LotR - Rise to War {LegoRomance}

XXXVI: Gates of Moria

Moria, 3019 TA, January 13

Together, they led the group back to the mountains. A stream called the Sirannon had been the only way to reach Moria from the west in old times. It came out of the cliffs near where the doors used to be and ran into the stream. But either Gandalf was going the wrong way, or the land had changed in the last few years. He didn't find the stream where he looked for it, only a few miles south of where they began. All was dark and dry. Their hearts broke. They didn't see any living things, and there were no birds in the sky. They didn't care what the night would bring if they were caught in that forsaken land.

After they had been going for a while, Gimli came up behind and called back to the group. He was on a hill and pointing to the right. They rushed up and saw a deep and narrow channel below them, so they had to hurry. It was empty and quiet, with only a small trickle of water running through the brown and red-stained stones in its bed. On the other side, there was a path that was very old and had many broken and decayed stones.

"Ah! Here it is at last!" said Gandalf. "This is where the stream ran: Sirannon, the Gate-stream, they used to call it. But what has happened to the water, I cannot guess; it used to be swift and noisy. Come! We must hurry on. We are late."

The Company was sore and tired, but they kept going along the rough and winding trail for a long time. The sun started to move away from noon and start to go to the west. After a short break and a quick meal, they kept going. Mountain ranges were angry in front of them. Their path was in a deep trough of land, and they could only see the high shoulders and the peaks to the east.

They finally came to a sharp turn. This was where the road took a turn to the right. It had been going south between the channel and a steep drop on the left. They came around the corner and saw a low cliff with a broken and jagged top. It was about five feet high. Water dripped over it through a wide cleft that looked like it had been cut out by a strong and full fall.

"Indeed things have changed!" said Gandalf "There are many powers in this world, for Good or for Evil. Some are greater than I am. And against some, I have not yet been tested."

"The Walls of Moria!" Gimli spoke loudly as the company had finally reached the walls of Moria. "Dwarf doors are invisible when closed," he noted. He knocked his axe against a rock. Everyone followed along the wall.

"Yes, Gimli, their own masters cannot find them, if their secrets are forgotten," Gandalf said. "And there the Gate stood once upon a time, the Elven Door at the end of the road from Hollin by which we have come. But this way is blocked."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Legolas scoffed earning Xena's attention. They both had hardly exchanged any word along the journey, only a few glares from time to time. Gimli grumbled and decided not to start a fight with the elf. He would soon pass through Moria and even see his kin and his cousin Balin.

Gandalf approached the rock between two trees, and run his hand over the cliff. He said "Now... let's see. Ithildin." Beneath his hand run spidery silver lines, faint beneath the added: "It mirrors only starlight and moonlight." He looked up at the black night sky, the moon showed up. The silver lines grow bright, outlying a door formed of two columns beneath an arch, with a star in the centre. "Here the Elven-way from Hollin ended," said Gandalf. "Holly was the token of the people of that land, and they planted it here to mark the end of their domain. Those were happier days, when there was still close friendship at times between folk of different races, even between Dwarves and Elves."

"It was not the fault of the Dwarves that the friendship waned," said Gimli.

"I have not heard that it was the fault of the Elves," said Legolas.