We walk through great caverns, over narrow bridges and through disused mines, with a path that is rocky and narrow and we move across it slowly. I look around. A ladder hangs a little ways away and a chain dangles slowly nearby, clicking and stops as he notices silvery white lines in the rock face and gently touches them.
,,The wealth of Moria is not in gold, or jewels, but Mithril." He says and shines his staff into the cavern below and we look down in awe at the intense abandoned mines. ,,Bilbo had a shirt of mithril rings that Thorin gave him." Gandalf continues. I look over the edge carefully, with Chloe's hand in mine, since I'm terrified of heights, marveling at the deep cavern below us.
,,Aw, that was a Kingly gift." Gimli tells us.
,,Yes. I never told him, but it's worth was greater than the value of the Shire!" I look around as I walk and my eyes land on Frodo. He looks astonished when Gandalf mentions how valuable it is. We continue to climb up some very steep steps and reach a junction with three doorways in front of us. Gandalf looks around him puzzled. ,,I have no memory of this place." He says faintly. I look over at Chloe and frown, disliking the obstacle in our path. We have no choice but to sit down. Chloe and I sit down below the ledge, while Gandalf sits at the top alone and in thoughts. I check my cut, then pull Chloe onto my lap and she smiles at me. Frodo looks around and jumps at the sight of something down below where we're sitting. Chloe and I look down too and also see something moving. Frodo walks up to Gandalf and I hear him talk to the wizard about it.
,,There's something down there." Frodo says to Gandalf.
,,It's Gollum."
,,Gollum!"
,,He's been following us for three days."
,,He escaped the dungeons of Barad-dûr?!"
,,Escaped?" I look up, only to see Gandalf turning to face Frodo. ,,Or was set loose and now the ring has drawn him here."
,,He's coming closer." I hear Chloe whisper to me.
,,He won't ever be rid of his need for it." Gandalf says to Frodo and I keep listening. Maybe Gollum isn't so bad at all? I mean, he's after the ring, that's obvious but that only comes because he had it for years now. ,,He hates and loves the ring, just as he hates and loves himself. Smeagol's life is a sad story." I can see Gandalf shake his head.
,,Smeagol?" Frodo asks.
,,Yes, he was once called Smeagol before the ring found him. Before it drove him mad."
,,It's a pity Bilbo didn't kill him when he had the chance." Frodo says with anger in his voice.
,,Pity? It was pity that stayed Bilbo's hand. Many that live deserve death and many that die, deserve life. Can you give it to them, Frodo? Do not be too eager to deal out death and judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends. My heart tells me that Gollum has some part to play, yet for good or evil… before this is over." Frodo glances back and I quickly look back before me. I feel Chloe's hand on my shoulder and I kiss the side of her forehead. I see Gollum quietly slip away now. ,,The pity of Bilbo, may rule the fate of many." Gandalf finishes. Frodo turns away slightly distressed.
,,I wish the ring had never come to me." He says. ,,I wish none of this had happened."
,,So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the ring, in which case you also were meant to have it and that is an encouraging thought." He raises his eyebrows and stands up. I smile, listening to his words. ,,Oh! It's that way!" He announces and everyone looks up to follow.
,,He remembered!" Merry says, standing up.
,,No, but the air doesn't smell so foul down here." Gandalf puts a hand on Merry's shoulder. ,,If in doubt, Meriadoc, always follow your nose." We follow Gandalf down and come out of the passageway into a great cavern with many columns arising from floor to ceiling. ,,Let me risk a little more light." He holds up his staff and shines its light on the cavern. I gasp at the wondrous and tall pillars and beautiful carvings. ,,Behold, the great realm and Dwarf city; Dwarrowdelf."
,,Now, there's an eye opener and no mistake." Sam follows, gazing at the pillars as well. We walk forward through the center of the magnificent city and enter another cavern with another doorway. Gimli recognizes the room in front of us and runs towards it.
,,Gimli!" Gandalf calls. Gimli pays no attention, but enters the room. Chloe and I quickly follow after him and we see him kneel in front of the tomb in the center of the room.
,,No!" He bows his head. ,,No." Now the rest comes into the room. We begin to search for anything that can give us tidings of Balin's fate, or show what had become of his folk. There is a smaller door on the other side of the chamber, under the shaft. By both the doors we can now see that many bones are lying, and among them are broken swords and axe heads, cloven shields and helms. Some of the swords are crooked: orc-scimitars with blackened blades. Gandalf walks up to the tomb and reads the Dwarven runes in-scripted upon it.
,,Here lies Balin, son of Fundin, Lord of Moria." Boromir walks up to Gimli and places his hand on Gimli's shoulder. ,,He is dead then. It is as I feared." There are many recesses cut in the rock of the walls and in them are large iron-bound chests of wood. All have been broken and plundered; but beside the shattered lid of one there lays a corpse with remains of a book. It has been slashed and stabbed and partly burned, and it is so stained with black and other dark marks like old blood that little of it can be read. Gandalf lifts it carefully, but it breaks as he lays it on the slab. He pores over it for some time without speaking. Frodo and Gimli standing at his side can see that the book is written by many different hands, in runes, both of Moria and of Dale, and here and there in Elvish script. At last Gandalf looks up. ,,It seems to be a record of the fortunes of Balin's folk," He says. ,,I guess that it began with their coming to Dimrill Dale thirty years ago. The pages seem to have numbers referring to the years after their arrival. The top page is marked one - three, so at least two are missing from the beginning. Listen to this! 'We drove out orcs from the great gate and guard - I think; the next word is blurred and burned: probably room - we slew many in the bright sun in the Dale. Flói was killed by an arrow. He slew the great. Then there is a blur followed by Flói under grass near Mirror mere. The next line or two I cannot read. Then comes We have taken the twenty first hall of North end to dwell in. There is I cannot read what. A shaft is mentioned. Then Balin has set up his seat in the Chamber of Mazarbul."
,,The chamber or records." Gimli speaks. ,,I guess that is where we stand now."
,,Well, I can read no more for a long way, except the word 'gold' and 'Durin's axe' and something 'helm'. Then Balin is now lord of Moria. That seems to end a chapter. After some stars another hand begins and I can see we found true silver, and later the word 'well forged' and then something, I have it; Mithril! The last two lines Óin to seek for the upper armories of Third deep, something go westwards, a blur, to Hollin gate." Gandalf pauses. ,,There are several pages of the same sort, rather hastily written and much damaged. But I can make little of them in this light. Now there must be a number of pages missing because they begin to be numbered five, the fifth year of the colony, I suppose. Let me see. No, they are too cut and stained; I cannot read them. We might do better in the sunlight. Wait! Here is something: a large bold hand using an Elvish script."
,,That would be Ori's hand." Gimli says, looking over the wizard's arm. ,,He could write well and speedily, and often used the Elvish characters."
,,I fear he had ill tidings to record in a fair hand." Gandalf says. ,,The first clear word is 'sorrow', but the rest of the line is lost, unless it ends in 'estre'. Yes, it must be 'yestre' followed by day being the tenth of novembre, Balin lord of Moria, fell in Dimrill Dale. He went alone to look in Mirror mere, an orc shot him from behind a stone, we slew the orc, but many more… up from east up the Silverlode. The remainder of the page is so blurred that I can hardly make anything out, but I think I can read we have barred the gates, and then can hold them long if, and then perhaps 'horrible' and 'suffer'. Poor Balin! He seems to have kept the title that he took for less than five years. I wonder what happened afterwards. Here is the last page of all." He pauses and sigh. ,,It is grim reading." He looks at Gimli for a moment. ,,I fear their end was cruel. Listen!" Legolas comes over to Chloe and me now.
,,We must move on, we cannot linger." He tells me, just as Gandalf reads the book further, while Gimli cries silently.
,,We cannot get out. We cannot get out. They have taken the bridge and the second hall. Frár, Lóni and Náli fell there. Then there are four lines smeared so much that I can only read; went five days ago. We have barred the gates, but cannot hold them for long. The end comes. Drums." I look around as Gandalf continues to read. Broken corpses lay strewn around the room and signs of a great battle are clear. I move over to the other side of the room, getting a good look at everything. I have a faint memory of meeting Gandalf and a company of dwarves some sixty years before. The name Balin sounds familiar. ,,Drums in the deep." I wonder what that means. ,,A shadow moves in the dark, we cannot get out." We shift uncomfortably, glancing around. Pippin sees an arrow stuck in a corpse sitting on the edge of a well and turns towards it. Gandalf turns the fragile, blood stained page. I look at Pippin, who is now looking curiously at the skeleton. ,,We cannot get out… they are coming!" We all look at Gandalf as he keeps quiet. ,,Now, I fear we must say farewell to Balin, son of Fundin. Here he must lie in the halls of his father. We will take this book, the book of Mazarbul, and look at it more closely later. You better keep it, Gimli, and take it back to Dáin, if you get a chance. It will interest him, though it will grieve him deeply. Come, let us go! The morning is passing."
,,Which way shall we go?" Boromir asks.
,,Back to the hall. But our visit to this room has not been in vain. I now know where we are. This must be, as Gimli says, the chamber of Mazarbul; and the hall must be the twenty-first of the North-end. Therefore we should leave by the eastern arch of the hall and bear right and south, and go downwards. The twenty-first hall should be on the Seventh Level, that is six above the level of the gates. Come now! Back to the hall!" Gandalf hardly spoke those words, when there comes a great noise: a rolling boom that seems to come from depths far below. We stand still in silence, until our silence is broken by the clanging sound of metal on stone. We turn to look at the sound and Pippin stands sheepishly by the well, which no longer has a skeleton sitting on it. He winces as the corpse makes its way down the well, clanging and echoing the whole way down. I hold my breath, but nothing is heard. The clanging finally ceases after what seems an eternity. Chloe and I breathe a sigh of relief. Gandalf walks up to Pippin, slamming the book shut. ,,Fool of a Took!" He says angrily, snatching his staff and hat. ,,Throw yourself in next time and rid us of your stupidity!" Pippin looks hurt and glances down. I look at Pippin and exhale. Boom… boom. I look up and around at the other members of the Fellowship. Gandalf turns and stares at the well. Boom… boom. Boom-boom. Boom-boom-boom. With each sound, I get more and more worried. I move to the front of the room again, slowly, hand on the hilt of my sword. The sound pauses, then begins again, more rapidly, like a heartbeat. It's the same speed my heart makes when Chloe smiles at me. Terror and fear creeps into our faces. I look at the well, where the sound seems to come from.
,,Frodo!" Sam shouts, pointing to his sword. Frodo pulls it out its sheath, revealing a glowing bright blue blade.
,,Orcs!" Legolas calls, reaching for his bow and pulls an arrow. I unsheathe my sword as well. Boromir runs to the door to have a look and arrows whiz past his face, sticking into the hard door. I turn to the hobbits.
,,Get back! You stay close to Gandalf!" I direct. Boromir turns back around. Screeching howls echoes through the halls, coming towards the room.
,,They have a cave troll!" He says, closing the doors. Chloe, Legolas and I help bar the door shut. Gandalf tosses away his hat and pulls out his sword. The hobbits huddle together, holding aloft their swords as well. Gimli jumps on top of Balin's tomb and holds his axe out.
,,Let them come!" He growls. ,,There is one dwarf in Moria who still draws breaths!" The door pounds and splintering of wood flies through the air. Legolas and Chloe hold up their bows and I stand with my sword at the ready. As the door breaks, armored orcs and goblins rush in. We fight off the orcs with arrows and swords. Sam suddenly pauses in the fight. I look over to the door as a cave troll enters, a broken chain around his neck, bashing the walls with his fists. It roars. Legolas fires an arrow into its chest. It sees Sam and raises its club above his head to strike Sam. Sam dives through its legs, confusing it. It turns and follows Sam. Boromir and I pull on the chain around its neck. The troll stumbles backwards and swings around to face them. Boromir is still holding the chain, when the troll grabs hold of it and uses it to fling him against a wall. I slice through orc and goblin heads and torsos. There were too many to count and they just kept coming. I swing at another orc, then stab a goblin in the back. I see an orc ready to finish Boromir and grab a knife from a dead goblin, throwing it into the orcs neck. It slumps to the ground. Boromir looks at me and I nod. The troll smashes his club into the tomb, causing Gimli to fall to the ground. Sam, Merry and Pippin hide behind a pillar. The troll continues to swipe with its club, sending orcs flying and Gimli to the ground. Gimli swings his axe around, killing orcs. Legolas shoots two arrows at the mountain creature chasing Gimli, angering it more. Merry and Pippin push Frodo to safety behind a pillar. Sam whacks an orc with his skillet, while I behead yet another orc, as the troll swings at Merry and Pippin, forcing them to jump aside. Gandalf fights the orcs with a sword and staff. Legolas from on a platform fights off some orcs. The troll heads for him, swinging his chain at him. Legolas ducks and weaves to avoid it. The chain wraps itself around a pillar. Legolas stands on the chain, then nimbly walks up it to the troll's head. He stands on its shoulders and fires an arrow into its head. The troll screams and reaches for Legolas who nimbly jumps down. The chain snaps, leaving just a collar. The troll somehow reaches Frodo and picks him up.
,,Neuma!" He yells for me. I look at him and Frodo is trying to hold onto a piece of wall. ,,Neuma!"
,,Frodo!" I fight my way over to Frodo, who is swinging at the cave troll's hand. Frodo drops to the ground and scrambles behind another pillar. Edging around it, he avoids the cave troll. I clear out the last of the orcs and goblins before jumping down in front of the troll as it lifts its club to strike. I drive a stake into its chest. The troll screams. Pippin and Merry throw rocks at its head. The troll takes a swipe at me, flinging me across the room. I hit the wall with force and then everything is black.
Lostariel/Chloe's point of view
,,Frodo!" I look up by the yell that leaves Beca's mouth. I see her fight her way over to Frodo, who is swinging at the cave troll's hand. Frodo gets dropped to the ground and scrambles behind another pillar. Edging around it, he avoids the cave troll. Beca clears out the last of the orcs and goblins before she jumps down in front of the troll as it lifts its club to strike. I fight of my own orcs, trying to get to Beca as soon as possible but it's not that easy. Beca drives a stake into the troll's chest, making it scream. Pippin and Merry throw rocks at its head to help her, but it's not working. The troll takes a swipe at Beca, flinging her across the room. She hits the wall.
,,Beca!" I yell and rush my way over towards her body, while fighting off some orcs and goblins who tries to kill me. I see Frodo hurry over towards her, but the troll is behind him. The troll pulls the stake from his chest and plunges it at Frodo. Frodo moves quickly and the stake goes into the wall instead. He dodges the troll as it lunges for him again. He tries to run away, while I try to get to Beca's side, but the troll blocks Frodo's path. Frodo falls back against the wall, his face in full panic. The troll plunges the stake into Frodo's chest. I freeze, he cannot die, not now! Gandalf turns around, Merry and Pippin look in horror as Frodo gasps for breath. The troll snorts. Merry and Pippin look at each other and run towards the troll, swords at the ready. They jump onto its back and attack it.
,,Frodo!" Sam yells and fights his way over to Frodo, as do Gandalf and Boromir. Frodo collapses on the ground. Merry and Pippin continue to fight the troll, still on its back. It reaches up and grabs Merry, dangling him by his legs and throws him to the ground as Gimli faces the troll, fighting him with his axe. The troll swipes him to the ground. Gandalf attacks it. Legolas hurries over to me and pulls me with him, away from Beca's body.
,,Lostariel, mín baur cin foeir hi!" ( Chloe, we need you right now! ). I look over at Beca's body and then to Legolas.
,,I need to know if she's okay." I tell him, while tears prick in my eyes.
,,Mín baur na belth- hi torog erui before ho kills pen else!" ( We need to kill this troll before he kills someone else! ). I gave him a look before looking over Beca's body. I see a small movement and my heart leaps in joy. She's not dead! I look at the troll, who's fault it is that Beca was almost dead and nod towards Legolas. We make our way in front of the troll and we drew an arrow. We wait until Pippin sticks his sword into the back of its head and forces him backwards, revealing its throat. This is our chance. Legolas and I both fire our arrows directly into its mouth. The troll groan and stumbles. We watch it, as it stumbles and falls to the ground, flinging Pippin, who is still on its back, to the floor. Gandalf hurries over to Frodo as I see Beca crawling over to the hobbit.
,,Oh, no!" Beca says and turns Frodo over. Frodo gasps and groans, holding his chest. Sam lets out a sigh of relief.
,,He's alive!" Gandalf breathes in relief. Frodo sits up and looks around.
,,I'm alright. I'm not hurt."
,,You should be dead. I was too slow, I was too late." Beca tells Frodo, obviously blaming herself that she got knocked out by the troll. ,,That spear would have skewered a wild boar, you should be dead." She repeats the last part probably to get through to Frodo and to let him know how lucky he is.
,,I think there's more to this Hobbit than meets the eye." Gandalf says. Frodo parts his shirt, revealing a Mithril chained shirt.
,,Mithril!" Gimli gasps. ,,You are full of surprises, master Baggins." He tells Frodo. Beca jumps at the sound of more orcs. I give her my hand and help her to her feet, noticing a wound on her head. I caress her cheek with my hand.
,,I have to look at your head wound later, okay?" I tell her sternly. ,,No stubborn discussions!" She smiles at me and nods her head. Hopefully there is a small source of water when we get out of this mountain.
,,To the bridge of Khazad-Dûm!" Gandalf says wearily, then leads us out of the room and into another hall of pillars.