It was evening, and the grey light was again waning fast, when Fellowship of the Ring made a sudden halt for the night. They were very weary. The mountains were veiled in deepening dusk, and the wind was cold. Gandalf spared them one more mouthful each of the miruvor of Rivendell. As hours began to pass, Gandalf continued to lead the two groups towards their destination. Natasha, on the other hand, preferred to call herself Agent Romanoff, despite being a former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D..
"So how far is Moria?" Darcia asked.
"We're not too far my dear," Gandalf answered.
"Not to far huh, you said that about a bloody hour ago," Agent Fitz sighed in utter disgust while walking next to Jemma.
"Oh Fitz, at least its good exercising we're doing," Agent Simmons smiled.
"Exercise or not, its still going to be a while for us to reach the western gate," Doctor Selvig huffed. "For what I now is, this one of the most greatest city of the dwarves."
"Well, we must keep going on until we do," Agent Romanoff said with a sigh. "If there is a way."
"There is a way that we may attempt," Gandalf explained to her and the group. "I thought from the beginning, when first I considered this journey, that we should try it. But it is not a pleasant way, and I have not spoken of it to the Company before. Aragorn was against it, until the pass over the mountains had at least been tried."
"If it is a worse road than the Redhorn Gate, then it must be evil indeed," Doctor Foster said. "But you had better tell us about it, and let us know the worst at once."
"The road that I speak of leads to the Mines of Moria," Gandalf said.
Only Gimli lifted up his head; a smouldering fire was in his eyes. On all the others a dread fell at the mention of that name. Even to the hobbits it was a legend of vague fear.
"The road may lead to Moria, but how can we hope that it will lead through Moria?" Quake darkly asked, concerned about this idea. "I just have bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that we might fall into another trap."
"Agent Johnson makes a solid point, Mr. Gandalf," Agent Fortunov agreed.
"Same here," Mockingbird agreed as well.
"It is a name of ill omen," Boromir said. "Nor do I see the need to go there. If we cannot cross the mountains, let us journey southwards, until we come to the Gap of Rohan, where those are friendly to my people, taking the road that I followed on my way hither. Or we might pass by and cross the Isen into Langstrand and Lebennin, and so come to Gondor from the regions night to the sea."
"Things have changed since you came north, Boromir," Doctor Selvig said. "We can't take that risk at all. Its dangerous. Did you not hear what Gandalf told you of Saruman? The Ring must not come near Isengard, if that can by any means be prevented. The Gap of Rohan is closed to us while we go with the Bearer."
"As for the longer road: we cannot afford the time," Gandalf explained. "We might spend a year in such a journey, and we should pass through many lands that could either be empty and harbourless. Yet they would not be safe. The watchful eyes both of Saruman and of the Enemy are on them. Master Selvig is right. When you came north, Boromir, son of Denethor, you were in the Enemy's eyes only one stray wanderer from the South and a matter of small concern to him. His mind was busy with the pursuit of the Ring. But you return now as a member of the Ring's Company, and you are in peril as long as you remain with us. The danger will increase with every league that we go south under the naked sky.
"Well since our open attempt on the mountain-pass has become more desperate, I fear there's now little hope, if we do not soon vanish from sight for a while, and cover our trail," Agent Romanoff said. "Therefore we advise that we should go neither over the mountains, nor round them, but under them."
"Maybe thats fortunate for us," Rifleman agreed to Natasha's point. "This road is at any rate that the Enemy will least expect us to take."
"Well, we do not know what he expects," Darcia said. "My theory states that Saruman may watch all roads, likely and unlikely. In that case to enter Moria would be to walk into a trap, hardly better than knocking at the gates of the Dark Tower itself."
"You speak of what you do not know my lady, but when you liken Moria to the stronghold of Sauron, I alone of you have ever been in the dungeons of the Dark Lord, and only in his older and lesser dwelling in Dol Guldur," Gandalf explained. "Those who pass the gates of Barad-Dur do not return. But I would not lead you into Moria if there were no hope of coming out again. If there are any enemies, such as Cyclopes, Haffensye, Orcs, Hobgoblins, and Ologs, it may prove ill for us, that is true. But most of the Orcs of the Misty Mountains were scattered or destroyed in the Battle of the Treasure. The Eagles report that Orcs and other creatures are gathering again from afar, but there is still hope that Moria remains free."
"So, there's a 100% chance that the Dwarves are still occupying this city?" Quake asked.
"I never thought that the Dwarves would build a city underneath the mountains," Doctor Simmons remarked in excitement, even though she was bit tired from all the walking. "This could a great discovery that S.H.I.E.L.D. would want to know about."
"So, do the Dwarves have a leader, like a king?" Linc asked Gandalf.
"Deep within the hall of Dwarf lords, the city was run by Balin, son of Fundin," Gandalf answered.
"I will tread the path with you, Gandalf!" Gimli exclaimed in laughter since he was rather excited to see his kin. "I will go and look on the halls of Durin, whatever may wait there if you can find the doors that are shut."
"Good, Gimli," Gandalf chuckled. "Very good, my dear friend. You encourage me. We will seek the hidden doors together. And we will come through. Yet it will not be the first time that I have been to Moria. I sought there long for Thrain son of Thror after he was lost. I passed through, and I came out again alive!"
"I too once passed the Dimrill Gate, but though I also came out again, the memory is very evil," Aragorn said. "I do not wish to enter Moria a second time."
"And I don't wish to enter it even once," Darcia said.
"Nor me," Samwise muttered.
"Of course not!" Gandalf said. "Who would? But the question is: who will follow me, if I lead you there?"
"I will," Gimli eagerly said.
"I will," Aragorn responded heavily.
"Well we almost got ourselves in a terrible disaster with the snow, and have said no word of blame," Mockingbird sighed. "But I will follow your lead now if this last warning does not move you."
"Well its not the Ring, nor of us others that I am thinking now, but of you, Gandalf," Doctor Selvig said.
"I will not go," Boromir refused.
"Yeah, Boromir's right, not unless if we can put it to a vote," Burnett suggested of an idea. "Some of us don't want to go to this Moria and some want to because of Saruman."
"Yeah, I think that's a fair idea," Darcia agreed. "What say aye?"
"Well, I don't know Moria as well as any of us here, but I think we should listen to what Gandalf is doing," Agent Red spoke first. "I vote aye."
"Agent Red says aye, so do I," Agent Baines voted her answer.
"That makes two, but there's a lot more of us," Doctor Foster said. "Or should we say, twenty-five of us."
"Ok, so Gandalf, Aragorn Gimli, Piper, and Davis are five that vote aye, but I don't risk this, so I vote nay," Quake said.
"If Daisy says that, then so do I," Linc agreed too. "I think its too risky for us to go under the mountain."
"Saruman will wait for us if we go to the Gap of Rohan," Mockingbird said. "I don't think this plan, but I vote aye."
"Bobbi says the word, then I say it too," Rifleman said.
"Its dangerous, but if we can try to cross the mountain without being seen, then I vote aye," Bangs said.
"Same here," Agent Fortunov agreed as well. "Aye."
"Nay," Pat sighed. "I for one think this idea is a suicide. I overheard what Aragorn said. I think we should come up with an alternative. Maybe there's another route we can take other than Moria."
"FitzSimmons, what is your vote?" Quake asked.
"Undecided, but I think we should say nay," Agent Simmons said.
"I'm with Jemma," Agent Fitz said, agreeing.
"I do not wish to go to Moria," Legolas said. "Its not something that a lone Silvan Elf should do."
"Ok, well I vote nay," Darcia said.
"Same," Burnett sighed, raising his hand a bit.
"I don't know what we should do, but I vote aye," Agent Romanoff said.
"I for one don't agree to this plan, but I vote aye," Doctor Selvig said. "Saruman is on to us, so we barely have any choice to spare."
"Don't look at me, but I'm saying aye," Doctor Foster sighed. "Yes, the plan is dangerous, but Gandalf is our best hope to getting us out of this, so let's just do what we need to do."
"Now that leaves four more to count," Rifleman counted. "The four little hobbits should cast their votes right now."
"Well, Pippin and I came to a decision," Meriadoc said. "We both say... aye."
"Frodo, what's your answer? Mockingbird asked.
"I do not wish to go, but neither do I wish to refuse the advice of Gandalf the Grey," Frodo said.
"Well if Mr. Frodo says aye, then I'll go along with it too," Samwise said.
"Well, I suppose the eyes have it, sixteen Ayes and nine nays," Doctor Selvig said. "I guess we go through the mines of Moria."
"Dam, I really thought that most of us would say nay, but looks like we really gonna do this," Darcia sighed fearfully.
"Don't worry Darcy, we're all togther on this, but I didn't know you would come,"
"What was I suppose to say?" Darcia asked in complaint. "For goodness sake Jane, I thought you weren't planning on going nether. Joey would've stayed too."
As the group continued to move through the rocks and trees, they fell into silent thought. They heard the wind hissing, and there was a howling and wailing round them in the empty spaces of the night.
"That doesn't sound good," Agent Romanoff murmured in worry.
"How the wind howls, it sounds like the voice of a wolf," Doctor Selvig said.
"Those are not wolves, Doctor Selvig, what you hear is the sound of a pack hungry wargs," Aragorn whispered.
"Hmm, well that seems to be rather disappointing," Doctor Selvig
"The Wargs have come west of the Mountains," Aragorn said.
"Uh, what are Wargs?" Agent Fitz asked.
"They look like wolves, but they're very big and dangerous than ordinary wolves," Linc said. "Aragorn and I encountered a pack of those animals, but we were able to fend them off."
"Well it seems that the hunt is up," Rifleman said. "Even if we live to see the dawn, who now will wish to journey south by night with the wild wolves on our trail?"
"Gandalf, how far is Moria from here?" Quake asked.
"There is a door south-west of Caradhras, some fifteen miles as the crow flies, and maybe twenty as the wargs are making their run," Gandalf answered grimly.
"Then we should start as soon as it is light tomorrow, if we can," Quake said. "Those wolves, or whatever what you call them, are on to us. They must've picked up our scent."
"I wish I had taken Elrond's advice," Darcia muttered in between Pippin to Samwise.
"I am no good after all," Samwise said. "There is not enough of the breed of Bandobras the Bullroarer in me.
"These howls really freeze my blood up already," Agent Simmons said, looking a bit scared. "I don't ever remember feeling so wretched."
"My heart is right down in my toes, Jemma," Agent Fitz said. "But we aren't eaten yet. Whatever may be in store for the wizard, I'll wager it isn't a wolf's belly."
"Arm yourselves!" Agent Romanoff shouted. "They're getting close."
"Or surrounding us," Legolas sensed. "They're moving around to keep us from escaping."
For the last couple of hourse, the Fellowship of the Ring had managed to climb to the top of the small hill under which they had been sheltering. It was crowned with a knot of old and twisted trees, about which lay a broken circle of boulder stones. In the midst of this, they lit a fire, for there was no hope that darkness and silence would keep their trail from discovery by the hunting warg packs. Round the fire they sat, and those that were not on guard dozed uneasily. Poor Bill the pony trembled and sweated where he stood. The howling of the wargs was now all round them, sometimes nearer and sometimes further off.
In the dead of the night, many shining eyes were seen peering over the brow of the hill. Some advanced almost to the ring of stones. Daisy readies herself to use her powers on the creatures. The rest of the group quickly arm themselves and ready to engage the pack. At a gap in the circle a great white-furred warg could be seen halted, gazing at them. A shuddering howl broke from him, as if he were a captain summoning his pack to the assault. Gandalf stood up and strode forward, holding his staff aloft.
"Listen, Hound of Sauron!' Gandalf cried in fury. "I am here. Fly, if you value your foul skin! I will shrivel you from tail to snout, if you come within this ring."
The leader of the warg pack snarled and sprang towards the group with a great leap. At that moment there was a sharp twang. Legolas had loosed his bow. There was a hideous yell, and the leaping shape thudded to the ground. The elvish arrow had pierced its throat. Two wargs advanced, but Daisy used her power to send those savage animals flying backwards. The watching eyes were suddenly extinguished. Gandalf and Aragorn strode forward, but the hill was deserted; the hunting packs had fled. All about them the darkness grew silent, and no cry came on the sighing wind.
The night was old, and westward the waning moon was setting, gleaming fitfully through the breaking clouds. Suddenly Frodo started from sleep. Without warning a storm of howls broke out fierce and wild all about the camp. A great host of Wargs had gathered silently and was now attacking them from every side at once.
"Fling fuel on the fire!" Gandalf cried to the group. "Draw your weapons, and stand back to back!"
"You heard him!" Agent Romanoff loudly responded. "Get ready!"
"Depending if I live, I'll kill a lot of those bas****s if they even try to reach any of us," Rifleman said, arming with his weapons.
"Good luck," Quake murmured, raising her right hand to be ready.
"Well, Jemma, see you on the other side if possible," Agent Fitz said.
"Let's try not to think of that right now!" Agent Simmons exclaimed.
"Here we go, they're advancing!" Doctor Selvig shouted.
"Okay, I'm gonna admit, we all should've stayed in Rivendell," Darcia cried.
In the leaping light, as the fresh wood blazed up, the group saw many grey shapes spring over the ring of stones. More and more followed. Through the throat of one huge leader, Aragorn and Lincoln stood closely together as they pass their weapons with a thrust; with a great sweep Boromir hewed the head off another. Beside them Gimli stood with his stout legs apart, wielding his dwarf-axe. The bow of Legolas even sung.
In the wavering firelight, Gandalf rose up and used his staff to lift a burning branch and strode to meet the wargs. They gave back before him. High in the air he tossed the blazing brand. It flared with a sudden white radiance like lightning; and his voice rolled like thunder.
"Naur an edraith ammen! Naur dan i ngaurhoth!" Gandalf bellowed in fury at the pack.
There was a roar and a crackle, and the tree above him burst into a leaf and bloom of blinding flame. The fire leapt from tree-top to tree-top. The whole hill was crowned with dazzling light. The defenders shone and flickered. The last arrow of Legolas kindled in the air as it flew, and plunged burning into the heart of a great wolf-chieftain. All the others fled.
Slowly the fire died till nothing was left but falling ash and sparks. A bitter smoke curled above the burned tree-stumps, and blew darkly from the hill, as the first light of dawn came dimly in the sky. Their enemies were routed and did not return.
"Now that was something!" Agent Fortunov exclaimed in remark.
"What did I tell you, Mr. Pippin?" Samwise asked him, sheathing his sword. "Those wolves won't get him. That was an eye-opener, and no mistake! Nearly singed the hair off my head!"
When the full light of the morning came no signs of the wargs were to be found, and they looked in vain for the bodies of the dead. No trace of the fight remained but the charred trees and the arrows of Legolas lying on the hill-top. All were undamaged save one of which only the point was left.
That day the weather changed again, almost as if it was at the command of some power that had no longer any use for snow, since they had retreated from the pass, a power that wished now to have a clear light in which things that moved in the wild could be seen from far away. The wind had been turning through north to north-west during the night, and now it failed. The clouds vanished southwards and the sky was opened, high and blue. As they stood upon the hill-side, ready to depart, a pale sunlight gleamed over the mountain-tops.
"We must reach the doors before sunset," Doctor Selvig said. "Or I fear we shall not reach them at all."
"Yes, and its not too far, but our path may be winding," Gandalf said until he noticed something. "And there it lies."
"What is it?" Agent Fortunov asked, wanting to know what Gandalf was looking at.
Gandalf points away south-eastwards to where the mountains' sides fell sheer into the shadows at their feet. In the distance could be dimly seen a line of bare cliffs, and in their midst, taller than the rest, one great grey wall. "When we left the pass I led you southwards, and not back to our starting point, as some of you may have noticed. It is well that I did so, for now we have several miles less to cross, and haste is needed."
"Well, I don't know which to hope," Rifleman said grimly.
"Hunter, I do believe that Gandalf will find what he seeks, or that coming to the cliff, we shall find the gates lost forever," Mockingbird said. "All choices seem ill, and to be caught between these savage looking wolves and the wall the likeliest chance."
Gimli now walked ahead by the wizard's side, so eager was he to come to Moria and visit his cousin Balin, who was the Lord of Moria. Together they led the Company back towards the mountains. The only road of old to Moria from the west had lain along the course of a stream, the Sirannon, that ran out from the feet of the cliffs near where the doors had stood. But either Gandalf was astray, or else the land had changed in recent years; for he did not strike the stream where he looked to find it, only a few miles southwards from their start.
The morning was passing towards noon, and still the Company wandered and scrambled in a barren country of gray stones. Nowhere could they see any gleam of water or hear any sound of it. All was bleak and dry. Their hearts sank. They saw no living thing, and not a bird was in the sky, but what the night would bring, if it caught them in that lost land, none of them cared to think.
"Frodo, come and help an old man," Gandalf insisted as he wraps his arm around Frodo and continues walking. "How's your shoulder?"
Frodo remains silent as he looks up at Gandalf with concern and answers, "Better than it was."
"And the Ring?" Gandalf paused just as Frodo looks up at him. "You feel its power growing don't you. I've felt it too. You must be careful now. Evil will be drawn to you from outside the Fellowship and I fear from within."
"Who then do I trust?" Frodo asked, looking a bit worried.
"You must trust to yourself," Gandalf implored. "Trust your own strength."
"What do you mean?" Frodo asked, wanting to know more to the wisdom of the wizard.
"There are many powers in this world for good or for evil," Gandalf warned. "Some are greater than I am and against some I have not yet been tested."
Suddenly Gimli, who had pressed on ahead, called back to them. He was standing on a knoll and pointing to the right. Hurrying up they saw below them a deep and narrow channel. It was empty and silent, and hardly a trickle of water flowed among the brown and red-stained stones of its bed; but on the near side there was a path, much broken and decayed, that wound its way among the ruined walls and paving-stones of an ancient highroad. Gimli comes to the top of the path and looks in wonder. That was when he makes a sudden stop and his eyes widen in awe when he points directly of what he was seeing.
"The walls of Moria!" Gimli exclaimed in awe.
"Well I'll be, this is something that no one on Earth has ever seen," Doctor Selvig murmured in awe.
"Holy sh**," Darcia breathed in awe as she and the rest of the company were staring at a great sheer flat cliff. "This is something of a discovery."
"I guess maybe luck is on our trail after all," Burnett said to her.
"Screw luck, I still think this is a bad way to turn," Darcia responded immediately.
"Well, we didn't come all this way for nothing," Agent Romanoff said, walking by her. "Let's keep moving. Its starting to get dark already."
"Just hope we don't run into anymore of those wolf monsters, whatever they are," Darcia said.
"C'mon Darcy, we're almost to our destination," Doctor Foster encouraged her friend. "Keep moving."
"So, what kind of lake are we talking about?" Quake asked Gandalf.
"My dear, what you are looking at is Sirannon," Gandalf answered. "This is where the stream ran: Sirannon, the Gate-stream, they used to call it. But what has happened to the water, I cannot guess; it used to be swift and noisy. Come! We must hurry on. We are late."
Standing before the looming cliff that was cut into a sheer formation, the rest of the members within the Fellowship of the Ring were already footsore and tired when they arrived at their destination. The footing where they were going was treacherous on the narrow strips of green and greasy stones.
Now that the day was drawing to its end and cold stars were glinting in the sky high above the sunset, the Fellowship of the Ring had finally reached the side of the lake. In breadth, it looked to be no more than two or three furlongs at the widest point. How far it stretched away southward they could not see in the failing light; but its northern end was no more than half a mile from where they stood, and between the stony ridges that enclosed the valley and the water's edge there was a rim of open ground. They hurried forward, for they had still a mile or two to go before they could reach the point on the far shore that Gandalf was making for; and then he had still to find the doors.
When they came to the northernmost corner of the lake they found a narrow creek that barred their way. It was green and stagnant, thrust out like a slimy arm towards the enclosing hills. Gimli strode forward undeterred, and found that the water was shallow, no more than ankle-deep at the edge. Behind him they walked in file, threading their way with care, for under the weedy pools were sliding and greasy stones, and footing was treacherous. Frodo shuddered with disgust at the touch of the dark unclean water on his feet. That was when his right foot almost slips into the edge of a lake, only for Agent Morse to quickly pull him off.
"Mind your footing," Mockingbird warned him.
"I will, thank you," Frodo smiled in approval, but looks around a bit worried and concerned about this place.
"Indeed things have changed," Gandalf said. "But there is no mistaking the place. There is all that remains of the Stair Falls. If I remember right, there was a flight of steps cut in the rock at their side, but the main road wound away left and climbed with several loops up to the level ground at the top. There used to be a shallow valley beyond the falls right up to the Walls of Moria, and the Sirannon flowed through it with the road beside it."
"Well, let's see what things are like now," Rifleman sighed.
Jemma Simmons was quite intrigued by all this and touched the wall gently with her hand in awe and wonder. "I wonder how long it took the dwarves to build something this."
"So this is walls of Moria?" Doctor Selvig asked.
"Yes, Master Selvig," Gandalf said, using his staff to point at the wall. "Somewhere, there is a Gate that stood here once upon a time. It is called the Elven Door at the end of the road from Hollin by which we have come. But this way is blocked."
"Well the good thing is, none of us in the company would want to go swimming in this gloomy water," Doctor Selvig said, scanning the water with his eyes. He could tell right away it was not something that no one in the group would want to do. "It has an unwholesome look."
"I think we should find a way round this northern edge," Agent Baines suggested. "Should we just climb up."
"No, I don't think there is," Gandalf said. "Our goal is to find the lost gate of Moria."
"Okay," Agent Baines gulped nervously and took a moment to breath. "You can do this."
"Well, here we are at last," Gandalf said. "Here the Elven-way from Hollin ended. Holly was the token of the people of that land, and they planted it here to mark the end of their domain; for the West-door was made chiefly for their use in their traffic with the Lords of Moria. Those were happier days, when there was still close friendship at times between folk of different race, even between Dwarves and Elves.'
"It was not the fault of the Dwarves that the friendship waned," Gimli recalled.
"I have not heard that it was the fault of the Elves," Legolas grimly said.
"I have heard both," Gandalf said. "And I will not give judgement now. But I beg you two, Legolas and Gimli, at least to be friends, and to help me. I need you both. The doors are shut and hidden, and the sooner we find them the better. Night is at hand."
"But we don't see any doors," Darcia argued. "There's nothing."
Gimli chuckled as he taps the wall with his axe and says, "Thats because Dwarf doors are invisible when closed."
"Okay, didn't see that one coming at all," Rifleman said.
"Let me tell you all this, but long ago, the dwarven masters of Moria couldn't find these doors if their secrets were forgotten," Gandalf explained.
"Why doesn't that surprise any of us?" Agent Romanoff asked.
Gimli, on the other note, sniffed with disgust at the comment.
When this was done, the rest of the group turn to watch Gandalf. Gandalf walked forward to the wall and makes out an outline of them. The group seem to notice that the wizard appeared to have done nothing. Right between the shadow of the trees there was a smooth space, Gandalf had been gazing at the blank wall of the cliff, as if he would bore a hole into it with his eyes. The two trees looked rather twisted and gnarled, something that the Fellowship didn't approve. Gimli was wandering about, tapping the stone here and there with his axe while Legolas was pressed against the rock, as if he was listening.
"Well, here we are and all ready," Doctor Foster said and scanned the wall with her eyes.
"But where are the Doors?" Agent Fitz asked. "I can't see any sign of them."
"I'm sure they're around here," Agent Simmons said.
"Well door or no door, there is seems to be nothing," Bangs said. "I don't see anything."
Gandalf stops and rubs his hand over a smooth part of the wall. As he uses his hands to brush away the dirt, Gandalf began to notice something with his eyes in wonder. What the wizard uncovered were faint lines that appeared to look like slender veins of luminous silver running through the stone.
"Ah... now let me see... Ithildin," Gandalf murmured to himself as he studied the patterns within the stone very carefully. "It mirrors only starlight..." He takes a brief pause and turns around to stare directly at the clouds that were beginning to move away. Once the clouds were gone, the bright full moon was shown rising over the mountains, letting out a lot of light. "...and moonlight."
As the Moon now shining, no one in the group could see nothing else for a while. Then slowly on the surface, where the wizard's hands had passed, faint lines appeared, like slender veins of silver running in the stone. At first they were no more than pale gossamer-threads, so fine that they only twinkled fitfully where the Moon caught them, but steadily they grew broader and clearer, until their design could be guessed.
"My god," Doctor Selvig breathed in awe.
The rest of the Fellowship stood still in awe of what they saw with their own eyes. At the top, as high as Gandalf could reach, was an arch of interlacing letters in an Elvish character. Below, though the threads were in places blurred or broken, the outline could be seen of an anvil and a hammer surmounted by a crown with seven stars. Beneath these again were two trees, each bearing crescent moons. More clearly than all else there shone forth in the middle of the door a single star with many rays.
"The emblems of Durin!" Gimli cried in amazement.
"And there is the Tree of the High Elves," Legolas gasped in wonder.
"And the Star of the House of Feanor," Gandalf added as he points at the writing with his staff. "They are wrought of Ithildin that mirrors only starlight and moonlight, and sleeps until it is touched by one who speaks words now long forgotten in Middle-Earth. It is long since I heard them, and I thought deeply before I could recall them to my mind."
"What does the writing say?" Doctor Foster asked, who was trying to decipher the inscription on the arch. "I thought I knew the elf-letters, but I cannot read these."
"The words are in the elven-tongue of the West of Middle-Earth in the Elder Days," Gandalf answered. "But they do not say anything of importance to us. They say only: The Doors of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak, friend, and enter. And underneath small and faint is written: I, Narvi, made them. Celebrimbor of Hollin drew these signs. '
"What do you suppose that means?" Meriadoc whispered to Pippin.
"Don't know," Pippin whispered back.
Jemma Simmons was a bit curious by this as she stares at the shiny arch, and then asks, "So what does it mean by speak, friend, and enter?"
"That is plain enough," Gimli answered with a chuckle of excitement. "If you are a friend, speak the password, and the doors will open. Once they are open, you can enter."
"That doesn't sound too easy to my liking," Rifleman whispered from behind Aragorn.
"These doors are probably governed by words," Gandalf explained of what he remembers. "Some of these dwarf-gates will open only at special times, or for particular persons. Some have locks and keys that are still needed when all necessary times and words are known. These doors have no key. In the days of Durin, they were not secret. They usually stood open and doorwards sat here."
"But if they were shut, any who knew the opening word could speak it and pass in," Doctor Foster responded. "At least so it is recorded, is it not, Gimli?"
"It is," Gimli answered. "But what the word was is not remembered. Narvi and his craft and all his kindred have vanished from the world."
"But do not you know the word, Gandalf?" Agent Romanoff asked Gandalf in surprise.
"No," Gandalf answered.
The others looked dismayed. They remained silent and unmoved as to what Gandalf had just said.
"Okay, I guess that is something I didn't want to hear," Darcia sighed, rolling her eyes.
"I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" Rifleman scoffed. "Cause I ain't laughing!"
"You gotta be kidding me!" Agent Romanoff exclaimed.
"What was the use of bringing us to this accursed spot in the first place?" Boromir cried, glancing back with a shudder at the dark water.
"Gandalf, you told all of us that you had once passed through the mines," Mockingbird recalled. "How could that be, if you did not know how to enter?"
"You all think that I do not know the word yet?" Gandalf asked the group. "But we shall soon see. You may ask what is the use of my deeds when they are proved useless. As for your other question: do you doubt my tale? Or have you no wits left? I did not enter this way. I came from the East."
"The east, are you meaning the other side?" Doctor Foster asked.
"Yes," Gandalf answered her question. "If you wish to know, I will tell you that these doors open outwards. From the inside, you may thrust them open with your hands. From the outside, nothing will move them because of the spell of command. They cannot be forced inwards."
"Well can you try to figure out what the password is?" Agent Fortunov asked.
"I will try," Gandalf said as he steps up to the rock again, and lightly touched with his staff the silver star in the middle beneath the sign of the anvil. "Let us begin."
"I'll make a bet if can't open the doors," Rifleman whispered to Aragorn.
"At least give him a chance," Aragorn whispered.
"Annon Edhellen, edro hi ammen!" (Gate of the Elves, open now for me!) Gandalf exclaimed loudly in elven as a commanding voice.
Nothing happened. The cliff towered into the night, the countless stars were kindled, the wind blew cold, and the doors stood fast.
"Is that it?" Agent Red quietly asked. "Cause the doors aren't opening."
"Well, this is becoming a waste of time here," Quake sighed in utter disgust since Gandalf couldn't figure out what the password is to open these doors.
Gandalf looks confused and clears his throat. He holds up both his hands, continuing to to chant as loud as possible, commanding the dwarven doors to open in the elven language. "Fennas nogothrim, lasto beth lammen!" (Doorway of the Dwarf-folk, listen to the word of my tongue!)
"Nothing's happening," Rifleman said.
Gandalf had no idea as to why the doors wouldn't open. Annoyed by this, he walks up to the door and tries to push it by force, but they remain still.
"I once knew every spell in all the tongues of Elves or Men or Orcs that was ever used for such a purpose," Gandalf explained to the group. "I can still remember ten score of them without searching in my mind. But only a few trials, I think, will be needed, and I shall not have to call on Gimli for words of the secret dwarf-tongue that they teach to none. The opening words were Elvish, like the writing on the arch: that seems certain."
"What are you going to do then?" Pippin asked, undaunted by the wizard's bristling brows.
"Knock your head against these doors Peregrin Took!" Gandalf angrily responded by that silly question. "But if that does not shatter them, and I am allowed a little peace from foolish questions!"
"I will try to find the opening words," Gandalf promised.
"1 hour," Mockingbird responded.
"Beg your pardon?" Gandalf asked, confused.
"You have 1 hour," Mockingbird told him. "If you can't figure it out, then we leave this place. I for one, do not want to stay here and that's why we voted for that, okay?"
"One hour Gandalf, and we leave," Agent Romanoff said.
"Very well," Gandalf nodded, giving them his promise.
For minutes, the entire group had been sitting quietly and waited for Gandalf to come up with the right words. Even though, he only had about ten minutes left for him to figure out the password.
"Ando Eldarinwa a lasta quettanya, Fenda Casarinwa," (Gate of Elves listen to my word, Threshold of Dwarves.) Gandalf wearly muttered in elvish.
Samwise Gamgee on the other note, had been removing the pots and pans as he watches sadly while Aragorn and Lance Hunter had been busy unsaddling Bill the pony. Once the baggage was removed, Sam took a moment to look at Bill before he had to let him go.
"We cannot take the poor boy into the Mines," Aragorn said. "The road under the mountains is dark, and there are places narrow and steep which he cannot tread, even if we can."
Samwise Gamgee stood sullenly by the pony and returned no answer. Bill, seeming to understand well what was going on, nuzzled up to him, putting his nose to Sam's ear. Sam burst into tears, and fumbled with the straps, unlading all the pony's packs and throwing them on the ground. The others sorted out the goods, making a pile of all that could be left behind, and dividing up the rest.
"BuBye Bill," Samwise sniffed in utter sadness of having to let Bill go.
Once that was done, Aragorn gives the pony a gentle push as he says, "Go on, go on Bill." He turns to Samwise, who was concerned over Bill's safety back home. "Don't worry Sam. He knows the way home."
After Bill disappeared into the darkness, the sound of a splash was heard. The sound alerted Aragorn as he turns to see Merry and Pippin had been having some fun tossing stones into the lake. Just before Pippin was about to throw in another stone, Aragorn managed to prevent that from happening by grabbing his arm.
"Do not disturb the water," Aragorn ominously warned the confused hobbit.
"Oh it's useless," Gandalf sighed in disgust, having decided to give up and throwing his staff on the ground.
"Hey, at least you tried," Doctor Foster said.
Gandalf sat with his head bowed, either in despair or in anxious thought. While Gandalf sat down to keep thinking as to what he missed, Aragorn, Natasha Romanoff, Lincoln Slade, Daisy Johnson, Boromir, Barbara Morse, Lancelot Hunter, Soo-jin Smith, Jerry Fortunov, Piper Baines, and James Davis were concerned and stood silent as they had been noticing the ripples within the water had been growing and coming closer to the shore.
While Joey had been snoring, Darcy signed as she stands up and walks towards the glowing arch. She takes a moment to look at the ancient words. That was when she came to realize something.
"Of course, its a riddle," Darcia said. "Speak friend and enter." She turns to walk over to Gandalf. "Gandalf, I think I know what it is. Can you tell me what the elvish word for friend is?"
"The word is called 'Mellon'," Gandalf answered quietly.
"Only have a few minutes, so let's make this count," Darcia whispered as she walks back the arch and murmurs to herself. "Okay, here it goes." She takes a long pause until she loudly says the word that Gandalf had said. "Mellon!" (Friend!)
About a second, a great crack is heard, alerting the rest of the group, who were surprised to see that Darcy had managed to figure out the password. Joey gasped when he heard the sound and saw that the the rock face silently divides in the middle and two great doors swing outwards, but revealing a blackness deeper than night. Gandalf chuckled in delight, for he was impressed that Darcy solved the clue by herself. Gimli removes his pipe from his mouth and looks round.
"Bout bloody time," Rifleman sighed in relief.
"I'm a genius," Darcia smiled in delight. Although, her smile suddenly faded seconds pass as she stared at the darkness. "Although whose going to go first?"
"Darcy, you did great," Doctor Foster smiled in approval.
"So that was it?" Agent Fitz scoffed in disgust. "We waited a whole bloody hour for us and Darcy figured out the password."
"It was a riddle Fitz," Agent Simmons corrected. "Riddles are a challenge."
"Well I'm not good with riddles, thank you very much,"
"Oh Fitz, where's the fun in that?" Agent Simmons scoffed and giggled as she walks towards the entrance.
"Okay, here we go," Pat murmured.
As the rest of the group quickily got up, Gandalf places a crystal in the top of his staff and leads the way through the doors. Aragorn and Lincoln looks backwards at the lake before they entered the ancient city of the dwarves. Once they inside, the group step warily into the darkness of Moria, which was described to be a dank cavern with winding steps leading deeper into the mountain. FitzSimmons held hands together and both turn on their own flashlights for them to see in the dark. Jerry also had a flashlight that he kept in his bag and immediately turns it on. Agents Baines and Davis carried their flashlights too.
"Soon Master Elf, you will enjoy the fabelled hospitality of the dwarves!" Gimli exclaimed in excitement as he was prepared to see his kin and have a lot of fun activity.
"So what do you think the dwarves will do when they welcome us?" Agent Fortunov asked.
"Oh, you'll like everything here," Gimli growled in happiness. "Roaring fires! Malt Beer! Red Meat off the bone!"
"Okay, I guess that sounds like a lot of fun," Agent Fortunov responded sarcastically.
"Okay, so we're inside, but how come we don't see any of your kin here?" Bangs asked, concerned as to why everything was silent and no dwarves were present.
"I'm sure they are around here somewhere," Gimli said. "This my friend is the home of my cousin Balin and they call it a Mine."
Once inside, Gandalf takes his moment to blow on the crystal in his staff, and within seconds, it lights up the entire chamber. However, when the entire chamber was lit, the wizard noticed something and was completely shocked as to what he saw. The rest of the group make a sudden stop and recoil in horror.
"Oh my god," Quake breathed in shock while Lincoln was next to her, who too was horrified.
"You said it, Daisy," Linc quietly said to her, looking widely shocked.
"This could either be really good or really bad," Rifleman said, using his flashlight to see what he was looking at.
"What do you mean?" Gimli scoffed.
"We hate to ruin your excitement Gimli, but I'm afraid this was not the perfect way for us to go," Darcia nervously shivered in horror.
"She's right," Doctor Selvig nodded as he continued to look around. "This is no mine. This place has become a tomb."
"What?!" Gimli gasped as he stood to the front of the group.
Immediately, Gimli looked around horror and despair as he could now understand why the whole group were remaining still and shocked of what they were seeing right now. The entire chamber, including the the floor and the stairs in front of the group, was filled with many dead corpses and skeletons that were strewn about, with some with arrows sticking out of them. Even the rusting armor and shields were peppered with arrows and axes.
"No! No!" Gimli cried in shock and despair as he runs towards a dwarven corpse. "NOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo!"
"Seems we may have came at a bad time," Rifleman said.
"What happened here?" Agent Simmons asked, looking around in horror.
"I don't know, but for what I can tell is, the dwarves might've had some unfriendly visitors," Doctor Selvig said, knowing exactly what happened. "Look around and see for yourself."
"Doctor Selvig is right," Agent Romanoff agreed to Selvig's point of view since she could tell that there was a struggle in the mines. "For what we can see, there was a battle."
"A battle?!" Agent Fortunov exclaimed.
"Oh, a battle happened here, well that's very good for all us to know!" Agent Fitz exclaimed too.
"What kind of enemy were the dwarves fighting?" Pat asked, observing one of the corpses.
Legolas pulls out a crude arrow from the body of a fallen dwarf warrior. He takes a moment to look at the arrow carefully until he came to realize who the enemy was.
"Goblins!" Legolas responded as he throws the arrow away in disgust.
"Goblins?!" Agent Simmons distastefully asked.
"Goblins?!" Darcia loudly gasped in fright.
"Are you serious?" Bangs asked.
"Wait, are you saying goblins did this?!" Agent Fortunov asked, looking around in to see if any of these creatures were here.
Without a response, Legolas loads his bow with an arrow. This caused the rest of the group to arm their weapons too in self defense as they begin to slowly walk back to the entrance.
"We must leave at once," Gandalf said. "We have to find another way across the mountains."
"I suggest we think of that once we're out of here," Burnett panicked.
"My friends, I suggest we make for the Gap of Rohan," Boromir hastily said.
"Yeah I agree, we should never have come here in the first place," Doctor Foster agreed. "As a matter-of-fact, I should've said the word 'nay' since before we came to an agreement."
"Well the good news is, we're leaving," Linc said.
"Yeah, so nothing to worry about," Quake said.
"Well that's a relief," Agent Simmons pretended to chuckle. "Ha, ha, ha."
"Alright let's get of here!" Agent Fitz hastily exclaimed in a panic as he wanted to be the first to leave the realm at once since he and the rest of the group already knew what happened. "Oh come on already, I want to get out of here now!"
"Fitz, calm down, we are leaving!" Mockingbird loudly told him in frustration.
Frodo Baggins, Meriadoc Brandybuck, Samwise Gamgee, and Peregrin Took were the first to move away towards the entrance since they already knew that the others were planning on leaving Moria already. As the four hobbits huddle together, a long sinuous tentacle had crept from out from the water within the lake and the fingered end wrapped Frodo's ankle and is dragging the poor hobbit out of the cave and bringing him into the water.
"Ah, help!" Frodo screamed.
"Frodo!" Pippin screamed.
"Frodo!" Samwise screamed.
"Frodo!" Meriadoc screamed.
Samwise turns around to the others and shouts. "Strider! Bobbi!"
"WOW!" Agent Fortunov exclaimed in shock of what he saw.
"Oh my god!" Agent Simmons screamed in fear as she backs away from the entrance.
"What is that?!" Agent Fitz screamed, noticing the tentacle.
"Everyone back away from the entrance!" Agent Romanoff cried.
Frodo cries out as the tentacle continues to pull him into the water. That was when Samwise Gamgee jumped on the tentacle and started slashing at it with his sword.
"Get off him!" Samwise bellowed in rage as he continued to slash the tentacle.
"Hold on!" Mockingbird shouted as she runs out of the cave and uses her sword to slash the tentacle much harder than Sam.
After slashing and severing the tenticle, it immediately let go of Frodo, thus giving Samwise Gamgee and Barbara Morse to pull Frodo to safety. Suddenly, twenty more tentacles came rippling out of the water and they hit Bobbi, Sam, Merry, and Pippin other aside. Helpless, Frodo was grabbed once again grabbed by one of the tentacles and is flung in the air, crying out for help.
"Frodo!" Meriadoc shouted in horror.
As Frodo cries out, Aragorn, Natasha Romanoff, Boromir, and Lancelot Hunter rush out of the cave to help Bobbi slash the other tentacles and free Frodo from the grasp of the creature hidden underneath the lake. Legolas emerged as well and fired an arrow at it, but the creature does not let go.
"Strider!" Frodo cried out for help in fear. "Bobbi!"
"Hold on Frodo!" Mockingbird shouted as she cut off a tentacle. "We're coming!"
Aragorn, Natasha Romanoff, Boromir, and Lancelot Hunter continue to use their swords to slash at the tentacles, cutting a lot of them off, but more keep appearing. Even as the four greatest fighters in Middle-Earth keep on taking down the tenticles, Frodo is drawn into the center where a body appears and a huge gaping mouth with great teeth. Frodo screams in utter terror as the creature in the lake began to unleash a very loud roar due to a lot of pain it was getting. Hunter saw which tentacle that held Frodo and managed to cut it off. This caused Frodo to fall, only for Bobbi to catch him and race out of the water with the hobbit.
"Gotcha," Mockingbird breathed as she runs towards the entrance.
"Into the Mines!" Gandalf yelled.
Once Frodo was safe, Aragorn, Natasha, Boromir, and Hunter quickly make a retreat towards the cave. However, the creature began to advance on them. That was when Legolas shoots an arrow into the right eye of the creature, causing it to groan in pain and backs off momentarily, but it still continued to chase the four that had been struggling to get out of the water. That was when Daisy came out and use her sonic Inhuman ability to send the creature back. Realizing that the creature was resisting, Daisy had to stop using her ability once Aragorn, Natasha, Boromir, and Hunter managed to race out of the water and run inside the cave.
The group were able to hurriedly back away from the angry creature that continued to follow them. They were relieved at first, but the creature used its coiling arms to seize the large doors. With a shattering echo, the creature reaches out and slams the gates shut, but closing them created a rock slide that crashes down the cliff face. Within seconds, tons of rock seal the doorway which threw the whole group into pitch darkness.