Mysterious Fate

By Cormak

Disclaimer: The original characters from Lord of the Rings belong to their respective owners. New characters belong to me, especially Kaitlyn. This story was written for fan enjoyment and not profit.

Reviews are always welcome. I especially like constructive criticism. Flames are not welcome and will be ignored. Any additional author's notes may be found at the end of each chapter I post.

Special thanks to my beta Scattered Logic for listening to ideas and helping me to figure out where this story was going.

Chapter 4: The loss

They ran on, following Gandalf across the vastness of Moria.

Boromir took over the lead as Gandalf stepped aside at the entrance of another doorway. Legolas followed with Gimli; the hobbits, Kaitlyn and Aragorn close behind.

Boromir rushed down the stairs and lost his balance at the end of them where they lead straight over a cliff. He dropped the torch that he had picked up and nearly fell with it into the ravine were it not for Legolas who rushed forward and pulled him back at the last moment. The pair fell back on the stairs.

As everyone rushed down the stairs they all stopped short, eyes wide at the drop off that was before them. The stairs that once lead straight down had crumbled long ago leaving a stairway that lead to death. One wrong move and your body would fall upon rock.

Gandalf was appearing weary. He rested against the wall of the hallway and Aragorn went to him. Gandalf put his hand on Aragorn's shoulder.

"Lead them on Aragorn. The Bridge is near." He told the man. He then glanced at Kaitlyn who was standing with the hobbits gazing at the massive sight spread out before them. He nodded toward her. "With proper training she will be a fine warrior. Before the end she will have found her place amongst you and will prove her worth."

Aragorn's brows furrowed and his eyes held so many questions. He opened his mouth to speak, until he heard another growl from the Balrog and he raised his sword. Gandalf pushed him, and the Ranger stumbled back into the wall.

"DO AS I SAY!" Gandalf yelled at him. "Swords are of no more use here."

Gandalf led them on again and the group descended a staircase that went to the right.

Kaitlyn kept looking down at the seemingly bottomless abyss below. She took her steps slowly while the rest of the group took them at a run.

"You'll have to pick up the pace, Lass. Do not fear. I am here to catch you should you fall," Gimli told her.

She gave him a weak smile. She wasn't so sure that he could catch her with him being so much shorter than her.

She picked up her pace and stumbled and Gimli wasn't even close to catching her. She rammed directly into someone's back. They turned when they felt the impact and she fell into their arms. She felt her cheeks redden when she looked up to see it was Legolas who had caught her.

Gimli made a face at the elf.

"I'm so sorry," she told Legolas. She pulled herself out of his arms. She felt like such a clumsy ass.

"It is all right," he told her softly and he guided her to walk in front of him. She was terribly frightened even though she tried to hide it. It was apparent to him when he looked into her eyes. He put his hand on her shoulder as she moved in an effort to guide her and he frowned when she repeatedly shied away from him. He finally let her be and watched to make sure that she did not stumble again.

She suddenly came to a halt and the entire group stopped. There was a piece of the stairs missing leaving a hole that led straight down into the blackness below.

"The stairs are gone! What do we do now?" Kaitlyn asked.

Legolas put a hand on her shoulder as he stepped past her and leapt gracefully over to the other side. He held out his arms for her to jump and her eyes widened and she shook her head.

Gandalf moved beside her and nodded to her. Her heart pounded fiercely in her chest. She bit her lip, closed her eyes and jumped.

Legolas caught her in his arms, put her down and then pushed her behind him.

The growling that they had heard earlier was heard again and the wall above the first staircase began to crack and crumble. Gandalf turned to look and then turned back to the elf.

"Gandalf," Legolas called and he gestured for the wizard to jump.

Gandalf jumped and Legolas set him down beside him.

An arrow suddenly whizzed out of nowhere and hit the stairs directly in front of Boromir's feet. More arrows came sailing, one of them landing directly in front of the hobbits and everyone noticed that the orcs had come out of hiding.

Aragorn and Legolas loaded their bows and fired. Legolas' aim was perfect and he shot an orc at a distance that bordered on impossible.

"Merry! Pippin!" Boromir cried and he grabbed onto the halflings and jumped. Legolas, Gandalf and Kaitlyn caught them.

The stairway they had jumped from began to crack and it gave way making the space to leap much more difficult.

More arrows whizzed by and Legolas shot more orcs.

"Sam." Aragorn called and he tossed the hobbit. Boromir caught him with ease. Aragorn turned to Gimli, ready to toss him as well but Gimli put up a hand.

"Nobody tosses a dwarf," he stated bravely. He crouched and then leapt but the distance proved too great for him. His feet hit the rocks in front of Legolas but he teetered backwards. Legolas reached forward and grabbed the dwarf's beard.

"Not the beard!" Gimli cried out. Legolas pulled him forward, saving his life. The stairs once again began to crumble from not being used in so many years. Aragorn and Frodo leapt back narrowly escaping a fall to their deaths.

The gap was huge now. Far too large to jump across. Things seemed helpless. They grew worse when the wall at the top of the stairs continued to crack. There was growling and roaring and rock began to tumble off the wall. A few struck the staircase and a large on hit the top and the entire structure began to crack. The stairs behind Aragorn and Frodo fell away leaving them trapped on a pillar like structure.

It cracked further and rocks began to crumble from the middle.

Kaitlyn covered her mouth with her hand and gasped at the structure began to fall backwards. She felt like she was living in an Indiana Jones movie gone horribly wrong.

All everyone could to was watch as the structure teetered and pray that Aragorn and Frodo would make it out of this alive.

The structure began to lean forward toward the group on the other side.

"Lean forward!" Aragorn commanded. Amazingly their weight was enough to make the structure continue to move forward. The stairs crashed and hit the stairs that everyone else stood on and Aragorn and Frodo were caught, safely rejoining the group.

No one wasted any time and everyone rushed down the stairs before another mishap took place. As they went, the pillar of stairs that Aragorn and Frodo had been on moments before, crumbled and fell.

Gandalf led the group to a small cavern. Flame burned off the ground making it incredibly hot.

"Over the bridge!" the wizard called out.

Boromir took the lead with all but Gandalf following behind him.

The cavern grew hotter and a wall of flame rose before Gandalf. A creature rose from the flame, two great horns were on its head and two giant wings on its back. Its eyes glowed with flame and it's body and the fire seemed to be one. It roared and it was then that Gandalf turned and joined the rest of the retreating group.

The cavern led to a narrow stone bridge with no railings on either side. Aragorn rushed across, his step never faltering. Boromir was directly behind him.

Kaitlyn felt her breath catch in her throat as she followed the hobbits and Gimli to the bridge.

"Another bottomless pit." She swallowed, gazing over the edge as she waited her turn to cross.

She was scared witless but she told herself that she could do this. Her life depended on it. She inhaled deeply, released it and then rushed across, pretending that the bridge was a fallen tree in the woods that she had crossed many times. She was amazed and proud of herself when she made it flawlessly to the other side.

Everyone gathered on another staircase on the other side. All except Gandalf who halted in the middle of the bridge as the creature crept closer.

"YOU CANNOT PASS!" he shouted at the creature of flame.

"GANDALF!" Frodo cried out.

Everyone watched in horror as the creature beat it's wings and they came dangerously close to Gandalf. It stood straight up, puffing its chest, the fire growing brighter as it attempted to frighten Gandalf.

The wizard did not back down.

Gandalf spoke something to the creature that no one from the stairs could here. They watched as he lifted his glowing staff and the creature raised a sword made of fire.

The creature used the sword and struck down at Gandalf. A bright flash of white light illuminated the cavern and Gandalf still stood where he had been. The creature was now without a sword.

The creature was not happy and it roared at Gandalf. It stepped toward him after Gandalf said something to it.

Frodo was wide eyed; Kaitlyn stood beside him trembling. Things did not look good.

A whip of flame was now in the creature's hand. It lashed it against the wall as a show of power.

"YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" Gandalf cried out. He held both his staff and sword in his hands and he slammed the staff into the bridge.

The creature stepped forward, its whip raised. The bridge cracked beneath it and it fell towards the bottomless pit below.

Kaitlyn breathed a sigh of relief, in disbelief that the wizard had defeated such an impossible opponent. But her relief was short lived when the whip lashed up and snatched a hold of Gandalf's foot. It pulled at him and he was no longer standing, but holding onto the edge of the cliff for dear life. The whip had released him, but he still clung for dear life.

The hobbits stood with their eyes wide and their mouths dropped open in shock. Frodo suddenly lunged forward but Boromir was quick and pulled the hobbit into his arms.

"No! No!" Boromir told him.

Frodo struggled against him. "GANDALF!!" Frodo cried and Kaitlyn felt her heart drop into her stomach.

Gandalf was struggling to keep from falling but he was failing. He looked up at the group, his eyes falling upon each member before he commanded, "Fly you fools!"

He lost his grip and everyone watched in absolute horror as the Gray Pilgrim disappeared from sight.

"NOOOO!" Frodo cried out. He struggled against Boromir but the man would not release him.

Aragorn stood motionless, his eyes still on the spot where Gandalf had once been.

Kaitlyn felt her knees grow weak and became nauseous. She had walked over that bridge and had seen what was below. Gandalf would never survive such a fall.

She had seen a lot of death in the last few days. She had even killed, but she had never seen anyone that she was acquainted with die. Her breath hitched painfully in her throat and she was in a trance. She vaguely remembered Boromir yelling Aragorn's name and Frodo's cries.

An arrow whizzed by her ear, grazing it and slicing it. The sharp pain brought her back to reality. The orcs were apparently not done trying to kill them. She followed the others up the stairs with difficulty. Her knees kept feeling as if they would buckle at any moment.

They did not have to run far to find the exit, but to Kaitlyn it felt as if she ran miles. She thought she would have been happy to see the light of day as it spread out before them. But she was not overjoyed. Rushing out into the light brought pain, because one of her companions had not made it out with the rest of them to see that light.

A rocky hillside was spread before them and everyone slowed.

Sam fell to the ground and sat, his hand in his hair, his head lowered as tears coursed down his cheeks.

Gimli was shouting something about going back in and that they couldn't leave without knowing if he was dead or alive, but Boromir held him back.

Pippin was sobbing like a baby and Merry was trying to comfort him.

Legolas stood appearing grief stricken as he glanced away from the exit of Moria.

Kaitlyn was standing to the side, away from her companions. She never cried in front of anyone, but she couldn't stop the tears that streamed down her face. She wrapped her arms around herself and closed her eyes trying to shut out the pain.

Aragorn wiped off his sword and then called for Legolas. "Get them up. He commanded. He didn't appear to be affected by the loss as much as everyone else was, but he was also stronger than most. He knew they needed to move on.

The elf turned to him slowly, still looking pained. He moved in stiff motions to Merry and Pippin and he attempted to get them to stand with not much luck.

"Give them a moment for pity's sake!" Boromir yelled at Aragorn.

"By night time this hill will be swarming with orcs! We must reach the woods of Lothlorien."

Kaitlyn stared at the dark haired man in confusion.

Aragorn looked directly at her. "You will come with us." He ordered and without a further word he turned to his companions. "Come Boromir, Legolas, Gimli, get them up."

"On your feet, Sam." Aragorn told Sam and he hoisted the hobbit into a standing position. He patted his shoulder in sympathy and then turned to look for Frodo. "Frodo?" the ranger called.

"FRODO!" he yelled when he saw the dark haired hobbit walking away.

Frodo turned slowly with tears also streaming down his face. The loss of Gandalf was great to him and it was obvious from the look on his face that his heart was in turmoil.

The hobbit slowly joined the others.

Aragorn walked to Kaitlyn and untied a dagger from his belt. "Here. You may need this." He said offering it to her.

She shook her head and backed away, looking at the knife as if it was going to move on it's own and kill her.

Aragorn was about to open his mouth and command her to take it when he saw the blood on her ear and the blood that stained her arm.

"You are injured, but it does not appear to be life threatening, " he told her inspecting the wounds with his eyes. "They will need tending to when we have safely left this place." He offered her the dagger again and got the same response.

He sighed at her stubbornness, replaced the weapon on his belt and then turned from her.

"Let us go!" he called to the group and wearily they followed after their new leader.

To be continued….

Next chapter, finally a bit of a break away from movie dialog and scenes!

Broken Fae: I'm glad that you can't figure out who she will become involved with in the future. I like to keep everyone guessing. Thank you for your reviews. I look forward to them.

I've noticed in this fandom that people seem to dub Mary Sues as those who fall in love with a main character. From the other fandoms that I have written for a Mary Sue is someone who is perfect, beautiful, flawless, has had many problems in life, usually a family who hates her, and she often has magical powers that she didn't know about or a hidden lineage. This story will have none of those things except for the romance and that I am writing as realistically as I can.

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