Defender of Lorien

They traversed down the dark passage way, with only the faint glow of the light Gandalf wielded in the front of the group. The passageway was narrow, only allowing them to travel in a single file. For eight hours they traveled like this, as the passageway slowly began to slope upwards. Anya’s heart yearned for day light, a fresh breeze to carry the loving scent of wilderness to her nose, and the soft and sweet touch of soil and grass to caress her feet once more.
She grow tired of her eyes straining for light, and the cold hard of the stone beneath her feet. She also missed the sounds of the wilderness, for as they traveled the only noise to be heard was the sound of their footfalls and their breathing. When Anya thought that she might finally loose herself and the hobbits began to tire, they came upon a vast opening.

Raising his staff, Gandalf illuminated the room for but a moment, and in that moment, the light revealed an enormous empty hall, the ceiling stretched far overhead, being supported by mammoth stone pillars.

Gimli gave a great sigh then said, “This is the great city of Dwarrowdelf. This is where my cousin Balin was believed to have come,” he said with awe and sadness, “But now that I’ve been here, I do not believe that Balin ever really did come to this place.”

“We shall rest here for tonight,” Gandalf said as he sat down near a corner of the vast hall, “We are all tired and should rest. In the morning we shall be leaving these mines, for the eastern gates is only a march from where we are now.” With that thought in mind, Anya sat down on the floor next to her cousin Legolas, whom she hadn’t been spending much time with since they had entered the mines. With a sigh, Anya wrapped her cloak around her shoulders and laid her head on Legolas’s shoulder, feeling content for the first time since they had decided to enter the mines.

In a matter of moments, Anya’s eyes closed, and her breathing became slow and thick as she drifted off into sleep. When Anya awoke, her back was stiff and her pillow, which had been Legolas, was now gone and replaced with a pack. Siting up with a slight groan, Anya saw that everyone was still rest while Legolas stood on watch. Quietly, Anya crawled over to her cousin, his eyes watching a passage off to their left.

“Do you sense anything my cousin,” Anya asked him with concern. A cold breeze seemed to be coming up from that very passage, causing her hair to stand on end.

“I do not know,” Legolas said after a pause, “but whatever is through that passage, I do not wish to meet it.” Anya nodded her head in agreement.

“How long was I asleep?” Anya asked, as she thought that she could see a slight trickle of light emitting from a room to their right.

“Maybe five hours,” Legolas said.

“Go meditate, I will stand guard,” Anya said nudging her cousin, “I feel refreshed after such a long rest. And do not even think of arguing, you haven’t slept well of late, I have noticed, even through my panicked state.” Legolas gave her kindly smile, then leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. Anya sat there in quiet, as she watched the passages around them and occasionally glanced at her slumbering companions. After an hour of watching, Gandalf, Aragorn, and Legolas stirred, it was time to wake the others and be on their way once more.

Anya rose and woke the hobbits, eager to finally leave this dark piece of the world. After a short discussion, Gandalf decided it best they find a window that would look upon the day as to figure out exactly where they were, just to be sure that they took the right passage as to get out of Moria. So they traveled over to the room from which Anya had seen the light coming from. But when they entered, they found something they had been expecting, a tomb.

Gimli ran up to the table like slab and dropped to his knees, a language written upon the tablet that Anya could not understand. A wail came Gimli’s lips as he read the tablet, Anya not knowing what to do, looked to Gandalf.

“It is written in the language of dwarf and man,” Gandalf said walking up to Gimli, removing his wizards hat as he did so, “It reads, ‘Here lies Balin, son of Fundin, Lord of Moria’ So he is dead, just as I feared.” Gimli wailed even louder as Gandalf said this last part, causing Anya to step forward, along with Boromir, and place a hand on either of Gimli’s shaking shoulders to comfort him.