May it Be | THE LORD OF THE RINGS 🖋

.17. A Journey in the Dark

Deirdre's POV

In the pitch black darkness of the cave, I felt the warm arms around me loosen as my feet were placed back on to solid ground.

'Are you alright?' Aragorn whispered in my ear as he helped steady my balance.

'I believe so,' I replied. I felt a bit dizzy but it was good to finally have a moment to catch my breath, even if we were now stuck in the dark and surrounded by the bodies of Gimli's fallen kin.

I took a deep breathe and placed a hand against my stomach to try and settle my nerves. I could still feel the creatures slimy tentacle wrapped around my ankle though I was fully aware that it wasn't there.

The rational part of my brain was telling me that I should have been terrified at having been that close to becoming the creatures next meal, but luckily the logical half of my mind knew that now was neither the time nor place to react in such a way. Instead, I closed my eyes and focused my thoughts on my breathing.

When I opened my eyes, we no longer stood in darkness.

The crystal atop Gandalf's staff shined brightly, eliminating the room and revealed that our only way out was to go forward.

'We now have 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 world,' Gandalf said, voicing my own thoughts.

Gandalf walked in the direction of a set of steps which lead from the entrance chamber, 'Quickly now, it's a four day journey to the other side. Let us hope that our presence may go unnoticed.'

I moved to follow him but was stopped by a hand suddenly gripping my forearm.

Aragorn pulled me close to him causing my breathe to catch in my throat. His hair was wet from the lake and stuck to his face in places but what caught me off guard was the worried look in his eyes.

'You're bleeding.' He said, his voice thick with concern.

Aragorn pushed strands of my hair out of my face and tucked them behind my ear before lightly touching my forehead. I flinched at pain pulsed from my temple, just under his fingertips.

'I'm fine,' I said trying to assure him.

'No, you're not.' He raised his voice as he continued to inspect the wound. I knew I had hit my head hard, and the blood loss would have explained my dizziness, but I couldn't dwell on it.

'We don't have time,' I said calmly, placing my hand on his, 'I will be fine, but right now we must follow Mithrandir.'

Aragorn looked torn between wanting to stay and clean my injury or to continue on ahead with the others.

'We should go, we're losing the light.' I heard a small voice say from below.

Frodo stood beside us, watching Gandalf and the others walking away, taking the only source of light with them.

I nodded and smiled at Frodo before squeezing Aragorn's hand in comfort.

'Come on; if at any time I feel the slightest bit poorly, I will tell you at once.'

Aragorn agreed to this by simply nodding and releasing his hold on me.

*

'Oh!' I heard Frodo gasped as we walked through the deep corridors of Moria, 'I almost forgot, I picked this up...after you fell.'

Frodo lifted his thick green cloak to reveal my sword hidden beneath it before handing it back to me.

'Thank you,' I whispered. The hilt felt good in my hand as if the blade was an extension of my arm. It would have been a tough weapon to replace.