Shadow and Flame

As the Fellowship fled from Balin's tomb, thousands upon thousands of Orcs advanced on them all. They didn't stop running, until the creatures encircled them. Gandalf sent up a magic dome to protect them, as the Orcs roared at them. All of them waited, when a beastly roar sounded. It was a roar so deep and so guttural that it scared the Orcs into retreating. Now, it was just the Fellowship, as they saw the darkness become illuminated by a glowing orange light.

“What is this new devilry?” Boromir asked. Gandalf and the Jedi had their eyes closed, sensing what was coming.

“Darkness. Powerful darkness, I sense,” Master Yoda said.

“I've never felt a power like this before,” Obi-Wan said.

“I can't even tell what it is. All I know is it's big and it's angry,” Ahsoka said.

“It's a Balrog. A demon of the Ancient World. This foe is beyond ANY of you. RUN!” Gandalf yelled, taking off at a run with the Fellowship behind him as they got to a large set of zigzagging stone stairs. “Lead them on, Aragorn! The bridge is near,” the wizard said, pointing to the stone bridge that was down the steps. Aragorn hesitated. Why was Gandalf asking him this? Surely he'd be coming with them. “DO AS I SAY! Swords are no more use here!” The Fellowship fled down the sets of steps, as arrows flew at them. The Orc's had started following again. It was then they came to a break in the steps. Without hesitation, Obi-Wan, Master Yoda and Ahsoka leapt over, and then waited to help the others. Rarity went first, then Applejack, then Twilight. Boromir leaped after, and then Aragorn got ready to throw Gimli.

“Nobody tosses a dwarf!” Then he leapt himself, almost about to fall, before Boromir grabbed him by the beard. “Not the beard!” Aragorn sighed, as he helped Gandalf to leap over as well. Fluttershy was next to Legolas as the two shot their arrows at the Orcs, before the elf beckoned her to leap as well. Pinkie Pie was right behind her, with Merry and Pippin in her arms. Aragorn lifted Sam up and flung him over, letting him be caught by Obi-Wan's Force hold. Suddenly, the stone began to crack, as he held Frodo next to him.

“Hold on, Frodo!” he said, as the stone cracked and he and Frodo braced themselves. The stone started teetering backwards then suddenly swung forwards, and the two of them leapt to the rest of the party and fled down the rest of the steps.

“Over the bridge! Fly!” Gandalf said, motioning all of them past him, as fire started to appear behind them. Gandalf glared, as the Balrog finally materialized. A huge, flaming black creature with horns and wings, the Balrog roared in anger, as a flaming sword appeared in its hand. The Fellowship ran across the bridge as fast as they could, with Gandalf trailing behind. Then he stopped, and the Fellowship watched in awe, as the wizard faced down the Balrog.

“You cannot pass!” he yelled.

“GANDALF!” Frodo and Twilight yelled. The Balrog unfurled his wings, as Gandalf raised his staff and held Glamdring at his side.

“I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Arnor! The Dark Fire will not avail you, Flame of Udun!” The Balrog roared, slamming his flaming sword down to be met by a magic dome from Gandalf's staff. The wizard was holding his own. The rest of the Fellowship watched as the wizard battled the creature. “Go back to the shadow!” Gandalf growled. The Balrog replaced the sword with a flaming whip. Twilight's eyes widened. “YOU. SHALL NOT. PASS!!!!!” Gandalf roared, slamming his staff down on the bridge. The Balrog took one step and the bridge collapsed under him, sending the creature falling down the chasm. Gandalf sighed, as he turned around to get back to the party. But the Balrog wasn't finished. Swinging its whip, it sent it cracking, but before it could connect to Gandalf, Twilight teleported the wizard to the other side of the chasm. The Balrog roared in anger as its whip connected with nothing and it began the long fall down the chasm. “Twilight...you saved me,” Gandalf said with astonishment.

“I knew the Balrog would probably try and use his whip. It was just luck that I was quicker than him,” Twilight said. Gandalf smiled, placing a hand on Twilight's shoulder.

“I can see why you were Celestia's prized pupil, Miss. Sparkle. Thank you,” he said, when the arrows flew some more. “Come! We're nearly there! Out that doorway and we will be on the path to Lothlorien!”

“Oh thank heavens!” Rarity said, as the Fellowship raced up the steps and out the doorway. They'd made it! They were out of the Mines of Moria. They were free. Now, on those rocky hills, they could catch their breath and begin the walk to Lothlorien. Yet, every time they looked into the sky, they saw the looming form of the Death Star, reminding them that their mission had only just begun.

==========~o0o~==========

Aboard the space station, Saruman was in his chambers, spying on the party with the palantír. He had to admire Gandalf's tenacity, legitimately taking the Fellowship through Moria. However, now they were out, and heading for Lothlorien. The last thing he wanted was to raise the ire of Galadriel. The doors slid open, as one of the lieutenant's saluted.

“My Lord, the Emperor requests your presence,” he said. Saruman glared, grabbing his staff and heading for Palpatine's throne room without a word.

“You summoned me, my Lord?” Saruman asked, as the lift doors opened.

“Ah yes, Saruman. Tell me, my friend. Is your magic powerful enough to cheat death itself?” Palpatine asked. The wizard stiffened.

“There are..rules, my Lord. Eru, the Creator, has made it so that none of my kind can access the full range of our power while in Middle-Earth. We take the form of old men so as not to stand out. In reality, I am known as a Maia, essentially a demigod,” he said. Palpatine grinned.

“Ah, but we are not IN Middle-Earth, Saruman. And, where we're going next is as far removed from Middle-Earth as we can get,” he said. Saruman's eyebrow raised.

“Who would we be returning to the living?” With a wider grin, Palpatine clapped his hand, and a holo-image appeared. The figure was a humanoid, but to call him 'human' would be false. His face seemed to be that of a cephalopod, with humanoid features. Where a left arm should be was a crab claw, and his right hand was that of tentacles. One leg was human in form, but his other one, the right, was that of a crab leg. The creature seemed to be more crustacean than man. On the top of his head was a wide-brimmed hat, and he wore a tattered coat with one sleeve hanging behind him. A bright red sash was around his waist, and he wore a dirty, tattered shirt over his chest. Saruman was astonished. “What is that?” he asked.

“This, my friend, is Davy Jones. Once, he was known as the terror of the sea, the one thing all sailors feared, when this happened,” Palpatine said, pushing a button on his throne. The holo-image of Davy Jones changed to that of a holo-recording. A torrential rain was coming down, and it seemed that Davy Jones was onboard a wooden ship, trying to pull a barnacle encrusted humanoid off of his back. There were three others aboard the ship, two men and a woman. One of the men wore a leather coat with a dark red waist coat and black boots and trousers. He had a steel sword plunged in his chest, and the woman was tending to him, stroking his face as a loved one would. The other man was rushing to their side, a jagged dagger in his hand and..what looked like a heart in his other. A barnacle encrusted heart, but a heart nonetheless. The man who held it was..oddly dressed. Long matted hair with what seemed to be continuous braids going down to his chest, and a red bandana covering it with what could possibly be beads and other trinkets tied into the hair. He had trimmed facial hair and an odd hat, and his clothes were even more strange. The force of the rain along with the fact that they were clearly INSIDE of a whirlpool, he'd have to look into that, made it hard to see just what he was wearing. But all that didn't matter, as he watched the strangely dressed man approach the other man and woman, and place the dagger in the wounded man's hand. Davy Jones managed to finally pull the barnacle encrusted humanoid off of him, when the dagger pierced the heart. Davy Jones staggered back and then fell off of the ship.

“It was through the combined efforts of Captain Jack Sparrow, Elizabeth Swann-Turner, William Turner the Second, and Bootstrap Bill Turner, or William Turner the First if you prefer, that Jones was killed. His heart was pierced and control of the ship, the Flying Dutchman, was passed onto the younger Mr. Turner. Captain Swann spent the rest of her remaining life on an island, waiting every ten years for her dear Captain Turner to come to her. One day ashore, ten years at sea was the prophecy that both Jones and Turner were to follow. Captain Sparrow, meanwhile, set off to re-take control of his ship, the Black Pearl, from the hands of his old rival, Captain Hector Barbossa. I am lead to believe that now, the two are co-captaining the Black Pearl and are off the coast of Jamaica. As you have probably guessed, we're dealing with pirates. However, Captain's Barbossa and Sparrow could be useful to my cause,” Palpatine said.

“And what of Captain's Turner and Swann?” Saruman asked.

“They are of no concern to me. William Turner will not attempt to interfere with his prophecy in any way, and Elizabeth Turner has given up her days of piracy, content to raise her son, Henry Turner. No, it is the Captain's Barbossa and Sparrow that I am interested in. I want you to come with me, Vader, and a small group of troopers to see the good captains. I want you..to raise Davy Jones from the dead,” Palpatine finished. Saruman's eyes narrowed, his hands gripping his staff. While he was a staunch supporter of Eru's original order, Palpatine was right. He wasn't ON Middle-Earth anymore, and something told him that wherever the Captains were, would not be Middle-Earth. He'd already fallen far. There was nowhere else to fall.

“When do we leave?” the wizard asked. Palpatine cackled in response, the sound reverberating across the throne room.

Author's Note

Yay! New chapter! Also, what a twist, huh? Gandalf doesn't die here! He will become Gandalf the White, I promise you. Just not for a while. Next chapter is Lothlorien and Lady Galadriel. Also, you can probably guess where Saruman and Palpatine are heading now.