The Daughter of the Moon Volume I

Chapter 13 : The Khazad-Dûm Bridge

As soon as they left the hall, regiments of Orcs flocked in.

The members of the company speeded up the pace as much as they could.

More and more orcas approached.

Elenwë may have been brave, but she felt all hope was leaving her at the thought of dying so far underground.

They were arriving at the northern end of the great hall when suddenly drum sounds were heard, shaking the walls and floors of the Moria.

The Orcs looked at each other, frightened.

Elenwë could not help hoping. If the killer whales were afraid... that was a good sign, wasn't it?

But the noises they heard erased all illusion.

Orcs fled in all directions, screaming in terror.

Gandalf turned pale and whispered something in his beard.

-What is it, Mithrandir? Asked Elenwë

-A Balrog, a fire demon from the Old Times. he replied.

Legolas also turned pale and said:

-It can't be! It can't be!

-And yet it is! RUN! RUN! RUN TO THE BRIDGE AND ACROSS!

They hastened and reached the bridge of Khazad-Dûm.

Behind them, a red glow lit up the corridor.

-Look ahead! Gandalf shouted. The bridge is close by. It is dangerous and narrow.

Suddenly Frodo saw a great black chasm before him. At the end of it the ground disappeared, falling to an unknown depth.

The outer door could only be reached by a thin stone bridge, without a border or parapet, which spanned the cut of a single, crisply leaping arch.

It was an ancient defence of the Dwarves against any enemy who might have taken the First Hall and the outer galleries.

They could only pass in single file.

Gandalf stopped at the edge, and the others gathered behind him.

-Take the lead, Gimli! he said. Then Pippin and Merry. Go straight ahead and up the stairs beyond the door!

The arrows fell among them. One struck Frodo and ricocheted.

Frodo looked back. Beyond the fire he saw black and swarming shapes: there seemed to be hundreds of killer whales.

They were brandishing spears and scimitars that glowed red as blood in the light of the fire.

Brrron, baron, the drums sounded louder and louder, brrron, brron.

Legolas turned and notched an arrow, although it was a long shot for his little bow.

He bandaged the rope, but his hand fell back and the arrow slid to the ground. He shouted in dismay.

Two large trolls appeared, carrying large slabs of stone, which they threw to the ground as a footbridge over the fire. But it wasn't the trolls that had frightened the Elf.

The rows of orcs had opened up and they retreated en masse, as if they were afraid themselves.

Something was coming up behind them. You couldn't see what it was: it looked like a big shadow, in the middle of which stood a dark mass, perhaps a shape.

but greater, and there seemed to reside a power and a terror, which went before her.

She came to the edge of the fire and the light disappeared as if a cloud had leaned over it.

Then she leapt over the crevasse.

The flames rose snoringly to greet and embrace her, and all the black smoke swirled in the air.

Her floating mane caught fire and flamed behind her. In her right hand she held a blade like a piercing tongue of fire, in her left a whip with multiple strips.

-Ouch! Ouch!" moaned Legolas. The Balrog! The Balrog has arrived!

Gimli opened his eyes:

-The Scourge of Durin! he cried, and, dropping his axe, he covered his face.

Elenwë was completely petrified with terror, as was the rest of the Company.

She murmured in a barely audible voice:

-Almighty Valars... Come to our aid!

Gandalf sighed.

Staggering, he leaned heavily on his staff:

-What misfortune! What misfortune! And I'm already so tired.

The dark form, dripping with fire, rushed towards them.

Orcs howled as they poured down the stone walkways.

Boromir raised his horn and sounded. The challenge resounded, powerful, and roared like the cry of many gorges under the cave vault.

For a moment, the orcs hesitated, and the burning shadow stopped.

Then the echoes died as suddenly as a flame blown by a dark wind, and the enemy came forward again.

-Over the bridge! Gandalf shouted, gathering his strength. Flee! This is an enemy beyond the power of any of you. I must hold the narrow way. Run!

Aragorn and Boromir, without obeying that order, stood side by side behind Gandalf at the other end... of the bridge.

The others stopped just in the door at the end of the room and turned around, unable to let their driver face the enemy alone.

The Balrog reached the bridge.

Gandalf stood in the middle of the span, leaning on the stick he held in his left hand, while in the other Glamdring, his sword gleamed, cold and white.

His enemy stopped again in front of him, and the shadow around him spread like two vast wings.

He raised the whip, and the straps groaned and clapped.

Fire came out of his nostrils. But Gandalf stood firm.

-You cannot pass, he said.

-You can't get through, he says louder.

The killer whales remained motionless, and a deathly silence fell.

-I am a servant of the Secret Fire, which holds the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will be of no use to you, flame of Udün. Return to the Shadow! You cannot pass.

The Balrog answered nothing. The fire seemed to go out in him, but the darkness grew darker.

The shape slowly moved across the bridge, suddenly rising to a great stature, and its wings spread from wall to wall, but Gandalf was still visible, casting a faint glow in the darkness, he seemed small and totally alone: grey and bent like a withered tree, before the onslaught of a storm.

From the shadows, a red sword came out flaming.

Glamdring responded with a white lightning bolt.

There was a resounding rattle and a white fire stunt.

The Balrog fell backwards, and his sword spurted out in melted fragments.

The magician wobbled on the bridge, stepped back, and stood still again.

-You can't get through! he said.

The Balrog leapt to the middle of the bridge. His whip whirled and whistled.

-Suddenly Aragorn cried out, and ran back across the bridge.

-Elendil! he shouted. I am with you, Gandalf.

-Gondor! Boromir cried out, rushing behind him.

At that moment Gandalf raised his staff and, shouting in a loud voice, he struck the bridge in front of him.

The stick broke in two and fell from his hand. A blinding curtain of white flames burst forth.

The bridge cracked.