Got some action here for you, as well as a few answers for our puzzled characters. This one ended up a bit longer than I expected, but there was a lot that needed to happen. Enjoy!

Chapter 41

Nar escorted all of us down to the mine…well, all of us except Frithgeir, who claimed he needed to stay in the main hall in case of more unexpected visitors. I was disappointed and a little suspicious, but I wanted all of my companions to be with me, and did not wish to leave anyone behind to observe what Frithgeir was really up to.

The path was quite dark and long, and as we descended, I felt the temperature dropping. The men seemed to be stumbling along due to the lack of light, but Nar was walking sure and straight, with no hesitation. The potion was clearly still working.

After finally reaching the bottom, Elladan pulled me aside. "We are far beneath the earth now, Gwin, and a feeling has been growing on my mind for some time now. I think someone, or something, has watched as we descended. I cannot pinpoint it, but I believe some intelligence has observed our passage from Zudrugund."

I frowned, "Like what?" I murmured.

Elrohir joined in the conversation, "Something else has made me uneasy. How much of Frithgeir's brew has Nar already consumed? And how much remains? The dwarf has been alert for the duration of our descent, but what happens when it has been exhausted?"

I shrugged, not knowing the answer. "All we can do is hope we find the information we seek before it happens." Corunir, who had an excellent sense of direction and at memorizing maps, assured me he would be able to help us find our way out should Nar be unable to aid us. "Thank you, I appreciate your skill," I said with a smile.

"Is that not why you brought me on this mission?" He replied with a smirk. I rolled my eyes but did not respond, and turned to continue on into the main area. I kept a close eye on our surroundings, looking for anything out of place or who the possible 'watchers' might be.

Nar took another sip of the brew, which he had brought with him. "Ah, delicious!" I doubted it tasted any better than it smelled, but did not comment.

"How much further dwarf?" Nona asked, exasperated.

Before he could answer, we entered a large, open cavern, which contained a giant water wheel. However, it was not moving, as there was no water flowing. Nar looked proudly upon it, saying "Behold! The great wheel of the Old Father!" I looked at him skeptically; it did not seem so great, sitting still as it was.

Suddenly Elladan whipped out his sword, just in time to kill two bats, which had seemingly come out of nowhere. "Bats!" he said unnecessarily, and I almost laughed. Not the time Gwin. I realized this was probably what had been watching us, and I wondered how many more there would be.

I soon found out.

A huge number of bats poured out of various openings in the mine caves, and all of us started cutting them down as fast as possible. The twins had healing supplies, but if these ones were poisonous, it would go very poorly for us. They only had so many of the poison-cleansing potions, and if all of us were bitten, potentially multiple times, there would not be enough.

I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Nar was standing there, looking interestedly at the fight. No bats were attacking him, but I had no time to wonder at it, as two bats were circling my head. I crossed my knives in an 'X' and slashed upwards, killing them both at once. Nona was a fierce fighter, and I mused that her anger and frustration were fueling her on.

Amazingly, none of us were bitten. It was true all of us were very skilled, but I had not expected us to get such a lucky break. Elladan turned to stare at Nar, narrowing his eyes in distrust. "Why do none of the bats attack you Nar?"

However, the effects of the brew were wearing off, and Nar said "Keep up the good work with those hammers, my people!", gesturing to an imaginary force of miners. Nona looked furious, and I felt exasperated. How could he already be losing his focus, after finishing the potion only a few minutes earlier? Were the effects so short-lived that he would now be useless? Frithgeir had made it seem like it would last a significant amount of time, and I felt uneasy. It was frustrating to be sure.

"What happened here that would cause my brother to gain his courage? It could not just be facing a few bats! He was full of uncertainty and anger, yes, but not courage," Nona looked sad. "What happened to you Wadu?" she murmured. "Your courage led you to your death, and part of me wishes you had never found it." I squeezed her shoulder briefly in commiseration.

Nar starting complimenting an imaginary dwarf on their braids and how well their armor shined; he would be useless to us now.

Elrohir moved forward, noticing a gate. "If there is a gate, there is a lever to open it." He turned towards me, "Would you go try and find it? This place is quite large, but I would bet it is within the sight of the gate, so that the one opening it could see that it did indeed work. Once you open it, return to us and we will move forward." I nodded in agreement and moved cautiously through the tunnels. Corunir decided to come with me, in case more bats accosted me and I needed to be defended.

We were moving further and further away as we climbed upwards, and I became nervous. "Corunir, will you be able to get us back to where we were?"

"Do you doubt me?" Corunir asked, again with that little smirk. I laughed a little, thankful for the brief moment of humor. He then nodded, looking serious. "Let us find the lever first, and then we shall worry about our return journey."

Thankfully, it took only a few more minutes of searching before we came across an old, partially rusted lever. Praying to Eru that it would work, I pulled it, and it took much strength to do so. It squealed with disuse, but finally slid into place, and we heard the distant sound of the gate opening.

Corunir took my hand and we raced down toward where we had left our companions…but they were gone! My stomach dropped. "Corunir, where are they?" I asked anxiously. "Do you think something happened to them?" Elrohir had insisted they would be here waiting for us, yet there was no sign of their movements.

"Perhaps we should go through the gate and follow the path; they may have simply run ahead," Corunir replied quietly, eyes sharp.

"It is the only thing which makes sense; let us continue on." We walked cautiously through the gate, and I narrowed my eyes in the dark, trying to see where they went. I pulled out my knives as I heard footsteps in front of me, but lowered them when I saw Elladan's contrite face. "Why did you not wait for us?" I asked, feeling frustrated but also glad they were safe. Well, at least I hoped they were.

"I am sorry Gwin, but once the gate opened, Nar ran ahead, and we did not want to lose sight of him," he motioned down the path, "He is just a short distance down the path, with Nona and Calenglad."

"What of Elrohir?" I asked.

"I am here, mellon nin," a voice answered, and the Elf stepped right next to his brother. "Let us continue on, and meet up with the rest of our party."

When we arrived, Nona was questioning Nar, and of course his answers were nonsense. "Dwarf, why have you brought us here? Do you even remember?"

"Roast mutton! Good ale!" Nar said cheerfully.

Calenglad stepped next to Nona and said, "I am sorry Nona, but he is no longer with us. He is trapped in distant memories now. Our journey took too much time, and there was not enough of the brew."

"I need to know why!" Nona almost shouted. I would not have been surprised if she had stomped her foot. She gestured to a gwiber that I had just noticed. "What is this supposed to tell me?" It was very large and thankfully very dead. A gwiber is almost like a dragon, but does not breathe fire nor have scales. They were easier to kill, but could be very fast, and their bite was venomous.

Nar started telling an apparently gripping tale, and it made me pause in thought. He mentioned a heroic person, and that they faced many a dangerous beast down in the mines, and their heart did not falter.

Nona looked furious, and close to tears, "I do not care about the exploits of some ancient dwarf!"

Elrohir moved closer to the gwiber, and his eyes widened. "This creature is freshly slain; it has been dead for no more than a week."

I also took a look, and agreed. "There are a few deep wounds, and they look to be caused by a sword."

"Courage rose unbidden in his veins, and he struck the beast once, twice, three times!" Nar was saying dramatically. I counted three stab wounds in the gwiber's belly.

I locked eyes with Nona, and she came to the same conclusion as I. "Wadu…he did this? He slew this gwiber?" She was shocked. Sinking to the ground, her head in her hands, she continued, "My brother...even after the terrible things my father said to him, and even after what I said to him, in my frustration..." Her expression was one of pride now, "He mastered his fear, and achieved a victory that even the bravest and strongest warriors of the Uch-luth could not hope to match."

I kneeled down next to her, and clasped her shoulder. "Yes Nona, he was brave and courageous, and defeated a creature which would have threatened all of Enedwaith, should it have come to full size."

"He…he was then slain by cowards who shot him in the back. I will seek vengeance on Wadu's behalf!" she said, angry determination in her voice. This worried me, but my thoughts were halted when Nar walked purposefully up to the twins and said, in a strange and menacing tone of voice, "I know your road, sons of Elrond. That way lies death."

Elladan's brow furrowed. "What…what did you say?"

"Treachery! Treachery and deceit!" Nar was yelling now, in a booming voice, "You who walk the Paths of the Dead, beware!"

My gaze swiveled back to the twins, and I was surprised to see fear on their faces. "How can you know of these things? Answer me, Nar! Answer me!" Elladan had taken Nar by the shoulders and was shaking him. Clearly the words Nar had uttered were important, and seemed prophetic.

Abruptly, Nar's facial expression changed to one of confusion, "Second from the left? Aye, that's what I heard." He pretended to taste something. "Aye, seems underdone." He shook off Elladan's grip and wandered away, leaving the Elf standing with his fists clenched in anger.

I walked over to him and took his hands in mine, trying to relax them. "Mellon nin, I do not know what he speaks of, but clearly you do."

He looked at me with an almost anguished expression. "How can he know the words my father spoke to my brother and I?" I looked at him, confused, and he leaned forward to speak more quietly to me. "We had considered taking a road called the Paths of the Dead with Aragorn, in order to gather a secret army."

My eyes widened in understanding. "Those traitors? Aragorn would take such a risk?" I let out a frustrated sigh, but took another breath and said, "We must think on this later; we need to ascend back to the main hall and unpack what we have discovered here."

Elladan slowly nodded, and squeezed my hands before releasing them. I looked for Nar, and realized he would be of no use to us here. Corunir insisted he could get us back up, so I convinced Nar to follow us, with the promise of roast mutton and ale. Delighted, he came along, muttering about how done it must be and which ale is the best brew.

I felt like we had answered one question, only to be left with more than we started with. How did this relate to Saruman, if at all? Or even our mission as a whole? Would Halbarad be pleased with what we had uncovered, or believe it was all a waste of time to simply satisfy Nona's curiosity? Only time would tell.

As we came nearer to the entrance of the mine shaft, I felt a chill in the air and stopped. I noticed the others look at me with some confusion, but I already could guess where the icy cold was coming from.

Or rather, from what.

There was the sound of flapping wings, and I whipped out my bow and let an arrow fly as the creature came into view.

It was an ice drake. Full sized, and larger than the gwiber Wadu had slain. Only the twins and I had experience facing them, as we all spent time traveling in the Misty Mountains. However, fire drakes gathered in large nests in Western Angmar, and Corunir had helped me infiltrate and destroy one, many months ago.

There was just enough room in the main area of the mine, near the great wheel, for the drake to fully extend its wings. My arrow had flown wide, missing the one I was aiming for. My stomach dropped as several ice drake younglings streamed in behind it. They were not difficult to defeat, but with a larger drake to tangle with, it was just one more thing to kill.

"Elrohir! Get the younglings!" I shouted, not taking my eyes off the big one. It was not yet attacking, but rather flying in big, swooping circles and assessing the situation. I knew I could count on him to succeed. "Nona, keep an eye on Nar and make sure he is safe."

"I can help fight!" She said angrily.

I bit back a retort and replied, "You may need to if anything comes near you, so have your sword ready." I heard her sigh in frustration, but no more complaints were made.

Elrohir ran ahead, his sword in hand. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him gracefully swinging his weapon in what looked like a dance. He sliced each drakeling with ease, and they were all dead in a few minutes.

Meanwhile, the rest of us took cover as the ice drake spit out a stream of icy air, which I knew could cause significant damage. I had seen them freeze animals and snowbeasts solid as they dealt out death and destruction. After it closed its mouth, Elladan and I got off several arrows. We both had little bottles of fire oil in our quivers, and put it to good use. The drake cried in agony as they pierced its wings; it was not a pretty sight as they began to melt the webbed skin.

The drake crashed to the ground, but was not yet subdued. It ran around angrily shooting off blasts of cold air haphazardly, and I feared at least one of us would be unlucky. I cursed as another wave of drakelings appeared. Elrohir again dispatched them easily, and he and Corunir ran off to likely investigate their source. If there was a nest we could destroy, it would make things much safer, both now and in the future.

I noticed Nona had dragged a confused Nar behind a pillar, and I prayed she could keep them both from injury or death. I kept firing with my bow but barely escaped a snap of its razor-sharp teeth as its large head focused on my location. Elladan had grabbed me and pulled me out of the way, and I nodded my thanks and tried to slow down my breathing. This battle needed to end soon or we were all dead.

"Nar, what are you doing you fool?!" I heard Nona shout, and I was shocked to see Nar with an axe in his hand. His eyes were hard and focused as he stared down the drake. Gone was the addled old dwarf; instead, a grizzled, experienced warrior was in its place.

The drake was not paying attention to him. It had marked Elladan and I as its targets, and we were dodging and running for our lives as we tried to kill it. "They keep bouncing off her scales!" Elladan shouted, and I noticed a flicker of panic in his grey eyes as he looked back at me. We had hidden in one of the many tunnels for a moment, trying to get our bearings.

"We need to try and shoot the eyes, or get a fire arrow in its mouth as it opens," I replied, a little breathless.

"Oh, you mean when it is about to try and turn us into ice blocks?" he replied, a little hysterically.

"Muindor," I said firmly. "Refocus. This is no time to panic." He took some deep breaths, and I was relieved to see him calm down a little. "Ready?" He nodded affirmatively, and I laid out a rough plan.

We would run up to the next level and shoot through one of the narrow openings in the rock after distracting it enough to look our way. Hopefully the stone would protect us from any icy 'fire'.

I didn't know where Calenglad had run off to, but I hoped he was well. I knew he was a skilled warrior, but had never even seen a creature like this. All I could do was focus on my objective, and pray the others would make it out alive.

Elladan and I raced up the ramp and to the upper level. There! A rock wall with a few small openings. It was a good vantage point from which to shoot, and I could see what was going on below us. Nar was still standing firmly in place, back straight and armed to fight. He had placed himself in front of Nona, who looked flabbergasted. How could be suddenly be so aware?

Realizing I had my own job to do, Elladan and I armed ourselves with fire-tipped arrows, and I shouted to get the drake's attention. I had to force myself not to run away as its icy blue eyes spotted me. It roared in pain as Elladan got off two quick arrows, and both hit their mark, blinding the drake. As expected, it opened its mouth to engulf us in ice, but my arrows pierced the soft back of its throat.

It made an awful choking screech, and slowly fell to the ground. It was writhing around, and I felt a flash of pity. It would die in agony.

Or at least, I thought it would.

Suddenly Nar was there, and with two quick downward strokes, the head of the drake was removed from its body, and it lie still.

All of us let out a collective breath we were holding, and we stared at Nar, who was looking grim but triumphant. I wondered if he knew what 'time' we were in, or if he was stuck in the past but still capable of fighting well.

Nona cautiously made her way over to him, and they both gazed down at the now dead ice drake. She turned to him and put a hand on his shoulder, "You did well, sir Dwarf."

"Indeed," he said gruffly. He turned to look at her, a serious expression on his face. "It is my duty to protect those who find themselves in peril. Zudrugund is where I dwell, and I will protect it and all who abide there with my life."

Was this the same dwarf who was wandering around and mumbling about soup? It puzzled me. Elladan was giving me a confused look, and I shrugged. "We should return to the main floor and find Elrohir and Corunir; they may need help if they are facing other enemies."

"No need for that, muinthel," a musical voice replied, and I looked down the narrow stone corridor to see a smug-looking Elrohir and disheveled but uninjured Corunir. "We came upon a nest, which contained several unhatched eggs."

"Ah, but you forgot to mention the other drake, mellon nin," Corunir said wryly.

I raised an eyebrow. "Another drake?"

Elrohir laughed, "Do not worry penneth, we took care of it for you." I narrowed my eyes at his teasing, but did not withhold a whap on the shoulder. "You wound me!" he said dramatically, but the wink made it less convincing.

"So, there are no more drakes to threaten us?" Elladan asked.

Corunir shook his head. "We scouted the rest of the mine; well, the parts we could access. There were no other enemies."

"That is well," I replied with a humorless smile. "Let us make our way to where the others are located. I wish to make sure they are uninjured."

With that, we hurried to the main floor. Nona and Nar still stood next to the drake, not speaking, but it seemed like a companionable silence. I wondered if Nar would be able to answer any of our questions after this moment of lucidity. Calenglad was sitting on the ground, staring at his partially frozen cloak in annoyance.

"Close call I see?" I said quietly, unable to keep the relief out of my voice.

He nodded, "Very. I am lucky to be alive and unscathed. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about this cloak."

"Do not worry, mellon nin. It will melt and I am sure it will be none the worse for wear," Elrohir said optimistically.

"I hope you are right," Calenglad mumbled, still looking a little disgruntled. "Gwindeth made it for me." His voice softened, and its tone was full of grief. The pain of her rejection was still too near.

"Then it is even more likely there will be no lasting effects," I replied gently. "Let us return to the light, mellon nin." He stood slowly, but would not meet my eyes.

Gathering together, we decided it was time to return to Frithgeir, and I felt relieved to be leaving. As an Elf, I found it uncomfortable being underground for too long. It had made my time in Moria very difficult, as I dwelt there for weeks, fighting relentlessly against the evil there. I wondered if I made much of an impact. The dwarves there were thankful and positive, almost to a fault. Their pride could be their downfall, and I hoped they would leave if the danger became too great.

Shaking off the dark memories, I joined the others as we ascended. Nar was quiet, and seemed to know where he was going, so we followed him. Corunir was next to him, and I felt confident we were going the right way.

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding as we emerged, and I prepared myself to face Frithgeir and give him a full account.

Our heroes survived, Nona finally learned the brave deeds of her brother, and Nar surprised them all with his skill as a warrior. How did the dwarf know about the Paths of the Dead? Why did the brew only work for a brief time? As Gwin said, we seem to have more questions than answers. I hope you liked the chapter, and please leave a review!