Chapter Five
They watched all night, Saber didn't need sleep now that he had fed and an elf can be awake and still get rest inside their minds. There was a stir from inside the room and a few moments later, Andrew came out and lit a smoke.
"Sup," he nodded to the two and took a sip of his whiskey."You packed your whiskey?" Saber asked, not really surprised.
"Of course," Andrew smiled and blew the smoke up into the dark.
"You should be resting," Legolas said gently.
"I don't sleep, not much anyway." Andrew smiled, "shit its dark in here." He could barely see his hand in front of his face. They sat together, Saber in the middle and silently kept watch. Andrew nearly dozed off a couple times but then, it seemed to Legolas, that something scared him awake, his eyes would fling open and his hand would go to the knife that he had tucked at his hip.
When it had been several hours, for it was too dark to really know if it was morning or not, Saber and Legolas went inside and quietly woke everyone up.
"It is morning," Legolas said and Frodo rubbed his eyes.
"How can you tell?" He asked, everyone stirred and sat up slowly.
"It's been eight hours." Saber said and shook Heru.
"No," he cried and pulled his sleeping bag over his head.
"Common Heru," Saber whispered and looked into the bag. Heru's eyes were open but he was still very pale and his heart beat slowly. "You need to eat." He growled and pulled him out of the bag and sat him up. Saber moved around their little camp and looked in Heru's bag. He pulled out a couple granola bars, a banana and went back to Heru. He handed them to him and Heru grudgingly took them.
"What is that?" Pippin sleepily asked, eyeing the food.
"A granola bar and a banana." Heru said and Saber went to his bag again, pulling out the box and bundle of bananas.
"Help yourselves, we brought food for everyone to share." The hobbits took a granola bar and curiously unwrapped the silver wrapping.
"It's beautifully wrapped," Merry said, looking at the silver plastic as it reflected the fire that Sam had started up again. "What is this wrapping called?"
"Plastic." Andreas answered, highly amused.
"Plastic…" repeated Merry, taking a bite of the chocolate covered bar. "Mmm!" His eyes widened, "chocolate!" He said excitedly and Pippin quickly unwrapped his.
"Chocolate!" Pippin shouted and took a bite of the bar quickly.
"I take it you guys don't have a lot of chocolate here?" Heru asked, watching them savor the flavor and eat the bars slowly.
"It is a real treat to have chocolate," Pippin said happily. Even Sam took one and was eating it peacefully, savoring it as well.
"Well, we brought a lot of stuff." Heru said and pealed the banana, breaking a piece off and eating it. Sam cooked a full breakfast with sausages and other meats while Frodo buttered a slice of bread for everyone, Saber respectfully declining. The group ate quickly, Gandalf was getting restless.
"Do you know which way to go?" Orpheas asked, wrapping his blanket up and placing it in his bag.
"Yes, we go right." Gandalf said and once they had packed everything up again, they began their second journey. Orpheas created the ball of fire again and Andreas raised it above their heads. Saber carried Heru on his back, feeling guilty for having to feed off him he agreed to carry him for part of the day.
They walked down the hallway and again, took so many turns and stairs that everyone was completely lost to where they were going, all except Gandalf. They walked in the darkness, for even the small fire above them only lit a foot in front of them and Gandalf's staff also didn't give off much light. The hobbits often tripped and the men struggled to see in the blinding dark. Saber felt right at home though.
After a few hours of walking, Saber went to Orpheas and pulled him aside for a moment.
"I think I can hear things moving," Saber whispered.
"There are things moving, definitely." Orpheas agreed, he had been hearing it for awhile now and was growing more concerned every minute. "I hear a drum and marching."
"They're coming for us Orpheas." Saber warned, "They must have heard us last night."
"Yes, but they're still far away, it's even faint to my ears." He said and Saber relaxed a little. "They're probably a day or so away."
"Alright, but you should tell Gandalf."
"I will," Orpheus went back up to the front and Saber watched him speak quietly to him. Gandalf looked at Saber and then back at Orpheas.
"Is there any way you can tell how many?"
"I can hear hundreds of foots steps, but it echoes too much here and it makes it difficult to hear it right." Orpheas answered, "But when we stop again for the night, there is something I can try."
Gandalf nodded and they went on. Everyone was quiet; every sound they made seemed to echo loudly all around them, even the shuffling of their feet sounded like thunder through the whole place. They were all too afraid to speak; they knew something was out there. If they couldn't feel the presence of some kind of evil, they noticed the whispering that was going around and the look of concern on their faces.
"This is the twenty first hall," Gandalf said as they came into another hall. "We'll camp here for the night."
Heru lost all sense of time; it just seemed like one long dark hour that they had been going. Saber had carried him for half of the day and he was able to sleep more and then managed to walk the rest of the day. They had agreed that Andrew would have to feed Saber tonight. It hadn't felt like a full day but in reality, they had been walking for a good twelve hours.
"This place is huge," Andreas said to Gimli once they were sitting down around the fire again.
"Yes, of course, it's the largest city of dwarfs." He answered, taking the plate of food Sam had made.
"Are you a cook?" Heru asked, noticing Sam was always cooking the meals and carried the cooking gear.
"No, I'm a gardener," Sam said quietly and looked at Frodo, "but I'll always look after my master." He said and Heru raised an eyebrow, wondering what their relationship was. "What do you do in your world?" He asked, now looking at Heru.
"What? Oh, I'm a teacher." He said and Legolas looked at him.
"You're a scholar?" He asked a little surprised, Heru didn't seem at all scholarly.
"No, I teach acting." Heru clarified, "um, drama performances. I write stories and then I get my student to act them out. It's not always my work, usually it's someone else's but I've had a few pieces go to Broadway already." He said and the others nodded, assuming that was a big achievement.
"And what do you do?" Pippin asked Andreas.
"I'm a writer too, but of graphic novels so I write and draw."
"What are graphic novels?" He asked.
"Like books but with pictures and less writing. They tell stories more with the pictures but there's some writing in it." He explained.
"What are they about?"
"Us mostly," he smiled, "well back home they're just a bunch of fantasy stories but I usually write the things that actually happen in our lives that deal with supernatural things anyway. We all have code names and costumes in the story." He elaborated.
"Those are interesting jobs." Frodo said, wondering if any of them gardened or worked in a field.
"Ya, well machines mostly do the physical labour in our world. Except Andrew's job, he's a mechanic." Heru turned to Andrew who was eating quietly.
"What?" He looked up, suddenly aware of the hobbit's gaze.
"Tell them about your job." Heru prompted.
"I work on cars." He said and then had to explain what a car was. It was all beyond their imagination and they didn't understand any of it, but Pippin was impressed, it all sounded very complicated and sophisticated.
"What do you do?" Andrew asked Pippin.
"Nothing," Merry teased and Pippin smacked him.
"I don't really have a job like you all seem to have, not a title anyway but I help during the harvest."
"And help drink the ale," Merry added with a smile, again Pippin smacked him.
They went on talking some more, Saber tapping Andrew's shoulder and leaving the room. Aragorn was on watch and he watched the two disappear into the dark. A few minutes later, they returned and Andrew, though he wasn't pale like the other two the night before, he seemed a little annoyed.
Andrew wasn't actually annoyed. Saber was his brother and he would more than willingly give his life for him, if he could die. It only ever bothered him because it felt like having sex with Saber and unlike Heru and Andreas, Andrew was completely straight. He knew for a fact that half the time when Saber fed from Heru, it was during sex and that made Andrew uncomfortable. He didn't have a problem with them being gay or anything but as much as he loved Saber, he didn't want to have sex with him.
However, Saber was grateful. Andrew's blood was so rich and made is head spin. He always forgot that Andrew's blood alcohol level was always more than the legal limit but Andrew never noticed. He had been drinking for so many years that he was just used to it and additionally to having super strength; his metabolism ran faster than a normal person's. But now Saber's head was spinning and he had to stop a couple times on the way back. It was more than the alcohol too. Andrew's power was in his blood and for Saber, he felt like he had just taken speed. The affects only lasted a few minutes and when they reached the camp again, he was full but no longer intoxicated.
Andrew sat back down and picked up in the conversation where he had left off but Aragorn grabbed Saber's arm as they walked by.
"Where do you keep disappearing off to?" He asked.
"Aragorn," Saber started, "I have respect for you, a great deal of respect, but I ask for some privacy and trust." Aragorn nodded, feeling bad now for involving himself in Saber's business but he had just been concerned since he saw the condition that Heru was in when they returned.
The talking stopped slowly and they all went to sleep, except Aragorn who stayed up to keep watch.
Andrew had been sleeping for only an hour when he shot up, holding his knife in front of him ready to stab some unseen foe.
"Are you alright?" Aragorn asked, looking over at the younger man with concern. Andrew breathed heavily, a bead of sweat dripped down his neck and he didn't answer at first. The visions of the dream slowly faded and he became aware of where he was again.
"Yea," he put his knife down and took a long drink from his flask. He sighed and looked over at Aragorn.
"You are ill at ease." Aragorn noted; Andrew lit a smoke.
"I guess." He shrugged, looking at the older man. He put his head in his hand and stared at Aragorn, feeling oddly comfortable around him.
"What haunts you?" He asked and Andrew thought about the question. There were too many answers to that question.
"The past, I guess." He shrugged. He started to panic, he felt too comfortable, too safe near this man and those were things he wasn't used to feeling. Even with Ammon, he always felt like he needed to hold back, even if Ammon knew everything he was feeling already. Andrew had lived so many years closed off from emotion and safety.
"You hold onto it?" Aragorn asked, though it was more of a statement than a question.
"Yea."
"What is it you cling to so tightly Andrew?" Aragorn's voice was soft, and warm and made Andrew think of a father that he never had.
"I think it holds onto me." He looked back into his eyes, "I think the past won't let me go."
"If that is true, then there is something in your past that you have left unfinished, a path you were meant to take but choose to fight it."
"Sounds like you've got some experience in that." Andrew smirked and took a long drag from his smoke. Aragorn frowned and looked away, he did indeed. He fought the path that was laid out in front of him from birth. He had left that life behind him but now it seemed that he had no other choice but to take it.
"Yes," he said slowly, "I left my fate behind me and tried to run from it, but now I cannot run any longer. I am needed." He looked at Andrew again.
"What do you run from?" Andrew turned it back on him, one of his best defensive techniques.
"Fate." Aragorn said simply, "for fear of repeating my father's mistakes." Andrew's jaw twitched, he was afraid of the same thing. "What do you fear?"
Andrew licked his lips and shrugged, "nothing really."
"Do not try to deceive yourself Andrew," Aragorn saw right through the lie, "it will only hurt you in the end."
"I'm afraid of becoming my father, of making his mistakes, of losing control." He blinked at how honest he had been and wondered what kind of game Aragorn was playing.
"Hmm we fear the same thing." Aragorn packed his pipe with pipeweed and watched Andrew smoke, "you remind me of myself when I was younger."
"Yea?" Andrew folded his arm across his chest and leaned against the wall. Aragorn lit his pipe and blew the smoke out.
"Mmhmm," he nodded and Andrew wondered if there was more to what he was going to say.
"Why do I trust you?" Andrew asked and he looked at him strangely.
"Why shouldn't you?"
"I don't trust anyone." Andrew responded easily, "Back home, trusting people just ends up getting you killed or worse. No one trusts anyone."
"That is painful to hear. Do you not then trust these friends that you call brothers?"
"I trust them more than I trust anyone, but I still don't talk to them about this kind of thing."
"Then who do you confide in?" He asked and Andrew shrugged.
"Who do you confide in? You're a ranger and from what I gather that means you just wander around. Pretty good set up; don't have to make any connections to anyone."
"I have many dear friends all around Middle Earth. I can always confide in Gandalf and Lord Elrond and I have Arwen."
"That's his daughter right? Elrond's?"
"Yes."
"You two are together?" Andrew asked, kind of surprised.
"We'll be married after I take the throne of Gondor." He said quietly.
"Congrats." Andrew looked away and his jaw twitched. People in love always annoyed him.
"Do you have someone? Your own Arwen perhaps?" Aragorn asked and Andrew stood up.
"Ok, that's enough bromance for me." He rubbed his hands together, the anxiety building.
"Forgive me; have I said something to offend you?" Aragorn stood now too.
"No," Andrew said quickly, "I just don't talk about that."
"That?" Aragorn was completely confused now, "you mean-" he paused as it slowly started to make sense. "You lost someone you love." He said now understanding.
"Yea, and I don't talk about her."
"You should." Aragorn said firmly, "to keep her memory alive in your heart."
"I don't," Andrew said weakly but sat down now.
"Alright." Aragorn nodded and fell silent. He wouldn't push Andrew to talk about anything he was uncomfortable talking about. But he hoped that over the course of their journey, Andrew would learn to trust him and open up to him. Aragorn saw so much of himself in the younger man, though he wasn't much younger than Aragorn, he hoped he could help him learn to not make the same mistakes he had.
They sat in silence for several more hours until Aragorn could no longer keep his eyes open.
"Will you be on guard since you're awake?" Aragorn asked tiredly.
"Yea man, go to sleep. I'll wake you up in a couple hours." He assured him and stood up. Aragorn thanked him and leaned his head back against the wall, falling asleep a few minutes later.
Andrew watched the rest of the night. He guessed that it had been a few hours after Aragorn had gone to sleep and that it might be around morning. Slowly, he went around, one by one waking everyone up quietly.
They ate quickly and within the hour they were up and walking again. Heru mumbled about the endless walking. They were walking for a few hours when Gandalf stopped and went into a room. It was a large room with a single shaft, the daylight shone through and landed on a stone. He went in and looked around,
"The Chamber of Mazarbul." He said and brushed the dust off the stone. "Balin, son of Fundin, Lord of Moria." Gandalf said grimly and Gimli let out a cry, falling to his knees in front of the stone and beginning to weep. They were all silent for a moment, letting Gimli grieve.
Orpheas picked up a large book and dusted it off. "This seems to be a journal of some kind." He said, opening it up and looking at the writing. There were blotches and smears that covered most of the writing but there were some words that were still clear, but they were in a language Orpheas didn't read. "Here," he handed it to Gandalf who began to read it out loud. It told of how Balin had died and how they had heard drums and there were too many orcs. But the further it went on, the darker it got.
"We cannot get out. They are coming… drums, drums in the deep… they are coming." He read and everyone felt their blood run cold.
"What's coming?" Heru and Pippin asked together and Gandalf looked up.
"We must leave now." He said in a rush, setting the book down and going to the door and then froze.
Doom, doom. The sound of the drums echoed through the halls and Gandalf looked back at the company.
"They're coming!" He shouted, "Bare the door!" Andreas immediately slammed the doors, Boromir stood shocked for a moment as he was going to shut the doors.
"Is there another way out?!" Aragorn asked and looked around. There was another hall that led downwards.
"To the bridge!"
"Oh let 'em come!" Gimli growled, jumping on top of the stone and drawing his axe. "I'll kill them all!"
"Quick!" Gandalf shouted again and grabbed Gimli. They ran through the door, Andreas was the last. There was thudding against the door, the sound of the orcs trying to break through them. Andreas held it as long as he could but the further he got, the weaker his hold was and soon, they heard the door burst behind them.
The men drew their swords and Orpheas and Legolas got their bows ready. They ran through the hall and down the steep steps, darting the arrows flying passed them. They came to the bridge but it was hardly a bridge in the boys' mind. It was so narrow that only one person could walk across it at a time and there were no guard rails.
"Quickly," Aragorn sad. Legolas ran across the bridge easily and took up his position there; firing arrows at any orc he could see. The hobbits followed, a little more slowly but it wasn't as narrow for them as it was for the others. The orcs came running around the corner.
Andreas flung back the first forty that came in, sending them flying against the wall. Andrew, Aragorn and Boromir swung their swords into the orcs, slashing and slaying all they could. Heru jumped and dodge the swords and jabs, stabbing those that he could and grabbing any orc near him. They looked like demons to him, they were ugly and their faces distorted and mutated and he felt slimy and filthy when he touched them.
Gandalf swung his staff in one hand and in his other, a sword. Saber ran, grabbing them and snapping their necks. He bit one but immediately cringed and spat, their blood was as black as tar and tasted like oil. After that, he went straight with breaking bones and cutting off as many heads as he could. Andreas continued to fling as many up into the air as he could, guarding the bridge so none could pass.
They were all in the middle of the fight, some shouting others growling, Andrew burned with rage and a fury that both impressed and scared those who hadn't seen him fight before, when there it came again. Doom doom. Doom doom. Doom doom. The orcs stopped and then they started to run.
"What the fuck?" Heru said, watching them flee like cockroaches in the light. They stood, frozen as the ground shook. Down the hall there was a light, like burning fire and they watched, backing slowly towards the bridge.
As the fire came around the corner, there seemed to be a shadow in it with glowing yellow eyes.
"A balrog!" Screamed Legolas in horror.
"Run!" Gandalf shouted but the men stood, ready to fight it, "this is beyond any of you!" He insisted and they all turned and ran across the bridge. Gandalf stopped half way and the Balrog stood at the edge of the bridge, a whip in one hand and a sword in the other.
"You cannot pass!" Gandalf's roared, lifting his staff and an incredible, white light burst from the end. The Balrog growled and stepped back at the light, only hesitating for a moment. He snarled and stepped forward onto the bridge. Again, Gandalf roared, "You cannot pass!" and brought his staff down onto the stone beneath him. The cracking of the stone echoed and the ground beneath the Balrog broke. The fiery shadow fell into the abyss but as it fell, it cracked it's whip. Gandalf had turned and was walking away when the whip coiled around his ankle. He yelled and fell, gripping the edge of the bridge.
"Gandalf!" Frodo screamed and went to run. Andreas tried to pull him up but the will of the Balrog was stronger.
"Fly you fools." Gandalf said and then slipped into the darkness too.
"No!" Frodo screamed and Aragon had to hold him back. Time seemed to stand still and Frodo fought against Aragorn who reluctantly pulled him.
They forced themselves to turn away and continue running until they came out the door and into the daylight. Many of them fell to the ground, weeping while others stood, shocked and horrified. The boys stood there, their minds reeling with ways they could have stopped it as they watched their new friends grieve.
I should have been able to stop that. Andreas thought, guilt bringing tears to his eyes. He didn't know Gandalf, but these people did and as he watched them weep, he felt responsible. He had the power to stop them, but for whatever reason, he couldn't and he blamed himself for that.
"We need to get moving," Aragorn finally said, standing and wiping the tears from his face.
"Let them grieve!" Boromir insisted his own eyes filled with tears.
"This place will be crawling with orcs by night fall, we must make for Lothlórien." He insisted, lifting Frodo to his feet. Boromir helped the other hobbits stand. Legolas was standing, frozen in grief. Orpheas chest was bleeding, their grief too much and his heart broke for them, the blood running down his white shirt. Saber came over to Legolas and touched his arm gently. The elf looked at him wide eyed, his gaze far away.
"We have to go," he said gently and turned Legolas in the right direction. He seemed to come back then and he blinked the tears away, walking with the others.
AN: If you want to know more about the boys, check out my story: Merely Mortal at and it's Andrew's story of who he is and introduces you to the other characters.
Also, thanks for the reviews Naru Vamp! I'm glad you're enjoying the story.