A/N: Ok, mellon nins, another chapter is here. I have to warn you, it is VERY long, because it includes the fight with the cave troll, Gandalf's death and also a small scene with Sunglee riding to Lothlorien. But this is intentional, because *SPOILER* *SPOILER* we will have a reunion in the next chapter, hehehehe ;)
Stella-of-the-Stars: I'm so happy you liked it and thanks again for your help :) Well, you'll see Legolas's reaction in the next chapter.
Gotta Dance 88: Thank you for reviewing, I'm glad you enjoyed the story so far :D
Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own Lord of the Rings.
Many minutes, which seemed like centuries to the Fellowship, passed in the Mines of Moria. Gandalf, while trying to decide their rout, had comforted Frodo, whom the fear of the Ring had overwhelmed him. Suddenly he looked towards one of the three doorways.
'Oh! It is that way!' he cried out.
The others sighed in relief, happy they were finally moving on.
'He has remembered!' said Merry while getting up. Gandalf turned to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
'No, but the air does not smell so foul down here. If in doubt, Meriadoc, always follow your nose'
They passed under an arched doorway into a black and empty space, with Gandalf's staff being the only source of light. Broken columns were lying tumbled across the door. The wizard's staff illuminated a grandiose hall of stone lined with pillars and arched ceilings as far as the eye could see. The Fellowship looked around with awe. Especially Gimli gasped seeing the halls of his sires.
'Behold' Gandalf announced. 'The great realm and Dwarf city of Dwarrowdelf!'
They walked forward through the hall. Suddenly a ray of sunlight shined through a chamber where corpses were scattered. Their eyes widened at this sight, wondering what had happened, and Gimli left a loud sob and ran into the chamber, ignoring Gandalf's call, with his companions following him. Dwarf and goblin skeletons were piled up high. At a far corner was a stone well and in the middle of the room was a stone tomb. Gimli fell on his knees sobbing.
'No! No, no, no, no!'
Boromir made a few steps forward and put a hand on the Dwarf's shoulder. Gandalf leaned closer to read the inscriptions on the tomb.
'"Here lays Balin, son of Fundin, Lord of Moria". He is dead then. It is as I feared'
He then noticed a book in the grasp of a corpse. He took it, opened it and cleaned the dirt from its pages. Meanwhile, Legolas was looking worried at Aragorn.
'We must go on, we can not linger' he said urgently.
Before Aragorn could say anything in response, Gandalf began reading the last entry that was in the old book. And his words did not make the situation better.
'"They have taken the bridge and the second hall. We have barred the gates, but can not hold them for long. The ground shakes, drums in the deep, we can not get out. A shadow moves in the dark. Will no one save us? They are coming!"'
There was an uncomfortable, heavy silence, which was broken by Pippin. The Hobbit had approached a corpse leaning on the well with an arrow in his body and had pulled it out. But this made the corpse slip into the well, echoing on the walls loudly. Pippin winced at the noise, feeling guilty. Gandalf shut the book.
'Fool of a Took!' he told him angrily. 'Throw yourself in next time and rid us of your stupidity!'
Suddenly they heard the drums. They were still far, but were approaching fast. Terror started to appear on the faces of the Fellowship. Sam pointed at Frodo's belt. Frodo pulled out Sting, his sword, and saw its blade glowing with an eerie, blue color.
'Orcs!' whispered Legolas, having recognized the sign.
Boromir rushed to the doors to have a look. Arrows hissed into the door near his face. Aragorn dropped his torch and ran to him.
'Get back!' he said to the Hobbits. 'You stay close to Gandalf!'
He and Boromir started working the doors shut, but the noise was becoming louder and louder.
'They have a cave troll!' Boromir's voice, full with fear, filled the chamber.
Legolas tossed any weapon he could find to Boromir and Aragorn in order to blockade the door, while the others, including the four Hobbits, were drawing their swords. Gimli jumped on Balin's tomb, holding two axes.
'Let them come!' he yelled. 'There is one Dwarf yet in Moria who still draws breath!'
The creatures outside started breaking the doors down. Aragorn, Boromir and Legolas were standing in front of the tomb, Aragorn and Legolas with arrows in their bows. The first clear gap is gashed in the door and Legolas shot, killing whatever was outside, which left a cry. Then it was Aragorn's turn to shoot and he killed one of their enemies as well. But suddenly the beasts broke through, a wave of armed Orcs charged towards them and a fierce battle began. Gimli buried his axes in two Orc helmets, while Aragorn and Boromir were fighting with their swords and Legolas was firing arrows into the beasts' throats, trying to cover the Hobbits, who were doing their best.
Suddenly a huge cave troll smashed through the doorway. Legolas shot the cave troll in the shoulder. The beast growled and clapped a hand to the wound. Sam was staring frozen, as the troll swung his mace down at him. Quickly he dived under the troll's legs and crawled away as the troll turned. Aragorn and Boromir, seeing the danger Sam was in, attacked the cave troll, which swept its club at Aragorn, making him to stumble backwards. The creature was ready for the killing blow, when Boromir's sword sliced into its arm. Aragorn nodded towards his friend to thank him and joined the battle again.
The troll was now swinging its chain in circles above its head. It swung at Legolas and the Elf dodged it. Again he swung and its chain whipped around a pillar. Legolas darted towards it, stamped the chain tight, ran along it onto the troll's shoulders, shot it in the back of the head and jumped off. The troll cringed, whimpering shrilly in pain. It stumbled, snapping itself free from the pillar. In the same time, Sam was hitting Orcs with his skillet, seeming very satisfied.
'I think I am getting the hang in this' he said to himself.
In a sudden, the cave troll attacked Frodo and stabbed his chest with its spear. The others turned immediately towards him in shock. Merry and Pippin attacked the troll, while Boromir and Aragorn were fighting to reach them. Legolas, who was faster, fitted an arrow to his bow, took aim and shot it right into the beast's mouth. The troll collapsed dead on the ground and there was silence again, for most Orcs were killed and the ones who lived had fled. They rushed to Frodo, who seemed dead, but then started coughing.
'He is alive!' said Sam, with his eyes full with tears of joy.
'You should be dead!' said Aragorn surprised. That spear would have skewered a wild boar!'
Frodo opened his shirt to show them his Mithril vest, a gift he had gotten and he never wore off. Gimli was impressed to see such a valuable object in the Hobbit's possession.
'Mithril! You are full of surprises, Master Baggins!'
But then Orcs were for one more time heard down the hall.
'To the bridge of Khazad-dum!' shouted Gandalf weary. 'Quickly!'
The Fellowship ran out of the rear door of the chamber into a high, ornate hall of pillars with a ray of light breaking through from some high shaft. They were closely pursued by an army of Orcs. Other Orcs sprang out from the floor or crawled from the ceiling and down the pillars, like spiders, surrounding the companions, who had drawn their weapons outward in a circle. The beasts snarled and leered at their frightened faces. Just then, a fiery light appeared at the end of a hall followed by a thunderous rumble. The Orcs, dismayed, fled, panicking, in all directions, leaving the Fellowship alone. The old wizard stared down the hall.
'What is this new devilry?' asked Boromir, both frightened and curious.
'A Balrog' answered Gandalf. 'A demon of the ancient world. This foe is beyond any of you. Run!'
The others did not need to hear this twice. The Balrog chased them, holding a sword and a whip. Aragorn led the Fellowship to the top of a dizzying stairway, but Gandalf stayed behind, leaning on his staff. Aragorn turned to him and approached the wizard.
'Gandalf...' he started with concern.
'Lead them on, Aragorn. The bridge is near' Gandalf interrupted him intensively. 'Do as I say. Swords are no more use here!'
They descended a flight of stairs, encountering a large gap. Legolas leaped forward determined and landed with safety on the other side. Gandalf leaped after him at the right moment, because arrows whistled into the air from a far ledge and stroke the stone steps at their feet, where Gandalf was standing moments ago. With anger sparkling in his eyes, Legolas shot back, piercing the skull of an Orc. Boromir, carrying Merry and Pippin, jumped without problems over the gap in the staird, followed by Sam, who was tossed by Aragorn. The Man stretched his hands to Gimli, but he pushed them away.
'Nobody tosses a Dwarf!' he said grimly. He leaped forward, but almost fell back into the chasm. Legolas grabbed his beard and pulled him up. Gimli seemed very furious.
'Not the beard!' he shouted at the Elf.
Legolas did not reply, but looked at Aragorn and Frodo, who were still at the other side.
'Come on!' he yelled towards them, wanting to move on as fast as possible.
They quickly jumped, but with great difficulty, for rocks had started falling from the ceiling, making the stairs collapse. Legolas and the others pulled them over and ran down the stairs.
'Over the bridge! Fly!' Gandalf cried out.
The Fellowship fled, but Gandalf did not follow. Instead, he turned, looking into the wall of fire. A great form of black shadow leaped through the flames, with eyes of white fire and great ash-black horns curling around a bull-like head. It opened its maw, rippling heat pouring out with a rumble. Gandalf turned again and ran after the Fellowship. A great, black, cloven foot stomps down into the hall, bursting into flame. A narrow bridge of stone appeared in the fiery light and they crossed the bridge. Gandalf then decided to face the Balrog.
'You can not pass!' he said.
Great shadow whirled around the demon, which spread its arms and burst into cracking and thundering flame. The wizard raised his staff and his sword.
'I am a servant of the Secret Fire' Gandalf spoke again, while the others were watching, their scared faces illuminated by the fire 'and wielder of the flame of Anor! The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udun!'
The Balrog heaved its arm upward, a sword of fire forming in its hand. It struck down on Gandalf, who parried the blow with his blade, shattering the Balrog's sword. Glowing embers ran off the circle of light around Gandalf and the enraged monster bellowed at the wizard. Frodo gasped in panic and Aragorn ran forward.
'Go back to the shadow!' Gandalf continued, clenching his teeth.
A thread of flame issued from the Balrog's maw and it stepped forward onto the bridge. The beast brandished a flaming whip, lashing it about menacingly. Gandalf summoned the last of his energy and raised his sword and staff together into the air.
'You shall not pass!' he yelled and drove his staff into the bridge, causing a bright flash of blue light to appear. The bridge collapsed from under the Balrog as it moved towards Gandalf and broke before the wizard's staff. The demon plunged backward into the chasm, still wielding its glowing whip. Gandalf, exhausted, leaned on his staff and watched the Balrog fall, then turned, wanting to follow the others. At the last second, the flaming whip lashed up from the depths of the abyss and wrapped itself about Gandalf's ankle, dragging him over the edge. He held onto the bridge with his fingertips, straining to keep his grip. Frodo rushed forward, but Boromir restrains him.
'Fly, you fools' said Gandalf, breathing with difficulty.
Suddenly, he let his grip go and fell down into the chasm. Frodo started crying and Boromir carried him away. The others ran after them, with Aragorn being the last. They reached a hill, where they stopped to rest, with an exhaustion nobody had felt before. Sam, Merry and Pippin sat down sobbing. Gimli, in a moment of weakness, wanted to run back into the Mines, but Boromir wrapped his hands around him to stop. Legolas was looking around, seeming lost. At that moment he was giving the impression of being much older. Only Aragorn managed to stay calm, as now he was thinking it was his duty to lead the Fellowship to a safe place.
'Legolas, get them up' he commanded his friend.
Relieved he had to do something, Legolas went next to Merry and put a hand on his shoulder. Boromir turned towards the son of Arathorn.
'Give them a moment, for pity's sake!' he pleaded him.
'By nightfall these hills will be swarming with Orcs!' Aragorn answered. 'We must reach the woods of Lothlorien. Come, Boromir, Legolas, Gimli, get them up'
Then he approached Sam and helped him to stand up.
'On your feet, Sam' he said gently.
They continued their way, with a quick pace, to reach the wood soon, but feeling completely numb inside, with Gandalf's loss haunting them.
Altair, Sunglee's horse, was tired. He was panting and his galloping had become slower. The she-elf had pressured him and they had not rested since they left Imladris. Now it was midday and soon they would reach Lothlorien. Sunglee caressed her horse's neck.
'Have patience, Altair. Soon we will be there.'
A happiness she had never experienced before was filling her. She was very grateful to her father, who had allowed her to leave. She would reunite with Legolas (at that thought her heart flattered), she would fight to save Middle-Earth.
"'Do not worry, my little sister', said Arwen, hugging her tightly. 'Everything will be well. You and Legolas are the best archers of Middle Earth. Trust your skill and have faith in the bonds that connect you with the Fellowship'"
Now, as she was riding, Sunglee hoped she would not let them down. She hoped she would stay strong, whatever would happen.
A/N: Ok, so that was it folks. I hope you liked this chapter and I can't wait to read your reviews. Next chapter will have the Felloship's arrival to Lothlorien...The conclusions are yours ;)