Outside Moria's gates, there was no snow. There was a giant lake, littered with dead branches. When we stopped, Gandalf said we had to wait until it was dark, so I decided to work on swordplay with Boromir. While we were fighting, we talked about the funniest things. At one point, I think we talked about the things we thought were the best three wishes.
"For me, I would wish for... A horse, a best friend, and... To be a better sword fighter."
"What? You wouldn't wish for your memory?" Boromir asked, laughing. "I would wish for... Peace in Gondor, for my father to be more kind to my brother, and a sister like you!"
"Oh? And what am I like?"
"Brave, great with a sword, and you don't act like you care about being a girl."
"Yeah, well, this girl is done with swords for one night." I put my sword back in its sheith. "Look! The moon's out."
Sure enough, a small glimpse of silver light could be seen through the clouds. An outline of a door glowed on the rock wall.
"What do the runes say?" I asked.
"'Speak friend, and enter,' whatever that means," Boromir snorted.
"Well, it's quite simple; if you are a friend, you simply speak the password, and the doors will open," Gandalf explained.
Yeah... Right. It took Gandalf at least an hour before Frodo figured it out.
"It's a riddle! 'Speak friend, and enter.' What the Elvish word for friend?"
"Mellon."
With a creak, the doors swung open, revealing a long, unlit passageway. I heard a large splash coming from the lake. As I turned around, I noticed large ripples, as if they came from a storm. The odd thing was, the air was still, and not a cloud was in sight. Spooked, I hurried into Moria after the others.
"Soon, elf, you shall experience the fabled hospitality of the dwarves!" Gimli was boasting. "Roaring fires, malt beers, ripe meat off the bone! This is the home of my cousin Balin, and they call it a mine. A mine!"
"This is no mine," Boromir breathed. "It's a tomb!"
Frodo stepped back from an impaled skeleton as Gimli finally realized what was around him, groaning with each corpse he saw. I had to bite my hand to keep from screaming.
Legolas examined an arrow. "Goblins!"
Strider unsheathed his sword, as did Boromir, and Legolas readied his bow.
"We make for the gap of Rohan," Boromir ordered. "We should never have come here. Now, get out. Get OUT!"
Too late, I noticed the strange ripples in the water. A large tentacle grabbed Frodo from the group of hobbits, pulling him by the leg.
"STRIDER!" Sam shouted.
The exiled king turned, and his eyes grew big with fear, which I thought was more for Frodo than the thing that was grabbing him.