The Fellowship's Silvertongue

Many Things Await In The Dark

It had been more than three days and we weren't out yet. Gandalf had finally picked a passage, then we would arrive in the great halls, Goblins would come after us, then the Balrog, Gandalf falls, tragedy- now how am I going to act sad even though I know what is to come? Just try your best.

I bumped into someone in front of me, for once it wasn't Legolas, but it was Boromir.

"Sorry," I mumbled. "Lost in thoughts, plus, it's so dark."

"No worries, Lady Rosa, but look." Boromir looked at me then pointed ahead. Gandalf's staff lit up the entire halls of Moria, it was amazing, almost better than what the book described.

"Now that's an eye-opener, no doubt about it." Sam awed.

Following Gandalf's lead, we passed under the northern arch and found ourselves in a wide corridor. As we went along it the glimmer grew stronger, and I saw that it came through a doorway on our right. It was high and flat-topped, and the stone door was still upon its hinges, standing half-open. Beyond it was a large square chamber. Balin's tomb. It was dimly lit, but to our eyes, after so long a time in the dark, it seemed dazzlingly bright, and we blinked as we entered.

Our feet disturbed a cloud of deep dust upon the floor and stumbled among things lying in the doorway whose shapes we could not at first make out. The tomb was lit by a wide shaft high in the further eastern wall; it slanted upwards and, far above, a small square patch of blue sky could be seen. The light of the shaft fell directly on a table in the middle of the room: a single oblong block, about two feet high, upon which was laid a great slab of white stone.

"It looks like a tomb," muttered Frodo, and bent forwards with a curious sense of foreboding, to look more closely at it. Gandalf came quickly to his side. On the slab runes were deeply graven:

BALIN OF DURIN.

LORD OF MORIA.

"He's... Dead." I attempted to speak in a despaired tone, it worked.

"No..." Gimli muttered and cast his hood over his face.

We stood silently beside the tomb.

"Was he a good Dwarf?" I asked. Gimli's head slightly nodded.

"A noble one too." He said.

"I'm sorry." I put my hand on his shoulder.

Beside the tomb lay the remains of a book. Gandalf lifted it off the ground and began to read.

I cannot repeat the entire manuscript, a lot of it went through one ear and out the other, but it was dark. Hearing Gandalf read it was more intense then me reading it to myself.

Gandalf had hardly spoken these words when there came a great noise: a rolling Boom that seemed to come from depths far below and to tremble in the stone at our feet. We sprang towards the door in alarm. Doom, doom it rolled again as if huge hands were turning the very caverns of Moria into a vast drum. Then there came an echoing blast: a great horn was blown in the hall, and answering horns and harsh cries were heard further off. There was a hurrying sound of many feet.

I grabbed Aragorn's arm in fear. He rested his hand on mine

"They're coming," Legolas said.

"We're trapped!" Pippin cried. The walls began to shake.

"Quick! Block the door!" Gandalf commanded.

Legolas, Aragorn, and Boromir ran to the door and began to block it up with spears and boards.

"Rosa, with the little ones!" Gandalf pointed. I was started to get annoyed about how Gandalf took advantage of me being a woman to be a motherly type. But I did as I was told and stood with the hobbits and drew my sword. The others lined up while the cries of orcs got louder and louder.