Giving Chase {Lord of the Rings Crossover: Book One}

Chapter Twenty Two

Far above their heads lit by the glow of Gandalf's staff a huge cavern is revealed. Gasps escaped the hobbits as above the fellowship a vast roof upheld by rows of ornate mighty pillars carved from stone emerged from the dark. Before the company lay a huge empty hall with black polished walls smooth as glass, the space proved to be so vast that even Gandalf's staff could not rid the far corners from the seemingly endless blanket of darkness. 

Calypso placed herself to the rear of the group, standing, between the two towering figures of Legolas and Aragorn as the company held a moment of peace and silence within the hallowed hall. Whilst the Narnian would not admit it aloud she was grateful for the breather if only to shamefully bath in the added light of the room. Many who find themselves acquainted with the feline often assume that the keen eyed predator was as equally deadly at night as she was during the daylight hours however this was not the case. 

Long ago before the lands of Narnia were first unified under the banner of the mighty King Aslan hundreds of thousands of years before Calypso herself was even a possibility, the many creatures which made up the kingdom found themselves at war with one another. While many of the prey animals banded together in their survival the same could not be said for the predators, so instead each predatory species evolved to work to their own strengths and weaknesses to both catch their prey and fellow predators.  It was a dangerous time to be alive, especially for a cheetah. The breed, while impressive and large by Middle Earth standards was dramatically smaller then that of a tiger or jaguar, furthermore in comparison towards that of a lion such as Aslan Calypso was almost completely overshadowed, a practically easy meal if found unaware. 

Nevertheless Calypso's ancestors survived with their own cunning and tricks,  unlike larger cat relatives who hunted in the cover of night cheetahs hunted during the day. As a result their eyes see for thousands of miles however ultimately they process poor night vision and in a dangerous place such as Moria Calypso had to rely on her heightened sense of smell and hearing to keep her weariness at bay.

Ahead of them barely visible against the dark of Moria, a wooden door had been smashed. Black twisted arrows set embedded in the aged timber and at the threshold two goblin skeletons lay in the damp doorway. Gimli rushes ahead, "Gimli!" Gandalf cries his voice echoing within the empty hall but it was no use, the dwarf continues on rushing forward as the fellowship swiftly pursues.  

Gimli races into the vast empty chamber lit only by a narrow shaft of blazing white sunlight beaming in from a small slot near the roof. Years of disuse had left the chamber floor damp with surface water gleaming and sparkling in the light, both dwarf and goblin skeletons were piled together against the polished walls. In the far corner of the room a stone walled well sat in disrepair, a skeleton still perched on the edge clasping a rusted iron chain. At the center of the room the slotted light leads down directly onto a great slab of white stone. "No! No!" Exclaimed Gimli in a fit of gruff sobs crumbling to his knees before the tomb.

Gandalf walks up to the tomb brushing his weathered hand over the stone brushing away the dust as he quietly reads the inscription of dwarven runes carved into the white slab, the words he spoke confirmed what Calypso had realised long ago. Since they first began their long descent into the heart of Moria, Calypso had been searching for the scent of the lost Lord of these halls. The earthy scent of dwarfs however was so embedded within the Mines of Moria it almost breathed out of the stone itself making the search almost impossible. Yet at long last the search was over. Here was where her dear friend found his peace.

"Here lies Balin, son of Fudin, Lord of Moria." Gandalf solemnly removes his hat as Calypso dips her head in grief, "He is dead then, It's as I feared." Next to the tomb Gandalf notices a skeleton in dwarven clothing holding a large book, passing his hat and staff to Pippin he picks it up gently as the rotting pages fall out, gathering the tattered book into his arm he blows off the dust covering the surface.  The cover was slashed and stabbed and was coated in what appeared to be dried blood and as he opened the book the pages cracked and broke under the strain.  "We should move on, we cannot linger" Legolas whispered to Aragorn, his urgent murmuring barely audible to Calypso's sharp ears yet she turned her head towards the pair nodding silently in agreement as she court their eye, they should leave.