Author's note: A shorter, but relatively fun and action packed chapter today :D.
Chapter 5: The Watcher of the Water
"Arturia, what's wrong? You seem to troubled," said Boromir as they stepped over some treacherous rocks. The Fellowship had been making their way toward the West Gate of Moria at the edge of the Misty Mountains. Footing had been problematic as loose shale littered badly kept paths, and the Fellowship had to step carefully as they negotiated their way downwards.
Saber's lips curled, testing another step with her armored foot. "It is of no concern."
"We are companions on this quest are we not? Your concern is our concern," said Boromir, following Arturia's descent. Boromir knew Arturia was a bit of a quiet person, but she had been far more reclusive than usual after they had left the mountain.
Crunching past rock and gravel, Saber sighed. She might as well ask.
"At the Council of the Ring, you said Gondor does not need a king, which suggests that your realm has been ruling itself for a long time. How is it possible your kingdom survived for so long?" asked Saber slowly.
Boromir stiffened slightly. "Why do you ask?"
Saber jumped down from a short ledge and turned to Boromir, her features impassive. "Shortly after the king of my realm died in a civil war, my realm shook itself apart."
Boromir nodded. Now Arturia's question made perfect sense. "Kin-strife. According to what my brother Faramir told me, it happened once in Gondor's history. The kingdom nearly fell in those days. Luckily, King Eldacar slew the pretender Castamir. Still, all of our great cities suffered greatly from that war." Boromir jumped down and landed beside Saber and hesitated, before sighing.
In a hushed voice, he whispered to Saber. "The truth is, Arturia. Gondor's Stewards have ruled in the king's stead as kings in all but name since the line was broken. The Stewards have maintained the kingdom, but my father, the current steward… as Mordor's strength grows, his wanes." Grimacing, Boromir glanced at Frodo, who was helping Gandalf. "That is why I wanted to claim The One Ring for Gondor. I thought it can be used against its master."
"You know it can't," said Saber softly, recalling what Frodo had told her of how Boromir had been momentarily entranced by The Ring.
"I know that!" hissed Boromir. "But a solution must be found. And I will do whatever it takes."
Saber didn't like Boromir's dark look, though she respected his determination. For she would have done anything, short of violating her own codes of chivalry, in order to win the Grail to fulfill her wish.
The King of Conquerors Iskandar had said that: "A king who regrets his rule is a fool!" Perhaps he had been right, but in order to prevent her people from having to suffer for the consequences of her rule, Saber was willing to sacrifice everything she had, even if that meant being called a fool. She owed it to all the knights that had died for her. Thus, she would undo all the mistakes she had made in the simplest way possible.
By asking the Holy Grail to prevent her from ever becoming king in the first place.
But thanks to the bastard Kiritsuguru, even that option wasn't open to her now. What she could do though, was to stop this world from being destroyed, and as far as she could see, there was only one solution to Gondor's problem.
"Should you not ask Aragorn to retake the throne?" Saber asked, as the pair continued to traverse the path.
"The Stewards of Gondor have ruled without a king for years. We do not need the line renewed," retorted Boromir.
"Your own admittance that your father's power is waning suggests otherwise Boromir. One cannot rule without the title of king. He can only maintain the kingdom at best," pointed out Saber.
Boromir blinked and gritted his teeth. That logic made sense, but he didn't wish to accept it. It had been hard enough realizing that Denethor II, his father, was losing popularity and recognition from the people. Tax revenues had been the lowest in years, as had enlistment rates. The cities had been drifting away from Minas Tirith and the tension between the lords was growing.
"You may not agree with me, Boromir, but I thank you for sharing this with me. Though may I ask why?" inquired Saber.
Pursing his lips, Boromir replied, "First of all, Gandalf appears to trust your council, as does Lord Elrond. While I am not overly fond of wizards and elves, I would be a fool not to listen to at least listen to their advice." Turning the Saber Boromir voiced something that had been puzzling him for some time. "Also, you seem to be wiser than your age suggests. So wise that I would guess you were a close confidant of your king."
The irony of the statement did not escape Saber, and she chuckled bitterly. "Perhaps, but no more." The two were finally interrupted from their discussion by Gimli's cry.
"The walls of Moria!"
The cliffs had been spectacular, even in the dusk. It took the appearance of a smooth white, rock wall with a dark lake at its foot. Problem was that the only way to get to the gate had been a narrow rocky beach. Some of them had to step briefly into the water, sending ripples across the murky surface of the pool.
Saber's senses were on high alert, even as Gandalf searched the smooth rock wall between two dead trees. She couldn't help become distracted though as the silver gate of Moria began to shine in the moonlight, a glowing arch tangled with ancient letters of a language Saber could not recognize.
"It reads, "The door of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak, friend, and enter," said Gandalf.
Merry asked, "What do you suppose that means?"
"It's quite simple. If you are a friend, speak the password and the doors will open," explained Gandalf, and opening his hands, the wizard chanted… and nothing happened. As the wizard continued to chant, trying various passphrases and other rambling languages, the rest of the Fellowship, settled down for a brief respite, but Saber couldn't.
"Gandalf, I do not mean to rush you, but I do not like this place," said Saber, hand on her invisible sword. Narrow area, lake on one side, cliff on the other, the site screamed "perfect ambush," to her instincts, but there shouldn't be any ambushers…
Aragorn nodded, having just released Sam's pony. "I agree. Merry, Pippin, do not disturb the water!" ordered the ranger. The Hobbits, chastened dropped the stones they had been skipping, except, to the confusion of the pair, the ripples wouldn't stop.
Saber caught that, and her eyes narrowed at the dark pool, filled with limbs of dead trees.
"Legolas, do not be alarmed. It may be nothing, but stay close to the Hobbits. Tell Aragorn and Boromir as well," whispered Saber in a hushed voice, knowing the elf's keen ears would pick up her request. Legolas inclined his head slightly and nonchalantly passed by Aragorn and Boromir, whispering in their ears briefly, before taking up a position near the Hobbits.
"It's a riddle... Gandalf, what's the elvish word for friend?" asked Frodo. Saber glanced at the door. Surely it wouldn't open that easily! Anybody with a rudimentary knowledge of elvish would be able to—
"Mellon," spoke Gandalf, and with a crunch and grunt, the door to Moria opened into a dark hall.
"Seriously, that's the passphrase?" said Saber, disbelievingly.
"I suppose it's sometimes best not to overthink things," said Boromir, shaking his head. He couldn't believe it either. Aragorn and Legolas simply shrugged.
As they entered the hall, Gimli grinned as he sauntered beside Legolas. "So, master elf, you will enjoy the fabled hospitality of the dwarves; roaring fires, malt beer, red meat off the bone. This, my friend, is the home of my cousin, Balin...and they call this a Mine…" Gimli snorted. "A mine!"
Saber unconsciously licked her lips as she stepped in after the rest of her companions. Oh food, glorious food. She couldn't wait to sink her teeth into… Her eyes widened as she spotted vague shadows in the dark, and stale air with a long-forgotten odor hit her nose. She knew that smell, but this was older, darker… but where had she smelt something similar?
Camlann… the smell rotting corpses of men and horse...
She had already halted and pressed her hand to her mouth as Gandalf lit his spell to reveal the contents of the chamber. Dwarf skeletons. Long dead, strewn about haphazardly in the hall and dressed in armor that sprouted black-feathered arrows, axes and twisted swords.
"This is no mine...it's a tomb!" Boromir said in a hoarse voice.
"No. No. Nooo!" Gimli ran over to one of the corpses, sobbing as he touched the dwarven armor tenderly.
Legolas pulled a crudely shaped arrow out of a skeleton and grimaced. "Goblins!"
In a rasp of steel, the Fellowship drew their weapons. If the goblins had reached here, there was no telling how deeply they had entrenched themselves into Moria.
"Long remnants of some forgotten battle." Saber crouched down on the dusty floor in order to better examine the way the dwarves lay, and her brow furrowed.
Wait a second… they weren't facing the direction of the doorway, but facing inward and yet all the corpses are lying on their backs. They had been fighting a rearguard action as they tried to escape to the doors, but that area was… empty…
"They had been trying to… fight their way out? But why are there no corpses by the door or outside of it? They should have been pursued through the doors," said Saber, turning towards the doors from which they had entered from, and the lake beyond it.
"There's a time to ask questions Arturia, and that time is not now! We make for the Gap of Rohan. We should never have come here," said Boromir as he took slow steps backward.
Nodding, Saber turned around. Suddenly, her eyes widened and she screamed, "Frodo behind you!"
Legolas, who had been hanging near the rear, was faster than Frodo and his fellows as he spun around and saw a black, slimy tentacle from the lake, wrapping around the Ringbearer's ankle. Drawing his knives, the elf slashed the tentacle into pieces, keeping Frodo from being yanked into the lake. And then the lake was suddenly still.
It was then the water exploded with tentacles that slapped Legolas aside and then seized Frodo and Merry. Yelling and screaming, the hobbits were hoisted into the air, watching with horror as the water parted to reveal the horrifying octopus-like beast, but with what seemed like more than twenty tentacles.
Aragorn and Boromir were first out of the gate and splashed into the water in order to cut at the tentacles holding their friends, Saber ran past them toward the water. Boromir was about to tell Arturia to watch out, and gawked as she started to run on top of the water as if it were solid.
"For Camelot!" roared Saber as she dodged tentacles to get close to the monster's face. Whirling her invisible blade, she stabbed downward into the face of the creature. It screeched, its tentacles flailing to knock Saber away from it and high into the air, where it wrapped around the girl's arms and torso with one of its limbs, depriving her of the use of her blade. To the Fellowship's horror, the creature then opened its mouth, positioning itself directly beneath the writhing lady-knight.
"Arturia!" yelled Aragorn as he hacked through another tentacle, releasing Frodo into Boromir's arms. He and Boromir tried to wade through the water to reach Arturia, but they didn't have the same ability as her to walk on water.
As Saber saw the fang-filled maw of the monster growing in her vision, she struggled harder, forcing every bit of her prana into her muscles, but the creature only responded by constricting its grip around her, to the point where Saber could feel her prana-reinforced armor cracking, and her ribs fracturing. Terror, pure and cold, filled her body as she realized that in spite of all her abilities, she was helpless to escape from being devoured.
Then Gimli made his move. "Take this you rotten beasty!" The dwarf, using one of the rusted axes on the floor of the hall, ran and then with a titanic throw, chucked the axe at the lake monster. The axe spun like a top, shearing through the tentacle holding Arturia and dropped her onto the water, which she landed as if hitting rock.
Shakily, Saber rose to her feet, ran past tentacles and hacked down the tentacle wrapping Merry, catching him before he fell into deep water. Cocking her arm back, she tossed him into the arms of his friends on the beach.
"Run. Into the mines!" yelled Gandalf, his staff lighting the way. Nobody disagreed, not even Saber. If she had more knowledge and preparation, defeating the foul creature would be possible, but they were trapped between the cliff, narrow door and the lake. Her Noble Phantasm may be able to destroy the creature, but the resulting landslide it would cause would kill them all, and there was a high chance she'd injure her companions.
Legolas, still wincing from being knocked aside by the tentacles, managed to fire a few arrows to delay the creature, and Gimli threw several more axes that buried itself into the dark form, but the enraged kraken continued to advance, getting closer to Saber, Boromir and Aragorn.
Which was when a blast of wind hit Boromir and Aragorn from behind. It was as if a howling gale had been released right behind them. Above it all though, they could hear Arturia's declaration:
"Strike Air: Hammer of the Wind King!"
Less than a second later, Boromir and Aragorn found themselves lifted up by Arturia's right arm. Flying toward the door at an impossible speed, they caught up with Gimli and Legolas, and actually passed them, before crashing into the ground.
Just in time too, as the monster of the lake brought the East Door of Moria crashing down behind The Fellowship, plunging them all into darkness.
After a moment, Gandalf's staff shone, clearing away the darkness. Looking older than ever, the wizard trod forward to the head of the party. "We now have but one choice...we must face the long dark of Moria. Be on your guard...there are older and fouler things than the Orcs in the deep places of the world."
Nodding grimly, Saber nonetheless made her way to Gimli and bowed. "Thank you, Gimli son of Gloin. I owe you my life."
The dwarf chuckled, a sad note still in his voice as he walked past his dead kin. "It was no problem lassie. It would have been a great pity if you were eaten."
"Nevertheless, if you ever wish to ask a favor of me, I will give it to you with interest," said Saber, after a moment's hesitation, she clasped the dwarf's shoulder and squeezed.
As she looked back forward though, she saw Boromir and Aragorn had sidled up beside her.
"Arturia, we owe you our lives," said Aragorn.
Boromir nodded, in agreement with Aragorn for once. "For that you shall always be welcome in Gondor and the house of the Stewards." His eyes travelled back to Saber's sword, invisible, despite being sheathed in Avalon. "Strange... "
Saber raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"I swore I saw a flash of gold behind me," said Boromir, he grinned as he saw Arturia smile. "You released Invisible Air at that time, didn't you?"
Saber nodded. "Yes. By doing so I create a blast of wind that can help propel me forward. It was the only way to save you and Aragorn."
"But you are not ready to show us your blade?" asked Aragorn.
Boromir didn't like the fact that Arturia's eyes suddenly hardened at Aragorn's question. "Pray the situation in which I need to show you Excalibur's true form will never arise."
"Excalibur?" The unfamiliar name felt strange in Boromir's tongue, but it was definitely a title befitting of a great sword, like Glamdring, the sword that Gandalf wielded, or Narsil, the broken sword of King Elendil.
"It is my last resort, and it will mean we will be in great mortal peril."
Aragorn sighed as they trod past another dwarfen corpse. "Then it may well be that we will see it soon."
Omake and Author's note: Deep into Moria our Fellowship goes. Where they will end up, nobody knows.
Also, one might say that I'm making Saber remember too much of her memories and be a bit too angsty. Thing is, she's in a land where there are still kings and rulers, as well as crises regarding those issues to be solved. It's only natural that she's being reminded of them so often. During the Grail War, Saber had a solution to her problems at hand as long as she stuck to it (win the Grail war), but this time she doesn't, and with her opening up to others, comes her
Saber Lion: Gao gao!
55: Yes?
Saber Lion: Gao gao gao gao?
55: You will make an important appearance, don't worry. It just might take a while, but hell it is important.
Saber Lion: (satisfied) Gao.