Ashes ⇝Legolas

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CHAPTER EIGHT
MORIA

Under the fast dimming light of the sky, Moria came into view, eerie silence that spread like a shadow over once majestic walls that covered fellowship on the way. Air was not as cold and biting as on the mountain, yet remained a warm, autumn temperature which surely, Nesryn considered to be quite better than freezing one she had felt earlier- despite the warmth in her veins.

Nesryn found the scenery quite tense, afraid of a brewing darkness and full of peril in whose dark eyes, black like the near pond of smelly water, reflected upon those better times and banished them into dungeons of forgotten memories. Her eyes rested upon the sight of murky water near her feet, trees that had fallen into its depth whose leaves dried and stumps weakened, lay unmoving in its clutches as if something held them that way. Nesryn felt her stomach clench at the pure rock, a bare, naked sight that left her with nothing but darkness and fear- many things were obvious for young warrior, yet the most she feared the lives that were lost, for it did not take a keen eye or mind to notice nobody had left Moria in a long time.

"The walls of Moria." Gimli said in shock, his sentence had completely pushed away the conversation between Gandalf and Frodo as his steps pushed past the wizard and the hobbit.

"Truly it is..." Nesryn let out a laugh, gazing around herself as if the first time truly noticing her surroundings as she could not form a single thought of description for a place that empty and perilous.

"Charming." Legolas finished for her, both knowing it was far from that.

Gimli gave them a suspicious look, yet turned toward the stone wall again, knocking on it with his axe. "Dwarf door are invisible when locked."

"Yes, Gimli, their own masters cannot find them if their secrets are forgotten." Gandalf gently placed a hand to the wall.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Legolas whispered to himself, quietly or wanting to sound that way when Nesryn caught his words and chuckled, her firm steps guided her forward, at rather quick pace. Yet, not every member had it at ease to walk as firm as her, for when she noticed Frodo had slipped into the murky water, her reaction remained too slow to be of any help as others had already dragged the hobbit to safety. She of course knew what caused his steps to falter; the ring, that heavy burden not many elves, dwarves or humans would take. It had already made the mind of the hobbit heavier to the stage where coming back was not possible.

Gandalf continued on his way, step after step as his hand glided over long surface of a wall, in search of presumably a door to Moria. He abruptly stopped, as Nesryn was then found to be staring at a seemingly random yet another part of gray, whose surface only looked by a little different to other parts. It had an engraving of sorts, lines of silver that followed through the stone until their ends met somewhere in the middle. "Now let's see, it mirrors only starlight...and moonlight."

Nesryn followed wizard's gaze toward the dark blotch of night sky, its darkness only cut by a huge moon as it seemed to stand perfectly in the middle, between stars and cloud, a whiff that passed over its surface almost invisible due to the shine. Eerie glow shone like a shadow in her eyes, dim yet it looked rather perious as if it reflected on the state of fear and building danger. Suddenly, another glow caught her attention, yet the one of lines engraved in the door as its sight left the woman between anticipation and fascination.

She hurried toward them. "The Doors of Durin..." Nesryn squinted her eyes, turning to meet the fellowship whose members stared at the door. "I cannot read the rest."

"It reads: The Doors of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak friend, and enter." Gandalf glided the end of his staff over every word.

"What do you suppose that means?" Merry asked.