Hey! Here's Chapter 8!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Esme's POV
Everything was dark.
I saw nothing, I heard nothing,
I felt nothing.
I was in a world of darkness.
It seemed there was no light.
I felt the need to shout out, but I couldn't seem to make a sound.
I was alone, and I can't do anything.
Help me.
Legolas POV
I stood next to Gandalf, staring curiously at Esme in front of me. She was in a kneeling position on the ground, with her backs towards us. She was facing the three entrances in front of her. She had her head bowed, and was silent.
It was about an hour before she moved from the floor. She straightened up, looking at the right hand tunnel.
"It's that way." Her voice broke through the silence, soft yet clear. Before any of us saw it coming, she collapsed.
Because of my quick Elvish traits, I was quickly able to catch her limp body before she touched the ground. I sighed at how close she was, before shifting her in my arms in a more suitable hold. I turned to look at Gandalf.
"Why did she collapse like that?" I asked him, angrily.
"She's exhausted Legolas, and her body couldn't cope with her anymore. So she shut down, and it won't be a matter of hours till she wakes up." He informs us, before continuing. "We must carry on, now that we know where we must go." He turned to continue, but I interrupted before he could take a step.
"How did she do that? How did she know where we needed to go?" I questioned him. "How did she find out? And how did she find out the password to the entrance of the Mines?" I interrogated him.
Gandalf sighed before turning to look at me, a weary look on his face. He seemed troubled and looked as if he was let down.
"There are some secrets, which aren't mine to tell." He looked at me, before looking at Esme in my hands. In his eyes I saw pity and sadness, different to the usual glint he had in his eyes. He turned back around, and started leading us through the different turns of the tunnel.
It wasn't long before we came into what must've been a wide open room. Though the little light from Gandalf's staff showed us nothing in the darkness.
"Let me risk a bit more light," and with that said, the light on the tip of his staff grew brighter. Gasps escaped from each of the Company's mouths, all astounded at the sight before us. I saw we were standing in some sort of massive hall, lined with tall pillars and arched ceilings that stretched out as far as the eye can see.
"Behold! The great realm of the dwarf city of Dwarrowdelf!" Gandalf announced.
"Well, there's an eye-opener and no mistake." Mumbled Sam.
We walked on for a short while, until it seemed Gimli had spotted something. He made a noise of horror, before rushing off somewhere away from the group.
"Gimli!" Some of us exclaimed as he ran off, the rest of us right behind him. Myself near the end of the group, running slowly as to not jostle Esme in my arms. We reached a chamber, skeletons were scattered around the room, mostly around the walls. In the centre of the room stood a white stone tomb. Gimli was kneeling in front of it, sobbing.
In my arms I felt Esme shifting slightly.
Esme POV
It seemed forever until I could finally acknowledge things. I seemed to be held in someone's arms. The one arm around, under my knees, the other one around the middle of my back. I could feel him slowly walking, then stopped. Around me I could hear voices, but I was too slow to make out what was being said. Soon I felt the person holding me start walking again. I tried my best to move or at least open my eyes, but to no avail nothing worked.
I soon felt the person holding me start moving faster, as if they were running. They came to a stop, and in the background I could hear some sort of crying. Impatient to wake up, I did my best to do anything with my body. I soon found out that I was able to move my arms slightly, and that gave me some hope on opening my eyes. It took all my strength to open my eyes, but I finally managed to open my heavy eyelids slightly.
Everything was blurry, and anything was smudgy. I opened my eyes wider and let them focus on my surroundings. At first things were a bit fazed, but soon I could see everything around me. I turned my head slightly, to find myself staring in the eyes of Legolas.He smiled at me and I smiled back.
"Hello, it's good to see you up. Are you alright?" He asks me, a look of concern on his face.
"Yeah," my voice came out a bit raspy, "I'm alright." My voice must've been heard by everyone, because I was soon being crowded by the Fellowship.
"Hey, hey, hey! I'm alright!" I managed to say quite loudly, making the others quieten down. "Now let me down," I told Legolas. He hesitantly put me on my feet, and made sure I was steady before stepping back. I smiled at everyone.
"Now! Where are we?"
Gandalf approached the tomb in the middle of the room, hovering over it to read what it says.
"Here is Balin, sun of Fundin, Lord of Moria. He is dead, as I feared." Gandalf murmured.
He stepped back, before spotting a dead dwarf holding a very large, old book. He made to go towards it.
"We must move on. We cannot linger." Legolas whispers to Aragorn, whose standing next to me. I cast a nervous glance around the room, as Gandalf starts to read from the book.
"They have taken the bridge, and the second hall. We have barred the gates, but cannot hold them for long." Gandalf read out in a slow, rhythmic voice. "The ground shakes. Drums, drums in the deep. We cannot get out. A shadow moves in the dark. We cannot get out. They are coming."
He looked up; everyone appeared to be frightened by the contents of the book. There was a sickening silence, which was interrupted by a slow creak and a rattle. I looked up just in time to see a skeleton that sat beside Pippin, fall down a well, dragging the chain and bucket with it. I winced at every single soumd it made as it fell to the bottom of Moria. Then there was silence. Would anyone else have heard the racket? Of course they would have, there was enough noise to wake the dead. I half-expect led the skeleton s to sit up and complain.
"Fool of a Took! Throw yourself in next time, and rid us of your stupidity!" Gandalf hissed at Pippin, snatching his hat and staff off the Hobbit. We all stood silent and listened. It seemed we hadn't been word, but I was mistaken.
Then the drums started, making us shake in fear. The steady, menacing beat continued as Frodo took his sword out of it's sheath. It glowed a bright blue.
They are coming.