DISCLAIMER – I don't own any of Tolkien's characters or Middle Earth place names etc

Druluk tramped along the narrow mountain track. It was probably made by a deer, but since he was navigating he thought it best to march along as though he knew perfectly well where he was going. He had perhaps over estimated his knowledge of the location of this particular entrance to the Mines of Moria, but he was fairly sure that they had climbed the right mountain at least. And he was extremely glad to be away from the rest of the new Orc Republic, if only for a short time. The overwhelming sense of responsibility which he had felt upon hearing those words: 'Your revolution,' had been lessened only slightly by Jorrig being elected leader. It was still his revolution, and he hated the responsibility. And he hated himself for that.

But now there was a task he could focus on. And once again he was back following orders. After the election, after Jorrig had come to terms with what had happened, he had called a meeting. They had all agreed that the most pressing need was to find somewhere safe to form a temporary settlement. And Druluk had searched his memory of the various maps he had seen within Saruman's library. The phrase Mines of Moria had drifted up from the recesses of his mind. Orcs had certainly lived there once. It could be the perfect home for the Orc Republic. So he had enthusiastically put the idea forward, and Jorrig had, naturally enough, sent him and Ylfronir to reconnoitre. The rest of the party had camped at the foot of the mountain.

'Are you sure we came the right way?'

'Yes!'

'It's just that I don't see any sign of an entrance,'

'It's a secret doorway, Ylfronir, that's the point. If there was a big sign saying mines of Moria this way it wouldn't be very secret…'

'…sshh!'

'What? You were the one who…'

'ssshh!'

Druluk grudgingly stopped talking, and let Ylfronir do his listening thing. If it hadn't come in useful in the past, these highly strung elvish senses could have got a bit annoying…

…Ylfronir shook his head,

'No, it's nothing...'

…as a rope lasso whirred through the air and tightened around Druluk's chest, pinning his arms to his sides

'Nothing?!'

Druluk struggled but the rope just seemed to tighten further. But Ylfronir wasn't coming to his assistance, instead he was staring at the rope

'I could use some help here…'

But Ylfronir wasn't listening,

'Nathradril?' he called into the trees

'Who the hell…' began Druluk

'Ylfronir!' cried a female voice, and Druluk heard a rustling from the tree behind him. He craned his neck round, and saw an elfwoman climbing down, holding the other end of the rope which had lassooed him in her teeth. When she reached the ground, she cast it aside and darted over to Ylfronir.

'I thought it was you, but I hadn't seen you in so long that I couldn't be sure!'

'What are you doing here, Nath? Mirkwood's miles away!'

'Long story…So much has happened since you left, Ylfronir. Legolas…'

'Oh I've seen Legolas, in Fangorn…'

'Fangorn?'

Druluk felt that this had gone far enough,

'Excuse me,' he said pointedly, 'do I get an introduction?'

The elves turned,

'Sorry Druluk!', exclaimed Ylfronir, 'this is Nathradril, from Mirkwood. She's one of the founders of MEND in fact, if you remember me saying…'

'You know him?' asked Nathradril, with a hint of horror that, Druluk had to give her credit for, she seemed to be trying to hide,

'Yes…another long story. This is Druluk.'

'I'd shake your hand,' said Druluk, 'only…'

'Oh, sorry!' Nathradril seemed only then to remember the rope. She picked up the trailing end, and with a flick of the wrist the lassoo fell free. Druluk couldn't help but be a little impressed.

'I thought…well…you know, goblins don't usually get on with elves, and I thought…'

'It's orc,' said Ylfronir

'Oh…right…Well, sorry, Druluk…'

Druluk nodded graciously, then picked up the rope to examine it himself. 'I've never seen a rope like this before…what's it made of?'

'Hair.'

'Nice…' said Druluk, letting the rope drop quickly, 'good idea that…'

'Anyway,' Ylfronir drew Nathradril's attention back, 'You still haven't told me what you're doing here…'

'It looks to me like you've got a tale to tell yourself…'

Druluk could see how the next few hours were going to pan out. He sat down wearily against a tree trunk and dug out the stone bottle which had held entwash but now just carried water from his pack. Taking a sip, he settled back to listen to Nathradril's story.

'You remember, Ylfronir, how we had a plan to seize one of the rings of power...'

Druluk pricked up his ears at this, and looked at Ylfronir with a questioning smirk. The elf had the decency to look a little embarrassed, and said quickly

'To bestow upon an elected leader of course…'

'Well, yes, but we thought we ought to get hold of one first…' continued Nathradril,

'Naturally,' agreed Druluk. The sarcasm seemed lost on Nathradril, but Ylfronir sent him a withering look. The elfwoman continued:

'Well, you will know that the three Elven rings are held by Elrond, Galadriel and Mithrandir. I volunteered to go to Lothlorien, integrate myself into the household of the Lady Galadriel and attempt to gain access to the ring…'

'A daring plan!' exclaimed Ylfronir,

'Not the word I'd use…' muttered Druluk to himself,

'I left over 3 months ago. At the same time, Legolas and several others set out for Rivendell, on a matter of some grave importance, though I know not what…'

'And you didn't feel inclined to go with him to Rivendell?'

Druluk thought he could detect a note of resentment in Ylfronir's voice,

'No, we had a plan, and I stuck to it…'

'As you always do…'

Now there was definitely sarcasm, Druluk was intrigued, as Nathradril said

'When are you going to let that go?'

'When you stop compromising our cause with your infatuation with a certain member of the aristocracy!'

'Oh, you're one to talk about compromising the cause! Leaving over some ridiculous business with escaping prisoners…'

'I left so as not to tarnish the rest of you…'

'You left because you can't bear to make a mistake…'

'At least I recognise my own mistakes…'

Druluk, much as he had been enjoying this little exchange, felt an intervention might be called for,

'So did you get the ring?' he asked,

The elves turned, stared at him blankly for a second, then Nathradril replied:

'No.'

Ylfronir did not say anything, but rolled his eyes knowingly. Nathradril narrowed hers,

'I could have stolen the ring of the Lady Galdriel, and plunged the whole of Lothlorien into disarray, at the same time as gaining a name for myself and the whole of our movement as dissident thieving traitors…But fortune threw another option into my path…'

Druluk could see that Ylfronir was paying attention now.

'A few weeks ago, some travellers arrived in the Golden Wood. Eight of them in fact, and Legolas was among their number…'

Ylfronir sighed noisily, but Nathradril seemed to ignore this

'Legolas, Aragorn, a man named Boromir, a dwarf named Gimli and four hobbits. They were on a journey, a quest of great danger. A quest which had already claimed the life of one of their travelling companions…A quest which had claimed the life of…Mithrandir.'

Druluk didn't know who Mithrandir was, other than that his name had been listed by Nathradril as one of the ring bearers, but he could see that Ylfronir was deeply perplexed at this,

'When did you say this happened?'

'About two weeks ago. I realised at once what I must do...'

'But…'

'I must find his body, and reclaim the ring for all elves!'

'But…'

'I spoke to Legolas. He told me that Mithrandir fell into shadow in Moria, locked in combat with a Balrog…I've been looking for an entrance to the mines…the Bridge of Khazad Dum should be easy enough to find, then all I've got to do is climb into the abyss and…'

'But he's alive!' blurted out Ylfronir at last, 'I saw him in Fangorn!'

'What?'

'I saw Mithrandir, and Legolas, and Aragorn, and a dwarf in Fangorn a mere 6 days ago!'

'You must have been mistaken…'

'I know what I saw! Druluk, you remember, when we climbed that tree…'

'Oh yes!' agreed Druluk, 'when you though the Nazgul were after us!'

Nathradil smiled,

'Paranoid as ever, Ylfronir?'

Ylfronir ignored this,

'Druluk, the old man? Do you remember, the old man, in the white cloak?'

Even now those words triggered in Druluk's mind the thought of Saruman, but he managed to remain focussed on the present moment…

'I…I was trying not to fall out of the tree…' he admitted. 'But I caught a glimpse of an old man…'

'You see?' said Ylfronir triumphantly,

'But it's impossible! Legolas…'

'Legolas must have got it wrong.'

'Or you got it wrong…'

Druluk could feel the evening chill starting to put an edge on the air. They really ought to get a move on if they wanted to find the mines before dark…

'Look, does it really matter?' he interjected,

'Matter?' cried the elves in unified horror,

'I mean, even if he is dead, and you could find his body without getting yourself killed…and that's a big if', he added privately, 'what good is a ring going to do you?'

'It's a ring of power,' said Nathradril, as if explaining to a small child,

'No, it's a ring,' said Druluk flatly. 'What would you do with it, if you found it?'

'Take it back to Mirkwood, and hold an election to see who gets to hold it…'

'And…?'

'And whoever got to hold it would be our leader…'

'So you would vote for whoever you thought would be a good leader.'

'Yes,'

'And then having the ring would make them an even better leader?'

'No, having the ring would give them power…'

'So you would only do what this leader said if they had a ring?'

'Um…'

'And you would do whatever they said, as long as they had the ring?'

'Well…' Nathradril turned to Ylfronir, and asked 'Is he always like this?'

'No,' said Ylfronir, slowly,

Druluk sighed, and stood up. He was about to stomp off into the trees, when he heard Ylfronir continue:

'No…Sometimes he's wrong.'

This seemed to silence even Nathradril.

Ylfronir went on

'We are looking for an entrance to the mines too, as it happens. You can come along if you like. If you want to look for Mithrandir's body that's fine, but it will be a wasted search.'

Nathradril silently picked up her rope and began to coil it. Druluk glared at Ylfronir, conveying via his knitted brow that:

'Some consultation would have been nice!' The elf looked embarrassed, he gave an apologetic shrug, as if to say:

'I hardly had a choice…'

Nathradril finished coiling the rope and slipped it into a large pocket in her robe.

'Are we off then? Which way?'

'Druluk's the expert,' said Ylfronir.

Druluk carefully arranged his expression so as to appear self assured with a hint of superiority…

'Are you OK?' asked Ylfronir,

…and stalked off in the first direction which occurred to him.

……………..

It was getting dark. It seemed that Ylfronir's doubts about Druluk's sense of direction had been vindicated.

'This is the tree I hid in when I first saw you!' exclaimed Nathradril, 'you've led us in a huge circle!'

'It just looks like that tree…' insisted Druluk

'Excuse me, I come from Mirkwood, I know trees…'

'And I know...'

'Where we are?'

'Well…'

'Where we're going?'

'Um…'

Ylfronir grinned to himself, if his two companions wanted to continue directing their frustrations at each other that was fine by him…

'Ylfronir?'

…but, alas, it could not last. He pretended not to have heard,

'Ylfronir'

He craned his neck to look back, but carried on walking slowly forwards,

'What?'

and suddenly no ground met his foot. He flung his arms out to either side, and teetered for a moment on the edge of the pit beneath him, before falling forward, to crash on his knees at its stone lined base.

'Ylfronir!' He heard Druluk run to the pit, and scramble down beside him, as the pain registered itself

'I'm OK,' he said, teeth gritted,

'Are you sure…?'

Ylfronir slowly shifted himself to a seated position, wincing as he moved his legs.

'Nothing broken...'

He bit one side of his lower lip and concentrated on that instead. Druluk had the sense to leave him alone. The orc stood up and called to Nathradril

'I think Ylfronir's found what we're looking for…'

It was indeed an entrance to a tunnel- at first a tunnel through the earth, walls and floor lined with fist sized pieces of flint, then later a tunnel hewed into the stone heart of the mountain itself. They made their way slowly along, Druluk leading the way since he felt the most at home in the near pitch darkness. Ylfronir could barely see anything, and brought up the rear, feeling his way along the walls. When they first entered, the tunnel had been so small that the two elves had had to walk with stooped backs, but it had become tall enough that Ylfronir could stand upright, a welcome change. The floor beneath their feet had been sloping gently downhill all the way. They had been walking for what seemed like hours, and Ylfronir didn't like to think of how deep they were beneath the ground.

'Nathradril?' he called,

'What?'

'Are you alright?'

'Excuse me?'

'It's just, you know, I thought you might be feeling claustrophobic…'

She didn't deign to reply. Ylfronir sighed, and tried to think about the rolling plains of Rohan or the leafy paradise that was Mirkwood. It was funny but the tunnels of Saruman's underground installation hadn't felt this oppressive. It was the pitch darkness, he decided, it had to be. At least at Isengard there had been torches on the walls…

…suddenly his eyes were filled with bright yellow light. They closed on reflex but coloured shapes still danced on the inside of his eyelids and he staggered, falling onto one knee, which opened up his wound and sent a shockwave of pain through his body. Forcing his eyes open he saw the passageway ahead, now filled with orcs, several holding flaring torches. He saw Nathradril draw her bow in one smooth motion, but Druluk pushed her backwards and the arrow flew uselessly to glance off the ceiling.

There was a moment of complete stillness as everyone stared at Druluk, who took a deep breath.

'We're not here to…' he began, but never got to finish his sentence. The assembled orcs rushed forwards as one. Ylfronir fumbled for his bow as he saw Nathradril overpowered, Druluk struck to the ground and the orc leading the charge rapidly approaching. But something was not quite right. This orc was different from any that Ylfronir had ever seen. And as he struggled against the hands which grabbed him and wrestled him and crushed him into the rough stone of the passage wall, his brain finally caught up. These were …orc…women…