Taranor || Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Calm before the Storm

The Fellowship seemed to be holding their breath as they waited for...something.

But when nothing came they all let out a relieved sigh as Gandalf slammed the book shut looking at the frightened hobbit.

''Fool of a Took! Throw yourself in next time and rid us of your stupidity." He grabbed his hat and staff from the hobbit and turned just as a loud boom echoed through the empty halls.

Drums.

The sounds of screeching and drums echoed through the halls bringing with it a wave of fear. Tara leaned over the edge of the well where the sound was loudest before looking back at the others with fear written across her face.

"They are coming." She whispered more to herself, hardly any heard but Legolas could and he gave her a slight nod, telling her she was correct though she already knew it. What she didn't know was who and what.

"Mr. Frodo!" Sam exclaimed as he pointed at Frodo's sword, he pulled it out and a blue light shone from it.

"Orcs!" Legolas shouted as he pulled an arrow from his quiver. Boromir ran for the door hoping to find an escape, but an arrow flew past him, narrowly missing his head.

He was pulled back inside as Aragorn helped him close the battered doors.

"They have a cave troll." Boromir said with disappointment and a slight amount of fear.

Legolas and the two men began barring the door with whatever they could find; spears, axes, swords. Anything that might postpone the inevitable. Taranor quickly grabbed a large ax, knowing she'd stand a better chance with that than a sword considering she had been obsessed with Dwarves and had, therefore, learned their style of fighting instead of learning to use a sword. The ax had a rather long handle, resembling a spear with an ax head and a spear tip at the end. This made her slightly more happy considering she wouldn't have to get too close to her opponents.

"Let them come!" Gimli shouted with a growl as he stood above his dead cousin. "There is yet one dwarf in Moria who still draws breath!" He exclaimed as he drew both of his axes.

"Stay close to me Tara." Her brother said as he stood beside her.

The door shook as the orcs began pounding on it with their swords and axes. The poor door shook under the pressure, threatening to break at any moment. A hole appeared in the door and Legolas fired an arrow through, successfully killing an orc and Aragorn followed with an arrow of his own.

The door cracked and splintered before finally broke off its hinges and fell to the ground creating a cloud of dust. The orcs emerged from the door and the fight began.

Taranor swung her ax into the shoulder of an orc and yanked it out, thick black blood following in its wake. After a few moments Taranor got used to the habit of swinging her ax and quickly pulling it out only for it to meet the flesh of yet another Orc. At first she had been afraid but now that fear was long forgotten, replaced by a desire for life that drove her to fight, even when her arms began to tire.

The number of enemies began to dwindle and a small flicker of hope spread through Tara's chest but that was soon damped as a roar sounded from outside and the walls of the room caved as a horrifying beast came through, being led by the orcs on a chain.