I was barely asleep for two hours before a hand was laid on my shoulder.

"I am sorry, Lúthien," Gandalf whispered as he saw me waking up, "but we must keep moving." I nodded my agreement as I stood and packed away my sleeping palate. Wiping sleep away from my tired eyes, I put my pack on my back and prepared to move ahead with Legolas once again.

"Gandalf wants us to stay with the rest of the Fellowship this time, Lúthien," Legolas said as I walked up to him expecting to start our run. "He seems quite worried about going towards these mines."

"He worries with good reason," I defended. "There is a tale of a beast living deep within the mine. One that is said no one can defeat and will kill all who come near it."

"Then why do we take this path?" Legolas asked as he began to have doubt.

"Because it is what was chosen for us," I sighed as I looked to Legolas. "Have hope, sir elf, for that is all we can keep against this beast." I got Legolas to give a brief smile before we were interrupted.

"Lady Lúthien," Boromir had walked over to us as we were having our conversation. "May I talk to you for a moment?"

I nodded as I walked away from where Legolas and I had been talking and walked away with Boromir. The man seemed quite calm compared to the ways he had looked towards me throughout the trip. "Lord Boromir," I began as we continued to walk, "I know you harbor some disdain towards me; however, I do not know why."

"I shall not deny my disdain, Lady Lúthien," He agreed as we paused in our motions. "You are not as truthful as you seem, elf-maiden; although, I cannot decode your lies." He seemed angry with me. "If we are to make this journey with each other, we must be able to trust each other."

"I have not uttered a lie towards any of you," I admitted truthfully. "I am, however, a private person. I do not feel the need to tell you my entire life's story to gain your trust. I could say the same about you as well. I know nothing of your life in Gondor, and I do not need to know. Yet, without this knowledge, I still trust you." Although my voice was stressed, I tried my best to not sound angry with the man. "I suggest you decide whether you need to invade everyone's private life in which to trust them or if it is just mine."

"I apologize, My Lady," Boromir nodded his head, "I understand the need for privacy. I just do not wish for it to endanger our journey."

"I can assure you that it will not," I spat at him without meaning to sound as rude as I did. "I apologize, Lord Boromir, I just dislike not being able to keep my privacy." I nodded my dismissal as I left towards Gandalf who looked as if he were about ready to depart towards the mines.

We left less than an hour later. Boromir kept his distance from me while I stayed near Marry and Pippin. The two hobbits were quite interesting to listen to. Most of their stories involved some trick they pulled on other Hobbits of the Shire.

"And our greatest achievement," Pippin continued, "was being able to pull something around the notice of Gandalf the Grey."

"Aye 'tis true," Merry laughed a little. "We were able to sneak the largest firework from Gandalf's cart and light it off."

"It turned into a dragon and flew through the air," Pippin exclaimed making wild gestures with his arms. "Although, we did light it off inside of a tent and the dragon almost killed half of the Hobbits at the party."

"And there was also the small consequence," Gandalf added as he walked past us, "of the two of you having to wash all the dishes used at the party single handedly."

I suppressed a small laugh at this as the two Hobbits bowed their heads to hide a blush. Gandalf continued to move forward as he stopped in front of a seemingly blank wall. As the moon shined upon the wall, a door way engraved in the stone appeared.

"These are the doors of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak, friend, and enter," I read from the ancient elvish that had appeared above the door.

Gandalf tried a few different phrases all in one ancient form of elvish or another believing that it would open the door. Whether that would work or not was yet to be determined for Gandalf had not yet succeeded in opening the door. As Gandalf continued to try different phrases I sat on the edge of a lake which lay in front of the door next to the blonde headed elf. We sat in silence for a moment before Legolas spoke and were able to hold a conversation for a few moments about nothing in particular. Our conversation was disrupted by small plopping sounds in the water. These were created by Merry tossing small rocks into the water.

"Do not disturb the water," Boromir threatened as he grabbed Merry's wrist to prevent him from tossing another rock.

Suddenly, I heard the doors open and I turned around behind me. "Gandalf, what did you say?"

"I said, mellon," He looked half ashamed of himself for not recognizing the simplicity of the passcode sooner. I sighed as I laid a hand on his shoulder. He nodded to acknowledge my presence before leading us all into the darkness of the mines.

As we walked through the darkness, Gimli began to boast about the hospitality of the dwarfs. I began to wonder why, if so hospitable, there were no dwarfs yet to greet us now that we had entered the mines. That is, that thought roamed in my head until I felt my foot kick something. I almost screamed at what I had kicked.

"This is no mine," Boromir stated gravely. "It is a tomb."

Gimli cried out in agony for his fellow kin while Legolas warned all of Goblins in the area. Estel, Boromir, and Gandalf began to bicker amongst themselves about what to do and how they should have never come here in the first place.

"There is no use in fighting amongst yourselves," I shouted to get my voice across. "We must leave this place, now!"

As soon as I had finished saying this, a blood curdling scream was let out behind us. Frodo had been lifted and was being dragged towards the lake by a large tentacle. Boromir, Estel, and Legolas mounted an attack quickly.

Boromir and Estel, swords unsheathed, attacked the creature by the tentacles. Legolas stood by the door, an arrow knocked in his bow, waiting to get a shot at the beast without the fear of hurting Frodo. I started forward with the intent of help both of the men, but Gandalf held me back with in the cave with him and I could only watch. In the midst of the attack, Boromir hit the tentacle that held Frodo so high in the air and the beast dropped the terrified Hobbit into Estel's awaiting arms. "Into the mines," Estel called to the others as he ran towards it himself. Boromir followed and Legolas, after shooting at the beast, ran into the mines as well. As everyone ran passed me, I stood in horror as the terrible beast manage to grab onto two trees and pull himself out of the water towards the cave.

I began to shoot at the beast with my bow while Legolas followed my lead. Before we were able to land an arrow securely in the beast, we heard a large crashing noise.

"Legolas, Lúthien, get back," Gandalf called but we could only watch in horror and the entrance to the mines began to crash down around us. In an instant, I felt a hand pull me back and I landed on the ground on top of a man and out of harm's way of the falling rocks. I turned to see myself on top of Estel while Legolas had landed on top of Gimli. I nodded my thanks to Estel as I helped him off the ground. I turned around and, to my horror the entrance to the mine had been blocked off by the fallen rocks.

"We now have but one choice," I sighed with my despair as I walked away from the wreckage.

"We must face the long dark of Moria," Gandlaf stated with the same tone as my voice carried. "Be on your guard. There are older and fouler things than orcs in the deep places of the world. Let's hope our presence goes unnoticed."