Warnings: None.

Day fifteen of the journey, early in the afternoon

Fíli

We had fallen silent somewhere after breakfast. We were near Moria, and everybody knew it. They could feel the tension in their bones, just like me, and it locked the place in our brains where the words came from. Those that had bravely said that they were looking forward to getting Khazad-dûm back, were now quietly counting the arrows in their quivers or sharpening their knives and wondering if it would be enough, if they should have brought more weapons, or more people.

I had my doubts myself, but I tried not to give into it. Doubt would cloud my focus, and that does not come in very handy if you are supposed to fight in less than twenty-four hours.

I was just thinking about that when Uncle Thorin yelled: "Stop! We will pitch our camp here. This is a safe distance."

I dropped my heavy backpack right at the spot where I was standing. It may be less heavy than when we left Erebor, but I was exhausted; we had left our last spot somewhere right after midnight, because we wanted to make sure we reached Moria before nightfall the next day, and nearly nobody was sleeping, any way.

Now that I was not moving, anymore, I felt how cold I was. Sam still had my coat, so I walked around in only a cardigan and a thin shirt, but I did not want to ask if I could have it back, because I knew she was cold, too, and I had a feeling that she needed it more than I did.

I watched in silence as a couple of names were called by Uncle Thorin and got the orders to scout the terraine. I watched as they left, wondering with which news they would return. Good or bad? Bad or really bad? Really bad or perhaps-it-is-better-if-we-turn-around-because-this-is-not-going-to-work bad? Nobody knew.

And so we waited, without saying anything, until the sun began to set, because that was when the explorers returned.

We were asked to sit in a circle, and everybody did without complaining, because we all wanted to know what we were going to fight against.

The shortest of the five explorers, a girl whose chin was covered in beige stubbles, began to talk.

"There are many Orcs in the mines," she told us, "and a couple of Trolls."

"What about the Balrog?" someone yelled.

"The Balrog's locked in a cage at one of the lower floors," one of the other explorers replied. "It's harmless. It can't get out of there. I heard some Orcs say that they hadn't figured out how to open the darn thing yet."

We all cheered, not only of excitement, but also of relief. We would not have to battle a demon. That had been one of my major worries.

I locked eyes with Sam, on the other side of the circle, and she seemed relieved, too. She had a huge smile on her face, and I did not realise that I was going to imitate that expression until I had.

A/N:

Tiny chapter, double update!

(also: I said I wouldn't update on my birthday, but I'm awake earlier than the rest of my family, so I'll update anyway!)