All Shall Fade (LOTR-Wattys 2014)

All Shall Fade - Chapter 40 - The Way is Shut

All Shall Fade

Chapter 40

The Way is Shut

It took me a moment to gain the courage to leave my self-induced darkness and open my eyes, but when I did I realised that it really didn’t make much difference. The only thing that told me that my eyes were actually open was the fact that I could feel myself blinking, and the chilling notion that this new darkness felt a lot less safe than my own one. Even the dim light from the doorway behind us couldn’t penetrate it, in fact, if I’d just been dropped here, I probably wouldn’t have known there was a door at all. I reached out hesitantly with one hand, blindly feeling my way through the cold darkness, hoping to find a wall or something that would help me get my bearings. I gasped as my fingertips brushed across something warm, and then when that warm something grabbed my hand I had to force back a scream, before I realised that I recognised the calloused touch of the hand that closed around mine and I took a step forward, reaching out with my other hand and sighing with relief as I found Aragorn’s shoulder. I let my hand slide down his arm and tightly gripped his hand with both of my hands, as if I was afraid of being pulled away from him. He began walking, towing me along behind him as he felt his way along a rough rock wall, and then I heard him rummage with something, before I was suddenly blinded by a bright light. I inhaled quietly, blinking hard to get rid of the white spots in my vision and clinging to Aragorn’s hand, feeling blinder than ever. As my vision cleared, I realised that the blinding light had been Aragorn lighting a flaming torch, which he now held up so it cast a dim light over the claustrophobic tunnel-like structure we were standing in.

I glanced around, and took a step backwards as my eyes settled on the piles of bones that were scattered around us. More than anything I wanted to run as far away from this place as I could, but as Aragorn silently linked his fingers through mine I was reminded of why I was here. I couldn’t leave him, no matter what happened we were doing this together, meaning I was going to see it through to the end.

I took a deep breath and squeezed his hand, allowing him to lead me on as we began walking. I cast a quick look over my shoulder, seeing Legolas and Gimli following close behind us. Gimli looked as worried as I felt, but Legolas just looked sombre as we began walking down the dark tunnel that stretched ahead of us, lined with bones and cobwebs, with hints of an eerie mist creeping along at our feet. In some ways it reminded me of our passage through the Mines of Moria, but in other ways it was totally different. In Moria there had been the very menacing awareness that there was something alive and dangerous in there. Here, everything was dead, and I was acutely aware of the fact that we were the only life forms to enter here in a very long time. And somehow that made it seem more sinister than the mines. I shadowed Aragorn’s steps carefully, trying not to step on anything other than the cold ground as we followed the maze-like passageway into the heart of the mountain. As we journeyed further and further away from the entrance, chills began to creep up my spine and I even started flinching at the sight of my own shadow, the only thing that stopped me from freezing up completely was Aragorn’s hand in mine, a constant reminder that I wasn’t alone in here. I tried not to let my eyes linger on the heaps of dull bones, or let myself think about how the people they had belonged to had died. Had they just wasted away in this mountain? Had they thought they could hide forever? Evidently they probably had, which was why we were here. I didn’t know how long we walked for in silence. It could have been hours, or days. I had no way of knowing.

“What is it? What do you see?” Gimli suddenly asked, breaking the almost painful silence. I glanced back and saw him staring at Legolas, who was peering around.