A Tale of Thirteen
Chapter 4: The Dark
"Well this is just perfect," remarked Slyan as she stared back at the now-blocked entrance to the cave. Legolas gave her a look that clearly signaled to shut up. She glared back at him. Everyone else was panting and staring at the blocked entrance. Slyan looked more annoyed than anything else.
"What do we do now?" Annamaria asked in a small voice. She was fluttering near Barak's shoulder, who was huddled up around the hobbits. Because of his large frame, they saw fit to use him as their meatshield should the creature somehow get past the rocks.
"We have only one choice now," Gandalf said gravely as he lit up the tip of his staff. "We must face the long dark of Moria." Galdalf scowled as he began walking, clearly displeased with this turn of events. Everyone else started to brush off their clothes. Renor shook himself out, causing a few trinkets to fall out of the pack Slyan had on his back. Atarimae was trying to calm Akane, who was making noises and prancing around nervously.
"Why did we have to set Bill loose, and they get to keep their animals?" Merry asked Aragorn, looking at him accusingly. Clearly he thought it was unfair.
"Because Akane and Renor are trained for situations like this. They know how to handle battle and otherwise difficult times. Bill was a pony and this journey most likely would have killed him," Aragorn explained while they were walking. Sam sighed, but understood what Aragorn was saying. Pippin, however, looked disappointed.
The group started following Gandalf, who looked more than a little uneasy. "Be on your guard. There are older and fouler things than orcs in the deep places of the world," the old Wizard said ominously.
"I don't like the sound of that…" Boromir remarked silently. It was as if he was afraid that something would jump out at him. He looked around warily, and followed Gandalf.
"Quietly, now. It's a four-day journey to the other side. Let us hope that our presence may go unnoticed," the old man continued.
"So… what are the chances of that?" Frodo asked warily. Gandalf looked back at him sternly, but said nothing. "Oh."
The group crossed into another room past a large door, and gasped. They realized the enormity of their situation. It was a huge cave with small stone paths zigzagging all the way around, suspended in midair. Huge stone archways stood above certain points in the trail.
"Well this is gonna be a riot," Slyan sarcastically remarked.
The group continued up the trail for what seemed like ages. They came up to a set of stairs and followed up, continuing on and leaving the huge room behind, only to come to another one with a small path up against the rock and many ladders coming up from the darkness.
Gandalf touched the wall gingerly, and in the light of his staff the travelers noticed that certain places on the wall seemed to emanate with a pale silver light. Legolas, behind him, gazed in wonder and looked at Gandalf questioningly.
"The wealth of Moria was not in gold or jewels, but Mithril," Gandalf elaborated as he pointed his staff's light into the abyss below. The Fellowship gazed in wonder at the glowing sight below them. A large cave snaking down and down as far as the eye could see, ladders covering most of the walls, and the strange light covering the rest.
"Bilbo had a shirt of Mithril rings that Thorin gave him," Gandalf continued as he moved on.
Gimli gasped, "That was a kingly gift!" He looked at Gandalf in wonder, obviously wanting to hear more.
Gandalf chuckled, "Yes." They continued walking, Frodo behind Gandalf and only half-listening. "I never told him, but its worth was greater than the value of the Shire." Frodo widened his eyes at this, now clearly interested.
They all continued walking for some time until they came to a set of stairs. Very steep stairs. The group started climbing carefully. Barak in particular seemed to be having quite a time, with Akane faring no better. Renor, being a nimble and agile cat, was able to simply hop up every half dozen steps. Pippin slipped a step, and Merry caught him before he could fall- or make a racket. "Pippin," Merry admonished him as Pippin looked back sheepishly and continued up the stairs.
Gandalf reached the top first, and looked around, holding out his staff. He came to a small stone fork leading up another small set of stairs and onto a platform with three large stone doors. The other twelve travelers came behind him, panting. Gandalf stared at the doors, clearly flustered. "I have no memory of this place."
"So which way do we got then? After all, there's only a two in three chance you'll lead us to oblivion," ever-sarcastic Slyan said.
"Shut your mouth for a while, you silly girl!" Gandalf scolded her as he tried to remember. Legolas burst out laughing, but quieted himself, not wanting to be seen as immature. Gandalf sat down on a rock and started whispered to himself.
"That old man is crazy," Slyan mumbled. Legolas smiled, clearly reveling in her embarrassment. The rest of the group sat down on the cold stone. Clearly this was going to take a while.
Boromir and Aragorn sat next to each other, Aragorn smoking a pipe by the fire they had made. Pippin and Merry were sitting together. "Are we lost? I think we are," Pippin remarked.
"Shh, Gandalf's thinking," Merry said.
"Merry?" Pippin asked after a few seconds.
"What?" an annoyed Merry asked back.
"I'm hungry," Pippin told him, half matter-of-factly and half whining.
"Gee, imagine that," Slyan remarked as she got up from next to the two Hobbits and went into a corner by herself.
Atarimae grabbed a small sack from Akane's back and brought it over to Pippin. "Here," she said as she gave it to him. He clapped happily for a second before opening it and digging something up. He excitedly took out… a dry orange thing.
He looked up at her confused and said, "What's this?"
Atarimae smiled and said, "It's a fruit from my homeland, called a mango. It's dried for preservation. Just try it, it's good."
Pippin shrugged and, not one to pass up food, popped it in his mouth. A look of caution on his face turned into a look of joy and he quickly swallowed the piece of mango and grabbed another one from the sack. "It's good!"
Atarimae outright laughed at this and said, "Don't eat too many. We need to save our supplies."
Pippin just brushed off her warning and popped another dried mango into his mouth.
Annamaria looked over to Gandalf and Frodo from her perch on Barak the centaur's back. She fluttered over with just a little bit less zest than usual and managed to catch the last snippet of their conversation, "…and that is an encouraging thought."
"Ah! It's that way," Gandalf remarked loud enough for the rest to hear, and made Annamaria jump and flutter down slightly before coming back up. The others looked up at him.
"He's remembered!" Merry said excitedly. He hopped up and made ready to follow the old Wizard.
"Finally, about freaking time," Slyan muttered. She got up and dusted herself off, though it wasn't likely she was going to get especially dusty in the cave.
"No! But the air doesn't smell so foul down here," a pleased with himself Gandalf said. "If in doubt , Meriadoc, always follow your nose."
The rest of the group followed Gandalf as he descended the stairs behind his chosen door. Slyan jerkily went down the stairs, clearly displeased with the situation. "Well there's a ringing endorsement of this door."
After walking for what seemed like forever and stopping a few times, the group came to a large room that appeared to have been damaged quite a bit. Pillars were fallen over, and stone had crumbled off the rock walls and onto the ground. Symbols and pictures were etched into the walls.
Gandalf seemed pleased, almost joyous in a quiet way, and said, "Let me risk a little more light." The rest of the group looked at the now-illuminated room in wonder. They realized the enormity of the room they were now in. It appeared to be some sort of great hall, long and lined with pillars.
"Behold! The great realm and dwarf city of Dwarrowdelf."
Annamaria leaned in and whispered in Slyan's ear, "Who came up with that name?" Slyan nodded silently, looking in amazement at the hall.
"Well there's an eye-opener and no mistake," Sam declared. The other Hobbits stood behind him.
The group started walking down the path between the pillars. They walked slowly, trying to take in the wonder of the room while they could. As they walked, a small door in the side of the room became visible. What looked like a mass of bones and armor littered near the door. Gimli gasped and ran over to the room.
"Gimli!" Gandalf warned, though the dwarf did not stop. The others followed him.
"No!" Gimli mourned. The room looked like the inside of a long-forgotten tomb, which it may as well have been. Bones, armor, and chipped pieces of stone littered the floor. A coffin stood proudly in the middle of the room with a bright light coming out of the wall, a proud and macabre monument to the battle that had taken place in the room.
"Oh no!" Gimli mourned as he dropped to his knees in front of the coffin. Annamaria look like she was about to cry. Gimli started making vowel sounds and mumbling. Gandalf walked up to the coffin and examined it.
"Here lies Balin, son of Fundin, Lord of Moria," Gandalf read the inscription on the stone cover in a grave voice. "He is dead, then. It's as I feared."
Slyan quickly lost interest and started walking around and looked at all the stuff on the walls, careful not to trod on the bones of fallen Dwarves. She had that much decency. Vaguely, she heard Gandalf talking. She walked behind Legolas and heard him say to Aragorn, "We must move on. We cannot linger." Silently she agreed with him.
Slyan walked behind a pillar and held out her hand like a torch, a small flame rising up from her palm and serving as light in the dark corner. She saw something glinting and noticed it was a short sword. Immediately Slyan had money on her mind. She called over to Renor and started to load every shiny thing she could find onto his back. Clearly, he was not pleased.
"Gi vrine'winith ol, Renor. Udos orn inbau fol or'a whol ol a l' huthin k'lar udos vrine'winith. Ka udos morfeth ol doeb d' ghil..." Slyan reassured the big cat. He gave a long sigh, but went along with his greedy mistress. It wasn't like he wasn't used to her shenanigans.
Slyan jumped in slight guilt and mostly surprise when she heard a large banging coming from a well near the tomb. Pippin had somehow managed to knock the head of a dwarf skeleton down the well and made a huge racket in doing so. The rest of the Fellowship looked at the scene in surprise. Slyan gave a bewildered look as the rest of the skeleton toppled with it. Pippin looked around in guilt and moderate horror. And then a bucket on a chain fell. Great.
Gandalf snapped shut the book he was reading and scolded, "Fool of a Took! Throw yourself in next time and rid us of your stupidity!"
Everyone paused as they heard a faint thump in the distance. Gandalf listened intently. Everyone's eyes widened as they could hear more thumps and the screeches of some beings they certainly didn't want to encounter.
"Frodo!" Sam half whispered, half yelled. Frodo unsheathed his sword quickly, and saw that it was glowing blue. This meant one thing: Orcs were near, and they certainly didn't want to reenact the tea party from Alice in Wonderland.
"Orcs!" Legolas swore.
Boromir rushed out the door and looked out to check if the enemy was upon them. If the arrow that barely missed his face by an inch was any answer, then yes, the enemy was indeed upon them. Aragorn herded the Hobbits back, "Back! Stay close to Gandalf!" He abandoned the torch and ran toward the door to help Boromir close it.
Boromir looked back and remarked, "They have a cave troll!"
"You have got to be kidding me!" Slyan complained. She unhooked her whip from her hip and got ready to use it. Renor crouched down, ready to strike anything that came out of the door.
"We will deal with whatever they have," Atarimae said confidently.
"Are you guys freaking serious?"
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Gi vrine'winith ol, Renor. Udos orn inbau fol or'a whol ol a l' huthin k'lar udos vrine'winith. Ka udos morfeth ol doeb d' ghil...- Oh stop it, Renor. We'll get some money for it at the next location we stop. If we make it out of here...
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R & R please!