Silverhelm: A Tale of Two Enemies

The Pointy-Eared Blonde Actually Tries To Apologize

We arrived at the Gates of Moria. There was a dark pool before the entrance. Banging his axe on the cliff face, Gimli said, "Dwarf doors are invisible when closed."

"Yes, Gimli, their own masters cannot find them, if their secrets are forgotten," Gandalf said.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Legolas said snarkily. I shook my head. Why do all elves and dwarves hate each other? Whatever happened between our races, that was a long time ago. We need to unite as one, the Men, Elves, and dwarves, the Free Peoples of Middle-earth, against the Shadow.

Gandalf approached the rock, running his hand over the face of the cliff, searching for a way in. "Now... let's see..." he murmured. "Ithildin!" Beneath his hand, spidery lines, faintly silver against the dark cliff, appeared on the face. "It mirrors only starlight and moonlight." As the moon came out from behind the clouds, the lines grew bright and solid. "'The Doors of Durin — Lord of Moria. Speak, friend, and enter.' That is what it says."

"What doe that mean?" Merry asked.

"That is simple enough," Gandalf said. "If you are a friend, you will speak the password and enter."

Stepping up to the rock, he raised his staff and hand. In a commanding voice, he uttered, "Annon edhellen, edro hi ammen!" (Gate of the Elves, open now for me!" Nothing happened. Stepping up again, he cried, "Fennas Nogothrim, lasto beth lammen!" (Doorway of the Dwarf-folk, listen to the word of my tongue!).

"Nothing's happening," Pippin said.

"An excellent observation," I retaliated.

"I once knew every spell in every tongue that existed on Middle-earth," Gandalf said wearily. He sat down on the rocks, and took his hat off. He looked like a frail old man.

"So, what are you going to do, then?" Pippin asked. I inwardly sighed. Things would soon get heated between him and Gandalf.

"Knock your head against these doors, Peregrin Took! And if that does not shatter them, and I am allowed a little peace from foolish questions, I will try to find the opening words."

Time passed. Then some more. And more. Merry threw stones into the water, and Pippin made to follow, had I not grabbed his arm. "Do not disturb the water."

By now, Gandalf had given up. He sat on a rock with Frodo by the great door. I looked towards the pool... and saw a ripple spread across the surface. We had to get inside, quickly. I walked towards the door, though I couldn't read the letters-they were of an ancient mode, and I was a (relatively) young elf- only about two thousand six hundred years old. We elves don't keep count, as we're immortal, but I do- I fear that I am mortal, but long-lived, as my Elvish blood is very diluted.

I ran my hands over the stone, thinking aloud. "Speak, friend, and enter." Faster and faster, until all pauses vanished. "Speak friend and enter." Scrambling the pauses around "Speak, friend and enter. Speak friend and, enter. Speak friend, and enter." I thought hard, tuning out all else, accidentally lapsing in my native language. "Ped- mellon, a minn-." My head snapped up. "That's it! That's it!" The others looked at me as if I had gone mad. I stepped up to the door, picked up Gandalf's staff from where it was beside him, and rapped the door, once, with the top. "Mellon," I whispered. Slowly, like magic (because it was...), the door swung open, revealing darkness beyond. The rest of the Fellowship at once sprang to their feet, astonished. I turned around, bowed, and presented the staff to Gandalf.

We walked into the gloomy darkness. "Soon, Master and Mistress Elf, you will be enjoying the fabled hospitality of dwarves," Gimli told us. Master and mistress? I most certainly did NOT like the sound of that. "Roaring fires, malt beer, ripe meat off the bone! This, my friends, is the home of my cousin Balin. And they call it a mine! A mine!"

I grimaced. "Gimli, the roaring fires sound very good now, but I'm vegetarian, and I don't drink, so no."

"Me too," Legolas said, surprising me. That must have been written all over my face, because Legolas smirked and said, "What, did you forget that all elves are vegetarian and don't drink because you're a half-breed and therefore unwelcome in Elvish society?"

That bastard. "No, my lord," I called him my lord to vex him- "it's been fifteen years since I've been in actual civilization, and before that, I was in Mirkwood for thirty years, which hardly counts as civilization, so I'd forgotten."

He ground his jaw, looking as if he was going to start a full-scale war on that single comment, but just then, as he swung a fist at my head (I hadn't realized that), I saw a glint in the dark. I stooped down to see what it was, and his fist connected with the wall behind me. He howled in pain, then backed off, cursing in Elvish.

The glint I had seen was an arrow. Sticking out of the body of a dwarf. So much for 'fabled hospitality'. As Gandalf's light lit up the tunnel, more bodies became visible.

"This is no mine, this is a tomb!" Legolas said, clutching his hand.

I pulled the arrow free, and felt sickened. "Goblins," I warned, casting the arrow down and standing up.

Just then I heard a dull thud behind my. I turned and saw that Frodo had fallen to the ground, probably because of the tentacle that was dragging him towards the water. I knew the Pippin shouldn't have thrown those rocks into the lake! Too late now.

Aragorn drew his sword and swung it in a gleaming arc, severing the tentacle that held Frodo suspended in the air.

"Boromir! Get the Halflings inside!" I shouted as I pulled my bow off my shoulder and ran towards the creature. Though I did not see it, he obeyed, ushering Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin into the darkness, pulling his sword out of its sheath even as he did.

I leapt on one of the tentacles and saw Legolas doing the same on a different tentacle. Copycat. Drawing an arrow, I shot it in the direction the head should be. Immediately, a head appeared, shrieking with agony. I was just a circular mouth, filled with rows of teeth, no eyes, no nose. As I turned around, I saw Aragorn, Gimli, and Boromir hacking away at the tentacles. Gandalf was holding his staff in one hand, his sword, Glamdring, in the other, slashing with his sword and sending bursts of light at the creature in the water. Finally, I located Legolas. He was shooting at the back of the head - all that he could see - to no avail.

"The mouth!" I yelled. Aragorn heard me, sheathed his sword, and took out his bow and nocked an arrow.  The three of us launched a volley of arrows into the gaping mouth. As the beast sank, wailing, into the dark waters, I jumped from tentacle to tentacle to writhing tentacle onto the cliff overlooking the lake, where the others were standing, panting. But Legolas was not so lucky. He, too, jumped from tentacle to tentacle, but the last arm he jumped off was slick with blood, and he slipped, not quite making it to the cliff. I was closest to the edge, and instinctively , I shot out my hand and grabbed the front of his shirt. Then Boromir grasped his arms, and together we pulled him onto the ground.

Legolas stood up, and faced me. I knew what was coming. 'Why did you pull me up? I could've done it myself, you filthy half-breed!' But it never came. Surprisingly, Legolas said, "Hannon le, Lyrasael. This is not the first time you have saved my life." I knew he was referring to the Battle of the Five Armies, sixty years ago, before he held me captive. I could not believe my ears. He was thanking me! And he said it in an apologetic tone. Of course, I wouldn't be accepting his apology so quickly. I realized I was still holding the front of his shirt. My face growing hot, I pushed him away and walked towards the entrance to Moria, where the others had congregated, leaving the Prince of the Woodland Realm staring at my back as he also walked towards the entrance.

Taking a deep breath, Gandalf plunged into the darkness, and the rest of us followed suit.

"Follow the light of my staff," he said. "And keep close behind."

With that, we began our long journey in the dark.