Angela turned to Frodo. "I suppose you knew about this too, right?" Frodo rolled his eyes. "No, but I don't think this cave is very safe. I don't trust the man who recommended it." Frodo's eyes quickly went to Angela's cheek, still red. "Well, stop standing there pitying me, let's get out of here."



Frodo followed Angela, not knowing that she was just running. He had a hope that she had some idea where she was going. That shattered when they came to a wide room with several tunnels going in different directions.

"Which way now?"

"How would I know?"

"You've been leading us!"

"What does that matter? Away from the voices, we didn't need to stick around to know that wasn't the best place in this world."

"You really have no idea where we are?"

"I suppose you do, Mr. Hobbit boy?"

"Of course not!"

"Well then, we're going this way!"

Angela grabbed Frodo's wrist, and yanked him to the left tunnel, which went upward. She didn't think the others that went straight down would be best.



However, in the pit of the tunnel, they found not light and air, but darkness and heat. The demon Angela hadn't defeated yet looked more immense in it's own dwelling.

"Let's get out of her." She whispered. Frodo didn't comment, but went willingly.



As they left, they heard it stirring. Angela's heart seemed to stop. "No. I can't face that thing now! I'm not ready." She mumbled to herself like this while Frodo led them to the edge of a pit. "Strange as it sounds, it looks lighter and feels cooler. Can we go down it, climbing?"

Frodo and Angela clung to the rock face, aware of the steamy heat above them as the demons ran looking for them. They avoided the pits like it was death. They would slowly inch down a little, hear a high pitched squeal, and wait until it blended in with the rest to move on.



Near the bottom, they felt silly, as if they were upside down.

"I have an idea. If they pour lava on us, it will burn our feet. Let's try going headfirst." Angela thought Frodo's idea was very reasonable, since her blood was full in her face. "Much better. Dimensions seem to be altered here."

The going got harder. Now they had to climb, and rocks they dislodged fell halfway down to the pit, then changed direction and bounced off them. When they came to the middle, a rock layer made of their rockslides and other rockslides needed to be fought through. However, doing this upside down was very difficult.

After an hour, they cleared a small section, and Frodo helped push Angela through. "Oh Frodo!" Angela's voice was full of awe. Frodo, thinking his strength, blushed and started muttering it was nothing. "No, not you, up here! It's beautiful! Come in and see it." Frodo, now furious with himself for thinking he had made her so awestruck, hastily climbed in, and nearly fell out again. Angela grabbed him by the collar, and waited for his hands to come back up to help him through.

What he saw amazed him. A beautiful wood, with glass statues all around. Most amazing was this gigantic forest floor. When Frodo fell on it, he felt that it was harder than ground. He pawed through layers of dirt to find a couple dozen rings. Frodo quickly looked up and discovered that it was round.

"Angela. We're inside a tree." Angela laughed. "Of course we are, silly. How else would we be in middle earth while forced to remain in Deeper Earth? A loophole someone must have realized, and built for himself. We must go meet these people. Most likely elves, am I right?" Frodo remembered Aidan, and nodded. "I'd like to talk to him, too."



So the couple made their way to Aidan Yosef's home. This elf was not happy to see them in his garden, but at least they were not dwarves or magicians.