EDITED 02/06/16
A droplet of water cascades down my neck and onto my back, making me shiver at the sensation. I walk behind the Fellowship, bringing up the rear with Aragorn. He doesn't speak, but for once, I'm okay with that. I'm too cold to carry out a proper conversation, anyways.
"The walls of Moria." Gimli says in awe, staring at a huge cliff face. We make our way towards the stone wall by inching around a lake. The water is black and murky, swirling with mystery. When I peer at the surface, I cannot see my reflection or the dim moonlight.
Only darkness.
The snow is completely gone from my clothes, but the water still remains. The melted liquid drips icily down my body in thin rivulets before plopping onto the ground, freezing me to the bone. My hair hangs limply across my shoulders. I swallow and cross my arms tightly across my chest.
Gandalf approaches the rock face and begins to brush off the dirt, running his hands over the cool stone. Dirt and dust is brushed off deftly, sparkling in the air as it turns and falls to the ground.
"Dwarf doors are invisible when closed." Gimli says proudly.
"Yes Gimli, even their own masters cannot find them if their secrets are forgotten." Gandalf responds, still searching the wall, moving to the right as he searches. His grey robes drag across the dirt.
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Legolas mumbles from beside me, smirking slightly. I elbow him in the ribs, trying to stop myself from laughing out loud. I shake my head, letting out a puff of air. We continue our slow pace, following the wizard along the perimeter of the rock face and along the edge of the lake.
Splash!
Frodo jumps back from the edge of the water, mouth open with a silent cry. He glances back at the pond, nervous fear radiating from his expressive eyes. I look into the dark waters. I do not know what is in the water, but I feel like I don't want to know either.
I prod Legolas in the shoulder, eyes still trained on the lake.
"Something lurks within that lake." I murmur softly, unable to shake the feeling of something or someone watching us. Legolas tilts his head at me with a strange look on his face, and then turns to the water. A few seconds later, he looks back to me and whispers;
"Just don't disturb it, and be careful."
Gandalf suddenly stops in between two giant trees, and begins to brush off the dirt on the surface of the stone once again.
"Now, let's see..." Gandalf mutters. "Ilthildin. It mirrors only starlight and moonlight." He steps to the side, and after a moment, the glimmering light of the moon shines onto the rough, grey stone. I raise my eyebrows at the timing.
The stone starts to show some glowing lines, and I can make out a door. Swirling, radiant beams of light emanate from the door to form words and shapes. I peer at the words, recognizing Elvish, but am not able to piece the words together.
"It reads, The Doors of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak friend, and enter." Gandalf translates.
"What do you suppose that means?" Merry asks curiously, tilting his head.
"Oh, it's quite simple!" The wizard says cheerfully. "If you are a friend, you speak the password, and the doors will open." He presses the tip of his wooden staff on the center of the door. "Annon Edhellen edro hi ammen! (gate of the elves, open now for me!)"
Everybody is dead silent, waiting in anticipation. Wolves howl in the distance, the occasional hoot of an owl echoing along with the wind whooshing through tall treetops.
Nothing happens.
Gandalf tries again.
"Annon Eldarinwa a lasta quettanya, Fenda Casarinwa! (gate of the elves, listen to my word, Threshold of Dwarves!)"
"Nothing's happening," Pipping observes, speaking the words hanging in the atmosphere.
Gandalf then tries to open the doors by force, which I find quite futile, but he finally sits down on a rock with a frustrated sigh after a few tries.
"I once knew every spell in all the tongues of Elves, Men and Orcs." He grumbles.
"What are you going to do then?" Pippin pipes up.
"Knock your head against these doors, Peregrin Took! And if that does not shatter them, and I am allowed a little peace from foolish questions, I will try to find the opening words." Gandalf says, annoyance clear in his tone of voice. Pippin looks down in shame.
"The mines are no place for a pony. Even one so brave as Bill." I hear Aragorn's words, spoken quietly. I turn to see them unloading the bags off of the pony, and taking off his halter.
"Bye bye, Bill." Sam whispers, tears forming in his eyes. Ever since the start of the quest, Sam had stayed by the pony's side and had formed a special bond with him.
"Go on, Bill." Aragorn strokes the pony and pushes him away gently. "Go on. Don't worry Sam, he know's the way home." Bill walks slowly along the path, with Sam watching after him solemnly.
"It's alright, Sam. He's a brave creature, he'll make it." I whisper to the upset hobbit, who wipes his eyes.
Aragorn goes to split our supplies among all of our bags while I stand there with Sam for a few minutes, knowing how much he had loved the sweet pony.
Plop! Plop!
My head turns to see Merry an Pippin skipping stones across the lake out of sheer boredom. My heart skips a beat as I recount what Legolas warned me.
Just don't disturb it, and be careful.
"Pippin!" I whisper-shout at the hobbit, who turns to look at me in alarm. "The lake is dangerous." I add, softening my voice as he drops the stone in reject. Merry aims another stone before I can warn him.
Aragorn sees and almost tackles the poor hobbit, bowling him over, though he successfully stops him from throwing the stone.
"Do not disturb the water!" He whispers, turning to stare into the shadowy depths. I shiver, watching the ripples from the last stone the hobbits threw, waiting for them to recede.
But it doesn't...
I feel a strange feeling in my gut the longer I stare and I face away from the lake. I am not afraid of the water itself, but rather what lurks beneath the surface.
"I wish we could get away!" Says Merry, and I mentally agree with him.
"Why doesn't Gandalf do something quick?" Pippin asks impatiently, hopping from foot to foot. The rocks crunch beneath his feet, disrupting the silence.
Gandalf takes no notice of them. The loud, mournful howling of wolves can be heard, and I grasp the handles of my daggers. I do not trust this place one bit. Maybe we should turn back; take the pass of Caradhras.
With a suddeness that startles myself and the members of the Fellowship, the wizard springs to his feet. He is laughing! I frown at his excitement, confused.
"I have it!" He cries. "Of course, of course! Absurdly simple, like most riddles when you see the answer." Picking up his staff off the rocky ground, he stands before the rock. "Mellon! (friend!)"
The rock divides in the midle and springs outwards inch by inch, until both doors lay back against the wall. The Fellowship stares inside in wonder, at the shadows that lie within.
"I was wrong after all," Gandalf says, "The opening word was inscribed on the archway all the time! The translation should have been: Say 'friend' and enter. I had only to speak the elvish word for friend and the doors opened. Quite simple. Too simple for a learned lore-master in these suspicious days. Those wer happier times. Now let us go!"
He strides into the darkness, and starts to light the tip of his staff. I walk beside Legolas, my hand on his arm. He knows my fear of caves and underground, and doesn't question me.
We had faced a small underground nest of spiders when I had returned from Rivendell, and I suddenly had a panic attack. Legolas left the other soldiers to fend off the spiders and he led me back outside into the daylight. To this day, I still don't know why I have this fear of the underground, as I never had it as a child, but whenever I had a choice, I stayed above ground. Now, I don't really have another choice.
We walk into the darkness, Gimli's voice echoing loudly.
"Soon Master Elf, you will enjoy the fabled hospitility of the dwarves! Roaring fires, malt beer, ripe meat off the bone!" He begins to list things off his fingers as he talks to Legolas. Water drips off the rock above us, splashing onto more stone beneath us. I feel my breathing pick up. "This, my friend, is the home of my cousin Balin. And they call it a mine. A mine!"
His last words echo spookily in the silence, until Gandalf finally manages to light his staff. Our eyes quickly adjust to the dim light, and I step back in horror.
"This is no mine, it's a tomb." Boromir says quietly.
Skeletons litter the entrance of the mines, arrows stuck in various places. I cover my mouth and nose as the smell of nothing other than rot attacks my senses. Legolas reaches out, pluching an arrow from one of the corpses. This is even worse- not only am I underground, there are dead corpses everywhere. Empty eye sockets stare through me, finger and rib and leg bones jutting out at unnatural angles. Legolas examines the arrow.
"Goblins!" He shouts, and notches an arrow to his bow. Everybody pulls out their weapons, and I hold my daggers in front of me. The sound of the Fellowship drawing out their weapons echoes throughout the mines. I grip my daggers tighter and exhale slowly, clenching my jaw.
"We make for the Gap of Rohan! We should never have come here. Now, get out!" Boromir instructs.
Then several things happen at once.
Frodo falls to the floor, a tentacle-like thing grasping his ankle. The other hobbits shout his name in alarm and everybody else turns around to see the commotion. Frodo is being dragged outside, and Sam rushes forwards to rescue his friend. He chops off the tentacle with his small sword and Frodo stumbles hurriedly back into the caves.
All is silent for a millisecond, before a dozen more tentacles erupt from the gloomy water, pushing the other hobbits out of the way and grabbing poor Frodo by the ankles.
"Strider!" Sam yells in terror, and everyone rushes past the ranger to rescue Frodo. I duck under the tentacles that lash out at me, determined to get to the hobbit. Legolas stands a bit farther off, firing arrows into the sea-creature attacking the Ringbearer. I run towards the water, chopping some of the thinner ones off and hearing them plop onto the stony beach behind me. Aragorn fights beside me, his sword easily slicing the thicker tentacles that my blade cannot.
Aragorn, Boromir, and I make our way into the water, and he stops at about knee-depth. The cold water seeps into my clothing quickly, weighing my boots and pants down.
Frodo dangles above us, a single tentacle laced around his torso and suspending him in the night sky. The creature emerges from the water, but I don't have time to study it's features and identify what it is. Boromir lets out a yell and slices through a tentacle as I cross my blades and chop off another. Aragorn singles out the one holding Frodo captive and slices through the tentacle.
Moments later, Frodo falls from the sky, landing behind me in Boromir's waiting arms.
"Into the mines!" Gandalf shouts, and the three of us turn to retreat. We run as fast as we can with our sodden garb, but we manage to make it back before the vexed creature grabs us with it's flailing limbs.
"Legolas! Into the cave!" Boromir yells, and I notice Legolas is still out there, shooting at the squid thing.
"Legolas!" I shriek. "Come here!"
Legolas fires one last shot into the creatures bulging eye, and runs inside swiftly. The creature comes out of the water, following us into the caves, but he doesn't fit through the entrance. It begins to tear at the stone, the sound of squishy flesh and rigid stone bearing into my mind. The entrance way shrudders before crumbling to the ground, chunks of rock tumbling down above our heads. We keep running, but Gimli is slowing down from where he runs in front of me.
We aren't going to make it. We will be crushed by stone and left here forever with the dwarf skeletons.
"Gimli!" I grab him by the shoulders and push him as hard as I can, sending him toppling into Boromir. The man manages to right both himself and Gimli, and they continue to run from the avalanche of stone. The force of the action causes me to lurch forwards and I stumble, hitting the ground hard and rolling a meter or two before everything falls silent. I pull myself to my feet.
The Fellowship stands in darkness.
A flicker of light appears nearby, growing brighter by the second. It then illuminates the room slightly, letting me see the weary faces of my companions. Gandalf holds his glowing staff tightly with one hand.
"We now have but one choice. We must face the long dark of Moria." Gandalf murmurs. "Be on your guard! There are older and fouler things in the deep places of the world. Quietly now. It is a four day journey to the other side. Let us hope our presence may go unnoticed."
I begin to panic. Four days in this place? And what is Gandalf saying about older, fouler things here? I hate underground places; they are so unpredictable and scary. I've hated them since I was twelve. My breathing picks up and my head feels light and dizzy. I sway on my feet, desperately sucking in air and blinking hard, fuzzy spots appearing in my vision. Aragorn glances at me worriedly, placing his hand on my shoulder. Legolas picks his way over to me and cards one hand through my hair, the other on my arm.
"Vivienne, you're okay... You're okay..." He murmurs, repeating the words until I feel myself calming down. Once my vision clears, I notice the rest of the Fellowship watching in concern. My cheeks flare up instantly, embarrassed, but Legolas pulls me to his chest and rubs my back comfortingly.
"Are you alright?" He whispers in my ear. I nod shakily, the end of one of his braids tickling behind my ear. "We have to keep moving..."
I straighten up, wobbling for a moment before clearing my throat. Gandalf looks at me and smiles.
"Yeah, I'm good. Let's go."
A/N: so some of you may have noticed that Gandalf, not Frodo, figured out the riddle to the mines. I didn't like how Frodo figured it out in the movies, so I did it the way Tolkien wrote :)
Thanks for reading,
Shay xx