To Become a Ranger
Chapter 15
The Fall of Gandalf the Grey
Alyssa woke up to someone shaking her carefully. She groaned as she came into awareness different parts of her body throbbing in pain including her head. 'What did I drink last night' was the first thought that came to her mind.
"Alyssa." She heard someone call above her. She opened her eyes a tad and immediately closed them when the light penetrated her murky brain. She then felt a cool and press to her hot forehead and sighed in contempt.
Aragorn swore when he felt Alyssa's forehead. She was burning up badly and in pain. He then carefully took off the bandages around her neck, getting Legolas to hold her up for him. When they where fully removed Aragorn winced, the wounded where defiantly infected and buy the fact that she already had a fever told him that her body wasn't liking it.
"How is she?" asked Gandalf.
Aragorn looked up and shook his head. "Not good, we need to get her to a healer, and fast."
Gandalf sighed sadly. "We are two days from Lothlorien if not detected and with no rest. Unfortunately I don't think we can take that type of pace Aragorn."
Aragorn looked back at Alyssa, worry clearly written in his eyes along with something else. "She won't last that long Gandalf." He said softly almost brokenly.
"Surely there must be some way to stop it Gandalf in your world of Sorcery." cried out Boromir.
"To stop it. No." Stated Gandalf as he thought back on the many books of magic he had read in his younger years. "But… but I think there might be away to slow it. It will only last a few days but that should buy us enough time to get to the Elven city for proper healing.
"Then do It." said Frodo hope evident in his eyes.
"Tardus is Morbus, Solvo Puella!" cried Gandalf placing his staff gently of Alyssa's forehead.
"What did you say, in my many years I have never come across a language even remotely like it." said Aragorn looking at Gandalf.
"In essence I said, Slow the Sickness and free the girl in ancient Latin and lost language now."
"Not so lost to my world." stated a weak voice from the floor.
"Alyssa!" they all cried joyously while Merry slapped her on the back.
She winced. "I may be awake but that doesn't mean I'm all good." That shut every one up fast.
"Well we should be off with all haste, then." Said Gandalf as he stated to make his way up the stairs where Frodo was waiting at the three archways a worried expression on his face.
Alyssa smiled at him as she carefully got up making sure she didn't jostle her injures and head, the infection and fever may have stopped for now but the pain hadn't.
"Which one is it?" asked Pippin.
"It's this way." stated Gandalf.
"He's remembered!" said Merry happily.
"No, but the air doesn't smell so foul down here. If in doubt, Meriadoc, always follow your nose."
Every one else just chuckled softly as they made there way down the narrow twisty steps as they faintly watched Merry and Pippin try and sniff for the fresh air.
When they got to the bottom they entered a large drafty room with larges stone pillars placed strategically around.
Aragorn came up beside Alyssa and offered her support buy placing a comforting hand around her waist which in turned she lead heavily on.
"Let me risk a little more light." stated Gandalf as he banged his Staff twice on the stone floor.
His staff illuminated a huge hall of stone, lined with tall pillars and arched ceilings as far as the eye can see. All members of the Fellowship, including Gimli, look around in awe
"Behold the great realm and dwarf city of Dwarrowdelf." said Gandalf regally.
"Now there's an eye opener, and no mistake." stated Sam in aw.
The Fellowship walks through the hall. Gimli sees a ray of sunlight shining through the Chamber of Mazarbul.
"Oh!" cried Gimli as he stated running towards it.
"Gimli!" cried Gandalf sharply after him.
Gimli pays no heed to Gandalf, but runs into the chamber. He stops and kneels by a crypt and starts to sob. The fellowship all came running after him, well in Alyssa's case limping after him.
"No! No! Noooo!" cried Gimli
Boromir moved forward and places his hand on Gimli's shoulder. Gandalf stops next to Gimli and translates the runes on the tomb. "Here lies Balin, son of Fundin, Lord of Moria." He is dead then. It's as I feared."
Gandalf handed his staff and hat to Pippin and bends down, taking from the grasp of a dead dwarf a large, battered and very old book. He opens it and clears the dirt from its pages. Legolas looks around the chamber and turns to Aragorn
We must move on, we cannot linger!" said Legolas.
"They have taken the bridge, and the second hall. We have barred the gates, but cannot hold them for long. The ground shakes. Drums, drums in the deep." Gandalf turned the page slowly and with caution. "We cannot get out. A Shadow moves in the dark. We cannot get out…They are coming."
Pippin sees a corpse sitting by a stone well. Curiously, he reaches out and carefully touches the arrow. The arrowhead breaks off from the rest, causing first the skull to fall. Gandalf turns to see what happens and so do the others. Then the body, the chain and bucket go over the side of the well and fall down into it, causing a loud noise that echoes from hall to hall. Pippin winced at each new wave of noise. Then silence. The Fellowship began to relax.
Gandalf slammed the book shut. "Fool of a Took! Throw yourself in next time and rid us of your stupidity!
He grabbed his staff and hat from Pippin, but just then, drums echo up from deep below. Terror creeps into their faces. Sam sees Sting glowing blue
Frodo!" He cried out in alarm.
Foul sounds are heard from the distance outside the chamber, feet pattering and cries calling out into the dark of Moria.
"Orcs!" stated Legolas whipping out his bow and notching it.
Boromir ran to lock the door. Arrows are shot from outside it and he is almost hit in the face.
Aragorn drops his torch and yells to the Hobbits, "Get back! Stay close to Gandalf!"
Aragorn then runs to Boromir and helps close the big heavy and old doors.
Boromir looks out before quickly pulling back in and slamming the doors firmly shut using old broken axes to help hold it shut.
"They have a cave-troll." He informed them.
Alyssa swore and threw down her pack in a corner getting ready her weapons to face off what ever would become threw those doors in any minute. She just hoped that this dizziness would wear off soon, preferably before the fight.
The rest of the fellowship also drew their weapons, the Hobbits more uncertainly then the others.
Gimli then leapt up on the tomb at the center and cried. "Aarghhh! Let them come! There is one dwarf yet in Moria that still draws breath!"
The Orcs outside then began breaking the door down. As soon as a hole was seen Legolas and Aragorn shot at them taking some Orcs down others not. The Orcs finally manage to break the doors down and the battle finally begins.
Suddenly, the cave troll that Boromir had so kindly informed them about smashed through the rest of the doors. Legolas shoots an arrow at him, but it just growls its skin being too thick to do any damage.
Sam looked up just to see the troll swinging his mace down at him and he throws himself under the troll's legs just in time. Alyssa growled when she saw the danger Sam was in and also dived under the trolls legs while using her two daggers to slice at the tender flesh on the trolls legs. It howled in pain and attempted to kick her out of the way while she threw Sam towards her packs where there was less Orcs, the side of the Trolls foot caught her and sent her flying into a wall totally winded only to watch Boromir distract it from her by grabbing the Orcs chain and tugging hard, unfortunately after that he didn't know what to do with it and was then slammed into the wall beside her buy the club the troll was holding and was also winded but didn't look to be hurt. She then turned her head only to see five Orcs coming after them so he quickly sheathed her daggers which she had remarkably hung onto during her fly into the wall, and drew her Elven sword which gleamed in the sun light making the Orcs flinch back for only a second but enough for her to get an advantage over them.
"Frodo!" she heard Aragorn Cried and turned just in time to see Frodo being chased buy the Troll. He tries to hide behind a pillar but after some hide-and-seek, the troll finds him and grabs him. Frodo falls onto his back in a corner. The troll then lifts him, and he hangs dangling from the troll's hand.
"Aragorn!" the poor hobbit cried desperately. He then cuts the troll's hand with Sting making it drop Frodo heavily onto the ground.
Aragorn grabs a spear from the floor and runs stabbing the troll in the chest. The troll flails out and hits Aragorn sending him flying across the room; he collapsed in a heap onto the floor. Frodo crawls after him and tries to rouse him, but Aragorn is too stunned to move. Merry and Pippin throw rocks at the troll to no avail. Frodo begins to run, but the troll blocks his way with a spear, throwing him back into the corner it then stabs Frodo in the chest making the hobbit cast a weak and pained sound from his lips.
Every thing went quiet, no one moved or even breathed everyone's thought was on one thing, 'there last hope was gone'.
The troll smirked and pulled away from the hobbit, readying to give another great stab into the immobile hobbit. Suddenly Merry and Pippin who had been on the loft above the troll jumped with their swords brandished and stated to stab it in the back while hanging on for dear life.
The troll finally grabbed Merry, swinging him around before throwing him to the ground. The Fellowship redoubles its efforts against Orcs and troll in furry. Gandalf and Gimli take turns stabbing at the troll and dodging out of range while Legolas takes aim. With Pippin stabbing the troll one more time on the head, the troll opens its mouth. Legolas shoots an arrow into its neck. The troll moans sadly while staggering around before collapsing to the ground. Pippin, who is still on the shoulders of the beast, is thrown against the floor and is knocked out. There is a moment of silence All Orcs are dead or have fled.
Aragorn awakens and crawls over to Frodo. "Oh, no." He breathed. He flipped over the young ring bearer who gasped for breath and quickly held his side where the troll had stabbed him.
Sam rushed over the pots and pans on his back clanking noisily around. "He's alive!"
Frodo smiled slightly, "I'm alright, I'm not hurt." He declared
"You should be dead! That spear would have skewered a wild boar." stated Aragorn in amazement.
"I think there's more to this hobbit than meets the eye." stated Gandalf a knowing smile on his face.
Frodo reveals his Mithril shirt while Sam touches it in wonder.
"Mithril! You are full of surprises Master Baggins." Cried Gimli his dirt covered face alight with joy
Orcs were once again heard down the hall
"To the bridge of Khazad-dûm!" cried Gandalf as they took off quickly towards the door, Alyssa right after them her pain long forgotten with the adrenaline pumping through her veins.
The Fellowship ran out the back door of the chamber, pursued by a large army of Orcs. Alyssa looked around her self as other Orcs sprang out from the floor or crawl down from the ceiling and down the pillars like spiders. They surround the Fellowship, who have drawn their weapons. Just then a fiery light appears at the end of a hall followed by a thunderous growl. The Orcs, scared, flee panicking in all directions. The Fellowship stares towards the light.
Alyssa looked towards the light forebodingly while Gimli calls out in triumph, not knowing the greater danger that lay ahead. It was the great daemon of fire that the dwarves had awoken in the deep. Gandalf had told her of this and the powers it controlled so she was not so eager to meet it let alone fight it. Alyssa couldn't believe that she had forgotten this piece of information she had passed off as a bed-time story for children when it was actually true.
"What is this new devilry?" voiced Boromir quietly.
"A Balrog. A demon of the ancient world. This foe is beyond any of you. Run! Quickly!" stated Gandalf.
The Fellowship ran trough the Hall as fast as they could and entered a passageway, then quickly down a flight of steps each of them sprinting as fast as they could. Parts of the steps had fallen away into a chasm which Boromir, leading the fellowship nearly falls into. Legolas, just behind him pulled him back just before he fell in though both of them lost the torches they where holding. The hobbits too stopped short of falling in. They then took another flight of stairs down. Aragorn and Gandalf bring up the rear.
"Gandalf?" Aragorn asked hurriedly when Gandalf stopped to lean on a wall.
"Lead them on Aragorn. The bridge is near." Aragorn resists, but Gandalf pushes him away. "Do as I say! Swords are no more use here." Aragorn nodded tightly and continued running after the rest.
The Fellowship ran down a steep staircase. Halfway down, they encounter a gap on the stairs. Legolas leaps forward and lands on the other side. He waves to Gandalf.
"Gandalf!" He cried. He then caught the old wizard who took the leap just as some Orcs started to shoot arrows at them.
Legolas and Aragorn started to shoot back taking out a few but not enough as they continued shooting.
"Merry! Pippin! Hoo-aah!" cried Boromir as he took each hobbit under his arms and jumped onto the other side before setting the hassled Hobbits down.
"Sam!" cried Aragorn as he took a hold of the back of the hobbits shirt and tossed him over. He then did the same to Frodo before turning to Gimli who holds up his hand. "Nobody tosses a Dwarf." Before Aragorn could say anything the stocky Dwarf then tossed himself over the ledge and almost made it, he would have fallen if not for a certain elf had shot out his hand and grabbed Gimli's beard.
"Not the Beard!" Gimli cried as he was hoisted forward.
Some of the stone steps crumbled and fell into the fires below. Aragorn pushes Alyssa back up the steps and climbed after him. They struggle to their feet and look at the widened gap that separates them from the rest of the Fellowship. The Balrog is then heard from the other hall, its fiery light seen. Stone structures around the mine collapse as it drew nearer. A huge rock fell from the ceiling and smashed down the steps behind Aragorn and Alyssa, creating another gap behind them and weakening the stairs' foundation. The stairs then began to wobble and slide backwards away from the rest of the fellowship. "Stay there. Hold on. Hang on! Lean forward!"
"Come on!" urged Legolas who was ready to catch them if necessary.
Alyssa and Aragorn shifted their weight forward, tipping the stairs across the divide and slamming onto the steps where their companions are. They leap across to safety, caught by Legolas and Boromir. After that scare they continue to run down the stairs as the stone structures collapse behind them hopefully making it to the bridge on time.
"Over the bridge! Fly!" Cried Gandalf making them go faster as they saw the end of the long journey crawling nearer.
The Fellowship crosses the bridge. Gandalf then turned and stoped halfway over and to face the Balrog, who appears out of the fires, growling the smoke billowing off of it making the entire place smell like hell its self.
"You shall not Pass!" cried Gandalf in a commanding voice. The thing in response only spread its wings and roared at the wizard showing them all its fiery breath.
"Gandalf!" yelled Frodo franticly.
A blazing light radiated from Gandalf's staff, illuminating the entire bridge and its surroundings. "I am the servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. The dark fire will not avail you! Flame of Udûn!"
The Balrog strikes down on Gandalf with a flaming sword. Gandalf parries the blow with Glamdring, shattering the Balrog's sword
"Go back to the Shadow!" Gandalf commanded.
The Balrog then brandished a flaming whip, lashing it about menacingly
"YOU…SHALL NOT...PASS!" He bellowed the power raitiated of the Istari.
Gandalf strikes his staff and sword onto the bridge. The Balrog stops, not knowing what to do. Then it steps forward and the bridge collapses under it. The demon fell backward into the chasm, growling. Gandalf, exhausted, leans on his staff and watches the Balrog fall then turns to follow the others. At the last minute, the flaming whip lashes up from the depths and winds about Gandalf's ankle, dragging him over the edge. He clings onto the bridge but is straining to keep his grip. Frodo rushes forward, but Boromir restrains him
"No, Frodo!" He cried.
"Fly you fools." Was Gandalf's last words before he let go, falling freeing into the deep dark and fiery abyss.
"Noooo!" Screamed Frodo trying to get away from Boromir who was holding onto the hobbit tightly while dragging him back towards the East Gate of Moria.
"Aragorn." Boromir called.
Aragorn is in shock. He stared at the bridge in disbelief, unable to move for a few moments. But then orc arrows start whistling by once again. Dodging, he turns and follows the others up the stairs and out in the light.
The Fellowship came running out of the East Gate, everyone is distraught at the fact they had lost their leader the man they had all come to care for dearly. Alyssa looked around her self, a lost look on her face as she studied each and every one of the fellow ship that was left, Sam sat heavily on the ground with his head bowed onto his hands weeping. Merry consoles Pippin, who lies on the ground crying. Boromir tries to restrain Gimli as the dwarf vents out his rage and sorrow. Legolas wears a look of shock and disbelief.
Aragorn stood a distance from the others, cleaning his sword and re-sheathing it, to someone who didn't know him they would think that he didn't care, but to her he was more deeply hurt than the others for he had known Gandalf long before even Legolas who had first come across Gandalf 30 years ago, but she bet that in his mind he felt that he had to be the one who was strong the one who kept going not matter the cost. Then he turned to the others.
"Legolas get them up." He ordered the elf gruffly.
"Give them a moment for pity's sake." Demanded Boromir anger and sorrow clearly in his voice.
"By nightfall these hills will be swarming with Orcs! We must reach the Woods of Lothlórien. Come Boromir, Legolas, Gimli, get them up." He argued before turning away from them. He then reached down and picked up Sam.
"On your feet Sam." He said patting him on the shoulder; he then looks around for Frodo. "Frodo? Frodo!" he called out
Frodo, several paces away, grieves alone. Weeping silently, he turns towards Aragorn and nodded.
Alyssa then walked up to Aragorn and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, she vaguely noticed it shaking but shook it off as fatigue.
Aragorn smiled sadly at her, his eyes betraying his stiff posture.
"When we get to the city of elves I want you to rest Estel, no more playing hero Kay." She then pulled him into a tight embrace.
Aragorn was shocked for a second before he relaxed in to her grip and hugged her tightly back. "I will." He whispered back.
They then broke the embrace. "Come," he said. "We must make haste, for dusk will come upon us soon." He then took off Alyssa and the rest of the Fellowship following closely behind.
And so the new journey and the beginning of the breaking of the fellowship had begun, starting with their race towards the great woods of Lothlorien the majestic city of the Elves.
AN: Well hears chapter 15 and guess What! I'm almost done! Yes, I decided to split it up into three stories like the books (but at lesser detail) so it would be easier to read and easier for me to keep track of. Anyhoo only a few more chapters to go, I'm guessing up to Chapter 20, so you'll be seeing a bit of Aragorn/Alyssa romance soon! Grins evilly
The Latin that Gandalf spewed is a very loose translation of what he wanted; actually I don't even know if it is correct, lol.
Thanks to every one who has read and reviewed so far and I hope I get a lot more soon!
Tootles, Lyssa Snape