On silent
feet it came
Breathing a
sheet of flame it came
Closing in
on its rightful prey
Burning a
hundred years away
-Miss
Saigon
“What new devilry is this” Boromir asked as
Katie once more hid behind Legolas, peeking over his shoulder at the red-orange
light slowly moving towards them.
“A balrog.” Gandalf said at last… Katie could
feel Legolas suddenly start to shake, the arrow toppling from his grip.
“What’s… a balrog?” Jason asked nervously.
“An ancient demon of fire.” Gandalf replied,
his voice low.
Katie panted with fear. “Demon… great… splendid… why are we
still standing here?”
“Run!” Gandalf finally commanded, most of the
Fellowship already in motion before the word was out of his mouth.
Katie ran faster than she ever had before,
just between Boromir and Legolas, with Jason to her side. A stone stairway led down and Boromir
barreled down it, not seeing the abrupt fall at its end. “Boromir!” she screamed, grabbing him about
the chest and using all of her strength to pull him back… but she was losing
her balance to the heavier man. Hands
grabbed around both her and Boromir as Legolas and Jason pulled them both
upright.
“Go… to the Bridge!” Gandalf ordered, pointing
down in what might as well have been a million miles away… a narrow stone
bridge.
“That’s the bridge?!” Jason yelled even
as he started running down the stairs after the others. Katie grabbed Legolas’ hand and allowed him
to pull her along down the endless stairways.
Her legs felt weak and she nearly stumbled a few times n her panic. Meanwhile the constant boom of the balrog’s
footsteps urged her onward as did the suddenly searing heat that engulfed the
caves.
A break in the path, where a section of the
stairs had fallen away, leaving a five-foot gap and a dark abyss below it. Legolas jumped across first, being the most
nimble and least likely to fall upon landing without help. Gandalf was next, then Jason. Arrows shot out of nowhere and everyone
looked up to find orc archers flanking them on one side. Katie screamed as one whizzed past her
shoulder, another striking the stone next to her foot. Legolas, clearly angered, fired shot after
shot, each one finding its mark.
Boromir took advantage of the lull in enemy fire and picked up Merry and
Pippin. He leapt across the space, nearly falling into Jason. Another section fell, making the gap larger,
Katie pushed Sam forward into Aragorn’s arms and was relieved when the hobbit
was successfully thrown and caught on the other side.
“Come on, Katie!” Jason yelled. “Aragorn, throw her to us!”
“What?!” Katie shrieked as she found herself
hoisted into Aragorn’s arms and thrown over the ravine. A moment of abject terror and she felt
herself being held tightly. Tears were
already streaming down her face as she looked up at Legolas. A brief smile was her reward before he set
her down and turned back to the remaining stragglers.
Aragorn made as if to throw Gimli across as
well, but the dwarf stubbornly opted to jump himself and nearly fell
backwards. Kate and Legolas both shot
out their hands to catch him… by the beard.
He yelled something they couldn’t hear, but between the two of them,
they managed to pull him upright.
Another earthquake-like rumble shook the caverns and Katie ducked,
instinctively shielding her head. A
great crack and another section of the stair broke away… leaving Frodo and
Aragorn on the wrong side of a now impossible jump. Katie gasped when she saw the huge crack already spreading through
the middle of the slice supporting them.
“It’s gonna fall!” she yelled in warning.
For a minute, as the section slowly began to
weave from side to side as its stability decreased, she thought they were only
going to stand there.
“Lean forward!” Aragorn yelled, using his and
Frodo’s weight to lean the falling piece of stone towards the others.
“Come on!” Legolas pressed loudly, opening his
arms.
With a crash, the two sections collided,
throwing both human and hobbit into the waiting arms of their comrades. Legolas swung around under Aragorn’s weight…
Jason and Katie staggered under Frodo’s… but everyone remained upright.
“Keep going!
Run!” Gandalf commanded, once more leading the way. They obeyed quickly, racing down the
remained stairs, down to the caves that guarded the entrance of the
bridge. Fire had sprung up on the
floor, burning the grey stone walls black, like a dirty chimney. Gandalf paused, motioning everyone past
him. Katie was last and turned to see
that the wizard followed.
And she saw what she never in her life thought
she would see.
The balrog, a gigantic creature made of dark
fire, like burnt embers one second and raging inferno the next. It roared and Katie felt the intensity of
its hell-heated breath… she did what any sensible woman would do. She screamed and stumbled backwards,
crawling away as Gandalf stood against it.
Hands yanked her up and she vaguely realized that Legolas was pulling her. She collected herself together somewhat and
ran after him across the narrow bridge.
Again she faltered and tripped.
But this time, she pitched herself right off
the bridge, her entire body scraping over the stone edge. By some miracle, her hands found a hold and
she kept herself from falling. But her
grip was fragile and she knew she could not keep it for long. The incessant shaking as the balrog moved
towards her loosened her hold… and the yawning abyss below her offered no help.
“Legolas!” she cried out in a panic. Gandalf stood a few feet away from her at
the very center of the bridge and the balrog stood on the opposite side,
pausing only because of Gandalf.
Maximus barked and growled from his hanging position in her bag. She screamed the elf’s name once more as she
felt her hold weakening.
“Kate!” Legolas cried out, dashing back across
the bridge to her and sliding onto his stomach to grab her arms. “Hold onto me, Kate! I’ll pull you up… hold still!”
She nodded through her panic, watching Gandalf
and the balrog face off with morbid fascination. The wizard roared something she couldn’t hear at the demon as the
quartz in his staff began to shine with a brilliant white light. Distracted, she pulled her knees up and gave
Legolas the right leverage to lift her onto the bridge. The elf pulled her to the other side and she
followed without question, holding his hand tightly. Once safe on solid ground, she turned back to see that Gandalf
was also on safe territory.
No. He
still stood on the bridge, confronting the demon, wielding his sword and staff
against the creature. “You shall not…
pass!” he bellowed, the bridge breaking in half as he did so. The balrog lost his unholy footing and with
a great howl, fell into the never-ending darkness below.
“Gandalf!” she shouted. “Come on!
We have to get out of here!”
Gandalf turned and never even saw the string
of demon flame that caught him, pulling him to the edge of the broken
bridge. He clung to it, meeting the
stunned eyes of the Fellowship. Boromir
held Frodo back… Aragorn stopped in mid-stride… Jason grabbed Katie’s
shoulders.
“Fly, you fools!” he directed before his grip
failed and he followed the balrog into the black abyss of Moria’s end.
“No!” Frodo’s tragic cry echoed everyone’s
heart as they somehow retained the presence of mind to follow the wizard’s
final order. They climbed towards the
light that they had been denied for four days already, their eyes stinging… but
there was little joy in the sun glistening on the snow-dusted hills.
Sam collapsed on the nearest available
boulder, sobbing openly… Merry caught Pippin as he fell and the two sat on the
frozen ground, one in shock and the other shaking with grief. Jason and Boromir each held an incensed
Gimli back when he would’ve gone back into the mines. Legolas merely stood, looking over the Fellowship with haunted,
disbelieving eyes. Katie sank to her
knees, wrapping her hands around herself and crying, rocking back and forth
dispiritedly. Within her bag, Maximus
was whining quietly.
Aragorn turned back to face them all,
sheathing his bloodied sword. “Legolas…
get them up.”
Legolas took a moment to register what he had
said, then simply looked at the human as though he had lost his mind.
“Give them a moment, for pity’s sake!” Boromir
admonished Aragorn, his own eyes mournful.
Katie was closest and launched herself at the
dark-haired man, beating his chest with balled fists. “You cold-hearted bastard!
How can you expect us to keep going after this?! Don’t you have any respect, you
self-righteous prick?!”
Aragorn grabbed her wrists firmly, forcing her
to remain still. “By nightfall these
hills will be swarming with orcs. We
must reach the forests of Lothlorien.
We will be safe there.”
Katie’s arms went limp and Aragorn let
go. Legolas was at her side in an
instant. “Aragorn is right. We must run while we can. There will be time to mourn later.”
She sniffled and nodded as he put his arms
around her shoulders, dispiritedly following after Aragorn, over the snowy
hills and into the meadows. The
Fellowship was jarringly silent, numbly jogging along as if they could outrun
what had happened in the dark mines.
Sunset was a mere hour off when they finally saw the golden trees of
Lothlorien. Katie had stopped crying
some time ago, although she still held her arms around her torso in a futile
embrace. The trees were taller than any
she’d ever seen, stretching high over their heads and creating a ceiling of
leaves over them. She was taken by the
insane thought that these trees would be excellent for climbing… never mind
that she had always been somewhat terrified of heights.
“Stay close, young hobbits.” She heard Gimli
urge Pippin and Merry. He went on about
some sort of elf-witch that ruled the golden woods…she sounded like some sort
of Elvish Circe, if Katie wanted to be symbolic.
It was your fault, young one… your clumsiness
that forced Gandalf to fight that which he could not defeat.
A voice in her heard scolded her scathingly.
You are a danger… to the entire company… they would risk their lives
for you and you would let them do it.
Katie gasped and glanced up at the trees,
half-expecting to find someone looking down on her… her heart thumped
anxiously, even when no threat appeared.
She shook her head, wishing she could shake off the nagging guilt as
well.
“I have the eyes of a hawk and the ears of a
fox.” Gimli was saying.
He was cut off by the sudden appearance of an
arrow in front of his nose. Katie
stopped dead at another arrow pointed directly at her, another at her bag, as
if they knew her little dog rested inside.
Elvish archers… all with the same golden
blonde hair that Legolas had. Katie
fought the urge to burst into tears again.
“The Dwarf breathes so loudly, we could have
shot him in the dark.” Came a chilly voice, their leader, no doubt.
Gimli growled as Aragorn stepped forward,
speaking softly to the icy elf… Haldir.
“Aragorn!
These woods are perilous! We
should turn back!” Gimli inserted his two cents.
“You have entered the realm of the Lady of the
Woods, you cannot go back.” Haldir spoke without losing that cold tone. “Come… she awaits you.”