Hello, all my readers. Back with another chapter.
I hope you are liking this story. And are excited for the rest of it.
Enough talk. Let's get to the chapter.
Chapter 7- A New Danger
With the trolls finally defeated and now stone statues, T'Challa quickly helps free the trapped dwarves, and Steve and Bucky. He helps everyone stuffed in the sacks to stand up before slashing open the bags. He and Steve then lift the spit off the fire before T'Challa slashes the ropes off.
The dwarves pick themselves up, trying to gather up their scattered weapons and belongings. Bucky walks up to T'Challa, who has moved over to Gandalf, and laughs a bit. "Man, you two have impeccable timing!" he says cheerfully.
T'Challa smiles slightly. Then, Thorin walks up to Gandalf and asks, "Where did you two go, if I may ask?"
"To look ahead," Gandalf answers simply.
"What brought you back?" Thorin asks.
"Looking behind," Gandalf says with a smile, drawing a smile from Thorin.
"Nasty business. Still, you're all in one piece," Gandalf cheerfully says.
"No thanks to your burglar," Thorin says.
Gandalf turns to Thorin, looking at him knowingly, before saying, "He had the thought to play for time. None of the rest of you thought of that." Thorin nods, smiling a bit.
Gandalf looks around at the now-turned to stone trolls, his expression growing more serious. "They must have come down from the Ettenmoors," he concludes on the trolls' previous home.
"Since when do mountain trolls venture this far south?" Thorin asks somewhat rhetorically.
"Oh, not for an age," Gandalf says, turning to Thorin, his face growing darker, before finishing, "Not since a darker power ruled these lands."
An uneasy silence lasts for a few moments before Gandalf returns his gaze to the stone trolls and observes, "They could not have moved in daylight."
"There must be a cave nearby," Thorin surmises, looking around for the suspected cave.
Thorin and Gandalf begin searching for the cave. Bucky and Steve accompany them, along with Dwalin, Bofur, Gloin, and Nori. The other dwarves, and Bilbo, stay put with T'Challa, all asking questions about his suit. T'Challa begins telling them the history of the Black Panther.
It doesn't take long for the scouting party to find the cave. As they enter, they can hear flies, and a terrible smell hits their noses. "Ugh, what is that stench?" Nori asks loudly.
"It's troll hoard. Be careful what you touch," Gandalf advises.
Steve and Bucky slowly walk deeper into the cave, looking around at the various items strewn about the cave. Most of them seem to be items looted from local farms, but some, like a pile of treasure that Bofur, Gloin, and Nori soon find, are obviously from elsewhere.
Thorin finds a number of swords stacked together near a small fire pit, and picks two of them up. "These swords were not made by any troll," he whispers to himself. Gandalf walks over, and Thorin hands him one of the swords.
Gandalf looks it over before adding, "Nor were they made by any smith among men." He slowly draws the sword a little ways out of its sheath, revealing an elegant blade. Thorin continues to examine the sword he picked up.
Suddenly, Gandalf recognizes their origin. "These were forged in Gondolin. By the High Elves of the First Age," Gandalf says in amazement.
The moment he hears they are Elven made, Thorin rolls his eyes and starts to put the sword down. Gandalf says chastisingly, "You could not wish for a finer blade."
Thorin stops to look at Gandalf. Then, he graps the hilt and draws the sword halfway out of the sheath, revealing an elegant, one-sided blade with curve halfway down. Steve feels intrigued by the sword's design.
Bucky is also looking at the swords in admiration. Then, he notices another sword leaning up against the wall. Knowing he needs a better weapon than a small knife, he reaches over and picks up the sword. The hand and a half hilt fits well in his hand. Bucky draws the sword halfway out of the sheath, and is surprised to see that the blade is pitch black. It makes him slightly uneasy, but the sword feels like a perfect fit for him.
Steve steps forward to get a better look at the sword. "That's quite a sword. And it looks like it's the perfect size and shape for you, Buck. I'd take it if I were you," Steve says.
Bucky nods, then chuckles. "Look at me. The famous Winter Soldier. The famous assassin. Reduced to using a sword," he says. Steve chuckles a bit too.
By this point, Thorin has had enough of the cave. "Let's get out of this foul place!" he calls out, before looking towards the other dwarves of the scouting party and calling, "Bofur! Gloin! Nori!" The respective dwarves, and Dwalin, all hurry to follow Thorin out of the cave, with Steve and Bucky right behind them, and Gandalf bringing up the rear.
As the group comes out of the cave, the rest of the Company is waiting for them. They quickly start admiring Thorin's new sword, as well as the sword Bucky has found.
As Steve and Bucky are standing with T'Challa, letting T'Challa examine Bucky's new sword, Bofur walks up to them. He holds out a trio of small money pouches. "Hey. These are for you three," he says.
The three look at the pouches, then at Bofur. "What's this?" Steve asks.
"Well, I know you don't have any money. Well, except for the few coins you won, Bucky. I figured…just in case you can't get home, or in case you need some on the road, you all could probably use some money," Bofur says.
Steve smiles. He reaches out and takes a pouch from Bofur. Bucky and T'Challa both take one as well.
Suddenly, there's a loud rustling and cracking of branches a little ways off. "Something's coming!" Thorin calls out in warning.
"Stay together! Arm yourselves!" Gandalf calls out loudly, walking past the three Avengers, drawing his new sword. The rest of the Company scramble for their weapons. Steve, Bucky, and T'Challa hurry to join them, with Steve and Bucky readying their weapons, and T'Challa extending his claws.
A few moments later, something comes bursting out of the brush, accompanied by a shout of, "Thieves! Fire! Murder!"
Steve, Bucky, and T'Challa stare in confusion. Sitting in the middle of the clearing is a sled pulled by a dozen large rabbits. And standing on the back of the sled is a very peculiar man. His manner of dress is somewhat similar to Gandalf, but brown, and more disheveled. He also has a staff, but even more knobby. It looks like it was a branch just snapped off a tree.
Gandalf quickly identifies the man. "Radagast! It's Radagast the Brown!"
The Company lowers their weapons as Gandalf steps up to his fellow Wizard. "What on Earth are you doing here?" Gandalf asks.
"I was looking for you, Gandalf! Something's wrong. Something's terribly wrong!" Radagast answers hastily.
"Yes?" Gandalf prompts.
Radagast leans forward as though he's about to say something important, but stops. He does it again, then stops again. He seems to have forgotten what he was going to say.
"Just give me a minute," Radagast says. He thinks for another moment, then cries, "Oh! I had a thought. But then I lost it. It was right there. On the tip of my tongue."
Suddenly, a look of realization crosses Radagast's face, and he says, "Oh, it's not a thought at all. It's a silly old…stick insect," with Gandalf pulling a stick insect out of Radagast's mouth as he finishes and setting it in Radagast's hand. Everyone in the company looks at Radagast, very intrigued and confused by the wizard.
Gandalf pulls Radagast aside to speak with him privately, motioning for Steve to follow him.
Once they have put some distance between them and the Company, Gandalf prompts Radagast to tell him the problem he's found, while pulling out his pipe for a smoke.
"The Greenwood is sick, Gandalf. A darkness has fallen over it. Nothing grows anymore. At least nothing good. The very air is foul with decay," Radagast begins to explain. He pauses for a moment, then adds, "But worse are the webs."
"Webs? What do you mean?" Gandalf asks in confusion.
"Spiders, Gandalf. Giant ones. Some kind of spawn of Ungoliant, or I am not a Wizard," Radagast replies.
Steve doesn't like the sound of giant spiders. "I'm guessing Ungoliant is something like the mother of all spiders?" he asks.
"Indeed, Steve. An ancient spirit who took the form of an enormous spider. She is long gone, but her descendants have plagued Middle-Earth for thousands of years," Gandalf explains.
"Who is this, Gandalf?" Radagast asks curiously.
"Radagast, this is Captain Steve Rogers of the land of America. He is the leader of the Avengers, a team of great heroes," Gandalf proudly introduces the American. Steve feels a little uncomfortable to be called the leader of the Avengers, but lets it slide.
Radagast looks at Steve with a smile. "It is very good to meet you, Captain Rogers," Radagast says in greeting. Steve smiles and inclines his head respectfully.
Looking more serious, Gandalf returns the conversation to the problem Radagast was discussing. "Where did these spiders come from, Radagast?" he asks.
Radagast returns his gaze to Gandalf. "After some come to my home, I followed their trail. They came from…Dol Guldur," Radagast informs Gandalf.
Gandalf looks both confused and concerned. "Dol Guldur? But the old fortress is abandoned," he says.
Radagast shakes his head slightly before replying, "No, Gandalf. 'Tis not."
Radagast pauses for a moment, then continues, "A dark power dwells in there. Such as I have never felt before. It is the shadow of an ancient horror. One that can summon the spirits of the dead."
A chill runs down Steve's spine as he hears that. For all that he's encounter, he still has thought it's impossible for someone to have the power to raise the dead. As far as he's concerned, only one person has ever come back from the dead. And given who he was, Steve finds himself growing more concerned about how powerful this being is.
Radagast finishes describing what he found, "I saw him Gandalf. From out of the darkness. A Necromancer has come!"
For a moment, Radagast stares off into the middle distance, lost in memories. Then, he suddenly jumps, as if shocked by a memory. He looks around a bit before saying hastily, "I'm sorry."
Gandalf takes out his pipe and wipes off the end. "Try a little Old Toby. It'll help settle your nerves," Gandalf suggests.
Radagast leans up to the pipe and takes a puff. His eyes grow wider as he takes in the smoke.
"And out," Gandalf instructs. Radagast smiles pleasantly as smoke comes out of both his nose and ears. Steve finds himself amused, as Radagast is clearly not accustomed to smoking a pipe like Gandalf is.
"Now," Gandalf says to draw Radagast's attention back to reality, "A Necromancer? Are you sure?"
Radagast, his face now serious, reaches into his robe and pulls out something wrapped in some kind of rough cloth. Gandalf unties one end and uncovers it. Steve can only see the hilt of what seems to be a large knife, but something about it clearly has disturbed Gandalf. He looks up at Radagast, as if asking for answers. All Radagast says is, "That is not from the world of the living."
A greater chill runs down Steve's spine. The thought of this Necromancer is growing more and more troubling in Steve's mind. He's about to ask something of Radagast when he hears a loud howl not too far away.
Everyone in the Company looks around. Bilbo, nervous about the source, asks, "Is that a wolf? Are…are there wolves out there?"
Bofur, now wielding his mattock, looks around with worry, recognizing the sound. "Wolves? No, that is not a wolf," he says.
A growl from behind them draws everyone's attention, and they turn right as a massive warg starts running down a slight ridge towards the company. It jumps towards some of the dwarves, but Thorin jumps forward and slashes at the warg's neck with his new Elven sword.
A howl draws their attention to another warg coming from the opposite direction. "Kili! Get your bow!" Thorin orders. Kili goes for his bow, but T'Challa beats him to it. He leaps to meet the warg and grabs it around the neck, forcing it to the ground before slashing open it's throat.
Gandalf, Radagast, and Steve hurry up as Thorin yanks his new sword out of the first warg and determines out loud, "Warg scouts! Which means an orc pack is not far behind!"
"Orc pack?!" Bilbo asks fearfully.
"Who did you tell about you quest beyond your kin?" Gandalf demands.
"No one," Thorin answers.
"Who did you tell?" Gandalf deamnds more forcefully.
"No one, I swear!" Thorin answers emphatically.
Gandalf looks around, checking to make sure there are no more wargs around. Thorin, still confused about the situation, demands, "What in Durin's name is going on?"
"You are being hunted," Gandalf answers. Everyone looks around nervously.
"We have to get out of here," Dwalin states the obvious.
But that plan is quickly shot down when Ori hurries up and calls out, "We can't! We have no ponies! They bolted!"
Steve, Bucky, and T'Challa all look at each other. The three of them all know what they're thinking. Perhaps they can attack the orc pack and hold them off. But, part of the pack could still get around them and attack the Company.
Radagast beats them to a solution. "I'll draw them off!" he says confidently.
"These are Gundabad wargs! They will outrun you!" Gandalf says firmly.
"These are Rhosgobel rabbits!" Radagast says confidently before adding slyly, "I'd like to see them try!"
I will end there. I'm sorry to cut off here, but I felt this was perfect spot to stop.
So yes. As some of you have asked/mentioned, and I'm sure more have wondered, Bucky has a sword. It is a specific sword from the Tolkien works. You'll get its identity either next chapter or the next.
I think that the three Avengers we have in Middle-Earth could probably take on the orc pack, but they couldn't take all of them on at once, and some could still get to the Company. Plus, I still wanted to do the chase scene with Radagast.
I'll get the next chapter up in a week or so. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review, and stay tuned for the next chapter!
