Mornie Alantië
By: Koi

The Elvish I use I got from a phrase list. You can download the list here: http://www.grey-company.org
There's some great stuff on this page, including an English-Elvish dictionary (for Adobe Acrobat)

Chapter Three

It was pitch dark walking through the corridors, and not even Usagi's sharp eyesight was of much use. She stayed near the back of the line, next to Legolas. A bit of light came from ahead as Gandalf lit up the crystal on his staff. Everyone blinked, adjusting to the sudden brightness, then gasped as they took in their surroundings.

"Behold! The great realm of the Dwarven city of Dwarrowdelf." Gandalf said, gesturing around them.

Sam's mouth dropped open. "Well, that's an eye-opener, no mistake!" He said. And indeed it was, a monstrous cavern with giant stone pillars reaching high up to the ceiling.

But Gimli, unlike the others, wasn't gaping at the immense structures. He was instead focused on a small doorway that was before them. A white light shone out from it, the sun having lit it up through a small window. He gave a cry and ran forward suddenly.

"Gimli!" Gandalf shouted, but the Dwarf wasn't listening. He disappeared into the room, forcing the others to follow him. They found him kneeling before a tomb of white stone and grieving. The wizard ran a hand over the inscribed words, reading them aloud. "Here lies Balin, son of Hrundin, Lord of Moria." He paused, looking down at Gimli. "He is dead then. It is as I feared."

Usagi was about to open her mouth to ask him what he feared when Legolas spoke up. "We must move on. We cannot linger here." He said, shifting uneasily from his spot by the door.

Gandalf ignored him and picked up a large, rotting book that had been held by a skeleton. He flipped through a few pages towards the end before he began to read it out loud. "They have taken the bridge, and the second hall. The ground shakes. We have barred the gates, but cannot hold them for long. A shadow moves in the dark. Drums, drums in the deep." He turned the page again. "We cannot get out. We cannot get out. They are coming.

There was silence for a second, which was suddenly interrupted by a very loud clanging sound. All heads turned in time to see the Hobbit, Pippin, accidentally cause another skeleton to fall down the well it was perched on. The skeleton was then followed by a metal chain and a bucket, all of which banged and rattled loudly. Everyone tensed as the sounds finally stopped.

"Fool of a Took! Next time, throw yourself in, and rid us of your stupidity!" Gandalf finally said. He glared at the young Hobbit, but relaxed a little as the silence continued, thinking they were safe for the time being.

Another sound began then, like drums pounding in the distance. Frodo was nudged in the shoulder and looked down to see his sword, Sting, glowing a pale blue.

Legolas hissed, knowing what the lit up blade meant. "Orcs." He said.

Boromir rushed to the door and poked his head out, quickly pulling it back in as two arrows hit the door next to him. "They have a cave troll." He said not-too-happily. He pulled the door shut and grabbed a weapon, using it to hold the door shut.

Aragorn, in the mean time, moved the Hobbits towards the back of the room. "Stay back, close to Gandalf." He said hurriedly.

Usagi grabbed one of the dead Dwarfs weapons and tossed it to Boromir, who then used it to bar the door. As the sounds grew closer, she retreated to the middle of the room and drew an arrow to her bow, aiming it at the door.

Behind her, Gimli jumped up on the tomb, his ax in hand. "Let them come!" He said. "There is one Dwarf in Moria who still draws breath!"

The noise outside the door grew louder, and holes began to appear in the wooden door where the Orcs were breaking through.

As soon as a large enough crack had been made in the door, Usagi let an arrow fly through it. A shriek told her that her arrow had hit. Legolas and Aragorn followed her example, loosing arrows through the tiny openings and hitting their mark each time. But the force on the other side was too much, and the door burst open. Orcs flooded the room, their hideous shouts echoing in the chamber.

Usagi soon found herself desperately fighting of hordes of Orcs, trying to keep out of the way of the small battle with the Cave Troll that was going on behind her. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a wisp of blond hair. It was Legolas, firing arrow after arrow at the giant monster. None of them were doing much damage, though.

Then her attention was back on the Orcs. Her arrows were spent, and her short sword was covered in a red-black blood. The hobbits, too, had joined in the fight, though where the Ring bearer was she knew not.

The next thing anyone knew, a hoarse shout called out and all heads turned to see the Troll removing its spear after stabbing Frodo in the chest. The hobbit fell, eyes wide and gasping for breath.

Everything happened at once. Merry and Pippin ran at the Troll, attacking it with their swords, and were thrown off. The Troll reared up for an instant, in which Legolas drew and arrow and fired. The arrow struck the monster in its mouth and the Troll fell, causing a cloud of dust to rise around it.

There was little movement, just the final Orcs being killed off. Usagi sheathed her short sword and turned around widely. Her eyes rested on the only fallen person, and a cry rose in her throat. "Frodo!"

The others were making their way over to the Hobbit's side as well. It was Aragorn who reached it first, and he rolled the small body over- and gasped. Frodo's eyes were wide open and he was breathing deeply. He sat up, shaking his head, and gingerly touched his shirt where he'd been hit.

"He'd alive" Sam exclaimed, rushing to his master's side.

Frodo nodded. "I'm all right." He said softly. "I'm not hurt."

Usagi frowned. "You should be dead." She pointed out. "That spear would have skewered a wild boar!"

"I think there is more to this hobbit than meets the eye." Gandalf said from behind her. He gestured to Frodo, who opened his shirt to reveal a shining silver vest.

"Mithril!" Gimli's eyes were wide. "You are full of surprises, Mr. Baggins."

Usagi opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by the sounds of more shrieks and hundreds of footsteps. "More Orcs." She hissed.

The wizard grabbed his staff and pointed to the door. "To the Bridge of Khazad-dum!" He said.

~(-*-)~

I'm ending it here, because (as those of you who have seen the movie will know), the next scene is VERY important. If you haven't seen the movie or read the book, prepare for some serious spoilers ahead.

Uh... Congrats to the LotR people for their wins at the Oscars... ummmmm (mumbles) damn Academy. They refused tickets to Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, and Dominic Monaghen so that they couldn't go to the ceremony. Really pisses me off...

Oh!!! If you haven't seen the LotR movie (for the first time or again) since the 29th of March, then go see it!!! They added a 3 1/2 minute trailer at the end for the Two Towers this December. It is beyond cool.

Let's see... thanks go to Li Raeth, Azra, Jan-chan, Tenshi, and every single person who reviewed... Lot's of thanks...

~Koi~