CHAPTER 10

RIDDLES DOWN IN GOBLIN TOWN

Lizzie's POV

What the he*l Thorin! What is wrong with you? Insulting Sam and Bilbo like that! God, talk about a stuck-up snob! I thought with anger as I settled down on the cold floor of the cave we had found to settle in. You're lucky they lived! I let out a huffy breath as I tried to get comfortable between the girls.

"Sorry about Thorin." I apologized to Sam.

"Yeah, we're really sorry." Mill said.

"It's okay," Sam replied, "It wasn't your fault, and anyway, I don't really care anymore, I'm here for you guys and to help the dwarves, I don't really care what he thinks about me, all the others like me, so, it's fine." She said, "But," she turned her gaze to Bilbo's small form a few feet away from us, with his back turned. "I just hope he's okay." She said.

"Oh Sam, always looking out for your friends, that's why we love you." Millie said.

Sam smiled, "Thanks guys that makes me feel a lot better. Now c'mon, let's get some sleep." She was still smiling, but somehow, it seemed that that the emotion was false, it seemed like, deep inside, she was very hurt. I took one last look at her before closing my eyes and attempting to get some sleep. It seemed like I had just drifted off when Thorin's barking awoke me, "Wake up! Wake up!" Too late. The floor collapsed underneath us and we fell. I screamed. We fell through a chute and landed in a giant wooden cage. Of course I had to fall on top of Kili. I landed onto his chest to where our lips were almost touching, then, in tumbled Fili, and Marley on top of us. We struggled to get up, only to be attacked by a horde of goblins. They took our weapons and dragged us all away. However, when I turned to look behind me, I could see Sam and Bilbo quietly slip away, avoiding capture.

Sam's POV

We scampered behind some railing, hiding, watching the goblins go through the tunnels. Bilbo stood in front of me, as if he were trying to protect me with his little sword drawn, it was glowing bright blue. I had one of my axes drawn, with my other hand to where I could pick up throwing axes if I needed them. Slowly but surely, we began to follow the goblins. That was when a goblin jumped in front of us and rushed at us with a sword, and in a brief sequence of fighting, all three of us tumbled over the edge of a platform into darkness, Bilbo and I yelling as we fell.

Millie's POV

The Goblin hoard led us through a vast network of tunnels and wooden bridges to a throne room and the platform of the Great Goblin. The Great Goblin was sitting on a large throne holding a mace topped with the skull from some goat-like animal. He was a great deal larger than any of the other goblins and was incredibly ugly, he was covered in warts all over a swinging chin. I made a disgusted face as he jumped off of the throne, trampling several goblins beneath him, and approached our company.

"Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom?" he asked, "Spies? Thieves? Assassins!?" his voice went up an octave.

"Dwarves, Your Malevolence." replied one of the Goblins.

"Dwarves?" echoed the Great Goblin.

"We found them on the front porch." replied the other one.

"Well don't just stand there, search them! Every crack, every crevice!" ordered the Great Goblin. I wriggled and kicked at the goblins to keep them from touching me.

"Leave me alone!" I screamed.

"What are you doing in these parts?" asked the Great Goblin. No response. "Well then, if they will not talk, we'll make them squawk!" the Goblins cheered. "Bring out the Mangler! Bring out the Bone-Breaker! Star with the youngest." he pointed down at Ori and I put a protective hand on his shoulder and gave the Goblin King the meanest death-glare I could muster.

"Wait!" exclaimed Thorin, stepping forward.

"Well, well, well, look who it is. Thorin son of Thrain, son of Thror, King under the Mountain." the Goblin king gave him a mock bow, "Oh, but i'm forgetting you don't have a mountain, and you're not a king," anger bubbled inside of me and I fought to keep it there. "So, that makes you, nobody really. I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head. Just the head, nothing attached. Perhaps you know of whom I speak, an old enemy of yours; a Pale Orc astride a White Warg."

Thorin looked up in disbelief, "Azog the Defiler was destroyed. He died of his wounds long ago." Thorin replied bitterly.

"So you think his defiling days are done, do you?" replied the Great Goblin. He laughed and then turned toward a tiny, deformed goblin sitting in a basket, holding a slate.

"Send word to the Pale Orc; tell him I have found his prize." the Great Goblin said. The small goblin wrote down the message on the slate and cackling, he pulled a lever and began sliding down a system of ropes and pulleys into darkness.

Samantha's POV

I awoke in darkness, and for a moment, I was unsure if I had actually opened my eyes, but as my sight adjusted, I could see that I was inside a cave, lying in a bed of what appeared to be mushrooms. I felt movement beside me and I turned and looked to see who it was, I could just make out a small shape with a full head of curly hair, it was Bilbo.

"Bilbo!" I whispered. He jumped and snapped his head around, scanning for the owner of the voice. "Bilbo!" I said a little louder. He turned his head to look at me. Then he turned back, and beckoned me to follow him. We crawled out of the safety of our hiding spot and stood up, retrieving our weapons from the ground. I followed him, hearing raspy singing in the distance. We followed the sound of the voice.

"The cold hard lands, they bites our hands, they gnaws our feet. The rocks and stones, they're like old bones, all bare of meat. Cold as death, they have no breath, it's good to eat!" sang the voice. We rounded a corner and saw the silhouette of a creature on top of a large rock in the middle of a small lake. It was singing as it beat a goblin with a rock, the same goblin that had attacked us in Goblin Town. Then, I realized, with a slight bit of nervousness, that the creature was Gollum. Uh oh. Suddenly, his head turned toward us, as he had seen the glow of Bilbo's sword. We crouched behind the rock, only to find the sword-light flicker and go out, signaling the goblin was dead. We peered out from behind the rock, shocked to find that Gollum was no longer there. Uh oh. We turned slowly and looked up; Gollum was on the rock above us. Gollum jumped down from the rock and landed in front of us. "Bless us and splash us, Precious! Those are meaty mouthfuls." He said. Bilbo pushed me behind him as Gollum approached us, and put the point of his sword to the creature's throat, and I kept a firm grip on my axe. Gollum retreated in fear.

"Aahh! Gollum. Gollum. Ack!"

"Back. Stay back. I'm warning you, don't come any closer." Bilbo said.

"It's got an elfish blade, but it's not an Elfs. Not an Elfs, no. What is it, Precious? What is it?" asked Gollum.

"My name is Bilbo Baggins."

"Bagginses? What is a Bagginses, Precious?"

"I'm a Hobbit from the Shire."

"Oh! We like Goblinses, batses, and fishes, but we hasn't tried Hobbitses before. Is it soft? Is it juicy?"

At that moment I stepped in front of Bilbo and pointed the blade of my axe at Gollum, "Try to touch him I'll cut off your head." I said.

Gollum was silent for a moment until a smug grin crossed his face, "What is she? Bagginses' Pretty Girl?"

I put the axe against his neck, "What did you say!?" Gollum snarled, causing me to back up. Bilbo went in front of me, swinging his sword wildly, "We don't want any trouble, do you understand? Just show us the way to get out of here, and we'll be on our way."

"Why, is the couple lost?" asked Gollum.

Stop it! Shut up! I could feel my face burning bright red.

"We are not a couple, we're friends only, and yes, we are, and we want to get unlost as soon as possible." Bilbo replied.

"Ooh, we knows, we knows!" answered Gollum with his Smeagol side, "We knows safe paths for Hobbitses and Pretty Girl. Safe paths in the dark."

"Shut up!" Gollum said.

"I didn't say anything." Bilbo replied, puzzled.

"I wasn't talking to you." Gollum answered.

"But yes, we was, Precious, we was." replied Smeagol.

"Look, uh, I don't know what your game is, but I-" Bilbo began.

"Games? We love games, doesn't we, Precious? Does it like games? Does it? Does it? Does it like to play?" Smeagol interrupted.

"Maybe?" Bilbo answered.

Smeagol held up his hand and began to sight a riddle, "What has roots as nobody sees, is taller than trees. Up, up, up it goes, and yet, never grows?"

"…..The mountain." Bilbo answered.

Smeagol began to laugh uproariously, "Yess, yess, oh, let's have another one, eh? Yes, come on, do it again, do it—do it again. Ask us." Then his Gollum side took over and he ran away from us, "No! No more riddles. Finish them off. Finish them now. Gollum! Gollum!" The creature rushed at us but Bilbo responded by holding his sword out in front of him, pointing it at Gollum.

"No! No, no, no. I wa—We want to play. We do. We want to play. I can see you are very good at this. S—so why don't we have a game of riddles? Yes, just, just the three of us." Bilbo said.

Who said I was gonna play? I almost said allowed, but thought better of it. Iinstead, I just crouched down beside Bilbo so I was at Gollum's level. The creature came scuttling toward us, whispering excitedly.

"Yes! Yes, just, just—just us." Gollum echoed.

"Yes. Yes. And—and if we win, you show us the way out." Bilbo indicated the two of us.

"Yes. Yes –" then the Gollum took over again and he turned away and snarled, there was a brief back—and—forth conversation between his two sides. "And if they loses, what then?"

"Well, if they loses precious, then we eats them!" Smeagol replied, he laughed to himself and turned back to us.

"If couple loses, we eats them whole." He said. Call us a couple one more time… I took a deep breath and made a disgusted face, shooting Bilbo a quick glare for dragging me into this.

"Fair enough." Bilbo replied. Bilbo stood up and put his sword away. I let out a deep sigh and put my axe away and stood up, crossing my arms and tapping my foot, rolling my eyes.

"Well, Baggins first." Gollum said. I watched as Gollum rested his hands in his chin on a rock and waited while Bilbo thought of a riddle. He also watched me as if he was making sure I didn't pull a weapon out on him, making me feel uncomfortable, I was saved when Bilbo began reciting his riddle.

"Thirty white horses on a red hill. First they champ, then they stamp, then, they stand still." I watched as Gollum thought, he kept opening his eyes and mouth, then closed them again, this went on for several seconds. I already know the answer. I thought smugly as my, "Snarky Stark Attitude", as my friends called it, came out.

"Teeth?" Gollum replied questioningly. I turned to see Bilbo, looking unhappy, as the answer was correct. Gollum started to laugh throatily, "Teeth! Yes, my Precious. But we—we—we only have nine."

Gollum displayed his mouth, sure enough, he really did have nine teeth, I made a face, "Alright then." I said.

Gollum began to recite his next riddle, getting closer and closer to us; Bilbo once again came in front of me, keeping a large rock between us and Gollum. "Our turn, voiceless it cries, wingless flutters, toothless bites, mouthless mutters." He said.

"Just a minute." Bilbo turned away, thinking, I followed.

"Ooh, ooh, we knows, we knows!" Smeagol exclaimed.

"Shut up!" replied Gollum.

We stared at the water as small ripples formed in it, and I felt a breeze ruffle my hair, then the answer hit me.

"Wind." I said, turning towards Gollum. The creature snarled and began slinking around, "Very clever, Pretty Girl, very clever." He got too close to me, so I quickly drew my axe and pointed it at him, nudging it forward, causing him to back up.

"A box without hinges, key, or lid, yet golden treasure inside is hid." I said. The wretch thought hard, making many notions with his hands, talking to himself.

"A box...and a lid...and then a key..."

"Well?" I challenged smugly, thinking I had him puzzled.

"It's nasty. Uh, box, uh..." Gollum said.

"You give up?" I asked.

"Give us a chance, Precious, give us a chance!" he replied. Gollum began to pound the floor in frustration. His face puckered it up deeply, when suddenly, he opened his eyes wide, Dam*it! He got the answer!

"Eggses, eggses!" he laughed, "White, crunchy little eggses, yes. Grandmother taught us to suck them, yes."

Alright then. I thought. Suddenly, a bat flew in the distance, and Bilbo and I huddled together, searching for the source of the sound. Then, as we turned back around, we realized Gollum was no longer there. Uh oh. Then, his voice began to echo throughout the cave as he spoke from an unknown spot.

"Ahh. We have one for you: All things it devours, birds, beasts, trees, flowers. Gnaws iron, bites steel, grinds hard stones to meal. Answer us." Came his voice.

"Give us a second please; we gave you a good long while!" I called.

We tried to think, at the same time, walking around, looking for Gollum. "Da*n!" I muttered under my breath, "That fall caused me to forget this!"

"I don't know this one." Bilbo said.

"Are they tasty? Are they scrumptious?" Gollum began in a sing-song voice.

"Are they crunchable?" I felt cold hands touch my neck; I let out a yelp and turned around, pointing my axe at Gollum.

"Let us think, let us think!" Bilbo said.

"They're stuck. The couple is stuck."

"Shut. The f**k. Up."I muttered through gritted teeth.

"Times up." Gollum said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Time," Bilbo said with realization, "Ti—the answer is time."

Gollum snarled.

"*Cough, *cough, actually it wasn't that hard." Bilbo said. I smirked.

"Last question. Last chance." Gollum said menacingly.

"Uh…uh…."

"Ask us." Gollum said, smiling sweetly, then his face turned into a snarl, "ASK US!"

"Yes, yes, alright." He strolled toward the lake, rubbing his pocket, then he turned and said, "What have I got in my pocket?"

Gollum made a face of anger and remorse, "That's not fair. It's not fair! It's against the rules!" Gollum threw down the rock he had been clutching, which nearly hit me.

"Ask us another one." Gollum said.

"No, no, no, no. You said 'Ask me a question.' Well, that is my question. What have I got in my pocket?" Bilbo replied. Gollum jumped off the rock and approached us. We backed up, moving to keep a rock in between him and us.

"Three guesses, Precious, they must give us three." Gollum held up two fingers to quantify three.

"Three guesses. Very well, guess away." Bilbo replied.

"Handses!" exclaimed Gollum.

"Wrong, guess again."

Gollum crouched to the floor, slapping it with his hands, trying to think of potential answers, muttering to himself.

"Fish-bones, goblins' teeth, wet shells, bat's wings ... Knife!" Gollum said, "Oh, shut up!"

"Wrong again. Last guess."

"String," Gollum replied, "Or nothing."

"Two guesses at once; wrong both times." replied Bilbo.

Upon hearing this, Gollum fell to the floor, sobbing.

"So, come then, we won the game, you promised to show us the way out." Bilbo said.

"Did we say so, Precious, did we say so?" Gollum challenged, glaring hatefully at us.

"What has it got in its pocketses?"

"That's none of your business." I said, raising my axe to swing it, "You lost."

"Lost? Lost? Lost?" Gollum echoed. Then, he grinned evilly, slowly approaching us, I pushed Bilbo behind me, pressing myself slightly against him, keeping him out of the wretch's reach. Gollum then reached for something hidden at his side and finding that it was not there, his face registered in shock. He began to grope all over himself, trying to find it.

"Where is it? Where is it? No! Ahh! Where is it? No! No!" he exclaimed. He began to scuttle around the cave, scattering bones and rocks as he went in search of his Ring. He even splashed through the shallows of the lake. "Lost! Curses and splashes, my precious is lost!"

"What have you lost?" asked Bilbo, peering out from behind me.

"Mustn't ask us! Not its business! No! Gollum, Gollum." He sobbed quietly over the water, then suddenly, he slowly turned toward us, "They stole it. They stole it! Ahh! THEY STOLE IT!" Gollum threw a rock at us. I deflected it with my axe and shoved Bilbo in front of me, "RUN!" I exclaimed. He looked at me with wide eyes before taking off; I soon followed, sprinting for my life.