Standard Disclaimer: I own nothing in regards to Harry Potter or the Lord of the Rings. All properties therein are those of their creators. I am only a writer working on my skills with worlds and characters that I love.

Chapter Five - Moria

The bodies were old, mummified, and they'd clearly been there for years. Many years. "Are they from our last assault on Moria? A ranging team perhaps?" Harry asked hopefully as Thorin perused them for identifying markers. The dwarf sighed as he pulled a pin from one of their capes and held it up.

"Some of the older ones are, but this one has a marker from the newer Iron Hills Mint. The one over there has an Erebor pin as well. These two at least are of Balin's team, but… there are only a few of them. My guess is they were set upon here but managed to win the day with minimal losses and progressed further inside. Balin himself is certainly not amongst the dead, so in that we can be reassured."

"At least there's that." Harry agreed before looking at Gandalf, "Well, old friend, where to now?"

In response, the wizard ignited the tip of his staff and pointed up the stairs. "There's only one way from here and we'll follow it for a few days at least. Then if I remember correctly there is a branching fork in the road that will require some thought on my part before further progression."

"Good, then I will meet you there." Harry tossed his friend a fresh portkey coin. "I've got some hunting to do."

Boromir stared at the man that was clearly getting ready to leave. To Selene he asked, "Is he seriously abandoning us like this?"

The woman shrugged. "My dad really hates goblins, and goblins that took dwarven lives especially tend to be on his shit list. So yeah, he's gonna go hunt them down. And no, he is not abandoning us. That coin he gave Gandalf will teleport him right back to us if we need him."

"I've never heard of such a thing." He admitted.

"It's incredibly useful. And very fun for pranks especially. Remind me to tell you later about the time I used one to dye Uncle Elrond's hair purple in his sleep. Don't worry if he leaves though, I'll protect you." She jingled the metal links of her whip for good measure, and Boromir huffed and loosed his shield off his back and onto his arm in response. No way was he walking into a goblin infested mine without something to protect himself and Selene with, no matter how capable she clearly seemed to be.

Meanwhile, Harry was taking deep breaths, drawing on his power and strength, calling to every beasty he could sense. It seemed the goblins had tried hunting down all the bats they could for fear of his memory, but they'd not done a good enough job. There were high places, dark places, where the creatures of the night had been forced to make their home, and they were hungry, angry, and ready for some payback just the same as him.

Eyes glowing with power he turned to address the dwampire. "Keep them safe, Thorin."

"Always."

"Good." up above a loud chittering sound was beginning to grow. Chittering, shrieking, and flapping in equal measure.

Boromir's eyes branched up to the shadowed ceiling and he asked, "What is that?"

"My dad's pets." Selene muttered as she watched a veritable cloud of bats materialize above, only for them to swoop down and embrace her father like a tide. When they retreated he was gone as well. "And now you know why the dwarves call him the Dark Tide."

Down, down, down into the depths Harry soared; his consciousness spread through the eyes of thousands as they filled the crevices of caves, tunnels, and walkways in kind. By the end of the first day he had half of the mine kingdom's floorplans mapped. By the end of the second he'd tracked down a goblin settlement and left it in ruins. By the third he discovered another four. Again and again this process repeated and Harry found himself astounded at just how many of his enemies had made these places their home. Already he'd slaughtered tens of thousands. He knew they bred quickly, but this was something else. And them deciding to make the dark their home was a personal insult to him that could not be allowed to continue. Yes, he would make these monsters bleed, he would make them suffer, he would feed his body on their living carcasses and then he would find those that he hoped were merely lost in the abyss.

Elsewhere

Boromir sat keeping watch over the slumbering troup and sighed with fond exasperation. It had been a few days since the vampire had left them to their own devices and they were now camped in a cleft in the tunnel where Gandalf found himself at a loss for which direction to take. The Captain mused that in all the wizard's vast years it made sense that a few things would flit through the cracks of his mind, but it seemed mighty faulty logic to suggest the mines of Moria as a possible avenue of advancement when one was not sure of the exact way through it.

The old man himself was talking to Frodo off on the opposite stair and it was too far a distance with their muted tones to make out what was said. The man wasn't sure how he knew but he felt Selene's presence before she sat down beside him. "You seem preoccupied, Boromir."

"I'm keeping watch. Preoccupation is kind of the point I'd imagine."

"Someone's a mite bit snippy tonight." The red eyed girl smirked. "Really, what's on your mind?"

Boromir allowed a small smile to come to his face as he answered, "Right now, the beauty of your face."

Selene allowed a gracious smile to come to her own features as she offered, "Much appreciated, but I'm well used to hearing my father serenade my mother's beauty for hours at a time. He and Uncle Celeborn make a sport of it. You won't put me off with simple flattery. Spill it."

The human saw clearly that she wouldn't be put off, and allowed, "I am a bit frustrated. When the group was discussing options on how best to proceed I suggested we take the lowland pass to Gondor and carry on from there. It was a path I know well, a defended track watched over by Gondorian rangers. What is more, we could have resupplied at my city and then progressed in a straight line to Mordor. Aragorn and Gandalf dismissed it at once, but allowed the clearly dangerous idea of Moria without much resistance. They merely gave the choice to Frodo."

"You disagree with the Ringbearer making the choice?" Selene arched a brow.

"Don't mistake my words, Selene." Boromir noted, well tracking the tone of her words and thus their intent, "I like the halfling a great deal. He and Sam are a mighty agreeable sort, and remarkably pleasant to travel with, but neither has ever made a journey like this before. They don't have the knowledge to make informed decisions. We could have been well on our way to Gondor by now with the stars over our heads instead of cold stone, but instead we are trapped and lost beneath the earth. One choice by someone that shouldn't have been qualified to make it has brought us here; and though I try to remain objective in my mind, I cannot help my frustration." In spite of his past hesitance, the Gondorian could not help admitting that he felt better for having gotten his thoughts off his chest. The anger that had begun to fester had faded as a result. Especially with the words his listener uttered next.

"That is actually a pretty reasonable frustration."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean, if I'd been in on the decision I'd certainly have voted for your idea. It makes sense."

"Right?!"

"And this is certainly a pretty bad turn of events. There's no doubt about that. But we're here now, and worrying about the how of it seems a lot less important than thinking about what comes next. We should be trying to consider what comes after the mines, and how we'll make things work while we're in them. For instance, how do we best ration our food? Should we light more torches? Should we stick to wider caverns or shorter ones and how will they affect our weapon use and overall fighting capability? Let's put our heads together and consider those things instead, eh?"

Meanwhile

Aragorn smirked beneath his cloak where he lay by the small fire they'd managed to build in the center of their group. He'd been keeping an eye on Boromir for a while now, and it was clear the decision to enter the mines had not sat well with him. Selene, however, had removed many of the worries he'd harbored about the other human in the group from the start. She seemed to be a calming influence on the man, and it pleased him greatly to see it. If Boromir was an example of what Gondor had to offer then maybe there was hope for the White City yet.

Rolling over he beheld the strange sight of Thorin and Carmilla cuddling together in a spell of webbing on the ceiling. A few decades ago that would have been really weird for him to see. As it stood now, he merely thought it sweet. He was startled from that thought, along with the others, by Gandalf's sudden exclamation of realization.

"Ah, this way it is. I can definitely smell cleaner air in that direction and when all else fails, follow your nose. Get up everybody! It is time to move on."

Aragorn started packing up the camp with Sam while Carmilla lowered herself and the dwampire back to the floor. "You have remembered, old man?" The former Prince of Erebor inquired.

Gandalf offered Thorin a pinched look and reasoned, "At least I didn't get us lost twice like you and a certain vampire attempting to find a clearly marked burglar's door at Bag End."

"It was one time! Harry exaggerates the story more and more every time he tells it." Thorin grumbled, but he dropped the issue all the same.

"Regardless, old friend, the scent of air is cleaner in this direction so it is likely the closer one to the exit." And then they were all following the wizard down the centermost hall. It led them on a half mile hike unto a vastly open space, that Gandalf illuminated further to reveal the centermost hall in the complex. The Dwarven kingdom of Dwarrowdelf. It was a masterful sight that took all of their breath away; especially Thorin.

"I often despaired," the dwampire noted as Carmilla placed a hand on his shoulder, "at what madness could possibly have driven my grandfather to sacrifice so many dwarven lives to try and retake these halls. Now I understand why. Such majesty, such craftsmanship, such history, all lost to darkness and goblin sacrilege. No wonder he pushed so hard to reclaim it all."

"Do not worry, my love." Carmilla crooned, "Our lord is surely making them suffer for it even now."

Gandalf nodded, "Indeed, my little friend. For now we just need to stay the course. Eventually we will surely return with new forces and all will end as it should have back then. Now that we know where the door is-" The old man cut off as he took note of a fresh sight illuminated in the light of his staff. A brigade worth of bodies leading off to the right in front of a broken set of doors. That alone had not drawn his attention, however. No, that was the source of natural light inside the room shining down directly on a large object of stone.

The wizard couldn't have stopped Thorin from branching off if he'd tried, and as the others hurried to catch up they were only partially surprised to find Harry already within standing on top of it and gazing mournfully down at the runes inscribed on the lid.

"D-Dad?" Selene hesitantly asked as her mother ran past her and hopped up to embrace him. "W-What is it?"

"Balin." Harry whispered. By that point everyone could see the tears of blood falling down his cheeks. "The coffin reads 'Here Lies Balin, the Last Lord of Moria.' He is dead. Why, old man? Why wouldn't you come to me if you were going to come here?"

Gandalf approached at the question and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I imagine that was likely due to Dane's influence. Word has been spreading in the deep kingdoms that the dwarves have become too reliant on the support of the Dark Tide. Moria was supposed to be only loosely garrisoned, and Balin had an army with him. The decision was probably to make a bold statement more than anything else."

"Stubborn bastards, one and all." A sad smile crossed the vampire's lips before he looked down at Thorin and said, "I have spent the last several days decimating goblin village after goblin village. They've been breeding at an astounding rate and I'm pretty sure there are at least a few thousand that I wasn't able to reach. They burrowed deep, and I needed to stay close enough to find you all that I couldn't go ranging further. My bats continue the work but for the moment it's just us up here. All the same, there could be others that skirted the edges of my perception. We must be cautious."

A farseeing look remained fixed on Thorin's face as memories of Balin played behind his eyes. His gaze too remained locked on the sarcophagus. "Tell me you made them suffer."

"I did, and I will make them rue the day they ever crawled out of the deep places should I see any more."

Any further words were cut off by a sudden clanking sound reverberating behind them. The trio spun around and beheld a rather sheepish looking Carmilla knelt beside what looked like a stone well. Why the hell was there one of those in a mine? Rubbing a self-conscious hand behind her head she explained, "These rooms really weren't built for Driders." The taut chain behind her made it clear what had happened. She'd been looking for a comfortable place to stand and had likely knocked a bucket down the hole.

Before Thorin could assure her they understood it was a mistake, a slow drumming began to sound from the depths of the well paired with a harsh chattering of thousands of voices shrieking in concert. "Orcs!" Thorin declared before moving to the doors and slamming them closed with the help of Boromir.

The latter jerked his head back just in time to barricade it with a few spears and added, "And apparently a mountain troll!" A bellowing roar accompanied the statement on the other side.

"Dinner!" Harry crowed before diving headfirst down the well.

Tauriel sighed at the antics of her mate before drawing her bow and nodding to her daughter.

For her part, Selene unwound her whip from around her waist, hooked a curved knife to the final link, and started twirling it at her side as the door began to shudder under some sort of assault on the other side.

Taking charge of the situation, Gandalf declared, "I think we can rely on Overlord Potter to keep the numbers manageable, but standing in a group is suicide. Frodo and Samwise, hide quickly in the back of the room. Tauriel, you and Aragorn get to the back corners with your bows. Pick off as many as you can before you enter the fray in a flanking maneuver. Carmilla, can you handle a cave troll?"

"Easily." The Drider purred before skittering up the nearest wall and resting upside down on the ceiling with her spear held tight in both hands.

The wizard nodded his gratitude and turned to the remaining duo. "Boromir, Thorin, get on either side of the door and cover your eyes, but do not block the entrance. I'm thinking we should give these monsters the welcome they deserve!"

Thorin beat his chest with a fist in agreement before ripping his sword free and tightening the oaken branch on his arm. "Aye, let them come and see the mettle of a dwarf who honors his kin!" He and the human quickly took positions, and as the orcs began cutting through the wood of the barrier Tauriel and Aragorn began peppering them with arrows, earning shocked squeals for their efforts for several moments, until at last the doors burst open and a hoard at least forty strong of the fell creatures burst into the room, nearly trampling over their own in their haste to reach the potential meals within.

Gandalf was waiting with his staff raised and a word of power on his lips. At once the staff tip ignited in light brilliant enough to blind all of the orcs at once, so absorbed in their haste they'd not stopped to consider just what might be waiting for them, and that was when the others struck. The wizard dove into their front with his sword leading the way, and Thorin and Boromir came in from behind to cut off access to retreat. Meanwhile arrows continued raining down with pinpoint accuracy, dropping at least one orc every second as they did.

Tauriel was keeping herself appraised of the scene below by way of Luna's colorful commentary and it was because of that that she knew her little girl was providing a fine showing of her own skills. Selene was a blur of motion as she strafed the enemy edge with her whip, piercing limbs and severing tendons in equal measure with every swipe and, if the spectral blonde was to be believed, striking a pose at the human male every chance she got. The elf decided she would really need to give her daughter a lesson in battlefield flirting later. It wasn't wise to distract your mate with your deadly beauty until after the immediate threat was through. {Yeah, cause then you could consummate on the corpses of your enemies!} Luna exclaimed.

"Luna, that's our daughter!"

{Don't be a hypocrite, Tauriel.}

"Well I admit the last time was rather fun, but still, the last thing I want to do is picture our daughter doing the same things we have."

Meanwhile Bormoir was nervously checking over his shoulder for the fifth time as he held back a snarling goblin with his shield. As before the way behind was clear and he shut the beast up with a stab through the throat before bashing another to the floor and crushing its head beneath his boot. He couldn't believe this was all of them. He'd heard more, and seen a troll. Where was-" A flash of movement was the only warning he received before jumping at once to the side and only barely avoiding a large club slamming into the stone where he'd only just been. It seemed the troll had finally decided to back up its brethren. Of course he stood back to confront it but found himself rather put out when the Drider dropped from the ceiling, wrapped all of its legs around the monstrosities head, and began slamming her speartip repeatedly into its eyes with a manic grin on her face.

"That's my girl!" Thorin cheered as he charged past the surprised human and barreled bodily into three orcs at once, rotating his body as he did and eviscerating them all with a full swipe of his sword before latching his fangs onto a fourth and bearing it to the ground.

Things wrapped up rather quickly after that. With the enemy blinded, frantic, and disorderly with attacks coming from all sides, the Fellowship soon had them down for the count and had retrieved their hidden hobbits once more. All that was missing was the vampire.

"Lady Tauriel," Gandalf asked, "where might Harry be at the moment?"

The elf tilted her head as if listening to something in the distance and sighed. "About four hundred feet below us laying into a cohort of orcs that were coming to back these idiots up. He says he'll be with us shortly."

"Excellent." Gandalf sheathed his blade and started leading the way to the shattered doors. Though he paused for a moment to shake his head at the sight of Carmilla offering a steaming cup of troll blood to Thorin. Harry was having far too bad an influence on people that used to be so delightfully formal. "Then let us be off to the bridge of Khazad-Dum. If this experience tells me one thing it is that we have already far overstayed our welcome in these mines."

"That's for sure, sir." Sam agreed heartily as he shouldered his bag once more and patted the dust off of Frodo's cloak. "I mean no disrespect to the fine lives of dwarves, but the underground is definitely no place for hobbits, if you don't mind my saying so."

Thorin knocked back the glass of blood and returned the mug to the Drider. "I don't mind at all, Master Gamgee. As my brother would say, to each their own. But Gandalf is right. We're wasting time."

So it was that together the group took off running out the nearest entrance and entered once more the vast halls of the underdwelling city. It was rather disconcerting to pass so many massive pillars with naught but shadows for their company, and after the battle each of them were riding high off of adrenaline and battle awareness. Because of that they were not sure whether to be worried or relieved when a sound reminiscent of rattling chains and large creaking footsteps came from behind them, paired with a hazed orange glow lighting pillars in the distance.

"Gandalf, what is it?" Tauriel voiced the question for them all as she stepped up to the fargazing wizard. "Luna just keeps screaming at me to run."

"She is wise beyond her years to do so." The gray haired man muttered before visibly collecting himself and rolling his shoulders as if to loosen them from a great burden. "It is a Balrog, a demon of the ancient world. This foe is beyond any of you… Run!"

More than a bit worried by anything that could cause the ancient wizard to lose his cool, the Fellowship immediately took off running in the opposite direction. It didn't take long for the hobbits to fall behind, so Thorin immediately ran back, scooped them up, and flitted ahead of the others fast enough to quickly disappear from their sight. Taking his cue, Carmilla was swift to grab up the humans and skittered off with Tauriel and Selene hot on her heels. It surprised none of them that Gandalf, despite his apparent age, easily kept pace with his long stride.

So it was that by the time the drider skittered across the bridge of Khazad-Dum with the women in tow they were all unsurprised to find Thorin already waiting at the top of the stairs on the other side with the hobbits safely above ground and the apparent exit already open and waiting; filling the vast chamber with a thin beam of daylight to point the way for the others. Unfortunately, it pointed the way for their pursuer as well, and Gandalf was forced to stop halfway over the bridge to confront an absolutely massive behemoth of fire and shadow that rose from the depths with a howl of rage and full on demonic horns to boot.

The wizard sent a burst of wind into its chest to knock it back a step before righting his own footing, and prepared himself for the confrontation to come… only to feel a firm hand landing on his shoulder from behind. The old man turned to find an uncharacteristically serious look on the face of Harry Potter. Where the hell had he come from?!

"Lead them on, Gandalf. They need you to show them the way."

"Harry, you don't understand, I need to-"

"It takes a monster to kill a monster, old man, and if that thing isn't stopped here it will surely follow you." And so saying, Harry's hand latched tight to the clothing underneath and yanked back with all of his strength. Gandalf soon found himself hurtling through the air towards the rest of the group at the top of the stairs and caught easily by the drider before being deposited back on his feet and pulled after them, yet something held him till the last second at the entrance. Some deep-set need to see how his friend would make out against a foe that would have taken everything within him personally to stand against. If the look on both Tauriel and Selene's faces were anything to go by they were the same, and as the others all piled out of the pit they three stared down into the abyss as a vampire stood alone against a demon and did not blink.

Instead, Harry ripped Gurthang free of its scabbard and willed the shadows to flee the demon's form and coalesce behind him in a cloak dark as night, as meanwhile his body expanded out into its draconic state, wings flared wide and tail slapping chunks off of the bridge-top behind him in restless expectation for the battle to follow. The act actually brought the beast to a halt as it stared curiously down at him.

The open appraisal he was being given just pissed the vampire off. "You dare to stand there against me? Do you know who the hell I am?! I am the King of Night and Blood! Wielder of powers Shadow and Arcane! You, beast of fire and ash, servant of the Great Shadow, I name thee Balrog! I name thee Valaraukar! Fallen of the most divine. Your foe is me and no other this day! And I command you to leave those behind me in peace! You shall not pass!" Harry's voice was followed by a deafening draconic roar that bounced off the walls of the cavern in a haunting echo of finality, ringing with power and might. An effect punctuated in force as he swept the mighty black blade in an arc that trailed shadows in its wake down into the stone and carved the bridge in two.

The bridge had been supporting itself over the gulf, and with the blow it lost all of its structural integrity and began to crumble into the abyss. As it did, the fire demon attempted to rapidly jump across the divide to continue the chase, but Harry flapped his wings, slammed into the Balrog's chest, and forced it down below into the endless dark depths of the earth. Then all was silent once more.

"He… He'll be alright, won't he mom?" Selene whispered as Gandalf began ushering them all up to the path to rejoin the others.

Tauriel offered the girl a weak smile and answered, "Of course he will, dear. If there's one thing I've learned about your father after all these years, it's to never bet against him when deep in the dark."