Chapter 7


As the Fellowship moved into the now open wall and away from the disconcerting water, they noticed right away that just inside the door was solid black darkness, with the bright light of the moon outside being their only means of seeing. Sierra could see some lit up patches of what may have been rubble, she wasn't quite sure, but it was entirely possible: they were inside a mountain after all, and rubble could have come loose from the walls and ceiling.

"Soon, master elf," Gimli spoke, "You'll enjoy the fabled hospitality of the dwarves. Roaring fires! Malt beer! Red meat off the bone!" Sierra quite liked the sound of that. Warm food, drink, maybe even a bath and cozy bed. "Oh! An' miss Brander, do watch that the bachelors don't try to trick you into marrying them! Ehe." That was something Sierra didn't quite like, but she believed herself to be cautious enough to avoid it. Gandalf paused as the party still stepped in and lit the end of his staff with a magic glow. "This, my friends, is the home of my cousin Balin, an' they call it a mine. A mine!" Gimli still seemed so elated as he barked out a laugh, but the others were suddenly cautious as they looked around at the places revealed under the magic light.

"This is no mine…"Boromir said warily, "It's a tomb." As she got closer, Sierra realized it wasn't rubble that she had seen in the shadows, they were armored corpses. The hobbits jumped back and Sierra covered her mouth to muffle any noise she made as she watched Gimli cry out in grief. These rotted skeletons were of dwarves. Gimli moaned in anguish and fell to his knees beside a body as Legolas pulled an arrow from a dried husk of a corpse, studying the strange head of the weapon.

"Goblins." He surmised. They had unique, cruelly built weaponry and tools and hated the dark just as much as they hated the other races of Middle-Earth. Sierra had read and heard that they were disgusting creatures with manners as foul as their breath and dreaded ever running into one. The woman went to Gimli's side as Legolas prepared his bow and Boromir and Aragorn withdrew their swords.

"We make for the Gap of Rohan." Boromir said, ushering everyone back outside, "We should never have come here."

"Gimli, come on. We can't stay here." Sierra had to use the strength of her whole body to conjure Gimli to his feet and pulled him away from the corpses as best she could. He still moaned half sobs and mourned their loss as the party retreated out the door and back to the eerie lake, one of them commanding the others to get out. Suddenly Sierra heard the hobbits all shouting Frodo's name.

"Strider!" Sam shouted, maintaining Aragorn's old label. The man whirled and ran to help. When Sierra had finally hauled the grief-stricken Gimli near the door, she saw a mass of tentacles flying from the eerie lake and latch onto Frodo, pulling him from his friends.

"Frodo!" Sierra shouted in a panic. She couldn't do anything from the shore and if she went in the water, she might find herself in Frodo's same predicament. An arrow whizzed through the air and struck true on one of the flailing limbs of the beast and Legolas prepared to loose another at the creature as the two men slashed at the writhing limbs. Braving her fears, Sierra pulled out her knives and slashed at the tentacles near the shore with Boromir and Aragorn, doing far less than their long swords, yet smarting the monster all the same. Slice after slice appeared to distract the beast as Frodo now dangled high above its gaping toothed maw. "Hold on Frodo!" Sierra cried, slashing at more tentacles and severing some. Eventually, Boromir cut through the one holding Frodo aloft and caught the terrified hobbit before turning back to the shore.

"Into the mines!" Gandalf commanded, the beast was infuriated now and its thrashing tentacles grabbed hold of whatever they could. Sierra turned to enter the bone-strewn cave again when her feet were pulled from under her and she screamed in terror as the beast hauled her aloft.

"Legolas!" Boromir shouted. Promptly, Legolas fired a volley of arrows into the beast and paticularly the spindly tentacle holding Sierra. The beast roared angrily as she fell from its grasp and landed in the water. Aragorn pulled the woman from the foaming black water and ran as fast and as far as he could into the opening. Sierra was glad he had a hold of her arm as she stumbled behind him, she'd been blinded by the prickly feeling of water in her eyes and didn't trust her unguided feet to carry her safely away from the monster. They had to move fast, the beast was bringing down the entrance in its rage and the crumbly passage eventually sealed itself behind the party, silencing and killing the beast. After the rockslide ceased and loose pebbles landed, the only noises were of everyone panting to catch their breath and the panicked half breaths half sobs from Sierra as she quickly rubbed the water from her eyes. She never ever wanted to go near an unfamiliar body of water again. Gandalf was the first to speak.

"We now have but one choice." he spoke as he lit the end of his staff again, "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…" Sierra was not liking any of that. Aragorn helped her to her feet and gently coaxed her to the front behind Gandalf with Legolas to her right and Gimli behind her, though she was slowed by heavy, water-laden clothes and chilled by the air around them. Behind Gimli were the hobbits and taking up the rear were the also sopping wet Boromir and Aragorn.

"Is everyone alright?" Legolas asked, while casting a worried glance at Sierra. She took deep breaths to steady herself and nodded, making a noise of confirmation as her clothes and hair dripped, and the hobbits all murmured verification that they were going to be alright as well. Sierra put on a steely face and calmed her breathing, determined to toughen herself up on this mission, as they all wandered deeper and deeper into the gloom of Moria's darkness.

"Quietly now," Gandalf half whispered, "it's a four-day journey to the other side. Let us hope that our presence may go unnoticed." Sierra wondered how deep the mines went and what had taken up residence since the death of the dwarves at the door. She shivered, though not from the chill of air on her wet garb.


They made progress in a single file line, Gandalf leading and lighting the way while Boromir and Aragorn traded a torch between them at the back. The travelers' eyes all dilated as far as they would go, trying to see any kind of light in the shadowy underbelly of the mountain. The rare noises they did make were the soft clanks of metal on metal or stone and the occasional skid on a slippery rock surface. Overall, the ten were remarkably silent, aside from the irregular wet squelch from the humans' boots, and kept their eyes and ears open for goblins and whatever else was there. Sierra almost jumped when she thought she heard the distant rattle of chains. Gandalf eventually paused to look at scrawled white drawings on one of the walls.

"The wealth of Moria is not in gold, or jewels, but mithril." the wizard spoke softly, but loud enough for all the party to hear. Sierra had heard of mithril, a seemingly magical substance that was hard as steel but light as a feather. Gandalf then focused his staff light to cast out into the depths below and everyone adjusted themselves to look out into the now revealed expanse around, above, and below them. "Bilbo had a set of mithril rings that Thorin gave him." Sierra smiled a little at the mention of Bilbo.

"Oh!" Gimli awed, "That was a kingly gift!"

"Yes!" Gandalf remarked, apparently he was trying to lighten the strained atmosphere, "I never told him, but its worth was greater than the valley of the Shire." Sierra's eyes widened. Bilbo had the wealth of a king that could sit on his hands! No wonder his relatives had wanted the house so badly. They must have wanted to search it from top to bottom for all of Bilbo's treasures.

They traveled far and high into Moria, stopping to eat and sleep for the night in one of the abandoned stone homes. They didn't bother cooking anything, there was hardly any dry firewood; most of it had gotten drenched when the tentacle beast attacked. And it was just as well, who knows what the smells of smoke and cooking food would lure out of the darkness. They again all took watches, this time switching between who would and could watch on what nights, but Sierra had an incredible time just trying to close her eyes. It was well into the second watch that she finally felt herself drifting, praying for something that wasn't a nightmare. Sadly, her subconscious didn't oblige her wishes, giving her horrid dreams that culminated in her lashing out at the hand of Boromir as he shook her awake.

"Easy now, lass, it's just me." He assured her softly. She let out a long breath and apologized, blaming it on the dream. "Come on now, Brander, your turn to watch." So she did. She had no idea how long she was supposed to be on watch, having no sky to give her reference, but after what felt like ages, Gimli came to relieve her of her watch. It had apparently been little more than two hours. This trend continued into the second night where the men decided to relieve Sierra of watch duty in favor of granting her some real rest. She'd ended up sleeping better, but not much, over that and the following night. It was most way through the third day in the mine that they came to three passageways and stopped.

"I have no memory of this place…"Gandalf admitted softly, trying to find which way to go from there. It was decided the Fellowship would set a fire and rest. While it was cool within the mountain, Sierra noted it was certainly much warmer inside than it would be on the pass high above them. The Fellowship warmed around a fire as Gandalf racked his brain for which path led where. Aragorn smoked a pipe beside a thinking Boromir and the watchful Legolas as the hobbits whispered among themselves. Sierra was sitting cross-legged on a boulder and stared into the dark void, thankful for an opening somewhere high above letting in some light of day and all but basked in the feeble shaft of light.

"You doin' alright, lass?" Gimli asked worriedly as he approached Sierra, she'd been awfully quiet ever since they'd faced that beast at the entrance.

"I don't think so," Sierra admitted, keeping her eyes on the void, "I guess I'm just shaken up from the past few days. I should feel better when we're out in the sun again." If Sierra was anything, she was an optimist. A few days in the sun would do everyone considerable good and believing she would be out in the air and sunshine again greatly boosted her spirits.

"Well…alright." Gimli said, turning to go back to his seat, "Nobody blames you, if you're wonderin'." She turned and looked at him questioningly, "Bein' attacked would rattle anyone's cage, let alone by that kind of beast. You're takin' it pretty well overall."

"Thanks Gimli." Sierra said with a small smile and returned to her void gazing and thinking. Sierra was thankful for Gimli's company, he was gruff and didn't often say the best words, but he treated her as a friend and she definitely needed one then. Sierra fondly remembered the people she spoke with online once upon a time, only a few retained labels and names in her memory, though no faces. She wondered if they knew she'd disappeared like she was certain her mother, employer, and landlord would know.

"Ah!" Gandalf finally said loud enough to catch everyone's attention and break Sierra's thoughts, "It's that way." He nodded towards one of the passages.

"He's remembered!" Merry piped in, relieved to finally be heading out of Moria.

"No," Gandalf admitted, "but the air doesn't smell so foul here. If in doubt, Meriadoc, always follow your nose." As one by one everyone approached the opening, they found that the air was indeed not as foul, though only faintly so. Trusting the judgment of their guide, the Fellowship followed him down. Even though Gandalf lit the way, everyone had found it easier to keep track of the others if they held onto the shoulder or clothes of the person before them in the narrow corridor. Sierra's right hand rested on Pippin's corresponding shoulder and Legolas' firm grasp was on her own. Who exactly followed who and in what order, Sierra couldn't tell in such darkness, but she knew Gandalf was at the head and Aragorn the tail, as usual.


Soon, the group reached an open passageway that permitted Gandalf's staff light to spread more, allowing the party to let go of whoever stood before them and still know where the others were. As Gandalf raised his staff, everyone's jaws dropped as they stared around in awe at the many towering pillars that disappeared into the darkness high above.

"Behold," said Gandalf, "the great realm of the dwarf city of Dwarrowdelf." It was HUGE! The largest contained space Sierra had ever stood in. Gingerly, they all moved into the space and Sierra put a hand on the foot of one of the pillars; it was cool to the touch like the rest of the stone of the mine, but it was still so smooth and the corners were sharp at near perfect ninety degree angles.

"Well, there's an eye opener, no mistake." Sam murmured. Indeed, no king would be able to scoff at the amazing and imposing vision of this pillared hall. As they moved through the vast space, Gimli spotted an open passageway on the right that seemed lit. With a gasp and rush of noise, the dwarf made fast for the door, Gandalf calling after him worriedly. Sierra was the first to follow and found why he was so anxious to see what was here. It was a tomb, and by Gimli's cries of denial, it was for someone he knew and cared deeply about.

"No. Oh…no…" He seemed to shatter then, even moreso than at the entrance to Moria. Sierra squatted next to the broken dwarf and draped her arm around his back, giving him a comforting squeeze. He tried to be strong, show how tough dwarves were, but Gimli was still a person with thoughts and feelings, and Sierra even had to suck in a breath and fight the prickles of tears in her eyes when he sobbed beside her.

"Here lies Balin, son of Hundin…Lord of Moria." Gandalf read the inscription on the top of the sarcophagus. Everyone bowed their heads and Gandalf removed his hat in respect of the lost dwarf. "He is dead then…it's as I feared…" Gandalf too was greatly affected; he had known Balin for many years. Still, Gimli sobbed anew for his lost family and Sierra moved from a one-armed hug to making soothing rubs on the mourning dwarf's broad back. Beside the tomb, Gandalf found a hunched skeleton holding a massive tome, worn with age and bearing a deep slash across its cover.

"We must move on." Sierra heard Legolas whisper behind her, "We cannot linger." She agreed, but also wanted to allow Gimli time to mourn his lost bretherin. She looked at the elf pleadingly as another cry rang from the dwarf; Legolas pursed his lips and looked away. In opening the tome, Gandalf blew away the dust of age and flipped to the final entries in it and began to read them aloud.

"They have taken the bridge," he began, "and the second hall. We have barred the gates, but cannot hold them for long. The ground shakes. Drums. Drums in the deep." Whomever wrote this had known his death was coming. It was a warning to any who came after and found the tome. Namely, the Fellowship. Gimli hushed himself to deep, somewhat erratic breaths as Gandalf then turned the page and read further, "We cannot get out. A shadow moves in the dark. We cannot get out. They are coming." Sierra and everyone else in the room jumped as they heard the loud clattering of metal falling down a tunnel and hitting stone. Pippin had touched an arrow embedded in a corpse and set off the balance that kept helmeted head attached. The action spurred it to clatter down the well the body perched on. Soon after, the whole body tumbled in and dragged down a heavy chain and bucket with it. It all made such a noise and Sierra wondered if anyone outside could have heard it.

Quickly, Sierra and Gimli stood, the grief for the fallen dwarves temporarily set aside. Everyone was silent as their ears strained for any signs of anyone coming, hands hovering over weapons. After a moment, everyone let out relieved sighs. Gandalf snapped the tome shut and set a harsh stare on Pippin.

"Fool of a Took." Gandalf half-whispered, "Throw yourself in next time and rid us of your stupidity." It was harsh, but Sierra and some of the others inclined to agree that Pippin probably should not have come along on this mission after all. First the Prancing Pony in Bree and now creating such a clatter in Moria; Sierra half expected Balin to pop out of his coffin and tell Pippin to keep silent. Before anything else could be done, they heard it. It was a deep, in-the-bone sound, more felt than heard, and then another came not long after, just the barest hint louder.

"Drums." Sierra whispered, flexing her hands above her twin knives. The booming sounds came from all around them, soon paired with distant screams and calls that sounded too animal to belong even to a goblin. Frodo glanced at his sword, Bilbo's sword Sting, and found it was emitting a soft blue-white glow; he had told them all of Sting at the first camp they had made, that it was an elf sword and glowed blue only when orcs were nearby. What seemed to be screeches and war cries then came out of everywhere.

"Orcs." Legolas hissed, prompting Boromir to check the door. Sierra gasped when two arrows landed in the wood precisely where his head had been a moment ago.

"Get back!" Aragorn commanded Sierra and the Hobbits, "Stay close to Gandalf!" Sierra gladly did so and drew her knives when a booming roar came from the hall. Boromir and Aragorn shut the door and started to brace it.

"They have a cave troll." Boromir commented. Legolas proceeded to toss large battle axes to the two men and together they braced the door as best they could. Gimli took to standing atop Balin's coffin and withdrew his sword and axe. Gandalf and the hobbits pulled forth their blades, the blue glow of Sting pulsed brighter than before. Together, the Fellowship stood and prepared to do battle as the doors groaned and strained at the force against them.

"Let them come." Gimli commanded. His grief now channeled into fury, "There is one dwarf yet in Moria who still draws breath." Sierra and the others intended to keep this dwarf and each other drawing breath. Legolas' and Aragorn's bows were taut with fresh arrows and the long swords of Boromir and Gandalf sang metallically as they were drawn and swung into position. Sierra rolled her arms and adjusted her grip on her twin knives, the hobbits stood scared but ready for the onslaught, and above them all was Gimli, bearing his axe proudly and with a purpose of vengeance on his mind.

Cruel axes and swords attacked the wooden doors, making openings for the archers to fire through. Legolas' first shot landed true and the beast on the other side squealed in pain. Aragorn's arrow few next as the elven archer readied another, it was a well-placed shot. Sierra worried for her mind when she envisioned the image of goblins being turned into pincushions. At last, one of the doors came free of its hinges and three more arrows flew into the bodies and heads of the charging enemy. Soon though, even the speedy Legolas was overwhelmed and fell back as the orcs and goblins streamed in. Sierra braced herself and parried one hideous sword with her left knife while jamming its twin into the enemy's gut and ripping it free; blood and intestines fell from his belly and Sierra twisted herself to slash the jugular open. She was coated in black blood, but that was one enemy down.

With a beastly snarl, she readied herself for the next attacker. Were it because of the adrenaline or the desire to protect her friends, Sierra didn't know or care. All she knew was that she needed to fight hard to survive this day.

Everyone flew into the battle then, their lessons and prior experiences coming into play. Orcs and goblins lay strewn about, some sliced up and gutted, others beheaded, and many featuring arrows in their skulls and throats while still others remained standing, though not for long. But all of the experience in the world would not have properly trained them to fight the cave troll as it bashed it way into the tomb, destroying the stone doorway in the process. It was massive, pale-skinned, and smelled just as foul as its goblin and orc keepers and bore a hideous face Sierra was sure even a mother could never love.

Legolas was the first to hit the beast, an arrow diving deep into the right side of its chest. The troll's first and nearest target was Sam. In its right hand, the beast carried a massive crossbreed of a hammer and a club and the ground shook when the weapon hit the ground, Sam dodging like a master between the troll's legs. As it turned to stomp on the now prone Sam, Aragorn and Boromir grabbed hold of the chain attached to the beast's collar and pulled hard, knocking it off balance. Sierra watched in fear as the beast swung back around and its hammer club sent Boromir flying into a wall and sufficiently knocked him for a loop. He recovered quickly though, just in time to see Aragorn launch a sword into an enemy's neck like a throwing knife.

'I have GOT to learn how to do that.' Sierra thought to herself as she sliced open another orc's neck. Most of them had been defeated, but it was that troll that was giving them trouble. Its underbelly was soft enough for arrows and blades to pierce, but its back was tough and seemed molded out of the rock itself. Gimli's axe was the next weapon to land in the beast's chest and by dodging the massive weapon, Gimli inadvertently caused Balin's coffin to be destroyed. Sierra glanced around for the hobbits and spotted them hiding around a corner. Glad they were doing alright, she turned quickly and then immediately ducked down, almost laying her whole front on the floor when the monster swung its hammer her way, killing one of the goblin masters as it swung. She returned to her feet soon enough and retreated from the hulking beast, clambering up to an elevated ledge on the side of the chamber. Legolas lined up two arrows at the beast and fired just as it was about to swing at the temporarily downed Gimli. In that moment a goblin ran up behind the elf archer and Sierra met the ugly thing with both knives in its belly and slashed outward, tearing it apart.

"Thank you." Legolas said, lining up another shot.

"Just watch my back next time and we'll call it even." Sierra answered as more orcs and goblins hurried towards them. Indeed, she was sure the elf was more than capable of watching his own back, but watching Gimli's was stupid because she'd get hit by his wide swings, Gandalf had skills and years beyond anyone present and that showed in this battle, the hobbits were all watching each other very well, and Aragorn and Boromir were seasoned close-combat warriors. Sierra knew Legolas was monstrously aware of is surroundings and would not accidentally hit her in the heat of battle. As she took out another goblin, she heard Legolas shout for her to get down and then felt his arm pulling her down of the way of a flying chain and putting her flat on her back as it sailed overhead. Quickly, she gathered her wits and glanced up at the now standing elf, "Okay, we're even." And she rolled away while Legolas distracted the giant beast and its improvised chain whip.

When she got to her feet, she surprised the last orc on the elevated space and jammed a blade up though the soft flesh under its jaw and into the brain. The orc was dead before she pulled the knife free. Then suddenly the whipping chain stopped, it had coiled itself around a pillar and Sierra watched as Legolas used the chain as a bridge to the cave troll's head. He fired an arrow point blank at the skull, but it ricocheted and landed in pieces at Sierra's feet.

The monster was soon freed of its chain when one of the links snapped apart. While it was unfortunate the beast was free to roam, it didn't have its whip anymore. Sierra heard a strange metallic banging sound and ran to investigate; it was Sam, he'd lost his sword in the fray and was using his frying pan as a weapon. It was working remarkably well.

"I think I'm getting' the hang o' this." He panted as he swung around at another goblin. Sierra ran in to assist and proceeded to quickly slay the ugly enemies Sam had stunned. Soon though, the cave troll had found the three other hobbits.

"Frodo!" Aragorn called out as he jammed his sword into another black blood gullet. He frantically sliced his way to Frodo as the cave troll looked around for the same hobbit hiding behind a pillar. Eventually the thing surprised Frodo so much, he staggered and fell back as the troll approached and grabbed his foot. Sierra saw this and ran to help when an orc grabbed her ankle and tripped her. She ripped her foot free and kicked the orc in the nose hard enough to break it. She hopped to her feet and ran a dagger into the back of the goblin's exposed neck.

"Aragorn!" Frodo called, the troll now threatening to rip his little hobbit feet right off. He managed to slash at the troll's hand, making it let go, but he fell and stunned himself. Thankfully, Aragorn rushed in just then and held the troll back with a spear he had found. Sierra was quick to come around behind with a found battle axe and wrenched it around as hard as she could into the troll's leg. The hide there was tough, but gave slightly to the axe and held it in place. It was like attacking a tree the hide was so tough. The beast roared angrily and dropped its hammer before staggering backward and causing Sierra to fall back, trip, and land hard on a stack of rocks, smacking her head as she landed. She saw stars for the moment and found her chair of rocks to be quite comfortable in her current state. She briefly saw short swords being thrown at the monster and Aragorn was swatted to the side. She couldn't see him well, but he was certainly out cold from the impact.

"Come on lass!" She faintly heard Gimli, it was like he was speaking to her through water, "Come on, get up!" She was roughly hauled up by the dwarf and helped to a safer area where she found blood oozing from the superficial wound on the back of her skull. It took a while to regain her senses, but through that time, Gimli defended her with dual-wielded axes. Then she heard the choked gasp of Frodo. She'd come to her senses in time to watch two hobbits leap from the upper floor and onto the beast, stabbing it repeatedly. She briefly heard Sam's cry to Frodo and then staggered to her feet, hurrying as best as she could over to her friend, dread and nausea manifesting in the pit of her stomach.

Everyone then fought with a fresh fervor, the hobbit they had all joined, had befriended had been mortally wounded. Sierra was the first to his side and carefully flipped him onto his back, pulling out the massive spear from under him. She cradled his face in her hands and patted his cheeks firmly to get his attention, get him to look her in the eyes and say he's okay while she checked for his pulse. The beast still roared as it battled with the members of the Fellowship until finally it took its last wheezes, an elven arrow firmly seated in its windpipe. It crumpled to the floor with a heavy thud and died. Aragorn then came around and rounded to Frodo's side opposite of Sierra. Frodo was gasping for air and looking around, that was a good sign, but it was when he groaned and tried to get up that everyone crowded around the hobbit. He was alive, but it was more than that, he'd been wearing a secret armor that saved him.

A chainmail tunic crafted of finely woven mithril rings.

"You are full of surprises master Baggins." Gimli commented with a smirk. Distantly, there were still the cries of goblins and orcs. But there was also something else, something in the distance was stomping around and it seemed very big.

"To the bridge of Khazad-dûm." Gandalf murmured quickly. Everyone hurried after him, Sierra stumbling from the effects of the knock to her skull as she helped Frodo find his own feet. Gandalf cursed internally, he'd known of this beast and the risk it was to go through Moria and now it threatened the Fellowship.


Yes. Detailing that battle was very important. That's why this chapter is longer than the others thus far.