Oblivion

Part 4

Mines of Moria

The company walks to the entrance of Moria. We sat next to a lake with dark waters. Gandalf mutters something and a door appears. Shining with whitish blue light. Gandalf reads what is written on the door.

"It reads, "The door of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak, friend, and enter." Gandalf says.

"What does that mean?" I ask.

"Well it's quite simple. If you are a friend you speak the password and enter." Gandalf points his staff to the door and speaks in a different language. It doesn't work. Poor Gandalf was so confident too.

I look at the door again. "What does it say again?" Gandalf recites the saying again. I think it's over. "It's a riddle!" Frodo and I say in unison. We exchange glances.

"What is the elvish word for friend?" He asked me. I smile and say, mellon. The door opens to the command and black nothingness greets us. I take a deep breath and step inside. Everyone else follows. Gimli starts talking with great joy in his voice.

"So, master elf, you will enjoy the fabled hospitality of the dwarves; roaring fires, malt beer, red meat off the bone. This, my friend, is the home of my cousin, Balin...and they call this a Mine.. A mine!" Gimli exclaims, while laughing. But no one else is laughing.

"This isn't a mine." Boromir states. "It's a tomb." That's when we all take a better look around and see skeletons of dwarfs near our feet. I scream. The sound echoes in the halls. Legolas pulls an arrow out of a dwarf.

"Goblins!" He spits and pulls back his bow. I get that tingling down my back.

"Frodo watch out!" I yell. But it was too late. A big tentacle emerges from the waters and grabs Frodo. I pull out my bow and an arrow. I ran outside with Aragorn, Boromir, and Legolas. I try to focus and shoot the tentacle. It does nothing.

I decided that a sword would be more convenient in this situation. I unsheath my sword and run into the chaos. The creature tries to grab me but I side step and slice its tentacle clean off. Shocked, I stood there and gaped at what I did. But I didn't see the creature reach for her. I feel something wrap around my ankle and I look down to see a purple slimy tentacle. I am then lifted into the air and dangled upside down.I drop my sword. I scream and struggle. Then I remember my dagger strapped to my thigh. I unsheath it and stab it. It screeches and drops me. I fell, my heart racing. Then strong arms enveloped me. It was Aragorn. He carries me bridal style into the mine and calls everyone else inside. Once we are inside safely Aragorn slightly smiles at me and I blush looking away from his gray eyes. Then someone clears their throat obnoxiously.

I look over to see Gimli giving us a weird look. Aragorn puts me down and I regain my composure. Then we set off into the darkness.

I have a bad feeling about this. We hurriedly went through the mines and walked up a big staircase. We reached the top when Gandaf stopped. I ran into him and stumbled backwards. Boromir put his hands on my waist to steady me.

"Thanks Boromir." I smiled. He chuckled and nodded. Even though we hadn't talked much I thought he had a good heart. Despite all of his ridiculous stories of his "greatness" and "crazy battles."

I turned my attention back to Gandalf. "I have no memory of this place." He whispers.

I sat on the hard rock floor as Gandalf sat on a rock and was.....meditating? Pieces of my hair fell out of my braid, so I pulled my hair out. Then I took out the book that Gandalf gave me. I turned to the page on elves' enhanced senses. I was so into the book that I didn't notice Legolas peering over my shoulder. Right when I was getting to the part about elfs' sensitive ears, darkness surrounded me. I gasped. Someone's hands were covering my eyes. I heard a chuckle behind me and I smiled.

"What do you want?" I said, a small laugh escaping my mouth. Then the hands left my face and light entered my vision. I smiled and turned around. The smile quickly left my face. "Oh, it's you."

My eyes met Legolas'. I turned back to my original pose and looked back down at my book. "It amazes me how you annoy me by just being next to me."

"I could say the same about you." He sits next to me.

"Then why have you come? Have you come to admire my beauty again?" I still don't look at him. If I did I probably wouldn't be able to look away.

He takes the book from my hands. And reads the title of the page. "An Elfs' Senses and Secrets." His eyebrows raise and he looks back at me. "How interesting." I quickly snatch the book back and close it, setting it next to me. "So, tell me"- Legolas lowers his voice and leans in-"what are my secrets?"

"You didn't answer my question." I say, ignoring his previous question. And the fact that how close he was made me uncomfortable.

"I simply came to see what you were reading." He said and reached past me. But he did not break eye contact when he did so. So our faces were too close for comfort. I made sure to keep a straight face and to not shrink away. For that would make me look weak and afraid. Our faces were inches apart when he drew back. Holding my book in his hands.

He flipped to the page that I was on and started skimming over the text. I watched as his eyes darted from word to word. I hadn't realized that I had been staring until he spoke up.

"You are very much like an elf." Legolas said, still looking at the book.

"How so?" I asked with genuine interest.

"You knew when that creature in the lake was going to attack us."

"Ok? How does that make me an elf?" I questioned his logic and reasoning. Anyone could have known that.

"You felt that chill down your back, did you not?" Legolas said, bringing his eyes away from the book. I tensed and looked at the floor. How did he know? I decide to shake it off and play along.

"And I'm sure you're very happy about that. That the useless woman is actually an elf! Just like me!" I mimicked his voice. "But OH NO! Elves are not supposed to be dim-witted morons!.... Oh wait...." I paused and looked over at him. He caught on and scowled. I just smiled innocently at him. Just like he did to me in the mountains. He got up and left, not looking back. Your move blondie....