Master Of Death

Chapter Eight

I frowned, and we continued forward as quickly as possible in the hope of making up for lost time - we didn't move fast enough though - as soon as we reached the last bridge, the beast emerged.

"Balrog!" Gandalf spoke with dread in his eyes.

Without confirmation, I knew this creature wasn't going to be easy to get past or to destroy. The sheer amount of darkness oozing from its aura made me nauseous, but I managed to contain myself. I need to focus on escaping with everyone else. We got halfway across the bridge - we were forced to go single file - before Balrog attacked, the beast large and seemingly made of fire and coals, huge curving horns on its head and a vast wingspan.

"Go, I will buy you time to escape," Gandalf spoke urgently, standing in front of Balrog.

The fellowship quickly ran the rest of the way to the exit. However, I stayed a few feet from Gandalf, preparing to help. Gandalf didn't notice.

"You shall not pass!" Gandalf commanded.

He thrust down his staff, an orb of light circled him. I saw Glamdring shining as it too was held aloft, warding off the demon. The Balrog wasn't backing down, and Gandalf slammed his staff into the ground once more, creating with it a burst of magic and bright light.

"I am a servant of the secret fire, wielder of the flame or Arnor; the dark fire will not avail you! YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" he commanded once more, it seemed to force the Balrog back slightly.

Balrog released another roar and lunged for the Istari. I blocked him with a strong protego, the strongest I could manage, and it startled Gandalf.

"Fool, run!" Gandalf shot the words in my direction, but I ignored him. The protego shattering under the creatures sheer force. The bridge was beginning to crack under the power of my spell along with Gandalf chanting. I scowled, throwing a few curses and hexes at the beast, but they did no damage, almost like a dragon, they don't do enough harm - they just make it angrier.

"Harry, get out of there!" Legolas shouted, panicked.

"Idiot wizard's you're going to get yourselves killed," Gimli growled out just loud enough to hear.

"Gandalf, Harry, run!" Frodo begged, held back by a resolute Aragorn.

The shouts were distracting, but I kept my focus on the task at hand. Balrog was grabbing for Gandalf again, and I raised my wand toward him.

"Sectumsempra," I spoke the curse, hoping to sever a limb or inflict some sort of wound.

The spell barely affected it, only succeeded in getting Balrog to divert its attention. Its head turned and finally settled on me standing off to the side. I braced myself, thrust my wand out with another spell on the tip of my tongue. Then all I knew was pain and screaming.

'Is it me screaming?' I think, my mind was fuzzy, 'no, that's Legolas.'

"Harry! Damn it Boromir; you are going to release me this instant!" Legolas snapped out, in a harsh and desperate tone. I'm distantly aware of Gandalf in front of me, the Balrog was gone, and he pressed against my stomach.

"Stay with us, Harry," Gandalf whispered, attempting to heal the damage but failing.

Everything was starting to go dark, and I could make out very little of what was going on. I try to open my heavy lids, but it's a struggle.

"Gandalf!" I hear Frodo's scream, the sound is shrill, and it pierces my ears.

I managed to open my eyes for just a moment, just as something wrapped around Gandalf's ankle, and yanked him into the dark abyss below. The entire fellowship rush over, there is so much noise as they all shout and cry for their fallen hero, and yet not believing what's happening. The clearest sound was Frodo's sobbing. I can see Aragorn clutched him to his side, Sam and Legolas leaning over me. It's getting so hard to stay aware of what's going on, everything is becoming blurry, and the sounds getting harder to understand.