Since Galadriel had agreed to help purify the Balrog's fire, she reached out and picked up the red magic crystal from the table, despite its radiating heat. It seemed to hold no warmth for her at all. She then walked towards the central fountain with the magic crystal, with Luke and the others following close behind.
Upon reaching the fountain, Galadriel placed the magic crystal in its center. A crystal bottle, used to capture the brilliance of Eärendil's Star and thus collect the Light of Eärendil, usually resided there. Every night, as Eärendil's Star passed across the sky, its starlight shone into the fountain, reflected by the water within. Galadriel used this method to collect the starlight in the crystal bottle, crafting a Starlight Bottle.
Galadriel positioned the magic crystal where the bottle usually rested, then slowly tilted the Starlight Bottle, allowing the shimmering liquid to drip onto the magic crystal. The two collided with a sizzling sound, like water hissing on hot iron. "The Light of Eärendil is the final energy of the glory of the Two Trees," Galadriel explained softly. "It possesses the ability to purify all darkness and evil, which makes it perfectly suited to purify the Balrog's fire." As she finished her words, wisps of dark, evil energy emanated from the Balrog's magic crystal, being neutralized and purified by the Light of Eärendil. But at the same time, the liquid condensed from the Light of Eärendil was also consumed, diminishing rapidly.
When Luke saw this, he immediately knew he owed the great Elf another immense favor. The Light of Eärendil was not easy to collect. Every night, when the stars shone brightest, only a single ray of starlight could be collected in the fountain. It took roughly a year of diligent collection to condense into a single drop of Star Dew. A whole bottle of Eärendil's Light would take at least hundreds, if not thousands, of years to gather. As the Star Dew in Galadriel's bottle was almost depleted, Luke took out his own bottle. "My lady, please use this bottle of Eärendil's Light."
Galadriel shook her head. "It is enough. The Light of Eärendil has purified the magic crystal, but it cannot completely eradicate the lingering power of Morgoth. It will take some time to restore the Balrog's fire to its pure state." As she spoke, she dipped her right hand into the fountain water and stirred it slowly. The light of Narya, the Water Ring on her finger, was faintly visible in the water. A powerful force merged into the water, and the spring water became silvery and sparkling, as if sprinkled with starlight. The magic crystal was immersed in the spring water, and the raging black flames within it calmed, their emitted temperature gradually decreasing. The flames faded at a speed difficult to detect with the naked eye, and the evil aura also dissipated.
"From today on, I will regularly infuse the spring with purifying power until the Eternal Flame is completely restored to purity," Galadriel said, withdrawing her hand. Upon hearing this, Luke couldn't help but ask, "How long will that take?"
"Not long," Galadriel replied. "Three years is enough."
"Three years?!" Luke exclaimed in disbelief. Isn't that enough? Well, for an Elf, it wasn't that long. In order to obtain the Phoenix Animagus, Luke decided he could certainly wait. But in that case, his research on the Philosopher's Stone would need to be accelerated. He couldn't just sit and wait for three years; he needed to achieve at least a small goal on the path to immortality.
He left the Balrog's Crystal in the fountain pool for purification, while Luke stayed in Lórien to recuperate. After a full month of recovery, the feeling of magical overdraft and spiritual fatigue finally dissipated. During this time, Luke also crafted three new flying brooms. His and Gandalf's original brooms had been destroyed by flames during their fight with the Balrog. This time, he used the resilient trunks of Mallorn trees as materials, resulting in brooms with improved performance and faster speeds. Luke named the three brooms "Nimbus," "Comet," and "Firebolt" respectively. The Nimbus was his own, the Comet was for Arwen, and the Firebolt was for Gandalf.
Just as Luke was enjoying a happy life in Lórien, a letter from Moria was delivered to him. Luke opened the letter, delivered by a raven, while thinking that he should find a few owls to act as messengers. The letter was from Balin and explained that Moria had been completely recaptured. Some of the orcs of Moria had been slain by the Dwarves themselves.
The other group that had escaped to the West Gate had been burned to ashes by the dragon Smaug, who was guarding outside the gate. Not a single one escaped. So Balin, as the Lord of Moria, formally invited Luke and Gandalf to visit. Gandalf also received the letter. Even Celeborn and Galadriel received invitations.
Luke and Gandalf would naturally not refuse. However, Celeborn declined. He had always been distrustful of the Dwarves because they had coveted the Silmarils and killed his great-uncle, King Thingol, which led to the destruction of his homeland, Doriath. He had even hesitated to leave Eregion because he was unwilling to enter Moria. It wasn't until the fall of Eregion that he crossed the Misty Mountains and reunited with Galadriel in Lórien.
However, Celeborn couldn't refuse outright and thus offend the Dwarves who were now exploiting the mithril mines, so he prepared a gift instead. Galadriel, like her husband, also opted not to go. Arwen, at Luke's invitation and on behalf of Lórien, agreed to go to Moria to attend the Dwarves' feast.
The three left Lórien and walked up the Celebrant River until they reached the Eastern Gate of Moria in Dimrill Dale. Balin personally welcomed the arrival of the group at the East Gate.
"Welcome! Gandalf, Luke, and the beautiful Elf-ladies! Welcome to Moria!" Balin was in high spirits and gave Luke and Gandalf each a hearty hug. Then he warmly invited them to enter Moria.
The group arrived at the First Hall. Moria was an enormous space, running through the largest mountain range in Middle-earth. It took at least three to four days to walk from the East Gate to the West Gate if one didn't get lost and walked straight.
So Balin temporarily used the First Hall as his main living quarters. The Dwarves' banquet was very lively and luxurious. Luke was secretly amazed when he saw the knives, forks, cups, and other utensils made of mithril before him. A small piece of mithril was enough to command immense wealth in trade, and a complete object made of mithril was even more precious. For example, the mithril armor that Thorin gave to Bilbo was enough to buy the entire Shire.
(T/N :Author you said that 3 times already!)
But here, it was ubiquitous, such as the armor and weapons worn by the Dwarven warriors, as well as the various tableware, all made of mithril. These were relics of the former kingdom of Khazad-dûm, now found by Balin and his companions, and used specifically to entertain the guests. Arwen, sitting next to Luke, was equally astonished by the Dwarves' extravagance. As the White Princess of the Noldor, she and her grandmother Galadriel had learned the Noldor's forging techniques and naturally knew the value of mithril.
Like the Water Ring, Narya, worn by her grandmother, the main body of the ring was made of mithril. Even some of the more powerful Elven swords were made sharper and lighter by adding mithril, even possessing magical properties. She had no idea that this place was so extravagant that they even used mithril to make tableware.
But what surprised Luke even more was that Balin had the Dwarf warriors bring over a dozen large iron boxes and place them in front of him and Gandalf. "What's this?" Luke and Gandalf both looked puzzled.
Balin raised his hand and motioned for the Dwarves to open the boxes. They were filled with finished products such as mithril utensils, accessories, handicrafts, and raw mithril ore. "Gandalf, Luke, you defeated the Balrog and helped us recapture Moria. I cannot help but express my gratitude!" Balin said sincerely. "Of course, I also know that these alone are far from enough to express my gratitude, so I also prepared this." As he said this, two pieces of animal skin paper were brought to them at his signal.
They had sun and moon characters written on them in mithril. "To express my gratitude, I have written a contract: I will give one-tenth of the ownership of Moria's mithril ore to Gandalf and Luke respectively. I hope you will accept it!"
They were both surprised when they heard this. Luke was surprised by Balin's generosity, even though before the expedition, Balin had promised to give him one-tenth of the mithril ownership once Moria was recaptured. But he didn't expect Balin to act so quickly. The fulfillment of the contract not only gave Gandalf the same share but also did not delay. He displayed none of the greed and possessiveness for treasure that other Dwarves sometimes showed. Should we say that he is indeed the calmest and wisest elder among the Dwarves? Luke naturally wouldn't refuse this reward. After all, mithril, a precious magical metal, had so many uses that he naturally needed it. So he readily signed his name on the contract with the silver pen provided by the Dwarf.
The silver pen used a special ink made from mithril and other materials. It would never fade, and the writing would remain clear even after thousands of years. The animal skin paper was made of wear-resistant Giant Lizard skin and was soaked in a special potion. It would still not rot after thousands of years. These preparations were enough to demonstrate Balin's sincerity.
As for Gandalf, he refused the reward offered by Balin and only picked out a pipe made of mithril from the box. In his words, he didn't have a large number of subjects and pets to support like Luke, so there was no point in asking for this reward. Balin was not secretly happy about Gandalf's rejection; instead, he looked a little disappointed. Luke couldn't help but use the Legilimency Charm to see what Balin was thinking.
It turned out that Balin was not just pretending. Balin was truly grateful, which was why he offered Gandalf one-tenth of the mithril ore. Of course, there was also a little strategic thought involved: to bind the interests of Luke and Gandalf to Moria with mithril. In this way, if Moria encountered any danger in the future, with the two powerful wizards, Luke and Gandalf, there would be no need to worry about Moria repeating its past mistakes. Luke naturally didn't mind such subtle thoughts. Instead, he admired Balin's cleverness even more.
After delivering the mithril, Balin took a few people to the treasury. Khazad-dûm had once relied on the production of mithril to accumulate wealth even greater than that of the Lonely Mountain. Even the ceiling was paved with gold, which was enough to show how immense their wealth once was. However, after the Balrog was awakened and the kingdom of Khazad-dûm was destroyed, all its wealth was plundered by the orcs and sent to Barad-dûr in Sauron's castle.
Even the gold on the ceiling was pried away, leaving only the bare black stone walls. But even so, when Luke and the others arrived at the treasury and looked at the mountains of gold, silver, and jewelry, they were still shocked. This was another treasure trove no less significant than that of the Lonely Mountain.