Morning approached but darkness still claimed the skies. Harry sat watch, still reading from the giant leather and steel-bound book in his lap. He glanced around, then switched his vision to see heat signatures and took one last look. So used to seeing nothing, he nearly missed the little reddish dot on the far cliff wall across the now dry lake. He quickly switched back to his regular enhanced vision and concentrated on the same spot. The gray hues that he could see during the dark hours made it nearly impossible to see the creature slinking its way around the wall.

Moving slowly, Harry put away his book and packed his trunk. It was only a few more minutes until the sun rose, and, with that, so did most of the company. He would fake sleep until then to see what the creature would do. He slid his new knife from the holster on his boot and held it close to his leg in case he had to use it.

As he watched the creature watching him, Harry thought about the situation he was now in. Once again, he was part of a war. Only this time he was willingly placing himself on the front lines. The thought worried Harry more than a little bit. Over the years he had reviewed his life and discovered the mechanizations of his old headmaster. Dumbledore might have thought he was doing the best thing for everyone when he took control of Harry's life at the tender age of one. He might have truly believed the Dursleys were the only family he could have lived with. But something didn't mesh. There were things that didn't fall into place as simply as they had before.

How could the savior of the wizarding world be left with magic hating muggles? Even if no one ever knew, wasn't there some type of child protection service? Hell, they even had Figg living a few houses away. She had to have seen the signs of abuse on him all the time.

Harry recalled that most of his teachers never liked Dudley that much. How was it that he managed to never get into trouble? The teachers were required to report child abuse if it was even slightly suspected. Yet never had anyone ever reported anything. The whole situation just stunk of magic. And there was only one wizard with enough pull to ensure nothing was ever done with his situation. Dumbledore was behind the scenes every time something significant happened in his life. Harry knew the old man had kept a very close watch over him. He just let everything happen though. Too afraid of making another Tom Riddle if he let things continue. Too afraid hatred would take hold if he was allowed freedom of choice or the basic rights any human being was born with. The old mage had royally screwed up and Dumbledore had known by the end but had effectively handcuffed himself into the situation. If anything changed it could cause Harry to snap. If things stayed the same it could cause Harry to snap. It was a quagmire with no solution. So Dumbledore chose the easiest solution. He settled or the status quo, dooming Harry's life and childhood.

The green eyed mage shook his head to clear the thought that had run away with him. He desperately wished Dumbledore was alive to both force the answers from him that he desperately wanted to know and to also put him into the tomb himself, preferable alive, and toast the old fuck. Yes he definitely had some unresolved anger issues.

It turned out the creature didn't come any closer that night, which was good because half the time Harry was wandering his memories and not paying attention, and just before day break it slinked over the wall just out of view. Harry still watched the area it disappeared into intently as the rest of the camp awoke and set to the morning chores of cooking and cleaning up.

"What has your attention drawn so Harry?" Asked Gandalf as he moved over close. He had a feeling it was something he wouldn't want the rest to know.

"We are being followed. Some creature that looks like nothing I have seen before was crawling around the cliff face. It never came close and disappeared before morning. It worries me Gandalf. We will already have enough problems when we go into Moria."

"It is as I feared. The creature Gollum has found us. He has an unhealthy obsession with the ring and intends to get it back no matter the cost. Fear not as long as we are together. He is cunning in his ways but will not risk his life needlessly if he believes he has a chance to recover it at another time."

"That is the thing we were trying to find those years ago?" Harry asked in revulsion.

"Yes it is. And don't be too hard on the creature. Years ago he looked much like a hobbit. The ring seduced him, twisted him, and gave him unnaturally long life. He has lived so long with only the ring as a comfort he no longer knows how to live without it. I feel like Gollum will play a role in our tale before the end."

"If he does, I hope it is not for ill." Harry murmured to the aged wizard who only nodded his agreement. They moved away and helped with the morning preparations.

As he ate breakfast Harry glanced at the still living but now uprooted trees that once stood outside the gate. He couldn't stand to leave the once majestic trees as they were to suffer and die like everything else in the valley. Walking over to one he made a large hole deep enough for the roots to again take hold. He then used the now clean dirt from the hole he dug and the lake mud to fill the hole around the roots. Another charm later and the ground solidified holding the tree firmly in place. He moved over to the other tree and did the same to it. The second one however had a large limb that had been broken half way off when the water creature tore it from the ground. He used a severing charm to remove the branch and cast a charm on the bare wood that Professor Sprout had taught them in second year to keep broken tree branches from becoming infested or diseased. As he gazed down on the broken branch he remembered the words old Ollivander had spoken to him before he disappeared. 'Holly with a phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple'. He had an affinity with holly and the large branch might just work well with his staff so he placed it in his trunk. The others watched but just chalked up the strange behavior to being a wizard. Just before they moved into the mines Harry shot another 'reducto' at the dam on the top of the cliff that either had stopped the water or diverted it. The spell hit its mark and as the debris moved away, thousands of gallons of clean clear water poured down the wall into the lake bottom with a deafening crash. As they walked Harry told the group what he had walked in on those many years ago and the battle with the Balrog. Gimli refused to believe that the dwarfs could be driven from their mines so easily even though they passed skeleton after skeleton of dead orcs, goblins and dwarfs. Harry saw no need to tell them about the entombed Lord as he didn't think any of them would much care. Hopefully they would get through without ever having to see most of the destruction.

After a week of walking through the caves everyone in the group was ready to get back into the fresh air. Even Gimli was ready to see the sun but only because he tired of the stench of decay and it saddened him greatly to remember all the grandeur the halls use to hold that had now been ruined by the orcs.

Harry's suggestion that they try to mine some of the valuable mithril to make all of them suits of armor was shot down quickly by the rest much to Harry's consternation. He wanted to get more of the metal but they had to be quiet to keep from drawing attention. Personally Harry thought Gandalf was being a little too paranoid as the last time he had been in the mines the orcs had been nearly killed off by him and the dwarfs. Surely the Balrog would have taken care of the rest of them by now. After all, the thing was killing everything during the battle before.

Currently the company was sitting on a crossroads where the main tunnel they were taking branched into three others. Harry and Gandalf were trying to think of the way to go. Both had been that way before but with so much destruction it was hard to remember. Plus, at the time, Harry had spent far too little time in the caves to remember all but the most traveled halls.

He thought back on the past week. It had been surprising how quickly he and Gandalf became close friends. The old mage was everything good Albus possessed but held a much more realistic view of war and enemies. He did have the same meddling nature but Harry never heard of him going to the extent Albus did. They had spent their times during breaks practicing both magic and staff fighting. All it took was a quickly set silencing ward and they could be as loud as they wanted to be.

As Gandalf already had an affinity with fire and lightening spells, as well as having an amazing knowledge of magic and what it was, much more so than even Harry, the old mage was able to pick up a few new spells quickly. It astounded Harry even more to find out that the staff Gandalf used had no core for the magic, the crystal helped, but mostly it was just his own internal magic wielded by the staff and causing effects though it. They had spent long hours talking of magic cores and how they helped concentrate and control the wielder's magic.

The sound of rock grinding on rock jerked Harry from his musings and he jumped around drawing his sword and wand at the same time. Behind him, utterly terrified by the intensity of the powerful wizard, Pippin and Merry cowered into a room that had been hidden behind a half closed door.

"Steady! Steady!" Cried Gandalf to Harry as the younger wizard calmed down. As Harry lowered his guard the hobbits breathed in relief but looked sheepish at Harry's reproachful look. The stone door opened into a small room. Seeing that it was empty the group piled into the room as it gave them much better protection than the outside hall.

"There." Said Gandalf with his staff pointing to the middle of the floor. Before his feet they saw a large round hole like the mouth of a well. Broken and rusty chains lay on the edge and trailed down into the black pit. Fragments of stone lay near.

"One of you might have fallen in and still been wondering when you were going to strike the bottom," said Aragorn to Merry. "Let the guide go first while you have one."

"This seems to have been a guardroom, made for the watching of the three passages," said Gimli. "That hole was plainly a well for the guards use, covered with a stone lid. But the lid is broken, and we must all take care in the dark."

Pippin felt curiously attracted by the well. While the others were unrolling blankets and making beds against the walls of the chambers, as far as possible from the hole in the floor, he crept to the edge and peered over. A chill air seemed to strike his face, rising from invisible depths. Moved by a sudden impulse he groped for a loose stone, and let it drop. He felt his heart beat many times before there was any sound. Then far below, as if the stone had fallen into deep water in some cavernous place, there came a plunk, very distant, but magnified and repeated in the hollow shaft.

"What's that?" Cried Gandalf. He was relieved when Pippin confessed what he had done; but he was angry, and Pippin could see his eyes glinting. Pippin swallowed hard. Somehow he had managed to piss off the two wizards in his group in less than ten minutes.

"Fool of a Took!" Gandalf growled. "this is a serious journey, not a hobbit walking-party. Throw yourself in next time, and then you will be no further nuisance. Now be quiet!"

Nothing more was heard for several minutes; but then there came out of the depths faint knocks: tom-tap, tap-tom. They stopped, and when the echoes had died away, they were repeated: tap-tom, tom-tap, tap-tap, tom. They sounded disquietingly like signals of some sort; but after a while the knocking died away and was not heard again.

"That was the sound of a hammer, or I have never heard one," said Gimli.

"Yes," said Gandalf, "and I do not like it. It may have nothing to do with Peregrin's foolish stone; but probably something has been disturbed that would have been better left quiet. Pray, do nothing of the kind again! Let us hope we shall get some rest without further trouble. You, Pippin, can go on the first watch, as a reward," he growled, as he rolled himself in a blanket

After that they spent many more days in the cave traveling. It had only taken a day's march to realize that Gandalf had chosen the correct passage. As the air cleared and became colder the spirits of the group lightened slightly.

Finally after eleven days and nights they came upon a hall that had the early morning light shining though a shaft in the ceiling.

"We are getting close now." Harry said to himself. He could start to make out places from long ago memories. He and Gimli told the hobbits stories as they rested about how the halls use to be filled with gold and light and splendor.

"Are there piles of jewels and gold lying about here still?" Asked Sam after listening to one such story.

Gimli was silent. Having sung his song he would say no more.

"Piles of jewels?" said Gandalf. "No. The orcs have often plundered Moria; there is nothing left in the upper halls. And the tunnels down in the deep places: they are drowned in water - or in a shadow of fear."

Harry kept to himself that he had actually been the one to plunder the halls of all the gold and jewels as he tired to find a way out. He had also found much in the 'deep places' during his expedition. He doubted the orcs were able to retrieve much at all unless they learned to mine the materials themselves.

"Then what do the dwarves want to come back for?" asked Sam.

"For mithril. For here alone in the world was found Moria-silver, or true-silver as some have called it: mithril is the Elfish name. Its worth was ten times that of gold, and now beyond price." Gandalf said looking toward Harry who all knew had an entire suit of it. "Bilbo had a corselet of mithril-rings that Thorin gave him. I wonder what has become of it? Gathering dust still in Michel Delving Mathom-house, I suppose."

"WHAT?" cried Gimli, startled out of his silence. "A corselet of Moria-silver? That was a kingly gift!"

"Yes," said Gandalf. "I never told him, but its worth was greater than the value of the whole Shire and everything in it."

Frodo said nothing, but he put his hand under his tunic and touched the rings of his mail-shirt.

Harry moved over to him. "Don't tell anyone you have it on. Save it as a surprise for when you need it. And don't think of the price."

Frodo gapped at Harry who had moved off as quickly and quietly as he had come and wondered just how in the world the wizard had known while he had never shown anyone.

As the ceiling began to show more and more signs of the outside sky the group moved on.

"I shall be glad," said Gimli. "I have looked on Moria, and it's very great, but it has become dark and dreadful; and we have found no sign of my kindred. I doubt now that Balin ever came here." Dread filled Harry's chest as he heard the name. He remembered very well the inscription on the tomb. If he remembered correctly they would be coming upon it very soon as well.

"Gimli, I need to talk to you." Said Harry urgently. He was too late however as they had come upon the solid oak doors. The hobbits rushed in as always, not realizing the dangers of doing so. As the others followed their feet disturbed a deep dust upon the floor, and stumbled among things lying in the doorway whose shapes they could not at first make out. The chamber was lit by a wide shaft of high in the further eastern wall; it slanted upwards and, far above, a small square patch of blue sky could be seen. The light of the shaft fell directly on the table in the middle of the room: a single oblong block, about two feet high, upon which was laid a great slab of white stone.

"It looks like a tomb," muttered Frodo, and bent forwards with a curious sense of foreboding, to look more closely at it. Harry moved into the corner feeling horrible for what he was sure he was about to see. He had no idea that Balin had been Gimli's kin or he would have told him before now. Gandalf came quickly to his side. On the slab runes were deeply graven: "Here is written in the tongues of Men and Dwarves: Balin Son of Fundin, Lord of Moria.

"He is dead then," said Frodo. "I feared it was so." Gimli cast his hood over his face. Harry stayed in his corner watching over the group. He knew how acute the pain of loosing a loved one was maybe more so than the rest. So he left Gimli to his grieving as did the rest of them.

The room was exactly the same as he had left it all those years ago. Dwarf weapons were scattered amongst with the orcish blades. Skeletons now took the place of the once dead bodies. Even the old scribe was still there holding a now rotting and dusty book to his chest as Harry had left him.

"What has happened here?" Asked Sam as he looked around. It was easy to spot the signs of battle the room held even after all those years. Gandalf spotted the book but Harry stayed his hand.

"Don't, he had protected the book with his life when I found him initially." The others stared in shock. Well except the hobbits who still didn't have a clue as to what Harry was saying. "I am so sorry Gimli. Had I known you were kin with Balin I would have told you right away." Harry looked around to make sure he had everyone's attention. "After I left Lonely Mountain and returned the gold to the dwarfs that Smaug had stolen I came back here to see if I could perhaps help mine more mithril. I figured with my help it could be done quicker and I might be able to make a profit from it or have it shaped into more mail or a weapon. I don't really know. When I arrived most of the fighting was over and only deep within the halls were there still resistance. I tried to assist but there were many foes. I did managed to find a few gems, some gold and mithril that had yet been plundered." He didn't bring up that he had taken nearly all of it. He didn't think Gimli or any of the others would think too well of him. "I figured it would better me have it than the orcs." Gimli nodded approvingly. "I was found and battled my way though a troll and many orcs. After that I escaped them and found my way here. Everyone was dead by the time I arrived and I read though that book." Harry pointed at the book Gandalf was going to pick up. "Balin had passed nearly two months prior and the rest were steadily being overwhelmed. Every messenger sent was waylaid during their travels for help. What the book didn't say was that their mining awoke an imprisoned Balrog who used what powers he was given during his making to create sevents: Goblins. It sent his goblins to assist the orcs and when sufficiently removed from his stone prison, joined the battle himself. I know a Balrog inhabits this place because I have fought him and came out the victor. During our battle he landed a some blows with his fiery whip but my coat is impervious to fire being made of dragon hide." That news shocked the rest as well. "I was not injured because of this. It still left some nasty welts though. I used my own whip of molten quick-silver and tore off one of the things wings. After the battle I chained the beast and cut off one of its horns and pulled four of its fangs and left it. I am sure it has escaped since then and I do not wish to come across it again."

"A Balrog!" Legolas who had been particularly quiet for the journey spoke. "It will be an ill fate to cross paths of one of Morgoth's beasts."

"Yes, let us hope we do not come across the it. Even with Harry's magic I fear the thing may now be in Sauron's service. Who knows what it may have been outfitted with." Gandalf looked from the room back into the hall. "Come I know where we stand. We should leave by the eastern arch of the hall, and ear right and south, and go downwards. The Twenty-first Hall should be on the Seventh Level, that is six above the level of the Gates. Come now! Back to the hall!"

Harry looked incredulously at the old wizard and Gandalf smirked back at him. The words had hardly left the old mage's mouth when there came a great noise: a rolling Boom that seemed to come from the depths far below, and tremble in the stone a their feet. They sprang towards the door in alarm. Doom, doom it rolled again, as if huge hands were turning the very caverns of Moria into a vast drum. Then there came an echoing blast: a great horn was blown in the hall, and answering horns and harsh cries were heard further off. There was a hurrying sound of many feet.

"They are coming!" Cried Legolas.

"We cannot get out," said Gimli.

"Trapped!" cried Gandalf. "Why did I delay? Here we are, caught, just as they were before. But I was not here then. We will see what…"

"That's right Gandalf. WE will have to see what we can do, TOGETHER!" Harry cried as he removed his sword and wand from their holding places. He could already feel his power and adrenaline coursing though him and the all too familiar clarity that came during battle removed all unnecessary thoughts from his mind.

"There is no sound outside here yet," said Aragorn, who was standing by the eastern door listening. "The passage on this side plunges straight down a stair: it plainly doesn't lead back toward the hall. But it is no good flying blindly this way with pursuit just behind. We can't block the door. Its key is gone and the lock is broken, and it opens inwards. We must do something to delay the enemy first! We will make them fear the Chamber of Marzarbul!" he said grimly, feeling the edge of his sword, Anduril.

Heavy feet could be heard just outside the door now and Harry threw himself in the gap and started firing curse after curse. Waves of fire and bolts of lightening lit the entire chamber and hundred of orcs fell to the onslaught but more and more just pushed over them. They were now coming from above as well and arrows thudded all around him.

Getting an idea he summoned every arrow the orcs had and then banished them back into the mass of coming fiends. Harry and Boromir, who was now beside him, smiled grimly as line after line of orcs fell. Harry used all his skill and speed to battle back the host of invaders giving Gandalf the time he needed to prepare the spells he would need.

A yank pulled Harry down to the ground and back into the room as a giant club slammed into the door just where the wizard's head would have been. The doors slammed closed and Aragorn and Legolas ran to block the doors.

Harry looked down to see himself on top of Boromir who had his arms around Harry's waist from having pulled him out of the way just in time.

"I owe you one my friend. I don't care what armor I wear a troll club to the head would have taken care of me."

"Just return the favor one day and we'll call it even." Boromir smirked as he quickly got up and readied his sword.

The two at the door were having a hard time as the troll's foot was already inside and it was trying to get further in. Gimli seemed to throw off his grief and now a blazing anger took over.

"Let them come. I'll show them there is still one dwarf in Moria which still draws breath."

Harry ran to the door and brought his sword down on the trolls foot with a resounding clang as the blade just glanced off the greenish scaled foot. The force jarred Harry's arm and he moved out of the battle and looked at the sword and his arm. Everything seemed fine but there was now a large notch taken out of the blade. He didn't have time to worry about it then as he heard the troll howl in pain while hearing "For the Shire" Yelled from Frodo's mouth. His Sting was sunken deep into the trolls foot having cut though the thick hide easily. Harry stared incredulously at the site for a moment before he remembered the dagger was of old elfish make.

The blow only gave the group a slight pause before the entire door was knocked off it's hinges and two huge trolls and a rock giant pressed into the large room. Harry had never seen a rock giant before but the name certainly fit the description. It was lumpy and had muscles upon muscles that were so large and hard they looked like rocks.

A quick glance told him that Gandalf was able to use his new skills to take on one of the trolls himself, while the rest were having a time with the other troll. He alone was left to deal with the giant. Wasting no time he launched a explosion curse at the beast. All it did was anger the giant which started swinging a club capped with a huge boulder at him. With his increased strength he was able to fend off the blow, just barely, and set out with more and more dark curses. Nothing he was casting could get though the thick giant hide. They were much like the giants at home where the spells seemed to just rebound off the thing.

He could tell things were not going well behind him from the screams and shouts but he dared not divert his attention even a second for fear of being clubbed. Fear started seeping into him as he reverted to darker and darker spells. Spells he still needed the incantation for as he had no want to use them for practice before. With a jab of his wand he bellowed 'Novus Incendio'. The Dragon's Breath curse was aptly named as a blast of fire erupted from the wand so hot the stone by where he was fighting started to melt. The curse caught the entire side of the giant that was holding the club and in a mere second had turned it to nothing but ash. The skin of the giant was charred and blistered. In places the flesh had cracked and drops of blood fell to the floor. All other activity in the room ceased as everything stared at the massive source of heat from the other side. The Fellowship already being slightly use to the power Harry wielded used the enemy slip to their advantage.

Gandalf shot lightening from his staff then slashed Glamdring across the trolls middle. The ancient elfish blade bit deep into the belly of the beast and the lightening blasted it back through the door where it didn't get back up. He turned to help with the other troll.

Harry brought forth a sand storm again realizing that he needed magic that could produce physical damage before they hit the giant instead of the magic in beam that didn't take effect until the beam entered the flesh of the opponent. The seventy plus mile per hour sand blasted against the charged flesh of the giant ripping it off and biting deep into the now exposed soft tissue. He was just about to transfigure a large stone that had been knocked off the wall when he heard the yell from across the room.

Harry quickly finished off his giant after turning the stone slab into a huge pike and banishing it into the now exposed soft tissue. He quickly looked over to see what had happened and found the only troll still alive had driven a troll sized spear into Frodo's chest. Harry quickly pushed the panic down as he remembered the mithril corselet the hobbit wore and concentrated on the troll. A whip of molten quick silver wrapped itself around the things neck before it even finished sneering at Frodo and with a quick jerk the super heated material burned right through and took the head off the thing. It fell back with the jerk and crashed to the floor.

"Frodo!" Sam yelled as he ran over. Aragorn was already there and the rest looked devastated.

"I'm… all right… Sam." Came the gasped reply as Frodo opened his eyes and moved to sit up.

"How did you survive. That blow would have skewered a wild boar." Aragorn asked in amazement.

Frodo moved aside his shirt to reveal the mithril armor nearly exactly like Harry's who was in the process of moving over to him.

"Well, you are just full of surprises Master Baggins." Gimli chuckled.

"Mithril…" Legolas looked longingly at the shirt.

"Don't move Frodo. The shirt will have stopped the bite but the blow could have still done something. Harry quickly waved his wand over the downed hobbit as Boromir and Gandalf stood watch over the fallen doors. When the hurried diagnostics showed bruising Harry helped the little person to his feet. "Well I guess Hobbits are made out of stronger stuff than I first thought." Harry jibed with a smile as he ruffled Frodo's hair. He then moved over to the downed giant and started filling conjured vials with it's blood.

"What are you doing now Wizard?" Questioned Gimli wondering why anyone would want giant blood.

"I'm going to give it to you for Christmas Gimli." Harry shot back then laughed. "Really it is used in some potions I can make. It's right rare and probably one of the most expensive ingredients there are. Very hard to come by." He didn't mention he wanted it for a strengthening potion he wanted to make. He finished quickly while the others recovered and prepared to move down the side tunnel. As he slid the sword back into the scabbard he could feel the nicks and chips that had occurred during the battle.

'I guess after that first nick the charm was disrupted.' Harry thought to himself as he stowed away the massive amounts of blood he had been able to acquire. And run though the door followed lastly by Gandalf who held him back.

"Seal the doors and strengthen them. Give us enough time to flee." Harry could hear the old mage mumbling words of power and he set to work himself casting spells and wards to keep the orcs from pursuing.

A red glow seeped in from underneath the door and heat started filling the small stair well. A massive something slammed against the door and the magical backlash threw both wizards back and down the stairs.

"Well, well! That's over!" said the old wizard struggling to his feet. "We have done all we could. But I have met my match, and will have and have nearly been destroyed. You I fear did not fair well either my boy. But don't just stand there! Go on! You will have to do without me for a while: I am rather shaken. Go on! Go on! Where are you, Gimli? Come ahead with me! Keep close behind, all of you!"

They stumbled after Gandalf and after an hour they had gone a mile, maybe more. They descended to the bottom of the seventh flight when Gandalf halted.

"It is getting hot!" he gasped. "We should be down at least to the level of the Gates now. We should be there soon."

Gimli took his arm and helped him down to a seat on the step. "What happened away up there at the door?" he asked. "Did you meet the beater of the drums?"

He looked to Harry who just shrugged. "I don't know," answered Gandalf. "But I found myself suddenly faced by something I have not met before. I could think of nothing to do but to try and put a shutting spell on the door."

"As I stood there I could hear orc-voices on the other side: at any moment I thought they would burst it open. I could not hear what was said; the seemed to be talking in their own hideous language. All I caught was ghash: that is 'fire'. Then something came into the chamber- I felt it through the door as did Harry I believe." Harry nodded as well. "The orcs themselves were afraid and fell silent and then the thing proceeded to nearly destroy the door and your two wizards."

"What could it be. What could so powerful?" asked Pippin.

"It was the Balrog." Harry said softly. "I have faced it before and know the beast's feel. It is stronger now, much more so, or has been replaced by another."

Silence descended on the group.

"How are you feeling Master Frodo?" Sam asked.

"I feel as if I had been caught between a hammer and an anvil." He said no more. He found breathing painful.

"Here," Harry pulled out his trunk and pulled two vials out and handed them to the hobbit. "The first will help with the soreness and the second will restore your energy. Speaking of which." Harry moved to a different compartment and pulled the silver decanter. He pulled the lid off and took a long drought from the bottle then passed it to the next in the group. The Ent wash water sang though him as it refreshed and strengthened him as well as the others. He could hear the sighs as they took their fill and passed it along.

After packing everything back up and Frodo moving noticeably better they set off once again. Now rested and refreshed.

"That has to be the best drink I have ever had." Legolas said, again full of life.

They had just about made it to their destination when the halls around them started glowing with a red light. As they prepared to turn a corner Gandalf stopped them and peered around the wall. His face was lit by a red glow and he quickly stepped back.

"There is some new devilry here," he said, "devised for our welcome, no doubt. But I know now where we are: we have reached the First Deep, the level immediately below the Gates. This is the Second Hall of Old Moria; and the Gates are near. But come look." They all gazed around and saw a large hall, much larger than they had slept in the night before and fire licked out around the pillars and walls.

"Could this be anything other than the beast?" Boromir questioned.

"Maybe but we must go this way. Follow me and be quiet as you can." Gandalf lead the way into the new chamber.

They could hear the drum beat even now and all thought of quietness fled them as they raced toward the Gates

"Look ahead!" called Gandalf. "The Bridge is near. It is dangerous and narrow."

As Harry rounded the corner he saw a black chasm with no bottom in sight even though it was lit with fire.

"Lead the way, Gimli!" Gandalf called as orc arrows sailed down. Harry again turned the arrows back onto their caster as dozens of orcs fell into the black abyss. Again and again he did this as the rest of the company safely crossed and only left him and Gandalf on the bridge.

"Go Gandalf, I will hold them off until you are safely across," yelled Harry as he pushed the elder toward the bridge of Khazad-dum.

Out of the passage the company had just left from came a dark figure streaming with fire. The orcs yelled and poured over stone gangways even more trolls placed over the fissures of fire that now spewed from the earth. Everyone stared at the monstrosity before them. The orcs quieted and retreated away from the fiery figure. Legolas and the hobbits shrunk away from the beast. Gimli followed after cursing at the beast, 'Durin's Bane!', then moved away with the other. Gandalf could only stare, mouth agape and leaned on his staff as if defeated. Harry could only admire the new additions to the beast. The mangled wing had been reattached with some dark magic and the beast wore a disgusting black armor looking like blood solidified. It roared when it saw Harry and started its charge drawing both flaming whip and blade.

Then Boromir raised his horn and blew. Loud the challenge rang and bellowed, like the shout of many throats under the cavernous roof. For a moment the orcs quailed and the fiery shadow halted. Then the echoes died as suddenly as a flame blown out by a dark wind, and the enemy advanced again.

"Over the bridge!" cried Gandalf, recalling his strength. "Fly! This is a foe beyond any of you. I must hold the narrow way. Fly!"

Harry, Aragorn and Boromir held their ground, side by side, behind Gandalf at the far end of the bridge. The others halted just within the doorway at the hall's end, and turned, unable to leave their leader to face the enemy alone.

It took no more for Harry to be pulled out of his admiration of the beast before him. Now clad in armor with both weapons ready for use and wings stretched like the span of a great bat it was a most intimidating sight. Both sword and wand seemed to leap into his hand as if by magic. A burning lust for battle sang though him, a side effect from one or more of the rituals he had undertaken no doubt. His magic answered his call, singing though the magical arteries that had grown over the trying years of toil. His opponent was ahead of him. Kill or be killed. Bright green flames burned in his eyes and he started cursing the thing. Magic poured from the wand sending an array of curses never before seen in Middle Earth. A cyclone of water lifted from the ground under the Balrog's feet as he continued throwing cutting curses at the beast. As the water died down the black slimy creature was revealed and a powerful wind washed away the smoke and shadows. Still nothing could stop the advancement of the Balrog. Harry intensified the curses now using explosions and destruction curses. They met the black armor and were sent careening into other parts of the cavern killing more and more orcs that were watching from what they thought was safety.

Throwing personal safety aside and shutting his ears from Gandalf's protests, Harry charged the beast and brought his wand down. Again the luminescent quicksilver whip whistled though the air and crashed onto the armor only to break apart leaving no damage.

Harry had no time to ponder the event as the flaming sword came toward him. He quickly raised his own sword to deflect the blow. He might be stronger than any human was meant to be but he was no match for the Balrog in a duel of physical strength. The air lit with magical and flaming sparks and backlash as the blades collided. The flaming sword shattered into thousands of pieces and the Balrog was thrown back. Harry's sword, battered from previous battles, couldn't take the massive strike. The magic contained in the blade was released in a white light that exploded toward the attacker then the blade too shattered only leaving the hilt in Harry's hand.

Almost reverently Harry knelt over the shattered remains. He lifted a multitude of pieces in each hand and did nothing as Boromir and Aragorn pulled him back across the bridge to relative safety. He had precious few pieces of his family left. Hell, he wasn't even in the same world he was born and his parents had died in. He stared at the broken pieces of mirrored steel in an almost catatonic state.

He was brought to as he heard a booming voice full of power. The Balrog had reached the bridge but it seemed that the magic that was released from Harry's sword had blown the armor to shreds. It lay further up the hall where the creature must have shed it before renewing it's attack. Gandalf stood in the middle of the span, still leaning on his staff in his left hand, but in his other hand Glamdring gleamed, cold and white. His enemy halted again, facing him, and the shadow about it reached out like two vast wings. It raised the whip, and the thongs whined and cracked. Fire came from its nostrils. But Gandalf stood firm.

"You cannot pass," he said. The orcs stood still, and a dead silence fell. "I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udun. Go back to the Shadow! YOU CANNOT PASS!"

The Balrog made no answer. The fire in it seemed to die, but he darkness grew. It stepped forward slowly on to the bridge, and suddenly it drew itself up to a great height, and its wings were spread from wall to wall; but still Gandalf could be seen, glimmering in the gloom; he seemed small, and altogether alone: grey and bent, like a wizened tree before the onset of a storm.

"Let me go!" Harry shouted to the two holding him. "I can help him now that the thing's armor is gone. Let me go!" Harry struggled against the two but somehow couldn't free himself. He could only watch in horror like the others as the massive beast approached his friend and mentor. 'Not again!' he cried in his head over and over.

From out of the shadow another red sword leaped flaming.

Glamdring glittered white in answer.

There was a ringing clash and a stab of white fire. The Balrog fell back and its sword flew up in molten fragments. The wizard swayed on the bridge, stepped back a pace, and then again stood still.

"YOU CANNOT PASS!" he said again.

With a bound the Balrog leaped full upon the bridge. Its whip whirled and hissed about, ready to lash out at the old wizard before him.

At that moment Gandalf lifted his staff, and crying aloud he smote the bridge before him. The staff broke asunder and fell from his hand. A blinding sheet of white flame sprang up. The bridge cracked. Right at the Balrog's feet it broke, and the stone upon which it stood crashed into the gulf, while the rest remained, poised, quivering like a tongue of rock thrust out into the emptiness.

With a terrible cry the Balrog fell forward, and its shadow plunged down and vanished. But even as it fell it swung its whip and the thongs lashed and curled about the wizard's knees, dragging him to the brink. He staggered and fell, grasped vainly at the stone, and slid into the abyss. "Fly, you fools!" he cried, and was gone.

The fires went out and the darkness fell. The Company stood rooted with horror staring at the pit. A anguished cry of "NOOOOO!" tore from Frodo's lips and it seemed to encompass the sorrow and pain of the entire group.

An arrow rang off Harry's chest and more started striking rocks around them. "Lead them out Aragorn. I will bring up the rear guard." The young wizard assumed the lead for the moment and he pushed both he and Boromir toward the final hall before the Gates.

Anger and hatred flared in the young wizard's voice more than it ever had before and the two men only looked back once before they fled. Around Harry was a towering flame of crimson lined in silver caressed his body and they watched as he closed his eyes then they were around the corner and running toward the Gate where light poured fourth with a dazzling brightness.

There was a guard of orcs crouching in the shadows behind the great door post towering on either side, but the gates were nowhere to be seen. Aragorn smote to the ground the captain that stood in his path and Boromir, Gimli and Legolas assailed the others. Even the tiny hobbits managed to take down those trying to flee. Those that could, fled in terror of the wrath that had assaulted them.

As they exited the gates they could feel the ground at their feet start shaking and wails of terror and pain could be heard deep in the mines. Thundering steps, grinding stone, and ear-splitting war cries from some monstrosity could be heard giving chase deeper and deeper into the caves.

Harry staggered around the wall into the hall and managed to make it to the Gate before collapsing to his knees, having to be helped a safe distance from the cave.

A/N:

Thank you all for putting up with me. I want to send out a special thanks to the reveiw of anonymous user JC for the absolute riot of a review you posted. Only one word of advice: If you want to send flames have the balls to at least use your real handle. So all, either reveiw because you like it or flame me. I always need a good laugh and reading reviews from the bottom most idiots in our society always picks me up in the morning. It makes me realize I have to work extra hard to make up for the idiots that are out there. You know who you are JC. Bring on the flames. We can have a bon fire. I'll even bring the smores.

Again a huge thank your to LadyVamp for her tireless efforts to make this a readable story. She needs even a bigger thanks than normal for bataing this just after taking her finals. Talk about dedication!