The fellowship continued onwards, not knowing if it was night or day. But they could all feel that the end of the part of the journey was nearing. But even so, Amdiriel could feel a doom upon them, something was coming and she didn't know what it was putting her more on edge.
As they walked on Gimli caught sight of a large room with its doors wide open, allowing everyone to see a bright white light landing on something in the room. Gimli must have known what it was because he let out a chocked gasp, freezing for a moment before running towards the room. "Gimli!" Gandalf called out but the dwarf didn't stop. He ran into the room, the others following close behind. Gimli stopped in from of what they could now see as a stone coffin. The dwarf fell to his knees. "No." he said and began to sob. "No...no...no." he wept as the others came to see what was wrong. The room was filled with dead dwarves all over the place. It was as if they never had the chance.
Gandalf looked at the inscription at the top of the grave. "Here lies Balin, son of Fulin, Lord of Moria." Gandalf read. Gimli let his head fall onto the edge of the stone and let out another sob. Boromir placed his hand on the dwarf's shoulder, hoping to give a small amount of comfort to his friend.
"He is dead then. It is as I feared." Gandalf said and took off his hat. Gandalf then caught sight of an old book by his feet in the hands of a skeleton. He passed his hat and staff to Pippin before he grabbed the book from the webbed boney hand opened it. The wizard then blew on the dusty page.
"We must move on, we can not linger." Legolas whispered urgently to Aragorn. Aragorn looked to his friend, catching the concern in Amdiriel's eyes as she scanned around the room, he could tell she wanted to leave quickly.
"They have taken the bridge and the second hall." Gandalf began reading the script from the old book, gaining everyone's attention. "We have barred the gate but can not hold them for long. The ground shakes. Drums, drums in the deep." He said, glancing up at the others before he continued reading as he turned to the next page. "We can not get out. A shadow moves in the dark. We can not get out." Boromir then looked to his sister, feeling the same eerie and dark feeling come upon them. Gandalf looked up at them. "They are coming." He said as shiver ran down Amdiriel's spine.
Suddenly a loud bang came from behind Gandalf, causing everyone to jump. Amdiriel had out of reflex, grabbed an arrow and notched it at the ready in her bow. Pippin jumped away from a headless dwarf corps, sitting on a well. his cause of death, evident to the several arrows in his chest. It only got worse as the rest of the body fell down the well along a chain and bucket that had been attached to his ankle. The loud sound echoed around them several times. The room was tense with tension as they waited for a few seconds in silence after the echo had finally faded. They listened for any sound of the enemy knowing of their presence but not a sound was heard. Everyone let out a sigh of relief and Amdiriel put away her weapons.
"Fool of a Took!" Gandalf scolded and slammed the book shut. "Throw yourself in next time and rid of us of your stupidity." Gandalf added as he snatched his things from the scared hobbit. Not a second later, loud thumping could be heard, growing louder. Everyone looked at the well again as the sound became clear, it was the banging of drums followed by orc screeches.
"Frodo?" asked Sam, his friend pulling his sword out. The blade now glowing blue as another loud screech pierced the air. "Orcs!" Legolas declared. Amdiriel and Boromir looked at each other for a split second before running for the doors.
The siblings looked out the door seeing a group of orcs coming for them. Two arrows were then lodged into the door near Boromir's head who moved in time. Amdiriel pulled an arrow from her quiver and shot one orc that tried to kill her brother. She then quickly grabbed another arrow to kill the second one as her brother closed the door and told Amdiriel to move, so he can close the second. Amdiriel did as she was told and helped her brother. "They have a cave troll." Boromir notified them. Legolas and Aragorn then stared to hand the two axes and spears to help block the door.
The four then stepped away from the door and readied themselves. The hobbits were gathered behind Gandalf as Gimli climbed up onto the stone grave with a grown. In front of Gimli stood Aragorn, Legolas, and Amdiriel with their bows at the ready and next to Amdiriel stood Boromir with his sword and shield in his hands.
The orcs banged on the door. "That won't hold for very long." Amdiriel stated. "Let them come. There is still one dwarf in Moria that still draw breath." growled Gimli.
The orcs continue to bang on the flimsy doors, causing cracks in them but the three archers used that to start killing the ugly creatures. Each archer killed about two each before the doors fell to the ground and in ran the orcs. They let their arrows fly killing the first three orcs. Amdiriel and Aragorn put their bows back on their backs and pulled out their blades while Legolas kept shooting arrows at any enemy he saw. The other members of the Fellowship charged forward joining the fight with war-cries.
Luckily for the hobbits, their size aided them. They now had an advantage against the Orcs because they were so small, they could easily stab them in the stomach and kill them as long as they watched out at was going on above them.
Amdiriel cut down her opponents quickly. She ducked a blade heading for her head and cut out the orc's legs. Once it fell to the ground with a screech she stabbed it in the chest. Amdiriel pulled her sword out quickly and slashed open the stomach of the goblin in front of her. Her sword then clashed with another blade. The orc pushed Amdiriel against the stone pillar behind her as he snared in her face, the stench of the creature was that of death. Amdiriel snared back and kicked him in the stomach away from her. The orc stumbled backward but before he could regain his footing Amdiriel decapitated him.
A loud roar was heard from outside the room. Immediately, the cave troll was pulled into the room by two orcs holding on to a chain. The troll smashed through the wall, making a much larger doorway. The troll let out another roar as it came face to face with Sam. Amdiriel watched as Sam stood his ground and then ran in between the legs of the troll when it tried to swing at him with its large club. But what Sam didn't know was that behind the troll was a large pile of rubble and no escape.
"Sam!' Amdiriel called out and ran for the chain of the troll. She swiftly decapitated both orcs in one swift movement before trying to tug on the chain. Amdiriel had pulled just hard enough to stop the troll from planting its foot on poor Sam but that was it. She tried to pull at the chain again but this time the troll fought against her. Luckily for her, Boromir and Aragorn both saw her struggle and came to her aide. The three then pulled on the chain together and managed to pull the giant troll a few feet from the hobbit. "Sam go!" yelled Amdiriel. The troll suddenly turned it's attention to the trio.
Another roar came from the large creature as it tried to swing at them now. "Duck!" Boromir yelled, the two others doing as told ducked but let go of the chain in the process. Boromir stood back up quickly and had a split second to realize that only he was holding onto the chain before the troll swung again, this time coming into contact with Boromir's body. Boromir went flying across the room, his back hitting the far wall before falling to the ground. Boromir lost consciousness for a brief moment but his sister was already running for him, cutting down anything that stood in her way.
"Boromir!" She yelled as orc advanced on him. Boromir's sword was behind the orc that was getting ready to kill him, well out of reach. Aragorn looked to Amdiriel and then to her brother, she was two orcs away but there would be no way she would make it to him in time. So without hesitation, Aragorn threw the sword in his hand at the orc, killing it. Boromir then sat up quickly and shook his head clear. He looked over at the ranger with gratitude in his eyes, Aragorn nodded his head quickly before returning to the battle around him.
"You alright?" Amdiriel said as she held a hand out to the man on the floor. Boromir took her hand and she pulled him up. "I'm alright." he replied. Amdiriel handed him his sword with a smile "Just like old times." She said. "Wouldn't want it any other way." He said and took the sword from her. Orcs then came their way from opposite directions, causing the two siblings to fight back to back, flowing easily together.
Amdiriel looked around and saw that there were still quite a few orcs left but everyone seemed to be fairing well. Amdiriel was quick to pull a dagger from the her side of her waist and thrust it into the stomach of an orc that stood behind her. The orc yelled in pain as she spun around and punched it in the face but made sure to return her dagger to her side. Another orc came at her, swinging high but she blocked it and forced his blade downward and then used her sword to slice vertically across his body. She turned again to find Legolas jumping off the troll and landing next to her.
"Did you try shooting it the head?" she asked as she killed another orc. Legolas rolled his eyes at his friend. "Of course I did but the skin is to thick from the outside, it did penetrate." he explained as he shot down another orc. "Then it has to be from the inside out." She said and looked up when she heard Aragorn call for Frodo.
Amdiriel found the troll corning the Ring-bearer. "Frodo!" she too called out as she ran up the stairs to get to what once was a second floor. Amdiriel was quickly at Aragorn's side. "Aragorn! Amdi!" yelled the hobbit, the two saw Frodo being dragged by the ankle by the troll. "No!" Aragorn yelled and went to run for him but Frodo had managed to hit the troll's hand with his sword causing the troll to drop him. The troll flailed his arms nearly hitting Aragorn and Amdiriel had they not ducked out of the way. Frodo had the air knocked out of him when he hit the hard rubble.
Amdiriel slashed through orc that had come from behind. She grabbed the spear in its hand before kicking it off the second floor. She quickly gave the spear to the ranger. "Go!" she told him and turned back to face several more orcs coming their way.
Amdiriel had just been able to make her way back down the stairs when she heard Sam scream for Frodo. Amdiriel turned to seen Frodo with the same spear she had given Aragorn sticking out of his ribcage. Suddenly, Pippin and Merry jumped on the back of the troll and begin to stab at its back while Gimli and Gandalf tried to attack the troll at its legs.
Amdiriel killed the orc in front of her and caught eyes with her brother. She remembered what she had told Legolas "Has to be killed from the inside out." She gave him a nod and he returned the gesture. Boromir crept up a safe distance to the troll and nodded at his sister again as she put her sword away. Amdiriel ran for Boromir as he laced his hands together. When Amdiriel reached Boromir she jumped on his hands and Boromir thrusted her into the air. Mid-air Amdiriel pulled her dagger from her side so when she landed in went straight into the troll's upper back, the creature let out a horrid roar and thrashed about, making Amdiriel keep her grip on her dagger so she could hold on. Once steady enough, she called out for Legolas. The elf turned as Amdiriel grabbed Merry and threw him to the elf who caught him with ease. Amdiriel then called for Boromir as she grabbed Pippin and threw him to the safety of her brother. Amdiriel pulled the her dagger from the troll's back and looked at Legolas who had his bow at the ready, thinking the same thing as his longtime friend he gave her a sharp nod. With that Amdiriel slammed her dagger in the back of the troll's neck. The troll let out a loud cry, as it did Legolas let his arrow fly straight through the roof of its mouth. The troll staggered for a second before it finally came crashing down to the floor. The fall caused Amdiriel to be tossed from the troll into some of the now destroyed grave of Balin. Amdiriel groaned when she felt the pain come from her left ribcage but she pushed it away as Boromir headed her up, asking if she was okay. Amdiriel replied only with a nod as they ran to see if Frodo was still alive.
They watched as Aragorn rolled Frodo over to find him gasping for breath. Sam kneeled down beside his friend "He's alive." he said, relief evident in his voice. "I'm alright. I' m not hurt." Frodo said still a bit out of breath as he sat up. "You should be dead. That spear would have stewed a wild boar." Aragorn stated in shock.
"I think there is more to this hobbit than meets the eye." Gandalf said with a small smirk. Frodo then unbuttoned his shirt and under it held the answer to his survival...
"Mithril..." Gimli said in awe as he stared at the bright chainmail. "You are full of surprises Master Baggins."
More screeches of orcs and goblins could be heard in the distance causing everyone to rise to their feet. "To the Bridge of Kahzad-dûm." Gandalf instructed. The fellowship ran quickly behind Gandalf out of the room and into the through the halls.
Their running seemed to be in vain as orcs and goblins chased after them. There seemed to hundreds of them, Amdiriel caught sight of more running towards them on both their left and right sides. The hobbits tried to look back but it only seemed to slow their pace. "Don't look back, just keep running." she told them. They did as they said and kept their eyes forward but Aragorn turned his head to look how far away their enemy was, his pace slowing down a tiny bit. This caused Amdiriel to run past Aragorn, grabbing his hand in the process to pull him forward. "What did I say?" she said but Aragorn could pick up a hint of humor in her voice for Amdiriel remembered that Aragorn was stubborn and would rarely listen to her in their past life.
Swarms of goblins came from everywhere possible, from the crack in the ground beneath them to the holes in the roof above them. Legolas was in front of Amdiriel as he looked up to see the goblins crawling out of the ceiling holes. "Eyes forward." she reminded. "No one ever listens to me." She mumbled. "That's because you can be bossy." remarked her brother. Amdiriel was about to let out a snarky response but was caught off by the wizard. "Children!" he scolded.
All too soon the goblins surrounded the fellowship. They all stood back to back, realizing they were horribly outnumbered and the odds of escaping would logically be impossible. Amdiriel stood there at the ready, but deep down Amdiriel could feel that same eerie feeling grow, not because of what they were faced with but it felt like a darkness had awakened.
Suddenly a loud sound came from down the hall causing silence even from the orcs. The sound echoed through the halls, only this time it was louder and closer. The orcs began to screech and retreat up the columns where they came. Gimli laughed in triumph but it didn't last long as they turned towards the noise. The noise sounded again, accompanied by an orange glow light down the hall. It was as if there was a large blaze.
"What is this new deviltry?" Boromir asked Gandalf but he did not reply he just closed his eyes like he was concentrating on something. Aragorn looked at Gandalf with concern, hoping the wizard would say something. As the noise and light grew closer, Amdiriel could feel the anxiousness and horrid feeling grow as it drew near. Gandalf opened his eyes still staring down the hall.
" A Balrog." Gandalf said. Amdiriel and Boromir knew of the creature for they had learned about the demon when they were younger. The two shared a quick glance in both disbelief and in fear for the other. Amdiriel out of instinct grabbed Aragorn's hand with her free one. He didn't look at her but gave her hand a squeeze as if to tell her it was alright. What she didn't know was that if she had waited for a second more Aragorn was going to grab her hand. Even in the scariest of circumstances her presence and touch brought him comfort.
"A demon of the ancient world. This foe is beyond any of you." Gandalf continued he then turned to the other direction "Run!" he shouted as the others followed behind him.
Boromir ran down a step of broken stairs and nearly lost his balance. Thankfully, Legolas got to him quickly enough and pulled him back making him fall on top of him. "Wait!" Amdiriel yelled at the others and put her arm out to keep them from running down the same staircase.
The group turned and ran down a different flight of steep stairs until they came to a gap. Legolas jumped first, landing gently on the other side. They could hear the Balrog approaching quickly behind them. "Gandalf" Legolas called for the wizard. Gandalf jumped and Legolas caught him easily.
Arrows then flew their way. All turned in the direction of which they came from. Across from them, hundreds of feet away was a platform, there, orcs and goblins hide behind a few pillars before trying to take aim at the fellowship. Amdiriel, Aragorn, and Legolas loaded their bows to provide cover for the others.
"Merry. Pippin." Boromir said before he grabbed onto the hobbits and jumped forward but as they did the stairs beneath them crumbled. The gap was no larger but still makeable. "Sam." Aragorn said. "Frodo." Amdiriel said. Both of them grabbed the hobbits, Aragorn threw Sam to Boromir while Amdiriel threw Frodo to Legolas. Once they were safely across, Aragorn turned to Gimli while Amdiriel pulled out her bow and arrow and shot another orc in the head.
"No one tosses a dwarf." she heard Gimli say to Aragorn as she reached for another arrow. She could see in the corner of her eye Gimli jump and almost make it across had not his feet faltered. Luckily, Legolas's hand shot out to catch him but he caught him by the beard. "No the beard." Gimli said in pain but Legolas did manage to pull him up.
Amdiriel took aim as Aragorn turned to her. "Go. I'll cover you." she told him without so much as a glance as she let her arrow loose. "Amdi-" Aragorn said, wanting to argue but Amdiriel grabbed another arrow from her quiver. "Go now!" she said not too harshly but stern enough to get the point across. Aragorn didn't want to go first but he knew there was no point in arguing with her, he would not win and he knew that. Aragorn thought that maybe he could grab her and jump but without her effort, their weight together would not make the jump but then he remembered that she was light. He got ready like he was about to jump as Amdiriel shot down another orc. Amdiriel could hear the stairs under them begin to crack thanks to her elf hearing. Before she even had time to think and before Aragorn could turn around and grab her to jump with him Amdiriel turned and pushed Aragorn forward as he jumped.
Legolas caught Aragorn by the arm and pulled him in safe. Just as he turned the stairs under Andiriel fell away. Had it not been for her quick reflex to grip the stairs, Amdiriel would have surely fallen to her death. Her feet dangled beneath her and a sharp pain hit her rib from when she had fallen again. "Amdiriel!" Boromir, Legolas, and Aragorn all called out as they watched helplessly as Amdiriel tried to pull herself up. Amdiriel swung her legs up and was able to crawl up the stairs to safety. She stood to her feet and looked at the distance between her and her companions. The jump had to be twenty feet and that was not even possible no matter how light she was, nor did they have time to think of a solution for they still had a demon chasing after them. Amdiriel scanned the faces of her friends, each showed fear and worry for her.
"It's okay, just go!" Amdiriel told them. "No!" the three yelled at her. "We can figure this out!" Legolas said. "It's not makeable, nor do we have the time to argue about this!" Amdiriel yelled back. "We are not leaving you!" Boromir told her. "My life means nothing compared to the survival of this quest. Go!" she said to them. "Not with you!" Aragorn told her as his heart clenched thinking this may be the end with her. Amdiriel thought about a way to get them to go, she thought maybe if she notched an arrow and threatened to shoot one of them they would. Before she could execute that plan, what sounded like thunder echoed through the air, making large pieces of the roof fall and break the stair behind her. The impact of the stone collision caused her feet to falter and fall onto the stairs sideways. Amdiriel groaned, cursing in elvish under her breath as pain shot through her side. Nevertheless, she got to her feet. The stairs shifting with her according to her weight. Amdirirel hesitated for a second.
"Amdi, lean forward carefully." Aragorn told her. she did as he said and leaned forward, the stairs too began to move forward. "Come on." Legolas muttered, hoping this would work as everyone watched, holding their breath Boromir looked on with a scared expression. "When I say jump, jump and I'll catch you." Aragorn told her. Not that Amdirirel had much of a choice now. "Jump!" Aragorn said right as the two stairs collided. Amdiriel jumped right into the ranger's arms, everyone letting out a breath. Amdiriel and Aragorn pulled away and in a brief moment so many emotions filled both their eyes from relief to worried and all in between.
They didn't have much time for they still had to keep running for their lives. Gandalf, lead them on again towards the bridge, the last obstacle between them and safety... from the Balrog at least.
As they reached the bottom of the stairs, a fire appeared around them. "Over the bride! Fly!" Gandalf yelled as he pointed over the bridge. He waited until everyone was over before he turned to look at the creature that came up from the deep. The beast was black and had two bull-like horns on the side of its head with fire all around it. The Balrog roared at Gandalf but he did not flinch. The Balrog stood up, it had a human-like body and wings that touched the ceiling of the large mine.
"Go! Go!" Amdiriel instructed so the other's wouldn't wait for Gandalf. They did, Amdiriel turned to make sure Gandalf was still with them. He was and the Balrog, not far behind.
They reached the bridge, running carefully across single-file. "Why does no one build bridges with rails anymore?!" Amdiriel yelled out. "That's what you're worried about?!" her brother yelled from in front of her. Yes, she should have been more focused but she couldn't help it.
Gandalf the last one to get on the bridge and was halfway across the bridge when he saw that everyone was across, some even started up the stairs to the exit. Gandalf turned to face the huge beast "You can not pass!" he yelled. Everyone stopped in their tracks to see what was happening. The Balrog stood tall facing Gandalf.
Aragorn ran down the stairs but stopped at the bottom, Amdiriel following close behind.
The Balrog transformed his sword into a flaming whip "Go back to the Shadows." Gandalf grinned through his teeth. The Balrog cracked his whip and Gandalf held his sword and staff over his head "You shall not pass!" he yelled and slammed his staff down. An explosion of white light came from the staff. The Balrog went to make another move on Gandalf but the bridge from under him fell through. Gandalf watched as the demon fell below before he let out a breath and turned to leave. But then whip of the Blarog wrapped around Gandalf's ankle pulling him off his feet and over the ledge. Gandalf was now only holding to the remaining part of the bridge. Gandalf made no prevail in lifting himself up.
Frodo ran forward to help Gandalf but was stopped by Boromir. "No! No!" Boromir shouted as he grabbed onto Frodo, knowing the situation was helpless.
"Gandalf!" screamed Frodo. Amdiriel looked a the wizard in her heart she knew what he was about to do, it was the same look she surely had just minutes ago on the stairs.
"Fly you fools!" he told them and then let go of the ledge.
"NO!" cried Frodo. Boromir grabbed hold of the struggling hobbit and carried him out.
"Aragorn! Amdi!" Boromir shouted catching the woman's attention but not the man's. She could see the grief and disbelief on his face, so Amdiriel grabbed hold of Aragorn's hand, the gesture bringing him back to reality. He looked to her even though no words came from her, her eyes said all. They had to go. There was nothing they could do now. Aragorn nodded his head and ran up the stair as more goblins and orcs appeared on the other side of the bridge. Arrows began to fly their way as they carefully dogged them as they ran out of the mine.
The sun greeted them as they ran out but it provided no comfort to their hearts.
The Fellowship sat down on the rocks to take a moment for themselves. Sam sat down holding his head in his hand as he cried. Merry held Pippin as they too sat on the rocks crying. Legolas wore a face of grief and had tears in his eyes but he didn't let them fall. Boromir held back Gimli who wanted to go back into the mines, the captain willed himself to be strong for the others as did his sister.
"Legolas get them up." Aragorn told him while wiping the Orc blood off his sword after a moment.
"Give them a moment for pity sake." Boromir said, he understood the need to keep going but these hobbits were not soldiers like they were, this was their first real exposure to the tragic death that followed the war.
"By nightfall, these hills will be swarming with Orcs." Aragorn reasoned.
"He's right we have to go." Amdiriel said, lifting her head. Legolas went over to Merry and Pippin and helped them up. Amdiriel walked over to the two and wiped their tears. "It's gonna be okay but right now we have to get to safety." she told them, they both nodded in understanding and did their best to pull themselves together. Aragorn pulled Sam to his feet. "On your feet, Sam" he said and patted him on the shoulder.
"Frodo? Aragorn asked not seeing the halfling. Aragorn turned to see that he had walked further on away from the mine. "Frodo?" Aragorn called out. The hobbit stopped and slowly turned to the ranger, revealing the tears streaming down his face. "Come, we must go this way." Aragorn told him. Frodo said nothing but nodded and followed silently. This death would be hard for everyone to swallow, but right now they needed to get somewhere safe.