Chapter 5: Fight in the Mines

The group moved deeper into the mines. The place would have normally given Maya the creeps, but she was too excited about her and Zer0. The two were walking hand in hand while they entered a great hall with massive stone pillars. "I present to you," Gandalf announced "the dwarven city of Khazad-dûm." Maya was amazed that there was an entire city beneath their feet, and it was made entirely out of stone. "Over there!" Gimli shouted as he pointed to a door. Maya noticed that the door had several bodies lying round it and several arrows were stuck in the door.

The group moved towards the door and the place looked like it was where the dwarves took their final stand. There were a bunch of bodies around the room and at the center was a stone coffin. Gimli collapsed at the coffin and started crying. "Here lies Balin." Gandalf proclaimed. He seemed like he was going to say something else, but Gimli's wails blocked it out. Maya noticed one body was slumped against the coffin with a book in its lap. She went and picked up the book, but she couldn't read it.

"Allow me." Gandalf proclaimed as Maya handed him the book. He read the book that detailed the events that occurred in the mines of orcs and goblins. Maya saw out of the corner of her eye, Pippin touch an arrow that was stuck in a dwarven skeleton. The skeleton leaned back and fell into the well it was sitting on, dragging a bucket that was tied to its leg. It was dead quiet until the armored skeleton hit ground and the bucket followed, returning to silence. "Next time throw yourself down and rid us of your stupidity" Gandalf quietly scolded. There was an awkward silence until the quiet sound of drums beat.

Everyone turned towards the well where the sound reverberated from. Boromir was at the door when an arrow nearly struck him in the head. A loud roar echoed through the mines and Boromir groaned "They have a cave troll." Salvador was the first to question "What's a cave troll?"

"A very big, very ugly creature that is a large pain to bring down."

"Sounds awesome!"

Aragorn and Legolas barricaded the door with some of the weapons and took several steps back. Maya stepped back as Aragorn, Legolas, and Boromir drew their bows and Zer0 drew his Jakobs sniper rifle. "What is the weapon you carry?" Legolas questioned. Zer0 responded "It is a rifle/ very accurate weapon/ a sniper rifle."

"Let us see how accurate you are with it."

An axe cut through the door and Zer0 put a round through the hole once the axe was removed. A loud squeal occurred and angry grunts started. The four continued to shoot bullets and arrows when the opportunity presented itself. The door suddenly started to bow like something big had just hit it. "Let me at them!" Gimli shouted standing on top of Balin's tomb. "Let them in!" Salvador shouted in agreement "Hell yeah! Let us murder these pendejos!" Maya drew her SMG as the door bowed again and shouted "Get ready!"

The door busted open and a horde of goblins poured into the room. Maya pointed her SMG and began firing wildly since there were so many targets, she couldn't miss. As soon as she ran out of ammo, she holstered her weapon and drew her sword. She clashed blades with a goblin and pushed the creature back. She swung again and the goblin blocked the swing. The goblin began to swing faster and she could barely keep up. She felt like she was going to lose this fight when the goblin's head was lopped off.

Zer0 reappeared as the goblin's body fell to the ground. Maya just wanted to wrap her arms around him and kiss him when he grabbed her and yanked her out of the way of a goblin's blade. "Stay focused!" Zer0 shouted as he blocked another swing from the goblin. Maya saw one goblin charge her and Zer0 and she blocked the creature's swing. She slid her blade along the goblin's and threw the goblin off balance. She plunged her blade into the creature's chest and black blood proceeded to spurt from the wound.

She swung at another goblin and sliced its head off. She thought the fight was going well, until a large ugly beast charged through the doorway. Maya sheathed her blade and quickly reloaded her SMG since she figured she wasn't good enough with a blade to fight this thing. "Cave troll!" Salvador shouted. "Awesome!" He jumped onto the cave troll's back and proceeded to swing his axes into the creature's back. The cave troll bellowed in pain and spun around to get Salvador off of its back. Maya proceeded to shoot at the cave troll, but the bullets seems like they did nothing to the troll's thick hide.

Salvador was thrown off of the troll's back and slammed into the wall. Zer0 pulled out his revolver and proceeded to shoot at the cave troll's face. The beast roared and tried to hit her and Zer0. The two of them dodged the beast's swings and they proceeded to get away from the beast. Maya hid behind a pillar and continued to shoot at the goblins that still remained in the room. She noticed that the troll had diverted its attention to the hobbits.

It was searching for Frodo as he ran around the pillar he was hiding behind to stay out of sight of the troll. She thought he was doing well, until the troll finally grabbed him and pulled him from his hiding spots. She thought fast and Phase Locked the troll, but it was too big to suspend in the air. The troll stumbled back and dropped Frodo, who immediately crawled into a space where the troll couldn't reach him. Everyone had turned their attention to the troll as it tried to grab Frodo. Frodo grabbed a spear that was lying on the ground and raised it as the troll approached him, stabbing the troll in the shoulder.

The troll ripped the spear from it shoulder and then thrusted it at Frodo. "Frodo!" Sam shouted as the troll prepared for another stab. Maya drew her sword and charged the troll in a rage. She slashed at the troll's legs as everyone shot arrows at the behemoth. Legolas ran up the troll's back and shot three arrows into the base of the troll's skull, killing it. The creature collapsed and remained still.

Everyone ran over to where Frodo was slumped in the corner. Aragorn immediately removed the cloth from where the troll stabbed him to reveal there was no wound. "How?" Maya gasped as Frodo revealed the shining chainmail beneath his clothing. "Ethereal mail." Boromir exclaimed. "Looks like there is more to this little hobbit than meets the eye. There was a moment of peace before the familiar shriek of goblins filled the room again. "Move!" Aragorn shouted as everyone ran out of the room.

They ran through the great hall as goblins seemed to pour from every hole of darkness. The group continued running until they were surrounded by goblins. Maya had her sword ready to fight and she saw that everyone else was doing the same. They were prepared to fight until the end when a large roar filled the hall and Maya noticed that the goblins had fearful look on their faces. The goblins ran away as quick as they appeared and the sound of large footsteps sounded through the now deserted hall. "Gandalf." Aragorn questioned. "What is it?"

Gandalf looked like he had a look of pure fear on his face and he uttered one phrase, "Balrog of Morgoth." There was a bright light at the end of the tunnel. "We have to leave." Gandalf proclaimed as the group began to run deeper into the mines. They continued to run until they reached a bridge. A rock fell from the ceiling and broke part of the bridge. Legolas jumped across and exclaimed "We will have to jump!" Boromir was about to jump when an arrow hit the ground at his feet. Maya saw goblins with bows standing at a ledge above them.

She saw one of the goblins head's explode with the sound of Zer0's sniper rifle going off. Boromir jumped and caught Mary and Pippin as he landed. Aragorn was going to toss Gimli, but he shouted "Nobody tosses a dwarf!" He jumped and Salvador followed him. Maya was going to jump, but the bridge began to collapse more and created a larger gap between them. Maya heard the footsteps grow louder, but she was too focused on the size of the drop.

She felt Zer0 intertwine his fingers with hers and he quietly proclaimed "Don't be scared. I won't let you fall." Maya nodded and the two jumped. They landed and turned towards Aragorn and Frodo. Aragorn picked Frodo up and the two jumped towards to group. They continued to run as the menacing red light grew brighter. They ran across a bridge, but Maya noticed Gandalf stop halfway across the bridge.

"I will hold the beast at bay!" He shouted as the Balrog revealed itself. It towered over all of them and was covered in fire. The Balrog roared and reveal its great wing that were made of fire. Maya was frozen in place as the great best drew a massive sword that was made of fire. "Be gone demon of the shadows!" Gandalf shouted as he drew a sword. The Balrog swung its sword down to Gandalf, but a shield of light blocked the swing and the sword dissipated.

The Balrog reeled back and drew a massive whip. Maya saw Zer0 dart past her and ran across the bridge. "Zer0 no!" She shouted as she tried to run after him, but Aragorn grabbed her. The whip swung to the side, but Zer0 swung his sword and stopped the swing. "Leave no man behind!" Zer0 shouted as he stood behind Gandalf. Gandalf raised his staff and sword and shouted "YOU! SHALL NOT! PASS!"

He brought his staff and sword together and slammed them down onto the bridge. The bridge began to collapse under the Balrog's feet, and the demon began to plummet into the darkness. Maya felt a smile reach her ears as Gandalf and Zer0 turned towards them. She felt the smile melt from her face as she saw the Balrog's whip wrap around Zer0 and Gandalf's legs. Gandalf was able to grab onto the bridge, but Zer0 wasn't so lucky. He fell into the darkness as the Balrog did.

Gandalf lifted himself up and proclaimed "Fly you fools." Before he fell into the darkness. Maya fought as hard as she could to get to the bridge, but Aragorn had a hold on her and proceeded to drag her with the rest of the group. She saw Boromir grab Frodo who was shouting for Gandalf and dragged him out with her. They ran until they finally left the mine, and Aragorn let Maya go, who proceeded to try and go back into the mine. "We have to leave." Aragorn exclaimed. "In a few hours these hill will be swarming with orcs." Aragorn grabbed Maya and prevented her from running back into the mine.

"We have to at least try." Maya cried as she felt tears run down her cheeks. "They are lost." Aragorn proclaimed. "There is nothing we can do for them." Maya dropped to her knees and proceeded to cry her heart out. "Let's go amiga." Salvador urged gently. "He would want us to go on." Maya wiped the tears from her face and stood up to see everyone else ready to go. They pressed on with their quest, only two members lighter.

I apologize for not putting more chapters up lately. Was pretty sure that no one was really reading this story anymore. But since I've been getting a lot of followers lately, I figured it was time to revive this story. Let me know what all of you think with a review or PM.

-Chief