Gimli, son of Gloin has gone on many an exciting adventure in the mines of Moria, many of which were to defend the tomb of Balin from the demonic and corrupting evil of the Balrog that dwells in the depths of the mines of Moria. This segment of the story of Gimli son of Gloin is only but a small part in the grand story that is Gimli’s history. At any rate let us get on to the story.

Gimli was searching through the ruins of Moria when a glimmering stone caught his eye. It was a stone of sapphire that Gimli had never seen before. He searched for a window in the dim light of the mountains. Using his sight that had been attained through generations of living in the mountains, Gimli at last came upon a tile that felt strange, so he pushed on it. He found that it was not a window, but an entryway into a dank room with inscriptions on the walls so small that Gimli could hardly see them, never mind read them in the darkness. The only thing that allowed him to see was the gem. It radiated a warm, pulsing light and the pulses appeared to occur in beats, to an ancient rhythm unknown to even the dwarves, old as they were; old as their dwellings: the mountains, and the earth. This ancient beat seemed to be the beat of the heart of the earth, and of the dwarves as well. Gimli’s eyes watered at the beautiful sight. “ I’ve finally found it,” Gimli said not to himself but to his ancestors, eternally resting in the halls of Moria. “I’ve found the heart of the earth.” Suddenly Gimli heard footsteps coming from outside the door, along with grotesque laughs filled with malice. “Orcs…” muttered Gimli, “they must have raided Balin’s tomb,” he said to himself. “You will pay for this!” Gimli took out his axe that was strapped to his back and shattered the door along with the bones of one of his foes. Gimli looked around him and found that he was greatly outnumbered; a horde of orcs surrounded him and more could be seen huddled around the door. A short series of cackles echoed throughout the room as the orcs glared at Gimli. Almost instantly after the laughter dissipated the orcs readied their bows and Gimli, gripping the stone tight in his left hand, swung from below using his axe. Several orcs fell but the marksmen in the back shot their arrows at Gimli with inhuman precision, one bouncing off of his chestplate, another nicking his ear. Gimli cried out, for part of his ear lobe had been torn off, and crimson smeared the entire left side of his face. Gimli had an idea; he placed the crystal on the ground and smashed it with his axe. It shattered into pieces that flew in the air, but then fired at the orcs at unimaginable speeds, the room was ablaze with the blue light of the crystal pulsing, and the black blood of the orcs being painted by the shards until the room seemed a demented painting, covered in black and crimson. The orcs outside of the room fled, and Gimli left through the same door shouting: “Begone scourge of the earth!” Gimli took his leave soon after with a smirk on his face.