Chapter 8: Into the Darkness
We ended up at this very dark and dreary lace when we came upon a slimy wall.
"The walls of Moria." Gimli announced as if they were coming upon magic grounds.
"Wow, and I thought the aftermath of parties were bad." I love to joke, I have to say again. Legolas smiled. Everyone else ignored the comment.
"Well, let's see... Ithildin. It mirrors only starlight and moonlight." Gandalf then peered up to the moon, which was covered in clouds but they drifted off; then a glowing door appeared.
"Now that's what I call an entrance!" Well, that time that comment was real. Gandalf shook his head but continued.
"It reads: 'The doors of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak friend and enter.'" Gandalf spoke.
" What do you suppose that means?" Merry asked.
"Oh, it's quite simple. If you are a friend, you speak the password, and the doors will open.
Annon Edhellen edro hi ammen!" Gandalf incantated, but there was nothing. "Ando Eldarinwa a lasta quettanya, Fenda Casarinwa!" Still nothing.
"Mines are no place for a pony. Even one so brave as Bill." Aragorn then hit Bill, who was Sam's horse from the Shire, in the butt and the horse galloped off.
"Bye bye, Bill." Sam called.
"Go on, Bill. Go on. Don't worry Sam. He knows the way home." Aragorn comforted. I smiled to his kindness.
Gandalf now sat on a rock, just staring at the glowing wall.
"Here, let me try. Abrakadabra! Hocus Pockus! Go web go! Um...open sesame! Twinkle, twinkle little star? Well, you can't say I didn't try." I said, collapsing on the rock beside Gandalf. I noticed Merry and Pippin throwing rocks into the water. Right when Pippin was about to throw another, Aragorn grabbed him by the collar.
"Do not disturb the water." Aragorn ordered. I turned my attention back to Gandalf who took off his hat.
"Oh, it's useless." Gandalf sighed.
"Don't give up, Gandalf the grey. I know we can figure it out." I soothed. Gandalf merely looked at the door.
"It's a riddle. Speak 'friend', and enter. What's the Elvish word for friend?" Frodo asked.
"Mellon." Gandalf replied. Suddenly, the stone doors opened to reveal a dark cavern-like dwelling.
"By George, I think he's got it! Yay Frodo!" I said, hopping up and down. Frodo smiled. We all then walk into the mines.
"Soon, Master Elf, you will enjoy the fabled hospitality of the Dwarves! Roaring fires, malt beer, ripe meat off the bone! This, my friend, is the home of my cousin Balin. And they call it a mine. A MINE!" Gimli said happily.
"This is no mine. It's a tomb." Boromir stated the obvious again. Dead corpses were all around, rotting dwarves and orcs, all covered in cobwebs.
"No! Nooo! NOOOO!" Gimli cried.
"Eww! That's nasty!" I whined. Legolas then pulled an arrow from a dead body.
"Goblins!" Legolas hissed, immediately dropping the arrow.
"We make for the Gap of Rohan. We should never have come here! Now get out of here! Get out!" Boromir yelled. I didn't have to be tod twice. Right behind me, Frodo is backing up when I hear him scream. I turn to see a giant tentacle wrapped around his leg and it pulled him out of the mines and above the water. It was a giant squid-type creature.
"Oh, holy mother of goblins!" I gulped.
Merry and Pippin both yelled, "Frodo!"
"Strider!" Frodo screeches, himself hovering over the giant creature.
"Strider!" Sam called.
"Legolas!" I yelled in fright.
"Help!" Frodo screamed.
"Get off him!" Sam yelled, running towards the creature, but before even I knew it, I ran ahead of Sam, my sword out and ready to attack. I swiftly cut over five of the creature's tentacles.
"Aragorn!" Merry yelled. Aragorn and Legolas came running; oh, and Boromir too, how could I forget?
The hobbits slash at the creature with their swords. I finally get close enough to the creature to free Frodo, but as he backs away from the water, many tentacles come out from the water, this time swinging Frodo high up in the air. Legolas ran toward the creature, arrows being shot mainly at the creature.
"Ahh..." Frodo whales.
"Frodo!" Merry yelled. I was now close to Frodo's tentacle.
"Strider! Shade!" Frodo yelled.
Right from behind me, Legolas shoots the tentacles with his bow, while Boromir and Aragorn enter the water, and slash at the tentacles with their swords. Aragorn cuts off the tentacle that is holding Frodo, and Boromir manages to catch Frodo as he falls. I'm busy slashing at the creature, when I hear Gandalf yell, "Into the mines!"
"Legolas! Into the cave!" Boromir called. I turned to see Legolas running to me. He shot arrows at the creature's head.
"Shadow, run!" Legolas and I both fight the monster as we back up into the mines. The creature submerges out of the water, but crumbles the stone door. All light was gone, along with the entrance to the mine.
"We now have but one choice." I heard a thump, like wood tapping the ground, when the whole mine lit up, the glowing coming from Gandalf's staff. "We must face the long dark of Moria. Be on your guard. There are older and fouler things than orcs in the deep places of the world. Quietly now. It's a four-day journey to the other side. Let us hopw that our presence may go unnoticed." Gandalf explained.
While climbing upwards, I look behind me to see Pippin following me. Pippin then lets some rocks fall, and they fall on Merry.
"Pippin!" Merry yelled. I laughed and moved onward.
After some time, we come to an opening, where there are three passages to choose from.
"I have no memory of this place." Gandalf proclaims. Oh goodie! We all stop for a while, now that's good news.
"Are we lost?" Pippin asked.
"No." Merry stated.
"I think we are." Pippin went on.
"Shh. Gandalf's thinking." Merry hissed. After a second of silence, Pippin pops in for more talking again.
"Merry..." Pippin whispers.
"What?" Merry asks.
"I'm hungry." Pippin complained.
"Again? How can you eat so much and not gain a pound? I wish I could do that." I said. Legolas chuckled.
"They're hobbits and hobbits do such." Legolas remarked. I then hear Frodo say something.
"There is something down there!" Frodo yells.
"It's Gollum." Gandalf merely grunts.
"Gollum?" Frodo retorted.
"He's been following us for three days." Gandalf replied.
"He escaped the dungeons of Barad-dûr?" Frodo asked.
"Escaped. Or set loose. He hates and loves the Ring. As he hates and loves himself. He will never be rid of his need for it." Gandalf explained.
"It's a pity Bilbo didn't kill him when he had the chance." Frodo stated his opinion.
"Pity? It was pity that stayed Bilbo's hand. Many that live deserve death. Some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them, Frodo? Do not be too eager to deal out death and judgement. Even the very wise cannot see all ends. My heart tells me that Gollum has some part to play yet, for good or ill, before this is over. The pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of the Ring." Gandalf was so wise; I wish I were just that one day.
"I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened." I felt sorry for Frodo. This wasn't any of his fault. I turned my head from their direction, but still listened in.
"So do all that come to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case you were also 'meant' to have it. And that is an encouraging thought. Eh - it's that way." Gandalf piped up.
"He's remembered." Merry was also the stater of the obvious. Boy!
"No, but the air doesn't smell so foul down here. If in doubt, Meriadoc, always follow your nose.
Let me risk a little more light." The light on his staff brightens, and we find ourselves in a great hallway, with tall pillars, as far as the eye can see. "Behold the great realm of the Dwarf-city of Dwarrowdelf."
I gasped. "Wow!"
"There's an eye opener, and no mistake." Sam said.
"Uh-huh." I mumbled, staring dumbfoundedly around the magnificent looking place. "You could say that again."
"There's an eye opener, and no mistake." Sam repeated. I turned to him.
"Here's the deal Sam; when I say you can say that again, it doesn't mean repeat the phrase over, it just means that it's great. Thanks for being so literate, but that's what that means." I explained.
"You're world is so different from ours." Legolas replied.
"You can say that again." I then looked to him, but he smiled. I returned the smile. I found this world to be just as great.