Gimli the dwarf hurried across the Bridge of Khazad-Dum with an army of stout dwarfs behind him. Dwarfs are hardy folk, and folks that gave goblins no mercy, for they receive none in return.
The dwarfish companies had broken through the East Gate of Khazad-Dum and quickly repaired the bridge which Gandalf the Grey had broken years ago. Dwarfs are unmatched in crafts. The only people who could have surpassed such work was The Valar, creators of Middle-Earth. Meanwhile, things have been almost too quiet, where the goblins only stood their ground at the East Gate, but the dwarfs had marched almost unopposed to the Bridge Of Khazad-Dum.
The Bridge of Khazad-Dum was solely built for defence, and any foes of Durin's Folks would have to suffer from the barrages of Dwarfish ballistas, arrows and throwing axes, yet only able to manoeuvre in a thin straight line, or risk falling into the chasms below. This narrow bridge would later prove to hinder the flight of the dwarfs in the Third Age, as only a small amount of dwarfs could make across the bridge at one time, and the Balrog of Morgorth was on their tail.
However, Gandalf had felled the foul beast at the peak of the Highest Mountain, Zirak-Zigil to the dwarfs, Celebdil to the elves, and in the Common Speech, Silvertine.
Now that the beast has been felled, Durin's folks now amass from Middle-Earth to reclaim the halls of their Fathers. From the Iron Hills, the Lonely Mountains, and from the land of the Rohirrim, where Gimli had said, "the caverns of Helm's Deep are vast and beautiful..." and which he vowed, "With cautious skill, tap by tap...display far chambers that arm still dark, glimpsed only as a void beyond fissures in the rock..." ,but return he did, from the Glittering Caves, at the call of his kinsfolks, a thousand strong, stout folks wielding battle axes, yet unlike other dwarfs, wielded a Rohirriom shield, and riding ponies from the House of Eorl and carrying with them enough food to last a huge siege, or a withdrawal of Durin's Folks lest they fail the test of time or if they are indeed inferior to Orcish rabbles and goblins.
Gimli was supposed to break through the gate and rendezvous with Thorin III Stonehelm, the new King Under the Mountains, at the Twenty-First Hall, in the Chamber of Mazarbul, or in the Common Speech, The Chamber of Records, where lies Balin, son of Fundin, Hobbit-friend...
As the dwarf company advanced across the bridge,a sound,so familiar to Gimli, years back when he travelled with The Fellowship...
Doom, doom went the drums...drums in the deep...
Gimli looked at his companions, and simply said, "They are coming."
Suddenly,from the sides of the bridge, hoarse goblin voices could be heard, and the sound of crudely made bows having arrows fitted onto it, and TWANG, the goblin arrows descended on the bridge, but Gimli's soldiers were equipped for such an event, which is why they brought shields of the Rohirrim to battle. They formed a turtle like formation, with Gimli at the centre,and slowly marched across the Bridge of Khazad-Dum, the arrows bouncing off the big, round Rohirrim shields.
Then, dwarfs inside the formation placed their crossbow in the small gaps between the shields and returned fire. Unlike arrows of crude Goblin or Orc type, arrows of dwarf-make flew true and rarely missed its mark if that was where the owner intended it for it to hit.
Even so,the quality of the armour was beginning to tell. Whenever an arrow from Durin's side hit the opposition, the arrow slew them instantly, however, when an Orcish arrow manages to go through the gaps of the shields, the arrows just bounced off their armour.
As the dwarfs were feeling very pleased with themselves, a boulder smashed off part of their formation. As the dwarfs from behind hastened to reform, from the gap between them, Gimli, Gloin's son could see a cave troll, yet lifting another boulder-
Gimli took out his throwing axe, and as he threw it, he shouted, "Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu!" , and with all his strength,flung the throwing axe at the cave troll.
The axe flew into the face of the troll, and its handlers, who are trying to rein it in, was pulled in after it, into the depths below.
When they managed to cross the Bridge, Gimli had lost only six men from the attack by the cave troll, and Durin's Folks had shot many. Yet, Orcish rabbles and goblins were always numerically superior as they could breed easily. Also, after the fall of Sauron, Orcs that avoided the collapse of the foundations of Mordor had fled here and have long sat in the shadows in Moria.
Gimli then led his army across the great halls of Moria, and as they stopped to survey the surroundings, his lieutenant, Jorn Stoneaxe, came thundering down with his scouts, and shouted, "Black Uruks from Mordor and Isengard! They are upon us!"
Uruks, or Uruk-Hai, were applied as a rule to all of the elite soldiers of the dark forces. Big creatures slightly bigger than Men and stronger too. The Uruks from Mordor wield a scimitar and a small round shield. They wore no armour for they pride on themselves for being agile and being good fighters against Men of Gondor. Meanwhile, the Uruks from Isengard are those who managed to escape from the wrath of the Rohirrim at Helm's Deep and from the ents in Isengard. They carried long, straight swords, their shields broad, their armour thick.
"O, Durin's Folks! Throwing Axes at the ready! Send the foul creatures that defiled the halls of our fathers back into the abyss!" Gimli's deep voice rumbled across the halls.
Doom, Doom
With the hoarse voices of Orcs and Uruk-Hais, they could make out this..
"Short and stout, fleeing like cowards from Durin's Bane,
Good at running and nothing else. Hack them, slash them, burn them.
Chase them away from the shadows, Awake! Awake and slay Durin's Folks!"
Gimli's anger rose within him, and he cried out,
"Awake! Awake! Durin's Folks! Send them back to the shadows!
For Khazâd -Dum is rightly ours! Send them out of Dwarrowdelf!"
And with a loud cry, the Uruks appeared and rushed at Durin's Folks, and the first line of them was cut down by the throwing axes. Though the onslaught of the Orcs were fierce, the dwarfs stood their ground and had the mastery, for wrath was within them when they saw the foul Eye of Mordor painted on the halls of their fathers, and hope of retaking Moria had been re-kindled within them.
Gimli hacked at the Uruks, he aimed high, bringing his battle axe into their faces. Then, the Orcs attempted to surround Gimli, for even with their minuscule brain, they could figure out that Gimli was their leader. However, this is folly, as whenever an Orc turned its back on a dwarf, he either gets a nice, large battle axe planted in his back, or gets impaled by a throwing axe.
The dwarfs hacked and jabbed at the Orcs, and Gimli cried out to them, "Engineers! Are you ready!"
The Orcs looked at them in surprise, but the magnitude of their own folly was revealed to them at once. They had arrived without the cover of their own archers. Yet, Gimli had brought materials from The Glittering Cave to construct heavy Catapults and Ballistas.
Stoneaxe yelled, "Light the ammunition! Fire!"
Almost at the same time, great flaming boulders and bolts came flinging to the back of the enemies, and the dwarfs launched a massive counterattack. The hearts of the Uruks were filled with fear, and they started to rout, under heavy barrages from the dwarfish Catapults and Ballistas.
"So ends the battle for the Bridge of Khazâd -Dum...Now begins the battle for Moria..."