Merry, Pippin, Frodo,and Sam sat at the table again playing cards and talking about the high prices of the inn. Shrell and Smeagol were in the corner discussing something else. Aragorn and Arwen were with Myrth and Sauranox planning what they would do next. Not much more happened that day and that was quite a good thing for all the sleepy hobbits.

As the days rolled on they all became more and more tired of the inn. The most interesting thing was when the hobbits had to cut onions for a soup and spent the whole morning weeping. Soon after this they figured it was best to leave the inn and continue their journey.

April 30

They were leaving the town with many a goodbye but were glad to be on their way.Smeagol rode with Merry (who was not at all pleased) and Sauranox took the lead Strider and Arwen not far behind. Shrell was in the back of the party deep in thought. She hadn't talked all day and not much the night before.Pippin on the other hand was as cheerful as ever. He was much pleased with the lovely scenery and was talking and singing until Sauranox shot him a glare and Pippin was silent.

They were following the River Running to the south.The sound of the water running over the rocks was so peaceful. It made Frodo feel as though he was back in the Shire with all the other hobbits.

"Where is our course set for?" asked Merry.

"Mordor" answered Myrth.

"No! Notss there, precious, No! We musstn't!" hissed Smeagol as he squirmed on the pony.

"No harm shall come to you, creature" Sauranox exclaimed and Smeagol fell silent after whining an awful lot. As the day went on the River Running turned towards the east and they soon had to cross so they could keep on course. By the time they did get across they were soaking wet and very tired. Myrth called a halt even though Sauranox disagreed. They rested by the river and Sam made lunch.

"Could some of you get me some mushrooms?" he asked. Merry and Pippin were off in an instant and Frodo and Shrell were off not long after them. They ventured into a small part of the forest and began searching. They mostly found moss and an occasional black squirrel that would run away at to speed as soon as it caught sight of them. After a bit of searching Pippin called out:

"I found some!" the others came running and stopped beside a small patch of moss were there was a ring of purple toad stools.

"Pippin, those are poisonous" Merry said in the most disappointed way. They drew closer to the toad stools and looked them over.

"Stand back!" came a voice from behind them. It was Arwen.

"They're only toad--" Pippin started but at that moment a pair of strange black hands came out from the middle of the circle and grabbed Pippin by both arms.The moss in the circle swirled and disappeared. Pippin struggles as the dark arms tried to pull him into the now dark portal. The other hobbits grabbed him and tried to pull him free best they could but it was no use. Out of the portal a strange pair of eyes then a face emerged. It was dark like the hands and it's eyes were a green color. It's ears were long and forked at the ends and it's teeth were long and sharp. It gave a screech and pulled harder on Pippin. Arwen pulled a dagger from her belt and hurled it towards the circle. The dagger pierced one of the toad stools. The creature gave a cry of pain and slowly disappeared into the portal. The ground reappeared to soon and it's hand was left sticking out of the moss. The toad stools withered and almost disappeared and the hand gave a final twitch. Merry and Pippin were flung backwards with the sudden release of the creatures hands and Shrell and Frodo fell to the ground.

"Ouch..." Merry murmured. Pippin and himself had gotten knocked into a tree.

"......." Pippin was speechless and very frightened. Merry helped him up and they slowly walked towards the circle.Frodo and Shrell got up off the ground and looked Arwen. She retrieved her dagger and looked back at Frodo and Shrell.

"What was that?" asked Shrell.

"An Under-Dweller, as we call them. They live in the pits of doom and can only enter our world through these portals. They hunt the flesh of living creatures that come to close to the portals and it is said once they devour you your soul becomes an Under-Dweller and seeks the flesh of living things" she answered. Pippin shuttered.

"Where did you learn of such creatures?" Merry asked.

"Folk Lore and Myths. Not many portals still exist. Hardly would you find such a creature but I think you better find mushrooms for Sam." She turned and walked away leaving the hobbits to find the mushrooms.

After a bit of searching they found two yellow mushrooms and seven white ones. They returned to Sam as quick as possible and gave him the mushrooms. Pippin told the story of the toad stools and let Merry fill in what he missed. By the end of the story Sam was done with a rather queer soup. Despite it's odd color and disturbing texture it was quite good and very filling. Sam was pleased with how much everyone liked his soup (besides Smeagol but Sam paid little heed to him).

"Nasssty hobbitses make nasty things" he hissed and spat.

"No need to be rude. There is probable a good amount of fish in the river" Shrell said handing her bowl back to Sam. Smeagol got up muttering and sat beside the river waiting for a big fish to swim by or at least a small one.

"He has the ring" Shrell said softly to Frodo.

"What? How do you know?" Frodo asked.

"He described it as though the ring kept him alive yet used him to survive. Perhaps the ring was sucking the life out of him" Shrell answered.

"Maybe. I think it was something along that line" Frodo mused and looked up at the clear sky. There was a splash from the river and the hobbits turned to see Smeagol ripping open a dead fish.

"Pleasant little fellow" Sam muttered in a sarcastic way. Shrell signaled for them to be quiet and listened to what Smeagol was saying.

"We hates the precious, we do, but we can't getss away from it,no, we can'tss-s-s-s. We wantss it but it painsss us! Yes it painsss usss, Gollum, Gollum" he whimpered. Shrell stood up and walked over to Smeagol.

"Why don't you come with me?" she asked.

"Can we bring the fishessss?"

"Yes"

They walked up the river for a bit and Frodo decided to follow. When he reached them they were in a small clearing.

"What pains you about the ring?" Shrell asked.

"We don't knows. We can't gets it off. Our flesh is melted to it, yes, precious" he said.

"You can't take it off?" she asked.

"No, We just fades and desapearesss and returnes but we can't control it and we can't takes it off!" He hissed. Shrell took out a knife and brought it down on Smeagol's finger. He hissed and shrieked and ran towards the river. Shrell use her knife to cut the ring loose from Smeagol's finger and when she did she help it up, enchanted by it. Frodo suddenly wanted the ring back. He grabbed a large stick from the ground and crept up behind her. He gave her a hard blow in the side of the head and she fell to the ground. Frodo took the ring from her hand.

"Forgot to watch your back" he laughed and was about to put the ring on when someone behind him grabbed him.

"I think you forgot to watch your back" He said. It was Sauranox. He took the ring from Frodo and Frodo was himself again.

"I...what have I...?" he asked confused.

"I think you owe Shrell an apology" Sauranox told him then left. Frodo walked over to where Shrell was. He rolled her over so she was on her back. The side of her head was bleeding and Frodo felt very guilty. She began to flinch and then sat up rubbing her head.

"Sorry...." Frodo began.

"Huh? What?" Shrell said looking at him. "Oh! Frodo! Good morning!" she said cheerfully. This was surprising but he was glad she was alright.

"Do you you remember anything?" he asked.

"I had a dream that I was holding a ring then someone hit me on the side of the head" she answered.

"You weren't dreaming, Shrell" he told her and explained everything while they walked back down the river to the other hobbits. Smeagol was bandaging up his finger(or what was left of it) and was very upset when they returned but, after a bit of calming down, he understood why Shrell cut it off. It was decided that Frodo would once again carry the ring.....To be continued.