Disclaimer: I do not own LotR, I only own my OC's!

Chapter 11: Falling off Cliffs and Other Things That Could Ruin Your Day

The harsh beat of warm drums sounded in the mines, below the fleeing Fellowship. The din was often punctuated by the grating squawks of the goblins that now inhabited the mines.

"To the stairs!" Gandalf gestured frantically with his walking stick. The motley group started in the direction he indicated, dodging the arrows that whizzed through the air past their heads.

Quinn looked ahead and shuddered, swallowing a cry of fear.

Directly ahead of the group was a small, narrow set of rickety stone stairs. They weaved back and forth through the air until they reached a small corridor on the other side of the looming chasm.

"Uhh..." Words failed Quinn, and all the colour slowly left her face. She stood rooted to the spot, unable to move. As the rest of the group slowly took their first tentative steps, Boromir looked back. Rolling his eyes, he raced back towards her.

"Girl, now is not the time to get scared." Gripping her arm tightly he dragged her along with the rest of the Fellowship. As they neared the other side of the chasm the stone beneath their feet began to crack.

"Carefully now!" Legolas shouted. The stairs behind them began to crack and crumble, and a section fell away, separating Gandalf, Boromir and Quinn from the rest of the Fellowship. Looking across the gap, Quinn saw Shayna and Elle's frightened faces staring back at her. Legolas hopped across the gap with ease, and as Aragorn prepared to toss Gimli across, the dwarf shook him off.

"Nobody throws a dwarf!" He sputtered indignantly, before attempting to breach the gap between the two groups. His toes barely had touched down on the other set of stairs, before he began to totter backwards. Legolas reached out and grasped Gimli's beard, yanking him to safety as the dwarf howled in pain.

Elle steeled herself and took a running leap across the gap. When her feet were once again planted on semi firm ground, she let out a breath she hasn't realized she was holding.

Aragorn had just tossed Shayna across the gap, when the stairs he and Frodo were still standing on began to wobble back and forth.

Quinn covered her eyes. A sudden jolting of the stairs nearly knocked her off her feet, and before she knew it, Boromir was dragging her up the rest of the flight of stairs by her elbow.

The Fellowship raced up the rest of the stairs and into the adjoining stone hall. The frantic beating of the drums was becoming closer, and Quinn could see an eerie orange glow beginning to manifest at the door.

"Run!" Gandalf screamed at the group. "I'll be right behind you!"

The drums were now so close that they drowned out the sound of the Fellowships heavy breathing, and their feet on the stone ground. Quinn's head was spinning, and she could barely see her surroundings. She could feel a burning heat on her retreating back, and when she turned to look, Gandalf was standing directly in the path of a huge, fiery monster.

"You shall not pass." He calmly told the Balrog, both hands on his staff as he stared it in it's fiery orange eyes. The demon hissed and snapped its sparking whip.

"YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" Gandalf screamed, as he smashed the end of his staff into the ground. A tremor shook the mountain, and the section of the narrow stone bridge that the Balrog was standing on collapsed into the chasm below. As Gandalf turned to face the rest of the Fellowship, the Balrog flicked his whip one last time. The red coil wrapped around Gandalf's ankle, and with a mighty tug, the old man was holding on to the stony ledge by his elbows.

"Gandalf!" Frodo cried out in despair, his eyes already brimming with years. Gandalf looked at them for a moment.

"Fly you fools." He whispered with his last breath, before his arms gave out and he fell, tumbling through the darkness below them.

Faye awoke with a start. The sun was just rising over the horizon, turning the sky a brilliant shade of orange. She cracked her neck and picked up her sword.

"Alright then, let's move on." Her horse looked at her with dark eyes, and then nosed her cheek gently.

"I'm sorry, I don't have any food for you... I don't even have any food for me." With each passing moment Faye was beginning to realize her chances of survival were becoming smaller. She had run out of food yesterday, and there was not a single stream of water in sight. In fact, Faye didn't exactly know where she was.

Far behind her she had left the mountains, and their blasted cold snow and harsh conditions. Before her now stretched endless prairie, but off in the distance she could see a small group of trees. She had been heading for the trees for the past three days, but she couldn't help but feel as if she was missing something.

Of course she was missing something. Ten other something's, in point of fact. Faye missed her friends so much her heart hurt and tears welled in her eyes when she thought about them.

Brushing at her eyes she hopped on her horses back.

"We must be off. We need to find food and water today, otherwise we may not make it much longer." Her horse nickered, and they began to gallop across the ground.

AN: Hello my lovelies! I know the ending was kind of boring, but I wanted to give you a little peek at what Faye was up to while the others were battling it out in Moria. The next chappie will be all about Faye, I'm hoping, and maybe I'll even have the Fellowship meet up with her again at the end of the next chapter. Who knows?! ;) Anyhoo, I hope you like this chapter, and I'll hopefully have the next one done by Tuesday next week! Please leave me a review and let me know what you think!

~ T