Vaelia still felt very much on edge due to Gandalf's reluctance to follow Gimli's suggestion, but she couldn't deny that she felt relieved that they were getting off the mountain pass. She walked just behind the hobbits making sure that they were all alright and none of them had suffered any serious injuries.
As they walked, Gimli chatted away excitedly. He told them of the great dwarven forges, the huge banquets his kin would hold and of the magnificent halls and cities they built underneath the ground. At was almost as if they were watching a young boy.
Suddenly, he stopped.
"Oh, the Walls of Moria."
Vaelia looked up. In front of her was a large dark lake, and beyond it a sheer rock wall stand hundreds of meters tall. It was almost as if a chunk of the mountain had been carved out. It truly was breathtaking.
The Fellowship made its way along the bank of the lake until they were walking alongside the rock wall.
"Dwarf doors are invisible when closed." Gimli informed, knocking with his axe on the wall in search of an echo.
"Yes, Gimli. Their own masters cannot find them, if their secrets are forgotten." Gandalf confirmed.
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Legolas commented.
Gimli gave no reply, but Vaelia heard him grumble slightly in annoyance. Vaelia smiled as she remembered Esamir telling her about how much the Company of Thorin Oakenshield had fretted over finding their own secret door. She hoped this one would not be as complicated.
Gandalf eventually stopped them at a particularly flat point in the wall, the area flanked by two trees.
"Ithildin." Gandalf muttered, running his hands over the wall.
"It mirrors only starlight and moonlight."
As he finished speaking, the skies cleared. The Fellowship watched in amazement as the doors lit up with a silver light, the carvings on the stone reflecting the light of the moon. Vaelia had gained some knowledge of the tongues of dwarves through Esamir, due to how much time he had spent with such folk. But she was surprised to see that she did not recognize the writing on these doors.
"That writing. It is not in any tongue of dwarves." she said.
"No, it isn't. It is in elvish." Gandalf confirmed.
"It reads "The doors of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak friend and enter."."
"What do you suppose that means?" Merry asked.
"Oh, it's quite simple: if you are a friend, you speak the password and the doors will open." the wizard explained.
He then turned towards the doors and pressed his staff against a symbol on them, casting a spell. An awkward silence followed as the doors stayed put. Gandalf raised his staff and tried another spell. Once again, the doors did not budge.
"Nothing's happening." Pippin noted.
Seemingly in a fit of frustration, the wizard stepped up and tried to physically push open the doors.
"I once knew every spell in all the tongues of elves, men and orcs." he muttered to himself.
"What are you going to do then?" Pippin asked.
"Knock your head against these doors, Peregrin Took! And if that does not shatter them, and I am allowed a little piece from foolish questions, I will try to find the opening words."
The Fellowship dispersed, its members sitting down nearby while Gandalf tried spell after spell, each one with no results. Vaelia was with Sam, unloading their packs from their pony.
"The mines are no place for a pony." she told the hobbit.
"Not even one so brave as Bill."
"Bye bye, Bill." Sam said sadly.
"Go on, Bill. On your way, boy." she said as she removed the saddle and sent the pony away before turning to the hobbit.
"Don't worry, Sam. He knows the way home."
A sudden splashing sound caught her attention. She turned around to see Merry and Pippin throwing stones at the water out of boredom. Aragorn quickly stopped them.
"Do not disturb the water." he told them.
Vaelia's eyes scanned the dark water. There could be great dangers lurking in the depths. She hoped the hobbits hadn't caught the attention of one. A chill ran down her spine as a ripple travelled across the lake's surface. She told herself that it must have been the wind, though she wasn't too sure of that.
"It's a riddle." she heard Frodo say.
" "Speak friend and enter."."
Another ripple reached the shore. And another followed. Vaelia locked eyes with Aragorn. Something in the depths was watching them.
"What's the elvish word for "friend"?" Frodo asked.
"Mellon."
As soon as the word left the wizard's lips, the doors opened with the rumbling of stone against stone. The Fellowship made its way inside, the two rangers still glancing warily at the lake.
"Soon, master elf, you will enjoy the fabled hospitality of the dwarves. Roaring fires, malt beer, ripe meat off the bone." Gimli said with enthusiasm.
"This, my friend, is the home of my cousin Balin, and they call it a mine. A mine!"
Once Gandalf lit up his staff, Vaelia realized that the dwarf couldn't be more wrong. Laying all over the floor, some leaning against the walls, were the bodies of dead dwarves, now reduced to cobweb covered skeletons. They still had their armor and weapons. All of them seemed to have arrows stuck in them.
"This is no mine. It's a tomb." Boromir realized.
Gimli's excitement vanished, giving way to grief and pain as he wailed in sadness at seeing the corpses of his kin. Legolas leaned forward and pulled on of the arrows out of the bodies to identify it.
"Goblins!" he warned.
He knocked an arrow of his own and the rangers and Boromir drew their swords.
"We make for the Gap of Rohan. We should never have come here." Boromir said.
"Get out of here! Get out!"
Suddenly, Vaelia heard a scream behind her.
"Strider, Huntress!" Sam called out.
Aragorn and Vaelia whirled around towards the entrance. Her blood ran cold when she saw a tentacle dragging Frodo towards the lake. The hobbits managed to cut it, but several more followed, swatting them away and wrapping around Frodo's legs again.
Vaelia, Aragorn and Boromir immediately ran to his aid. All three of them threw themselves into the water, hacking at the creature's tentacles as they tried to reach Frodo. Vaelia managed to cut the tentacle holding him just as the creature emerged, opening its large mouth to devour him. The hobbit landed safely in Boromir's arms.
"Into the mines!" Gandalf shouted.
"Legolas!" Vaelia called out.
The elf swiftly shot an arrow at the creature, buying them time to return to the shore.
"Into the cave!" Aragorn shouted.
They all ran inside as quickly as they could. As they did, the creature in the lake tried to give chase. Its powerful limbs ended up collapsing the entrance. There were a few seconds of darkness, before Gandalf lit his staff once more.
"We now have but one choice." he said.
"We must face the long dark of Moria. Be on your guard. There are older and fouler things than orcs in the deep places of the world."
YOU ARE READING
the Burnt Ranger
Fanfiction"One ring to rule them all, One ring to find them. One ring to bring them all, And in the darkness bind them." The world is changing, and Vaelia can feel it. She has seen the number of dark creatures in the wild grow, their attacks becoming bolder e...
