Chapter 3:

Chambers, Bridges, and Passages

A/N: Excuse me for not saying so before, the reason they act inexperienced is this takes place after Aragorn has learned his heritage and before he goes to Rohan and Gondor. So, they are inexperienced. Thanks for reviews, will try to tighten up…..sorry for the delay!

The stairs leveled out into a straight path. Stairs and arches branched out from sides of the passage. Sometimes there would be nothing. Had they known it and had taken one of these stairs that led down that they had passed, they would have come the bridge of Khazad-Dum, which would have led them straight out to the Dimrill Stair. They were passing two huge stone doors, slightly ajar. Dwarvish runes ran along the top and down the sides of the doors. Aragorn paused and looked in. There was a large throne of stone with several smaller seats of stone placed near it as if it were a place of important meeting. A few broken, empty chests sat near the throne. Seeing nothing of importance, they continued on down the passage.

The walls and floors fell away from their road. It was now a bridge without a handrail on either side. Several bridges crossed theirs and others crossed those. Up above them were more that did much the same. Only two were below them. Chains hung down from somewhere out of sight. Out of the decay of time and un-use, most of the bridges were broken and cracked. Some were impassable. "With my sense of direction, we should be out soon," Aragorn said confidently.

"Not to sound pessimistic again, but your sense of direction is not as great as you think. Remember how we got here…. The point is," Halbarad said as he jumped over a small gap in the bridge, "What food we have will not last forever. How long exactly do you plan to on tonight? I am getting tired."

"Once we cross this bridge, we'll find a place to rest. The torch is almost spent anyways."

At the end of their bridge, the passage picked up again. They went a few feet inside and set their packs down. The torch was barely a flicker. Aragorn set it on the floor near where they sat. Halbarad felt in his pack for some food. He pulled out some dried meat and handed some to Aragorn. After he ate his share, Halbarad lay over and went to sleep. Aragorn sat against the wall, watching in the fading light. His eyes grew heavy. The light went out and he fell asleep.

A faint light crept into the passage and fell on their faces. Halbarad sat up and looked blearily into the light. He rose and went to the end of the passage where the bridges began and looked out. The light came from somewhere up above from the outside. He turned and knelt next to Aragorn and gently shook his cousin. Aragorn sat up and stretched. They ate a small, cold breakfast. After shouldering their packs, Halbarad pulled out a makeshift torch and lit it. "Well, shall we continue?"

*~*~* Some time later (a) *~*~*

A draught of cold air blew at them down the passage. They soon found themselves in a great hall lined with more huge pillars than one could count.

"Have you figured out where we are yet?" asked Halbarad as he gazed up at the pillars that now surrounded them.

"I believe I have. If I am not mistaken, we are in Moria."

"What makes you think that?"

"It's dark, abandoned, dwarf-carven…and troll infested."

Halbarad looked ahead where Aragorn was looking to and saw a troll walking across the hall. "Shouldn't we run now?" he whispered. The troll turned and upon seeing them, let out a great bellow.

"Yes, let's," Aragorn turned and bolted back towards the steps they had come down. Halbarad could hear the troll's thunderous steps behind them not getting any fainter. They darted down various passages, hoping to lose it. Halbarad halted on his feet and ran down a flight of stairs, "This way!" Aragorn double back and followed him down. The stairs led them back down into the hall of pillars. Aragorn stopped and looked around. "Great! You've led us in a circle!" he said between gasps of breath.

"At least we've lost that troll." Halbarad leaned against a pillar as he caught his breath.

"I hate trolls," Aragorn said bent over with his hands on his knees.

"Moria, you say?"

"No doubt."

"They should charge admission."

The troll came through a door swinging a club with another great bellow. Halbarad jumped away as the club hit the pillar where he had just stood. Broken bits of rock fell from the pillar. Halbarad ducked around the troll and made for the stairs. The troll followed after him. The troll's club hit the top of the stair door. The troll was too big for the stairs. He tried again and again. The door cracked and started to crumble. Aragorn threw the torch at the back of the troll's head. The troll turned and made for Aragorn. "Aragorn come on!" Halbarad shouted. Aragorn tried to come around and failed. Halbarad started back for his cousin when the roof of the door gave away and blocked him in. "Aragorn!" he cried. He tried to remove the rocks but he could not. He pushed and he pulled. He tugged and dug for what seemed hours. Finally he beat against the rock and yelled for his cousin. He sank down to his knees and wept.

TBC.

(a) I ran out of things for them to do.