River of Stars

Chapter Eight

     They set up camp there. Boromir and Strider sat by the fire they had made, Legolas hovering behind them, while Abis leaned against the wall a little bit away.
     Abis enjoyed the company of the others, he really did, but it was a significant change from his normal, and he felt himself becoming exhausted the longer he spent around them without break.
     Strider rose from his seat next to the fire, coming to sit next to Abis away from the group instead.
     "Are they becoming too much?" The older ranger asked. Strider had an uncanny ability to read Abis, or anyone really, which he had yet to see again in anyone else. "I saw you get thrown earlier. How's your shoulder?"
     "It's fine. Nothing's broken," Abis said. He curled his hands around the book in his lap. He had it open and turned the pages, but what little he could focus on enough to read he did not retain.
     "Right. And that's why you yelled at Legolas earlier when he touched it."
     Abis wasn't sure how to respond to that. He had taken off his cloak to sit on it, making it more than easy enough for Strider to prod him none to gently in the side.
     A shock of pain sparked where he made contact, making Abis jump and hiss, flinching away so hard he nearly fell over.
     "You're hurt and you need help," Strider said, pulling him back up gently.
     "I'll be fine, I'm sure it's just bruised."
     "Have you even looked at it yet?"
     "We are in a large group of people I don't know well in a relatively confined and potentially dangerous place, so no I have not taken my shirt off recently," Abis mumbled.
     "Have you considered that something may be broken and you're only making it worse?" Strider asked.
     Abis glared at him. He had considered it. Brushed it off, but considered it. Could he be hurt and making it worse? Yes, hypothetically. Could it be nothing? Most likely. Should he check instead of taking his chances... Well, yes, probably, but that wasn't the point. Except that it very much was the point, and he really did need to check it.
     Abis grumbled quietly under his breath as he unlaced the top of his shirt and tugged it down to the side, revealing the top of his shoulder. It was cold, and he did not like it.
     "What are you doing?" Legolas asked curiously from where he had sat by the fire.
     "I hurt my shoulder." Legolas blinked, then seemed to realize this was why Abis had reacted so poorly earlier.
     "Sorry," he said. Abis nodded, then went back to checking his shoulder.
     "See, it's fine. Just a bad bruise. It'll be better in a few days."
     Strider looked at the shoulder for a moment or two more then finally nodded in defeat.
     "Fine. But if it starts to hurt worse, don't just leave it, you don't want irreparable damage, even in your non-dominant arm."
     Strider stood up and went back to join Boromir by the fire, leaving Abis to relace the top of his shirt and sit on his own off to the side.
     "Are we lost?" Pippin asked.
     "No," Merry responded certainly.
     "I think we are," Pippin said.
     "Sh! Gandalf's thinking."
     "Merry?"
     "What?"
     "I'm hungry."
     The hobbits were not nearly as discreet as they thought they were, but after that Abis focused on his book rather than the others' conversations. Not too long after, however, Gandalf seemed to remember which way to go.
     "Oh!" He said. "It's that way."
     "He's remembered!" Merry said excitedly as he jumped up.
     "No," Gandalf corrected. "But the air doesn't smell so foul down here. If in doubt, Meriadoc, always follow your nose."
     They all got up and repacked whatever they had taken out. Abis put his book in his pack and carefully pulled his cloak back over his shoulders. Then, the Fellowship followed Gandalf down the right, and apparently more approachable, tunnel.
     Through the tunnel and down some steps they came into another, larger cavern, even poorer lit by Gandalf's staff.
     "Let me risk a little more light." As the staff grew brighter, great columns and carvings were revealed, all part of one great chamber. "Behold, the great realm and Dwarf city  of Dwarrowdelf.
     "There's an eye opener, and no mistake," Sam said in wonder.
     The pillars seemed to stretch for miles, going on forever and ever. He had yet to see the end of them when Gimli caught sight of a side door and rushed through, past several more skeletons of dead dwarves.
     "Gimli!" Gandalf shouted as he ran away, but he did not stop.
     Abis ran after him, ignoring the protests of other members of the Fellowship. He had never felt any grief that could even begin to compare, and he couldn't imagine what Gimli felt now, but he would not let him be alone.
     "No... No!" Gimli sobbed. Abis looked in front of the dwarf and realized what he was seeing. It was a casket, with a single beam of light shining down on it from the ceiling. Gimli knelt before the casket, bowing his head as he cried. "No... no..."
     "Gimli..." Abis started, and he did not know what to say. What could you say to someone who had just seen an entire kingdom of their people slaughtered? Instead he knelt beside his friend, resting a light hand on his back in an attempt at comfort.
     Abis could hear the rest of the party's footsteps behind them as they entered the room. Gandalf came beside them and quietly read the inscription.
     "Here lies Balin, son of Fundin, Lord of Moria. He is dead then." Abis glanced up and saw Gandalf taking off his wizard's hat, holding it to his chest. "It is as I feared."
     Gimli spoke what Abis could only assume was Dawrvish over the body of his dead kin, though Abis had never heard the language himself before they had arrived at Moria. Behind him, he heard Legolas whisper to who he assumed was Strider.
     "We must move on. We cannot linger." Abis turned his head slightly to them, his eyes barely open.
     "Let him have a moment. It will likely be the last he has," he whispered.
     Abis heard the rustle of paper, and he turned to see Gandalf holding a book he must have found in the room. The old wizard began reading from the cracked pages, some of them laying on the floor at his feet.
     "'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. We cannot get out. A shadow moved in the dark. We cannot get out," he looked up at the others slowly. "They are coming."
     As soon as he finished speaking, a hollow and echoing crash came from behind them, and Abis leapt to his feet, nearly doubling over when he did. He regained his balance quickly though, and saw Pippin staring down an old hole that led deep into the mines.
     The little hobbit looked terrified. He tucked in on himself, cowering as Gandalf came to tower over him. It took every bit of willpower in Abis's body to not go rescue Pippin.
     "Fool of a Took," Gandalf snapped. "Throw yourself in next time and rid us of your stupidity."
     Gandalf snatched his staff from the hobbit and turned away. Abis quickly came to Pippin's side, pulling him away from the hole with the intention of passing him off to Boromir. Before he could move the hobbit but an inch, drums began to beat.
     "Mister Frodo," Sam whimpered, and Abis heard the sound of swords being drawn.
     "Orcs," Legolas said as battle cries rang from deeper in the mines.
     Abis turned to the doors and saw Boromir already rushing to them. Two arrows sunk into the surface, just in front of the warrior's face. Suddenly, the small room was a flurry of activity.
     "Get back," Strider told the hobbits, coraling them all away. "Stay close to Gandalf."
     Abis put the hobbits all together as Strider ran to help Boromir with the doors. Another, louder and deeper cry was heard from down the hall. Boromir turned around.
     "They have a cave troll."
     Legolas tossed them axes to brace the door as Gimli jumped up on the stone casket in the center of the room. Even Gandalf and the hobbits drew their swords and Abis readied his shield.
     He would use the short sword at his side if he needed to, but he was less skilled with the weapon and not nearly coordinated enough to use it well even if he was.
     Goblins and orcs pounded against the door, but it still refused to give.
     "Let them come!" Gimli shouted. "There is one dwarf yet in Moria who still draws breath!"
     The wood of the door began to crack, and for every one that appeared Strider and Legolas loosed an arrow, killing a shrieking orc on the other side. Still the barrier did not last long.
     The doors burst open, cracking under the orcs' combined pressure, and the room was quickly flooded.
     Abis fought back to back with Strider, the two settling into a familiar rhythm, with Abis guarding his back while he attacked at the front, moving in a tight circle to cover all sides.
     The old strategy was working well, and everyone was holding their own, until a much larger creature burst through the wall. A cave troll stomped into the room.
     Legolas quickly shot an arrow at it, but it did little good. It did not even call the trolls' attention, as it swung it's great hammer towards Sam. The hobbit rolled between the trolls' legs, evading the clumsy attack and scrambling away. The troll was not set off for long though, quickly turning and raising its foot to stomp on the hobbit.
     Abis, Boromir, and Strider all took firm hold of the chain that hung from the troll's neck, combining their strength to pull the orc off its balance. Even this did not stop the troll for more than a moment. Easily it loosened them, throwing Boromir against a wall just as the monster had done Abis hours before.
     He watched for a moment heavy with dread, until Boromir rolled slightly to his side, certainly still alive, however temporarily.
     An orc also noticed this, rushing the fallen warrior, and Abis had just enough time to reach his side before the orcs' attack hit home. Abis raised his shield above him and Boromir, sliding on his knees across the blood slick stone floor. The attack bounced off the shields surface, and he could hear the horrible squelch before the orc toppled over backwards.
     Abis lowered his shield and saw Strider's sword sticking from its chest, having been thrown from across the room. Abis glanced down to check Boromir was okay before running to return the sword to Strider.
     As he ran across the room the casket was smashed by the troll, trying to hit Gimli with its hammer as it had Sam. Gimli rolled back up and kept fighting, almost getting hit by the troll a second time, but two arrows from Legolas stopped the assault.
     Abis returned the sword to Strider, and turned back to the fight. Few orcs still were in the room, all occupied with their own battles. The last big enemy on the field was the troll, which now swung at Legolas, who danced across the raised walk along the sides of the room.
     Abis watched the fight for a moment, constructing a quick and hopefully clever-enough-to-not-get-someone-killed plan.
     The young ranger drew his short sword from his side and ran at the troll, sliding across the ground and slashing at its ankles. The great beast stumbled as it made its attack and Legolas snatched the opening as the troll looked down to see what had attacked him.
     The elf ran up the troll's chain and arm, then up onto his head, readying an arrow then shooting it straight down into the orc's skull. Legolas quickly had to dismount, and Abis find his footing, as the troll stumbled and swung wildly.
     Legolas ran to Abis, who leaned against a wall holding his side.
     He could feel the blood well beneath his fingertips as Abis held his hand closed over the deep gash a sword on the floor had left on his upper arm, cutting messily down from his shoulder to almost his elbow.
     "Are you okay?" Legolas asked breathlessly.
     "Are you?" Abis coughed. "I'll be fine, it's just a little cut. Go help the hobbits."
     And the hobbits did need help. The troll, even after his run in with Legolas, was still swinging wildly. The hobbits had been separated, and the troll seemed to be going after Frodo.
     "FRODO!" Strider yelled, trying to fight his way to the hobbit.
     Abis ran, but was not nearly fast enough. He was forced to watch helplessly as Frodo struggled in the troll's grip, screaming for help.
     "ARAGORN! ARAGORN! HELP!"
     "Frodo!" Strider shouted as he sprinted to the hobbits' side.
     A lance was stabbed into the trolls side, and Merry and Pippin threw small rocks (which did not help, but was worth mentioning), but still the troll only swept Strider aside.
     Frodo dashed across the floor between the pillars to cover Strider from the troll, but he was easily pushed aside.
     Abis tried, he truly did, to reach the hobbits' side. But he slipped. The bloody floor which he had used as an asset brought him down, landing him heavy on his injured side. He could only watch as the lance was thrust through Frodo's small chest.
     "NO!" He cried. He tried to pull himself to his feet but crumbled back down as his arm gave out under him in every attempt.
     Merry and Pippin, brave little hobbits they were, jumped on the trolls back, stabbing their own short swords into its exposed skin.
     "Frodo!" Sam screamed. "FRODO!"
     The Ring-bearer fell, the troll was suddenly rushed by all who remained standing, and Legolas's final blow of an arrow through the mouth finally fell the beast.
     Aragorn and Gandalf both ran to where Frodo's little body lay, poor Sam falling behind as he saw his friend. Strider turned Frodo gently, and to everyone's surprise and small relief, he groaned. He was, by some miracle, alive.
     Legolas had come to help Abis to his feet, careful not to touch his hurt arm, which both fortunately and unfortunately was the same one he had hurt before.
     They all watched in awe as Frodo breathed, no blood staining his torn shirt, and Sam rushed to kneel by his friend.
     "He's alive," he confirmed breathlessly, relief mingled with remaining guilt and sadness in his voice.
     "I'm alright. I'm not hurt," Frodo gasped as he sat up.
     "You should be dead," Strider said. "That spear would have skewered a wild boar."
     Gandalf took a few steps closer, leaning heavily on his staff.
     "I think there's more to this hobbit than meets the eye." Abis lost most sight of Frodo behind the many people who surrounded him, but Gimli provided helpful commentary.
     "Mithril. You are full of surprises, Master Baggins."
     The relief of the moment was quickly pulled away as more shrieks came down the hall. Apparently the orcs were not too happy they killed their troll. Gandalf walked quickly and purposefully, leading the Fellowship behind him.
     "To the Bridge of Khazad-dum, hurry!"