Hope ↠ LOTR

VIII. Tomb

For a moment the darkness continued to consume them, the only sound that echoed in the space they took up being the heavy breaths of the Hobbits. Gandalf lit up his staff once more, creating just enough light for the Fellowship to be able to see one another and their path ahead.

"We now have but one choice. We must face the long dark of Moria. Be on your guard. There are older and fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world," he warned them, cautiously making his way deeper into the Mines of Moria with the others following behind him. "Quietly now. It's a four day journey to the other side. Let us hope that our presence may go unnoticed."

They continued to follow the Grey Wizard through the cavernous passageways, walking along narrow and crumbling stone bridges with a steep drop to either side of them. Chains hung from the ceilings and ladders remained propped against the rocky walls—remnants of the Dwarves who once mined here.

Gandalf stopped walking along one of the walkways, a stone wall inlaid with streaks of silver had caught his attention. Athena almost bumped into Legolas from the sudden stop but managed not to, taking a small step back and feeling Gimli almost do the same thing that she did but with her instead.

"The wealth of Moria was not in gold or jewels, but Mithril."

He pointed his staff downwards, lighting up a large chasm beneath them. There was a vast array of pulleys, hooks, rickety wooden platforms, and buckets for transporting goods. Everyone stared at the sight in amazement, unable to see the bottom of the mine from how deep it actually went. Gandalf pulled his staff back to himself and continued to make his way across the path.

"Bilbo had a shirt of Mithril rings that Thorin gave him," he told them all. She vaguely remembered him showing it to her when she had last visited the Shire some good years ago.

"Oh, that was a kingly gift!" Gimli remarked in praise.

"Yes. I never told him, but it's worth was greater than the value of the Shire."

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It had been four days since they had been wandering through the dimly lit passages of Moria, no sunshine or moonlight reaching them in the depths of the mines. It was a miracle that Gandalf even knew which day it was.

They were forced to clamber up a steep set of stairs, mainly climbing it instead of walking it due to how steep it actually was. The stairs crumbled beneath Athena's feet while she pushed herself up them, feeling guilty for Gimli who was climbing behind her and hoping that he wouldn't get dust and small shards of rock thrown into his face.

When she reached the top she saw Gandalf standing in front of three archways that led in different directions, staring between the three of them but making no move to actually follow one of the paths.

"I have no memory of this place," he whispered, much to her dismay.

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Gandalf now sat perched on a rock, the others sat a little ways from him and gazing out at the mines beneath them. Athena stood behind where Boromir and Aragorn were seated at the edge, Legolas beside her with the Hobbits sat in a cluster beside them and Gimli standing a little behind her and Legolas.

"Are we lost?" Pippin asked.

"No," Merry immediately responded.

"I think we are."

"Shh! Gandalf's thinking!" Sam tried to hush them down.

"Merry?"

"What?"