Author's Note: Hello all you there in ff.net land! And how are we today? Right then, as you have probably noticed, new chapter, yay! See, I'm being good with the updates so far. So maybe I won't mention school's starting again, oops. Oh well, we'll keep this beast going. Thanks again for the lovely reviews, and we all seem to be of the same mind, what will happen when Legolas shows up with a half-dead Gimli? Hmmmm, guess we have to find out, enjoy!

Chapter Five

The new day had come and was already fading. Legolas was still urging the poor horse on, though the beast was winded and struggling. He hated to treat the animal so, but he could not afford to let it have more than a few paces rest at a time.

Gimli was asleep, no amount of effort put forth by Legolas had been able to keep him awake. But his labored breathing easily testified to the fact that he was still alive, though his fever was also still apparent.

When morning had come Legolas had been of half a mind to turn back to his father's halls when Gimli's fever had reached a high pitch. The dwarf sweltered against the elf's chest and slipped in and out of consciousness and Legolas feared a fast death for his friend.

But then the fever had mercifully fallen and though the dwarf still burned with sickness it was not nearly as bad. So Legolas kept going, hoping the dwarves would know how to treat the spider bite.

When the sun began to sink again the Lonely Mountain was in plain view, rising up as they rode towards it. They would be there in no time, but then a new problem occurred to Legolas. He had no idea where it was in the mountain that the dwarves actually lived.

They made it to the mountain before the sun was completely gone and Legolas pulled the horse to a walk. The horse gratefully dropped its speed and tried to catch its breath.

"Gimli," Legolas gently shook his friend.

Gimli mumbled in his sleep but did not raise his head.

"Gimli," Legolas tried again, shaking him harder. "Gimli, we made it, we are at the Lonely Mountain. Now tell me where your great halls are so I can be jealous."

Gimli perked up at that and he sat up a little, his eyes cracked open. "This is not home," he said and his head dropped again.

Legolas pulled on him. "I know, you have to tell me where your home is."

Gimli reopened his eyes and looked around. "It's no place for a horse," Gimli said suddenly struggling against Legolas' arm. "We have to walk from here."

Legolas very much doubted that Gimli would be able to walk but the dwarf seemed determined and swung his feet over to the side. He would have slid off if Legolas was still not holding onto him.

Deciding it would not cause that much harm, Legolas leapt lightly off of the horse and then helped Gimli down. Gimli kicked at Legolas' assistance and brushed his arms off as soon as his feet hit the ground. He was wide-awake now and would not stand for any help.

Gimli took a step away from the horse and then fell to his knees.

Legolas moved quickly to catch him before he fell all the way down to his face and pulled him back to his feet. "We can walk, but only if you let me help you," Legolas said.

Gimli grumbled but was already moving again so Legolas kept his hands on his shoulders, helping him keep his balance.

Legolas was not sure what to do with the horse, so he gave it a command in elvish to stay. The horse would relish the rest and there was grass and water nearby. He did not know how long the horse would actually stay, but hoped that if the horse did leave he would make his way home.

"So where is your city?" Legolas said.

"Deep where no elf can find it," Gimli replied. "That's one of our secrets. We have many secrets, many secret doors in. But we shall go through the main gates, as there are no more orcs or dragons to bother us. No indeed, we took care of all of them. No Smaug, no Azog, no Bolg. We slew them all and reclaimed our mountains, do not meddle with the dwarves!"

Gimli was rambling again, but Legolas kept his mouth shut. As long as Gimli kept walking and stayed awake, he was fine.

But after Gimli's passionate speech he began to slow and his head began to droop down onto his chest.

"Gimli," Legolas quickly said, "do you know of the first battle of Dale?"

Gimli raised his head again. "Know it? I practically took all the orcs out single-handedly."

"Good," Legolas said, "tell me about it as we make our way to your gates."

The mention of the gates seemed to remind Gimli and he changed his direction slightly. They were now coming to a part of the mountain that was overshadowed and hidden by small crags that jutted out.

"That Bolg thought he could take the mountains after the dragon had been driven out by our people, my father being one of them of course. He thought we would give the mountain up after all that hard work." Gimli reeled out the story and Legolas did not even bother to interject and question the truths behind the facts, a pastime he often saved for Gimli's story telling.

Gimli broke off from his tale. He looked up. "The gates await us," he said.

Legolas looked as well. There was an alcove carved into the mountainside, and two strong gates were closed over an entrance that faded into darkness under the earth.

"What was the password again?" Gimli looked over at Legolas. "What did Gandalf say it was again?"

Legolas blinked. "What password?"

Gimli was impatient. "You were there! The password that opened the secret doors that nobody can find."

"That was at the mines of Moria," Legolas said slowly.

"Yes yes," Gimli said. "What was the word? You should know, it's in your tongue!"

Legolas looked dismayed over at the closed gates. "Why are there no guards posted?"

"Don't need guards for a secret passageway, it's a secret," Gimli told him.

"I thought you said we were to go to the main gate."

"You brought us to the wrong side," Gimli said irritably. "So now we have to go in through the mines. What is the word?"

Legolas sighed. "Mellon," he said.

"That's it!" Gimli cried and ran up to the gates with his arms outstretched. "Mellon!"

Legolas surveyed the gates. It looked as though nobody had used this passageway in some time. The ground had not been disturbed around it, revealing no tracks from the gates being pulled open.

"I do not think that's the right word," Legolas said, his eyes taking in the large padlock that was keeping the gates held tightly together. "I do not think we need a word at all."

Gimli sat down. "Then we'll just wait for Gandalf." He looked accusingly at Legolas. "He'll know the right word."

"We need a key," Legolas said, "do you know who holds the keys?"

Gimli waved his hand. "We don't use the keys anymore."

Legolas suppressed a frustrated cry. He had a strong idea that Gimli would be no help in getting them to the main gates, so they had to go in through this way if Legolas hoped to get any help to Gimli quickly. It would take him more than a few days to round the entire mountain looking for the main gates on his own.

Legolas looked around and saw that there were plenty of rocks on the ground. Picking up a sizeable one, Legolas went to the gates and brought the rock down with all the force he could muster onto the lock.

The rock shattered, but the lock did not suffer at all.

Legolas dropped the remains of the rock and shook his hands. The reverberations from the force had jolted his hands and arms painfully. He should have known that the dwarves would make their gates and locks out of the toughest metals they could come up with. No rock was going to damage it.

Legolas looked over at Gimli to see if he had any ideas. The dwarf was slumped over on the ground, his recent energy quickly spent. His breathing was once again sounding difficult.

"Gimli?" Legolas went to him and crouched down. He touched his shoulder, "Gimli?"

The dwarf did not move a muscle.

Legolas felt panic starting to rise within him and he had to strive to suppress it before clearing his head. Legolas sat back on his heels and tried to think of what to do. He had not brought his friend this far only to have him die at the gates.

Legolas' eyes fell on one of Gimli's axes.

Normally, the dwarf never allowed anybody else to so much as touch one of his axes. But as Legolas looked at the padlock again and again thought that the dwarves had especially made it, he began to think that the only way to break it might be with a weapon made by the dwarves.

Legolas reached over and took the axe from off of Gimli's back. The dwarf did not stir.

Legolas stood, feeling the weight of it in his hands. He had a sudden thought of what might happen if the axe broke. Gimli would be really upset with him. But then Legolas figured he wouldn't be alive if Legolas didn't get them in anyway, so Gimli would have to deal with it.

Legolas held the shaft with both of his hands and swung it back. After a small pause, he brought it down fast and hard on the lock.

The impact took Legolas by surprise and he was jolted so hard he dropped the axe. As he did so something flew at him and struck him across his brow. Legolas stumbled back and put a hand to his forehead, his vision swimming for a moment.

When he could see straight again Legolas dropped his hand and found it smeared with blood. He looked to see what had struck him and saw that the axe had broken through the padlock. But perhaps he had used more force than was necessary, for the axe was notched and the padlock had splintered as it broke, sending chunks of metal airborne.

Legolas counted it as a small loss and moved quickly, picking up the axe and removing what was left of the lock from the gate and then pushing against it. The hinges squealed in protest but they slowly opened. When there was enough room for them to get through Legolas turned back to Gimli.

He shook him again. "Gimli, we have to go now."

The dwarf still did not move, did not even mumble in his sleep.

Legolas wasted no time and crouched down before pulling his friend over onto his left shoulder. When the dwarf was situated, Legolas slowly stood and found his balance. Gimli proved to be a lot heavier than Legolas thought and he imagined that he weighed more than the elf even.

But Legolas only locked his muscles and started off through the gates and into the dark halls that awaited him.

After stumbling in the halls for little more than a half-hour, Legolas felt his strength quickly waning. And the shoulder that bore Gimli's weight was protesting against the heavy load.

But he could not stop to try to reposition his hold on Gimli. The light from outside had faded almost as soon as Legolas was in the hall leaving him in darkness that even his keen eyes had difficulty seeing through. All he could make out were the dim shapes of the walls rising up around him and he could sense that he was well within the mountain. But his biggest fear was that he would soon get lost in the tunnels. There had not been that many forks in the path yet, but so far Legolas had chosen to turn right every time, figuring if he was wrong he might be able to easily retrace his steps.

Legolas stumbled over something on the ground. He fought to steady his balance and then continued, going more slowly and carefully now, trying to feel the path with his feet since his eyes could not tell him what was there.

Deepening silence began to press down on Legolas. The combination of no sound with no light made the elf start to panic, he hated the dark and he began to feel as though the walls around him were getting smaller.

And then Legolas realized why there was silence.

Before, the loud efforts of Gimli's breathing had kept him company. But now that had stopped.

"Gimli," Legolas shifted his hold and went to his knees, laying Gimli down on the floor. His wide eyes could barely make out Gimli's form. "Gimli," Legolas said again, lightly slapping his face.

Legolas bent over his friend, bringing his ear close to Gimli's chest. He could not hear any breath or the pumping of his heart.

"Gimli, no," Legolas' panic began to take over, and this time he did not bother to check it.

Legolas shook Gimli hard, trying to think of what Elrond or Aragorn would do in such a situation. But Legolas had no idea how to restart a heart that had stopped beating.

Frustrated tears began to spill down the elf's cheeks. "Gimli!" he called over and over. In desperation, he began to hit Gimli's chest, trying to wake his friend up.

"Gimli!"