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Gorluk had made a decision to follow them until they walked out of the Misty Mountains. But Gorluk would never realize until later that his choice would change his life forever.

Gorluk followed them for three nights strait. They air grew more chilly as the wind blew into the east, but ever more slowly their road wounded up into the hills, and Gorluk knew that they were meaning to go through the mountains. Gorluk thought that their idea to go over the mountains was completely ridiculous, but then again, the travelers somehow knew that they were being watched. What better way to stay away from spies then walking somewhere that they would never want to follow? But Gorluk had a thicker skull than that. It would take more that snow and a little wind before he would turn away from them!

On the third morning, the mountains loomed menacingly before them, with snow tipping their mighty peaks. Gorluk gulped, and realized for the first time that there was more snow on the mountains then he thought. But he didn't have to worry about that at the moment, for the travelers were finally stopping to rest. Gorluk had almost forgotten how tired he was, so without even thinking he threw himself to the ground, and at once went into a deep sleep.

When he woke up again, he immediately stood up and looked around frantically. How long have I been asleep? He thought to himself. It seemed like late afternoon, for the sun was beginning to set. His jaw dropped in horror as he realized that they had already left. "You fool!" he wailed to himself. "You should have been more careful!" he ran around in circles for a bit, but seeing that useless, he gave up and sat on the ground and began to cry. Gorluk had always been known to be very sensitive, and it seemed that he cried for a very long time. As the rays from the sun began to fade, one particular streak of sunlight hit a part of the ground that seemed muddy. Gorluk glanced at that part of the ground, and jumped up with a cry.

"Foot prints!" he laughed to himself like he had gone mad. "Foot prints, foot prints, foot prints, how could I forget about foot prints?!" He jumped up and pelted though the trees, trying to follow them to see where they went, laughing hysterically as he ran. He never thought once that he was starting to sound completely insane.

But his sanity was restored once he started hearing voices in the distance, and he remembered to stay quiet. The travelers had not gotten far, for almost as soon as they left, their road had become blocked by many fallen stones, and they were doing their best to get around them. Their progress was slow, but they were getting higher and higher up the mountains.

When it had grown dark, the travelers laboriously climbed up a sharp slope and stopped for a few moments. Gorluk was not far behind, but he was doing his best to climb over the large boulders and not fall. He also stopped, and as he looked up he felt something blow into his eye. He rubbed his eyes and saw small snow flakes beginning to fall.

The travelers moved on once more, and all Gorluk could do was groan and quickly follow after them. As he climbed higher, more and more snow flakes blew into his face, until he could barely see the others. This seemed like the worst snow storm he had ever been in. The wind howled, the snow flakes pierced his face and swirled into his eyes, and if he stood for a few moments, the snow would burry his feet. He looked at the travelers and realized that they were also suffering. The dwarf (that in other conversations Gorluk heard, they called him 'Gimli') grumbled and cursed loudly, the Halflings huddled together and shivered like frightened rabbits, and the old man that was leading them had snow piled over his hat and shoulders. The others seemed equally miserable, but they labored on.

Gorluk's yellow jagged teeth began to chatter, and the snow began to pile up to his knees. He began to wonder if the group would keep going, or turn back.

Suddenly, they all heard a noise and stopped. Gorluk didn't know whether or not it was a trick of the wind blowing against the cracks and crevices of the rock wall, but it sounded like shrill cries and wild howls of laughter. As they all listened, they began to hear the sound of large boulders rolling near the top. Gorluk became very afraid.

At once, the travelers began to talk amongst themselves. Gorluk couldn't hear what they were saying because the wind was howling in his ears, but they seemed to be deciding what to do next. They spoke urgently amongst themselves for a few moments, but then they stopped talking and huddled against the cliff. Gorluk didn't hear whether or not a decision was made, but he could guess that they were starting to regret coming this way.

They sat there for what seemed like hours while the wind blew around them, and it wasn't until the storm grew worse that they all agreed to light a fire. First the Dwarf tried to light it, but the wind was making it difficult. Next the Elf tried to give him a hand, but all of his attempts failed too. Gorluk frowned as he watched them, wondering why they were even trying. But then the old man came forward. He held a stick in his hand for a few moments, but suddenly he shouted with a word of command "naur an edraith ammen!" and there was a flash of blue and green flame, and a fire started.

Gorluk's jaw dropped in amazement. What the old man had done did not seem natural at all. He watched with wonder as the others started to warm their hands. None of them seemed surprised at all! Who is he? WHAT is he? Gorluk thought to himself. It didn't seem like witchcraft to him (even though Gorluk didn't even know what witchcraft meant at the time). He thought back to when he was in Mirkwood, and he remembered something he heard the other Orcs talking about one day. They seemed to be talking about someone who was powerful that lived near the edge of the forest. Someone who appeared old, but carried a magical staff. Gorluk struggled to remember what the Orcs had called him, until it finally popped into his head: Wizard. He remembered that they went on to say that there was more than one of them as far as they could tell. Gorluk wondered if the old man could be a Wizard too.

But then Gorluk started to become more concerned whether or not he could survive the night. He sat huddled in a large crevice against the rock wall, fifty feet away from his new friends. He stared enviously at their warm fire. There they sat, warming their hands and not speaking, while he was trying to see if he could still feel his fingers. He was smart enough to know that one should never fall asleep outside during a blizzard, but he was starting to become dangerously drowsy. His body had already become weak from his lack of food, and he was starting to loose his concentration. Just as he was about to drop his head for good, the sky began to light up. Taking it as a sign, Gorluk used the strength he had left to poke his head out of his hiding place.

The travelers seemed busy. The snow had finally stopped falling, but two of the men were busy trying to plough through the snow on the ground. Gorluk watched as they dug there way through. In some places where the snow reached to their chests, they appeared to be swimming. They don't give up, do they? Gorluk thought impressed. Last night Gorluk felt certain that they were all going to turn back, but now it seemed that they had become more determined then ever. But Gorluk frowned, for as the day grew lighter, he saw that the two men had only dug about ten feet forward. It was going to take a long time for them to get anywhere.

It seemed like hours had passed before the two men could be seen like specks in the distance. They eventually passed out of sight. Time dragged on. The Halflings sat together silently. Gorluk watched them with pity. Even though they seemed full grown, they reminded Gorluk of baby birds that just fell out of their nests. He could recognize an expression that they each shared on their faces, and that was homesickness. He felt that way all the time.

Gorluk was interrupted by his thoughts when he heard the voices of the two men returning. He couldn't exactly hear what they were saying, for the wind had become strong again, but their voices sounded hopeful. Gorluk watched as the men picked up the Halflings and started to make their way back through the passage that they had created. The rest of the company followed until they all disappeared through. Hesitantly, Gorluk waited a few minutes until he also passed through in pursuit.

After dashing a hundred yards, he caught up with the travelers. The path had become wider, and the snow had waned to only three feet high. All was starting to become hopeful.

But that hope was cut short when suddenly, there was a deep rumble and snow and stones rolled down from the cliff above them. The snow nearly buried them, but it buried Gorluk entirely. He couldn't see a thing, but he could hear the frustration from one of the travelers. "Enough, enough!" cried the Dwarf. "We are departing as quickly as we may!" It sounded to Gorluk that Gimli was talking to the mountain itself.

"We must go down at once. Not even on the knees of Caradhas will we wait for another night-fall!" Gorluk could hear the Wizard say.

Gorluk could hear footsteps as the group walked passed him, completely unaware of him underneath the large mounds of snow. Gorluk poked his head out and watched as they walked away, defeated.

"Why am I not surprised?" Gorluk muttered.

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Well, I guess that I rushed a little too quickly with that chapter… I promise that in the next chapter, it will be more action-packed (And more screaming coming from Gorluk). I can't wait!