The adventure of a lifetime- The Lord of the Rings

A journey in the dark

Rocks fell and the entrance was blocked. The air smelt awful the second we stepped inside.

"You okay?" Merry placed a hand on my shoulder.

I was absolutely disgusted. My lovely hair was absolutely ruined! I tucked my hair in tightly beneath my hood, and turned away from him. I refused to allow anyone to know I was crying over my hair in a situation like this.

"I'm fine. Just fine." I said and walked off ahead.

For about a day or so we were just walking. We then had a short rest, near a small bit of water inside the mines which felt quite refreshing.

I woke up to a bright light, Gandalf's staff again. I sat up, only to realise I'd dozed off whilst leaning on Merry's shoulder. I blushed heavily but chose to ignore my stupidity. I nudged him awake and we got to our feet.

We walked through the dark and gloomy mines, the only light source being Gandalf's staff.

"We now have but one choice, 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." Gandalf spoke as we walked up some steps. "Quietly now, it's a four day journey to the other side. Let us hope that our presence may go unnoticed.'

The thought of being in there for four days, in the dark with the constant musty smell of the place, made me feel rather sick. But it turned out to go rather fast when I'd been distracted talking to the others.

After a long while we stopped again, there were very bright, silvery white lines in the rockface.

Gandalf stopped, bringing us all to a halt, and ran his hand across them. "The wreath of Moria is not in gold, or jewels, but Mithril."

I recognised that name. Oh yes! Bilbo had mentioned before that he owned a shirt of Mithril Rings, it was given to him by Thorin Oakenshield. It is very valuable, it's worth probably greater than that of The Shire!

We finally approached a junction with three large doorways. Gandalf looked confused, muttering that he had no memory of this place. Were we lost!?

He sat and smoked his pipe whilst trying to figure out which way to go. Since we were probably going to be waiting a while I decided to sit down on a nearby rock. I was absolutely knackered, I could've slept for weeks. Within minutes of sitting down, the peaceful silence was interrupted by the hungry hobbit. I rummaged through my bag and found a small jar containing a couple of biscuits which I had forgotten about.

"Merry, could you give these to Pippin? Hopefully it'll keep him quiet for at least an hour."

"Yeah, sure." Merry stood up and I passed the jar over.

After a while I found myself getting the chills. It was quite breezy. I was resting my eyes when I felt someone sit next to me.

"Hiya Maisy. Pip fell asleep so I thought I'd come sit with you."

"Oh, alright." I smiled at Merry. Gosh, I didn't know how those two were coping without their 7 meals a day.

"I can't really blame him though, I am quite hungry myself. Strange not having 7 meals a day, isn't it?" said Merry.

I shrugged. "I guess. But, when you're constantly fearing for your life, food seems to be the last thing on your mind." I sighed.

I looked at Merry. "Do you regret leaving home?" I asked.

"In some ways, yes." He replied.

Sadness filled my eyes. I hated to admit it but I think I did regret it too. A lot. "I guess I feel the same. I hate to admit it, because I know I came here to support Frodo. I feel selfish in a way, but I just don't understand why he agreed to do it. I don't see why Gandalf thought this was a good idea. Frodo has a good heart, but surely he physically isn't capable to go much further. I don't see how we will make it to Mordor."

Merry wrapped an arm around me in a hug. He could probably tell I was getting upset. I actually felt rather warm in that moment, considering how cold it was in those mines.

There we stayed for quite a while. How long was Gandalf going to take!?

Merry looked up and smiled. "He's remembered!"

I'd been out of it for quite some time. I smiled once I realised what he meant, and noticed everyone standing up and packing the camp up.

"No, but the air doesn't smell so foul down here. If in doubt, Meriadoc, always follow your nose." said the wizard as we headed down the tunnel.

It lead us further underground, until we approached a huge cavern, with giant pillars reaching the high ceilings.

"Let me risk a little more light." Gandalf said, I flinched as the light on his staff brightened. "Behold the great realm and dwarf city of Dwarrowdelf!

It was strange to see somewhere so big, so empty. I could imagine all life which was there once upon a time.

"There's an eye-opener and no mistake!" Sam said happily as we headed through magnificent city.