Weaving a Song

Chapter 84

January 14-15 3019 TA

The darkness of Moria was endless. They travelled for three days, only to find Balin's tomb. They fought, only to run. They ran, and this time they found the fire in between them and their enemies. They made a run for the bridge, and behind them they could see black figures swarming them. Legolas turned, even though it was a long shot for his small bow, but, with his Elven gaze, he saw something he never wanted to see again, and he knew what he had felt when they entered Moria. His fingers slipped in his sudden fright, and the arrow dropped to the ground. He stared for a minute, in terror of what he saw, and then turned to flee. "Ai! Ai!" he wailed at the others. "A Balrog! A Balrog is come!"

Gimli stared, now able to see the horror behind them. "Durin's bane!" he cried, and letting his axe fall he covered his face.

"A Balrog," muttered Gandalf. "Now I understand." He faltered and leaned on his staff. Legolas looked at him warily, never having seen the Wizard this tired before. "What an evil fortune! And I am already weary." They ran across the bridge, but turned there, awaiting the fate of their leader. Legolas watched, holding his bow ready in his hand, but unable to see any gain in shooting the Balrog. He was not a creature to be harmed by simple arrows.

Then Gandalf fell, and Legolas' heart sunk in horror. You have been to Sauron's lair and back, only to fall now? His mind numbly thought. Aragorn led them out of the mines, and there they all fell to their shock. He is gone. Unable to believe what he had just seen, Legolas glanced behind him as if Gandalf would come out saying that he never fell, that his escape was miraculous.

Aragorn turned to them all. "Come!" he said. "We have a long road, and much to do."

Later Gimli told them not to drink the water of the Silverlode, because of its iciness. Aragorn looked ahead and said, "Soon it becomes a swift river, and it gathers water from many other mountain-streams. Our road leads beside it for many miles. For I shall take you by the road that Gandalf chose, and first I hope to come to the woods where the Silverlode flows into the Great River- out yonder." They looked, and saw that once out of the valley, the river was lost in a golden haze.

"There lie the woods of Lothlórien!" Legolas cried, joy filling his heart at the sight of familiar lands. In a way, he wished to know that his sister was still there, but another part of him hoped they would not know, for it would be better than not finding her there at all. "That is the fairest of all the dwellings of my people. There are no trees like the trees of that land. For in the autumn their leaves fall not, but turn to gold. Not till the spring comes and the new green opens do they fall, and then the boughs are laden with yellow flowers; and the floor of the wood is golden, and golden is the roof, and its pillars are of silver, for the bark of the trees is smooth and grey. So still our songs in Mirkwood say. My heart would be glad if I were beneath the eaves of that wood, and it were springtime!"

Aragorn gave him a knowing smile. "My heart will be glad, even in the winter. But it lies many miles away. Let us hasten!"

They ran then swiftly, in effort to reach the golden woods. But Sam and Frodo were injured, and after a while left behind. Legolas turned, not hearing all of his companions anymore, and found them far away. "Aragorn, the hobbits have fallen behind." He said. Aragorn turned and was filled with concern. Boromir and Aragorn then picked up the hobbits and carried them a little further where Aragorn tended their wounds.

He laughed once he discovered Frodo's mithril shirt. "Look, my friends!" He said. "Here's a pretty hobbit-skin to wrap an elven-princeling in! If it were known that hobbits had such hides, all the hunters of Middle-Earth would be riding to the Shire." Gimli was in awe of the coat. Legolas simply smiled somewhat mysteriously, but the others dismissed the mystery of it with a shrug knowing they would all be happier knowing the Ring bearer carried such a thing. Even so, after they had rested, they ran on again, Frodo and Sam now able to keep up.