The smooth, golden ring was cool to his touch. The light of his sword cast wonderful, shimmering rivers of blue on its perfectly rounded curves. Bilbo stared curiously at the trinket, it had fallen from the hunched creature that had dragged the goblin that had fell with him deeper into the cave. It truly was a beautiful trinket, mesmerising his mind almost calling out to him.
He wrinkled his nose as the goblins horrific screams and the creature's shout of victory filled the cavern. Bilbo slowly turned as the creature began to sing, of all things. Its thin, nasally voice sent shivers crawling up his spine. Quickly he pocketed the ring following the shrill singing that was companied by the crunching of bones as the creature, or Gollum, that was what Bilbo had assumed to be his name after hearing him choke it out, continued to bash the goblin with a rock in beat with his song.
Bilbo found himself wincing every time the rock collided with the goblin. He followed the sound of the high-pitched singing echoing from the lake.
The silver-blue light of his sword flickered several times casting wobbling shadows on the water, before dying out completely, basking the hobbit in darkness as a great and loud as the splash that echoed in the cavern. Bilbo hadn't seen what had fallen but judging from the loudness of its collision with the water he assumed that it was a large body. And hoped that it was not Lostoriel.
Whatever, or whoever had fallen in thrashed about violently in the water fighting a one-sided battle with Gollum. Bilbo hid behind a cluster of boulders watching as the pale creature was pulled under and then jumped out of the foaming water dragging the thrashing and flailing being with him. Gollum muttered to himself about 'stupid elves' as the elf gasped and sputtered. Bilbo saw her take a long shuddering gasp of air before Gollum snarled and knocked her over the head with a rock.
The hobbit remained rooted to the spot as he watched Lostoriel go limp. Bile rose to his throat and all sound seemed to be drowned out by his racing heart, as Gollum dragged her off the massive outcrop on the lake and into the darkness. Bilbo pressed his hand into his teeth, biting hard at his skin to supress the scream that bubbled in his throat. He didn't know if she was dead or merely unconscious, but he assumed the worst when the creature prodded at her stomach and cheered in victory, screaming to all who could hear about the 'juicy elfses!' A small squeak escaped his mouth and somewhere in the cavern Gollum whipped towards the sound and tugged the elf with him.
The cavern was eerily silent. The sound of his heavy breathing seemed to bounce off the cavern walls and echo back to him like waves of thunder. Bilbo held his sword out to the darkness, wishing that his arm would stop shaking like a leaf caught in the wind. And that the ground didn't haul and lurch beneath his toes as the wisp of the echoing hiss of something heavy being dragged touched his ears.
Bilbo are you going to stand and cower or save your friend? He knew he had to do something, he couldn't just leave her there to die. They needed to escape and find the daylight again, but first he needed to find the elf. Bilbo decided that he wasn't going to let her be eaten.
Plucking up what courage he could Bilbo stared down the darkness and made to run to the edge of the water. Glancing quickly to Lostoriel's limp form on the shore, the hobbit gripped onto his sword white knuckled when he saw that the rock in the middle of the lake was empty. He did not know what it was that told him to look up when he did, his heart leap into his throat. There on a sharp outcropping of rock was the ugliest, most horrifying creature he had seen in his life. Its startling blue eyes shone like lanterns in the darkness as it crawled towards him. Bilbo saw a flash of white and Gollum was crouched before him.
"If it's more information you're wanting, I'm the one you should speak to!" Bofur piped up, nearly fainting from relief when the Goblin King leaned back on his throne, if one could call the mass of bones and skin a throne, and moved away from Oin.
The dwarf held his hat to his chest, wide, brown eyes staring at the massive Goblin King, the picture of innocence. "Well you see now, we were on the road…well, it's not so much a road as a path…actually. It's not even that, come to think of it…" he paused, searching for a better description, "it's more like a track. Anyway, the point is we were on this road, like a path, like a track, and then we weren't! Which is a problem, because we were supposed to be in Dunland last Tuesday."
Thorin Oakenshield sighed in resignation, realising that he in his long life, had never before felt with such certainty that they were going to die. His companions nodded and mumbled in agreement. Stumbling clumsily around the details of their mishaps whilst travelling, stumbling over the details, but the slimy goblin before them believed nothing.
The Goblin King glared at them. His large, watery eyes darting about as he cried for them to be searched again. Thorin growled and shuffled uncontrollably as a small goblin pried and prodded him in places he had no desire to be prodded in. Thorin would have laughed when he heard the constant metallic clanging coming from Fili's general direction as they undoubtedly found his nephew's vast collection of daggers and knives. The goblin ripped Orcrist from his belt and shoved him backwards, then scurried off to the platform before the throne.
Thorin's eyes scanned over his companions, ensuring that none of them were injured, as he turned from nodding reassuringly at Kili he gasped. A goblin hobbled up to the king's throne, a longbow held high above his head. Lostoriel's bow. Thorin's heart leapt into his mouth. He hadn't seen the elf since they had first been captured. And now that he searched amongst his companions, he realised that she was not amongst them. Down here in Goblin Town who knows what they could be doing to her, for all he knew she could be dead, or being held captive.
The Goblin King raised a wispy eyebrow and snarled at the dwarf. "And why does Thorin Oakenshield possess an elvish weapon? I see no elf amongst you?" his snarl deepened when he caught the distress on all the Dwarves' faces as they came to the same realisation.
So it was true, he thought to himself, the watchmen that had been posted at the "front porch" as they had named it, was telling the truth about there being an elf in his kingdom. Apparently the elf was shorter than most, with hair burning gold like the forsaken moonlight, eyes deep and dark like the depths of the tunnels and swords that shone with the brightness of the sun. He grimaced shifting on his throne of carcasses and bones, his enormous chin wagging, elves were truly disgusting.
Clearly they had strong affections for the creature and he decided that it could be used to his advantage.
"What are you doing in these parts? I'm still waiting for my answer! Speak!" then he played his trump card, "Or you can bid farewell to your elf." Good, the great ball of flesh of a goblin thought, that'll get them talking. When they were being searched, chief of his guard had brought him news that a group of goblins had found the elf and were sorting out the situation. Where they were he didn't know, the goblin king sighed, nothing ever got done in his kingdom.
The weary group of travellers remained silent, the fury seething off them like smoke as the goblins swarmed around them like bats to rotting flesh and roughly twisted the Dwarves arms behind their backs, punching and kicking them. The squelching sound of teeth gnashing in their ears set Thorin on edge, he saw Kili shoving a goblin behind him, using his momentum to knock his elbow into the goblin's nose.
"Kili!" Thorin half shouted, shaking his head. If the goblin's had Lostoriel has their prisoner, it was no use fighting them off now. They didn't know where she was, nor did they know if the goblins would kill her if they fought back.
"Well then," the Goblin King spread his hands in a wide gesture, smiling maliciously at the Dwarves, cheerfulness apparent in his watery eyes, "if they will not talk, we'll make them squawk! Bring out the Mangler! Bring out the Bone Breaker! Start with the youngest." He pointed to Ori who attempted to shrink back behind Dori. "And bring out the elf! A shame really, to see such a pretty creature scream." He hoped that the elf was pretty, most of them were anyway, he thought ruefully and it annoyed him beyond measure.
That was the ripcord, Thorin pulled Ori behind him and pushed his way through the small crowd of dwarves and goblins, coming to stand on the platform before the Goblin King's throne.
"Wait." He growled. They could take him and beat him, torture him so long as Lostoriel and their companions remained safe. He couldn't stand by and let them die in such a way.
Lostoriel groaned, slowly bringing her hand to her forehead which flared and throbbed with pain. She wriggled her toes in her soaked boots and clambered blindly at the cool ground beneath her hands. The elf moaned again when she tried to open her eyes, squinting in the dim light of the cavern which only made the throbbing intensify.
Lostoriel squeezed her eyes closed, the darkness swirled in her hazy mind. She had no idea where she was. Suddenly she became aware of the burning pain in her right shoulder, she couldn't move it and gritted her teeth as the muscle pulled. It must have been dislocated when the creature pulled her out of the lake.
"It's awake precious!" Someone screeched, the shrill sound sent a wave of nausea over her. Gollum momentarily forgot about their game of riddles and hopped to the elf.
"You stay away from her!" The voice seemed so far away, echoing in the depths of her mind and rippling the water of her consciousness. The icy damp from her clothes had begun to seep into her skin and muscles as the darkness swirled around her. The voice gasped in triumph, "Wind. It's wind! Of course it is."
Gollum snarled at Bilbo, first for not letting him go near the elf and then for winning their third round of his game of riddles.
"Very clever, Hobbitses, very clever." He growled, slinking towards the prone Hobbit crouched beside the elf. Bilbo rose to this full height, Lostoriel's dagger in one hand and his blade in the other.
He began the riddle just as Gollum recoiled away from the blades. Bilbo struggled to find a riddle, his usually impeccable memory failed him and he was left stuttering, "Ah, ah. A box without hinges, key, o—or, or lid; yet golden treasure inside is hid." He let out a shaky breath, he had been so close to ensuring their deaths.
The voice continued to echo in her mind. Lostoriel knew that voice, but for now she concentrated on the slippery ground under hand and on the dwarf hammering on the inside of her head. She was bleeding and bruised. And what set her nerves sparking was the pair of voices that bounced off the walls. One reminded her of the tingling, burning sensation of running her nails over her bedsheets and the other of summer's days, and mountains and warmth.
She needed to get out of here. Lostoriel's eyes flew open, burning as the dim light shone like raging firelight. She bolted upright, sending the world spinning around her as the sharp pain in her head pulsated and she gasped for air. Rolling onto her side she coughed out what water remained in her lungs and sat breathing deeply as the cool air filled her lungs.
Suddenly someone was in her face. His warm chestnut eyes staring concernedly into hers. Something felt so ... Familiar, yes. And homely, as if she had known him forever.
He helped her to sit up, "Lostoriel! It's me. You're safe."
"Thalion?"
Bilbo frowned, once he had her upright against the boulder he tore a ribbon of his linen shirt with her dagger and pressed it to the gash on her forehead.
"It's me… Bilbo." seeing the confusion in her eyes, he knew that that knock on the head had done enough damage make her lose some memory. "Thank goodness you're awake, for a moment I thought we were both dead!"
She grasped the fabric of his lapel in an iron grip, "We need to get out of here! Where's Arwen? Thalion?" The urgency in her eyes worried Bilbo, she truly didn't know who he was. She thought he was her cousin. Her dead cousin. Bilbo hoped that that wasn't a sign. He rolled his eyes at the ridiculous thought, the elf was definitely just concussed.
"She's uhmm, she's safe. You're safe and we're going to get out of here." He improvised as Gollum padded closer to the pair, licking his lips hungrily, but turned away with his tongue sticking out his mouth as if he could taste the answer from the air. "Are alright?"
Lostoriel's eyes cleared as she shook her head and blanched. That was a horrible idea. Her words came out slurred, "No, my head feels as if Dwalin is mining in it and I think I've dislocated my shoulder." She nodded towards her right, unable to move anymore without causing herself more pain. "How did you find me?"
"No time to explain, we're about one riddle away from being eaten." He took her hand and pulled her up, the other still pressed to her forehead.
The elf pressed herself against a boulder, cradling her injured arm in her free hand, "What? And what's that awful screeching?"
"Oh that's just Gollum, we're in the middle of a game of riddles and he's trying to get the answer." He hastily whispered, his matter-of-fact tone only confusing her even more. Bilbo gave her a watery smile, taking her hand and placing it on the bundle of bloodied linen on her forehead. "Keep putting pressure on that."
Quickly he turned to study Gollum who was muttering about 'nasty boxes.'
"Give up?" he asked, smirking confidently.
Gollum spared him one hasty glance and then cried, "Give us a chance, Precious. Give us a chance!" And continued to pace and snarl as he over turned the riddle in his mind.
Bilbo turned back to Lostoriel, who stared into some far- off space, visibly gritting her teeth in pain. He gave her dagger back to her and squeezed her arm with a sympathetic smile. He couldn't do anything to ease her pain, not whilst they were here.
"You were out for quite some time, he and I," Bilbo nodded towards Gollum who was now pounding his fists on the ground in frustration, "agreed that if I win he'd show us the way out."
Lostoriel's eyes widened at the blue eyes that seemed to glow in the dark, taking in Gollum's gangly, pale limbs and bones that jutted out under his skin. For such a tiny, frail creature he was surprisingly strong. "And if you lose?"
The hobbit awkwardly cleared his throat, "Oh well then he eats us whole."
The elf choked on her spit, "Seems reasonable." Gollum looked as if he was in need of eating an elf and Hobbit, though the prospect of being his lunch, or dinner or whatever made her toes curl.
"Eggses! Eggses!" The pair jumped as Gollum's voice echoed off the walls, "What crunchy little eggses, yes! Grandmother taught us to suck them, yes."
The hair on Lostoriel's neck stood on edge when Gollum's cackle filled the air, sending bats flying in the cavern. The pair peered behind the boulder, holding their breath. But the creature was nowhere to be seen.
Lostoriel and Bilbo tentatively looked at each other, fear swimming in both their eyes. "Where is he?" she whispered as the floor lurched and rolled beneath her and Bilbo caught her around the waist before she could fall flat on her face.
"I don't…I don't know."
Gollum's airy voice echoed from somewhere deep in the cave, the guttural tone sending chills down their spines, "We have one for you: All things it devours, birds, beasts, trees, flowers. Gnaws iron, bites steel, grinds hard stones to meal. Answer us!" he demanded.
Bilbo pressed his lips in a thin line, locking his jaw "Give me a moment please," Bilbo's voice was strained as he propped Lostoriel against his shoulder and pushed her upright until she stood, slanted against the boulder. "I gave you a good long while." He gently took her hand and placed it over her wound again, this time standing on his tiptoes to reach the large gash. Bilbo firmly placed his hand over hers, she gave him a woozy smile of thanks.
"So," Lostoriel followed his darting eyes expectantly as he stuck his tongue out the corner of his mouth, "what'ss the answer?"
She gasped as the throbbing in her head and the ringing in her ears intensified. The image of Bilbo before her seemed to ripple as the floor rose to meet her.
"Whoa! I've got you." Bilbo caught Lostoriel as she slid to the side. "Do me a favour and try not to faint." He turned away, pacing around the small space, his sword pointed dangerously in front of him. Bilbo frowned, concentrating on the threat of Gollum killing them and the elf who could pass out at any moment was making his brain pound in his head. He looked into her eyes uncertainly, "I don't…I don't know this one."
"Is it tasty?" Gollum's singsong voice echoed eerily around them. Lostoriel and Bilbo glanced at each other in fear.
He was at a loss for an answer, he looked imploringly at Lostoriel who shook her head. "Don't look at me like that, I have a concussion. Come on Baggins, I thought you were excellent at such brain games." She grinned lopsidedly at him.
Bilbo huffed in frustration, biting his lip. The sass in her voice starkly reminded him of Lobelia Sackville –Baggins and he rolled his eyes. "And I thought Elves were the most intelligent beings in the world!" he hissed.
"Is it scrumptious? Is it crunchable?" Then Gollum popped up behind Bilbo in the darkness, reaching out to grab at his throat. Lostoriel had her sword out and pointed against Gollum's throat in less than a second, she glared witheringly at him, all signs of her concussion seemingly gone. However she had a strange sensation that the floor curved like rolling waves beneath her feet.
"Try that again and you're gone." She hissed.
"Let me think. Let me think." Bilbo glanced at Gollum as he paced, comforted and deeply unsettled by the fact that her sword was still pointed at Gollum neck.
A cool breeze fluttered into the cave, Lostoriel sniffed at it smiling at the woof fresh air and tried to determine which direction it was coming from. If they followed it then maybe they could find a way out, but it could also lead them further into the mountains too. Her sword dropped to her side, Bilbo noticed with a gulp that her grip was still tight around the hilt. He did not want to be on the receiving end of the blade, he almost felt pity for Gollum should he try anything else.
"We could be stuck here for days or months or years and become one with the stone. I wonder what day it is. Day or night, the hours stretch like the twilight behind a weary heart." Lostoriel gave Bilbo a pointed look, she thought that she was being perfectly clear about what she was saying, but Bilbo only rolled his eyes. He finally understood why the Dwarves thought they were so irritating when she began her lengthy monologue about time. The elf bit back a scream of frustration as he glared at her and resumed his pacing. She had practically given him the answer.
"It's stuck Lostorie-al!" Gollum bounced joyfully on his hands and feet on the jagged rock he was perched on. Lostoriel who jumped back in fright, he looked much too excited to eat them and his shrieking pierced her ears and set them ringing. She wondered how he knew her name as he grinned wolfishly at them, his nearly toothless gums exposed. "Bagginses is stuck!"
"Bilbo if you don't mind!" She caught his eyes, freezing him in place as she nodded imperceptibly. "Time's running out here!"
The Hobbit only glared at her, "Don't you think I know that?" And continued to pace, glancing at the ceiling and then the lake as if he could stare at them for long enough and the answers would mysteriously appear. Lostoriel rolled her eyes in frustration, gripping her sword tightly and re-pointing it at Gollum's throat.
Gollum rested on his toes, smiling sweetly to himself, his arms spread in a wide victorious gesture. "Time's up."
He wriggled on his haunches in anticipation, the grin on his face slowly contorted into a starved snarl and he readied himself to lunge at the elf. Lostoriel threateningly stepped forward, blood oozed from her head wound and combined with the unnerving scar on her cheek made Gollum freeze on the spot. She looked deep into gaunt his eyes as her own snarl darkened and she saw nothing but deceit and a small twinge of unwillingness swimming restlessly.
Bilbo looked triumphantly from Lostoriel to Gollum, "Time. Ti—the answer is time."
"Took you long enough."
Lostoriel 's shaky laugh die on her lips when Gollum growled and leapt off the rock, prowling the space between them and his nest of bones and other unsavoury items, that set Lostoriel's nose wrinkling.
"Actually, it wasn't that hard." Admitted Bilbo in a futile attempt to redeem what dignity he had left. Lostoriel rolled her eyes and came to stand beside Bilbo putting as much distance between them and Gollum. From here she could hear the light rustling of the wind through the tunnels, if Bilbo could buy them a little more time then she could perhaps find the way out. She studied him once more and found herself unwilling to leave him to Gollum alone. Said Gollum had stopped his prowling and to stare at them through narrow slits.
"Last question. Last chance." He begged them, Gollum's voice sweetened and his bulbous eyes softened, "Ask us a question. Anything precious."
Lostoriel gave Bilbo a sidelong look, one eyebrow in its seemingly permanent arch, "Anything?"
"Ah, uh...Oh." a smirk tugged at his lip as he realised what she implied. However it quickly died, when he tried and failed to think of a single confounding question. A dangerous silence filled the cave, he could practically hear Gollum flaring his nose. Bilbo glanced again at Lostoriel and frowned seeing the wrinkles on her forehead as she struggled to think of a question.
"Ask us." Gollum reached for something at his side, cleverly hiding it behind his back. Lostoriel glanced to the side and blanched, noticing the jagged rock wrapped in his palm. "ASK US!" he roared causing them both to jump back in fright.
"Yes, yes, alright." Said Bilbo, brushing past the elf to the edge of the water.
Lostoriel gave him a pointed look, ignoring the pain that spread down her entire body as she let her skin thin on her cheek, revealing a murky, shadowed layer of scars. Gollum's eyes nearly popped out from his skull as he hastily retreated into his nest of bones, sending them clattering and scattering.
Lostoriel didn't fail to notice how one of his hands fiddled with something in his pocket, whatever it was caused his face to wrinkle as he thought of a question. She wrecked her mind for one of her own, but thought of nothing as Gollum grew confident and hobbled towards her, cowering behind a ragged boulder.
Bilbo bounced on his toes, a half-smile plastered on his face as he winked at Lostoriel who swayed ever so slightly as the blood continued to drip down her face. She reminded him of an old tale about the wrights in the far off Barrow Downs his mother had once told him about, with her blood and scars bared so openly. Bilbo stole one last glance at her before turning to Gollum.
He turned the cold ring between his fingers, then it came to him, "What… have I got… in my pocket?"
Bilbo leapt in fright at the resounding cracking of a rock being thrown across the floor, Lostoriel shoved Bilbo behind her as Gollum cried, "That's not fair. It's not fair! It's against the rules!"
He reminded them both of a whining child as he crouched, staring at them with wide innocent eyes. "Ask us another one." He pleaded in a sickly sweet voice, lightly hopping onto the rock he had cowered behind.
"No, no," growled Lostoriel lowly, "You said 'Ask me a question. Don't back out of the game now creature."
Bilbo stuck his hands firmly into his pockets, turning the ring over in his palm again. And again Lostoriel did not fail to notice the soft, peculiar expression upon his face. Bilbo smirked, "That is my question. What have I got in my pocket?"
"Three guesses, Precious." Gollum leapt off the rock, closing the space between them and holding two fingers up he smiled, "It must give us three."
"Three guesses. Very well, guess away." Nodded Bilbo as Lostoriel slowly backed away from the pair, turning her nose this way and that as she attempted to follow the thin trail of fresh air.
"Handses!"
Bilbo hastily flung his hands out his pockets, holding up ten digits for Gollum to see, "Wrong, guess again."
The elf followed the warming air as it lead her past Gollum's nest and further into the tunnels, the walls seemed to melt into each other as she leaned gasping in pain against. Her shoulder was throbbing and it set her on edge, Lostoriel gritted her teeth and pushed herself up. She needed to get back to Bilbo.
Gollum padded a thin line into the floor, his wrinkled face scrunched into a pout as he muttered beneath his breath. Bilbo watched with quaking limbs as Gollum grew frustrated with each answer, eventually pounding his fists on the ground as he madly blurted out his guesses. "Fish-bones, goblins' teeth, wet shells, bat's wings ... Knife!"
He turned in on himself, "Oh, shut up."
"Wrong again. Last guess!" exclaimed Bilbo, all smiles but inside he was screaming in fear, he hoped Lostoriel could hear time. Time was running out and she had disappeared into the darkness and he was a minute away from being eaten.
"String!" Lostoriel's head jerked up and the floor and walls swirled together, dancing with the encompassing blackness around her, the tendrils of greyness, thick tendrils of fear and darkness reached out to her as the pain flared in her shoulder. She blinked back heavy eyelids, if only she could close them, just for a moment, for a second then she could make it to Bilbo.
"Two guesses at once;" the Hobbit tutted, masking his relief and smug excitement, they or rather he had won the infernal game of riddles, "wrong both times."
Gollum threw himself onto the floor, pitifully curling into a ball as he sobbed, having lost the game, his food and the only intelligent and almost friendly company he had had in centuries.
"So, come then, I won the game! You…me the way out." The elf vaguely heard Bilbo's voice over the ringing in her ears, she relaxed, grinning lopsidedly. Bilbo had won! He would escape and she would fall into the comfort of the soft grayness behind her eyes.
A cacophony of sharp howls and screams pierced the air as the goblin threw Orcrist onto the ground, where it landed with a clatter metres from Thorin's grasp.
The Goblin King scuttled towards his throne, squishing the goblins under him like ants and retreated like a scared child onto his throne, his feet tucked beneath him. He cowered, "I know that sword! It is the Goblin-Cleaver, the Biter, the blade that sliced a thousand necks."
Thorin smirked, for the first time in his life he was thankful for the Elves and their ability in battle and fine weaponry. His smirk morphed into a guttural scream as he was whipped, kicked and bitten from all directions as the goblins fell into a frenzy. His companions shouted curses and insults as they shoved and head-butted the grey creatures before the goblins sunk their teeth into their flesh.
A hideous, goblin with chains and rope wrapped around his body threw himself on Thorin. Knocking him to the ground and roughly pushed him onto his back. The air escaped Thorin with a loud poof and he gritted his teeth as the goblin straddled him across his stomach, two more held down his hands and another two clawed at his feet.
The one-eyed goblin that sat over him raised a lean arm in the air, a long, jagged warg tooth held high above his head. Its sharp point rushed down to meet Thorin's neck as a blinding wave of light exploded, sending goblins and dwarfs alike flying to the ground. The vast cavern flew into darkness as the firelight was snuffed out. All sound was muted as the shockwave crashed over them, Thorin inhaled jaggedly, more than relieved to still have his head and grinned sloppily as he recognized the pointy, grey figure emerging from the centre of the explosion. Gandalf.
The eerie orange glow returned as they all struggled to rise, the light from Gandalf's staff had them away blinking spots and stars from their eyes. Thorin's ears rang as the wizard strode forward, unsheathing Glamdring in a smooth motion as his staff held menacingly, daring the goblins to attack him.
"Take up arms!" his murky voice boomed through the white noise, "Fight. Fight!"
The dwarves hastily shot to their feet and helped each other up, running to retrieve whatever weapons they could. Then all hell broke loose. The Dwarves roared their battle cries as the goblins furiously surged towards them, Thorin grabbed Orcrist and swung it in a deadly overhead swing, bringing it down on the nearest goblin and sending it flying to the ground. He hastily ducked and rolled beneath a sword meant to decapitate him, managing to grab Lostoriel's bow in his free hand and shoot up to his feet using his momentum to thrust Orcrist into its deadly dance. He glowered at the next goblin in his path which tried to run away from his path of death. Thorin intended to tear the forsaken goblin town to shreds, inch by inch until he found Lostoriel.
"Lost!" cried Gollum, beating the ground with his fists, throwing aside the disgusting piles of bones from his nest as he madly cried and searched for the item he lost. "Curses and splashes, my precious is lost!"
Bilbo's eyes widened as he realised that what Gollum had lost rested in the palm of his hand. He chewed on his lip, watching as the creature splashed in the lake, pulling and cursing the water when he couldn't find it. The ring. That felt so right in Bilbo's hand, warm and round and perfect. No, he found it, the ring, his ring might not be what Gollum was searching for.
"What have you lost?" asked Bilbo, his eyes darting about the cavern, desperately hoping Lostoriel would appear soon. He needed her, Bilbo knew he couldn't fight on his own. He was too weak, too hopeless, his heartbeat wildly, he didn't know how long they were down here for. The dwarves could be gone by now, they might never find a way out!
"Mustn't ask us! Not its business! No! Gollum, Gollum." He was bent over the murky water, his rough, hacking cries of 'Gollum' fought their way into Lostoriel's consciousness. The elf's chin jerked up from her chest, she drank in the icy air and cursed as a searing pain emitted from her shoulder.
"Bilbo!" She muttered, clambering blindly at the wall as she pulled herself up using one arm and her legs. She needed to find him, get them out of this damned cavern and as far away from Gollum as possible.
"What has it got in its nasty little pocketses?" Lostoriel heard Gollum's enraged growl and she ran towards the source of the sound. The elf screamed as red, hot pain swelled from her arm as she outstretched them both, feeling the wet walls beneath her dirty finger tips. Her entire body throbbed and ached, the walls seemed to open their mouths to eat her in her delirious state. Lostoriel, shook her head clear, grimaced and let her determination to live burn in her eyes. Thalion, no Bilbo…Yes, Bilbo needed her and she wasn't going to let him die.
"He stole it. He stole it!" Gollum's shrill cry raising the hair on her neck and spurred her on. She could feel the walls widening as she passed through. "HE STOLE IT!" her heart skipped a beat as a wave of cold air passed over her and the dim light of the cavern met her eyes.
"Lostoriel! Where ever you are we have to go!" Yelled Bilbo, she followed the sound of his voice and caught a flash of red and brown as Bilbo sprinted away from Gollum. Stones clattered behind him as Gollum cried for him to give back what he had stolen. The Hobbit didn't turn to look behind him, focused on the thin slit in the wall that he only hoped led to a way out.
"Go Bilbo!"
Bilbo stole a glace and saw a flash of green and gold. Then with all he had he pushed himself into the thin crack, no larger than the size of his head. One half of his body was greeted by a rush of warmer air and the other stuck in Gollum's cave. Bilbo gasped as his entire body quaked. Gollum began to close the distance between them. The Hobbit wriggled and pushed with all his might, Bilbo squeezed his eyes shut keeping the tears of exertion at bay as he tried shimming his way to the right, where his freedom lay.
"It's ours. It's ours Baggins!" Snarled Gollum as he came within arms-reach of Bilbo. Lostoriel could see them now, she leapt over a cluster of boulders, her body glowing palely as she landed with a heavy thud and sprinted towards Gollum.
The Hobbit grunted, his damned waistcoat was going to be the reason that he died. The brass buttons waned and pulled to one side as he leaned with everything he had to the other. Then Bilbo heard the ripping of fabric and the dull cluttering of buttons as he hit the ground. He inhaled shallowly, his entire body ached from over-exerting himself.
Lostoriel looked up and saw Bilbo escape through the tiniest of cracks in the wall, Gollum spat at the buttons on the floor, readying himself to slip through the crack. Lostoriel closed the gap between them and shoved Gollum out the way, barely registering the nausea and pain as she pushed herself into the thin gap between the walls. Her shoulder burned as she squeezed herself through the gap, her head and left side were still in Gollum's cave. She tried to move, but her quiver got hooked on the rocks behind her.
With no time to whisper an apology to Glorfindel she slid her sword through the crack and pushed herself as far up against the wall as she could, bringing the blade between her stomach and the strap and hastily cut through the leather.
"Here I've got you!" shouted Bilbo as Gollum growled something unintelligible from the other side. Bilbo grabbed her by the arm and yanked her through the crack, he grimaced as he heard her agonised scream.
Lostoriel stumbled forward reaching blindly for Bilbo, who she could hear, but couldn't see. The invisible hobbit caught her and pushed her upwards, squinting as she glowed pure white in the blurry, swirling world of the unseen. The ring. The magic ring had slipped onto his finger as he fell and had turned the world into a glowing pond of colour. Bilbo glanced down at himself and then at the look of pure horror on Lostoriel's face.
"Come on I see the way out!"
"Wha- Bilbo how are you… invisible?"
"I!" He shouted barely beginning his explanation as he leapt out the way as Gollum flew through the crack and pounced towards the elf. Bilbo tried to push him back in mid-air but Gollum's feet knocked him over sending him stumbling backwards. Bilbo hit his head on the rocks and gripped the wall, his head spinning and his vision clouded over.
Gollum's clammy hands gripped Lostoriel's neck cutting off her air supply. She thrashed around, kneeing Gollum with all her strength in the stomach. He screamed and tumbled off her, then he whipped back around to face her, growling and snarling like a wild beast. "It stole it from us! Where is the nasty little hobbitses?"
Lostoriel grabbed her sword from where it had fallen and held it threateningly before her. "You lie, he took nothing from you." she asked.
She needed to get out of here. Somewhere before her she could her Bilbo's harsh breathing and raised her blade until the cold tip touched the skin on Gollum's throat. He didn't dare to move a muscle, let alone breathe, feeling the cold metal on his skin and seeing the unwavering fury and seriousness in the elf's dead set eyes. ,"He's gone. Now I'm going to go and you will not follow us. Understand?"
"We understands elfs! We does! Filthy hobbitses took the precious! We needs it elfs! We does!" He cried at her feet, kneeling in a tight ball he clawed at his head and rubbed his shoulders sobbing uncontrollably, "Get us... back... the precious!"
Unbeknownst to her Bilbo stood in front of her, his sword also held before Gollum's neck, his hands shaking, he didn't know if he could do it. If he could kill Gollum. He brought back his sword and rested it over his shoulder, breathing harshly as he gazed into Gollum's wide eyes. Lostoriel said nothing, the thick wave of apprehension clawed up her chest. In the distant dimness, somewhere around the corner of the small alcove she spotted the running shadows of the dwarves and a warm hope like melted honey filled her chest. They were alive! And they had found a way out!
Bilbo looked up at the same time, a wide, floppy grin on his face as their companions rushed passed them. The hope in him sunk to his toes, one last obstacle stood between him and freedom. She studied the pitiful creature weeping, he once was something close to human. Something, someone who once knew the warm touch of the sunlight, the feel of cool rain upon his skin. Now as she and Bilbo held their blades out towards him they saw nothing but sorrow, loneliness and the last dregs of humanity that Gollum clung to with all he had.
No, they both thought, neither one of them could kill him. Lostoriel released the heavy breath she had been holding and simply stepped around Gollum's curled form. He saw her feet and grabbed at them, cursing and trying in vain to pull her down from the ankles and calves, Lostoriel kicked him away and fled through the opening into the tunnel.
Immediately squinting as the bright, welcoming sunlight pierced her eyes. She stumbled blindly to the exit and stood with her toes dangling over the rock. Lostoriel caught flashes of hair and leather as the dwarves sprinted downhill. She had been accustomed to the grey, sparse underground and now she could see grass and trees and the shadows growing long on the mountains in the distance. The fresh, cool air called to her, the smell of the forest tugged at her core. One more step and she'd be free of the dark.
Lostoriel glanced over her shoulder, seeing no sign of Bilbo and turned back to the light. She huffed frustrated, spinning on her heel and stalking back to the alcove. She gripped the hilt of her sword tightly, set her jaw. She was not going to leave him to be eaten by Gollum.
Just as she rounded the entrance to the alcove a gust of wind flurried passed her and an invisible hand latched onto her wrist and pulled her along with it. Lostoriel couldn't move her right arm to remove the hand without waves of pain washing over her, "Bilbo!?"
Gollum leapt out of the hidden cave and lunged towards them, only catching their shadows.
"Yeah! Come on!" he tugged her again and the two bolted to the end of the tunnel, passing from the chilled, granite floor onto the soft and timeless shadows of the goblin tunnels onto the soft, yellow grass of the mountains. The dying sunlight flooded their senses and the pair stumbled clumsily over their feet as gravity gripped their knees and dragged them downhill.
"Baggins! Elfs! Thiefs! We hates it forever!" Lostoriel skidded to a halt as Gollum's shrill cry echoed down the mountainside. She turned, panting heavily as she scanned the way up, then seeing no sign of the gangly creature she took off downhill. The she-elf listened carefully for the vague sound of Bilbo's heavy footfalls and darted off after him, clutching her arm close to her chest as every step sharply jerked her dislocated limb.
Bilbo sprinted as fast as his stubby legs could take him, running blindly out into the open plain of the mountain and into the thin forest. The trees blurred passed him, their vibrant greens and browns blurred together in his swirling, invisible state. He inhaled sharply as he ran, breathing in the pungent, sweet scent of pine that rushed to his head and made the world float around him, his head light and buoyant as he stumbled through a jumble of rocks and logs.
"Bilbo?!" he heard Lostoriel's distant cry somewhere to his right.
"Lostoriel!" he panted, glancing at the trees around him, "Where are you?"
The elf stumbled over a pile of dead leaves, scattering them and sending a terrified hare bounding into the shrubbery as she bolted passed its hole. "Bilbo!" she called again, halting and mimicking his same movements, turning in a circle as she scanned the mountainside for the Hobbit.
"To your left!" shouted Bilbo as he raced down the rocky slopes, sliding and jumping clumsily over the small embankments and cliffs until the Company's leaden footsteps met his ears like a rolling drumbeat of safety. Whilst Lostoriel darted to her left, the exact opposite direction of him and ran in a wide arc, the roaring thudding of the dwarves drowning out Bilbo's softer footfalls.
"And Bombur…That makes thirteen." Gandalf furrowed his brows, his stomach summersaulting whilst tendrils fear rose from his toes and up his spine. There had been no time to do a head count when he had found them in Goblin Town, he could have easily missed the Halfling in the chaos. But missing an Elf in the midst of a fray was not an easy feat, the wizard cursed under his breath. How could he have been so careless?
"Where is Lostoriel and Bilbo? Where's our elf and hobbit?!" Cried Gandalf glaring under the grey brim of his hat at the panting Dwarves.
"Curse the Halfling now he's lost!" Dwalin kicked the ground, he had, begrudgingly, begun to become fond of their two odd companions, especially the Hobbit and his cheerful tales of his home.
"I thought he was with Dori!" urgency and concern thick in Gloin's voice.
"Don't blame me!" cried accusingly Dori.
Gandalf heaved a shuddering breath of annoyance, "Well, where did you last see him?"
"I think I saw him slip away, when they first collared us." Nori dejectedly shook his head, there had been no time to protect Bilbo when they were captured.
Dwalin grunted, leaning heavily on his axe, "The elf was fighting off the goblins when they led us away. Those accursed goblins got to her!"
The guilt that flooded their beings was palpable in the air, so thick and unforgiving that they seemed rooted to the spot. Unable to move or to face the other. They had failed her.
"What happened exactly?" the wizard shuffled towards Dwalin, he pushed down the panic and unconceivable thought hammering his mind. If they told him what had transpired, maybe just maybe there was a chance that they would be able to find the Elf and Halfling. "Tell me!"
Thorin crossed his arms, his face scrunched into a withering scowl as he had known that bringing the pair was a terrible idea and that this would be their fate. Though a part of him, a minuscule and unwilling part of him, knew he was wrong to think so. His heart sank to the ground as he realised that he had lost Lostoriel a second time. One of his oldest friends, if he had just listened to her. If she hadn't been so foolish to fight them off by herself, then maybe just maybe she would be alive. No, Thorin gripped her bow white knuckled, he refused to believe that she was dead. They had to go back, he needed to find her!
"I'll tell you what happened." He spat, "Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it!"
Gandalf shook his head, unwilling to believe what he heard.
Thorin's voice rose, dangerously deepening, "He's thought of nothing but his soft bed and his warm hearth since first he stepped out of his door! We will not be seeing our Hobbit again. He is long gone."
Then he seemed to deflate before them, "They captured her Gandalf. We… We have to go back! We can't leave her to the mercy of those foul creatures." Thorin spun on his heel and began to stalk back up the mountain. Fili dashed after him, covering the short distance in a matter of seconds and laying a firm hand on his uncle's shoulder.
"Uncle, we might be too late." Fili voiced what they all knew, "We took out their leader, by now…" he could offer no softer words, no comfort. Fili's wide eyes laid it all bare for Thorin. There was no hope that she was alive. "I, as much as you want to scour every corner of that forsaken place, but if we do then surely we will perish. Then we would have travelled all this way for naught. She would not want us to do that."
The Company said nothing, sharing sorrowful and disappointed looks with each other. Each one not wanting to believe what Fili had said and each of them refusing to settle it in their hearts. They had no choice about it, they had to move on.
The elf and hobbit had become one of them no matter what Thorin thought. And now to have them gone caused despair to rise in them. Kili wrapped a consoling arm around Ori's shoulders, holding his friend tightly.
Thorin searched his nephew's eyes, hoping beyond hope that he was wrong. Fili engulfed him in an embrace, scared because he had never seen Thorin so vulnerable nor so desperate. And he could do nothing about it.
"I'm sorry Uncle."
Bilbo's heart swelled in his chest as a strange warmth filled him, he studied them again and decided to put them out of their misery. He pulled the ring off his finger, stepping out from the tree he had hidden behind, "No he's not!
The Company gazed up white as sheets, with grinning brightly and laughing in joy as their hobbit was alive!
"Bilbo Baggins!" Gandalf laughed deeply, his wide smile lighting up his face as he strode towards Bilbo, "I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life!"
The Hobbit rolled back his shoulders, striding into the group and finding Balin's shoulder laid his hand on it, sharing a warm smile with the old Dwarf.
"Bilbo, we'd given you up!" grinned Kili, forgetting about Ori and rushing towards Bilbo.
"How on earth did you get past the Goblins?!" Fili's smile nearly split his face in two as he let go of Thorin.
Was that Bilbo and Fili and Kili? Lostoriel stopped in her tracks, listening for Bilbo's heavy footfalls and hearing nothing. Hurriedly she whipped to her left and saw movement between the trees. She ran towards it, making out several heads of hair and the glinting of sunlight off their weapons. She could hear their deep and annoyingly loud breathing as they came into focus.
"And what of Lostoriel? Is she?" Thorin's voice was low, he knew that if the hobbit were alive, their elf would be alive too. But the thought nagged at his mind.
Lostoriel bolted, skidding down the sandy slopes and clumsily bouncing around the trees as she heard Thorin's voice. Clods of sand and grass were tossed up in her wake and the trees seemed to thin out as she skidded to a halt behind Bilbo and she almost fainted at the sight that lifted her heart.
"She's alive!" Panted the elf, leaning heavily against a tree trunk, her lungs cried for breath and her shoulder burned.
The Dwarves now laughed with relief that quickly faded as they saw the condition that the elf was in. Dried blood stained her face in rivulets, she stood painfully leaning to the right and her arm was hanging awkwardly by her side, making her look like an out of proportion puppet.
Thorin grinned uncaringly and made to hug her, but stepped back immediately, unsure of whether she would accept such a gesture. His heart leapt with joy as she smiled lopsidedly at them.
Gandalf who was the closest to her rushed off and steadied her as she swayed dangerously. A wide smile wrinkled his face even more, "I've never been happier to see you in all my years penneth!"
Wearily the elf looked up at him, there were two Gandalf's swimming in her vision, "Mithrandir! How did you get here?" Her words slurring slightly.
"No time for such explanations now Lostoriel. First let's attend to that wound of yours." his voice was calm and soothing as he wiped away the blood trickling down her cheek with the corner of his robe.
"Lostoriel!" Exclaimed Thorin, "we had given up all hope."
The elf shook her head and immediately regretted the action as her vision swam, "It takes more than a fall to kill me, Thorin."
"How did you get escape? We thought the goblins had taken you prisoner." Asked Fili repeating his earlier question whilst tearing off a long strip of the grey shirt he wore under his jerkin. Gandalf had managed to clean out the wound enough for him to tie it across her head.
"You what? No, Bilbo saved me, we were lost in a deep cavern with this disturbing little creature. And…"
A look of understanding passed between the wizard and the dwarf, as Gandalf held her body in place and Fili grabbed her arm. Gandalf nodded twice and counted to three under his breath.
"And he...saved... ME! Earëndil and Valar above why didn't you warn me?"
Fili had pushed her arm up and into place, upon hearing the loud click as her joint connected with her socket he stepped back, out of reach as she glared at him and Gandalf.
"How indeed?" Asked Dwalin as he lent on his axe again.
Lostoriel and Bilbo shared a glance, the elf searching for some explanation of how he had just disappeared and the hobbit unwilling to say so now. Gandalf noticed the strange by-play and let a small smile on his face, hoping to break the tension that had settled over them.
"Never mind how, the important thing is that they're here. Alive." The wizard and dwarf helped her to stand. Her vision still swam a little, but the pain in her head had subsided. No doubt the working of Gandalf, she thought wryly. Lostoriel was overjoyed to see the wizard after almost two months.
Thorin stepped towards them, holding out her bow, "I believe that this belongs to you."
The dwarf schooled his features as her withering stare tore a gaping hole through his joy.
"Hannon le." Mumbled Lostoriel, unwilling to meet his eyes, his lying eyes, after the memory she had had in the cave all those days ago. She took the bow from his hands and stalked off towards Gandalf, comforted by the familiar presence of the wizard.
Bilbo laughed nervously only adding to the thick layer of awkward silence, as all their expectant eyes fell on him to explain.
Lostoriel watched him intently, she hadn't seen Bilbo when they left the cave, but he had somehow grabbed her by the wrist and tugged her halfway down the mountain. She had many questions for him, Hobbits didn't just turn invisible, from what he had told her about them, they had no magic at all.
The Hobbit held his hips and discretely slid a golden ring into his pocket.
So that's what he used to escape Gollum, thought Lostoriel, staring at him in a mixture of amazement and concern. Magic rings were few and far between to come by nowadays and those that were left held nothing but trouble. She had felt something in the caves, a faint glimmer of darkness and it gnawed at the edge of her thoughts. Gandalf seemed to be thinking along the same lines and shared a disconcerting look with her.
"Well, what does it matter? He's back! They both are!" the wizard joyfully exclaimed, hoping that Thorin would drop the subject.
Lostoriel beside him already had her hand resting on her dagger and glared dangerously at Thorin. Not because he doubted Bilbo, but because he had left her to die all that time ago in Erebor and had had the nerve to try and act as if it didn't happen.
"It matters!" The biting edge of his voice disappeared, but his stony expression remained, "I want to know: why did you come back?"
Thorin stepped menacingly close to Bilbo, but the hobbit didn't shrink away. He knew it was time he stood up for himself. A humourless smile tugged at his lips at Thorin's relentless inquiring. He couldn't believe that the dwarf would think that he was so weak. So fragile.
Bilbo bounced on his heels, swallowing nervously as he gathered what courage and dignity he could and stood tall. "Look," he levelled with Thorin. "I know you doubt me, I know you always have. And you're right, I often think of Bag End. I miss my books. And my armchair. And my garden. See, that's where I belong. That's home. And that's why I came back, 'cause you don't have one. A home. It was taken from you. But I will help you take it back if I can."
The dwarves, elf and wizard stood in stunned silence gawking at the petite hobbit in the middle of the lose circle. A surge warm affectation swelled in their chests for the hobbit. Lostoriel noticed the strange, happy twinkling in their eyes. The hobbit had found his place amongst them. He was one of them. Lostoriel squeezed his shoulder affectionately, sharing a knowing smile with Gandalf. Truly changed from the frightened, complaining hobbit he had been and it sent a flood of pride and affection soaring through Lostoriel as she smiled at Bilbo, squinting as the dying light of the sun flooded the forest.
It quickly faded as she looked to Thorin who had his head lowered in shame. Lostoriel didn't know if she could travel with Thorin any longer. Not when he had gained her trust, then her friendship all on the basis of hiding the truth.
There was no time for her to confront him when she heard the rushing sound of heavy footfalls and panting from behind them. The gruff rumbling of Black Speech grated at her ears, the orcs had found them.
"Gandalf, someone's coming!" Just as the words left her mouth hair-raising howls pierced the air and a steely voice echoed down the mountainside.
Gandalf shared a worried look with Thorin, their minds racing along the same lines.
"Out of the frying pan," rumbled Thorin, his hand resting on the hilt of Orcrist.
"And into the fire. Run!" Exclaimed Gandalf, whipping back his long robes and running as if the hounds of hell were at their heels.
Lostoriel stumbled after them, every step jarring her shoulder and head. She managed to sling her bow over her good shoulder and sheathed her sword as gravity pulled at their bodies. An off-pitch melody of howls rang in time to the beat of the pounding steps of the wargs, the guttural of their commanders voices sang in harmony with the deadly tune and spurred the Company on as the hordes of hell nipped at their ankles.
Hiii... Yeah... so this ended up being darker than I intended it to be...
Hope you all enjoyed it! I'm sorry about it coming sooo late... Hopefully I won't make you all wait two weeks for the next chapter...
Leave a review if you enjoyed it ( you don't haave to... 0.0... but ... 0.0) Thanks to everyone who followed, favorited or is just reading this story...
And thank you to Lancelot 2.0 as always! Although more so this time around because you helped me write this one and gave such good ideas for it too! And sat through all the angst and like all three versions of this...
Ro781727: Yeah... I think he was grasping for straws too... It's not getting any better between them, but they'll have to confront this all at some point or the other...
And with that I leave you until next time