A Light From the Shadows Shall Spring

Aragorn pulled Frodo to his feet and we all ran as fast as we could out of the room; Gandalf was leading us where we needed to go. I made sure the hobbits were in front of me, and would put a hand on Sam's back since he was closest to me when I needed to to urge them to run faster. Behind me, I would feel Aragorn's hand on my back as well every once in a while, pushing me onwards. As we ran, the goblin's screeches were beginning to get louder and closer. There was no denying that I was scared to find out how many of them there actually were.

They began crawling out of holes in the floor, and they began swarming down the pillars from the ceiling, and they were quickly catching up with us. Before we knew it we were surrounded, and there was nowhere for us to run. They pointed their swords at us, and I held mine at the ready, though at this point I doubted fighting would be much use. I tried to make sure I was shielding Frodo and the other Hobbits as much as I could. I was so scared and my heart was beating furiously fast, but I tried to not let my fear show.

At the very end of one of the hallways came a roar, and it lit up with a fiery glow. The creatures that surrounded us cried out and began to back away. From what I could tell, they looked frightened. The growl got louder and soon, the goblins began to retreat rather quickly. The growling from the end of the hall echoed towards us, and we all stared at the light, frozen to the ground we stood on.

I crept over to Gandalf slowly and leaned in close to his to whisper, "What is that?" Gandalf didn't answer for a moment, but he eventually mumbled, "I had hoped we would not be so unfortunate as to find out."

It sounded like he was going to say more, but Boromir appeared behind Gandalf on his other side and I heard him whisper, "What is this new devilry?" Again, Gandalf did not answer right away.

I looked to the Hobbits to see they looked more frightened than ever, as did Aragorn. I could feel my heart speeding up as the anxiety grew. The glow at the end of the hallway expanded and moved towards us, and I heard the clearest growl I had heard yet. I shrunk back behind Gandalf and moved closer to Boromir as I heard Gandalf relent, "A Balrog… A demon of the ancient world. This foe is beyond any of you… RUN!"

I was startled by Gandalf's sudden outburst, but took off running along with everyone else. We ran in the opposite direction towards a doorway at the other end of the hall. Gandalf ushered us in quickly and stayed behind to make sure everyone else was in front of him. Boromir took up the front and lead us down a staircase, Legolas following behind him. I followed Legolas, but looked back as we descended down the stairs to check on the others. As I faced forward again, I saw Boromir try to stop short on the next set of stairs and realized the stairs had broken off, leaving a gap and a very long fall between the set of stairs we were on and the next.

Boromir flailed, attempting to keep his balance and off-set his forward momentum. Legolas rushed forward to grab him and steady him, but they ended up falling backwards. I hadn't realized I had been holding my breath until I let out a sigh of relief and rushed over to them to help them stand.

Behind us, the Balrog growled again, and even louder this time. I heard Gandalf shout at someone and turned to see him push Aragorn forward shouting, "Do as I say! Swords are no more use here!"

There was a stairway to our left that we began going down, Aragorn taking the lead this time. We were running as fast as we could down the stairs, but it was difficult because the steps were narrow and the stone was crumbling; I was afraid one of us would lose our balance and fall. We came upon yet another gap in the stairs, this one considerably smaller than the first, but I knew it would be difficult to jump nevertheless.

Legolas was the first to jump across, and he landed gracefully on the other side. He had made it look easy, but I knew better than to overestimate my own abilities. I did not want to make the jump, but I also didn't want to stay where I was.

The ground below us shook, and the sound of crumbling stone echoed up to us. I looked around frantically, trying to find another way, but there was nothing. Jumping was the only way to avoid dying.

Legolas called to Gandalf, who hesitated only a fraction of a second before making the jump. He landed safely on the other side, and Legolas only had to help steady him for a quick moment. I heard an arrow sail past my head and turned to see that the creatures had followed us and were now trying to attack us from afar. Legolas and Aragorn both drew their bows and shot a few arrows at our attackers. Boromir hastily grabbed Merry and Pippin and jumped across the gap with them. As he did, another part of the staircase fell away, and we had to retreat up a few steps, making the gap I had to jump even bigger. Arrows continued to fly at us, and one grazed my arm, but it was only a small flesh wound, so I didn't say anything.

Aragorn called to Sam, and picked him up and threw him across the gap where Boromir caught him. Aragorn then turned to Gimli, but Gimli refused to be thrown. He went to the edge of the staircase and jumped, and my heart stopped when he didn't make it all the way. He teetered on the edge and was about to fall backwards when Legolas reached out and caught him by his beard. I cringed, but was relieved that he was now safely on the other side.

To my horror, the staircase beneath my and Frodo's feet began to crumble away and Aragorn grabbed Frodo, tossing him up the steps further, and I scrambled to follow. It was only the three of us now, and I felt there was no chance of us making the gap between staircases now.

We stood up and I looked to Aragorn as I said, "We can't jump that. There's no way." He examined the distance and he murmured, "I know."

My heart sank even further when the Balrog's growl came from behind us, and the entire structure shook. Stone was crumbling everywhere and I felt as if I was really going to die. There didn't seem to be any way to get to the rest of the group, and a Balrog did not sound like something any of us could fight and win against. I felt hot tears threaten my eyes, but I held them back.

A large piece of the foundation fell from above and I watched in complete horror as it cut through the staircase above us effortlessly. I felt a sick feeling in my stomach and Frodo and I made eye contact. We were both feeling the exact same thing. The staircase lurched and the three of us tried to keep our balance. Aragorn reached out to each side and held on to both Frodo and I. I latched on to his side, not caring what he or anyone else thought. I was scared beyond all belief.

The staircase grumbled and I heard the stone crack and we began to sway back and forth. We tried to move in order to counter the staircase and keep it upright. Aragorn yelled, "Hold on!" and gripped us tighter. The staircase teetered dangerously and I felt that any minute it would tip over, taking us with it. Aragorn then said, "Lean forward!" and the three of us put our weight to the front of the staircase, and I felt the structure move forward, towards the other staircase. Legolas and Boromir stood ready to catch us and the stone structure collided with the other, throwing us off of it. Legolas caught Aragorn and Frodo, and Boromir caught me. I quickly thanked him as he checked me over and then we all turned and continued running down the steps. Behind us, I heard the staircase fall to the ground hundreds of feet below.

We entered a short hallway and fire began to surround us as Gandalf yelled, "Over the bridge!" and ushered us away from him. And although I kept running, I turned to see Gandalf stay behind. I called out to him, but he either didn't hear me, or chose not to respond. I hurried after Legolas. Up ahead, I saw Aragorn stop for a moment and turn around, so the rest of us followed suit. I turned to see a monstrous creature that looked like half demon, half bull, lumbering towards us. It was engulfed in flames and the ground shook with each step it took. Gandalf turned and ran to catch up with us, and we all began to run again.

We made it to a narrow bridge and I saw it would be a deadly drop to the invisible bottom below. We flew across the bridge swiftly and everyone had gathered on the other side, stopping to make sure everyone made it across the bridge. When I reached the other side, I turned to see, to my horror, that Gandalf had stopped halfway on the bridge and had turned to face the menacing Balrog.

I screamed out to him, pleading with him to run, as did Frodo. Gandalf yelled something to the Balrog and the creature stood up to its fullest height and unfurled its wings. Fire began to rise out of the Balrog, almost encompassing it entirely. Gandalf continued to speak, but I couldn't make out his words. He raised his staff as bright, white light flooded outwards. I looked to see that the Balrog had what appeared to be a sword made entirely out of fire in its hand. The creature brought its arm up and sent the sword crashing downwards at Gandalf. I gasped and stood completely still, wanting to do something to help, but not knowing how.

Gandalf's staff connected with the Balrog's sword and the weapons let off a huge spark made of flames. We all watched with bated breath as the monster roared at Gandalf, obviously infuriated. The Balrog then took a step out onto the bridge and I yelled, "Gandalf! Run!"

The wizard backed up a bit and the Balrog produced yet another weapon: a whip made of flames. He cracked the whip and Gandalf bellowed at the creature, raising his staff and sword up together. This time his words did reach my ears.

"YOU… SHALL NOT… PASS!"

He brought his staff down onto the bridge and produced a large spark of white light and the Balrog faltered for a moment. But suddenly, it took a step forward onto the bridge and swung the whip above its head. The bridge below the creature fell away immediately, and I watched as the Balrog fell with it. I looked to Gandalf, amazed. He turned, looking exhausted and began to walk back to us. However, he had only taken maybe two steps when I heard and saw the Balrog's whip crack, and the thin strand of flame came up and wrapped itself around Gandalf's ankle, and it pulled him down. He grasped onto the edge of the bridge and I took off running towards him. I heard Frodo scream out to Gandalf behind me.

I had made it halfway to Gandalf when a pair of arms wrapped themselves around me and stopped me dead in my tracks. I fought against them as I screamed, "Let me go! We can help him! We can still help him!"

Aragorn's voice answered me as he said, "No! It will only pull you down with him!" and I screamed back, "We have to save him!"

I still hadn't taken my eyes off Gandalf, and I could see he was struggling to hold on. He managed to get a steady grip as I continued to fight against Aragorn. Suddenly, Gandalf stopped moving and looked at all of us. "Fly, you fools!" he called, and then let go of the bridge and fell away. I screamed louder than I had ever screamed in my life, and I heard others yelling as well. Aragorn put all his force into picking me up and turning me around, pushing me back towards the others. Arrows began to fly at us again, and I saw Boromir had picked up Frodo, who was calling out for Gandalf.

I looked back to the bridge in shock, wishing Gandalf was still there. Aragorn took my arm and pulled me forward, pleading with me, "Cecilia, please! We must leave! We cannot stay here!"

He pushed me forward, and I reluctantly began to run, feeling empty and lost. I saw Boromir look back to where I just was and call out to Aragorn. Looking behind me, I saw that Aragorn was looking at the bridge in disbelief, but broke his gaze away when more arrows began to fly at him. He dodged them and caught up with me, grasping my arm again and pulling me with him up the stairs and after the others.

We were the last ones to finally make it outside of the mine. The light was blinding, but the air was unfathomably fresh. However, I barely noticed any of this. The first thing I noticed upon exiting the mine was the sight of every member of the fellowship looking completely devastated. Sam sat alone, crying. Merry and Pippin sat together, Boromir comforted Gimli. Legolas looked lost. Frodo was walking away from the group. Aragorn let go of my arm, but I couldn't bring myself to look at him. I, too, was completely devastated by the loss of the wizard, but I couldn't help but feel a tinge of anger at Aragorn. I still believed I could have helped Gandalf.

Once again, hot tears threatened my eyes, but I could not let them fall. I was still too shocked. Part of me refused to believe the obvious truth.

Aragorn called out to Legolas and told him to get the others up. Boromir protested, but I didn't mind moving on. I wanted to leave this wretched place behind me as soon as possible. Aragorn walked over to Sam and got him to his feet, and then called out for Frodo, who was some distance away now.

When the group was all together, we began to quickly move over the mountain. We barely spoke, and as Aragorn lead the group on, I stayed at the very back, still not able to bring myself to acknowledge him. The more we walked, the more angry I became.