Chapter 5- Into the Shadow

Chapter 5- Into the Shadow

As much as I hated running from something I knew I could face, I listened to Gandalf and ran. The Fellowship followed the Wizard toward a new dark tunnel- Boromir had a torch now, though I don't have a clue where he managed to find it and took the lead while Gandalf made sure we all entered safely. My legs burned and my lungs were labored: I hadn't run to this extent in years.

Suddenly Boromir yelled, he was standing on the edge of a cliff, waving his arms around and trying to regain his balance. Legolas bolted forward and grabbed the Gondorian before he could plummet to his death. It took me a moment to realize that the ground Boromir had been standing on had given way and he surely would've died had Legolas not gotten a hold on him.

We all froze there for a moment, trying to figure out what to do as the old Wizard hobbled down the stairs. "Gandalf!" Aragorn turned to help the old man but he pushed my brother away.

"Lead them on, Aragorn!" he gestured to the Bridge on the other side of the trench. "Do as I say!" Gandalf demanded when Aragorn hesitated. "Swords are of no more use here!"

Aragorn nodded, "Hurry!" he yelled to us, leading us down a steep set of winding stairs.

Merry and Pippin were right behind my brother, followed by Legolas, myself, Boromir, Gimli, Frodo, Sam and Gandalf. But we were all running so quickly, we ended up passing each other and nearly running on one another's heels. Liquid fire engulfed the bottom of the trench, that was evident the further down the stairs we ran. But suddenly, Boromir, who had taken the lead, came to a stop and we realized that a large chunk of the stairwell had colaspsed into the firey waters below.

Before Pippin or I could ask, "What now?" Legolas leapt across, regaining his balance and looking up at the rest of with a faint smile.

A silent sigh of relief escaped my mouth when I saw that he was safe. He was safe- we were not. A moment late another low growl echoed throughout the cavern and a fair part of the celicing rained down around us.

"Gandalf! Rayel!" Legolas called, gesturing for us to jump down.

"Go!" I ordered Mithrandir, before he could object.

The old Wizard hopped and landed on the ledge, where Legolas immediately balanced Gandalf. He turned to me, opening his arms and calling for me to hurry. But then we were under a new form of attack: the orcs had found us.

Arrows whizzed by, missing us by mere centimeters and causing my adrenaline to rush even more. We were all going to die.

"Make haste, Rayel!" Boromir urged me, as the rumbling and arrows came closer.

Without a moment's hesitance, I jumped. And the moment my feet left the ledge I screamed, fortunately, Legolas caught me and whispered: "It's okay, I've got you." He pushed me toward Gandalf and quickly drew his bow, returning the fired shots and backing down the stairs to make room for our friends.

"Merry! Pippin!" Boromir exclaimed, seizing the small Hobbits and leaping across the way with them. As Boromir's feet left the crumbling staircase, the rest cracked and gave way, leaving Gimli, Aragorn, Frodo and Sam behind.

"No!" I screamed.

Legolas was returning fire as fast as he could, but the orc archers were inceasing their accuracy quickly. Boromir sent the two Hobbits down to me as he readied himself to receive Sam. My brother literally threw the poor Halfling down to Boromir who just barely managed to catch him.

Aragorn turned to Gimli but he merely hel up in hand. "Nobody tosses a dwarf," he objected as he jumped with everything he had- only to come up short.

No pun intended.

Legolas pounced forward grabbing Gimli's beard and ensuring that the dwarf wouldn't fall to his death. "Not the beard!" scolded Gimli as Legolas pulled him up.

That's when I heard a cry from Aragorn, the stairwell had proceeded in crumbling and my heart leapt to my throat. Aragorn gripped the side of the stairs, just managing to pull himself up as the gap between us increased by fifteen feet at least. "No! Aragorn!" I screamed, trying to rush forward, but Boromir helf me back.

"There isn't anything you can do," he whispered.

Aragorn was holding onto Frodo's shoulder when the rumble ran through the halls once again. The ceiling rained down heavily, breaking their only escape route and leaving them completely stranded on their small island of a rock. To my horror, I watched in desperation as the ledge they were standing on began to tilt to the side, threatening to dump them down into the abyssal furrow.

"Lean forward!" Aragorn shouted to Frodo, as they both shakily inclined frontward, sending their perch smashing into ours. Legolas caught my brother while Boromir stabled Frodo, "Hurry! Come on!" Gandalf ordered, as we continued our flight to the Bridge of Khazad Dum.

The stairs seemed never ending, but at last we reached the bottom and now we were only a short distance away from our escape. But the walls of flames crept closer and all hope we possessed of the Balrog loosing us faded away.

"Over the Bridge!" the Wizard ordered, sending me into a panic.

We obeyed our elder, rushing across the narrow, stone Bridge in front of us. That's when I froze.

Where was Gandalf?

I turned around to feel the fires of a furnace on my brow. There, standing before Gandalf was the Balrog. His skin was dark and charred- but very much alive with living flames. His face resembled a bull, with two curled horns protruding from its head, and in its cloven hands was a large bullwhip. It towered over us, nearly touching the massive walls and bellowing forth smoke and fire. "Mithrandir!" I screamed, attempting to rush back to Gandalf's side- but Aragorn's arms restrained me.

"Hurry!" he muttered to me, pulling back to the other side of the Bridge where the Fellowship was looking on in horror.

"You cannot pass!" Gandalf shouted at the creature, now standing on the center of the Bridge.

"Gandalf!" Frodo yelled, now noticing what I had moments before.

In response to Gandalf, the creature ignited itself in flames, beating its chest defiantly and glaring down at the Wizard.

"I'm a Servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the Flame of Anor." Gandalf's staff brightened, producing an indestructible shield around himself. But the Balrog produced a massive, double-sided blade and rose it boldly. "The Dark Fire will not avail you, Flame of Undin!" Gandalf yelled, as I tried to rush forward, only to be held back by both Legolas and Aragorn.

The Balrog brought the blade down on Gandalf, only to have his sword shatter on impact. Aragorn released me, stumbling back to the Bridge, freezing when he saw what happened next. The Balrog screamed in rage, shooting forth a string of fire.

"Go back to the Shadow!" Gandalf snarled.

The Balrog snapped his whip, and Gandalf rose both his sword and staff yelling: "You shall not pass!" he brought them both down with a crack, sending the Balrog backward a step. The Balrog recovered quickly and stepped forward again- but as his hoof met the Bridge, the Bridge gave way and the creature fell into darkness, screaming in rage as it clear-fell.

I let out a breath of relief and turned to look at Legolas who still stood beside me. He too sighed and squeezed my hand reassuringly.

Gandalf turned to face us, sweating profusely and looking absolutely exhausted. He started back across the Bridge when suddenly, the whip recoiled as the demon searched for his last grasp of revenge, and caught the Wizard by his ankle, dragging him toward the abyss.

"Gandalf!" Frodo and I shrieked, both trying to bolt forward and help our friend. But Boromir held onto Frodo and Legolas would not release his grasp on me.

I watched in horror as Gandalf groped the side of ledge, desperately trying to pull himself upward. Then he locked his eyes with ours and ordered: "Fly, you fools." And he slipped away into darkness.

"No!" I screamed, echoing right along with Frodo.

We both fought against the two restraining us and screaming the same word over and over again. "No! No! No!" Legolas grip around my hand tightened as he swooped me up into his arms, bolting up the staircase after our comrades.

Aragorn was the last to follow, bringing up the rear and in just the amount of shock the rest of us were in, maybe even more. Arrows whizzed by, digging into the sides of the wall and trying to stop us. I was still screaming, objecting to what had just occurred, staring behind and beyond Aragorn, waiting for the moment when Gandalf would appear.

He couldn't be dead! He couldn't!

Suddenly a blinding light obscured my vison as I realized we had exited the Great Eastern Gate. The smell of fresh air, mountain breezes, pine trees and flowers dulled the pain slightly as Legolas set me down. That's when the dam broke for the Hobbits and myself.

I buried my face into my hands and sobbed bitterly. I had never experienced death- not since my parents- and this was just too much for me. Tears streamed freely down my face and I cared not that the sun shone and the flowers bloomed.

Beside me were Sam, Merry and Pippin, all of whom were crying as hard, if not harder than I. I could hear Gimli objecting, trying frantically to rush back to Gandalf- only to be restrained by Boromir.

"I could've saved Gandalf," I wept. "If only they hadn't restrained me."

"Legolas!" I heard my brother. "Get them up," he ordered.

I looked up bleary and teary-eyed as Legolas stumbled forward trying to obey my brother.

"Give them a moment, for pity's sake!" Boromir objected, standing up from Gimli's side.

"By nightfall these hills will be swarming with orcs!" Aragorn persisted, gesturing to the marble walls and stones surrounding us. "We must reach the Woods of Lothlorien." He sheathed his sword. "Now Boromir, Legolas, Gimli, get them up!"

Aragorn came bounding across the rocks and pulled Sam upward. "On your feet, Sam."

Gimli and Boromir were more gentle in bringing Pippin and Merry upward than my brother. This was probably the first time I had ever been cross with my brother- even though I knew that he only meant the best.

"Tul, Rayel, lye que hort," Legolas whispered, squatting down beside me and reaching for my hands.

I obeyed numbly, stumbling forward and trying to hold in the tears that now threatened to run down my face. Legolas pulled me into his arms, holding me softly against his chest and trying to console me. He smelled of forests, new grass and of the earth. "Tul," he said again, slightly more urgent.

I wiped the tears from my eyes and nodded softly as the Fellowship weakly gathered together. But two people were missing: Gandalf and the Ring-Bearer.

"Frodo?" I choked out.

"Frodo!" Aragorn called, catching sight of the Hobbit as he made his way across the rigged terrain.

I pulled myself free from Legolas and swiftly darted across the stones to the Halfling's side. "Frodo, look at me," I whispered, kneeling down beside him and placing my fingers to his jaw.

Softly and quietly, the Hobbit turned to face me, his eyes were red and he had tears streaming down his face. "Gandalf was a great friend and leader," my held back the tears. "He'll be greatly missed, but we must carry on- if not for ourselves- but because Gandalf would've wanted us to finish the task before us."

He nodded softly and I took him into my arms as Legolas had done for me. The small Hobbit was shaking and his little sobs hurt my heart.

"Come along," Aragorn interrupted, pulling me gently to my feet. "We must make haste if we are to reach Lothlorien by nightfall." Aragorn's eyes were cold and I had never seen them this way before. He looked angry and distraught, and all the while, it looked as if he was just barely keeping the tears at bay himself.

Frodo and Sam followed Aragorn down the steep hillside with Gimli, Merry and Pippin following closely behind. I stood still for a moment, swallowing hard and trying to brace myself for the long road ahead of us. "Rayel," Boromir said, aburtly, bringing me out of my trance.

I turned to face him and I could see the shock still in his eyes. "We need to hurry, your brother is right." He patted my shoulder softly before following the Fellowship down the rocky path.

Legolas put his arm around my waist, stabling me as my ankle was still swollen. I had only injured it more with all the running through Khazad Dum. "Naa llie ertu na nae ergo?" Legolas whispered.

"Amin ilod," I answered. "Amin Ilod."

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Hey guys! I know i used more Elvish in this chapter than usual, so i enclosed the translation here! :) I'd love to see how many of you are reading this and/or enjoying so please vote and/or comment! Thank you so much!

Amin ilod- "I hope."

Naa ille ertu na nae ergo- "Are you going to be alright?"

Tul, Rayel, lye que hort- "Come, Rayel, we must hurry."

Tul- "Come."