Chapter 9, The Bridge of Khazad-dŭm
There was a mighty flash of fire as the Balrog fell from the bridge and Gandalf looked down upon him. "RUN GANDALF! GET OUT OF THERE NOW!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. Gandalf obviously took no heed of what I said because he continued to look down. I ran out to him and shouted again, "GANDALF! COME ON!" I was just in reach of grabbing his hand when I heard a loud crack and Gandalf lost his balance. "NO!" He held on to the edge and I tried to grab his hand, but someone was pulling me away. I fought against the strong arms but they were too strong. Gandalf looked at me with eyes full of fear as he slipped. "GANDALF!" I sobbed as the arms took me away, "I'M SORRY! I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry!" Gandalf looked at me one last time and said to me in a saddened voice. "You knew?" He fell off the bridge and into darkness, and I screamed through my sobs. "YES! I'M SO SORRY! FORGIVE ME! FORGIVE ME! COME BACK GANDALF! COME BACK!"
"Yes, I'm so sorry! Come back!" I moaned as someone shook my shoulders. "Come back! Please?"
"You are willing to rise? This is certainly a memorable moment when you actually wish to awaken! Good morning Laura." Boromir answered, and lifted me to my feet. He asked, "Did you sleep well?" I nodded slowly then glanced at Gandalf before moving to pack my things. As I stood, I felt a draft and shivered as I packed; my hands were shaking badly and I fought to keep my teeth from chattering it was so chilly. I changed into my second outfit quietly and so no one saw me; this was warmer than my first one. I used changed outfits every few days, I alternated the two outfits the tailor made for me in Rivendell. At first this seemed the best way to stay hygienic, but after a while the hobbits and Boromir made fun because I was being such a 'girl' about my clothes. At first my major argument was the fact that I am a girl, but that did nothing. I then saw that Legolas' clothes weren't dirty, and he had worn them since we left Rivendell. Then I saw Aragorn who wore non-Elvish clothes. After that I stayed in the same outfit with out changing and kept my spare outfit in my bag.
After I was dressed, I stood and looked to Gandalf who was looking at the three possible passages.
He said in a confident voice, "I do not like the feel of the middle way; and I do not like the smell of the left-hand way: there is foul air down there, or I am no guide. I shall take the right hand passage, for the air does not smell so foul down there." With that, we descended the stairs and began our many hour hike through Moria. As we traveled, the air became warmer and not as dense making it almost bearable; as we moved I felt strange, as if my spirits were lightening yet dampening at the same time. This is where Gandalf is going to perish. I thought to myself, I'm not going to let that happen. We can't go in Balin's tomb, that's where it'll all begin! We must keep moving no matter what. We must have traveled at least twenty miles before we arrived at a dramatic change of scenery. The road we walked on was no longer cracked or crumbling but in good condition; then the walls disappeared from around us. There was a steady breeze that blew through and our footsteps seemed to echo.
"Let me risk a little more light." Gandalf said and brightened the light on his staff. As he did, we saw a great hall upheld by mammoth stone pillars. It seemed to venture on in an endless, black, polished maze.
"This is great city and the realm of the Dwarrowdelf." Gimli said proudly as the light from Gandalf's staff danced on the walls.
"There must have been a mighty crowd of dwarves here at one time," said Sam, "and every one of them busier than badgers for five hundred years to make all this, and most in hard rock too! What did they do it all for? They didn't live in these darksome holes surely?"
"These are not holes!" Said Gimli angrily, "and of old it was not darksome, but full of light and splendour."
"It was, until Moria was overcome by darkness." Gandalf said wearily. I could tell that he was talking about, but remained quiet. We walked on a little further until we passed a grand arch. The doorway was open, and from inside the room a small beam of sunlight shone out.
"Sunlight!" Merry cried out and ran toward the door.
"No come back Merry! We really should keep moving!" but it was too late and the rest of the fellowship followed after him. As we entered, our feet caused the dust on the floor to fly into the air. The sunlight was very bright and I had to squint as I entered because I had been in the dark for so many days. Unidentifiable shapes littered the floor and in the center of the room was a single oblong table; it had a slab of white stone laid upon it. The beam of light passed over the stone and I could see engravings upon it. At that moment, Gimli fell to his knees and began to cry out,
"No! NO!" A had a very bad feeling about this place and began to step backwards, but something tripped me. When I fell I heard a soft crunching as I fell to the floor; I rubbed my eyes that had adjusted and looked around. I saw a bloody, cobweb covered skull staring at me, and I shouted out in fear. I scrambled to my feet and saw that I saw surrounded by tons of dusty and mangled skeletons. I began to scream out but Aragorn ran to me and covered my mouth. I struggled against him but he kept his hand over my mouth.
"Do not cry out again." He said to me softly. I nodded shakily and he removed his hand. I looked at the rest who were looking at the corpses; Legolas pulled out an arrow from a skull and looked at it. Aragorn looked at it too and said, "That is an Orc arrow." Suddenly, I felt dizzy and I moved to a wall where there were no skeletons, I leaned against it thinking, Oh my God, this is Balin's Tomb. This is Balin's Tomb; we have to get out of here now. I feel sick. And with that I vomited on the floor, my stomach heaved as I threw up what little food I had in my stomach. My eyes watered and Aragorn came to my side to rub my back. I stopped and sank to the floor, shaking and achy. I wiped my mouth and Aragorn gave me some water. I drank it and swallowed the bitter taste from my mouth.
"We have to get out of here now." I said plainly. Everyone looked to me, I felt so exposed and vulnerable as they looked at me, I had just thrown up in front of them and now I was "prophesizing" that we should get out.
"Can you not let him morn?" an angry voice said, it was Boromir. "He has lost a member of his family, can you not let him grieve? I do not remember appointing you to lead us young one." I looked at him angrily and said, with out shouting,
"If we do not leave now there will be people morning for OUR deaths! We must go!" Boromir was quiet, and so was the rest. "Come on! We need to leave!"
"Yes," Legolas said, "we mustn't linger."
"We cannot get out. We cannot get out." Gandalf's voice said over ours. I looked and saw that he had just picked up a dusty book and was reading from it. "They have taken the Bridge and second hall. Frár and Lóni and Náli fell there…The watcher in the water took "in. We cannot get out. The end comes,…drums, drums in the deep…they are coming. There is nothing more written." With that Gandalf closed the book and laid it upon the tomb. I looked to Gandalf and said quite seriously,
"We must leave, now." Just then there was a loud clamor that made me jump. I looked up, by a nearby well stood Pippin with all of Gandalf's things. The clanging rang out for a few seconds then stopped. Everyone was quiet as Gandalf scolded Pippin.
"Fool of a Took! Throw yourself in next time and rid us of your stupidity!"
"We must leave," Aragorn said, "we make back for the hall. We cannot stop."
"I now know where we are," Gandalf said quickly, "our visit here was not in vain. We should leave by the eastern arch of the hall and bear right and south. Come now, back to the hall!" As we began to exit I looked up the small skylight and felt a sense of helplessness and withdrawal. I began to think that it was too late for Gandalf. I could not stop fate although I tried.
"It is too late," I whispered, "too late." With that Legolas came to me and said,
"Come now! We must make haste." I looked at him with tired eyes and said,
"It's too late now." He looked at me with concerned eyes and I finished slowly, "they're coming, they're still coming and I could do nothing." I had hardly finished saying those words when there came a great echoing noise: a resonant Boom that seemed to rumble in the depths of the earth. Legolas grabbed my arm and dragged me towards the door. Boom, doom the sound came again as if someone was pounding an ominous drum somewhere in the depths of Moria. As the fellowship stood outside the tomb, a great horn was blown in the halls and was soon answered by many others. I heard familiar cries and screeches echoing in the halls and I looked to Frodo. He saw me and drew Sting; the blade glowed brightly.
"Orcs!" Legolas said.
"Get back in the tomb! Get back in! It's the only place!" I said and we ran back in the doors. We ran back in side, and Boromir looked out through the doors; immediately two arrows whizzed by his head and stuck in the door. Aragorn looked to the hobbits and shouted,
"Get Back! Stay Close to Gandalf!" He then turned to me and asked quickly, "are you alright, can you fight. If not, go with the-"
"No, I am fine, I can fend for myself." I interrupted. He nodded and began to help wedge the thin wood doors shut by jamming axes and anything we could spare in the door. I drew my sword and stood tall beside Legolas and Aragorn, who had their bows ready. As we heard the scratching of Orcs on the doors Aragorn looked to me and said lightly,
"You know, we never really trained you how to use a bow and arrow, perhaps-"
"If you say what I think your going to say," I said as I looked strait at the door in front of me, "I pray for your sake that those Orcs get to you before I do…understand?"
"Indisputably." Aragorn replied, I could tell he was smiling by the way of his voice, and I heard Legolas laugh slightly. Behind me there was an angry growl, and I heard Gimli climb up on his cousin's tomb.
"Let them come!" he bellowed, "There is one dwarf yet in Moria that still draws breath!" I stood and readied my sword trying to remember everything Aragorn had taught me. Once I thought about it, I had no idea what I was getting myself into, I had fought off really big dogs, and beside that, I had no experience. At once a small chunk of the door was broken through. Legolas shot and the arrow went directly into the hole. There was a loud shriek and I shivered, it sounded a lot like back in Isengard, but this time, I was armed.
The door broke down and hordes of armored Orcs came fighting through. Immediately one came directly for me, the Orc swung and missed; I took advantage of this and cut off its arm. After that I ran to the stairs, and they followed; I had to get the upper ground, I needed an advantage. I stood on the stairs and fended off the Orcs one by one. As I fought, my own words echoed in my head, "It's too late, it's too late." I became frustrated and angry as I heard these words and I fought even harder. More Orcs were coming to where I was, because I was a woman, easy prey; however, as the numbers soon became over whelming Boromir moved to the stairs to help me. He wielded his sword well, and killed many as I began to get the hang of targeting the weak spots. The necks and the shoulders were the weakest place and I could cut through them cleanly.
Soon I heard a large roar and the rumbling of stone; I could see small chunks of rock tumbling from the walls from the vibration. Suddenly, the cave troll came, and knocked most of the Orcs to the ground. Many of them were crushed by the massive beast, which left only two or three Orcs for Boromir and myself to take care of. I killed the remaining Orc in front of me and looked to the troll, it was swinging its chain about his head, using it as a whip. As Boromir killed his Orc I shouted,
"Boromir! Get down!" But it was too late; the chain had already hit him, flinging him across the room. I saw him hit a pillar hard then fall to the floor, "Boromir!" I called out and tried to run to him, but another Orc attacked me. I jumped a way from his first swing then blocked his second attack. He was swift and after that I could only fend his attacks. He finally parried my sword so it was pinned against a nearby wall. I used my free hand to punch that nasty thing in the face; it hit him squarely causing him to let go of my sword, then I punched him again causing him to step away from me. I looked up quickly and saw the troll now had a spear and swept Aragorn off his feet into a nearby wall. I shouted out, "NO! ARAGORN!" when I should have never taken my eye off the Orc. He drew from his armor a long dagger, and as I yelled he sliced at me twice. I was able to dodge the first slice but the slightly grazed my left forearm. I took a step back and swung at him once more, but he blocked it with his sword and slashed at my stomach with his dagger. In a single moment, I felt a burn cross under my rib as his sword left a shallow sear across my upper stomach. I grunted as I stumbled back and tripped on the steps.
"Laura!" I heard someone yell from across the chamber. The Orc laughed loudly at me and as he laughed, I plunged my sword into his stomach and twisted it. Blood spilled out of the Orc's mouth as he fell on the ground in front of me. "Ha…ha." I spat at him in between breaths. My waist stung badly and I could feel the separation of my skin; I could feel it bleeding. I winced as I stood and moments later I saw the troll fall to the floor dead. I walked down the stair and saw everyone coming together; I leaned against the wall to catch my breath and saw that everyone was all right.
"Mithril! You are full of surprises Master Baggins!" I heard Gimli exclaim.
"Is every one alright?" Aragorn asked as he left Frodo and stood. But before anyone could answer the clamor of armor and screeching Orcs echoed through the door.
"To the bridge of Khazad-dŭm!" Gandalf shouted. With that, we all fled the chamber. Orcs appeared everywhere, they came from the cracks in the walls and floors, they came from the ceiling, they came from every open space in those halls and surrounded us on all sides. I looked in fear as the Orcs cried out and growled at us. I looked at one, who saw the blood covering my body and licked his slimy lips. I growled back and spit at him, causing some of the Orcs to screech and cry out excitedly. I stood close to the hobbits as the Orcs circled closer. Suddenly an earthy roar echoed violently through the hall, and all the Orcs scattered. When they fled my heart began to pound in my chest, I knew what this meant. A red light dusted the walls of the great hall and great footsteps pounded against the floor.
"What is this new devilry?" Boromir asked. I looked ahead as Gandalf replied,
"A Balrog." Gandalf paused. "A demon of the ancient world. This foe is beyond any of you. Run!" We didn't spare a moment as we ran like hell from the halls. We came to a gapped declining stair and leapt over it. Legolas leapt first over the gap and then Gandalf. I was then thrown across as was Sam and the other hobbits. Everyone got across all right until the stair's gap broke further and Aragorn and Frodo remained. With luck they finally crossed and we ran on to Khazad-dŭm.
I never saw the beast, I could only hear it behind us as we ran. Finally the stone bridge was before us and I crossed with the others then turned back to make sure Merry and Sam crossed the bridge. Behind them stood Gandalf on the bridge, facing the Balrog. It stretched and flame erupted from all over its body; it was so immense that even I felt the heat. The creature was terrifying and the heat that radiated from it made the air hard to breathe.
"Gandalf!" I screamed and tried to go him, but Boromir held me back as I fought to return to the bridge.
"No! Do not go!" Boromir yelled at me.
"Let GO of me!" I shouted as I fought both Boromir and the strong stings of the cut in my stomach that I had forgotten about. I could hear Gandalf finishing his incantation; the bridge cracked and the Balrog fell into darkness. There was a great flash of fire as the Balrog fell from the bridge and Gandalf looked down. I broke free of Boromir and ran towards the bridge. "RUN GANDALF! GET OUT OF THERE NOW!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. Gandalf looked at me then began to walk away from the edge. I ran to him as I shouted again, "GANDALF! COME ON!" He was only three steps away from the edge when I heard a loud crack; a fiery whip wrapped around Gandalf's leg, dragging him downward. "NO!" He slipped and landed on the edge. He grasped vainly for any hold and found none. I continued toward him and cried out, "NO! Hold on!" but two strong hands came and dragged me backwards. Gandalf looked at me with fearful eyes as he slipped. "GANDALF!" I cried as the arms tore me away, I glanced back and it was Legolas taking me. I fought violently to break free of his hold but did not prevail. I stopped fighting briefly and looked back at Gandalf.
"Fly you fools!" he shouted and was gone.
"Gandalf! GANDALF! NO!" I screamed out madly. I fought against Legolas' arms even though they dug into the cut on my stomach. Tears burned in my eyes as I sobbed and fought to go back to the bridge. Legolas put me over his shoulder and carried me up the stairs as we left Moria; I beat his back and kicked wildly to get free but I soon stopped out of exhaustion and grief. When we left Moria, we didn't stop until we were out of bowshot from the walls. The sunlight shone on my cold and darkness-ridden body but it offered me no comfort. We came to tall grasses and Legolas laid me down gently. I failed so miserably that I could not restrain myself from sobbing. My stomach and heart hurt in a painful unison that it was hard for me to face myself let alone anyone else in the fellowship. Aragorn came to me and said softly,
"You are hurt. Let me help." I did not move. He touched my arm and I said,
"Leave me."
Aragorn stood and replied,
"We must move. If you wish to walk with wounds unattended
then you may, but we must leave. By
nightfall these hills will be swarming with Orcs." He grabbed my good arm and lifted me to my feet. As he yelled,
"Legolas, Boromir, get them up!" One by one we all stood and were ready for
travel. Aragorn still took the time to
re-bandage my arm and wrap the gash on my waist after I had barked at him because
he said it was for the best. When he
was finished I hugged and thanked him.
He nodded and we finally made our way.
Finally after traveling four days in dark and cold and losing our guide
and friend to the abyss, Moria had set us loose.
