"Hurry," she urged as she began leading me through the water. It felt like daggers digging into my flesh with the constant force of hammers.I wanted to stop, it seemed the more I moved the colder I got.
"We can't stop jewel," my mother chattered as she tugged at my hand. I held back for a moment and she gave another hard tug.The force of it and the water threw me into icy runoff.
It was so cold I couldn't think or move. My fingers and toes went numb within a matter of seconds.My chest became tight and the need for air compelled my small body to move but my limbs didn't respond.A tug pulled me forward but not enough to break the surface of the water.
Another tug and I splashed into the air sucking in all I could before my feet gained footing. My mother pulled me along and quickly we reached the other side but my small body quivered with shivers that sent me to the cold snow covered ground.My face burned and most of my legs had already gone numb.
"Kàra?" I hear my mother calling. She sounded so distant from where I was, like I had been accidently left behind.I reached out to her from the snow covered ground and then I felt my body being jerked around suddenly.It takes a moment to register but I realize that I'm now in her arms as she continues to trudge through the snow while the wind from behind us carries the voices of pursuers.
Thanks to Fili's coat I didn't feel much of the damp air inside the passageway but the stench was enough to give me an idea how long this place had been abandoned. The rancid scent of decomposing bodies filled my nostrils with a vengeance since there seemed to be no ventilation to get rid of it. We moved slowly avoiding corpses of dwarves and creatures that had long since been dead. The area was quiet as we came upon a small room. A torch was alight in the corner and two stone doors faced us on the opposite wall.
"This was as far as I got," Fili stated, "Both of them are locked."
"There wasn't a way out back there; we've got to get them open."
"Don't you think I've tried?"
"Aye, but I'm here now. With the both of us we should be able to get through at least one."
"I doubt you're going to make a difference. Just stand over here where you can't get in the way." I narrowed my eyes as he sheathed his sword and approached the door on the left. He stood in front of it with his arms crossed for just a second before I walked to the door on the right. I lifted the handle and threw my shoulder into it and instead of making progress, I bounced off. I continued to slam into the surface a few times before gritting my teeth and stepping away.
I rubbed my shoulder staring at the carvings on the door. It was adorned with mountains and wavy lines from top to bottom with a border along the edges except for a small corner that looked as though it had been chipped away. Not from age but with some sort of tool. The hole behind it was deep but it was too high for me to see how far it went. I reached into it slowly feeling the insides for…something.
"Be careful!" Fili snapped, "There could be something in there."
"Like what?" I sneered as I rolled my eyes, "Spiders?" My fingertips brushed something but it was too far for me to get a good feeling.
"Did you find something?" he asked.
"I don't know," I struggled as I rose to my toes and strained my arm to reach.
"Let me try."
"Your hands are too big. Just give me a leg up." There was hesitation and annoyance in his motions as he laced his fingers together. I stepped in his hands and he lifted me. My arm easily filled the hole and my hand grasped an old rolled up piece of paper. Fili let me down after pulling it out, the dust raining down the side of the door. I unrolled the small piece of parchment. The words were written in Khuzdul in long and sloppy strokes. I could barely read them.
"The Eye…sees…all?" I muttered, "What is that supposed to mean?" Not a second later there was a grinding sound and the door began to shift. Fili moved in front of me drawing his swords and staring down the hall into the darkness.
Grabbing a torch from the wall I began to move through the stone cavern without waiting for Fili. The air was musty and heavier than in the previous room. I covered my nose with my sleeve as dust stirred with each step I took. Cobwebs caught on my hair and I pulled them along with me.
"Let me lead," Fili commanded as he put his hand on my shoulder and stopped me. I shrugged him off moving forward quicker.
"I'm the one with the weapons," he insisted as he stopped me again, "I want to get out of here just as badly as you, but we aren't safe down here." I narrowed my eyes at him as he took the torch from my hand and began to lead.
Our boots clicked along the floor as shadows danced around us. I continually glanced behind us to be sure that nothing was following us but the darkness despite the fact that I felt something there.
"Fili," I whispered as I reached for his shoulder keeping my eyes on the dark hall behind us.
"What?"
"There's something following us," I felt him stiffen as he swept me in one motion behind him and swung the torch out. We were met with silence and the light of the torch being swallowed by the dark.
"There's nothing here," he muttered.
"I swear there is," I whispered. I heard him grunt as he moved back around me and began to lead me once more. I followed hesitantly constantly keeping an eye on the area behind us. The feeling got stronger the farther we got and was almost overwhelming when I felt Fili stop.
"There's another door," he stated before clearing his throat, "The Eye sees all!" His voice echoed through the hallway and faded quickly. I turned and saw a towering door before us that remained closed.
"That's not going to work twice," I stated as I looked back to the dark behind us.
"Here," he muttered as he thrust the torch into my hands. I watched him as he walked up to the door to inspect it. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed unlit torches on the wall. I moved quickly and lit them, their light pouring onto the ground around us and illuminating the carvings on the wall.
"I've never seen anything like this," Fili whispered as he reached up and touched the stone. It was the image of a great battle, warriors from either side dying and fighting while winds and fire bore down on them. Over them shone an image that sent a cold wave through my body and made my hair stand on end. My mother's pendant stared back at me with cracks along its fittings and on the diamond itself. Inside were winding lines that mimicked the wind and fire swallowing the dwarves below.
"We need to get through," I reminded him as I put my shoulder to the door. It didn't budge.
"It needs a password," Fili muttered.
"Well there must be some sort of riddle or…something that could help us."
"I don't see one."
"We might have passed it."
"I didn't see anything back there."
"We weren't really looking for it now, were we? Just take this and go look." His eyes narrowed as I handed off the torch.
"You're not scared are you?" I inhaled sharply and pinched my lips together.
"No," I snapped, "You have the weapons so it should be you who goes back."
"Sure," he rolled his eyes before readjusting his sheath and trudging back down the hallway. When he turned the first corner I looked back at the door. With my mother's pendant in hand I held it up comparing the image with the real thing. Their details were almost identical except for...
"By my beard!" I reached up to the image feeling the runes that were carved into it. Their unfamiliarity stopped me. Carefully tracing my finger over their crevices I made out what it said.
"The…Eye…Knows…All?" A scraping sound came through and I jumped back as the door parted down the middle and swung towards me. Behind it was a large staircase that descended into a large room with torches lighting its magnitude. Large columns of stone connected the floor and ceiling that were decorated with dwarfish elegance. A large dark altar was in the center of the room with candles of various sizes around it. I looked back for a second before grabbing a torch from the wall and proceeding down the stairs. There was a dripping sound that accompanied the sound of my feet moving the dust below.
When I reached the bottom I approached the altar with caution making sure to check all around for anything that I may have missed. There were stone faces staring down at me as I reached the altar and inspected it. Bloody daggers, burnt books, symbols and designs etched onto its surface made me physically ill. Scrolls of paper lay alongside it and empty wooden bowls stacked unevenly beside them.
"Kàra?" the voice sent a shock through my body as I spun around quickly, "What is this place?" Fili stood at the bottom of the stairs staring at the ceiling and letting his eyes wander. I turned back choosing not to answer him because I had no answer. I didn't know where we were. In the belly of a beast was my best choice. I leaned onto the altar feeling overwhelmed with the situation when my eyes drifted to the scrolls of paper on the ground. I reached for one praying for answers and laid it onto the altar surface.
'The Guardian resents us. She refuses to fulfill her duty…We must have it or produce another heir.'
My face scrunched as I crumpled it up in my hands and threw it to the side. Produce another heir? I grabbed another and by that time Fili had appeared at my side. I didn't bother with his questions as I opened the second scroll and read it.
'The Eye sees all…Th…Eye knows all…It shall destroy all…It shall save all.'
"What are you doing? What does that say?"
'The time approaches…The time of beginning and end…The choice will be made…And decision of foe or friend.'
"Kàra!" Fili snapped. I ignored him as my heart pounded in my ears. I urgently grabbed another scroll. I felt like I couldn't breathe. I panted like a dog but my chest burned. My neck grew tense and it spread all down my back and I stood there frozen at the words I read.
'The duty bound by bond and blood…Shall bring to end this line of Durin.'
I threw it to the ground like it was on fire. I threw it all, every sick thing on the altar. They clattered to the floor echoing through the cave.
"What are you doing!?" Fili muttered as he grabbed my wrist and held me still, "What is all this?" I stared at him, unsure of what to say. I didn't know it myself so how could I give him an answer. All of these questions I had in my head were just being answered with more questions.
He was afraid. And I was too. These people…this cult…nothing made sense here.
They were after my mother for the necklace. But it was useless to them without her, which must have been what the first scroll meant. And if they couldn't get her to cooperate then they would…produce…someone who they could force to…do what? The idea sickened me. Did they not know of me? Or were they speaking of me?
"They're just religious filth. We need to leave." He looked at me suspiciously as he released my hand. He sheathed his sword and walked around the altar where the scrolls had landed. "Fili…please, let's go."
He opened one; I watched his eyes scan it. His face twisted in disgust as he crumpled it back up before reaching for the others. He shook his head as he read the second and third scrolls.
"What does it mean?" he asked, "'Bring to end this line of Durin?'"
"I don't know," I replied, "I'd rather not find out either."
"This guardian…is it you?"
I said nothing.
"The Eye? Is that what they want? What is it?"
I again remained silent, staring at him.
"Answer me," he insisted.
"The less you know the better," I replied.
"I am an heir of Durin! You will tell me what I need to know to protect my kin."
"It won't help." Anger flared in his eyes as he shoved the scrolls into a pocket and approached me, "It's best that you don't get caught up in this!"
"I will die before I see my family perish."
"Then leave this be." I glared into his eyes and watched them drop to my neck. I quickly covered my mother's pendant with my hand realizing that it was left out and tucked it back into my dress.
"Is that it?" he snarled.
I didn't reply.
"A jeweler's looking glass?" he scoffed, "That is what will end my uncle's line? Ridiculous! Something so fragile!"
"It's survived more than you could ever understand!" I snapped.
"Aye? A couple of drops onto the floor I'm sure! I saw those dents and scratches. Something so important shouldn't have been given to the likes of you!"
"It wasn't by choice," I hissed, "Had I had a choice, I would never have taken it."
"Then I'll have Thorin select someone more worthy of the title! Give it to me!"
"No."
"Here is your chance to be rid of this burden! Give it to me!"
"It is my burden to bear!" His face tightened and I noticed his body tremble.
"Hand…it…over," he said through gritted teeth.
"Never."
"My patience grows thin," he stated before redrawing his sword, "Give it to me willingly or I shall take it by force. Understand, I do not wish to shed your blood but I will if the need calls for it."
"Many before have tried and they have all failed."
"Give it to me!" he shouted before lunging at me with his full force. I managed to dodge his initial attack while knocking his weapon from his hand. It clattered to the ground and we both lunged for it. My hand brushed the hilt before he crawled onto me reaching for the pendant. I held back his hands will all the strength I had.
Before too long my wounded arm gave out as I felt my skin tear and my wound reopened. In the moment he grabbed the chain. I brought a knee up between his legs and he let out a hard grunt as his face curled into a grimace. His progress stopped as he released the chain for a moment I took the time to roll over before I felt him tug at the back of my dress. I threw an elbow backwards and it connected with the side of his face. I followed it with a punch to the same spot and he fell to the side. I scrambled to my feet and ran towards the staircase.
I took them two at a time and when I reached the top continued to run down the hall into the darkness. I stumbled over my own feet, my heart racing in my chest. Listening to Fili's curses echoing through the halls I finally found the first room we had come to. I grabbed the door and fought with its weight to push it closed when his voice got nearer.
"The…E-Eye sees all," I muttered hoping that it would help somehow. The door suddenly got lighter and it shut quickly just as I saw a soft outline of the dwarf-prince.
"You beardless wench!" a muffled voice called from the other side," The Eye sees all!" I pushed against the door with all I had but nothing happened. It remained closed.
"Fili listen to me!"
"The Eye sees all!"
"Fili!"
"Open this door!"
I turned and slammed my back on the door pushing my hair out of my face. My breath became shallow and fast-paced, quickly losing its rhythm. I fell to my knees and hunched over trying to steady myself as Fili cursed and insulted me from behind the door.
So getting a little intense here, sorry for the long update. I hope this can pacify you for another week or two while I wrap up the next chapter. The next post won't be as long I promise! Thank you for your patience!