Healing Hands

Chapter Eleven: Fear, Fire, Foes!

Time seemed to slow as the Fellowship waited for their inevitable fate, eyes wide and hands clasped on their weapons. The frenzied drums and shrieks grew louder and louder, and a bluish glow began to bleed from Frodo's sword. The Goblins were coming closer.

A black arrow suddenly shrieked into the room, and the spell was broken—Aragorn and Boromir hurried to brace the door, Boromir ripping a rusted spear from the chest of a skeleton and shoving it between the door-handles. Barely a second after the two men finished their work, a powerful force slammed against the door and jolted them back, followed by a burst of raucous laughter.

"Get back!" Aragorn ordered the Hobbits. "Stay close to Eyrell, and go into the back corner, behind the rest of us—be as quiet as possible!"

Eyrell nodded and began to herd the Hobbits to the darkest corner of the room—but Boromir grabbed her arm, turning her around so she was face-to-face with him.

"Take this," he said, unbuckling his shield from his back. "It will keep you safe."

She grabbed it from him, and for a brief moment, their hands clasped. The warmth spreading from Boromir's touch felt different now than it had before, like a vivid burst of hope, wordlessly telling her that everything would be all right as long as she held him ... and the emotion in his intense grey eyes went beyond worry.

"Boromir," she began, trying to find the right words. "Be careful."

Boromir nodded once, then broke contact and rushed back to the door. The Goblins on the other side were beating on it ceaselessly, the sharp points of their swords breaking through the time-softened wood. It wouldn't hold for long.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Eyrell rushed to the Hobbits, who were already crouching in the corner, swords clutched in their small hands. The cold blue glow of Sting illuminated the fear in their faces.

"Don't worry," said Eyrell, clumsily strapping Boromir's heavy shield to her arm and drawing her sword. "We'll make it through this. We'll be all right."

"No, we won't," said Pippin in a thin, bleak voice. "We're all going to die and it's my fault."

Eyrell turned to him, giving him her bravest and most consoling smile. "Don't say that, Pippin, you didn't know. Just be brave, and trust in our friends."

Merry gave Pippin a pat on the shoulder. "This will be a fantastic story to tell everyone back home, won't it, Pip?"

"If we get home," murmured Pippin.

Bang! Bang!

A wet, guttural roar sounded from the door, and a creature struck it with such force that Aragorn was thrown back several paces. Boromir held fast, but the color drained from his face. "They have a cave troll."

Eyrell's heart dropped. Another story that had held her fearstruck in her youth was banging on the door. She wiped away the perspiration already gathering on her forehead.

As bits of the old door were chipped loose by hungry Goblin blades, Gimli roused himself and leaped onto the tomb of his cousin, raising his axe in anticipation. "Let them come! There is one Dwarf yet in Moria who still draws breath!"

Crash!

The door blew open, chunks of wood spraying the sepulcher as the horde of Goblins poured into the room like an angry black sea. Behind them lumbered the Troll, a huge, stupid-looking brute, its thick grey hide riddled with scars and broken arrow-tips.

The tide of enemies crashed against the five lone warriors holding it back. The noise was deafening; all Eyrell wanted was for it to be over.

Suddenly, a Goblin broke through the Fellowship's rank and spotted Eyrell and the Hobbits huddling together. Its mottled green face lit up with excitement and it rushed at them, Eyrell raising her shield against it just before it crashed into them. She heard a solid thunk as its sword lodged itself in the strong wood—but the Goblin was not deterred. It ripped its sword free and yanked on the shield, dragging her forward when she couldn't let go. Instinctively, she pulled back and raised her sword to strike out, but the Goblin was too fast for her, knocking the blade from her hand. Eyrell desperately tried to break free of its hard grasp, but the shield was stuck to her arm and would not come loose.