The Forgotten Love ~A Faramir Love Story~

Chapter XVIII

 They walked silently through the massive halls of the great Dwarf city, marveling at the great beauty of this hidden kingdom. 

Suddenly Gimli spotted a doorway in front of the Fellowship and ran towards it.

"Gimli, wait!" Gwen called out, her voice echoing through the stone cavern despite the words leaving her mouth in a hoarse whisper.

Gimli seemed not to hear. "Oh!" He exclaimed upon entering the room.

"Gimli!" Gandalf said, following him in.

Gwen gasped as she entered the room. There was Gimli, kneeling in front of a stone tomb in the center of the room.

"No, no!" He exclaimed quietly, bowing his head. "No."

Mithrandir walked up to the tomb and read the Dwarven rhunes inscripted upon it. "Here lies Balin, son of Fundin, Lord of Moria." He sighed, removing his grey hat. "He is dead then. It is as I feared."

Gimli mourned over his fallen Dwarf brother. "He was like a second father to me," he told Gwen, who had knelt down beside Gimli and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Gwen watched as Mithrandir laid eyes upon a skeleton next to the tomb holding a large book. He passed his hat and staff to Pippin and picked it up. Pages fell out of it as he blew the dust away.
Gwen stood up and stood next to Aragorn, curious about what the book had written in it.

"We must move on, we cannot linger," Legolas suddenly whispered to the two in Elvish.

Gwen turned around to meet the face of the anxious Elf Prince. "What is the matter, mellon nin?" ​ She asked, alarmed by his distraught face.

"We are not alone down here." 

Gwen was not given the chance to answer, as Mithrandir had begun to read from the book. "'They have taken the Bridge and the second hall. We have barred the gates, but cannot hold them for long. The ground shakes. Drums, drums in the deep. We cannot get out.'" Mithdrandir looked up, glancing at the group of nine surrounding him with a wary eye. Everyone started to look around them nervously, all being irked by Wizard's words. "'A shadow moves in the dark. We cannot get out. They are coming'"

BANG BANG BANG!

Mithrandir turns around swiftly as a whole skeleton, and the chains it held, fell into it a well it had been resting on. It bounced down, the smashing echoes assuredly heard throughout the mines.

Gwen stared at Pippin, who grimaced at each crashing echo. She shook her head slightly, frustrated. His curiosity nearly cost them dearly in almost losing Frodo to the monster in the lake. It seemed as it the Halfling had recklessly endangered them once more.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for an answering noise. A growl, or a rumble.

But nothing was, or could be, heard. Aragorn and Boromir breathed an audible sigh of relief.
Mithrandir slammed the book shut. "Fool of a Took!" He exclaimed, voicing Gwen's thoughts in a harsher manner as he set the book down and grabbed his things out of Pippin's hands. "Throw yourself in next time, and rid us of your stupidity!"

Before Pippin, or anyone for that matter, could say a word, a dull drumming was heard in the distance. Nobody moved as the drums got louder and louder, and faster and faster. Gwen found herself shoulder to shoulder with Boromir. They exchanged a knowing glance as they simultaneously gripped the hilts of their swords, anticipating the worst.

"Frodo!" Sam suddenly called, pointing at Frodo's sword.

Frodo unsheathed his sword.

It was glowing blue.