-These are the emblems of Durin!" cried Gimli.

-And here is the Tree of the High Elves! said Legolas.

-And the Star of the House of Fëanor, said Gandalf. They are made of ithildin, which reflects only the light of the stars and the moon and sleeps until it is touched by someone from the Middle. I heard them a long time ago, and I had to think deeply to remember them.

-What does the text say?" asked Frodo, who was trying to decipher the inscription on the bow. I thought I knew the Elvish letters, but I cannot read them.

The words are in the Elvish language of the West of Middle-earth in ancient times," Gandalf replied.

But they don't reveal anything important to us. They only say this: The Gates of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak, friend, and enter. And underneath it is written in small and weak characters: I, Narvi, made them. Celebrimbor de Houssaye engraved these signs.

-What does it mean: Speak, friend, and enter?" asked Merry.

-It's quite clear," said Gimli. If you are a friend, give the password, the doors will open and you can come in.

-Yes, said Gandalf, those doors are probably governed by words. Some dwarf doors will only open at particular times, and others have locks that still require keys when the time and words are known. These have no key. In Durin's time, they were not secret. They generally remained open under the supervision of guards . But if they were closed, anyone who knew the password only had to say it to enter. At least that's what is reported, isn't it, Gimli?

-Yes, said the dwarf. But the word was not remembered. Narvi, his art and all his kind disappeared from the earth.

-But don't you know the word, Gandalf?" Boromir asked, astonished.

-No," said the magician.

The others looked dismayed, only Aragorn, who knew Gandalf well, remained silent and impassive.

-Then why bring us to this cursed place?" cried Boromir, who shuddered as he threw back a

look at the dark water. You told us that you once went through the Mines. How could that be, if you don't know how to get in?

-The answer to your first question, Boromir," said the magician, "is that I do not yet know the word.

But we shall soon see. And," he added, "with a flash of lightning from under his raised eyebrows, you may ask what good my deeds have done when they have proved to be in vain. As for your other question: do you doubt my words? Or have you lost all reasoning power? I didn't come in here. I came from the East. If you want to know, I will tell you that these doors open outside. You can open them from the inside with a push of your hand. From the outside, nothing will make them move except the formula. You can't force them inwards.

-What are you going to do, then?" Pippin asked, without being dismayed by the magician's raised eyebrows.

-Knock on the doors with your head, Peregrin Took," said Gandalf, annoyed. But if that doesn't break them down and I'm freed from stupid questions, I'll try to find the opening formula.

Elenwë couldn't hold back a slight burst of laughter and Aragorn and Legolas looked at her in amazement.

Blushing, she lowered her eyes and walked away.

While the magician was thinking, the other companions distributed the luggage more evenly between the different bags.

Pippin, who obviously had nothing better to do, decided to throw stones into the lake.

A first sound splash resounded in the lake and Elenwë was the first to react. She approached the hobbit and shouted at him:

-Stop it! Are you stupid Perigrin Touque? Can't you do anything but nonsense?

Shameful, he apologised and went and sat down on a rock.

Elenwë was thinking. "Speak friend, and come in."

Suddenly she understood. It was so simple. She said strongly:

-Mellon. (Friend)

The doors opened slowly.

Gandalf thanked the young elf with a nod.

As the company entered the mines, a shout rang out behind them.

They turned their heads and saw Frodo grabbed like a great octopus and lifted him into the air.

Immediately, Elenwë rushed at the beast, pulling Ant Estel out of his sheath.

She sliced the tentacles vigorously, as did Aragorn and Boromir. Soon Frodo fell back to shore and they turned away.

Suddenly something grabbed Elenwë's ankle and lifted it up.

Upside down she bent down to cut off the tentacle that was holding her back.

When she managed to do so, Legolas had shot a final arrow at the beast, which had the effect of stunning it for a moment.

Elenwë fell and bumped into the rocks on the ground.

"Oh no... again?!" she thought.

Slightly stunned, she got up and walked away from the octopus.

Legolas reached out his arm to support her, for he could see she was staggering.

He put one arm above her waist to help her move forward.

Already the octopus was waking up and everyone entered the mines, whose doors closed behind them.

After a while Elenwë felt better and whispered Legolas' arm off his back:

-Pan mae. Hannon him, Legolas. (Everything is all right. Thank you, Legolas.)

He smiled quickly and went to Aragorn.

Elenwë hadn't noticed him, but in helping him the elf had pressed hard on his wound from the night before when her side had hurt so badly.

To tell the truth, she hadn't had time to look at what she had and she hoped it was just a nice concussion.

In fact, her side was pushing her hard but she kept moving forward with a forced smile on her lips to avoid discouraging the hobbits and letting herself fall to the ground.

In the end, several hours later, they stopped.

Gandalf was standing in front of three different entrances and pacing and whispering:

-I don't remember this place.

He thought long and hard as they all settled down for the night.

Elenwë went to bed immediately, exhausted.

Legolas frowned. The elves needed very little sleep, so the young elf's behaviour seemed suspicious to him.

All but her ate a soup quickly prepared by Sam and the wood elf was worried when he saw that Elenwë didn't eat and seemed to be sleeping.

He approached her with a bowl of warm soup in his hand.

-Wen Elenwë? he called out to her.

She didn't answer and Legolas noticed beads of sweat running down her forehead.

He touched her forehead and saw the evidence. She had a fever.

In her sleep she moaned and put her hand at his side.

Suddenly, Legolas turned the elf over gently and lifted her brown tunic.

Amazed, he looked. A huge concussion spread over half of his side. The flesh was warm and blistered and had several colours, varying from red to blue and black in the most damaged areas.

Legolas then remembered that the night before it had fallen on a rock and he would never have thought it could have been so serious.

She hadn't complained. And by helping her walk earlier, he must have rekindled the pain. He blamed himself.

Slowly he applied a balm to the wound and bandaged her belly.

He covered it and even went so far as to put his own blanket over it.

No doubt he would not be able to sleep that night.