The 'oh-so wonderful' noises of people whispering dragged Victoria away from a peaceful sleep.
"Is she awake?"
"I dunno, but she isn't moving."
"Wait, she's breathing!"
"No kidding Pip… Come on, just wake her up!"
"Alright, but only because you said to!"
"What, me? No, no, no! This was your idea!"
She thought she heard a huff, then Pippin's weak reply of, "Fine."
She then heard some movement, then felt two small hands place themselves right at her sides and start, oh no he didn't!
She involuntarily squealed as someone tickled her awake and her eyes flew open to see Merry and Pippin crouching around her bedroll, sniggering.
"Good morning," she said smiling as she sat up, "Why d'you wake me up like that?"
"Oh no reason," Merry said, his grin widening, "you slept in longer than normal and we had to get you up."
"Oh ok, might I ask what time is it?" Victoria asked playfully.
"About eight o'clock," Pippin replied cheerfully.
"Almost time for second breakfast," Merry added patting his already empty stomach.
'Eight o'clock?! We usually leave way earlier than that,' she thought frantically.
"Did something happen? Why didn't we get moving sooner?"
"Dunno, Gandalf said something about us reaching the mines sooner than expected, so he said we could rest for a bit," Pippin replied as he looked over at the group sitting around the damp, extinguished campfire. Victoria followed his gaze and saw that Gandalf was smoking his pipe along with Aragorn and Gimli, who were chatting. Frodo and Sam were eating while Legolas and Boromir stood silently, not daring to look at each other.
"I wonder what happened to him?" Merry asked, pointing to Boromir, who was sporting a rather nasty looking black eye.
Victoria felt a pang of guilt in her chest and turned away, "Um, I'll be ready in two minutes," she promised, drawing the topic of Boromir away from the conversation.
"We'll get some breakfast for you," Pippin stated as he and Merry strolled back towards the group.
"Ok, thanks," she replied, yanking her boots on and clambering to her feet.
She brushed out her tangled bed hair with her fingers and pulled it into a high ponytail. She knew that tonight the Guardian would wake up and attack the Fellowship when they reached the Doors of Durin and she didn't need any stupid hairs flying around in her face.
She was attempting to tie her cloak around her neck when a voice stopped her short.
"Aren't you going to tell me what happened elf, or do I have to guess?"
She spun around and felt her eyes widen in shock. Legolas and Gimli were standing at the very edge of the camp- a good ten meters away.
"I do not wish to discuss it." She heard Legolas snap in an irritated voice.
'What. HOW am I hearing them?!' She wondered desperately, 'did I hit my head or something? Is it a migraine?' She pushed the thoughts out of her mind and slung her bag over her shoulder, tucked her bedroll under her arm and walked cheerfully over to the group.
"Morning," she said loudly, the men grunted in return.
Pippin handed Victoria her breakfast, consisting of a mixture of oatmeal and milk, and she sat down next to Aragorn to eat. Unfortunately the group continued their conversations and as Victoria was finishing her last mouthful she heard Gimli talking again.
"Oooh, so you like her, eh?" Gimli asked, rumbling with laughter.
Victoria frowned and swallowed quickly, not wanting to eavesdrop but unable to stop.
"Drop it dwarf." Legolas growled, Gimli however, just laughed harder.
'It's been five minutes and I'm already fed up with these men,' "Ok," Victoria announced, jumping to her feet, "Let's go."
"But we are ahead of time, we were supposed to reach the mines by tomorrow night, why not rest?" Aragorn asked.
"Well, the faster we get moving, the closer we get to Mordor, and the closer we get to destroying the Ring, the closer we get to defeating Sauron." Victoria explained impatiently.
"Alright," Gandalf said putting his pipe back into his pocket and standing up. "To Moria," he announced. The Fellowship quickly packed up and together, they made their way towards Gandalf, who was leading the group as usual. They started off in blissful silence. It lasted a whole minute.
Three hours later Victoria was ready to jump off a cliff. She was aching all over, tired, and her hearing, instead of returning to normal like she had hoped, actually appeared to be getting worse. Or better, as was the case. Every bloody noise, from the crunch of stones under her feet, to the small conversation of the Fellowship was amplified until she thought her head would positively explode. Her head throbbed with every forced step and she seriously pondered the idea of a brain tumour. That would explain the headache, but not her sudden acute hearing. More than likely, her headache resulted from all the conversations she had heard in the last 180 minutes:
Gandalf had talked to Aragorn about his sword.
Aragorn to Boromir about Minas Tirith.
Boromir to Merry about his fighting technique.
Merry to Pippin about Lunch.
Pippin to Frodo about Gandalf's fireworks.
Frodo to Sam about the Shire.
Sam to Gimli about Moria.
Gimli to Legolas about his braids.
'Is this what it's like for him?' she wondered, thinking of the elf. If so, it was a miracle he was still sane. Hearing every single sound was enough to drive anyone crazy.
She paused mid-step as she saw Aragorn approaching, "You are awfully quiet today, are you alright? You look pale."
"Yeah, I'm ok, just a really bad headache." As if to prove a point, she massaged her head. Victoria looked up at the man and found that he was staring quite intensely at her with his pale blue eyes, he was searching for something.
"He told you?" She shouldn't even have to ask. The answer was written all over his face.
"I wanted to make sure you were alright."
"He told you?" She repeated, more for her sake than his. She couldn't believe Legolas would tell him, especially after their conversation last night.
"He had to," Aragorn said simply. He motioned to where Boromir was walking. "He had to explain that."
Victoria looked towards the front of the group and caught sight of Boromir's black eye again, "Yeah I guess that would need a bit of an explanation."
He reached into his vest and pulled out a rolled up leaf. He unwrapped it, revealing what appeared to be a piece of bark.
"Try this." He broke off a small section and handed it to her. "It is known to relieve head pain."
Victoria studied the bark skeptically, "Do I eat it?"
Aragorn smiled widely, exposing his straight teeth, "No, you chew it… trust me," he added.
She looked down at the bark in her hand and shrugged, "what do I have to lose?" She muttered as she popped the soft piece of wood into her mouth and began to chew. It tasted, well, like a piece of wood, but with kind of minty aftertaste that made her head feel light and cool.
"Better?" Aragorn asked kindly.
Victoria nodded, shifting her hands uncomfortably; the comment Legolas had made last night about how Aragorn might be distracted by her had been nagging in the back of her mind all day. She couldn't let Aragorn like her in that way, he had to love Arwen in order to have the motivation to defeat Sauron and become king of Gondor. She didn't think the ranger thought of her like that, but perhaps she was wrong. It was known to happen occasionally. She had to know.
"I need to talk to you," she whispered as quietly as possible.
"Alright, why don't you sit?" He pointed to the rock beside him. Victoria looked around confused, she hadn't even noticed that the Fellowship had stopped for lunch.
She threw a nervous glance at Legolas who was studying his arrows carefully.
"Um, I need to talk to you…privately," she said with a blush.
Frowning the ranger stood and walked with her until they were a good distance away from the group.
"Is something the matter?" he asked looking concerned.
"No… Well sort of…It's kind of, um, embarrassing."
Aragorn grabbed her hand reassuringly. "You know you can ask me anything, Victoria."
Her cheeks flamed. "Y-yes, well it's kind of…private…and I just wanted to ask…I wanted to know… h-how you felt about me," she blurted out finally.
Aragorn dropped his hand immediately, looking shocked. "I see you as a friend." He said, blinking rapidly. "I…ah..I apologise if I have made you think…" It was his turn to stutter.
Victoria let out a long sigh of relief. "Oh thank goodness, and no I don't think that," she assured him. "I could never see you as more than a friend, I'm glad you feel the same way."
'…And balance is restored to the Force,' Victoria thought to herself with a smirk.
Aragorn smiled in response, then gave a puzzled look. "May I ask what prompted these questions?"
Victoria quickly told him what Legolas had said last night and listened to him laugh as she finished.
"I think Legolas is the one who is distracted," Aragorn said with a grin, gently taking her arm and leading her back to the group.
Victoria rolled her eyes. "Now you sound like Gimli," she muttered.
Aragorn laughed again. "Maybe we can see you two better than you can see yourselves."
He turned towards her, pulling her to an abrupt stop. "Maybe you were sent here for him."
Victoria scoffed, "yeah right!"
She frowned realising he was serious. "The idea is crazy."
"Why is that?" Aragorn said, sounding rather offended.
"Because…uh," Victoria said, fumbling for a reason. There were a thousand reasons why the idea was preposterous. She decided to name the main one. "Because Legolas is, well, Legolas," she whispered, not wanting the elf-in-question to hear. "The thought of him needing anyone, especially someone like me, is ridiculous."
"Perhaps he is lonely." Aragorn stated softly. They both turned and looked at Legolas.
"Lunch is ready!" Merry announced, interrupting any further conversation they might have had.
Victoria distanced herself from the Fellowship and began to eat her small ration of lunch, bothered by the ranger's words. 'Could it be that Legolas was lonely?' The thought had never occurred until now, but she shut it away, and focused on Moria, on Gandalf. She balanced her bowl of bread and meat on her left knee while balancing her notebook on her right. She had finished her sketch of Merry and Pippin, and was now finishing the last touches on a doodle of Gandalf.
"His nose isn't right." she muttered as she rubbed out the nose to try again. Often, Victoria drew what was on her mind, and as she had to promise to lie to the entire Fellowship about the wizard's death, she had spent a lot of time thinking about him.
She thought she had made it fairly clear she wanted to be left alone, so was surprised when Legolas walked up and sat down beside her, startling her out of her thoughts.
"Bloody hell! You scared me." she spluttered.
"My apologies, Lady Victoria," he stated, "you look deep in thought."
Victoria shoved a huge bite of her lunch in her mouth so she wouldn't have to reply. 'I'm glad he can't read my mind.'
"Why did you and Aragorn go off by yourselves?" He asked suddenly.
"I had to know," Victoria said suddenly. She had to tell Legolas the truth; she couldn't let him go on thinking Aragorn liked her in that way. "and… You were wrong, Aragorn and I are just friends.
"You asked him?" Legolas sounded somewhat relieved.
"Of course I did, I had to know… And thank Gallifrey that he likes Arwen and not me, because that really would've messed everything up!"
Legolas shook his head. "You never fail to surprise me Lady Victoria," he admitted softly.
She smiled as she caught his eye. "And you, Prince, never fail to confuse me." It was true. He was a difficult man to figure out. Or elf as it was. She looked down at her hands and shifted uncomfortably.
They sat in awkward silence for the next few minutes before Legolas glanced over at her twiddling her pencil with her fingers. Her hands were covering something that resembled a notebook, filled with strange drawings.
"May I?" He asked quietly, pointing to the book.
"Uhh…Yeah, sure." Victoria replied hesitantly, as she handed it over to him.
He flicked through the notebook slowly and examined the pages. Each sketch earned a small smile from him, and as he turned to the page of her latest doodle; he stopped and chuckled, "I hate to break it to you, but Gandalf does actually have a nose."
Victoria looked over at the book he was holding and followed his gaze to the drawing of Gandalf that she hadn't finished. She still had to add in the nose.
She gave him a wry look, "oh, I am aware of that Legolas. I haven't finished it yet." she added with a laugh.
He smirked at her comment and closed the fabric-bound book and wrapped it with the attached leather cord. "They're good, your drawings," Legolas mentioned as he handed back the notebook to a blushing Victoria.
"Um, thanks…" she replied, her eyes darting away from him.
"I do need to talk to you, though" he started.
"Good job you're already doing it!" Victoria said sarcastically.
His smile turned serious as he continued, "I need you to tell me what will happen… in the future."
"Oh, alright…" She said, concentrating hard, she didn't want to forget any important details.
After another minute she began:
"We will reach the mines tonight, and we will discover the Doors of Durin. Gandalf won't be able to figure out the password. Eventually Frodo will solve the riddle and the doors will open just as the Guardian is awakening."
"What is the Guardian?" Legolas spoke up.
"Do you want to hear what's going to happen or not?" She teased. He nodded quickly. "Ok, then don't interrupt me."
"Anyways," she said dramatically. "Where was I? Oh yes- the Guardian. We will enter the mines to find skeletons of dwarf warriors killed by goblins. Everybody will try to exit the 'tombs', as Boromir calls them, and will get stopped by a huge squid creature- the Guardian." She gave him a pointed look.
"Then there will be a fight between us and the Guardian, as it will try to kill Frodo. After we do that, everyone will rush inside the mines as the doors cave in- leaving only one option. 'We must face the long, dark of Moria'." She quoted Gandalf.
"Then we will travel through the mines for a few days until Gandalf sort of gets lost, he then finds his way and we arrive in the great dwarven city, Dwarrowdelf. Gimli will find Balin's tomb and everyone will listen as Gandalf reads from Ori's books. 'We cannot hold them. We cannot get out. They are coming…' And of course Pippin will knock down a skeleton into the well and a band of orcs will attack us. They have a cave troll," she whispered. "After we kill it we will run to the bridge of Kazad-dûm."
Victoria paused unsure of how to continue, but then decided to cut herself off and not mention the Balrog at all. Legolas looked at her for a full 30 seconds, studying her intently.
"Is there anything else I should know?" He asked in a whisper.
"Nope," she lied. She couldn't break her promise to Gandalf, no matter how much she wanted to.
'I hope he forgives me…' She thought as she as she looked up at the elf with a fake smile.
Legolas glanced over his shoulder to see the Fellowship packing up their supplies and getting ready to move again.
"We'd better get back before Gimli gets the wrong idea," Victoria whispered.
Legolas held out a hand and Victoria allowed him to pull her to her feet. He grinned, "the dwarf always has his head in the gutter." Both of them laughed as they walked back towards the group and continued down the mountain.
They didn't reach the walls of Moria until long after the sun had set. Victoria trudged behind Legolas and Gimli as the group searched for the doors.
"Dwarf doors are invisible when closed." Gimli said proudly as he knocked his axe against the stone.
"Yes Gimli- even their masters cannot find them if their secrets are forgotten," Gandalf spoke up from the front.
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Legolas muttered, loud enough for the dwarf to hear.
Victoria laughed as she heard Gimli growl in annoyance. She didn't bother searching for the doors, as she knew Gandalf would eventually find them. All she was worried about was the Guardian, and eyed the black water nervously. 'Maybe I can stop the hobbits from waking it up,' she hoped.
Sure enough, several minutes later Gandalf ran his hand over a smooth piece of carven stone and began wiping the dirt and dust away to reveal it's edges. The moon chose that moment to emerge from behind the clouds and almost magically, the doors appeared, glowing with bright blue light. Everyone looked on in fascination as Gandalf translated the writing that was etched into the arch of the door.
"It reads; The Doors of Durin- Lord of Moria- Speak friend and enter."
"What d'you suppose that means?" Merry asked curiously.
"Well it's quite simple," Gandalf answered. If you are a friend you speak the pass word and the doors will open."
He held up his staff perpendicular to the doors and spoke loudly in a foreign tongue. The Fellowship held their breaths, and nothing happened.
The wizard tried again, this time with different words. Still nothing.
"Nothing's happening," Pippin said- stating the obvious.
Victoria had to bite her lip to keep from smiling. 'That hobbit is gonna get in trouble if he doesn't watch it.'
Gandalf walked to the glowing doors and attempted to push them open. Victoria watched him as he stood there, muttering something under his breath.
"What are you going to do then?" Pippin asked the wizard, oblivious to the frowns he was receiving.
"Knock your head against these doors Peregrin Took, and if that does not shatter them, then I am allowed a little peace from foolish questions!" Gandalf snapped at the hobbit who had hung his little head in shame.
"I am trying to find the opening words," Gandalf sighed, sounding tired.
Victoria walked over to a rock and sat down. She knew that there was nothing else to do except wait for Frodo to solve the riddle, so she pulled out her notebook from her bag and distracted herself by sketching the outlines of the doors. The light from the moon and the doors combined, was just enough to let her see the paper of her notebook. She glanced up at the doorway; strange runes on the arch of the door was held up by two pillars with swirling vines, which altogether created a mystical aura.
She sighed and massaged her shoulder, then looked up towards Merry and Pippin who were just about to throw a pebble into the water. Instantly she leapt up from her seat, dropping her notebook and pencil on the ground, and grabbed Merry's arm.
"I really wouldn't do that if I were you," Victoria whispered in both of the hobbit's ears, "there's something in the water, and it would be great if you didn't wake it up."
They nodded their heads nervously and started to edge away from the lake. Victoria now felt calmer, knowing that the Guardian wouldn't be woken up, and so she strolled over to Sam and Aragorn and helped to unpack Bill and turn him loose. He was a very sturdy pony, with thick chestnut coloured hair and a splash of white down his forehead. Sam was the saddest to see him leave, as he and Bill had developed quite a strong bond.
"Don't worry Sam, he knows the way home," Aragorn said reassuringly to the hobbit whose eyes were welling up with tears.
Victoria patted his shoulder sympathetically, and was about to turn away when Sam reached out and tugged at her sleeve.
"Um, excuse me Lady Victoria, I- uh I just wanted to know what happens to Bill… I do want him to get home safely." He whispered.
She chuckled at his request, "trust me Sam, he gets back to Bree alright," she said as she walked back to her seat on the stony ground.
Legolas twirled his bow absentmindedly as he stared up at the night sky, lost in his thoughts. Half of him wanted to ignore Victoria's warnings and look at things rationally. Follow logic as he had his entire life. It was not logical that a woman from a different world, as she claimed to be, could know their future. It was not rational that she could know every detail of something that had not yet happened.
'Yet she is not lying.' He thought, remembering what she had told him when the they were attempting to cross Redhorn Pass. He knew this instinctively. He saw it in her eyes, heard it in her voice. She was telling the truth. 'At least the truth as she sees it.' He still hadn't ruled out the possibility that she might be somewhat crazy.
He glanced over to where she sat, scribbling a drawing into her notebook. 'She does not appear crazy…' He thought with a frown as he studied her closely. 'Well, she is crazy… but not the insane kind of crazy.' However, Legolas had never met a crazy person, so he had nothing to compare her to.
An hour passed, or was it two hours? Victoria didn't know, all she knew was that this 'figuring out the riddle thing' was taking way too long, and that they should have gotten into Moria by now. Part of her wanted to yell out the password, anxious to get away from the creature lurking in the water. The other part wondered if things were better left alone. 'Everything works out in the end,' she reminded herself.
'Well, except Boromir, Haldir and Theoden dying,' she realised with a frown. 'Maybe things aren't better left alone.' she argued internally. She looked over her shoulder at the lake and saw a ripple distort the smooth glassiness of the water. Her eyes widened in horror, "It's already awake,'' she whispered. It had been awake all along, awake and listening, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
She scanned the Fellowship, it didn't take long for her eyes to catch on Frodo, who was gazing at the doors with a confused look.
'Ok, this is taking way too long, a few more minutes and we are going to be attacked by a giant squid,' she said to herself as she shoved her book and pencil into her bag and plopped herself down next to the hobbit who was quite startled by her approach.
"Hey Frodo!" Victoria said with a cheerful smile. The young hobbit spun around and looked up at her with striking blue eyes. 'Gosh, does everyone in Middle Earth have blue eyes?' She thought enviously, comparing her dull, brown eyes to his vibrant ones.
"Hello Lady Victoria," Frodo said sounding tired and weary.
"Um, I wanted to ask you about your uncle Bilbo," she spoke quietly.
"You know Bilbo?" He asked, quite alarmed.
"Well, not personally no… But this is about something he did on his adventures."
"What would you like to know?" Frodo said as a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
Victoria smiled back, "I was just wondering if you anything about how Bilbo found the Ring in the first place."
The hobbit lowered his head slightly, the topic of the Ring seemed to turn him quiet. It was understandable. It would definitely spoil your mood if you constantly talked about the weapon of the enemy you're trying to smuggle into a dangerous land, that is at the same time, corrupting you and turning you against your friends. He let out a small sigh and looked back up at her. "Yes I know about that… Bilbo found it in Gollum's cave."
"Ok, but how did he actually get it?" she asked him, this time sounding a bit impatient. Of course Victoria knew how Bilbo found the Ring, she knew everything there was to know about Bilbo's adventures, but she was trying to get Frodo to realise a very important fact.
"He won it in a game of riddles."
"Oh...Riddles…" She repeated, trying to sound surprised, "what kind of riddles did he use?"
Frodo racked his brain in search of the memory of Bilbo telling him stories of the riddles in the dark, "there was one about teeth, one about eggs..."
"One about the sun, one about tables and chairs." Victoria chimed in.
"What other riddles were there?" Frodo said as he scratched his head.
"Oh, I don't know, 'speak friend and enter'?" Victoria said in a very matter-of-fact way.
The young hobbit looked up again, confused, "but, that's not right Bilbo never used that one-"
Her eyes met his, flicked over towards the Doors of Durin, then back to him, indicating that he was on the right track. His piercing blue eyes lit up as the answer dawned on him, and he stood up and walked in front of the doors.
"It's a riddle!" Frodo whispered in realisation.
"Now we're getting somewhere!" Victoria exclaimed as she jumped up from the rock and skipped over to where Frodo was standing.
"What's the Elvish word for friend?" The hobbit asked Gandalf who was sitting down off to the side, his pointed hat lay by his feet and he was smoking his pipe (again).
He sat bolt upright at Frodo's words, "Mellon," Gandalf and Victoria muttered in unison as the double stone doors swung outwards and the Fellowship cautiously made their way into the mines.
"Soon Master Elf, you will enjoy the fabled hospitality of the dwarves," Gimli told Legolas as they walked behind Gandalf. "Roaring fires, malt beer, red meat off the bone… This my friend, is the home of my cousin Balin," the dwarf continued proudly. "And they call it a mine!" Gimli rumbled with laughter, "a mine!"
The wizard tapped his staff on the ground and a bright light emitted from the crystal that was embedded in the head of the wooden staff. The room came into full view and the entire Fellowship was alarmed at what lay before them; skeletons, dozens of them. The once proud dwarf warriors, now lay hewn and rotten across the steps leading into Moria. Legolas looked over at Victoria in amazement and shock, 'she had known all along.'
"This is no mine, it's a tomb," Boromir stated darkly.
"No!" Gimli cried as he noticed the bodies. "NOOO!"
Legolas bent and removed an arrow from one of the skeletons. He recognised the crude marks. "Goblins," he hissed. He quickly threw the arrow to the floor with a clatter and readied his bow.
"We make for the Gap of Rohan," Boromir said quietly. "We should never have come here."
"Now get out of here," the man cried. "Get out!"
Legolas ran over to Victoria who was backing away from the doorway, terrified. He touched her shoulder gently making her jump and caused her to let out a startled cry. "Stay close to me." He commanded.
Victoria was only to happy to oblige, she didn't want to get anywhere near that thing, in fear of it tearing her limbs off and eating her.
"Strider!" Came Sam's cry from outside.
Aragorn, Victoria, Boromir and Legolas rushed out to help the hobbits. Legolas' eyes widened as they took in the creature attacking him. It was huge and slimy, it's tentacles the same colour as the cold, dark water. 'It's just as Victoria described it,' he thought as he shot an arrow into the center of the beast.
Around him, everyone jumped into action, trying to free Frodo from the monster's grasp. Victoria heaved Merry, Pippin and Sam who were struggling in the water, out onto dry land and ran with them back through the doors.
"What about Frodo? He's still out there!" Sam yelled to Victoria. She looked back, and saw the hobbit struggling free from the large tentacle. Legolas shot arrow after arrow into it's slimy flesh but it still did not release the hobbit. Aragorn severed the huge tentacles with his sword, not stopping until he chopped Frodo down. Boromir caught the hobbit in his arms and carried him out of the murky water.
"He's coming," Victoria shouted back to Sam, now with certainty in her voice.
"Into the mines!" Gandalf shouted.
"Legolas!" Boromir shouted as he ran for the caves. Legolas shot the creature one last time in the mouth and heard it bellow in pain. He turned and helped Frodo to his feet.
"Run!" Aragorn yelled as the monster crawled after them.
They all ran as fast as they could into the darkness. Legolas found Victoria and pulled her close just as the walls collapsed behind them.
Victoria wrapped her arms around Legolas as the darkness engulfed them, her heart pounding furiously against her ribs. She was scared out of her brain. She hadn't expected the Guardian to be so ugly, so scary, so...real. She pressed her head against Legolas' firm shoulder, trying to control the tremors that shook her body. Up until now, Middle Earth had seemed only partly real, just a series of images on a screen. Nothing could hurt her... Seeing the Guardian so close changed all that. The movie had become a reality. Full of real dangers like orcs and goblins and wargs. 'And I could really die' she realised with a shudder. Her breathing had become ragged and short, thanks to the dust kicked up by the fallen stones. She clutched her throat and tried to calm herself while Legolas placed his hand on the small of her back and pulled her slightly closer.
"We now have but one choice," Gandalf whispered, knocking his staff against the hard floor, sending echoes down the pitch black hallway before them. A pale light from Gandalf's staff flooded the cave and Legolas and Victoria simultaneously dropped their arms, stepping away from each other.
"We must face the long dark of Moria," Gandalf stated. "Be on your guard," he warned, "there are older and fouler things than orcs in the deep places of the world."
The group began to walk and Victoria stayed as close to the elf as she could, still deep in thought. It sounded strange, but she hadn't counted on the movie becoming real to her. When she first agreed to join the Fellowship, she had been caught up in the dream that was Middle Earth. Now she had finally caught a glimpse of the evil brewing under the surface, she was terrified. The mines were dusty, deep, dark, cold and altogether uninviting. Not only was she petrified of falling, but she was also asthmatic. A mine was the absolute worst place she could be. For the first time since the start of the journey, She wondered if she had made a mistake coming along on this quest, she wasn't exactly cut out for trekking and running and battling orcs.
"Quietly now," Gandalf said to the group, "It's a four day journey to the other side...let us hope that our presence may go unnoticed."
Victoria groaned, wondering how she'd ever survive.