The Thirteen progressed on, further into the dark of Moria. It was hard to tell how long they had been going for, but they had stopped to sleep three times. There was no weapon or magic practise because everyone was on edge, worried about what could lurk in the mines. Fayre and Gandalf kept their lights burning at all times except when they were asleep.
Kadira was on watch when she saw a faint glint of light moving behind them. She pulled out her bow, but it vanished. "Gandalf, what was that?"
"Gollum, I believe," he replied. "He's been following us. Don't shoot him, though – if we can, we'd want to get him alive."
The next day, they came across a medium-sized chamber off of the hall that they were walking along. Like most of the other places they had encountered, it was full of skeletons. They went inside anyway, because there was sunlight coming from a hole in the roof.
Gimli knelt down beside one of the skeletons and pulled a book from underneath its arm. "Enemies everywhere... drums in the deep... we cannot get out... Gandalf, what does this mean?"
"The mines are no longer as safe as you thought they were." Gandalf replied solemnly.
The company was spread around the room, and Pippin was by a well when he knocked a bucket into it. It clattered down the well noisily, grabbing the attention of everyone in the room.
"Fool of a Took!" Gandalf yelled as the noise faded.
Fayre tilted her head and listened – she could hear a faint beating noise, coming from below. "We must leave," she announced. "It's not safe here."
Layla peered around the door, jerking her head back as an arrow shot straight past her. "It's too late!" she shouted, shoving the doors shut. Aragorn and Boromir helped her to barricade them.
They all backed away, watching as the door shook. Legolas and Kadira took out there bows, and Saige moved over to Fayre.
The door burst open, and orcs began to pour in, as well as a giant cave troll. Kadira and Legolas began firing quickly, before they both abandoned their bows and began to use swords.
Kadira quickly got used to using her sword – it seemed to dance in her hand, almost alive. Even though it was the first time she had used it properly, it came to her naturally. Layla felt the same thing as well. The two girls worked together, fighting back-to-back against the orcs.
Saige worked with Fayre, showering the orcs with fireballs. However things quickly changed.
Out of the corner of her eye, Saige saw Frodo being chased by the troll. "Look out!" she screamed, and then ran towards him, drawing her sword. She hacked madly at the troll, surprised at how easily the sword bit through its skin. It turned around and roared at her, before Fayre launched a huge fireball at it, killing it.
Saige turned around to see that the battle was over. The Thirteen regrouped at the middle of the chamber, surrounded by the corpses of the orcs. No one was seriously injured – only some cuts and bruises.
"We must continue at once," Gandalf snapped, leading the way out into the hall. The fellowship followed quickly after him. After that, the company went through the mines at a fast pace, not stopping to go into any other chambers. They were all aware of a distant drumming deep below them, and they could hear feet behind them, but they did not look back.
They soon reached a large, empty hall. "Hurry, we are nearly there," Gandalf urged, picking up the pace. A bridge came into sight at the end of the hall – it was made of stone, arching over a seemingly bottomless chasm. Saige winced at the sight – she had never been fond of heights, and the bridge didn't seem to have a handrail.
The company had almost reached the bridge when they felt a sudden surge of heat coming from behind them. "A balrog!" Fayre and Legolas shouted in unison as they turned.
"Run!" shouted Gandalf, and the fellowship quickly crossed the bridge, with Gandalf bringing up the rear. He stopped in the middle of the bridge when the rest of the company were safely across, and turned to face the giant fiery balrog.
"You shall not pass!" he shouted, slamming his staff onto the bridge. The balrog cracked its whip at him, but it bounced off of a protective shield around him. The bridge began to crumble underneath the balrog and it fell through, down into the dark.
Gandalf turned away but the balrog's whip flicked back up and caught him around the ankle. Fayre screamed and began to run back to him but Aragorn grabbed her and stopped her.
"Fly, you fools!" he croaked and then he fell backwards off the end of the bridge.
"NO!" Fayre shrieked and tried to stop his fall with her magic but it was too late.
Aragorn pulled her back up the stairs and together the remaining members of the Fellowship exited Moria.
"No," Fayre sobbed, and collapsed on the ground outside. Around her, the others also sat and knelt in various positions of grief.
Saige moved over to Fayre and hugged her, then Kadira and Layla came over as well. They sat in silence for some time, trying to come to terms with what had happened.
"We must go on," Aragorn said in a commanding tone, pulling Frodo to his feet.
"But, Aragorn," Fayre whispered.
"Come on," Aragorn said softly, wrapping his arm around Fayre's shoulders. "We must continue on. Our next stop is Lothlorien, the city of the elves."
A/N: Bit of a short chapter this time, sorry!
Also, "Diantha"? Maybe next time you post unfounded accusations you'll be brave enough to use your account, and maybe you might even spell-check. The plural of "life" is "lives".