Chapter 6: The Bridge of Khazad-dûm
What the Jedi saw coming through the broken door seemed like walking zombies with armor. The Orcs skin was dark as a corpse and filthier than a Hutt. Their blood smelled so bad, that regular people would have fainted at the first whiff.
Legolas and Aragorn fired a few arrows before the Orcs came too close. Legolas traded his bow for a set of knifes while Aragorn used his sword to cut down the horrible creatures. Boromir's shield protected him from being overrun while slashing at any Orcs that came from the side.
Rex fired several blaster bolts, all leaving smoking holes in his enemies' foreheads. One of the Orcs came at him from the side, screeching like a madman. The clone swiftly and quickly snapped his opponent's neck before continuing his shooting spree.
Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka were the masters of death in this case. Their kills, though many, were bloodless since their sabers cauterized the wounds inflicted on their opponents. Anakin was a whirlwind of fury, decapitating Orc after Orc in quick succession. Obi-Wan was defend, slash, defend, slash, defend, slash with every one of his enemies. Ahsoka, on the other hand, was getting more kills than Anakin. She would either slice through her enemies like butter, or use one of her lightsabers to block a blow and use the other to kill him.
Eventually, the Hobbits, Gandalf, and Gimli joined the fray. The old man moved with such speed that being called a frail old man would never suit him ever again. He used his staff to stun his enemies and his sword to finish them off. Gimli had the higher ground since he still stood on Balin's tomb, so if any Orc was lucky enough to get by, they would get a beheading courtesy of the Dwarf. The Hobbits, having little combat training, just killed any Orc that got in their path.
As the numbers of the Orcs dwindled, a roar was sounded. The Fellowship saw the Cave Troll, which looked like a giant Gollum, bust through the opening. Legolas shot an arrow into its shoulder, but the Troll paid no attention to it. He swung a heavy club at Sam, but the Hobbit dove under it, getting behind him. Rex tried to shoot it, but an Orc tackled him down, knocking away his blasters. Picking up a discarded knife, he sliced the Orc's neck, ending its pathetic life. He found one of his blasters, but he decided to use a sword in the other hand.
The Troll tried to step on Sam, but Aragorn and Boromir grabbed the chain that was on him, pulling him back. He swung at the two Men, who both managed to duck, but Boromir was hit by a backhanded smash. The shield softened the blow, but he crashed into a wall, wounding him. An Orc tried to kill him only to be stabbed in the neck by a sword thrown by Aragorn.
Gimli threw his ax into the Troll, but he was still unfazed. His anger, however, did increase. He swung the club down, making Gimli abandon the tomb, which was easily crushed by the blow. Anakin lunged at the Troll and slashed its legs. Though horribly burned, the Troll still kicked the Jedi, sending him across the room where his resting place was a wall.
"Anakin!" Aragorn exclaimed, rushing to his aide.
Obi-Wan rolled his eyes in annoyance, hoping the blow would jog something in his former apprentice's head. His annoyance turned to fear as the Troll made his run at him. While keeping the Orcs at bay with his lightsaber, the Jedi levitated several pieces of debris and bombarded him. The victory was short-lived as the Troll smashed his club down, creating a shockwave that sent the Jedi Master tumbling to the ground. Desperate to kill him, the Troll smashed the Orcs that got in his way while Obi-Wan tried to dodge the massive swings while trying to run (or as Obi-Wan would put it later, a tactical retreat in order to assess the situation.)
He was saved by Legolas, who shot two arrows into the Troll, drawing his attention.
"Help the others," the Elf stated, slashing an Orc aside.
Obi-Wan nodded and attended Boromir who, though wounded, put up a strong fight.
The Troll used his chain as a whip to try and hit the Elf, but he was too quick. The chain accidentally wrapped around a sturdy column, making it stuck. Legolas, after checking the chain's firmness, crawled up the chain and onto the Troll's head. He fired an arrow straight his head, finally causing a major blow. Quickly, he jumped off the Troll before it could try and retaliate.
Ahsoka, seeing as how the Hobbits were handling themselves, decided to make her run. After cutting down three Orcs, the delivered a twin slash on the Troll's abdomen. She jumped into the air to attack his head, but he backhanded her, sending her into a column. The force in the attack wasn't as powerful. The Troll was weakening. The Orcs to this moment to make another attempt to kill her. Dazed, but not out, Ahsoka blocked their blows with her green lightsaber, but realized her shoto was gone. Her moment of hesitation gave the remaining Orc a chance to knock her down with its armored face. It prepared to stab her, but the yellow shot pierced it from behind. Ahsoka rolled out of the way of the falling corpse as saw her rescuer: Sam, who was holding the saber in one hand and a frying pan in the other.
"Figured you could use help, Lady Ahsoka," he exclaimed.
She brushed off the surprise and got to her feet. "I'll take it back after the battle. Thanks, Sam."
He grinned, but went back into the fray. Since the shoto was Hobbit-sized, he wielded it with little difficulty. It wasn't heavy, but he wanted to be careful not to hurt himself. Sam used the frying pan to stun the Orcs and the shoto to kill them.
"I think I'm getting the hang of this!" he exclaimed to no one in particular.
Merry, Pippin, and Frodo, who were pretty much hiding the entire time, were confronted the Troll. He swung the club down, but the Hobbits split apart in time with Merry and Pippin on one end, and Frodo on the other.
"Frodo!" Aragorn exclaimed, trying to reach him, but Orcs blocked him off. Anakin fixed the situation with a Force Push that sent the Orcs flying. Aragorn nodded his thanks before the two rushed to Frodo.
The Hobbit desperately tried to hide from the Troll, who seemed to be sniffing him out. Whenever the Troll peered on one side of the column, Frodo was on the other. Frodo sighed in relief when he vanished, but he screamed in fear when the Troll, upon discovering him, roared at him.
Frodo was backed into a corner, giving the Troll the chance to drag the Hobbit to him. Desperately calling out to Aragorn, he slashed the Troll's finger giving Aragorn, who was armed with a spear, and Anakin to come to the rescue. Aragorn stabbed the Troll in the wounds on his stomach, making him screech in pain. Adding to the Troll's "unfortunate" misery, Anakin took a leaf out of Obi-Wan's book and bombarded him with rocks. Even Merry and Pippin through small rocks at him, making him drop the club.
While all the attempts were noble, the Troll still fought on. He slapped Aragorn aside, knocking him out. Anakin retaliated by slicing off one of the Troll's fingers, but he took the spear that was still in his stomach and smashed the Jedi aside again, making him fall down the stairs. Frodo tried to get away, but he was still cornered. With great accuracy, the Troll plunged the spear directly into the Hobbit.
Frodo groaned in pain, but it quickly overtook him as fell to the ground, dead.
The Troll turned his attention to Rex, who tried shooting the monster, but all it did was enrage the Troll. He prepared to leave Rex in a bloody smear on his foot, but Merry and Pippin, infuriated by the events, jumped onto the Troll's back and began stabbing him. The rest of the Fellowship sliced every Orc in their path and focused on the Troll, slicing at him in every direction. Anakin and Obi-Wan sliced off the Troll's feet while Ahsoka stabbed her lightsaber through his chin. The blade came up on the other side, finally striking a killing blow. At long last, the Troll crashed to the ground, his life finally ended. Anakin made sure by cutting off the Troll's head, clearly livid.
Obi-Wan put a strong hand on him. "Anakin, enough! He's dead."
Anakin turned to his old master with fury and clenched teeth. "So is Frodo."
Aragorn, who regained consciousness, crawled to Frodo, fear in his eyes. "Oh, no."
He flipped the Hobbit over and found him groaning in pain.
"What!?" Ahsoka yelled.
"He's alive," Sam announced almost to tears.
"That's impossible!" Anakin exclaimed.
Catching his breath, Frodo held his chest where the Troll stabbed him. "I'm all right. I'm not hurt."
Aragorn looked at him incredulously. "You should be dead. That spear would have skewered a wild boar."
Gandalf smiled. "I think there's more to this Hobbit than meets the eye.
Frodo opened his shirt to reveal another one, which was sparkling. It had shining rings on the collar part, almost like…
"Mithril!" Gimli breathed, before giving him a grin of approval. "You are full of surprises, Master Baggins."
Rex, turning to Pippin, put a hand on his shoulder. "You did well, kid. That was a reckless and foolhardy move you pulled that would make General Skywalker proud. It seems I, too, have underestimated you."
Pippin nodded. "Thank you, Captain."
"But don't let it get to your head," he warned. "If only I could find my blaster."
"Like this?" the Hobbit asked, holding it up, not realizing the barrel was facing Rex's head.
Quickly, he snatched the blaster and gave him another look of warning.
Sam handed Ahsoka back her shoto. "Thank you."
Ahsoka smiled warmly at him. "I should thank you. You saved my life. I owe you."
Suddenly, the moments of joy ended as more screeching was sounded.
"To the Bridge of Khazad-dûm!" Gandalf commanded.
Immediately, the Fellowship ran out of the room and dashed down the corridors. The Orcs followed them with equal speed, but what surprised them was how they seemed to come from everywhere. The walls, the ceiling, the columns, everywhere they looked, a horde of Orcs was coming in their direction. Eventually, the creatures surrounded them, roaring and hissing in fury for their fallen comrades.
Gimli snarled back, daring them to make a move, but before anyone could do so, a roar was sounded in the distance. One of the corridors seemed to fill with light from a fire. Seeing this, every Orc retreated, leaving the Fellowship in the wake of whatever was to come.
"What is this new devilry?" Boromir asked.
A look of resignation and fear appeared on Gandalf's face. "A Balrog."
By the look of Legolas's face, this foe seemed to have spawned from nightmares.
"A demon of the ancient world," the wizard explained. "This foe is beyond any of you. RUN!"
With a new sense of adrenaline, the Fellowship fled the scene, not daring to look back. They passed through a corridor and came across a cavern the seemed to have lava below them. Boromir almost fell in, but Legolas pulled him away from the edge.
"Gandalf," Aragorn said, seeing that his friend was getting tired.
"Lead them on, Aragorn!" he commanded before turning to Anakin. "Trust your heart and not your desires, Anakin."
The Jedi couldn't see why this was relevant at the moment, but he nodded.
"DO AS I SAY!" Gandalf urged when Aragorn would not move. "Swords are no more use here."
Carefully and quickly, they all traveled down the stairs while the beast continued to roar. They came across stairs that had no railings, was in the middle of a lava pool, and had a gap between the next stairs.
"This is terrible planning!" Anakin exclaimed. "What were the Dwarfs thinking building this!?"
Legolas cleared the gap easily, but Gandalf hesitated. The fear of the Balrog, however, was greater than his apparent fear of heights. He jumped across, and not a moment too soon, for an arrow struck where he once stood. They looked to see Orcs firing upon them. The Jedi slashed arrows aside, but could not deflect them like blaster bolts. Legolas shot his arrows, while Rex shot his blasters, both scoring hits. Boromir grabbed Merry and Pippin in each arm and jumped across the gap, but then part of the stairs collapsed on the side of the rest.
Ahsoka somersaulted over the gap, slashing an arrow that was meant for Legolas.
The Elf turned to thank her, but she said, "Save the chivalry for later."
Anakin and Obi-Wan used the Force to send the arrows back to their owners before making the leap. Aragorn tossed Sam, who was caught by Boromir. He turned to toss Gimli, but he held up his hand.
"Nobody tosses a Dwarf," he stated, making the jump.
His jump was too short, so Legolas grabbed his beard to safe him. Ignoring the Dwarf's protests, he pulled him up from the edge.
The stairs on Frodo and Aragorn's side collapsed, making the gap impossible to jump.
"Anakin, come on!" Obi-Wan exclaimed. "Ahsoka, Rex, cover us!"
Anakin and Obi-Wan Force Jumped over the gap, while Ahsoka returned the arrows that was aimed at them. Which incredible marksmanship, Rex took out five Orcs in quick succession. Anakin took Frodo while Obi-Wan took Aragorn.
"Ready?" Anakin asked.
Obi-Wan nodded and they both made the impossible jump.
They did not land on the ledge in front of their comrades; they landed behind them.
"We are in a hurry," Obi-Wan explained with a wry grin to the dumbstruck Fellowship.
"Come on!" Anakin urged.
Regaining their composure, the Fellowship dashed out of that hellish room and into another which was producing a wall of flames.
"Over the bridge!" Gandalf commanded. "Fly!"
Seeing as how the wizard was left behind, Anakin stood by him as they watched the Balrog make his appearance. He looked exactly like a demon, wrapped in shadow and flame. When the creature roared, his mouth seemed to spawn fire.
Anakin grabbed Gandalf's arm and pulled him away from the terrifying sight. He tried to throw more debris, but the creature dissolved the objects when they
connected with his skin. As they crossed the bridge over the bottomless pit ("Whoever designed this bridge was an idiot!" Anakin cried) Gandalf stayed behind to confront the Balrog.
"You cannot pass!" he yelled.
"Gandalf!" Frodo exclaimed, but was held back by Aragorn.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Anakin shouted, trying to pull him back.
Gandalf whipped his staff around and blasted Anakin to the other side safely.
The old wizard returned to his opponent and said with clenched teeth, "I am the servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor." He raised his staff in the air, which was glowing while the Balrog brought a sword comprised of flames. "The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn!"
Anakin was horrified. "Is he mad!? We've got to help him! Why are we just standing here!?"
The Balrog brought his sword down, but it disintegrated when it bounced off a shield Gandalf created.
"Gandalf is the only one who's a match for the foul beast, Anakin," Aragorn explained, trying to hide his own fear. "We can do nothing against it."
The Balrog roared at Gandalf furiously.
"Go back to the Shadow!" Gandalf commanded.
This time, the Balrog brought out a fire whip and took another step on the bridge.
"YOU…SHALL NOT…PASS!" the wizard roared, bringing his staff down on the bridge.
It created a small shockwave, which did nothing to stop the creature. Unimpressed, the Balrog took another step closer, but the bridge crumbled beneath him, weakened by Gandalf's attack. He roared in fury, but he could do nothing as the bottomless pit swallowed him up.
Gandalf turned to face the others, but the fire whip latched on to his leg, pulling him off the bridge. Luckily, the old man grabbed on to the ledge, but he could not hold on for long.
Frodo broke free of Aragorn's grip and tried to run to his friend, but Boromir pulled him back.
"GANDALF!" Frodo screamed.
Making up his mind, Anakin ran towards the bridge, ignoring all protests from his friends.
THWUNK!
Anakin collapsed to the ground…with an arrow piercing his chest. The Orcs had returned.
Gandalf gave everyone a mournful look and said, "Fly, you fools," before falling to his death.
"NOOOO!" Frodo sobbed.
Anakin let the tears fall as Aragorn and Obi-Wan dragged him to safety. His friend was gone forever! And he was next in line.
And that concludes Moria. I knew that Anakin would want to save Gandalf and not stand around like a pansy despite the weakened bridge, so the best way to stop him? An arrow!
Tune in next time for the Elvish city we all know and love and we will meet Lady Galadriel. Review and vote, please. Review and vote!
NOTE: Sometimes, Galadriel gives me the creeps!