3/3

"Quickly!" Gandalf said as he pushed us through a small door. Boromir ran ahead.

We came to the bottom of a crumbling staircase. I was right behind Legolas. Boromir, I guess, wasn't paying very much attention and almost ran off the broken staircase. He stopped just in time but dropped his torch. Just before he fell Legolas rushed out and pulled him back, both of them falling back.

Gandalf leaned against the doorway, seemingly in pain. Aragorn put his hand on Gandalf's shoulder. "Gandalf."

Gandalf gripped Aragorn's shoulder. "Lead them on, Aragorn," he commanded. Then he looked out. "The bridge is near." I followed their eyes and saw a narrow strip of rock going from one side of a deep crevice to the other. The Balrog roared again. "Do as I say!" Gandalf yelled, throwing Aragorn away. "Swords are no more use here."

I followed behind everyone down the decaying stairs until we reached a spot with a hole too long to merely step across. I had been pushed to the front of the group and Legolas took my hand, jumping and pulling both of us across. Gandalf stood at the edge, hesitating. The demon began to hit the wall above the door we had come through. "Gandalf!" Legolas insisted. After a moment, he jumped, and Legolas caught him. I heard a strange wizzing noise, and just as it occurred to me that it was an arrow, it hit the crumbled step in front of Boromir. Everyone looked in the direction it came from. More arrows came and, thankfully, missed. Legolas began to counter-fire.

"Merry! Pippin!" Boromir yelled, taking Merry and Pippin under his arms. Just as they jumped, a few steps crumbled and fell.

More arrows came and went. I tried to use my powers and deflect the arrows, but Gandalf stopped me. "Don't waste your energy, Jenakin," he told me. "You'll need it."

I didn't have time to comprehend what he was saying. Next Aragorn tossed Sam into the arms of Boromir. As he turned to get Gimli, Gimli raised his hand. "Nobody tosses a Dwarf." He jumped. He was about a hair's width from missing. He lost his balance and Legolas reached out and got a hold of his beard just before he fell. "Not the beard!" he yelled. Legolas pulled him away from the edge, and now only Aragorn and Frodo remained. The stairs crumbled again, and this time Aragorn almost fell.

The gap was too wide to jump now. I almost passed out I was worrying so much.

The demon was almost through the wall.  It crumbled, sending a huge chunk of stone down and hitting the staircase, just a dozen or so feet behind Frodo and Aragorn. The structure under their feet began to lean and crumble under them.

Come on! I thought. Just lean forward! The structure will do the rest!

Frodo looked up at me and frowned. They both did. Aragorn seemed to snap out of it first. "Lean forward!" he commanded. They both leaned forward. They slowly came toward us. When they were close enough, Aragorn yelled "Now!" and they jumped. Legolas caught Aragorn and Boromir caught Frodo. We continued to run down the crumbling stair way until coming to a flat surface. There was fire behind us, and it was hot as the Underworld itself.

"Over the bridge!" Gandalf yelled, pointing the way and making sure we all got there. "Fly!" I stopped by Gandalf. He tried to shove me on but there was a loud groan behind us. We both looked at the flames, and we both knew what was there. The Balrog lept out in front of us and roared like a huge fire, blowing hot air that smelled of ash and smoke, that swept my hair out of my face.  Gandalf took my hand and ran in front of me as the demon roared again and began to follow us. We had gotten halfway across the bridge before he stopped and looked back at it.

"You cannot pass!" he yelled, pushing me behind him.

"Gandalf!" I heard Frodo yell.

The demon stood up straight and wreathed itself in flames.

"I am a servant of the Secret Fire, weilder of the flame of Anor," he said loudly, raising his staff and making it glow brighter, forming a sort of shield as it drew its sword. "The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn!"

The demon raised its sword and brought it down on the small shield. Gandalf yelled out as it broke away. The shield disappeared. It took a step back and roared.

"Go back to the Shadow," Gandalf told it, putting his sword beside him as if to shield me.

The demon pulled out a whip and flicked it, the crack sounding like the roar of a hurricane.

Gandalf raised his sword and staff as far as he could reach and put them together. "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" He threw his staff down onto the bridge, a flare of white light blinding me for a moment. The demon snorted and began to come across the bridge, the stone crumbling beneath him, and the beast fell with that half of the bridge.

I was in a horrible daze and could hardly stand. I stumbled over to Aragorn and almost collapsed into him. I looked back at Gandalf just in time to see the fiery whip grasp his ankle and pull him over the broken end of the bridge. He had barely gotten hold of it before he fell. I tried to run back to him again, but Aragorn held me back.

"Gandalf!"  Frodo screamed.

Gandalf tried to pull himself up, but I could see his strength leaving him.

"Fly, you fools!"

Then his hands released their hold on the uneven bridge, and Gandalf was swallowed in darkness.

I fell to my knees as Frodo's screams echoed through the cavern.

"Aragorn!" Boromir yelled. He disappeared into a hallway, carrying a still-screaming Frodo. Aragorn dragged me with him as he began to leave. I didn't protest. He tried his best to keep me from getting hit by an arrow. I felt a slight pinch in my arm, but my body was so numb I could barely feel it. Nevertheless, it woke me up. With tears running down my face, I followed Aragorn back out into the sunlight. I kept going even after the company stopped. Gimli was trying to go back inside. Boromir was holding him back. Merry and Pippin were crying, Pippin on the ground and Merry rubbing his shoulder beside him. Legolas was trying not to cry. Sam was sitting on a boulder, sobbing. Aragorn was dry-eyed and cleaning his blade, but he kept looking back at the door we had just come through. It was as if he expected Gandalf to walk through.

I was ten feet away from the group, silently crying, looking down at a puddle. My reflection was truly gastly: my eyes were red, my face was sickly pale but not moving. It was neutral and serene.

"Legolas, get them up," I heard Aragorn say.

"Give them a moment, for pity's sake!" Boromir said in a loud, trembling voice.

"By nightfall these hills will be swarming with Orcs!" he insisted. "We must reach the woods of Lothlórien."

I closed my eyes and tried to focus, but I couldn't. I could barely stay awake. I noticed a throbbing pain in my right arm. I opened my eyes and almost screamed. I realized that pinch I had felt earlier was hardly a pinch. It was an arrow the length of my arm, and I wondered how no one had noticed it. How I hadn't noticed it. I slowly stood up and turned my back to them so no one would notice.

Aragorn was calling to Frodo. I knew his reaction so I didn't bother to look. I gave it a small tug and only succeeded in making it worse. The pain doubled, only for a second, but it was enough to make me yelp loudly.

"Jenakin?" I heard Aragorn ask loudly. "Are you all right?"

Loud footsteps drawing near.

They'll see!

I focused with all the energy I had. Slowly, the arrow disappeared. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped and turned around, trying not to wince in pain.

It was Aragorn. "Are you all right?"

I stood a little straighter and nodded, trying to hide my pain.

He searched my eyes for a moment, not satisfied, but didn't ask any more questions. "We must go. Come."

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I tried my best to stay up with him. It was hard, but I did. I hid my pain and lack of oxygen until we reached the forest. At that point, I nearly passed out.

Something was off about it. The forest. It seemed sick. Maybe evil. I tried not to let my weariness show. But it was hard. A few times, the arrow in my arm had become almost visible. And believe me, I tried to get it out. Many times. But I just couldn't do it, and it made me feel like a coward. I tried to peel my thoughts from it. To concentrate on how familiar these woods felt.

"Stay close, young Hobbits!" Gimli said behind me. His voice snapped me out of my daze. "They say that a great sorceress lives in these woods. An Elf-witch... of terrible power. All who look upon her, fall under her spell."

I nearly fell. I grunted in pain as I tripped and landed on one knee. Aragorn and Legolas snapped their heads in my direction, but I hid my pain and got back up.

"And are never seen again," Gimli continued.

After a moment I heard Sam. "Mr. Frodo?" Frodo had stopped. After a moment he began to walk again.

"Well," said Gimli. "Here's one Dwarf she won't ensnare so easily. I have the eyes of a hawk and the ears of a fox."

I turned back around and nearly jumped out of my skin to see an arrow pointed at me. It hurt, and I grimaced.

"The Dwarf breathes so loudly we could have shot him in the dark," said a blonde-haired man who wasn't holding a bow.

Gimli growled threateningly.

Aragorn gave a slight bow. "Haldir of Lorien," he said in Elvish. "We come here for help." He looked at us and then back at him. "We need your protection."

"Aragorn!" Gimli called. "These woods are perilous! We should go back!"

"You have entered the realm of the Lady of the Wood," said the man. "You cannot go back." He looked at Frodo. "Come. She is waiting."

His eyes fell on mine, but he paid little attention to me. The look in his eyes was one of disgust. He turned around and led us through a forest with lots of other elves, who stared at me and whispered, pointing. We climbed up tons of stairs, which took all of my physical strength from me. Finally we came to a stop, where we waited. I nearly collapsed I was so tired. But not a few moments later, there was a light at the top of the staircase we stood in front of. A woman in flowing white robes, with beautifully wavy, golden hair, and a calm face with blue eyes, like an ocean, came toward us, with a man beside her, holding her hand as she decended. She looked extremely familiar.

Even for an elf, she was beautiful. When I looked at her, I felt safe. I felt as if I should bow down to her and worship her. Like she was my queen. I shivered in disgust, knowing it was all a trick.

"Nine there are here, yet ten there were set out from Rivendell," said the man when they stopped in front of us. "Tell me, where is Gandalf? For I much desire to speak with him."

It was the woman who spoke, after a moment. "He has fallen into Shadow," she told him in a quiet voice. Then she spoke to us. "The quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray, but a little, and it will fail, to the ruin of all."

She looked at Boromir. I knew she was speaking to him. I could hear what she said, and it made me shiver.

Her eyes traveled to Sam, and she continued speaking. "Yet hope remains, while the Company is true." She looked away from him to me. I saw something in her eyes, but it disappeared quickly. "Do not be troubled. Go now and rest, for you are weary with much sorrow and toil. Tonight, you will sleep..."

Welcome, Frodo of the Shire, I heard her telling Frodo as her eyes flickered to him. She stopped talking to everyone and focused on him. One who has seen the Eye!

My shaking knees gave way and I fell to them, the arrow coming into view. I heard a few gasps as my vision went black. I felt myself being caught, and then nothing.

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I almost cried writing this chapter :'(

I will update again hopefully soon!