Chapter One

Arzag's Mound

Ten long years had passed since Arathorn's death. In this time, Aragorn, or Estel (Hope) as he was known, was not told of his true ancestry. He assumed that all of his life he had grown up with Elrond as his father. During his stay In Rivendell he often went adventuring with Elladan and Elrohir into the wild, defeating Orc warbands or hunting Wargs.

During this time, Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf the Grey visited Rivendell, along with a company of Dwarves. They were the company that were destined to reclaim Erebor, the Lonely Mountain, for the Dwarves. It is also around this time that Bilbo stole the Ring from Gollum.

Estel never met Bilbo, but became good friends with Gandalf, who would put on small firework displays for his amusement. Secretly, Elrond thought that the wizard had plans for Estel.

In the years that he stayed at Rivendell, Estel became a master with a sword and bow, and the Elves could not help noticing that he was a lot like his father.

On Estel's fourteenth birthday, Elladan and Elrohir took him on a raiding party into some caves that would change his life.

"What are we looking for?" Estel kept asking. Elladan and Elrohir kept giving each other funny looks, but did not answer. Eventually, Elrohir spoke.

"We're not looking for any Orcs, brother. Father says that it is time for us to show you something."

"What are you going to show me?"

"Do you remember the wizard Gandalf?"

"Vaguely. But I remember his fireworks!" Elrohir smiled before continuing.

"You can do a lot more with magic than make fireworks, Estel. Some people can even enchant spirits to do their bidding."

"So that's what we're going to fight! Spirits!" Estel pretended briefly to fight with invisible spectres. Both Elladan and Elrohir laughed.

"Not quite. We're looking for something hidden in this cave that was taken a very long time ago."

"What is it?"

"Have you ever heard of the Rings of Power?"

"Three for the Elves, seven for Dwarves, nine for Men. Plus the One makes twenty."

"Yes. We're looking for what we think is one of the seven Dwarf rings that some Goblins stole long ago."

"Goblins? I thought you said that they were spirits?"

"The Goblins hid in these tunnels, but were killed by the Witch King's spirits. Their leader is Arzag, he's a..."

"Quiet!" Elladan whispered, and the three adventurers halted.

Up ahead was a huge mound. It glowed slightly, and they saw that it was inhabited by spectres. Atop the mound was a small ring.

"There!" whispered Estel, and pointed at the ring. Elrohir, however, was frozen with horror. His brother was likewise. "What's wrong?"

"Skulls…" gasped Elladan, "It's a mound of skulls." Estel screwed his eyes up and saw to his horror that Elladan was right. Thousands of Goblin skulls had been piled up to make the Ring's mound. Slowly, the three of them backed around the corner.

"Now what?" Estel asked slowly, "We'll never be able to climb up and reach it."

"We have to try," replied Elrohir, "If you climb the mound and grab the ring, we'll fight off Arzag's lot." Estel felt a sense of pride overcome him. He was going to do this! He had been chosen!

"Okay," he said, not sounding at all nervous, "Let's go."

Elladan hoisted Estel up onto the mound, and drew his sword. Elrohir was making a mark with chalk that would ward off most spirits.

Estel climbed higher and higher. The more he climbed, the further away the top seemed to be. Suddenly, there was a crunch. Estel looked down to see that his foot had made a hole in one of the skulls.

"Estel!" one of the twins shouted. Estel looked down to see hundreds of spirits floating up the tower, swords drawn…

"Elrohir, get him down from there!" Elladan shouted as he tried stabbing an undead soldier. Elrohir began to panic; he couldn't just climb past all of those spirits.

"Estel, jump off!" he yelled. Estel seemed frozen with fear, all was lost. But a small skull that rolled off the mound caught his attention. "Elladan! Get ready to catch Estel!" he shouted.

"What?" Elladan yelled as yet more spirits assailed him. But Elrohir was already scraping skulls off the mound; they tumbled down to the stone floor with a clunk and a crack. "Elrohir, what are you doing?"

"Trust me!"

"No!"

"Just get ready to catch him!" Elladan raised his arms with a confused look, as the mound began to crash down. "Estel! Jump now!" Estel jumped, but missed Elladan, and hit the floor with a thud. And the skulls came crashing down on top of him.

Now all we need is Eastenders drum beats. Well, that's the first bit done. When this is finished I'll be known as Dwarf Runelord75 of Long Chapters. Please R&R people!