friend, is the home of my cousin, Balin. And they call it a mine. A mine!" Gimli said enthusiastically.
"This is no mine. It's a tomb!" Boromir exclaimed, bending over to examine a corpse. Ella looked down and realized she was stepping on a pile of brittle bones, and hastily jumped off with a crunching noise. Looking around, Ella saw that the cavern was a giant mausoleum, filled to the brim with rotted carcasses, grimaces of death preserved for the ages on their faces. Their remains were strewn about and littered the floor in a carpet, sounding like fallen leaves in autumn when stepped upon. Arrows protruded from many of the cadavers, swords and axes lay scattered about, having long fallen out of their masters' stilled hands. Gimli let loose a howl of despair that resounded in the deep. Legolas bent and grabbed an arrow, declaring, "Goblins!" after a cursory examination. Ella found herself reaching for the reassuring pommel of her blade, trying to block the macabre remains of the battle from her mind.
"We should never have come here!" Boromir said, a hard edge to his voice, "Now, get out. Get out!"
Ella, more than eager to escape the crypt, turned to leave and saw Frodo whipped out from the cave. Merry and Pippin were chopping frantically at the tentacle that was dragging Frodo, and Sam yelled for Aragorn. Frodo had been dragged to the edge of the water outside the Gates of Moria before the hobbits succeeded in chopping off the tentacle. The rest of the Fellowship was out of the caves. Ella had drawn her sword, and was just about to relax her grip on it when over a dozen tentacles shot out of the once placid lake. They fastened on to the hobbits, drawing them out onto the lake and suspending them in midair. The beast surfaced, revealing its hideous countenance and gaping fanged mouth, opened and ready for fodder. Boromir hacked at the base of the tentacle, releasing Frodo. Ella joined the fray, not using magic, for she didn't think it could pierce the monster's iron hide. She swung her sword at the closest tentacle, barely indenting it. She braced her feet and swung harder, repeatedly sawing away at the appendage. Boromir struggled to free Frodo, and caught him once he did. The fight was short and fierce.
"Into the mines!" Gandalf cried.
With hobbits in hand, Aragorn, Boromir and Ella fled into the mines. Legolas shot the beast, driving it back enough for the Fellowship, and raced into the caves behind the others, beast in close pursuit. An ominous rumbling soon became the only sound that could be heard, and rock cascaded before the Gates of Moria, sealing the entrance off. Ella, sprinting faster than her legs could take her, stumbled, only to be hauled up with ease, and dragged onward. Legolas saw her trip, and grabbed her arm to hold her up, not releasing her until the last rock had tumbled down. Silence pervaded the chamber, and Ella looked down at the hand still holding her arm. Legolas saw her glance, and hurriedly released her, casting an uncomfortable look at Ella.
"Thanks," she whispered, coughing on the dust settling in.
"We now have but one choice. We must face the long dark of Moria. Be on your guard. There are older and fouler things than orcs in the deep places of the world," Gandalf said, "It's a four day journey to the other side. Let us hope that our presence goes unnoticed."
Ella awoke the next morning, shaken awake by eager hobbits. Despite her normal crabbiness in the morning, compounded with the soreness she felt from the previous day, Ella couldn't resist the hobbits. She got up and pulled her tunic over her head. She bound her hair in a ponytail at the nape of her neck and pulled her boots on. After all the walking Ella had been doing, they were broken in and fit her as snugly as a second skin. She bent to fold up her bedroll and winced when her muscles strenuously objected to the movement. Gimli, already awake, stomped over to her.
"Sore from yesterday, are you?" he asked.
"No," Ella said and tried to smile. It must have looked more like a grimace, for Gimli just laughed and handed her a flask, "Drink up," he ordered. Ella took a cautious sip, and almost spat the fiery liquid out. She swallowed with a gulp that left her throat stinging and her lungs battling for breath. A little ways away, Legolas, seeing the expression on her face, laughed.
"Did I do something to upset you yesterday?" she asked hesitantly, "Because if I did, next time you can just tell me. Save the poison for the orcs!"
The dwarf laughed, "I wager you're feeling a little more limber?" Ella did feel herself loosening up, and thanked him.
"I probably don't want to know what's in that, do I?" she asked. Gimli grinned and shook his head.
"Just warn me next time!" she said, "No wonder dwarves are short! That stuff could stunt the growth of a rhino!" Ella said, but seeing Gimli look strangely at her, she added, "Or a ---a troll." Gimli nodded. Legolas had been listening to the conversation between Ella and Gimli, and was again reminded of the peculiar things she sometimes said. He was still resolved to find out what Ella was hiding, and watched her stretching. Ella ate her morning ration of travel bread and dried fruits and pitched in readying to leave the camp.
Again, the Fellowship set off in single file led by Gandalf. At the beginning of the journey he told them of the course they would take.
"We must hold this course west of the Misty Mountains for forty days. If our luck holds, the Gap Rohan will still be open to us. From there our road turns east toward Mordor."
The terrain was becoming rockier, and the hobbits occasionally needed help scaling the steeper outcroppings of the grey rock that were becoming more and more frequent. The shrubbery that dotted the land was becoming scarcer, and so was the wildlife. There was a scarcity of everything except rocks.
Ella came to know the hobbits better during that time. She respected Sam for his obvious devotion to Frodo, and stout common sense. Merry and Pippin were happy-go-lucky optimists, and could animate any situation. Ella liked and admired Frodo for his quiet resolution and hoped that he would come out of the quest unharmed; she couldn't imagine bearing such a heavy burden.
They did not stop for a noon meal, instead they ate as they trudged onward. The jagged peaks of the mountains loomed in the distance, dominating the horizon. Ella didn't have much strength to spare, but she occasionally would perform small spells when she thought no one was looking. She began to understand why Gandalf was so powerful, yet used magic only when he was forced to. The drain upon the wizard's strength when magic was used was immense, even when the wizard used power from another source.
The days continued on, much the same. The Fellowship became even more close-knit. Gimli was able to overcome elfish prejudices, and became good friends with Legolas. Gandalf was busy leading the group, and did not have as much time to spend with Ella. She would have been unhappy, but she spent time with others instead, especially Legolas. She did not know why he was always ready to talk to her; she was just happy to have someone interesting to speak to during the long days. On several occasions, the path was wide enough to walk side by side. Ella walked next to Legolas most of the time.
" What was it like growing up as a prince?" she asked, trying to picture his background.
"Rather lonely," was the reply. Ella could sympathize. She remembered kids comparing her house to a palace, and avoiding her.
"Surely Lotheon and you were the best of friends," Ella said innocently. Legolas laughed ruefully and said, "More like the best of competitors. Archery, riding, staff fighting- we challenged each other at everything possible."
"I don't have any siblings," Ella said. Legolas was surprised she had said that, for she rarely said anything of her background. He decided to see if she would say anything else.
"Where are you parents?" he asked.
"My mother died," was the short answer, indicating her wish to end the subject. They walked in silence a little longer, and stopped when Gandalf called an early halt for the night. They stopped at a rocky outcropping, where Gandalf allowed a fire. Sam promptly set to work preparing a meal. Boromir taught Merry and Pippin more about defending themselves with swords, as Aragorn advised from the sidelines, "Move your feet!" Gandalf sat upon a grey rock, his robes blending in, and pensively puffed on his pipe, listening to Gimli. Ella was heading over to where Legolas stood upon a rock, scanning the horizon, to ask him for a bout with swords. She reached his side as he said, "What is that?"
"Nothing. It's just a whiff of cloud," Gimli replied, lounging against a rock.
"It's moving fast, against the wind," Boromir said warily, pausing his swordplay with Merry and Pippin.
"Crebain from Dunland!" cried Legolas.
"Hide!" Aragorn shouted, and reacting quickly, grabbing things nearest to him and shoving them under a nearby rock. Sam hurriedly doused the fire. Ella stared unmoving at the approaching birds. They looked like a flock of crows. She could feel a vast aura of power surrounding them, but the power was tainted, and Ella could feel it. Her feet felt attached to the rock that she stood upon. Legolas seized her tunic, and threw her on the ground, shoving her under a gap between the shrubbery and the ground. He followed her under the bushes. He couldn't avoid contact in the small space and stretched out parallel to Ella, the sides of their arms and legs touching. Ella could hear him breathing until the flapping of the birds' wings and the ugly cawing that emitted from their beaks interrupted the unruffled air, as they swooped down. The members of the Fellowship lay concealed under rocks and shrubbery, until the birds passed. They crawled out of their hiding spots, and watched the crebain become once more just a whiff of cloud.
"Spies from Saruman. The passage south has been watched. We must take the pass of Caradhras." Gandalf said.
No fire was lit that night, and food was eaten quickly. Ella again asked Legolas to read to her from her spell book. She listened intently to the words to a spell for light, knowing she had little strength to waste on failed attempts. Legolas pointed out a few of the characters to her, teaching her the alphabet. He was patient, which Ella appreciated it, for her mind felt woolly and refused to work. Ella studied his face, admiring the chiseled features and long blonde hair. Legolas looked up, and blue eyes met green. Quickly looking away, Ella colored a little and inwardly chided herself for having been caught staring. She refocused, and paid close attention to the lesson.
"Don't you have a song to help you remember this?" she grumbled after she forgot one of the characters for the second time. He looked at her curiously, and she said, "Never mind."
Confident that she knew the light spell, Ella chanted,
Turn into day; banish the night Rid us of the dark and bring us the light.
From her outstretched hand, a small bulb of green tinged light appeared. It extinguished quickly due to Ella's lack of strength, but it was light all the same. She smiled happily, and unrolled her blankets, falling asleep instantly. Legolas was on first watch, and sat upon a dead stump. Watching Ella sleep, he realized that he did not just spend time with her because of the mystery that surrounded her. He enjoyed the time spent with the unique witch, and found himself thinking about her often.
They next morning, the Fellowship encountered thick covering of snow. The men were tall enough to slog through it, Ella included, and Gimli plowed his way through. The hobbits trekked through it persistently, but they tripped frequently. Frodo had worked his way up a steep slope, only to slip on a stray rock and tumble down. Aragorn caught him and stopped his fall at the bottom of the slope. He set Frodo upright, and Frodo automatically felt inside his tunic, checking for the ring around his neck. He felt bare skin, and looked up the hill in alarm. Boromir knelt to pick up the ring on the silver chain, glinting in the sunlight. He held it up and hypnotically watched the ring dangle and spin round.
"It is a strange thing that we suffer so much fear and doubt over so small a thing," Boromir murmured, watching the ring.
Ella was further up the hill than Boromir, and Legolas was just behind her. She looked down at Boromir holding the ring, and exchanged an alarmed look with Legolas. She squeezed her eyes shut and prayed that nothing would come of this. She had seen Aragorn's hand go to the hilt of his sword, and she remembered Boromir's desire to use the ring at the Council.
"Boromir," Aragorn barked, "Give the ring to Frodo." Boromir walked down the hill and gave the ring to Frodo, affectionately tousling his hair.
The snow steadily deepened, and a blizzard struck. The snow passed the hobbits' heads, and soon Aragorn and Boromir carried them. Gandalf led the group, creating a rough path through the snow with his staff. Ella could see that Boromir was having trouble balancing hobbits and shield, so she turned Merry out of his arms. Merry put his arms around Ella's neck, and clung close for warmth. Legolas glided over the snow, not once sinking in. He acted as scout and rearguard at once.
"There is a foul voice on the air!" he exclaimed. Ella listened intently, but only heard the din of the blizzard.
"It's Saruman!" Gandalf bellowed over the blizzard. Rocks fell from the top of the cliff, bringing snow down with them in a mini avalanche.
"He's trying to bring down the mountain! Gandalf, we must turn back!" Aragorn shouted back.
Gandalf stepped to the edge of the path along the cliff and chanted in a deep and terrible voice that echoed through the mountain. Ella felt the force he put behind that spell, and was sure that he would break Saruman's will. Then she felt a buzzing in her ears as Saruman's dominion over the elements increased, and looked up in time to see a white bolt of lightening piercing the black of the angry clouds above the Fellowship. The lightening bolt collided with the cliff, sending a cascade of rock and snow down to bury the companions alive. Ella managed to react sooner than she had to the crebain, but she was still too late, and a shard of rock struck her temple. She fell forward, bringing a frantic Merry with her, and was buried in snow.
Legolas emerged first, followed soon by the Aragorn and Boromir. The rest surfaced, all except Ella and Merry. Everyone frantically started digging through the snow, searching for the missing companions. They must be found soon! Legolas thought. He didn't want to think of them suffocating under the pile of snow, and grimly shifted more snow to uncover a small hobbit hand.
"Merry!" he exclaimed, and hauled the numb hobbit out.
"Ella, " the hobbit murmured, "hit--- rock-"
Legolas didn't wait for him to finish, and shoveled more snow away, revealing auburn hair, bright against the snow. Breathing a sigh of relief, he shouted, "I found her!" Aragorn took Merry, and Boromir helped Legolas lift Ella out of the snow by her shoulders. Gimli held up his flask to Ella's lips.
"She will be difficult," Legolas wryly warned, remembering the last time Ella had been knocked out, "Better hold her nose," he advised.
Ella swallowed a little of the liquor and choked on it, abruptly waking. She blinked at the faces looked down at her, and seeing their concerned, said, "Don't worry, I'm fine. Nothing more than a slight headache," She tried to rise from the bed of snow, and unsuccessfully dropped back down with a groan. "This is the second time in a month I've been knocked out- more times in a month than in my entire lifetime! Gandalf, remind me why I came here!" Sam had pulled a linen bandage from one of his packs, and was binding it to her head to stop the blood from welling up further.
Gandalf smiled. "She's fine," he said.
"We must get off the mountain!" Boromir shouted. "Make for the Gap of Rohan and take the road to my city."
"The Gap of Rohan takes us too close to Isengard!" Aragorn objected.
"Let us go through the Mines of Moria!" Gimli yelled.
Gandalf hesitated.
"Let the ringbearer decide," he declared.
"We will go through the mines," Frodo decided.
The Fellowship traveled for days over the rough terrain until they reached the gate. They skidded down the loose grey rock until they reached the bottom of the incline where the Gates of Moria lay. The Fellowship watched as moonlight hit the sheer stone walls and lit up the outlines of the anvil and hammer and the columns of the Gate.
"The walls of Moria," Gimli breathed. Merry and Pippin picked up some of the loose rock, and hurled it into the water that almost met the walls of Moria. Aragorn grabbed Merry's arm from behind to prevent him from further disturbing the waters. Ella leaned against the walls and closed her eyes, listening to Gandalf attempt to find the password. She was exhausted from the mountain, and her head still hurt, though it had stopped bleeding. Frodo solved the riddle, and the Gates of Moria grudgingly opened with a rumble, revealing an impenetrable black maw. The Fellowship filed in cautiously. Gandalf waved a hand over his staff and lit the crystal embedded in the claw of his staff.
"Soon, Master Elf, you will enjoy the fabled hospitality of the dwarves! Roaring fires, malt beer, red meat off the bone! This, my friend, is the home of my cousin, Balin. And they call it a mine. A mine!" Gimli said enthusiastically.
"This is no mine. It's a tomb!" Boromir exclaimed, bending over to examine a corpse. Ella looked down and realized she was stepping on a pile of brittle bones, and hastily jumped off with a crunching noise. Looking around, Ella saw that the cavern was a giant mausoleum, filled to the brim with rotted carcasses, grimaces of death preserved for the ages on their faces. Their remains were strewn about and littered the floor in a carpet, sounding like fallen leaves in autumn when stepped upon. Arrows protruded from many of the cadavers, swords and axes lay scattered about, having long fallen out of their masters' stilled hands. Gimli let loose a howl of despair that resounded in the deep. Legolas bent and grabbed an arrow, declaring, "Goblins!" after a cursory examination. Ella found herself reaching for the reassuring pommel of her blade, trying to block the macabre remains of the battle from her mind.
"We should never have come here!" Boromir said, a hard edge to his voice, "Now, get out. Get out!"
Ella, more than eager to escape the crypt, turned to leave and saw Frodo whipped out from the cave. Merry and Pippin were chopping frantically at the tentacle that was dragging Frodo, and Sam yelled for Aragorn. Frodo had been dragged to the edge of the water outside the Gates of Moria before the hobbits succeeded in chopping off the tentacle. The rest of the Fellowship was out of the caves. Ella had drawn her sword, and was just about to relax her grip on it when over a dozen tentacles shot out of the once placid lake. They fastened on to the hobbits, drawing them out onto the lake and suspending them in midair. The beast surfaced, revealing its hideous countenance and gaping fanged mouth, opened and ready for fodder. Boromir hacked at the base of the tentacle, releasing Frodo. Ella joined the fray, not using magic, for she didn't think it could pierce the monster's iron hide. She swung her sword at the closest tentacle, barely indenting it. She braced her feet and swung harder, repeatedly sawing away at the appendage. Boromir struggled to free Frodo, and caught him once he did. The fight was short and fierce.
"Into the mines!" Gandalf cried.
With hobbits in hand, Aragorn, Boromir and Ella fled into the mines. Legolas shot the beast, driving it back enough for the Fellowship, and raced into the caves behind the others, beast in close pursuit. An ominous rumbling soon became the only sound that could be heard, and rock cascaded before the Gates of Moria, sealing the entrance off. Ella, sprinting faster than her legs could take her, stumbled, only to be hauled up with ease, and dragged onward. Legolas saw her trip, and grabbed her arm to hold her up, not releasing her until the last rock had tumbled down. Silence pervaded the chamber, and Ella looked down at the hand still holding her arm. Legolas saw her glance, and hurriedly released her, casting an uncomfortable look at Ella.
"Thanks," she whispered, coughing on the dust settling in.
"We now have but one choice. We must face the long dark of Moria. Be on your guard. There are older and fouler things than orcs in the deep places of the world," Gandalf said, "It's a four day journey to the other side. Let us hope that our presence goes unnoticed."