Disclaimer: Hm…. Don`t have much to say, except that English is not my first language.

Chapter VI: The Journey to Hell (s).

"When we go inn here, I will do the talking" David said as they walked trough the park. The clock was around six pm, and most of the people were inside eating dinner or watching TV, luckily. David wondered what would happen if anybody saw him with this…. this dwarf. He had decided that if anybody asked them what he was doing walking around dressed like a Viking, he would tell them…tell them…it was a publicity thing.

"What in Mordors name is that?" Horizt asked and pointed to a large metal pole, he could see there were several of them along the way, and some had even begun to glow faintly.  David sighed, he really whished they could drop this act.

"It`s a lamp post"

"Ay…what do it do?"

"It gives light, so we can see were we walk and drive"

He had to explain the simplest of things for the man, like what a fire hydrant was, or what they used a parking meter for, even the point of the yellow dots in the middle of the road. Horizt on the other hand, looked like a kid in a candy store, and made notes of everything strange he saw, maybe they were spies to the Dark Lord.

"Remember, no talking, no staring, and now axe using" David said as he opened the door to the `The Barrow Inn. ` As they entered the dwarf looked like he had come home after a hard day of fighting orcs and goblins. They looked around in the dimly lit bar and saw that only a couple people were seated in the dark corners, quietly drinking their ale.

David walked over to the bar, looked around and then leaned over the counter and whispered. "Sam?" the bartender turned around, and put a glass in front of David and asked tiredly. "The usual?" David shook his head and said that he was not here on a social business.

"I am looking for somebody" he said, and looked over his shoulder at the couple sitting in the corner, staring at them. Sam raised an eyebrow, "Ey…who might that be?" he said and leaned over the counter as well facing David.

"A man called Gustav" David said and looked at the couple in the corner again; they were staring out the window. He couldn't explain it, but he didn`t trust them. Horizt also looked nervously around, gripping his axes tighter and was ready to charge at the first sign of danger.

"Gustav ey…. small…. chubby fellow…. dressed in a brown tunic, wearing a cloak and a sword?"

David's eye grew and he turned to Horizt who nodded eagerly, that sounded just like their halfling.  "You've seen him?" David asked and cast one last glance at the people in the corner, but this time they were gone. Sam sighed and straightened up. "Nope"

            They walked back outside in the cold wind and hurried down the street. "Well that helped, if I were in control we would have smashed some heads" Horizt grunted as they crossed the street, barley avoiding a truck that honked its horn at them. Horizt lifted his middle finger at the driver, and David grabbed his hand before they ended up in a fight.

"What about this place then?" Horizt asked as they passed a large and noisy bar with pink neon lights shining in the dark. David stopped and shook his head. "I don`t think he would go in here" he said, and was about to continue to walk, when Horizt grabbed his arm and said.

"We better look" they could hear laughter, whistle and music coming from inside.

"It looks like there is a party going on" the dwarf said and could already feel the taste of food on his lips. "I don`t think…." David urged, but it was to late, the dwarf had seized his hand and pulled him in trough the double front doors. When they entered and their eyes adjusted to the light, the dwarf's chin dropped down to his feet.

"What in Morios name is this place, what dammed soul roam here, surly this is the road to hell" he said slowly and drank in the sight of the dancing women and the laughing and screaming men. David sighed and put a hand on the dwarves shoulder.

"Horizt, this is a strip joint"

            "So you are sure you have not seen Gustav" Alfred asked and the perky waitress nodded, not stopping chewing her gum for even a second. "I am sure, honey" she said and blew a large pink bubble, before she turned around and skipped towards the counter.

"This is the third place" Noritz said and sighed heavily. Alfred also sighed and they walked over to the counter and sat down, hoping to catch their breath, and get the feeling back in their fingers.  Alfred had to admit that he liked the situation, very much. There was nothing he liked better then to solve mysteries and play detective, when he also got to do it with a dwarf from Middle Earth, well it was like finding oil in his back yard.

But he was rather concerned about Rory, they had grown up together and never before had she acted like she did now…it was strange, but she suddenly seemed to belong. He knew she had the mind and heart of a child and still believed in fairytales, but this was different. He shrugged the thought away; anything that got Rory off the `trouble` with her parents was a good thing, even if it was a joke.

"How difficult can it be to find a hafling in Blue Cove" he muttered and stared out the window at the cars passing by.  "Not as difficult as it is to find a wizard in Middle Earth" Noritz said and jumped up on one of the tall bar chairs.

"What will it be, sugar" the bartender asked and walked over to them. "Uh…just a ale" Alfred muttered and the bartender nodded and then turned to Noritz. "And you then?" she asked. "He will have a pint as well," Alfred said quickly before the dwarf blew their cover.

"They come in pints!" he asked, as the large glass was placed in front of him.

Just then a man dressed in a black suite and wearing sunglasses sat down next to them. Noritz raised an eyebrow at Alfred who just shrugged. The stranger looked around in the small bar, and then leaned closer to Alfred and whispered.

"I know were Gustav is" Alfred was about to spit his drink all over the counter, but the stranger covered his mouth and grabbed his arm. "Hush, there are spies everywhere" he whispered and scanned the nearly empty bar.

"Spies?" Alfred asked hoarsely and the man nodded. "Yes, come with me, but be quick about it" and then he slipped of the chair and hurried towards the exit, just as he was about walk out, he looked one last time around, and then nodded his head in Alfred's direction.

"What do you think?" Noritz asked when the man was gone; Alfred hesitated but then dropped a ten dollar bill on the counter, grabbed his jacket and headed towards the exit. " I say we don`t have any better lead, let us go!"

"Why do I feel like we are walking down the rode to hell" Noritz muttered.

            They walked in silence down the street. They had long ago crossed the boarder that made this the downtown, part of the city. She could see how Legolas shuddered when he saw the beggars and homeless sit on the cold and hard ground.  He had also stopped several times with every tree, sighed deeply and put his hand on the trees trunk.

"When the wizard is concurred, I will return and restore life to nature" he promised, when they saw a tree that had gotten several nails into it, and was covered with old plastic bags.  Rory didn`t want to disturb him, she found it touching that he cared so much for things other took for granted.

"How can anything survive in this place…" he said and coughed as a car drove by them, spitting its poison at them. "We grow immune" Rory said quietly, she somehow felt ashamed to be part of this world.  "Yet, I have heard no birds sing, " he muttered as they crossed the street and headed towards a small bar at the end of an ally.

"There is little to sing about here" Rory said quietly and kicked a small metal can.  Legolas stopped and watched her for a long time. "What happened to this place" he cried and twirled around between the tall and dark buildings.  "Civilization, time, and humans" Rory said and stopped walking.

"You mean this place was once like Middle Earth?" Legolas asked shocked and Rory nodded. "A long time ago, it was like Rivendell, like Lòrien" for a moment a dark cloud flickered over the elf's eyes and he shuddered imaging his beloved home turning into this dead place.

"Surly my lady, this is the road to hell" He muttered sadly and bent down and removed some paper and a plastic bag. Rory walked over and bent down next to him. "What is it…?" She asked slowly, and carefully Legolas exposed a small flower in the middle of the sidewalk.  "Hmm…." He muttered and let his fingers slowly touch the gentle surface of the blue flower.

Rory bit her lower lip, she didn`t want to disturb him, but they could not vast anymore time.

"Come" she said and grabbed his arm. "There is a tavern down there" she said and pointed to a small and crocket door with an unreadable sign over it.

            The entered, and coughed as the tick smoke greeted them. "Close the door" somebody bellowed from the darkness, and quickly they entered and heard the door close behind them.  Their eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness and soon they saw what this place hosted. Men dressed in leather jackets, with piercing and tattoo stared paranoid at each other. In one corner a man was cleaning his nails with a large jungle knife.

"My lady, what is this place?" Legolas answered and Rory bit he lower lip and tried not to stare at the guy with the lizard in the corner. " A place you don`t want to hang inn, to long" she muttered and walked with rather shaky steps over to the counter and sat down next to a large and chubby fellow.

"Urhh…excuse me" she said carefully and tried to get the bartenders attention. He turned around and glared at her with a pare of metal blue eyes. He removed some of his greasy hair from his eyes, lit a cigarette and said. "What do you want sweet cheeks"

Rory looked for a moment at Legolas, and he stood in the doorway looking very indomitable. "I am looking for somebody" with just those simple words, everybody in the room stopped what they had been doing and stared at them. Rory felt her panic start to creep up her back and looked one last time at the exit.

"You're from the police" The bartender asked, and Rory shook her head.

"FBI?"

"No"

"CIA?"

"No"

"KGB?"

"No"

"The mafia?"

"No"

"Secret Service?"

"No"

"NSA?"

"No" she said rather sharply and could feel the eyes of everybody staring at her. "He's probably not here" Rory said and rose slowly from the chair. The man sitting next to her grabbed her arm and held her back.

"Why is a pretty little things like you doing in a place like this, asking questions?" he grunted. Rory freed her self from his grip and rubbed her writs. "Leaving" she said quickly and rose, but once again he grabbed her arm, and this time one of his friends walked over and sat down on the other side of her.

Legolas, who saw that the situation was getting out of hand, quickly armed his bow, pointed it at the fat man, and said sternly "You let her go!" Everybody in the room, even the weird lizard guy, stared at the elf for along time before they burst out laughing.

"What are you going to do, Robin Hood?" The fat man laughed and wiped some tears away from his eyes.  Legolas was about to answer, when he instead fired his bow. The arrow soared trough the room, and hit the man with the knife centimeters from his crown jewels.

Nobody said anything in a long, long time. The bartender had already taken cover under the counter, when somebody yelled.

"Get him!"