The fellowship then turned around and retraced their footsteps back down the mountain. Gandalf and Gimli lead them forward towards the mines. They walked along the side of a large mountain as night came.
"The walls of Moria." Gimli said in awe as he pointed to the side of the mountain. "Dwarf's doors are often invisible." Gimli stated and then knocked his ax against the rock base of the mountain to prove his point, also trying to give a sense of pride to his kinsmen.
"Yes." Gandalf said, "So well that their own makers can't find if they are forgotten."
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Legolas said, bursting the dwarf's bubble causing him to let out a low growl but earning a chuckle from Boromir, Legolas, and Amdiriel. The group then came to a small clearing, where Gandalf found what looked liked to be an old engraving on the side of the mountain. Gandalf muttered something about reflecting starlight and moonlight. So, Amdiriel whispered a spell in elvish to push away the clouds in the sky. The night sky shined down on them and illuminated the now visible doorway. Everyone stood there in awe as Gandalf read the inscription over the door. "It reads 'Door of Durin, Lord of Moria, speak friend and enter.'"
"What do you suppose that means that means?" asked Merry. Gandalf then explained if he was a friend all he had to do was weak the password and that the doors would open. So Gandalf put his staff against the door and spoke in elvish but nothing happened. The wizard then tried again but the door remained closed.
"Nothing happening." Pippin stated the obvious. Gandalf then began to mutter about knowing all the languages of the earth.
"What are you going to do now?" asked Pippin. "Smash your head against these walls and if that does not open them and I am aloud a moment without stupid questions, I am going to try to find the correct password." Gandalf said frustrated.
In the meantime, everyone set up a small camp as Gandalf went to work to figure out the puzzle of the password. Sam started a small fire where everyone sat together. Amdiriel sat next to her brother behind Merry and Pippin. While sitting there Amdiriel got an eerie feeling as she stared at the murky water. Aragorn stood with Sam a few yards off as they set his pony free.
Pippin and Merry then both started to throw rocks into the lake. Amdiriel stood and grabbed Merry's hand while Aragorn grabbed Pippin's "Do not disturb the water." said Aragorn while Amdiriel continued to concentrate on the water ripples. Something was going on between Frodo and Gandalf but the others were too confused by the water ripples that continued to travel in different directions than before and weirdly they were getting bigger. Boromir stood behind his sister "What is it?" he asked quietly "I don't know." she whispered back.
Suddenly a loud crack pierced through the air, turning all attention to the stone door opening. Everyone quietly got up and followed Gandalf into the mines but Amdiriel threw one last look at the moving water before walking into the darkness.
"Soon Master Elf, you will enjoy the great hospitality of the dwarves." said Gimli who continued to boast but Amdiriel tuned it out as the eerie feeling she grew intensely as they slowly walked into the dark mine. A light then came from Gandalf staff, it showed some of what had been around them.
"And they call it a mine...a mine." Said the dwarf. Everyone took in the scene around them, dead dwarves skeletons laid across the floor. The dwarves had been long slaughtered.
"It is no mine, it's a tomb." stated Boromir.
"No...no..no!" cried Gimli. Both Legolas and Amdiriel pulled arrows out of the corpse near them. They each examined the arrows in their hands. "Goblins!" Amdiriel told them and the two of them threw the wasted arrow to the ground and pulled out their own weapons.
Amdiriel stood between Aragorn and Boromir, swords at the ready as their eyes scanned everywhere.
"We make for the Gap of Rohan. We should never have come here." said Boromir. "Now get out all of you! Get out!"
Just then a yelp and cries came from behind them. Amdiriel spun around to see Frodo being dragged away while his kinsmen tried to aid him.
"Boys!" Amdiriel yelled and ran for Frodo. The tentacles of the creature that had grabbed Frodo, knocked down the hobbits and dragged Frodo away and into the air. As soon as Amdiriel reached the doorway, she saw Frodo being dangled upside down by his feet, screaming for help.
Amdiriel grabbed three arrows and her bow before she pulled her quiver off her back and tossed it to Legolas. Legolas caught it and threw it onto his back, already knowing her plan. Amdiriel placed the three arrows between her teeth and ran into the water. Just as she predicted a tentacle wrapped around her leg. The next thing she knew she was in the air upside down. Amdiriel could hear her name being shouted along with Frodo's by their companions below them. Aragorn and Boromir both worried as they tried to cut the tentacles that held their friends captive.
Frodo let out a scream causing Aragorn to look up. His eyes widen with fear as he watched both Frodo and Amdiriel dangling over the creature's mouth, ready to drop them at any second. Amdiriel then pulled two arrows from her mouth and loaded them. As soon as the creature had them dangling over his mouth, she let them fly straight down the giant kraken's throat. The kraken roared while flinging Amdiriel and Frodo all over the place.
That is when Legolas shot an arrow into the tentacle that was holding Frodo while Boromir cut the other. Frodo then came falling out of the sky but Boromir caught him. At the same time, Amdiriel pulled out her dagger from her boot and cut off the tentacle around her left leg.
"Amdi!" yelled both Boromir and Aragorn. Aragorn then swung his sword and cut through the tentacle that held Amdiriel's right ankle. The monster roared again as it released it's grip on her. Amdiriel rolled her body into a ball, expecting to hit the water with eyes shut, but instead of the cold water, she was caught up in muscular arms instead. Amdiriel's eyes shot open to find herself in her former lover's arms.
The what could have been a nice moment was interrupted by a roar of the kraken now coming after them.
"Into the mines!" Gandalf yelled at them as he heard the hobbits. "Legolas!" Boromir called out as he ran out of the water with Frodo still in his arms. Aragorn ran out of the water with Amdiriel who was loading her bow again with her last arrow. Amdiriel looked back and caught Legolas's eye before turning back to take aim at the monster. She let her arrow fly into the one eye of the kraken when Legolas's hit the other. Those shots gave them a few more vital seconds. "Run!" yelled Aragorn as they finally reached the shore. Aragorn put Amdiriel back on her feet but kept a firm grip on her hand as they ran into the mine, the monster following close behind them.
The entrance of the cave came crumbling down as the master tried to enter. Aragorn pulled Amdiriel into him as if to try and shield from the dust and darkness that engulfed them. The good thing was the creature was dead and they were now safe from it. The only thing that could be heard was heavy breathing.
"We have but one choice." Gandalf's voice broke the silence as he tapped his staff against the ground brighten the room with the crystal he had placed on the top of his staff. "We must face the darkness of Moria. Be on your guard. There are more fouler things than orcs in the deep places of the world." he told them as he then led the way, the hobbits following close behind. Gimli then followed next with Legolas hind him, then Boromir, Amdiriel and Aragorn who held their swords out at the ready as the followed behind. Boromir took a quick glance back to ensure that his sister was behind him.
With Gandalf leading the way, they walked on into the dark, skeleton filled mine. "Quite. It's a four-day journey to the other side. Let us hope that our presence may go noticed." Gandalf said., putting everyone on edge as they traveled onward.
They walked and climbed, through the mine, no words really being spoken. The walked up some steep staircase, the hobbits almost slipping from the loose rubble. Gandalf got to the top of the staircase ad was met with three different hallways. The wizard stood there confused, "I leave no memory of this place." he said to himself.
Gandalf sat off by himself, facing the hallways, trying to remember the correct way to go. Everyone else sat in a circle together, each in their own conversations as they waited by the fire. "Are we lost?" Asked Pippin. "No." Merry told him. "I think we are." Pippin replied but Merry hushed him "Shh, Gandalf's thinking." "Merry." Pippin called out. His cousin sighed loudly so he could tell he was annoyed. "What?" "I'm hungry." that only earned him an eye roll from Merry.
Boromir who had been sitting near them pulled some dried meat from his sack and offered it to them before he sat down next to his sister, to the left of Aragorn. Amdiriel sat there, staring into the flames while she twirled her dagger between her fingers. "You're on edge." stated Boromir. "Are you surprised? You know I don't like being underground." she told him. "True but there is something else has got you on edge." Boromir said. Amdiriel sighed"There is an evil looming over this place but it feels different, it feels ancient and as if it's sleeping waiting to be woken." she told him. "I feel it too. Be ready." Boromir instructed. "Always." said Amdiriel as she put her dagger away and laid her head on her brother's shoulder. It had been a long time since they had a chance to just be siblings, able to comfort each other, moments the two missed dearly.
"So I don't mean to be rude but how exactly are you two related? Gimli asked, "I mean isn't the lassie an elf?"
Amdiriel smirked at the clueless dwarf as Boromir answered. "If you're wondering if she is adopted no, she isn't. Our mother was an elf, she was the sister to Lord Elrond's wife and the eldest daughter of the Lady of Light. Our father was of the Dunedain bloodline, making me, Faramir and Amdi all half-elf.
"I just happened to inherit more elvish traits and appearance than my brothers. Faramir and Boromir both inherited strength, enhanced hearing and eyesight as did I but I'm light-footed and quicker in combat and have pointed ears but I didn't inherit their beauty." Amdiriel said. "especially compared to our elvish princeling." Amdiriel joked.
"So if you are elvish and of the Dunedain then how long is your life span?" Aragorn asked curiously. Amidiriel smiled at him softly "We didn't know for a long time until Uncle Elrond was able to solve the mystery through lots of research. Our elven life overpowers our Dunedain life until we fall in love. Once we marry our fate will be chosen depending on who we pledge our love to. Should it be to an elf, we become immortal, should it be to a mortal than we too become mortal and our Dunedain life span would be our fate, being blessed with long life until old age claims us. But we are just as elves should we fall in battle, we can not escape death." Amdirie explained.
"Both a blessing and a curse." mumble Boromir.
"How so?" questioned Sam. "Blessing because we can ensure the safety of our home when we are alive. A curse because we have to watch our friends and loved one age and pass on." Boromir told them.
"But we always get on...with the help of each others." Amdiriel added.
"So how old does that make you?" Pippin asked curiously only to get smacked on the back of the head by Sam. "You never ask a woman's age." he scolded. This caused the two siblings to laugh quietly. How old do you think we are?" Boromir humored them.
"50?" "42?" "38?" they all guessed causing the two to chuckle. Boromir pointed at himself and said "86. Faramir is 83 and our dear little baby sister..." Boromir ruffled Amdiriel's hair earning him a shove from her. "...is at the young age of 79."
"Well, you are the best looking 79-year-old I've ever seen. Pippin was about to get smacked on the head again this time by Merry but was interrupted by Gandalf. "Oh, it's that way."
"You remembered?" Merry asked putting his pipe away. "No, but the air does not smell so foul down here. So whenever in doubt Merriadoc, always follow your nose." advised the old wizard and with that, they were off once again.