The Rose of the Fellowship
Song: Going Down in Flames
Artist: 3 Doors Down
AN: Yes, I am WELL aware of the pun in the song. Don't remind me.
Disclaimer: Any and all things mentioned in this story that are copyrighted do not belong to me. I am just using them for enjoyment and inspiration with this story, and no profit is being made with these copyrighted things.
Chapter Four: Going Down in Flames
Once we were off the side of the mountain, everyone seemed to be in better spirits. Mainly because we were all starting to warm back up! We kept a slower but steady pace until we reached the walls of Moria that night. I felt a shiver run down my spine as we finally got within sight of the entrance. I knew the evil that was within those walls, and was anything BUT eager to go in. I stayed near Boromir and Aragorn as Gandalf approached door. I heard him mutter about the door, and watched as the carvings lit up.
"It reads: The doors of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak, friend, and enter." Gandalf said.
"What do you suppose that means?" Merry asked.
"Oh, it's quite simple." Gandalf replied "If you are a friend, you speak the password, and the doors will open." Gandalf then tried and failed to open the door. After a few more failed attempts, I sat down by the tree with Gimli. We were there for a good fifteen minutes, and Merry had started throwing rocks in the water. Aragorn stopped him, nervous about what was in there. Gandalf then gave up on opening the door, and Frodo seemed to figure it out.
"It's a riddle!" he stated, jumping up and looking at the door. "Speak, friend, and enter." Gandalf watched him, the cogs turning in his head.
"What's the Elvish word for friend?" Frodo asked.
"Mellon." Gandalf replied, looking towards the door. I stood up and smiled as the doors opened. I drew my samshir as Boromir and Aragorn drew their swords, and we entered the Mine. The place had a right stink about it that did not belong anywhere, save a battlefield. I heard Gimli talk to Legolas, but I was distracted by the shadows that I knew to be dwarf corpses.
"This is no mine." Boromir declared after getting a sufficient look of the place.
"It's a tomb." I added, shuffling closer to him. Gimli ran over to the bodies, and cried out in grief. I felt my heart go out to him. Legolas pulled an arrow out of a skeleton and looked it over
"Goblins!" he told us, drawing an arrow and notching it in his bow. We all clustered together.
"This was a mistake," Boromir said, eyes darting everywhere. "We make for the Gap of Rohan, we never should have come here." he said to the others "Now get out of here! GET OUT!" Suddenly, Frodo cried out, and we turned to see him being dragged by one of many tentacles. I ran over with Aragorn and started hacking at the tentacle that was dragging Frodo. We fought the monster, and Boromir caught Frodo when the tentacle holding him was shot.
"LEGOLAS!" I shouted, helping Boromir and Aragorn get the hobbits out of the water. Legolas shot the monster as it came up behind us, and we all ran into the mine. I cringed as the entrance caved in. I checked Sam and Frodo, to make sure they were alright, then sheathed my samshir.
"We now have no choice," Gandalf stated, placing a crystal in his staff "we must face the long dark of Moria." We all gathered ourselves, and started following him. "Be careful, there are things more dangerous than orcs in the deep places of the world." Gandalf turned to look at us
"It is a four day journey to the other side, let us hope our presence goes unnoticed." and that started the next long leg of our journey. I kept a hand on the handles of my butterfly swords as we walked, only stopping to rest when we were sure the immediate area was safe. We kept on for three days, getting only just enough sleep to keep going. On the fourth day, we all were getting anxious to get out of the mines. We were climbing up some rock, when we came to a divergence of tunnels. I heard Gandalf mutter about having no memory of the fork in the path, and we all settled in to wait for him to remember. It was a good thirty minutes that we sat there, and I was surprised when Boromir turned to me. We had hardly spoken to each other since before Caradhras.
"You know," He said quietly "You remind me very much of my brother, Faramir." I turned to him, surprised.
"How so?" I asked, genuinely curious. Boromir gave a soft smile at what I assumed were memories of the younger man.
"He, too, has no confidence in himself personally." Boromir replied "He always thinks of others, and always tries to put a smile on the faces of those who are around him." Boromir gave a soft chuckle "He is one of the greatest rangers in all of Gondor, and yet he refuses to see it." I chuckled softly, and put a hand around Boromir's shoulders.
"I know of Faramir," I said, shyly smiling at Boromir "and for you to say that I remind you of him is the greatest of compliments." I squeezed the mans shoulders in a side-hug, and Boromir couldn't help but smile and return the favor.
"Ah!" Gandalf startled us "It's that way!"
"He's remembered!" Merry said with slight glee as we all joined Gandalf at the tunnels.
"No, but the air doesn't smell so rank down here." Gandalf replied, putting his hat back on. "When in doubt, Meriadoc, always follow your nose." I couldn't help the smile that came to my face as we all went down the stairs of the tunnel. When we emerged, it didn't take being able to see the whole room to know that we were in a LARGE room.
"Let me risk a little more light." Gandalf murmured, increasing the light from his crystal. We were then able to see the true expanse of the cavern. "Behold, the great realm and dwarf city of Dwarrow-delf." Gandalf told us who weren't familiar with the realms of dwarves. It truly was magnificent.
"Now there's an eye-opener, and no mistake." Sam muttered, gazing at the tall pillars that went on for what seemed to be miles. We then set off on our path, walking for a good while. We had been walking for about twenty minutes when I saw a patch of light out of the corner of my eye. I saw the source and knew it was the entrance to the room where Gimli's cousin Balin was entombed. Gimli saw it as we got closer, and ran in.
"Gimli!" Gandalf called after the dwarf, and we all ran after him. I felt my heart break when I heard Gimli's cries of grief.
"Here lies Balin; Son of Fundin, Lord of Moria." Gandalf read sadly "He is dead then….it is as I feared." I noticed that I could read it as well, strangely enough. I slowly drew my butterfly swords as Gandalf picked up the war journal.
"We must move on," Legolas told Aragorn "We cannot linger." I watched Gandalf as he began reading the last entry of the book.
"They have taken the bridge and the second hall. We have barred the gates but cannot hold them for long. The ground shakes, drums... drums in the deep." Gandalf paused, and we all listened to the silence "We cannot get out. A shadow lurks in the dark. We can not get out... they are coming. " We all were silent, when Pip suddenly tipped over the dwarf corpse, and the armor clanked all the way down the well. I winced along with Pip at the noise as the chain finally fell.
"Oh, Pippen." I muttered under my breath.
"Fool of a Took!" Gandalf growled, slamming the book closed. "Throw yourself in next time and rid us of your stupidity!" I winced at the harshness in the wizards tone. Suddenly, we heard the drums start.
"Mr. Frodo!" Sam started, pointing to Frodo's sword. Frodo pulled Sting out and we saw that the metal was glowing blue.
"Orcs!" Legolas told us. I never had been so scared in my entire life. Boromir and I ran over to the door when we were able to hear the enemy approaching. We looked out, and I pulled Boromir back as the arrows flew past us and embedded themselves in the door. Aragorn ran over to us and helped us to close it.
"They have a cave troll!" Boromir and I bitterly told the others. Legolas tossed Aragorn an ax and we blocked the door as best we could. I backed up next to Boromir and separated the two blades of my butterfly swords as he drew his sword and readied his shield. I had a reverse edge-out grip on the sword in my left hand, and a forward hold on the sword in my right hand. As the orcs started to come through the door, I tightened my grip, scared as anything that something would go wrong.
"Let them come!" Gimli shouted from the top of his cousins casket "There is one dwarf yet in Moria who still draws breath!" I wasn't able to worry for long, since they soon got through the door. I could see that the men wanted to keep me safe, but I knew that if they focused on me, one of them would be hurt, so I was the first one to engage an orc in battle. If I proved that I was able to handle myself, the others would concentrate on keeping themselves alive. I was surprised that killing came so easily to me! Most likely it was because the enemy was not human and was pure evil. I sliced the arms and head off of an orc, and then moved on to stab one that was going to attack Legolas from behind. I dodged past the arrow of another orc and sliced the head off of the goblin that was attacking Sam and Frodo. I didn't stay in one place very long, since over the years I learned that speed was my best defense.
All of the sudden, we all heard the thuds and crashes that were unmistakably the fists of the cave troll hitting the stone. I whipped my head around in time to see it crash through the entrance to the room. It saw me, and whipped one of it's arms at me, the chain flying towards me fast. It was too high for me to jump over, so I hit the floor faster than anything! I dodged the troll's feet, killing orcs and goblins as I went. I watched Legolas as he dodged the troll's chains and shot it. I fought the thinning ranks of orcs and goblins as the others tried to fight the cave troll. I heard the sudden quiet as the troll stabbed Frodo. We took the troll down, and Sam and I ran over to the other young hobbit. We turned him over, and the others were surprised that he was alive.
"He's alive." Sam sighed in relief, looking to Aragorn and then Gandalf.
"I'm alright," Frodo said, looking at Sam, then Aragorn. "I'm not hurt."
"You should be dead!" Aragorn panted, trying to regain his breath "That spear would have skewered a wild boar!" I smiled at Gandalf as he came closer.
"I think there is more to this hobbit than meets the eye." he wisely stated. Frodo then unbuttoned the first two buttons of his shirt, and showed everyone his shirt of Mithril armor.
"Mithril." Gimli breathed, his genetic love of shiny things kicking in. "You are full of surprises, Master Baggins." Gimli stated with a grin. We all shared a good-humored moment, then the drums started again. We all jumped when the sound reached our ears.
"To the bridge of Khazad-dum!" Gandalf ordered. We didn't hesitate in following him. We ran out of the room and through the hall, Goblins and Orcs appearing from all surfaces. I sheathed my butterfly swords as we ran and drew my samshir, scared as anything. The thousands of creatures circled us, and we prepared to fight. Suddenly we heard a very low thud, and the goblins looked as scared as the rest of us. Two more thuds were heard, and they started scattering.
"Goblins are scared, this is not good," I muttered "goblins are scared, this is NOT good!" When the hall was completely empty, we all saw the red shadow approaching.
"What is this new devilry?" Boromir asked Gandalf. I saw the wizard hesitate, then sigh in defeat.
"A balrog," he told us "a demon of the ancient world." upon hearing that, I sheathed my samshir.
"This foe is beyond any of you," Gandalf said "now run!" we then turned, and took off as fast as we could. We ran through more tunnels, and got to the stairs. We were running, then came across the gap in the stairs. Being the second-lightest in the group, Legolas and I jumped first. I helped catch Sam as he jumped over.
"Merry, Pippin!" Boromir grabbed the two hobbits and jumped over the gap. I helped them get steady when they landed. I watched as Gimli jumped, and tried not to laugh when Legolas grabbed his beard. We helped him up, and turned to Aragorn and Frodo as the gap widened. The Balrog caused more thuds throughout the mines, and that caused the pillar that the stairs were on to crumble a bit and start tipping. Aragorn told Frodo to lean forward and they caused their set of stairs to crash into ours. They jumped, and Legolas and I helped them steady their feet.
When we all were across, we kept running for the exit. We got across the bridge, and I turned back when I heard Frodo shout.
"Gandalf!" Frodo cried out. We all turned and saw Gandalf face the Balrog.
"I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. Go back to the shadow." Gandalf growled, then blocked the Balrog's sword. "The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udun! You shall not pass!" We all felt the ground shake as Gandalf slammed his staff into the bridge. I couldn't breath a sigh of relief like the others, for I knew what was next. Gandalf turned to walk away as the Balrog fell, and tripped as the creatures whip wrapped around his leg. When the wizard grabbed onto the ledge and tried to pull himself up, I grabbed Merry and Pippin as he and Frodo tried to run to him.
"No!" Boromir and I cried, holding onto the hobbits as they struggled. I saw the look on Gandalf's face.
"Fly, you fools!" he whispered before letting go of the ledge.
"Fight well, dear friend," I thought as we all ran out of the mines "We'll see you soon."
End Chapter Four
AN: Well, what do you think? Rate and review, please! As always, Bolʹshoe spasibo i Bog blagoslovit! (Thank you very much and God Bless!)