Chap. 15 - Mines of Moria Pt. 2

There was no way out. I couldn't escape now. Frodo! Where was Frodo? Was he eaten?

I looked at Aragorn, and hissed, "Where is Frodo?"

He glanced up to four, small figures, "Up there. Why?"

"I thought he was eaten," I said sheepishly, and shrugged. He smiled with amusement, and we caught up to the others.

Gandalf looked around, "We have now but one choice. We must face the long dark of Moria. Be on your guard, there are older and fouler things than orcs in the deep places of the worlds. Quietly now, it's a four day journey to the other side. Let us hope our presence may go unnoticed."

Gandalf started to lead the way through the dark cavern. I stepped onto a couple of skulls, and they made a sickening crunch underneath my feet. My hand was kept on my bow as we progressed. Boromir slowly made his way over to me, and started to walk on my right side. Aragorn walked on my left, our arms brushing.

I felt Aragorn stiffen when Boromir stood next to me. I was expecting Boromir to start talking about Minas Tirith, but he remained silent. I got the impression that they were protecting me, but I wasn't that helpless. I took quicker steps, and got ahead of them. By a couple feet.

I squinted ahead through the dark. Legolas peered back at us, and kept walking. He had his bow ready as well. Gandalf suddenly stopped. Something silver glittered in the wall. He reached out to touch it, "The wealth of Moria was not in gold or jewels. But in Mithril."

He looked over at the edge of the path, and shone his light from his staff down the cavern. I looked down. The 'mithril', or whatever he had called it littered the bottom of the cave.

"Bilbo had a shirt of Mithril that Thorin gave him," Gandalf said.

"Aww. That was a kingly gift," Gimli said.

Gandalf nodded, "Yes. I never told him, but it's worth was greater than the value of the Shire!"

I turned to Aragorn, and asked quietly, "What's Mithril?"

He touched the wall gently, "It's made out of dragon scales. Stronger than steel, and light as a feather."

I reached out to the wall, and tugged on a piece of the substance. It wouldn't come out, so I let it be. We kept going, and stopped at some extremely steep stairs. Gandalf looked up, "Be careful going up."

He started to climb, and the hobbits followed. Legolas climbed with extreme ease. Maybe it's not so bad. The hobbits were struggling a little, but maybe that's because they are short.

I followed them up the steep staircase. It was harder than I thought. The handholds were small and wet, so it was quite slippery. I heard a gasp and scuffling from above.

"Pippin!" I heard Merry rasp. Pippin must have slipped.

I went back to concentrating on my climb. My foot slipped on something, and I went down a couple of steps. A sharp rock sliced through side of my knee. My heart was pounding, and I gasped. From below me, Aragorn took a sharp intake of breath, "Alex!"

"I'm alright, my foot slipped," I breathed. My leg burned where I was cut. I clenched my jaw, and kept climbing.

Now I realized why Legolas was so good at it. He was an elf. I got to the last step, and pulled myself up. My arms felt like noodles, and I almost let go a couple of times. I stood up, and saw Gandalf staring at three different doorways.

Behind me, Aragorn climbed up, followed by Boromir.

"I have no memory of this place," Gandalf whispered, and sat down.

Frodo went to talk to him, and I leaned against a wall. I sighed, and my stomach growled. I hadn't eaten in a day. Maybe two days. The adrenaline from the monster's kill still pumped through my veins for awhile.

My cloak was still damp from being thrown in the water. I shivered. A cold draft from the caverns rustled my loose tendrils of hair. I looked at my leg, and rolled my pants up. A small gash was bleeding slightly. I sighed in relief, I thought it would be worse than that.

Boromir sat down next to me.

"Are you hurt?" he asked, and quickly glanced at Aragorn who was talking quietly with Legolas.

I shook my head, "It's a small scratch. It's not bleeding very bad."

Boromir searched through a small pouch on his hip and pulled out a piece of cloth. He held it out, "Could I?"

I nodded, and let him tie it around my knee. "Thank you."

He smiled slightly, and leaned against the wall. I shut my eyes. I was extremely tired, and I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. Gandalf abruptly stood up, "Oh! It's that way!"

"He's remembered!" Merry said happily.

I opened my eyes, and cursed in my head. I wanted a short break to rest, but realized it would be best to move on. Aragorn was standing in front of me, and offered me his hand. I took it, and he pulled me up.

We started to walk towards the doorway Gandalf had gone down. He glanced at Boromir, and then my leg, "What happened?"

I quickly rolled my pant leg down, "When I slipped, my leg scratched a rock. Boromir bandaged the wound."

"Good," Aragorn said stiffly, and glared at Boromir.

I heard Gandalf sniff, "No, but the air doesn't smell so foul down here. If in doubt, Meriadoc, always follow your nose!"

I followed the wizard through the tunnel, and into cooler and better smelling air. My leg felt stiff and sore because of the wound and the tightly wrapped bandage. At the bottom of the tunnel, Gandalf lit his staff a little brighter, "Behold! The great realm and dwarf city of Dwarrowdelf."

The huge hall lit up. Prodigious columns surrounded us, and I stared up in wonder. Sam looked up, "That's an eye opener and no mistake."

We wandered down a row of the huge stone pillars. I wanted to run around them, and laugh like a child, but held my urge to do so. Gimli spotted a room, and ran towards it, "Oh!"

"Gimli!" Gandalf said, and tried to stop the dwarf.

Gimli kneeled in front of a stone tomb, and sorrowfully yells, "Nooo! Noooo!"

I run after Gimli, and put my hand on his shoulder. His shoulders jerk with each sob. Gandalf follows me, and so does the rest of the group.

"Here lies Balin, son of Fundin, Lord of Moria. He is dead then. As I feared," Gandalf says, and removes his hat.

He hands it to Pippin, reaches down to tear a book from a skeleton's grasp. He reads the last entry from it. I tried to listen, but Pippin caught my attention. He reached out to touch an arrow on a skeleton's head.

"Pippin! No!" I warned him, and watched the skeleton's head fall down a well. Everyone turned around to look at Pippin. Then whole skeleton fell down, followed by the chain that was holding it. I cringed and held my breath with each loud boom and bang it made.

Once the sound had stopped, everyone seemed to sigh with relief.

I backed away from Gimli, and held my bow. An eerie silence made me shudder.

No one made a sound until Gandalf yelled at Pippin, "Fool of a Took! Throw yourself in next time to rid us of your stupidity!"

I felt a twinge of sadness for the hobbit. A loud noise that sounded like a drum snapped that sadness out of me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Frodo's sword turn blue. Blue? Since when do swords do that? The drums got louder and faster.

A screech sounded, and Legolas yelled, "Orcs!"

Aragorn and Boromir bolted for the door, and shut it. The grabbed axes that Legolas tossed to them and barred the door shut. I heard a strange growl, and Boromir turned to us, "They have a cave troll!"

I set an arrow onto the bowstring, and Aragorn yelled at the hobbits, "Stay close to Gandalf!"

The hobbits quickly ran to Gandalf, and unsheathed their swords. Aragorn looked at me, "Stay close!"

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