bookbashuk Chapter 172 Return to Moria
Chapter 172 Return to Moria
Chapter 172 Return to Moria
Galadriel, having agreed to help purify the Balrog's fire, reached out and picked up the red magic crystal radiating intense heat from the table.
It was as if I couldn't feel any warmth at all.
Then, carrying the magic crystal, they strolled towards the central fountain, with Dui and the others following behind.
Arriving at the fountain, Galadriel placed the magic crystal in the center of the fountain.
There was originally a crystal bottle there, which was used to capture the radiance of the star Eyarendil, and thus collect the light of Eyarendil.
Every night, when the star Eyarndil streaks across the sky, its light shines into the fountain and is reflected by the water. Galadriel uses this light to collect the starlight in a crystal bottle, creating the Starlight Bottle.
Galadriel placed the magic crystal in the position of the crystal bottle, and then slowly tilted the crystal bottle, causing the starlight liquid to drip onto the magic crystal.
When the two collide, they make a sizzling sound, just like water droplets falling on hot iron.
"The Light of Eyarndil is the final energy of the Twin Trees' radiance, possessing the power to purify all darkness and evil, and it is just right to purify the Balrog's fire," Galadriel said slowly.
As she finished speaking, wisps of evil energy emanated from the Balrog's magic crystal, which were then purified by the light of Eyarendil.
However, the liquid formed by the light of Eyarendil was also being neutralized, and it was becoming less and less.
Upon seeing this, Dui immediately realized that he had once again incurred a great debt of gratitude.
The light of Eyarendil is not easy to collect. Every night when the stars are shining brightly, a ray of starlight can be collected from the fountain. It takes about a year to collect starlight and condense it into a drop of star dew.
A whole bottle of Eyarendil's Light would take at least hundreds or thousands of years to mature.
At the cost of consuming the light of Eyarendil, the originally dark red magic crystal gradually faded, turning into a light red crystal.
Seeing that Galadriel's bottle of stardew was almost empty, Dui took out his own bottle.
"Madam, please use this bottle of Eyarendil's Light."
Galadriel shook her head.
"That's enough. The Light of Eyarndil only purified the magic crystals; it cannot completely eradicate Morgoth's corrupting power. It will take some time for the Balrog's fire to return to its pure state."
As she spoke, she dipped her right hand into the fountain pool and slowly stirred it.
The light of the Water Ring on her finger shimmered faintly in the water, and a powerful force merged into the water, turning the spring water into a shimmering silver light, as if sprinkled with starlight.
As the magic crystal was immersed in the spring water, the raging, fiery black flames within it calmed down, and the temperature it emitted gradually decreased.
The flames faded at a rate so slow it was almost imperceptible to the naked eye, and the evil aura also diminished.
"From today onward, I will regularly infuse the spring with purifying power until the Undying Flame is completely restored to its pure state," Galadriel said, withdrawing her hand.
Upon hearing this, Dui couldn't help but ask, "How long will it take?"
“Not much,” Galadriel said. “About three years should be enough.”
"Three years?!" Dui couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
Isn't that enough?
Well, for an elf, it's not a long time.
In order to acquire the Phoenix Animagus, Dui said he could wait.
However, this means his research on the Philosopher's Stone will need to be accelerated.
We can't just sit around waiting for at least these three years; we need to at least have a small goal on the path to immortality.
The Flame Demon Crystal was left in the fountain pool to purify, while Dui stayed in Lorien to recuperate.
It took a full month of recuperation before the exhaustion of my magic and the weariness of my soul finally disappeared.
During this period, Dui also remade three flying brooms.
His and Gandalf's flying brooms were burned by flames during their battle with Balrog.
This time, he used turquoise tree branches as materials, which resulted in better performance and faster speed. Dui even named the three brooms "Light Wheel," "Comet," and "Fire Arrow."
The light halo belonged to him, the comet to Alwyn, and the fire bolt to Gandalf.
Just as Dui was enjoying his carefree life in Lorien, a letter from Moria arrived in his presence.
Dui opened the letter delivered by the raven, thinking that he should probably find some owls to be messengers, and began to read its contents.
The letter was from Bahrain, stating that they had completely recaptured Moria.
Some of Moria's Orks were killed by them.
The other group that escaped to the West Gate were also burned to ashes by the dragon Smaug, who was guarding the gate.
Not a single one escaped.
Therefore, Balin, in his capacity as Lord of Moria, formally invited Dui and Gandalf to be his guests.
Gandalf also received the letter.
Even Celeborn and Galadriel received invitations.
Dui and Gandalf naturally wouldn't refuse.
However, Kellerborn refused.
Because the dwarves had killed his great-uncle King Singor for coveting the Silmarils, leading to the destruction of his homeland Doriath, he had always harbored distrust towards the dwarves.
He even hesitated to leave Erigian for a long time because he was unwilling to enter Moria, and only after Erigian was destroyed did he cross the Misty Mountains to reunite with Galadriel in Loreen.
However, Kellerborn couldn't bring himself to refuse outright and offend the dwarves who controlled the mithril mines, so he prepared a gift instead.
Galadriel, in sync with her husband, also did not go.
At Dui's invitation, and on behalf of Lorean, Alvin went to Moria to attend the dwarven banquet.
The three left Lorien and traveled upstream along the Calebrant River until they reached Moria's East Gate in Dark Creek Valley.
Bahrain personally greeted the group at the east gate.
"Welcome! Gandalf, Duir, and the beautiful elf lady! Welcome to Moria!"
Bahrain, in high spirits, gave Dui and Gandalf a big hug each.
They were then warmly invited to enter Moria.
The group arrived at the main hall.
Moria is a vast place, traversing the largest mountain range in Middle-earth. From the east gate to the west gate, it would take at least three to four days to travel straight without getting lost.
Therefore, Bahrain has temporarily made the First Hall its main living area.
The dwarves' banquet was very lively and extravagant.
Dui stared in awe at the mithril-made cutlery and cups in front of him.
A small piece of mithril can fetch a huge fortune in trade, while complete artifacts made of mithril are even more expensive.
For example, the mithril armor Thorin gave to Bilbo was enough to buy the entire Shire.
But here, it's everywhere you look; for example, the armor and weapons worn by the dwarven warriors, as well as various tableware, are all made of mithril.
These are all items left over from the former Kingdom of Qazadoom, which were found by Bahrain and his group and used to entertain them.
Alwen, sitting next to Dui, was equally astonished by the dwarves' extravagance.
As the white princess of the Noldor, she learned the Noldor's blacksmithing techniques from her grandmother Galadriel and naturally knew the value of mithril.
Like the Water Ring Nanya that her grandmother wore, the main body of the ring was made of mithril.
Even some of the more powerful elven swords were made by adding mithril, making them sharper, lighter, and even possessing magical properties.
I never imagined that they'd go to such extremes as using mithril to make tableware here.
But what surprised Dui even more was that Balin had the dwarf warriors bring over a dozen large iron chests and place them in front of him and Gandalf respectively.
"What is this?" Both Dui and Gandalf looked puzzled.
Bahrain raised his hand, gesturing for the dwarves to open the chest.
Inside, there were finished products made of mithril, including utensils, accessories, and handicrafts, as well as mithril ore.
"Gandalf, Duir, you defeated the Balrog and helped us reclaim Moria. I cannot help but express my gratitude!" Balin said sincerely.
"Of course, I know that this alone is far from enough to express my gratitude, so I also prepared this."
At his signal, two pieces of animal hide were brought to them.
The inscription above is written in Tengawa script and lunar script using mithril.
"In gratitude, I have written this contract: I will bestow upon both Gandalf and Duir ownership of one-tenth of the Moria Mithril Ore. I hope you will accept it!"
Both of them were immediately surprised upon hearing this.
Dui was surprised by Balin's generosity, even though Balin had promised him a tenth of the Mithril's ownership once Moria was conquered before the expedition.
But he didn't expect Bahrain to fulfill its obligations so quickly, not only giving Gandalf the same share, but also without delay.
They showed none of the greed or possessiveness that other dwarves had for treasure.
He truly deserves to be called the most composed and wise elder among the dwarves.
Dui naturally wouldn't refuse this reward, after all, mithril, such a precious magical metal, has so many uses, and he naturally needs it too.
So he readily used the silver pen provided by the dwarf to sign his name on the contract.
Silver pens use a special ink made from mithril and other materials that will never fade and will remain clear even after thousands of years.
The animal hide paper was made from durable monitor lizard skin and soaked in a special solution, so that it would not rot even after thousands of years.
These preparations are sufficient to demonstrate Bahrain's sincerity.
Gandalf, on the other hand, refused the reward offered by Balin and only picked out a pipe made of mithril from the box.
In his words, unlike Duir, he didn't have a large number of subjects and pets to support, so there was no point in accepting the payment.
Balin was not secretly pleased by Gandalf's rejection; instead, he showed a somewhat disappointed expression.
Dui couldn't resist using the Soul-Stealing Spell to see what Bahrain was thinking.
As it turns out, Bahrain wasn't just putting on an act.
Balin was genuinely grateful, which is why he gifted Gandalf one-tenth of the mithril ore.
Of course, there was also a little scheme involved: to bind both Dui and Gandalf to Moria through the interests of Mithril.
In this way, if Moria encounters any danger in the future, with the two powerful wizards, Dui and Gandalf, there is no need to worry that Moria will repeat the same mistakes.
Dui naturally didn't mind such a little scheme; on the contrary, he appreciated Bahrain's cleverness even more.
After delivering the mithril, Balin led a few people to the treasury.
The former Khazad-d'Um, relying on the production of mithril, accumulated wealth far exceeding that of the Lonely Mountain.
Even the ceiling was paved with gold, which is enough to show how enormous his wealth was.
However, with the awakening of the Balrog and the fall of the Kingdom of Qazadoom, its wealth was plundered by the orcs and sent to Baradur of Sauron.
Even the gold on the ceiling was pried off, leaving only the bare black stone walls.
Even so, when Dui and his companions arrived at the treasury and saw the mountains of gold and silver treasures, they were still awestruck.
This is another treasure trove, no less valuable than Gushan.
(End of this chapter)