Chapter I don't know, I lost count
Did you know that a lion can leap farther than your average house? This is due to strong leg muscles and the fact that most houses can't jump.
My jump carried me across the gap easily. The jump was so majestically awesome that
I shot over the head of the of the others and landed gracefully on my bad arm/paw/leg (whatever) Because of my amazing landing it seemed only prudent to do a 28 point roll down to the next landing. Rolling down the very painful steps, I turned back to my human form and tried to stop my little joyride. My fingers grasped an indent in the stone and brought me to a stop. The better part of my legs were hanging off the edge of the walkway and there was blood oozing from the pointer finger of my right hand where-oh god. I tore a nail.- Hey, laugh all you want, but those suckers hurt when they are forcibly removed. Aragorn ran down the steps and grabbed hold of my wrist, pulling me back to solid ground. Panting, I pushed myself up onto my knees and grabbed the Ranger's pro-offered arm and got back on my feet.
"Are you alright?" He asked. I nodded then looked up at Gandalf
"Let's go".
He inclined his head and once again began leading the way down to the lower levels. Down, down, down, right, down again, (hey look at that!) more down. The stairs finally ended and we came out into a large hall lined with columns that was thankfully deserted. The Fellowship plus one stopped to regroup and Aragorn walked over and lightly took my arm.
"How long has this been broken?" He asked, pressing gently on the purple and green skin between my shoulder guard and vambrace.
"Since I fell off a rock pile after I killed that octopus on steroids". If he noticed that my lips didn't move and that my voice was mainly inside his skull, he didn't show it. He simply grabbed my hand and began unbuckling my armguard when a strange noise broke the relative silence.
It sounded like a thousand cockroaches crawling across the ceiling. All around us the ground seemed to explode as goblins crawled up through the cracks and down the pillars from the ceiling. To put it in simple terms, it was sickening. There were millions of the little monsters and in about thirty seconds we were surrounded. "Protect the Hobbits" Boromir yelled and the smallest members were pushed into the center and the rest of us closed ranks around them. I pulled my arm away from Aragorn and tried to lace the vambrace back up again with one hand. There was a reason I hadn't take it off before. All around us the goblins were hissing and spitting as they started to inch closer. I was still fumbling with the leather straps as a rather short gobbling with luminous yellow eyes jumped at me and sank his teeth into boiled leather. I swung my sword in a sloppy arch as pain shot from my arm and my brain went temporarily went white. My vision cleared to see that I had completely missed the one that was sampling the goods, but hit the two next to it. Figures. An axe flew past my ear and embedded itself in the goblin attached to my arm. I pulled my hand free and grabbed the handle of the axe. Turning, I handed it back to Gimli with a nod. I shifted my sword to my left hand a dropped into a crouch, ready to start another round.
A deep hum sounded from the back hall, steadily growing to a roar. Light from a fire grew in the darkness. All around us, the goblins started chattering and began to scramble away. In a matter of seconds, we were alone. "Gandalf" Pippin asked "What is that?"
"That is something I do not know, But it is something that none of us should hope to ever meet again." Gandalf said. His brow furrowed and weary. "But we have no more time to delay! We make for the bridge of Khazad-Dûm."
Turning, he led the way once more. through narrow passages and halls bearing the wreckages of war. When we came to a low archway Gandalf looked out into the adjacent hall for a moment before turning back around speaking to the company.
"There is some new devilry here." He said. "Devised for our welcome no doubt. But I know now where we are: we have reached the first deep, the level immediately below the gates. The gates are near, not more than a quarter of a mile. Across the bridge, up a broad stair, through the first hall and then out. But come and look!"
As one our ragtag group of travelers leaned out and looked at one of the largest rooms I had ever seen. great pillars stretched up into darkness, twisting like trees before being swallowed up in the gloom. In the floor, a great fissure had opened, spewing fire and smoke.
I'm sure that if we had had the chance to view ourselves from the front, we would be one of the most hilarious images most would have set their eyes on. One old man in a dress and ridiculous hat, one male L'oreal model, three commandos from the ren-fair of nightmares, and five children look-alikes, one of them with a beard. Yep, we are the Guardians of the Galaxy. Team Free Will/Sauron sucks. Everyones favorite boy band + one female.
The chances are, we are all going to die.
"If we had come from the main halls we would have been trapped here" Gandalf explained. "Let us hope that fire now stands between us and pursuit."
As he said that, the beat of drums began to drift towards us again. And not the good kind of drumming, like the bassline to Young Volcanoes. This was just doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom. really bland, nothing catchy.
"Now we must run." Said Gandalf. "If the sun is still shining we may yet escape."
So we bolted.