Fan Fiction ❯ Lord of the Rings: Stargaze ❯ Balin's Tomb ( Chapter 11 )

Balin's Tomb

"I sit beside the fire and think

of people long ago,

and people who will see a world

that I shall never know.

But all the while I sit and think

of times there were before,

I listen for returning feet

and voices at the door."

Gandalf continued to lead them on through the dark mines of Moria. They stopped occasionally for rest, and once they came to a spot where the path had split into three tunnels. Gandalf had to rest for nearly an hour before he figured out the way again. Olfactory senses could come in very handy at times.

Before long after this puzzle had been solved and the right passage taken, the Company came to a large open space. All was quiet and still, and even the dark vision of the Night Elf princess could see no movement in the great blackness.

"Let me risk a little more light," Gandalf muttered half to himself, raising his staff. As he did so, his staff began to glow as bright as a star. The glow illuminated a grandiose hall of stone lined with tall columns and pillars and arched ceilings as far as the eye could see. The entire Fellowship, including the Dwarf, were awestruck.

Gandalf gestured grandly towards the hall. "Behold the great realm and Dwarf city of Dwarrowdelf."

"Now there's an eye opener and no mistake," Sam murmured in amazement.

The Fellowship continued onward into the hall, everyone staring around in wonder at the majesty of this place. All except Arora. She walked with her arms folded tightly about her violet poncho, her head bowed and her eyes nearly closed. Legolas noticed this. He went over to her, and Arora allowed him to take her arm in his.

Suddenly, Gimli noticed a ray of sunlight coming from the entrance to a chamber. The floor was scattered with corpses. He gave a shout and rushed forward. Gandalf called to him, but the Dwarf paid no heed. He ran into the chamber.

When the rest of the Company followed, they found their companion kneeling, distraught, by a tomb. As Gimli sobbed, Boromir moved forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. The other stopped and bowed their heads in respect for the dead. The Hobbits looked sad. Pippin walked around the tomb, staring at it curiously, and stopped near a well.

Gandalf inspected the runes of the tomb, and began to translate, " `Here lies Balin, son of Fundin, Lord of Moria.' " He sighed. "He is dead, then. It's as I feared."

Gimli wailed even harder. Gandalf handed his staff and hat to Pippin, and then noticed something on the ground. Reaching down, he pried a large and battered book from the grasp of a corpse.

Legolas leaned over to Aragorn. "We must move on. We cannot linger."

Stroking the scarred cover, Gandalf opened the book and blew the dirt from its pages. Then he began to read.

" `They have taken the bridge, and the second hall. We have barred the gates, but cannot hold them for long. The ground shakes. Drums, drums in the deep.' "

He now had the complete attention of every member of the Fellowship. Even Arora was watching her master carefully. Pippin shuffled a bit, and suddenly noticed a corpse sitting upright on the rim of the well behind him, with an arrow in its chest. Gandalf continued to read.

" `We cannot get out. A Shadow moves in the dark. We cannot get out…' "

He looked up ominously at his companions.

" `They are coming.' "

Pippin, who had the attention span of a goldfish, was no longer listening to Gandalf's reading. Curiously, he reached out and lightly twisted the arrow in the chest of the corpse.

With a snap, the arrowhead broke off from the rest of the corpse, causing first the skull, then the body, then the chain and bucket to go over the side of the well and drop far below, its noise echoing from hall to hall. Gandalf whipped around to see Pippin standing by the well. The Fellowship stiffened tensely, and Pippin winced at each new wave of noise.

Then there was silence.

The Fellowship gradually began to relax. Legolas lowered his eyes, and Aragorn and Boromir let their shoulders droop in relief. Gandalf, however, was rather upset.

The wizard slammed the book shut. "Fool of a Took! Throw yourself in next time and rid us of your stupidity!" He punctuated these words by grabbing his hat and staff out of Pippin's hands.

Pippin looked abashed. He glanced up to see Merry trying not to laugh. Arora was behind him. The young Elven female gave Pippin a small smile that told him she thought no worse of him for his errors, and made all the embarrassment worth it.

Just then, drums echoed up from deep below. Pippin and Gandalf slowly turned to stare at the well, and terror began to creep into the faces of the Fellowship…

"Frodo!" Sam cried. Frodo pulled Sting halfway from its sheath…the Elvish blade was glowing bright blue.

"Orcs!" Legolas growled in recognition. Arora' grip became tight.

Boromir ran to the door to look out. Suddenly, two arrows whiz past and strike the frame just in front of his face.

"Get back! Stay close to Gandalf!" Aragorn ordered the Hobbits as he dropped his torch and ran to help Boromir close the doors. As Gandalf ushered the Hobbits behind, they heard a roar just outside.

"They have a cave troll," Boromir said in an exasperated tone.

Legolas tossed axes from the floor to Boromir and Aragorn in an effort to help blockade the door. Then the Fellowship began to draw their weapons. Gandalf brandished his staff, and Boromir prepared his sword and shield. Legolas and Aragorn readied their bows.

Arora stared at the broken wooden door, listening to the screeching outside. Her face turned whiter. She turned around and leaped upward onto the ledge of one wall.

"She runs?!" Boromir whispered fiercely in disbelief.

"She fights," Legolas hissed, strangely defensive. "Wait and see."

Gimli leaped atop Balin's tomb and brandishes his axe.

"Argh! Let them come! There is one Dwarf yet in Moria who still draws breath!" he spat furiously.

Boromir tensed himself as the sound of axes and hammers on the door intensified. Aragorn and Legolas pulled back their bow strings. Aragorn looked angry and ready to fight, but Legolas was calm and completely motionless. He carefully aimed his arrow.

The Orcs began breaking the door down. Legolas let his arrow fly, and Aragorn did the same, shooting them down through a hole in the door. Despite this onslaught, the Orcs finally broke through.

Boromir raised his sword to strike them down when suddenly the first row of four flew backwards, arrows implanted in their bodies. His head whirled around to see Arora grab a handful of arrows from her quiver and reload. She pulled back and fired, and another group of Orcs fell.

The Fellowship attacked the Orcs head on. Legolas and Arora continued to rain arrows on them, Arora from afar, and Legolas right in their midst. Boromir and Aragorn swung their swords valiantly, taking the head off one before disemboweling another.

But the flow of Orcs seemed endless.

And that was just the beginning.

Suddenly, there was a great roar, and an enormous cave troll smashed its way through the doorway. Boromir jumped backward, and Aragorn looked up in an instant's fear. Legolas narrowed his eyes and shot the troll in the chest, but it merely growled and swung his club at Sam. The Hobbit only just managed to slip away underneath.

The troll then swung twice at Gimli, but missed; the first swipe hit the tomb, smashing it open, and the second sent a squealing Orc flying into a wall. The battle continued to rage on around them.

Sam whacked an Orc in the face with a skillet. "I think I'm getting the hang of this."

Legolas had managed to spring up onto the ledge on the wall opposite Arora, who was now forced to fight in the thick of the Orcs, and was spinning and stabbing his enemies expertly with two Elvish daggers.

Suddenly, Legolas was forced to duck as the troll swung the chain around its neck like a lasso, threatening to take the Elf prince's head off. The troll swung again, and Legolas jumped backwards. The chain exploded off the pillar.

"Legolas!" Arora cried from the other ledge.

Legolas managed to avoid the chain as it was swung a third time. The troll swung so hard that the chain wrapped itself around a stone pillar. With a flash on inspiration, Legolas stamped the chain tight and then ran along it onto the troll's shoulders. The troll growled and raged, its stumpy arms trying to knock the intruder off, but Legolas kept his balance. He pulled out an arrow and shot straight downwards onto the troll's head. Then he jumped off as the monster roared in pain and surprise.

So great was the troll's anger, it continued to chase Legolas with its club. The troll could not catch the nimble little pest in front of it, so it satisfied itself with hurling heavy objects at its head. Soon, the creature would not be able to dodge fast enough.

Legolas jumped out of the way, narrowly missing the heavy stone that had been rushing towards his body. Suddenly he realized he had backed himself into a corner…there was no way around the giant menace…

Just as the troll raised a boulder to crush its adversary, Arora appeared on the ledge above. Without even thinking twice she leaped onto the great monster's back. The troll roared again, and tried to swipe her off as well, but the female Elf ignored the powerful arms beating the air around her. Bracing herself on her knees on the troll's shoulders, she pulled two daggers like Legolas's out of her belt and thrust them into the thick hide of the creature's neck. The troll seemed to shriek with agony and rage, and bucked backwards so forcefully that Arora lost her grip. She tumbled backwards toward the ground.

Legolas rushed past the troll and leaped over stone ruins. He reached out and caught Arora in his arms.

Arora caught her breath and looked at him uncomfortably, a slight red tinge on her pale cheeks.

"I would have landed on my feet, Legolas."

Legolas blinked. Now he felt embarrassed. Of course she didn't need him to save her. He found his gaze sinking into her night-blue eyes. "I apologize…"

"Aragorn? Aragorn!"

Legolas was snapped out of his daze by Frodo's frantic cry for help. The Hobbit had tried to evade the troll's search by hiding behind pillars…but the monster found him nonetheless, grabbed him and dragged him off the ledge. It was now swinging him around like a stuffed animal.

Frodo stabbed the troll's hand with Sting, and it roared and dropped him to the ground.

At that moment, Aragorn leapt of the other ledge with a fierce cry and landed between Frodo and the troll. He grabbed a spear from the floor and stabbed the troll right through the chest.

The troll, infuriated, whacked Aragorn and sent him flying across the room. He collapsed to the floor. The Ranger was too stunned to move, and even Frodo's frantic rousing didn't work.

When Frodo realized that Aragorn couldn't help him, he tried to run away. But his way was blocked by the ugly troll, which stopped him with the spear and flung him back. Taking swift aim, the troll stabbed Frodo through the heart.

Frodo gasped. He heard Sam call his name. The troll smirked maliciously…Frodo's eyes closed and he slumped to the floor.

Merry and Pippin shouted in anger. Together they leaped onto the troll's head and began stabbing it with their blades. The troll flailed again at its head, finally grabbed Merry, swung him around and threw him to the floor.

The Fellowship redoubled its efforts against Orcs and troll. Arora rushed to Merry and pulled him out of harm's way, staring fearfully after Pippin's movements on the troll's shoulders. Gandalf and Gimli took turns stabbing at the troll and dodging out of range. Legolas took aim.

When Pippin stabbed the troll one more time in the head, the monster opened its mouth. Legolas delivered an arrow into its soft throat.

Its last roar cut off midway, the troll plucked absently at the feathery shaft in its mouth. Legolas stepped back and watched anxiously as the massive creature moaned one last time, and collapsed to the ground. Pippin was thrown against the floor and momentarily stunned. The troll was dead.

There was a moment of silence in Balin's desecrated tomb. All the Orcs were dead or had fled. Arora went to help Pippin.

Suddenly, Aragorn regained consciousness. He looked wildly around, and spotted Frodo's limp form.

"Oh no…" He kneeled beside Frodo and turned him over gently.

Frodo groaned.

Sam gasped happily. "He's alive!"

"I'm all right," Frodo breathed heavily. "I'm not hurt."

Aragorn's eyes were wide with disbelief. "You should be dead…That spear would have skewered a wild boar!"

Gandalf came up behind them with his apprentice, who still had Merry and Pippin clinging to her tunic. The wizard's eyes were twinkling. "I think there's more to this Hobbit than meets the eye."

Slowly, Frodo pulled open his white cloth shirt. Underneath was a full vest of what looked like mother-of-pearl rings. Sam touched it in amazement, and Merry and Pippin's eyes were wide.

Gimli gasped and pointed in awe. "Mithril…!" He gave Frodo a nod and a Dwarfish smile. "You are full of surprises, Master Baggins!"

Suddenly, there was a distance echoing of screeches and caws. There were shadows growing larger cast against the broken doorway. Orcs were once again advancing down the hall.

Gandalf turned quickly. "To the bridge of Khazad-dûm!"