Over the weeks of travel the rest of the Fellowship had learned that it was not a good idea to try and wake me, mostly after I had almost taken three of Boromir's fingers off, so it had fallen to Gandalf to wake me in the mornings, mostly because he had a staff and could prod me awake with the end of it and not have to worry about losing a limb or sustaining injury. This morning Gandalf prodded me awake with more force than usual, no doubt he was still unhappy about our argument last night. We didn't speak as I gathered my things and packed them away. After exchanging pleasantries with the hobbits we began the hike up the mountain. It wasn't long before we encountered snow and I dropped back so that I could have a moment to dig my hands into the cold wetness and felt a sense of peace steal over me, draining away all the tension and anger that I had gathered already on this journey. A soft smile settled on my face before I stood and easily caught up with the others who were struggling through the snow that was there and that which was also falling. Gimli was muttering about Elves and their quirks. I felt the worst for the hobbits since the snow came up to their thighs, yet even still they were doing their best to plow through it. Since I did not sink like the others me and Legolas were walking on either side of the line to watch for anything that might come. I was walking along the back of the line and this was the closest I had willingly walked to Aragorn since this journey had begun, but I could not find it in me to be angry about it. I was much too happy to be back among the snow and cold. The hike was silent as each person focused on just climbing the steep mountain and all was well until Frodo slipped and went tumbling down until I caught him against my chest and went sliding down my back with him.
"Frodo!" Aragorn shouted and managed to catch us and set us upright and once I was sure of his footing I released my hold on Frodo and moved away from Aragorn. Frodo brushed the snow off himself before freezing and looking around wildly. A glance at his neck told me that the Ring had fallen from his neck. I looked up the mountain a little and saw it laying there in the snow. I was about to move to pick it up when Boromir picked it up. I exchanged a quick worried glance with Gandalf and without drawing attention crouched down to bury my hands into the snow. If I had to I could make the snow shift under Boromir enough to make him lose his footing and drop the Ring.
"Boromir." Aragorn said softly. Boromir ignored him, his gaze was consumed by the Ring.
"It is a strange fate that we should suffer so much fear and doubt over so small a thing, such a little thing." His voice trailed off as he reached out to actually touch the Ring.
"Boromir!" Aragorn snapped thusly snapping Boromir from his trance. "Give the Ring to Frodo." He ordered. Boromir looked shocked at his own actions and walked back down to us to hand the Ring to a worried Frodo who snatched it from him.
"As you wish! I care not." He said grinning, he hesitated a moment at the look on Aragorn's face before laughing and ruffling Frodo's hair. He hefted his shield further up on his back before walking back up the mountain. I looked over to see Aragorn releasing the hold he had on the hilt of his sword. Quickly I stood from my crouch and Gandalf was the only one to notice my hands leave the snow. Here on the mountain surrounded by snow and ice my abilities were at their strongest and I could influence the very mountain itself if I had to. As we climbed higher the snow was falling harder and the wind was whipping around us in a furious gale. Legolas was walking on top of the snow in front of me while I was holding onto Pippin who I had burrowed in the warmth of my cloak. The rest were thigh deep in the snow and Aragorn was carrying Frodo and Sam while Boromir was carrying Merry. I was worried for the hobbits who were all shivering and shaking in the frigid air. Legolas walked to the front of the line and stopped next to Gandalf with me right behind him. I could hear what Legolas heard and was doing my best to keep the mountain calm without actually touching it. I had already given my gloves to Pippin who protested taking them from me until I had forced his hands into them.
"Cuiva nwalca Carnirasse; nai yarvaxea rasselya!" It was a deep commanding voice that I instantly disliked. The voice was trying to bring down the mountain on us.
"There is a fell voice on the air!" Legolas had to shout to be heard above the roaring wind.
"It is Saruman!" Gandalf shouted. There was a mighty crack and I grabbed Legolas and pulled him away from the edge and against the mountain right as the rocks above us crashed down onto where he had been standing. Underneath my cloak I heard Pippin give a shout of fear as he clutched onto me.
"He is trying to bring down the mountain! Gandalf! We must turn back!" Aragorn yelled.
"No! Cainmar!" Gandalf yelled as he stepped to the edge.
"Boromir!" I yelled and tossed Pippin to him and turned so that I was between Boromir and Legolas and was facing the mountain. I pressed my bare hands against the mountain and began to whisper. The whispers echoed out like great cracks of thunder and were of equal power to the ones Gandalf was shouting.
"Losto Caradhras, sedho, hodo, nuitho i 'ruith!" I was doing all I could to keep the mountain calm but it wasn't working and it was beginning to slip from my grasp. I raised my voice so that it was louder than the roaring storm and beside me I felt Boromir flinch and Legolas nearly doubled over in pain. Saruman's voice was also getting louder and was on equal volume with my own.
"Gandalf! I will not be able to hold it much longer!" I yelled before resuming my own chant.
"Hold as long as you can!" He bellowed back.
"Cuiva nwalca Carnirasse; Nai yarvaxea rasselya; taltuva notto-carinnar!" With those bellowed words I felt the mountain ripped from my grasp. I had just enough time to leap out and shove Gandalf away from the edge of the mountain. At that exact moment a streak of lightning struck the mountain above us and buried us under the snow. It was silent buried underneath the snow and I wanted nothing more than to stay there surrounded by the peace and sense of home it offered me. I was exhausted from trying to keep the mountain calm and it would have worked had the mountain not already been upset at having the Ring brought onto it. I heard the sound of shifting snow around me and then Gandalf yelling for someone to find me. The snow was shifted off me and I was looking into Legolas's shockingly blue eyes. His own widened as they met my lilac colored ones. Luckily my mask was still in place so he couldn't see anything more than my eyes, but I could see that he was shocked by them as well as the red scar that went through my right eyebrow and halfway down my eyelid.
"I found him!" Legolas shouted as he continued to dig me out of the snow. He was joined by Boromir who reached in and lifted me out of the snow. He sat me down to take charge of Merry and Pippin again while Gandalf lifted me and swung me across his back where I hung completely limp. I found myself relieved to see that the rest of the Fellowship was unharmed, I was even glad to see Aragorn.
"We must get off the mountain! Make for the Gap of Rohan and take the West Road to my city!" Boromir yelled as the storm picked back up even more furious than before. The mountain was upset at having the Ring there, but also because it had been used to harm me.
"The Gap of Rohan takes us too close to Isengard!" Aragorn shouted back.
"If we can not pass over the mountain, let us go under it! Let us go through the Mines of Moria." Gimli said. I weakly shook my head against Gandalf's back.
"No, Gandalf. We cannot go into Moria." I whispered. Gandalf ignored me and spoke.
"Let the Ringbearer decide." Gandalf said finally. Gandalf moved his staff so that it was underneath my bottom so that his arms did not take the brunt of my weight. Ideally Legolas would have been best suited to carry me, but given his lack of clothes and how tightly I would be pressed against his back, he would quickly notice that I was missing a very important male part. I was now high up enough on Gandalf's back to see Frodo looking confusedly at Sam.
"We can not stay here!" Boromir said. Merry and Pippin were holding onto Boromir with all the strength they had and looked utterly terrified. "This will be the death of the hobbits!" He added and I had to admit that he was right. All four of the hobbits looked nearly frozen and Aragorn and Boromir didn't look much better.
"Frodo?" Gandalf asked.
"We go through the mines." He said hesitantly. I sagged against Gandalf's back and he had to quickly adjust his staff so that I didn't fall.
"So be it." Gandalf said with a sad sigh.
"I am sorry I could not hold the mountain." I whispered to Gandalf in Maian.
"Nonsense my dear. You held it much longer than I expected you to." He responded.
"Glad to see how low your expectations of me are." I grumbled. He chuckled.
"I merely meant that since you have not taken your mother's Crown. Your power over the snow covered mountains is much diminished. You have always surpassed any expectations I have had of you, and this was no different." I smiled against his back and got as comfortable as possible. We made our way out of the pass and slipped through a large crack in the mountain that quickly opened up into a misty, rocky valley. A few times Legolas and Boromir both offered to carry me, but each time Gandalf denied them. By the time we reached the valley a little of my strength had returned and he finally passed me off to Boromir who was so heavily garbed that he would notice the absence of some parts I should have had.
"Frodo, come and help an old man." He said as he put his arm around Frodo and continued walking. "How's your shoulder?" Gandalf asked. I wasn't aware that he had hurt it and I gathered it had happened when the mountain came down around us.
"Better than it was." Was Frodo's answer. They drifted out of Boromir's hearing, but not mine, so I was still able to hear them as they talked.
"And the Ring? You feel its power growing do you not? I have felt it too. You must be careful now. Evil will be drawn to you from outside the Fellowship and I fear from within." I frowned at Gandalf's words. In order for this quest to succeed Frodo would have to trust us, and he could not do that if Gandalf was constantly telling him not to trust anyone.
"Who then do I trust?" Frodo asked.
"You must trust to yourself. Trust your own strength.
"What do you mean?"
"There are many powers in this world for good or for evil. Some are greater than I am and against some I have not yet been tested." I did not need Gandalf's glance to know that he was speaking about me. Gimli paused and pointed.
"Ah! The walls of Moria!" In front of us rose a massive sheer cliff face. Boromir sat me down on a rock near the wall and went to go and look for himself.
"Dwarf door are invisible when closed." Gimli explained proudly to the rest of us.
"Yes Gimli. Their own masters cannot find them, if their secrets are forgotten." Gandalf said.
"Why does that not surprise me?" Legolas said loud enough for Gimli to hear and I could not stop the smile from spreading across my face. I saw Frodo stumble over the slippery rocks and his foot slid into the water. The smile dropped from my face, much like Moria itself these waters were best left undisturbed. The rest of the Fellowship gathered around the doors and were looking at Gandalf expectantly as he ran his hands across the smooth stone.
"Ah...now let me see...Ithildin." He murmured and I raised an eyebrow, that was not something one came across often. "It mirrors only starlight...and moonlight." As he spoke the moon broke through the clouds and illuminated the patterns on the stone which formed an ornate door with Sindarin written on an arch above it. Gimli looked on in awe and I gathered that this was the first time he had seen the doors himself.
"What does it say?" Boromir asked.
"It reads: 'The Doors of Durin, Lord of Moria, Speak Friend and Enter.'"
"What do you suppose that means?" Merry asked.
"Oh it is quite simple. If you are a friend, you speak the password and the doors will open." He told Merry and placed his staff against the star that sat in the center of the door before speaking. "Annon Edhellen, edro hi ammen!" I could see Pippin grinning widely, but nothing happened. Gandalf adopted a confused expression and held up both hands.
"Fennas Nogothrim, lasto beth lammen." Once again nothing happened and Legolas was still looking at Gandalf like he expected something magical to happen.
"Nothing is happening." Pippin said to Legolas. Gandalf walked up to the door and tried to push them open only to find them still sealed shut.
"I once knew every spell in all the tongue's of Elves, Men and Orcs." Gandalf grumbled.
"What are you going to do then?" Pippin asked. I shook my head. As much as I adored Pippin he really did need to learn when to not ask questions like that.
"Knock your head against these doors Peregrin Took! And if that does not shatter them and I'm allowed a little peace from foolish questions, I will try to find the opening words." Gandalf snapped. Pippin flinched back and Legolas gave him a small pat on the back before wandering over to Aragorn. Boromir sat next to me in silence and I wondered how long it was going to take before he asked. It appeared that the answer was not very long at all.
"What did you do on the mountain? Are you a wizard like Gandalf?"
"No. I tried to calm the mountain, but it was already angry with us for trespassing and bringing such evil onto its slopes." I said quietly. Gandalf came over to me and shooed Boromir away before taking his seat and poured some of his magic into me. I felt like a strike of lightning had hit me before it faded and I felt a good deal of my strength return.
"I will send Legolas over to you when I leave. You need to be in the presence of strong magic and with his age he will do quite nicely." I nodded and got as comfortable as I could on the rock before Gandalf left and Legolas soon seated himself beside me. Legolas didn't ask me any questions since I knew he had been listening to Boromir and me talk. We sat there for hours as Gandalf tried to open the doors and failed each time. I looked away from the frustrated wizard and my eyes found Sam and Aragorn unloading the pony that had accompanied us thus far.
"The Mines are no place for a pony even one so brave as Bill." Aragorn said softly.
"Bubye Bill." Sam said with tears in his voice.
"Go on, go on." Aragorn said as he gave Bill a gently push toward the exit. "Do not worry Sam. He knows the way home." I was going to miss that pony. He was a good pony and was never frightened of me, even when he first met me. A splash caught my attention and I snapped my head around to see Merry tossing rocks into the lake, seconds later Pippin joined him. I jumped up from the rock I was sitting on and dashed to Merry's side to grab his arm while Aragorn did the same with Pippin. Both hobbits looked up at us with confused looks.
"Do not disturb the water." Aragorn said softly to Pippin. Boromir joined us looking at the water with concerned glances. Behind us I heard Gandalf huff loudly and toss his staff down. I didn't turn from the water to look at him as ripples started to appear, this was exactly what I was worried about. We needed to leave here immediately.
"It's a riddle!" Frodo exclaimed. The ripples were turning into waves and I moved Merry back while Aragorn did the same with Pippin.
"Speak friend...and enter. What is the Elvish word for friend?" Frodo asked as the waves moved toward the shore.
"Mellon." Gandalf answered. There was a great crack as the door opened and Gandalf chuckled. I heard the sounds of movement as the rest of the Fellowship moved into Moria.