Hey guys! I know Devious-WildChild wrote this first, and yes! It is the same person here, don't worry! I took off my stories to edit them a little bit, then my account went all crazy and I couldn't get back into it to post them back on. So I had to make a new account. Lucky I'd already taken my stories off in my other account eh? 

Anyway, so here it is. There are a few more chapters that I've added, so enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters apart from the Phoenix.

Ps. I've created the character of the Phoenix based mostly on stuff I've made up and stuff that I already know. It might not be really much like what a real Phoenix is like, but hey this is my story, and I make what happens here! XD

Pss. To those who have read it before, I've realised how Mary-Sue-Ish it was and I've done my best to try and reverse it!

Thanks for the reviews wolfielee123321 and untouchable1400 I'd almost given up on the story but your review inspired me to write more! Thanks!

Chapter Eight

The Mines of Moria

Gandalf led the way back form the Pass of Caradhras to the Mines of Moria. The sun had already set, and the moon was high, the night sky was scattered with many brightly shining stars. By now, all members of the fellowship were almost asleep on their feet, as they had been walking all day since sunrise.

Gandalf managed to find the entrance to the mines, but was having some difficulty remembering the secret password to make the doors open. He sat pondering, perched on top of a large pile of rocks smoking his pipe. The others had thrown down their packs, grateful for some time to rest their aching feet.

Legolas gently lay down Faye's unconscious body on the ground. He had tried to find the most comfortable area, but seeing as the ground was all rocky, he'd resorted to lying her down with her back resting upon a large rock. The warmth was coming slowly back to her, and her lips had begun to lose the blue tinge that had been there when they were on the mountain. Boromir approached them and knelt beside Faye, opposite Legolas.

"Still not awake yet." He noted in a concerned voice. He took his cloak off and covered Faye with it.

"We might be here for a while, so hopefully she will wake up before we get in the mines." He said, taking a seat beside Faye. Legolas had a slightly irritated expression on his face, as if Boromir was intruding, or wasn't wanted. Boromir noted this, with a grin but chose to stay regardless. He sat with his back turned slightly towards Legolas and focused his attention on Faye.

"She is truly beautiful, isn't she?" he breathed, gazing longingly at her. Legolas stiffened slightly.

"Yes." He said tightly. "But beauty isn't everything." He said. Boromir was irritated at being made to look shallow and was about to say something back, but his attention was directed back to Faye as she began to wake up. She groaned slightly and opened her eyes. She blinked a few times, as the two heads before her came into focus. She yelped and moved back slightly, as she realised how close their faces were to hers.

"You're awake!" cried Legolas, in a relieved voice.

"Yes." Replied Faye stiffly. "Why wouldn't I be?" she asked.

"Well.. we thought you almost died up there on the mountain. You were stone cold" he explained. He seemed confused as to the way that Faye was acting.

"Nonsense." Replied Faye, getting up slowly, wincing as her stiff and cramped muscles protested. "I would have been fine." She said, handing Boromir his cloak, and walked past the two of them to join the others where they had gathered outside the gates.

She was met with a chorus of cheerful and relieved cries. The Hobbits ran to her, she knelt down as they all hugged her and almost squeezed the breath from her lungs.

Faye stood again slowly and stretched as the Merry and Pippin decided to have a contest. They were trying to see who could throw a rock the farthest into the lake that surrounded them. Everyone else was sitting around, waiting for something to happen. Faye tried her best to not look in either Legolas or Boromir's direction. The warning within her heart was still burning strong. She regretted being so rude to them after they had only shown concern towards her, particularly Legolas but she wouldn't risk letting them get too close. It was better this way, for all of them.

Soon the cramps in Faye's muscles subsided and her once soaked shirt was dry again. She sat down and rested for a while, as there was still time. No doubt they would be on their feet, walking for most of the night in no time. Gandalf was still trying to figure out the riddle, muttering to himself between puffs of smoke.

"It's a riddle!" cried Frodo, as he figured it out. "Speak friend, and enter." He said, reading the inscription above the gates. "What's the Elvish word for friend?" he asked.

Gandalf said something, that none of the others could hear very well, but it must have been the answer to the riddle as the gates creaked and swung open. Everyone, relieved that they wouldn't have to spend the night, lying on a pile of rocks by an eerie lake they grabbed their packs and made their way into the Mines.

Gimli was shouting his excitement, and began telling everyone that they should expect a warm welcome and a grand feast. The hobbit's eyes lit up as they heard the word, 'feast' being mentioned. Pippin licked his lips happily as he imagined piles and piles of food upon his plate.

"This is not a mine, it's a tomb." Said Boromir in disbelief, as he saw all the rotting bodies lying around the entrance.

They all stopped dead in their tracks and looked down at the ground. Just as Boromir had said, there were corpses covering the entrance way.

"NOO!" cried Gimli in anguish as the realisation that his fellow dwarves were dead swept over him. s

Legolas picked up an arrow from the ground and inspected it. "Goblins!" he cried.

"We make for the gap of Rohan, we should never have come here! Now get out of here! Get out!" Cried Boromir, as everyone ran back out of the mine/tomb.

Suddenly, Frodo shouted out as he was grabbed by the tentacle of a creature in the lake.

The others spun around as they heard Frodo's shouts. A large creature rose out of the lake and was holding Frodo by the legs, dangling him upside down in the air. They immediately grabbed their weapons and begun an attack. Within seconds the creature had half a dozen arrows piercing its skin, Legolas continued to shoot more, everyone else who had swords began madly hacking away at random tentacles. They managed to free Frodo from the creature, but as they backed away, more tentacles lashed out and threatened to reclaim him. They scrambled back into the mines. The creature, not wanting to give up without a fight, followed them. It's many tentacles clung onto the stone as it hauled itself out of the water. The very foundations of the gate began to tremble as it was brought crashing down to the ground.

The Fellowship was plunged into darkness, as the entrance was demolished. Gandalf lit the end of his staff, and Faye summoned a few fireballs that hovered around the fellowship to light their path.

"Quietly now. It's a four day journey to the other side. Let us hope that our presence may go unnoticed." They began their grim journey, picking their way between the rotten carcasses in the dimly lit tomb.

The company stopped for a while as Gandalf came to the realisation that he had no memory of the place in which they were. Again they set down their packs and waited for a resolution. Gandalf sat nearby, deep in thought. After a while Frodo came to join him, the two sat and talked for a few moments. They were left alone as it was felt that Frodo sought the council of the elderly wizard.

Faye rested on a little ledge formed between some of the rocks. The darkness was unsettling, the journey underground would be long. She hoped it would be an easy one, for all their sakes. She wondered how long it would be till she came face to face with the spies of Saruman, how long it would be until they took her again and robbed her of her freedom. She sighed deeply. When would she be free of such morbid thoughts. When could she live again, as she once did in happiness? Legolas, who had heard her deep sigh came to sit by her.

"Are you feeling better yet milady?" he asked. Faye smiled, she loved the way that he was always so polite to her.

"Yes, thank-you Legolas." She replied. They sat, together in silence for a few moments. It was not an awkward silence, more a comfortable one. No words needed to be said for the meantime. Faye gazed at Legolas, the warm feeling that she felt in Rivendel returning inside her. The feeling must have been reflected in her eyes for as Legolas looked into them, he smiled a knowing smile.

Faye looked away. She was angry at herself for doing so, she wanted to trust Legolas, she wanted to be with him. Yet at the same time she was still unsure. How long would it take for her to be able to trust anyone again? She turned to him again, she didn't know what to say, but she wanted to tell him. She opened her mouth and was about to begin when she was cut off by Gandalf.

"Its that way!" Shouted Gandalf

"He's remembered!" cried Merry, grabbing his pack and strapping it onto his back, then turning around to help Pippin up and get his pack onto his back.

"No," replied Gandalf, "But the air doesn't smell so foul down here. If in doubt, Meriadoc, always trust your nose." He said with a chuckle.

Legolas got up, he turned and offered a hand to Faye and helped her off the ledge.

"Come on milady, there will be time for talk later" he said.

It was only until a few moments later that she realised what he had said. How did he know she had something that she wanted to tell him?

They walked on until they found themselves in a great hallway, with tall pillars as far as the eye can see.

"Behold the great realm of the dwarf city of Dwarrowdelf" announced Gandalf.

They stood in wonder at the beauty of the dwarves work. It was almost as impressive as the work of the elves, had it been restored to its former glory.

Again, they pressed on as Gandalf feared to stay in one place too long in case they were caught. Gimli spotted something. He ran to the door on the side of the hallway. Inside was a chamber strewn with Orc corpses.

"No! oh no!" he cried as he spotted the tomb to the far end of the room.

"Here lies Balin, Son of Fundin, Lord of Moria. He is dead then. It is as I feared." Said Gandalf gravely. He handed Pippin his hat and his staff and read from a book that one of the skeletons nearby held.

"We must move on, we cannot linger" warned Aragorn.

Pippin moved towards a skeleton by a well and as he touched it, it fell backwards, dragging with it a bucket and metal chain. The crashing sound could be heard echoing throughout the entire mine. Gandalf spun around.

"Fool of a took!" he bellowed. "Next time throw yourself in and rid us of your stupidity." He muttered angrily, snatching his hat and staff from his hands.

They waited in suspense, as if expecting the chamber they were in to be festooned with orcs any minute. Boromir sighed in relief as the moments passed and there was no sign of others having heard the racket Pippin had caused.

Suddenly, out of the darkness, a loud resonating drum could be heard. At first, it was just the single beat of the drum, then it quickened, on and on it went. It mimicked the beat of the each member of the fellowship's heart which that now quickened with fear.

Sam eyed Frodo's sword, as it glowed blue.

"Orcs!" cried Legolas.

Boromir ran to the door and barricaded it shut. Aragorn helped, using everything that they could to hold the door shut in the meantime while they thought of a plan. They hadn't had much time before the Orcs came swarming in. They had just a few moments to prepare, barely enough time to get out their weapons.

The barricaded door was hacked apart by the Orc's axes. In moments it was thrown open and they streamed in. Their filthy flesh was scarred and smothered with grime, they growled their ferocity as they brandished their weapons and attacked. In no time the chamber had turned into some kind of battle field. The front line of Orcs had been stuck down by the arrows of Legolas and Aragorn, and soon the clashes of swords echoed throughout the chamber.

The hobbits put their new fighting skills into practice, Pippin and Merry kept a running count, grinning as each Orc fell to the ground. Sam demonstrated great skill with his frying pan.

Majority of their enemies lay lifeless on the ground which was now littered with bodies. Skeletons – remains from when the chambers were still in use and the new bodies of the Orcs.

Suddenly, a huge beast stormed in, unlike any creature the fellowship had ever seen. The giant cave troll burst in, brandishing a weapon large enough to knock anyone out immediately. Legolas did his best to bring it down with his arrows. He even leapt up on top of it, driving his arrows down into its head. It was now use though, the cave troll seemed to be invincible.

It had fixed its eye on Frodo, Frodo being unable to fight the beast himself ran and hid behind one of the tall pillars to the corner of the chamber. He had almost fooled the troll when it suddenly appeared from behind the pillar. Spotting Frodo, it growled ferociously. It had given Frodo such a shock that he stumbled backwards and tripped on the rocks. He fell to the ground, momentarily paralysed from the impact. The troll advanced on him, and dragged him along the ground. Frodo clung desperately to the bottom of the pillar.

"Strider!" he shouted.

Strider looked up and saw Frodo being dragged helplessly like a rag doll. He spun around and ran his sword into the gut of the orc that he was fighting and rushed to Frodo's aid. He thrust a spear into the troll's chest, but it did not pierce its thick hide. The troll hit Aragorn and then threw him aside. Frodo was left again to face the fearsome cave troll.

Faye did her best to ward him off, but he was so large that she couldn't do much until she too was knocked aside. The troll relentlessly threw her halfway across the room, where she crashed into the wall and lay still not far from where Aragorn had fallen.

The troll cornered Frodo. Being unable to defend himself, collapsed as the troll drove the spear into him. The others saw him fall and felt their hearts skip a beat. No, not now… He can't die yet … we have so much further to go … they thought. They turned on their enemies, with renewed energy. They fought fearlessly in their haste to get to Frodo. Merry and Pippin leapt onto the cave troll and stabbed their swords into its back with cries of Anguish.

Gimli, Legolas and Boromir joined Merry and Pippin and together finished off the cave troll. The will of the troll finally gave way as it uttered a loud resonating groan and collapsed into a heap, throwing pippin sprawling across the room.

Sam rushed over to him and gently turned his limp body over. He groaned faintly, Sam nearly fainted himself.

"Frodo! Your alive!" he cried happily, holding his dear friend close.

Legolas, seeing Sam holding Frodo remembered that Faye too had fallen. He found her, by the side of the chamber with Aragorn kneeling over her. He rushed over to her, Aragorn remembering the way he had seen Legolas look at Faye when they were up on the pass of Caradhras left the two by themselves and went to check on the others.

"Milady?" questioned Legolas in a concerned voice.

Faye groaned and touched a hand to the back of her head. Legolas noted in alarm the blood on her fingers and leaned forward to inspect the wound.

"It looks bad," he said "But we have not the time to stop now, we must keep moving before others find us here." He said regretfully. "You must remind me to treat it once we get out of these god forsaken mines." He said, standing and offering her a hand up.

She took it, this time without any hesitations and followed him out of the chambers as they ran for the bridge of Khazad-dum.

The great hall that they had passed earlier was now festooned with Orcs. They urged their legs to take them faster, knowing that they did not have the energy for another fight. They were everywhere. Hundreds and thousands of them, they swarmed around the grounds in such great numbers it was hard to distinguish each individual one, they just seemed to be one big mass. They crawled up the pillars like ants as they pursued the fellowship who fled the great hall.

They had almost made it, when they found that they could no longer move. The orcs had them surrounded.

"What are we going to do?" cried Pippin fearfully, his eyes wide. Merry gulped.

"pray." Was his reply.

But they had no need to, they heard a loud fearsome grumble echo through out the hall and the orcs fled immediately. Gimli laughed in defiance at the cowardice of the orcs but was silenced as he heard the grumble again. They turned and saw a redish gleam illuminating the entrance.

"What is this new devilry?" asked Boromir.

Gandalf lowered his gaze. He had no need to peer nervously down the hall, for he knew exactly what the beast was.

"A Balrog" he said with an air of resignation.