Forest of the Mountain

They ran on further and when they could no longer hear the sounds of the orcs they stopped, the hobbits throwing themselves down on the ground, clinging to each other for support. Froin had to be held down until she calmed herself, and when she did so she took a deep breath and snorted.

'Curse on this forest.' She said and sat down on a tree stump. Dweller looked to the west of them, then the east of them and nodded to herself.

'We must go.' She said, and when no one moved she called louder. 'We must go!' she said, and everyone stood slowly. They walked on the path for a very short amount of time and after a few moments Relnik loaded his bow and looked in the tree tops above them.

'What is it?' Teredon asked and Relnik kept his weapon pointed at the trees.

'Some thing was scurrying above us…' he said quietly and the others looked up nervously. When they did so, though, they regreted it, for when they looked back down they were faced with a circle of axe's.

'Four halflings, two men, an elf and a dwarf. What an odd company.' A dwarf said and came from the group of axes. 'What is your business in Mirkwood?' he asked, and Froin stepped forward.

'We are the company that set out from Rivendell.' She said, and a light seemed to have been lit in his eyes when she did so.

'So I see.' He said and was about to end when a voice came from the trees above them.

'And elves do not scurry.' A voice said, and three other bodies dropped in front of them. Elves with golden hair and blue eyes; Silvan folk.

'Please, we need your help.' Dweller said, stepping to the front of the group. 'We were just attacked by a group of orcs, and our leader, a wizard, was destroyed by an Ondor.' She said and a slight murmur could be heard through the group of dwarves.

'An Ondor? She's been out and about.' The dwarf said and looked at the elf. They started talking in a strange language, and when they received blank looks from the company the dwarf nodded. 'Come, we will help you, you have come through much toil to get here. It is not safe to discus such matters here.' The dwarf said and he left, the company following behind him, the elves staying behind in the back of the group. It seemed they walked for hours off the path until they came to a great stone wall- the wall of the mountains.

'The Mountains of Mirkwood.' Froin breathed, and the dwarf ahead of them nodded.

'Yes, home to dwarves and elves, and refuge for any unlucky traveler in the forest.' He said and Relnik looked up at the mountain.

'Elves?'

'Yes, Relnik, son of Relnohen, even elves.' One of the three elves said and the dwarf whispered something to the doorway, making it creek open slowly. Everyone looked up in awe at it, and had to be motioned to go in. When they did they all gasped at what they saw.

A great stone hall met their eyes, with dwarves and few elves as a guard. The hallway's arches had intricate designs carved into it, elegant. Work of the elves, though the pillars themselves were very square, work of the dwarves. They were each the height of an Ondor and beyond the first arch were a great series of steps. Works of both races were combined to form a beautiful sight nothing could match.

'The legacy of Legolas and Gimli lives on…' Relnik said, almost inaudible, but one of the elves heard him and nodded.

'After Thranduil left the forest became too dangerous to live in, and many of the dwarves started to make the cities. The elves stayed above ground as long as we could, but it did not last long and we moved into the mines. We patrol the forest around the mines and come back here for food and rest. Our hearts are still in the trees, but our refuge is under them.' The elf said and Relnik nodded.

'You knew Legolas?'

'Knew him?' the elf laughed and looked around the mines. 'We were the best of friends! But he desired to go over the sea and I did not. It was a choice we all had to make, and some partings were more bitter than others.' He said and Dweller walked up to the dwarf that was leading them.

'Where are you leading us?' she asked and the dwarf spared her a glance.

'To the city of Khazquendi. The king and his officials request to see new comers first.' He answered shortly, and Froin hurried to the front of the group.'

'And who is the king?' she asked, and the dwarf smiled.

'I believe you know him. He is Loin, lord of the mountains of Mirkwood.' He said and Froin's deep laugh could be heard through out the hall, some heads turning.

'Loin, you old bat, you did it again!' she said and they kept their course.

Now, the hobbits had stayed in the back of the group, not sure of what to expect of the great hall. Ondril and Brom had honestly thought they were going to encounter a desolate and orc-filled hallway with no life to speak of. Param and Terry, on the other hand, had expected dwarves mining gold right next to them, with dirt everywhere. It was nothing that any of them had thought of. There was apparent life everywhere with guards at each archway and the sounds of digging from deep inside the mines. The sounds of gruff laughter could be heard every once and a while and everything seemed to pulse with life.

They walked up these stairs for, what seemed a great while until they came to three doors. Above each doorway were words written in Elvish and Dwarvish, seeming to label each room. They went in the middle one, though, and when they walked through their breath caught in their throat again.

This doorway revealed a grand hall, with a ceiling taller than the previous one. In it was a market place of dwarves and elves, with carts upon carts of goods. In the walls of the hall were separate rooms, and in the center was a closed off area. They were led through the great hall and as they walked through they got strange glances from dwarves and elves. They were soon waved off, though, and the group went to the building in the middle of the hall.

When they walked to it the found that they had more steps to climb until they got to the top of the building. When they did so the dwarf knocked on the great oak doors and the sound rang through out the halls.

 The hobbits were still looking around in wonder when they opened and revealed another, smaller hall. In this hall were four thrones. Two smaller, two larger, each with a body in them. In the smaller were two dwarves, each clad in jewels precious metal, and with large crowns. One, like Froin, had a smaller beard and a more feminine version of the other's clothes, which were both made of fine red and blue silk. The larger chairs held two elves, each clad in mithril and stunning white robes. They both seemed to have an eerie glow and their hair was pale blond, each with a delicate circlet upon their heads. When the fellowship entered they all stood.

When the group reached the end of the rug the dwarven rulers gave them a very gruff smile and the Elven rulers looked at them with stern, wise faces.

'My lords,' the lead dwarf said and bowed to all four of them, while the dwarves did the same and the elves bowed in their own separate way, 'this is the company set out from Rivendell not too long ago. They have come into our forest and seek refuge.' He said and the male ruling elf nodded.

'Yes, thank you.' He said and turned to his queen and the dwarven rulers, 'they have gone through much toil and lost their leader, Brendalin. He was a valuable ally and friend to Mirkwood.'

'You've seen this?' the dwarf asked and the elf nodded.

'Yes, I have.'

'Very well. That is a…' he paused, 'heart-wrenching fate. He was a very good friend to the dwarves and elves of this city.'

'You all look very weary. You may stay here, for we welcome all those opposed to the new forces in the south.' The female elf said and the female dwarf nodded.

'Yes, go now and rest. We will talk of other things later.' She said, and all bowed, being ushered out by the dwarves and elves that they came in with.

'Wasn't that a… might short?' Param asked and the dwarf snorted.

'No, they need time to decide things. We have lived together in peace for many years, of course, but we are of different races and we take time on deciding the best of things. You will be called again when they have come to a decision.' He said, and led them back out into the hallway with the three doors. 'The one on the right is where most dwarves tend to stay, and the one on the left is where the elves do the same. You may choose which ever you'd like, and we will tell you when you should come back.' The dwarf said, and left back to the outside. The fellowship, however, took the time to decide which one they would prefer. They decided that they should stay together to sleep, coming to the decision of which one to sleep in, however, took a great deal of time. They finally decided on the Elven side, with surprisingly little resistance from Froin.

'No, I want to see how an elf would be able to live under a mountain such as these do.' Froin said when she was asked of her opinion and they went in. Her questions were immediately answered when they walked into the new hall.

This hall was clearly made for the elves, with statues and artwork of them. The building tops seemed to flow like water, and were made with such detail that it seemed ageless. The buildings and artwork, though, were not the most amazing thing.

In the center stood a small forest, with a very large tree growing right in the middle of it. It had yet to touch the ceiling, but it was the largest tree any of them had ever encountered. In the branches of this forest, they could see many lights and more buildings, built in the regular elvish fashion. When they looked up they found large holes cut out of the mountainside, giving light to the forest, and an underground stream flowed freely through it. When they looked at the ground they found that deep layers of dirt had been laid down from the forest floor, and the trees grew from this dirt. The elves lived in an underground forest, a shadow of Mirkwood's former glory.

'Genius…' Relnik whispered in awe at seeing the place, but they could not say a word, for they were still taking it in.

'How many elves are there left in Middle-earth?' Teredon asked after a moment and Dweller started walking further inside.

'It seems many of the Mirkwood elves did not leave, as did their prince. There are few less here than when Mirkwood was at the beginning of the third age.' She said, and they made their way to the forest.

It did not take long for them to do so, and when they came under the first tree they could hear murmurs of elves above their heads. When they walked in the murmurs immediately ceased and a voice called out in Sindarin. Relnik answered when they did so, and three elves dropped down in front of them.

'Oh, yes, we were told you might be coming over to this side of the mines.' The first one said and everyone got a good look at him. He was tall and had light-blonde hair.  He looked to the hobbits like Relnik, and when they were being shown to their rooms Brom turned to Ondril.

'I'm afraid I might have a might of trouble telling those two apart.' He said uneasily and Ondril nodded.

'Yes, they do look rather similar, don't they?' he said and they were shown to the places they were to sleep. There was a great stairway that led up the largest tree, and below it were fountains and different levels of the earth.

'Many of us are from Lorien.' The elf explained in the front, 'so we have many things from the great forest here, along with Mirkwood items. There was an item called Galadriel's Mirror, used by the great queen herself. It is said that the Ring Bearer looked into it and saw the destruction of the Shire, and it came to be, though he saved it.' he said and ushered them to climb the stairs.

'I can't help but think this reminds me of something…' Terry said, looking up the stairs, and indeed he was right. Everything in the forest took on characteristics of Lorien. The lighting set off the same eerie silver color, and the elves hair seemed to glow in it's light. The base of the tree looked like the place the original fellowship had slept those many nights in Lorien and there was still uneasiness to the whole place. The elvish way of life seemed to have been preserved perfectly in this underground forest.