Trapped In Lord of the Rings | Book 1 | (Currently Being Rewritten)

Moria

It took a very long time to get off the mountain, but now there we were. I looked at the ruins of a once tall bridge, now in half and looking completely morbid.

Gimli took in a sharp breath. "The walls," he said, pointing, "of Moria."

My head felt like it was being stabbed, and I put my hands on it, closing my eyes. When I opened them, I was less cold and in someone's arms. My vision was extremely blurry. I felt whoever was carrying me set me down on the rocks, Gandalf beside me in a flash. "Jenakin?" He asked, clutching my hand. "Jenakin?" I tried to lift my head but suddenly became very dizzy and ended up the same way, on the uncomfortable rocks.

"She is too weak," Gandalf told whoever would listen. "Do you think you could...?"

"We may have to keep alternating," said Strider, but he wasn't the person looming over me.

It was Boromir.

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Night had fallen quicker than I had expected. There was a small pond beside us as we, or should I say they, walked.

I also felt guilty about them having to carry the extra weight. Sure, I was light as a feather to them, but I still felt guilty.

I had tried to walk on my own many times. None of those times had worked. I fell heavily and painfully on my butt.

So I was back in the arms of somebody who smelled really bad and scared the living crap out of me: Boromir. Sure, he was a hero in the end and if I wasn't exactly in this position I'd be completely fine with it, but now that I was in this position, I didn't even want him to look at me, which was another reason to feel bad.

Anyways, back to the story. Frodo slipped and almost fell into the pond, but managed to escape with just a wet foot. He looked at the pond for a moment before continuing on.

Gandalf slowed in front of us, walking to a dusty stone wall and wiping the dirt away, saying, "Well, let's see. Ithildin. . . It mirrors only starlight and moonlight. . ." I noticed that his voice was echoing.

He looked up at the sky, where the moon had just come out. I looked back at the gate, and sure enough, the chiseled lines glowed white, just like in the book Sarumon was looking at.

"It reads: 'The Doors of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak, friend, and enter.'"

"What do you suppose that means?" Merry asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, it's quite simple," Gandalf said. "If you are friend, you speak the password and the doors will open."

He put the tip of his staff against the star in the middle of the doors and said something in Elvish that I didn't pay attention to so I didn't catch. When it didn't work he pulled his staff off the doors and stood, puzzled, before trying to push the doors open. Which didn't work. So he started to say something else.

Boromir set me down on the large rock behind Gandalf, and I heard Strider and Sam unloading a pony I didn't even know we had.

"The mines are no place for a pony," Strider was saying. "Even one as brave as Bill."

"Bye-bye, Bill," Sam said as Strider took the bridle off of Bill.

"Go on, Bill," he was saying. "Go on. Don't worry, Sam, he knows the way home."

Merry and Pippin had started throwing stones into the pond. Just as Pippin was going to throw another one, Strider caught his arm. "Do not disturb the water," he warned.

"Oh, it's useless," said Gandalf, sitting down beside me and Frodo.

I was looking at the gate, waiting for Frodo to understand. He got up after a moment. "It's a riddle." I heard something in the water. So did everyone else, except Frodo. "Speak 'friend' and enter," he was saying. "What's the Elvish word for 'friend'?" he asked Gandalf.

"Mellon."

I litterally almost laughed out loud. I mean, mellon? Could they not come up with a better word? And besides, why isn't it Dwarvish? Or, you know, whatever language they speak?

But the thing in the water, whatever it was, was moving. A lot.

I turned around to see the doors opening loudly. Strider pushed the Hobbits inside and Legolas put his arm under my shoulders so I could get inside. "Soon, Master Elf," Gimli was explaining to Legolas when we stepped inside, "you will enjoy the famous hospitality of the Dwarves. Roaring fires, malt beer, ripe meat off the bone!"

Gandalf blew on the end of his staff, causing light to come from one of the pieces of wood on the end.

"This, my friend," he continued, "is the home of my cousin Balin. And they call it a mine. A mine!"

"This is no mine," said Boromir. "It's a tomb." I looked around and saw that he was right. And I noticed how bad it smelled. I saw lots of Dwarf bodies with arrows sticking out of all kinds of places: heads, legs, chests.

"No. . ." Gimli said loudly. "No! NO!"

Legolas handed me off to Gandalf and ripped an arrow from a dead body. "Goblins!" He threw it down and reached for an arrow in his quiver. Strider and Boromir took out their swords, along with the Hobbits.

"We make for the Gap of Rohan," Boromir said quietly. "We should never have come here." The Hobbits backed toward the doorway. "Now get out of here," said Boromir. "Get out!"

Something grabbed Frodo's leg and pulled him outside: A giant noddle- shaped tentacle.

"Frodo!" the Hobbits were yelling. "Help!"

"Strider!" Sam called.

Strider turned at the sound of his name. The Hobbits were trying to cut the tenticle off, but their swords weren't sharp enough. All they managed to do was annoy it. The tentacle disappeared back into the pond. Then about three seconds later, five tentacles appeared, slapping the other three Hobbits away and getting Frodo again. He screamed as it picked him up and tons more tentacles appeared all in the water. Legolas shot an arrow at the tentacle holding Frodo, but it did nothing. Strider and Boromir tried to fight the beast, cutting off a lot of tentacles, but more kept coming at them. Finally the beast held Frodo high in the air, and a head came out of the water, hissing. Frodo yelled louder. Its mouth opened, and I could smell the rotting flesh from the shore. Finally, Strider cut the tentacle holding Frodo and Boromir caught him.

"Into the mines!" Gandalf yelled, hauling the both of us inside.

"Legolas!" Boromir shouted.

"Into the cave!" Strider yelled, the beast right behind him. Legolas aimed his arrow and shot it in the eye. They got to the door and Boromir and Strider pushed the Hobbits inside. The beast had used its tentacles to pull itself on land and had its head far enough inside that when one of the tentacles pulled the gates loose, tons upon tons of rocks crushed it, putting us in compete and utter darkness.

"We now have but one choice," said Gandalf, hitting his staff twice against the ground so that his staff lit up the small room. "We must face the long dark of Moria."

My knees collapsed and I fell on them, hard. Legolas swung his bow onto his back and picked me up.

"Be on your guard," Gandalf was saying. "There are more older, and fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world," he said as we began to walk up the stairs. "It's a four-day journey to the other side. Let us hope that our presence may go unnoticed."

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