Nine Little Ring Bearers
Sorry, it took again SO long from me to write. I wrote a story for school in Finnish and I should write a poem analysis too, but that really doesn´t sound very tempting.
Thank you again for reviews (hey I got one!) but could I ask you to give me also some negative reviews? Just to make my stories better. If you just had time, I´d be very thankful!
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Chapter 8
Sam shook violently when he cried on the cold stone floor in the crossing. The darkness had unveiled the dead bodies of Merry and Pippin who were shot by two arrows. Aragorn, Boromir and Gandalf had all closed their eyes from the terrible view but Frodo was looking motionless to the two hobbits. A tiny tear fell to his cheek but in no other way anything revealed that he was looking at his dear friends.
Unwillingly Aragorn opened his eyes and faced the truth. Slowly he walked to the corner and kneeled himself beside the hobbits. Merry and Pippin were lying side by side against the black wall, their faces left to a horrible grimace. Aragorn touched carefully the other arrow. It was an old goblin arrow. And the blade was dull. The arrow had been used many times before. Aragorn moved his hand above the wound. He wrinkled up his forehead.
"Gandalf," he called. The wizard opened his eyes and rose from his thoughts. He walked to Aragorn. "Look at their wounds," Aragorn began. "They are so big and bloody. Arrows don´t usually make this kind of wounds."
Gandalf looked at the wounds and pondered. "No they don´t, at least if they are shot. But here are arrows lying everywhere. Those arrows were thrusted to them." Gandalf pointed between Merry and Pippin. Their right hands were bent towards each other. "Look. When someone attacks, the victims ordinarily push their hands towards the attacker. But now it seems like they had reached for each other." Aragorn glanced realizing at the hobbits. "But maybe they just needed some comfort before the end," Gandalf pointed out. "But this is still troubling me. We could not hear any sounds of fight. Or pain."
"That´s true," Aragorn agreed. "And here seems to be left no marks of anything, which could have killed them." He raised his look and stared at Gandalf. "This doesn´t seem good. I fear something. Maybe. . ."
Aragorn could not finish his words when Boromir interrupted him. "What are we going to do to them?" he had managed to move at last. "I wouldn´t want to leave them here but I also don´t wish to stay in this place any longer. Who knows what follows us," he looked fearfully from Gandalf to Aragorn.
"Me neither," Aragorn told and looked inquiring at Gandalf. Behind them Sam had almost stopped crying and was trying to get Frodo up.
Gandalf remained still for a while and listened. "I do not think that anything hunts us right now. But we cannot find any rest here. We will continue." He kneeled next to the two pale white hobbits and closed their wide opened eyes with a gentle movement of his hand. "We have to leave them here. Shall their spirits find a safe way out of these cursed mines." Aragorn had to help the old wizard to rise up, but leaning on his staff Gandalf started walking fast to left from the crossing. Aragorn and Boromir had to force the reluctant Frodo and Sam to move after him. Gandalf was sure about his way now.
* * *
The five members of the Fellowship travelled a few hours before they were too wearied to go on anymore. They stopped to an even part of a tunnel and tried to fall asleep. One of them was guarding at the time, but still they felt something watching them from the shadows. A pierceful look that could even see into their thoughts, which were getting darker all the time. No one of the companions could rest and so they decided to go on. It was still a two days journey to the other side but everyone was ready to run and suffer, just to let the sunrays light their hopeless thoughts again.
After a journey, which felt like days, Gandalf demanded them to stop. The hobbits were too exhausted to keep their eyes open anymore and their legs were like apart from their body, forced to move by something from outside their consciousness. The wizard let them to a wide opening, and when he put more light on his staff, they could see enormous pillars rising above them. The pillars kept on going, they could not see an end for them. Gandalf showed them a small door behind the pillars and it opened squeaking.
A sudden spark of light fell to the faces of the Fellowship and they walked stunned into the hall behind the door. There was a small hole on the wall in the hall and the fair sunlight rushed from it to the darkness. The light showed a white stone in the middle of the small hall. Gandalf stepped to the stone.
It was a gravestone. "Here lies Balin, son of Fundin, Lord of Moria," Gandalf read respectfully and bent his head down.
"He is dead then," Frodo whispered behind Gandalf. The hopeful ray of light was darkening. "Just as I feared. And just as we all will be before the end."
Aragorn had stared out of the tiny hole in the wall but now he walked beside Frodo. "I understand that you feel desperate, but do not lose hope yet. We are not all dead. And there shouldn´t be a very long journey anymore in these mines, should there, Gandalf?" he asked looking at the thoughtful wizard.
"No it is not a long journey. But it will be dangerous," wizard answered. "We must rest here, even is difficult," he silenced Sam who tried to oppose. "But before we start to sleep we shall keep a council. We shall solve what has happened. Why this evil has faced us."
"Why waste our time tearing open painful scars, when we did not do so at the moment the evil befell us," Boromir objected tired. "What good can it bring for us?"
Aragorn tried to prevent himself not to get angry. "We don´t know yet. And we have put this far enough. Eventually we must solve what happened." He glared meaningfully to everyone. "Maybe it will stop this ill work."
The Fellowship sat to a circle behind the grave and ate some miruvor, before Gandalf started. "First I have to confess you something," he started. Frodo looked surprised at him. "I told you we were not followed. But actually we were. And still are."
Boromir became furious. "You tell us someone is chasing us and here we just delay. We must leave immediately!" Sam was already packing his stuff.
"No, no," Gandalf corrected. "No one is chasing us. Just following."
"I know who it is," Frodo spoke. "It´s the creature Gollum. It´s following the Ring." He squeezed his cloak between his fingers. Gandalf nodded.
Frodo´s news frightened Sam. "Then we must go! He killed Merry and Pippin because he thought they had the Ring and now he is hunting master Frodo! Gandalf we must go!" he pegged.
Gandalf just remained sitting and shook his head. "Now calm down everyone. I will explain this to you." Unwillingly Sam sat back and listened. "Gollum has been following us from the moment we came to Moria. He cannot let the Ring go. He wants it back. But he did not kill the hobbits. Gollum has all the way crept behind us. And I heard he was behind us that moment our company separated. And he will not kill yet. He waits and waits. He knows we have still a long journey into Mordor, he does not have to kill just yet." A confused silence grew after Gandalf´s words. The contentment of finding the murderer quickly perished.
"And," Gandalf continued wearily. "Not any orc killed them, either. Merry´s and Pippin´s hands were lying between them. And their hands were in blood." A shocked sigh spread in the hall. "It seems like they had killed each other. Thrusted the arrows at the same time."
Sam and Boromir were too upset to say anything. Aragorn had guessed this already and looked worried at Frodo who had became whiter than the gravestone of Balin.
"I know it is hard to believe, but that is how it seems to have happened," Gandalf explained regretting. "I cannot understand how two so dear friends could end each other´s lives. I do not know what they thought. It must have been the despair of everything that has happened. Made them imagine too much fears and it lead to this," Gandalf mourned looking at the stone floor.
Aragorn had also seen the dead hobbits closely and said: "I agree with you that it seemed like they had killed each other. But still, none of us can believe that! It could have been someone else. If someone scared them they might have accidentally. . . or something. I don´t know!" he cried out desperately. "It must have been very great evil that made this happen." Strider closed his eyes and fell into dark thoughts. He looked like he had lost all the hope.
"A very great evil that has followed us all the way from Eriador," Boromir broke into the conversation. "First Legolas, then Gimli and now them. I say something living and visible is killing us. Killing us one by one. And if you tell it´s not Gollum," he looked at Gandalf who did not look back. "And no one else is following us." Gandalf nodded almost unnoticeable. "Then. . ." the brave warrior of Gondor did not have the courage to state it. "It must be one of us." Sorrowly he closed his eyes avoiding the blaming looks from the others.
But nobody looked at him. They were relieved. This was what they all had feared deep inside. Now when it was said aloud they did not have to hide their doubting anymore when they were sure that everyone knew it. But the relief did not stay for long. Another darkening feeling grew inside them. One of their fellow members was the betrayer. And no one of them was safe.
"But that would mean that we are still in danger!" Sam screamed jumping to his feet. "Anyone of us can be the murderer," Sam withdrew backwards away from his friends. "The murderer could just kill the rest of us here at the very moment!" Sam was panicking and starting to shake uncontrollable again. Suddenly a quiet clatter was heard behind him. It did not stop but became louder and louder. Sam turned around. He hat hit a well and pushed an armoured skeleton down into it.
The clatter stopped but Sam felt the horror growing inside him. He turned back to the others but could not see any countenance on their faces.
Slowly Gandalf spoke: "Sam, I do not know what the murderer is trying to achieve. Or is he trying to kill us all. And I cannot tell who he is." The wizard looked everyone from eye to eye, but nothing was revealed to him. The eyes stared at each other like the eyes of Merry and Pippin, bottomless. "And there is no use to ask for confession. If someone has managed to practise these evil deeds, he will find no problems hiding them."
Boromir looked unbelieving at Gandalf. "So we won´t do anything? Just wait for our deaths and hope that they will be painless?"
"There is nothing we can do," Gandalf told to him. "We must all stay together every second, until we reach the woods of Lóthlorien. We will receive help there. And when we sleep, there will be two guards at the time."
Boromir laughed bitterly. "And what if there is two murderers? They will have an easy task to finish the others."
Aragorn drew his sword forth. "Then we will sleep our swords beside us."
Frodo was quiet. He was listening to something. "Or we won´t sleep at all." Then the others heard it too. Like something gigantic was stepping heavily under them. In the deep. Drums in the deep were singing their dreadful requiem.
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Took so long, but at least I wrote a long chapter.
You will have to wait very long for the next chapter. My mum says I´m sitting too much in front of the computer. Yeah she´s right, but I´m just so slow writer. And I love writing. This is my only chance to be with the Fellowship. And to kill them. . .
Please review! Bye bye, until our next meeting.
Sorry, it took again SO long from me to write. I wrote a story for school in Finnish and I should write a poem analysis too, but that really doesn´t sound very tempting.
Thank you again for reviews (hey I got one!) but could I ask you to give me also some negative reviews? Just to make my stories better. If you just had time, I´d be very thankful!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Chapter 8
Sam shook violently when he cried on the cold stone floor in the crossing. The darkness had unveiled the dead bodies of Merry and Pippin who were shot by two arrows. Aragorn, Boromir and Gandalf had all closed their eyes from the terrible view but Frodo was looking motionless to the two hobbits. A tiny tear fell to his cheek but in no other way anything revealed that he was looking at his dear friends.
Unwillingly Aragorn opened his eyes and faced the truth. Slowly he walked to the corner and kneeled himself beside the hobbits. Merry and Pippin were lying side by side against the black wall, their faces left to a horrible grimace. Aragorn touched carefully the other arrow. It was an old goblin arrow. And the blade was dull. The arrow had been used many times before. Aragorn moved his hand above the wound. He wrinkled up his forehead.
"Gandalf," he called. The wizard opened his eyes and rose from his thoughts. He walked to Aragorn. "Look at their wounds," Aragorn began. "They are so big and bloody. Arrows don´t usually make this kind of wounds."
Gandalf looked at the wounds and pondered. "No they don´t, at least if they are shot. But here are arrows lying everywhere. Those arrows were thrusted to them." Gandalf pointed between Merry and Pippin. Their right hands were bent towards each other. "Look. When someone attacks, the victims ordinarily push their hands towards the attacker. But now it seems like they had reached for each other." Aragorn glanced realizing at the hobbits. "But maybe they just needed some comfort before the end," Gandalf pointed out. "But this is still troubling me. We could not hear any sounds of fight. Or pain."
"That´s true," Aragorn agreed. "And here seems to be left no marks of anything, which could have killed them." He raised his look and stared at Gandalf. "This doesn´t seem good. I fear something. Maybe. . ."
Aragorn could not finish his words when Boromir interrupted him. "What are we going to do to them?" he had managed to move at last. "I wouldn´t want to leave them here but I also don´t wish to stay in this place any longer. Who knows what follows us," he looked fearfully from Gandalf to Aragorn.
"Me neither," Aragorn told and looked inquiring at Gandalf. Behind them Sam had almost stopped crying and was trying to get Frodo up.
Gandalf remained still for a while and listened. "I do not think that anything hunts us right now. But we cannot find any rest here. We will continue." He kneeled next to the two pale white hobbits and closed their wide opened eyes with a gentle movement of his hand. "We have to leave them here. Shall their spirits find a safe way out of these cursed mines." Aragorn had to help the old wizard to rise up, but leaning on his staff Gandalf started walking fast to left from the crossing. Aragorn and Boromir had to force the reluctant Frodo and Sam to move after him. Gandalf was sure about his way now.
* * *
The five members of the Fellowship travelled a few hours before they were too wearied to go on anymore. They stopped to an even part of a tunnel and tried to fall asleep. One of them was guarding at the time, but still they felt something watching them from the shadows. A pierceful look that could even see into their thoughts, which were getting darker all the time. No one of the companions could rest and so they decided to go on. It was still a two days journey to the other side but everyone was ready to run and suffer, just to let the sunrays light their hopeless thoughts again.
After a journey, which felt like days, Gandalf demanded them to stop. The hobbits were too exhausted to keep their eyes open anymore and their legs were like apart from their body, forced to move by something from outside their consciousness. The wizard let them to a wide opening, and when he put more light on his staff, they could see enormous pillars rising above them. The pillars kept on going, they could not see an end for them. Gandalf showed them a small door behind the pillars and it opened squeaking.
A sudden spark of light fell to the faces of the Fellowship and they walked stunned into the hall behind the door. There was a small hole on the wall in the hall and the fair sunlight rushed from it to the darkness. The light showed a white stone in the middle of the small hall. Gandalf stepped to the stone.
It was a gravestone. "Here lies Balin, son of Fundin, Lord of Moria," Gandalf read respectfully and bent his head down.
"He is dead then," Frodo whispered behind Gandalf. The hopeful ray of light was darkening. "Just as I feared. And just as we all will be before the end."
Aragorn had stared out of the tiny hole in the wall but now he walked beside Frodo. "I understand that you feel desperate, but do not lose hope yet. We are not all dead. And there shouldn´t be a very long journey anymore in these mines, should there, Gandalf?" he asked looking at the thoughtful wizard.
"No it is not a long journey. But it will be dangerous," wizard answered. "We must rest here, even is difficult," he silenced Sam who tried to oppose. "But before we start to sleep we shall keep a council. We shall solve what has happened. Why this evil has faced us."
"Why waste our time tearing open painful scars, when we did not do so at the moment the evil befell us," Boromir objected tired. "What good can it bring for us?"
Aragorn tried to prevent himself not to get angry. "We don´t know yet. And we have put this far enough. Eventually we must solve what happened." He glared meaningfully to everyone. "Maybe it will stop this ill work."
The Fellowship sat to a circle behind the grave and ate some miruvor, before Gandalf started. "First I have to confess you something," he started. Frodo looked surprised at him. "I told you we were not followed. But actually we were. And still are."
Boromir became furious. "You tell us someone is chasing us and here we just delay. We must leave immediately!" Sam was already packing his stuff.
"No, no," Gandalf corrected. "No one is chasing us. Just following."
"I know who it is," Frodo spoke. "It´s the creature Gollum. It´s following the Ring." He squeezed his cloak between his fingers. Gandalf nodded.
Frodo´s news frightened Sam. "Then we must go! He killed Merry and Pippin because he thought they had the Ring and now he is hunting master Frodo! Gandalf we must go!" he pegged.
Gandalf just remained sitting and shook his head. "Now calm down everyone. I will explain this to you." Unwillingly Sam sat back and listened. "Gollum has been following us from the moment we came to Moria. He cannot let the Ring go. He wants it back. But he did not kill the hobbits. Gollum has all the way crept behind us. And I heard he was behind us that moment our company separated. And he will not kill yet. He waits and waits. He knows we have still a long journey into Mordor, he does not have to kill just yet." A confused silence grew after Gandalf´s words. The contentment of finding the murderer quickly perished.
"And," Gandalf continued wearily. "Not any orc killed them, either. Merry´s and Pippin´s hands were lying between them. And their hands were in blood." A shocked sigh spread in the hall. "It seems like they had killed each other. Thrusted the arrows at the same time."
Sam and Boromir were too upset to say anything. Aragorn had guessed this already and looked worried at Frodo who had became whiter than the gravestone of Balin.
"I know it is hard to believe, but that is how it seems to have happened," Gandalf explained regretting. "I cannot understand how two so dear friends could end each other´s lives. I do not know what they thought. It must have been the despair of everything that has happened. Made them imagine too much fears and it lead to this," Gandalf mourned looking at the stone floor.
Aragorn had also seen the dead hobbits closely and said: "I agree with you that it seemed like they had killed each other. But still, none of us can believe that! It could have been someone else. If someone scared them they might have accidentally. . . or something. I don´t know!" he cried out desperately. "It must have been very great evil that made this happen." Strider closed his eyes and fell into dark thoughts. He looked like he had lost all the hope.
"A very great evil that has followed us all the way from Eriador," Boromir broke into the conversation. "First Legolas, then Gimli and now them. I say something living and visible is killing us. Killing us one by one. And if you tell it´s not Gollum," he looked at Gandalf who did not look back. "And no one else is following us." Gandalf nodded almost unnoticeable. "Then. . ." the brave warrior of Gondor did not have the courage to state it. "It must be one of us." Sorrowly he closed his eyes avoiding the blaming looks from the others.
But nobody looked at him. They were relieved. This was what they all had feared deep inside. Now when it was said aloud they did not have to hide their doubting anymore when they were sure that everyone knew it. But the relief did not stay for long. Another darkening feeling grew inside them. One of their fellow members was the betrayer. And no one of them was safe.
"But that would mean that we are still in danger!" Sam screamed jumping to his feet. "Anyone of us can be the murderer," Sam withdrew backwards away from his friends. "The murderer could just kill the rest of us here at the very moment!" Sam was panicking and starting to shake uncontrollable again. Suddenly a quiet clatter was heard behind him. It did not stop but became louder and louder. Sam turned around. He hat hit a well and pushed an armoured skeleton down into it.
The clatter stopped but Sam felt the horror growing inside him. He turned back to the others but could not see any countenance on their faces.
Slowly Gandalf spoke: "Sam, I do not know what the murderer is trying to achieve. Or is he trying to kill us all. And I cannot tell who he is." The wizard looked everyone from eye to eye, but nothing was revealed to him. The eyes stared at each other like the eyes of Merry and Pippin, bottomless. "And there is no use to ask for confession. If someone has managed to practise these evil deeds, he will find no problems hiding them."
Boromir looked unbelieving at Gandalf. "So we won´t do anything? Just wait for our deaths and hope that they will be painless?"
"There is nothing we can do," Gandalf told to him. "We must all stay together every second, until we reach the woods of Lóthlorien. We will receive help there. And when we sleep, there will be two guards at the time."
Boromir laughed bitterly. "And what if there is two murderers? They will have an easy task to finish the others."
Aragorn drew his sword forth. "Then we will sleep our swords beside us."
Frodo was quiet. He was listening to something. "Or we won´t sleep at all." Then the others heard it too. Like something gigantic was stepping heavily under them. In the deep. Drums in the deep were singing their dreadful requiem.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Took so long, but at least I wrote a long chapter.
You will have to wait very long for the next chapter. My mum says I´m sitting too much in front of the computer. Yeah she´s right, but I´m just so slow writer. And I love writing. This is my only chance to be with the Fellowship. And to kill them. . .
Please review! Bye bye, until our next meeting.
