The Loss of the 5th Ring
Written by David Shuter
An Adaption from J.R.R Tolkien's Middle Earth
And so it was, that three rings were given to the elves, the fairest of folk, seven rings were given to the mighty dwarves, who found their home in rock, and nine were given to the race of men... But Sauron tricked them all, and forged 1 more ring.. 1 ring to rule them all.
There were seven. Seven Dwarf kings who were given the seven special rings of power entrusted to their race. They distributed the power over all seven of their kingdoms; Erabor, Gundabad, The Iron Hills, Moria, Amun Rûdh, Lorenbor in the Grey Mountains, and lastly the kingdom in the Orocarni ( also known as the Red Mountains) Mordanbad. It is here our story lies, telling the tale of Morlan, the new king of Mordanbad. He was a young dawrf, at only 50 years of age. He had ascended to the throne early because of the death of his father, the former king, Môrfan. The late Môrfan had met his end to an untimely sickness, that ate away at his heart until there was nothing left.
Mordanbad was a rich kingdom, thanks to the power of the ring entrusted to Morlan's house. While the rings you may know of may control the elements, or turn people invisible, it was not so for the dwarven rings. The dwarven people had no need for those things. What the Dwarven rings could do was duplicate any minerals it came in contact with, and grant the dwarf who wore them luck. Unfortunately for Môrfan, even the ring could not combat sickness like that he had. There was one major problem with Mordanbad.. And that was that it was plagued by a Dragon.
Glaug was his name, and terrible he was. At least once a moon cycle he would attack Mordanbad, wanting what all dragons wanted...the gold with in...and the ring. Glaug could sense the power of it, and was drawn to it. The Dwarves never made ti easy for him, for they were prepared for Dragons as some other dwarven strongholds were not. Moria had nothing to worry about as they were deep in the mountains. Erabor did not even need to worry about a Dragon..as they were too far away from any mountainous range for dragons to live close. Mordanbad on the other hand, had been built expecting these attacks.
There was only one entrance into the stronghold, guarding it were many large bows made to fire the mass stock of Black Arrows they had. It is well know that a Black Arrow is the only weapon that can pierce a dragon's hide. The doors are thick rock, that it takes multiple dwarves to open each one. Once inside, there are even more bows with black arrows, in case the dragon ever breaks through the first line of defence. Once you are through that hall, it opens up into a city, full of houses, rock trees and even a lake in the middle. On the far end lies the palace. Once inside, you realize the city is just the top of the cake. The initial throne room is almost the size of the city, with more bows and black arrows. It is big enough to house the whole population in times of need. Underneath the palace is the treasury, which was obviously full, thanks again to the ring. Underneath that is the forges, which acts like a middle layer between the top.. The city and palace, and the mines. There are always dwarves at work here... and under that...is the mines, which stretch deep into the mountain. It is rumoured that they stretch out through the Orocarni mountains...but none who know have confirmed or denied this rumour.
This brings us to the beginning of our story, which takes place a 100 years before the events you have most likely heard of involving the fall of Erabor and the attack of Smaug the dragon (which I may add, was a relative of Glaug). Morlan had been king for less than three months. Morlan Shortbeard many called him, given his youth and lack of experience. None called him this to his face, although the young dwarf knew of his nickname, as a king should know of the in's and out's of his subject's lives.
Morlan sat upon his throne, deep in conversation with his friend and trusted advisor Draîn, who had been the previous's king's advisor as well. They spoke Dwarvish, but for your sake, I will translate it to the common tongue...
"The people are growing worried your majesty. Glaug has not attacked since your coronation. While they rejoice, they fear he is planning something, and that his evil will crush us next time he attacks." Draîn stated to his king. Morlan tapped his fingers against the arm of his throne, the ring of power glinting in the firelight. He finally said
"There is nothing to fear my friend! The Dragon fears my youth. Mordanbad is heavily fortified and even two dragons would have a hard time breaching these walls." Morlan was young after all, and had only once tasted battle, against a few goblins which were lurking in the tunnels under the Orocarni. He was as naive as any young man would be. He dreamed of glory, yet had not had a chance to win it. Draîn was older, and wiser, and knew his kings statement to be untrue, yet he bowed respectfully and stated
"Mine king, while what you say may be true we must-" he was unable to finish his statement because Morlan cut him off.
"Do you doubt me Draîn?" to which Draîn actually stuttered
"W-Well no. but-" Yet again he was cut off by the young king
"Then what I say must be true." Draîn again bowed
"Of course, your majesty. I still think we should be cautious. Those who are boastful and too sure of themselves are always the first to fall in battle. I recommend that his majestic consider doubling the guard." The older dwarf looked up at the younger one on the throne, gladdened that Morlan had not cut him off. The king couldn't have, as he had seen sense in his friend's words. He stroked his red beard as he pondered this for a minute or two.
Even the young king could not deny this expert example of knowledge and commanded
"Double the guards. We shall be prepared for anything Glaug could bring upon us" To which Draîn was grateful for this and hurried off to tell the guard captain. He was saved the trouble by the guard captain running into the throne room, an arrow shaft sticking out of his shoulder. He quickly fell to a bow and stated
"Your Majesty, Goblins invade the lower levels. They reside in the forges!"
Morlan was in shock, so he stood up and boomed
"HOW COULD THIS BE?!" There was only one entrance to Mordanbad, and for goblins to get into the forges, they would have had to fight through the city and the palace. The guard captain said regretfully
"They tunnelled through the mountain, coming in through the mines. They are a thousand strong" The King had a plan almost instantly and roared
"I want every guard who is not currently on guard duty to take care of these goblins!" The Guard captain gave a nod and hurried off. Meanwhile Morlan ordered Draîn
"Get my armour and weapons! I shall join our kin in defending out treasure!" Draîn was not pleased with this, but did as his king commanded.
Twenty minutes later, the King was in his armour and shouts of battle could be heard from the levels below. The King hefted his large warhammer and was about to hurry to the defence of his gold when the mountain shook.. There was silence, save for the sound of dwarves being slaughtered below. Then the mountain shook again
"No.." murmured Draîn, as this could only mean one thing.. The mountain shook once more.. Then a deafening roar filled Mordanbad. The Dragon was here. And he was breaking through the defenses. Screams came from the city. The King himself blanched, saying quietly
"Glaug...the Goblins...no...The Lizard could not have allied himself with the goblins!", going whiter and whiter by the second.
"It would appear so my lord" Draîn stated just as quietly. Both dwarves knew they were doomed, with most of their warriors repelling the goblins below, the city was virtually undefended. Morlan knew what they needed now was a strong king...and by Daîn's beard he was going to be that king. He would not go down in history as the dwarf who surrendered Mordanbad to Glaug the dragon.
He put a hand on Draîn's shoulder and asked
"Will you follow me, Draîn son of Drawn?" The kings advisor took only a moment to calm down enough and nod
"To the end my King". This got a chuckle out of the young king as he stated
"It very well may be". He then charged out of the door of his palace as Draîn went to sound off the war horn. The city was in turmoil, dwarves running everywhere, women in search of children, men in search of wives, the elderly squinting as they tried not to get trampled. Soon the Horn sounded, making the very stones vibrate. Everyone stopped as the king boomed in a voice all could hear
"I WANT EVERYONE TO GATHER ARMS AND MARCH WITH ME TO THE GATE IN THE NAME OF MY FATHER MÔRFAN!" There was Silence.. Then a roar rose as dwarves gathered up what weapons they could find. Morlan did not wait for them to all be ready as he charged through the city. Another large boom and a shaking of the mountain told them that The Dragon was in the entrance hall. No dwarf lost their resolve as a small army followed Morlan into the entrance hall.. And there stood the dragon Glaug.
A low chuckle came from his giant maw "How cute. You think you can defeat me with pitchforks and knifes. You no longer have the men or weapons to defeat me... You shall all be a very delicious meal" His great red eyes fell on the king.. And more importantly, the ring on the kings hand. "Ah... What a delicious morsel that will be"
The King was truthfully scared, but he was not about to lie down and let Glaug eat him, so he roared "CHARGE!" He lead a charge against the dragon, who laughed heartedly
"Come on you puny dwarves, let me taste your flesh!" Fire then built up in his chest. Morlan dove behind a pillar just in time as fire took care of most of his dwarves. Only a hundred remained who had the sense to get behind some rock. Beside Morlan happened to be Draîn. Morlan then grasped his advisor by the arm and ordered
"Bring down the mountain. I will distract Glaug as long as possible. Mordanbad is lost.. But I will not just hand it over to the dragon and goblins." Draîn began to protest but Morlan shut him up and continued
"If you can escape through the mines, lead what dwarves who survived the goblin attack to Erabor, Thrôr will take them in and treat them as his own. Tell him I died with honor, and as a true king should" Draîn looked pained, already mourning the loss of his king, but saw sense in his words and stated
"By your rule, King Morlan. I am proud of you..as your father would be. Morlan the brave you shall be known as from now on, for few have faced a dragon head on" They butted heads, and with a roar, Morlan emerged from the pillar, leading what dwarves were left in the final charge. Draîn was just able to escape.
The young king was soon the last left standing. The Dragon, who believed he had won, bent down to examine the king, opening his maw enough to expose his teeth saying
"Seems fitting for the king to fall last" Glaug went to snap the king up. Morlan Shortbeard was prepared, and leapt out of the way, bringing his war hammer down on the dragons head. He then climbed up on the dragon and began to beat his head over and over again. The Dragon roared, but it was drowned out by a louder sound.. A different horn, which made the rocks shake. Some began to fall. The Dragon roared again and threw the king off.
Morlan's war hammer was lost from view as he skidded across the ground. Glaug looked at him and roared
"What trickery is this King of Mordanbad?!" Morlan, bruised and bloodied, got to his feet and unhooked his last weapon.. His axe. He then stated
"You shall not take Mordanbad...if the king falls...so does his kingdom" The horn blasted again, making more rock fall.. The city was beginning to crumble. The dwarves had installed this one failsafe into each of its kingdoms, for they were a greedy people... if they could not keep their gold safe...no one could have it. They had discovered long ago that one frequency of sound could split rock. The Horn blasted again, rock now raining down from the ceiling.
The Dragon gave one more roar before he opened his maw. King Morlan the Brave uttered one final war cry and ran forward, his axe above his head, and leapt at the dragon. The dragon's maw moved to swallow the dwarf, a blast of fresh fire hitting him as he fell down its maw. With one gulp, the king was gone, as was the ring... destroyed by the dragons fire.
Glaug gave one more roar as a final horn blast sounded, bringing the ceiling down on top of him. Glaug the cunning fell that day, to the weight of an entire mountain.. Mordanbad was destroyed... the gold lost, the Ring gone..and its king dead.
But not all was lost. Draîn had made it out in time with 100 dwarf warriors, spending days travelling in the tunnels under the Orocarni. They then emerged and spent the next four months travelling through Middle Earth, seeking help where they could for food and water. By the time they arrived at Erabor, only 90 of them remained, including Draîn. The King Under the Mountain, Thrôr, welcomed them with open arms, and King Morlan the Brave, son of King Môrfan, was hailed a hero amongst the Dwarf people. All was well.