A deep growl from the somewhere in the mines was carried into the grand hall and everyone froze. A bright orange coloured light came through a huge doorway and the orcs and goblins glanced around in fear. The growl came again and the monsters surrounding them screeched and screamed before wildly running off into the depths of the mine.
As Alarain stared at the growing light in the distance, a terrible feeling rose in her gut. She stood shakily, walking to Gandalf's side as Boromir spoke. "What is this new devilry?" he asked the wizard, voice wavering.
Gandalf said nothing for a moment. A louder groan sounded. "A Balrog." he said darkly. "A demon of the ancient world."
That doesn't sound very good...
Brenir gave a small whine before Gandalf continued. "This foe is beyond any of you... RUN!" he yelled, taking off with the others close behind him.
The Balrog roared angrily and Alarain forgot her pains. She ran for her life and didn't look back. Brenir was faster than the others and sprinted for the exit.
Gandalf paused at the door and waited until everyone was through before following quickly behind her. Turning a corner that opened into a massive cave, Alarain nearly fell when she almost bumped into the hobbits. They had halted when met with a dead end in the stairs. Boromir and Legolas lay on the staircase by the edge and the elf was hauling the man back up. Glad that Boromir had not fallen, the group continued on down another staircase to their right.
Alarain turned to look for Aragorn and saw him rushing along behind them with Gandalf on his heels. She kept going, trying not to look over the edge that was so close to her feet.
They came to a small gap in the stairs and Legolas jumped it easily. Turning, he encouraged Gandalf to jump, steadying him when he landed. As soon as the wizard's feet touched the other side, a couple of arrows soared by them. One nearly hit Boromir and glanced off the stairs at his feet. He flinched and Legolas and Aragorn grabbed their bows, letting arrows fly at the goblins.
Boromir snatched up Merry and Pippin both, and launched himself over the gap. Part of the stairs on her side crumbled away, leaving the empty space wider. Brenir then ran back up the stairs before turning and sprinting towards the gap. Alarain stared in horror as the dog flew through the air and landed on the other side. He shook himself and turned to look happily back at her.
"Sam." Aragorn said, turning to the hobbit. He picked him up and tossed him safely to the other side before turning to Gimli.
The stubborn dwarf held up his hand. "Nobody tosses a dwarf." he said, annoyance in his voice. Pushing off from the stairs, he jumped through the air aiming for the other side. His feet landed on the closest step and it started to crumble away. Legolas whipped his hand out and grabbed the poor dwarf's beard.
"Not the beard!" Gimli shouted.
For a moment, Alarain thought he wasn't going to make it, but Legolas pulled him safely up and steadied him.
The step she was standing on suddenly gave way and she started to fall. Grabbing onto the edge, she hung from the stairs with nothing below her feet but blackness. Brenir barked frantically and she felt strong hands grab her wrists, heaving her up. Aragorn helped her to her feet and, standing behind her and Frodo, looked around frantically. The space was too wide to jump now and they were cut off from the others.
Her heart plummeted as another guttural growl came bursting out from the tunnel behind them. They all swung around to see the walls and ceiling starting to collapse.
There's no way I'm surviving this, Alarain thought in dismay.
A particularly large chuck of rock fell from the roof and as it smashed into the staircase behind them, Alarain was nearly flung off into the abyss. Nearly. Aragorn grabbed onto her waist and pulled her close to him, while also holding onto Frodo with his other hand.
The part of the stairs they were on was only being held up by the thin pillar beneath it. If that held...
Crack!
Never mind. The ground under them started to sway as the rock holding them up cracked apart slowly.
"Lean forward!" Aragorn yelled out of nowhere.
Her and Frodo complied and the stairs started to sway in the direction of their friends. It felt unnatural to be standing on such unstable ground and her instincts told Alarain to lean back as it fell forward. She fought instinct and won. As the stairs collided with the other side, the three people standing on it were flung forward into the arms of the others.
As they pressed on, Alarain looked back to see the chunk of stairs they had only just been standing on, fall loudly into the depths of the darkness.
"Over the bridge!" Gandalf shouted as they ran past huge flames that had come out of nowhere. "Fly!"
The growl that she was beginning to know well came from behind them and they turned to see a massive horned beast roaring in Gandalf's face. It seemed to be made of fire and burning embers, and it's mouth was like lava. The heat that came in waves off it made it hard to breath as the fellowship ran for their lives.
It came slowly after them, not seeming to be very agile. They reached the small bridge and Aragorn led the way across. Alarain made her way across it as well, ignoring the fact that it was extremely narrow. The only ones behind her now were Legolas and Gandalf. Safely on the other side, she turned, panting, to see Legolas cross safely as well. Gandalf though, had stopped in the middle.
Terror filled her heart as the wizard stood facing the beast. "You cannot pass!" he shouted at it.
"Gandalf!" Frodo yelled wildly.
The wizard took no notice and the Balrog reared up, flaming with rage.
"I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the Flame of Anor. The dark fire will not avail you, Flame of Udun!" Gandalf continued.
The Balrog grew more angry and, using a huge sword made from flames, struck down on Gandalf. The wizard blocked and a great light came from him, seemingly knocking back the beast. The members of the fellowship looked on in horror as the Balrog roared another flaming roar at the wizard.
"Go back to the shadow." Gandalf growled.
Taking a step onto the small bridge, the Balrog snapped a fiery whip in the air.
"YOU SHALL NOT... PASS!" Gandalf shouted with all his might, bringing his staff down hard on the bridge which created a small burst of light.
"Gandalf..." Alarain whispered, willing him to run.
Stepping fully out onto the bridge, the Balrog swung it's whip dangerously before the narrow rock collapsed under it's weight. It roared loudly as it fell and her eyes widened when she saw that it had broken right in front of Gandalf. The wizard still stood there, looking rather tired, but he was fine all the same. He turned to follow them, but the beast's whip came up and wrapped around his leg. It pulled him over the edge, and he grabbed onto a small handhold.
Frodo suddenly dashed forward, but Boromir caught him and held him back from the edge. Alarain stared at the wizard as he hung there. Not thinking, she too tried to reach the wizard, but was caught by Legolas.
"Gandalf!" Frodo yelled desperately.
The wizard paused in his struggling and looked into the eyes of everyone there. "Fly, you fools." he whispered before letting his grip fail. Then, he fell.
Alarain stood still as Frodo screamed in protest. Boromir picked him up and shouted for Aragorn. Slowly backing away from the edge, Alarain ran from the place. Aragorn soon followed her, dodging goblin arrows as he took one last look at the last place he would ever see Gandalf.
Alarain limped out the grand doorway and down the stairs that led onto the pale grey rocks outside. The fresh air in her lungs would normally have lifted her spirits had they not lost Gandalf. The fellowship gradually started to fall to pieces now that they were out. As she looked around, she took in the tears and sad faces before limping away as her own tears started to fall. She fell forward and caught the ground with her hands. Crawling behind a rock, she pushed up the leg of her trousers and saw the gory gash that was ailing her. It wasn't a deep cut, but still caused her enough pain to not want any strain on it.
"Legolas. Get them up." Aragorn ordered.
Though she could not see them, she heard the quivering in his voice as Boromir replied. "Give them a moment for pity's sake!" he snapped.
"By nightfall these hills will be swarming with orcs!" Aragorn shot back, and she partially agreed even though she wanted nothing more than to have a good cry. Leaning her sore back on the rock behind her, she heard him continue. "We must reach the woods of Lothlorien."
Alarain didn't listen anymore, for her eyelids grew heavy and she felt sleep start to take her. She thought she heard someone call her name, but she was too tired to answer. Brenir barked and ran over, leading Aragorn to her side.
"Alarain?" he asked, then seeing her wound, crouched by her side. "Alarain. Why didn't you tell me you were hurt?" he said worriedly. She didn't answer again and he shook her awake. "Alarain."
Legolas came up behind him and his eyes widened. "She is in no condition to run." he stated.
Aragorn quickly dressed the wound on her arm and leg before he scooped her up in his arms. She soon fell asleep to the rhythmic beat of his boots as he jogged.
She woke on and off, not fully coming around, but did notice when she was no longer being carried by the ranger. Boromir wasn't as graceful on his feet as Aragorn and she could tell. His bumpy gait didn't stop her from sleeping however, and she was soon gone from reality again.
Boromir's gait slowed, waking her, and she looked around. They had entered a forest and were making their way slowly through the golden trees. She looked up into the treetops and a relaxed feeling spread through her. Boromir glanced down and saw she was awake. "Welcome back." he whispered, smiling.
She smiled back up at him before she slipped away into dreams once more.
In her dream, she heard a woman's voice. "You bring evil here with you!" it said. Not understanding, she asked the voice why it thought that. "You have a great evil within you, but you will overcome it if you have the courage." the voice answered, further confusing her. After that, she saw nothing but darkness, and heard nothing more.
Something wet touched her face and for a moment she thought it was Brenir's tongue. Opening her eyes however, she saw it was Aragorn. No, not Aragorn's tongue, but a wet cloth that he had pressed to her face.
"Where are we?" she asked, looking around her. She was in a tent which was set up in amongst huge tree roots that stretched and twisted gracefully around each other. Aragorn sat in a chair beside her bed and was gazing her.
"We are in Lothlorien." he answered. "You're safe." She tried to sit up but he held her down. "You lost a lot of blood. You may be dizzy if you get up too fast."
Lying back down, Alarain remembered her dream. Then she remembered that someone must have checked her for other wounds, meaning someone may have seen the hideous mark on her arm. "Aragorn? Did anyone see..." she gestured to her forearm and he shook his head.
"I did not let anyone else touch you. No one knows." he soothed. "Sleep now. You need the rest." he ordered softly before getting up to leave.
"Aragorn?" she asked.
The ranger turned and his eyes were questioning. Alarain wasn't sure why she had called him back and didn't have anything to say. "Ummm..." she began. "Will you stay here?" she asked.
He smiled. "Only until you fall asleep." He walked back to the bed and sat down again, pulling the chair close. Alarain turned on her side and faced him. As her eyes closed, she felt a hand on hers, stroking it gently. She fell into dreams of Rohan as the ranger silently slipped out of the tent, leaving her in peace.