"We now have but one choice," said Gandalf in a low voice. "We must face the deep darkness of Moria. Come, quickly. It's a three-day journey to the other side. Let us be on our guard. There are older, much more fouler things than Orcs and goblin-men that roam the places of the Earth. Let us hope that our presence may go unnoticed."

We didn't know how long we travelled through Moria. We didn't know the time or hour. But we made sure to be careful with each step we took. Gandalf looked around. I noticed that there were no glittering jewels, which you would usually find in a dwarf mine.

"The wealth of Moria was not in gold, or jewels for that matter. But Mithril." He was silent before adding, "Bilbo had a shirt made of Mithril rings that Thorin gave him."

I couldn't help but smirk slightly. But Frodo looked a little bit uncomfortable.

"That would have been a kingly gift," said Gimli in awe.

"Yes," Gandalf agreed. "I never told Bilbo this, but its worth is greater than the entire value of the Shire."

We delved deeper into the mines for several more hours before we came to a halt. Gandalf looked from one door to the other before saying, "I have no memory of this place."

We stopped for short a rest while Gandalf thought about which of the three entrances we should go through. Finally —

"Oh! It's that way."

"He's remembered!" said Merry with much enthusiasm.

"No," Gandalf answered. "But the air doesn't smell so foul. When in doubt, Meriadoc, always follow your nose." We walked through the tunnel before we were greeted by a large room. "Welcome to the great halls of Dwarrowdelf." 

"Now there s an eye-opener right there, and that's no mistake," Sam muttered to himself. But we all heard him.

We continued to make our way through the Dwarven halls until Gimli let out a shout of shock and horror. He sped ahead of us into a room that had light flooding through it.

"Gimli!" said Gandalf in a sharp voice. But the dwarf didn't even listen. Gimli finally stopped and knelt down in front of some sort of tomb. Gandalf read the Dwarf runes off the marble tombstone. "'Here lies Balin, son of Fundin'. He is dead, then. It is as I've feared."

"We must go," I heard Legolas saying in an urgent whisper to Aragorn. "We cannot linger!"

But nobody seemed to be paying any heed to Legolas's demands. Gandalf bent down and picked up a very old book. He blew the dust off of it and began to read it aloud to us.

"'. . . . We cannot get out. We cannot get out. They are coming'!" Gandalf finished.

On cue, the sound of something crashing was heard. We whipped around to see that Pippin had been messing around with a skeleton that sat on the edge of a well. We listened for a few minutes as the skeleton crashed to the depths beneath us. Finally, there was silence. We all breathed a sigh of relief.

"You fool of a Took!" Gandalf spat. "Throw yourself in next time and get rid of yourself and your stupidity!"

Pippin looked really guilty. But his guilt soon vanished when there was the sound of drums beating in the depths of the mines. The triumphant sound of laughter was heard, causing us to tense.

"Mr. Frodo!" said Sam in a warning voice. Frodo took out Sting and instantly looked horrified.

Boromir thought that it was a pleasant idea to see how many Orcs and goblin-men were headed our way. But that resulted in almost getting killed by an arrow. He reacted quickly to avoid death. He turned to look at us.

"They have a cave-troll," he said with sarcastic enthusiasm.

"Hobbits! Stay with Gandalf!" Aragorn demanded as the rest of us tried to barricade the entrance of the tomb. Eventually, the Orcs and goblin-men managed to break into our barricaded hideout. Legolas managed to shoot several of the Orcs before they officially made it through the barrier.

After we've been fighting for God knows how long, a cave-troll came along. Just as Boromir had told us. But unfortunately, we weren't looking, as we were trying to avoid its deathly blows. And, to my horror, it went after Frodo, and the thing managed to stab him with its spear.

The world seemed to have stopped as he collapsed, dead.

"NO!" I screamed in horror as Frodo's body hit the ground.

Finally, there was silence after Legolas had managed to kill the beast. I was immediately at Frodo's side, turning his limp body over before holding him gently in my arms. I rested his head on my chest, holding him close to me. Tears began to stream down my cheeks, and my hands shook as I pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead.

"Oh, no," Aragorn muttered.

A sudden cough startled me and I accidentally dropped Frodo onto the ground in shock, and scrambled away from him, hardly daring to believe what I was seeing in front of me. He immediately got to his knees, clutching at his chest. I stared at him, amazed at the fact that he was still alive after we clearly saw him get speared by a giant mountain troll.

"It's alright," he wheezed. "I-I'm not hurt."

"You should be dead," I said in amazement. My eyes raked up and down his body, still in awe at what I was seeing.

"That troll would have been able to skewer a wild boar," said Aragorn in awe.

"I bet that there is more to this Hobbit than what meets the eye," said Gandalf with a slight smile.

Frodo looked very hesitant before he revealed his secret to staying alive. Gimli looked impressed when he saw the Mithril shirt underneath.

"Mithril," Gimli murmured in shock. He then smiled. "You're full of surprises, Master Baggins."

I smirked at the dwarf. "You don't say."

This Hobbit has surprised me more than beyond anything else.

We jumped when we heard the familiar whooping from the Orcs and goblin-men.

"To the Bridge of Khazad-Dûm!" Gandalf declared. "Go!"

We quickly made it out of the room, only to be surrounded by Orcs and goblin-men on all sides.

"Shit," I muttered to myself.

I immediately put myself in front of Frodo in case the enemy would try and hurt him again. A low growling was heard, and the creatures who were chasing after us did not look pleased. In fact, they looked terrified, and ran for cover.

"What is this new devilry?" Boromir asked in a low voice once the Orcs and goblin-men had vanished.

Gandalf was silent for a few moments. My heart pounded nervously against my chest.

"A Balrog," he finally answered in a low voice. "A demon of the ancient world. His foe is beyond any of you. RUN!"

We all did his bidding and took off, only to be stopped by a flight of stairs that had a gap in between, but the gap was large enough for us to jump over.

"Rivka!" said Aragorn in a firm voice.

To my shock and surprise, he grabbed me by the waist and tossed me over the gap. Luckily, Boromir was able to catch me. Pretty soon, it was only Frodo and Aragorn left. I watched with concern. But Aragorn seemed to know what he was doing, so that made me feel a little bit more comfortable.

Eventually the duo made it. I caught Frodo in my arms and Legolas helped Aragorn out. Once everyone was safe, we fled for the Bridge.

"You cannot pass!" said Gandalf in a loud voice.

"Gandalf!" Frodo exclaimed in horror.

The rest of the Fellowship backtracked to see what was going on. Gandalf was battling the Balrog head-on. And by himself, too.

"I am the servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the Flame of Anor. The dark fire will not avail you! Flame of Undun!" Gandalf declared. The Balrog lashed out, growling deeply. "Go back to the Shadows where you belong! YOU! SHALL! NOT! PASS!"

And with that, Gandalf struck his staff, causing the bridge to collapse, falling into the abyss. It took the Balrog with it, but not for long. The Balrog managed to get Gandalf by the ankles and drag him down with him. But not before he managed to hang onto the ledge. He gave us a look.

"Fly, you fools!" he demanded.

And with that, he let go and fell to his supposed death.

***HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!!***