Chapter Four
Present Day…
Six hundred yards from the rear entrance to Moria crouched a dwarf scout. He had paused there after escaping from his imprisonment inside the mine. He had been held there five months giving advice to the King of the Goblins, against his will, about the best way to form mithril into weapons and armour. He had escaped only when his guard had let his concentration slip while Korglaf, for that was his name, was unshackled. He had seen some disturbing things, not least of all several appearances by one of the Blue wizards of the east. Having recovered his breath he turned his back on Moria for the very last time. He would never see his ancestral home again.
The Doctor had made a mistake. After he had told Aragorn enough of his story that Aragorn would understand, he decided to show him inside the Tardis. Even Gandalf looked taken aback at the sight of its dark control room. Aragorn had sprinted from it and done the typical 'it's bigger on the inside' speech before shaking his head.
"No. No, I'm not having any of that. Beings from other worlds in the sky I can just about handle, but that is far too much!" he said, nervously. The Doctor nodded and headed back into the time machine, pausing in the doorway.
"Right then," he said. "I'll move my box to the room you've so generously provided, and then I'll be back." He winked as he mentioned the room, for one hadn't actually been provided. Aragorn sighed and order the only remaining guard to tell the Doctor where his room was. The Doctor accepted the information with thanks and then disappeared inside his box. Instantly the metallic wheezing, grinding noise that Aragorn had heard earlier began up again and, before his very eyes, the box slowly faded out of view. He stood for a moment in a daze, barely able to sort out his head when a messenger ran through the open doors.
"My lord, a dwarf has turned up on our doorstep, claiming parley with you," he panted. This snapped Aragorn out of his daze. He turned his attention to the messenger and after a nod of encouragement from Gandalf ordered the messenger to send up the dwarf. It was time to get back to normal business for a while.