Author's Note: Due to Easter travels and stuff, I didn't have as much time to look this chapter over before posting. So please forgive me if you find any typos or mistakes or anything like that.
Chapter 15-Down in the Deeps of Goblin-Town
Karra nearly shrieked again as the horrible things swarmed over them. "What's happening?" she cried. "Will someone please tell me what's happening?" She was pulled to her feet by one of the….things….and roughly searched. She struggled and kicked and tried to punch it in the face before thinking to reach for her sword. She managed to get a brief hold on it amongst the chaos, and noted suddenly that it was glowing an odd sort of white. But before she could do anything, she found it roughly confiscated and felt herself being swept along with the crowd of monsters.
"Bilbo!" she cried. "Fili! Kili! Anyone!" Something grabbed her and clapped a hand over her mouth, and she smelled a horrible stench; she nearly gagged. She was pushed forward and dragged and hit and roughly patted over by several of the ugly creatures. She tried to fight back as best she could without her weapon, punching several in the face, kicking, struggling as hard as she could. But the whole company was irrevocably drawn forward by the sheer mass of the crowd of creatures.
Karra somehow managed to kick one of the things over the edge of the tiny bridge they were being led across. It fell with a scream down into the chasm below. Before she had time to feel even remotely satisfied with herself, one of the creatures grabbed her by the arm and roughly pushed her forward. She pushed back and tried to kick it in the shin, but it just kicked her back, and she fell flat on her face.
"Get up and move," it growled, grabbing her arm and pulling her back to her feet.
"But you pushed me over!" she gasped, and was rewarded for her attempted sauciness by a slap across the face.
"Get movin'," it growled, grabbing her around the waist and shoving her forward.
"Don't touch me like that!" she cried, slapping it across the face. It shoved her forward into another creature, which grabbed her and shoved her forward again. Another grabbed her hair and pulled it, presumably just for the fun of it.
"Ow!" she shrieked, whipping her hair out of the way and turning quickly to kick the goblin in the shin. But she was grabbed and tossed forward, landing dangerously close to the edge of the skinny bridge. She gasped and picked herself up as fast as possible, trying to keep her balance and not be shoved off by the throng. She was pushed forward again, grabbed and pushed forward, and so on and so forth. The mob of creatures herded the company through their caverns, roughly pushing them forward and squelching all attempts to fight back by their sheer numbers. Finally the seemed to have come to something, for the whole group came to a stop.
Karra looked up and saw a sight that was uglier than any she had ever seen. A huge creature sat on what appeared to be a throne. He was uglier than any she had seen yet. And she had thought orcs and wargs were ugly! This thing was horrible. It looked like it was made of mucus, and its chin dangled to the ground, swaying like a blob. Karra winced. Gross.
And what was worse, Karra realized a moment later, was that it, and the other creatures, were singing. Several were pounding on ugly metal cymbals, and all of them were singing a horrible song with their horrible voices. When Karra tried to cover her ears, she got her hands roughly pulled down and held down. She tried not to listen to the words, which were just as horrible as the music. They were singing something about smashing and snapping, and various other forms of torture. Karra caught the words 'goblin town' several times. Goblins. Well, the name fit.
The thing stood up and walked towards them, still singing with its horrible voice. Karra was glad she was in the back of the group….she couldn't have handled having that monster coming so close to her. It hit a note, and began to spin around in some sort of dance. Finally, the song ended with a crash, and the goblin king sat back down on his 'throne' and said proudly, "Catchy isn't it? It's one of my own compositions."
"That's not a song, it's an abomination!" Balin cried, voicing Karra's exact thoughts.
"Abominations, mutations, deviations….that's all you're gonna find down here," the thing said, with a certain amount of pride in his voice, Karra thought with a grimace. It leaned forward and said harshly, "Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom? Spies? Thieves?" Its voice grew louder. "ASSASINS?"
A small goblin stepped forward. "Dwarves, your Malevolence."
"Your Malevolence," Karra muttered. "What a perfect title."
"Dwarves?" the king goblin sounded genuinely confused.
"We found them on the front porch," replied the same small creature.
You have a lovely front porch, Karra thought.
"Well, don't just stand there!" ordered the Malevolence. "Search them! Every crack, every crevice!"
"Oh, right, I have crevices," Karra said sarcastically to the nearest dwarf, but her comment was cut short as a creature jumped on her and began to roughly pat her down. It pulled her hair (apparently these things liked to pull her hair) ran its hands thoroughly over her, and pulled her belt off. After it was apparently satisfied, it let her go and shoved her backward with a maniacal laugh. She steadied herself and bit her lip to keep from throwing an abusive comment at the thing. It might not be the best thing to do at the moment.
Apparently the search was finished, for everyone seemed to be standing still. Glancing at the others, she saw that they all looked rather defiant. She stood up straighter and tried to copy them.
The goblin king was examining an elven candelabra he had apparently pulled off of one of the dwarves. "Made in Rivendell?" he said, turning it over. "Bah. Second age….couldn't give it away." And with that, he tossed it aside, and it clattered down into the abyss. "What are you doing in these parts?" he growled, leaning forward.
The entire company stared defiantly at him…it. He…it…became rather angry. "Speak!" it shouted.
Karra saw now that Oin was pushing his way forward. "Don't worry lads….I'll handle this," he said quickly. At any other time, Karra would have added and one lass, but she didn't really want to draw attention to herself.
"No tricks!" cried the goblin king. "I want the truth—warts and all!"
"You're going to have to speak up," Oin said with the closest thing to sauciness Karra had ever heard in his voice. "Your boys have flattened my trumpet."
"I'll flatten more than your trumpet!" the goblin king shouted, and stomped towards Oin angrily. Bofur quickly pushed forward and held up a hand.
"If it's more information you're wanting, I'm the one you should speak to!" he said quickly. The king goblin pulled back for a moment and paused, as if saying, hmmm, this might do. "We were on the road," Bofur quickly began, before he could be stopped. "Well, it's not so much a road as a path….well, come to think of it, it's not even that….it's more like a track. Anyway," he prattled on, "the point is that we were on this road, like a path, like a track, and then we weren't! Which was a problem, because we were supposed to be in Dunland last Tuesday." It was obvious the goblin king was getting irritated by now. If the situation wasn't so dire, Karra would have giggled, because Bofur sounded exactly like she did sometimes.
The goblin king grew more impatient by the moment. Dori pushed forward and said, "Visiting distant relatives."
"Mmmhmm," Bofur agreed. "Couple of inbreds on me mother's side."
"Shut UP!" the king goblin bellowed angrily. "If they will not talk, then we'll make them squawk!" Its voice grew louder. "Bring up the mangler! Bring up the bone breaker!" it shouted, savoring the words as if it enjoyed them. "Start with the-" it began, and then its gaze suddenly shifted to the back of the group. Karra stiffened. She felt its ugly eyes boring into her. "What's this?" it growled. Still staring at Karra, it continued, "Bring that one forward." Karra felt herself being shoved and pulled forward. She didn't resist. It was too much effort. But she did try to stare defiantly at the monster king. She wasn't sure if she succeeded or not.
"This one is different," growled the thing. "Aha!" it exclaimed. "A lady!" It made a mock bow to her. "Ladies first!" Straightening up, it bellowed, "Start with the lady!"
Karra nearly felt her heart stop. She shrunk back and was pulled forward again. And then she heard a shout.
"Wait!" called Thorin, stepping forward.
The king's attention was suddenly directed away from Karra. "Well, well, well," it said sarcastically. "Look who it is! Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror, King Under the Mountain." It gave Thorin a very sarcastic mock bow. What is with this guy and mock bows.
"Oh!" said the goblin king, straightening up from 'paying homage.' "But I'm forgetting. You don't have a mountain." Karra glanced at Thorin. He stared the thing in the face defiantly. "And you're not a king," it continued. "Which makes you…nobody, really." It pretended to look sad. Karra took the opportunity to sneak back and hide in the middle of the group. She found herself standing beside Fili. As if to comfort her, he put an arm around her shoulder. She leaned her head on his and tried to keep from crying from nervousness.
The king monster leaned in closer to Thorin. "I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head," it said. "Just a head," it chuckled. "Nothing attached." Karra shuddered. The rest of the group reacted pretty much the same way.
"Perhaps you know of whom I speak." The goblin grinned evilly. "An old enemy of yours. A pale orc astride a white Waag!"
"A white what?" Karra mumlbed nervously. "I didn't get that."
Thorin was saying something Karra couldn't quite hear. And then, "He was slain in battle long ago!" he exclaimed.
The king leaned in closer. "So you think his defiling days are done, do you?" A creepy little goblin in a basket came flying up on a rope. "Send word to the pale orc," the king said to the goblin that was obviously a scribe of sorts. "Tell him I have found his prize!" The creepy little thing wrote something and flew off on some sort of rope and pulley system, cackling manically. Before she knew what was happening, Karra found herself being yanked away from Fili. One of the little monsters put his arms around his waist and practically carried her to another.
"His majesty said to start with the lady," the thing grinned evilly. "Here." It tossed Karra at another goblin, which caught her roughly and pulled her hair. What was with these creatures pulling her hair? Was it interesting or something?
She tried to kick in in the face, desperately struggling and punching. She managed to break free, only to be picked up by another and tossed again, landing dangerously close to the edge.
The king of the goblins began to sing another song, this one having something to do with bones being shattered and necks being wrung, but Karra didn't have time to shudder at the words; she was too busy trying to struggle out of the grips of multiple creatures.
Suddenly she heard a great yell from the goblin king. She looked up to see him jumping to his throne as if something had scared him. She suddenly thought he looked like a squeamish lady who had seen a mouse. The thought almost made her laugh.
"I know that sword!" he shouted, fear evident on his face. "It is the Goblin-Cleaver, the Biter, the Blade that sliced a thousand necks!"
Without warning, Karra found herself being grabbed and tossed again. Another goblin caught her and shoved her into another's arms. All at once she felt a searing pain in her cheek, and something dribbled down her face. She barely had a moment to realize that it was blood. The goblin king began to shout something about "Kill them all! Cut off his head!" Karra was desperately shoving her way through the hoard of goblins, trying to see what was happening…..
Suddenly everything went quiet. A bright light shone in her eyes. Karra gasped and fell backward. What was happening? The brightness seemed to grow, and push everything back before it. Karra closed her eyes….after a moment, she opened them again to see a tall silhouette coming towards them. For a moment she was frightened. Another enemy?
Then the recognition hit her like a slap. "Gandalf!" she shrieked. The dimmed lights began to glow again, and everyone sat up, staring at Gandalf.
"Take arms," he said slowly. And then, with a shout, "Fight. Fight!" Everyone jumped to their feet, and suddenly everything was chaos. Karra desperately kicked and punched her way through the mass of creatures, only thinking to get to her sword. She noticed through the mess of fighting that some of the dwarves had managed to get to the pile of weapons. Suddenly the sword was flying towards her.
"Catch it!" she heard someone yell. And she caught it. By the blade. Ouch. Not a good idea. Ignoring the blood oozing from the cut on her hand, she switched the sword to the other hand and was soon desperately fighting for her life. She was thankful she had had at least some training in how to use the thing. She managed to give on goblin a nasty cut on the arm, and, whirling, sliced another across the neck, not quite killing it. It fell to the ground whimpering, and Karra raised her sword and drove it downward into the goblin's chest, this time actually killing it. She kicked the body over the edge and saw it fall into the abyss.
It suddenly hit her what she'd had done. She had killed something. This was the first time she'd shed blood with this sword. For a moment she just stared at it, noting absently that it was glowing an odd sort of white, through the blood stains that is. She barely had time to process the fact that she had just murdered someone, before she had to turn and defend herself against a goblin approaching her, obviously seeking to push her off the edge. Almost mechanically, she shoved the sword in the direction of the creature's heart. She missed, however, and goblin dodged out of the way. She suddenly heard Gandalf's shout, "Follow me!"
Karra looked wildly around, trying to figure out which way everyone was heading. Finally she spotted Gandalf and headed his way, randomly shoving her sword every which way, hoping she'd hit something. She caught up with the dwarves and stopped for a moment, leaning over and breathing hard.
"We have no time for that!" cried someone next to her. "Come on!" The dwarf pulled her by the hand and practically dragged her forward.
"Alright!" she cried. "I can run by myself!" Jerking out of the dwarf's grasp, she ran as fast as she could across the rickety swaying bridge, willing herself not to look down. Pretty soon, however, she was in the back of the group. One of the goblins running after them approached her and grabbed. Oh no, not again.
"Can you see the bottom?" it hissed in her ear.
"N-n-no," she quavered.
"Well, you will soon!" it exclaimed triumphantly, and began to pick her up, obviously intending to throw her over the edge. And then suddenly it let out a scream and spun around, dropping Karra on the bridge. She looked up to see Fili holding both of his swords crossed at the goblin's throat.
"Don't you hurt her," he said quietly, almost fiercely, just before slicing off the goblin's head and kicking the body over the edge, hard. Karra shuddered as the head rolled toward the edge and stopped just before falling off.
Fili gently helped her to her feet. "Are you alright?" he asked hurriedly.
Karra winced. "I guess." She shrugged. "I mean, I'm as alright as I'm going to be, considering….." She was interrupted by a hideous goblin yell, and Fili grabbed her hand and pulled her along behind him, yelling over the din, "Come on!" They ran to catch up with the rest of the group which was now onto another bridge. Karra slashed her sword back and forth, sometimes getting lucky and actually managing to hit a goblin with it. Fili wielded his double swords expertly, cutting down goblin after goblin. Karra found a moment or two amongst the chaos to be a little embarrassed at her own measly skills. Slowly but surely, they worked their way back up to the group, which was now about two bridges ahead of them. The finally found themselves in the middle of the group that was now running across a very rickety bridge. Karra bit her lip as she thought what would happen if she made one wrong step through those unevenly spaced boards.
They were across the bridge and onto solid ground again now, fighting for dear life. Karra swung her sword one way and another, desperately trying to remember everything Fili had taught her about using it. Hold the sword right, stance, don't drop the sword, stay alive. That last one was her main focus. She managed to deliver a couple of nasty cuts, but that was about all. Suddenly she felt a searing pain in her own arm. She gasped and stared at the blood dripping down her right arm. Great. I'm right handed. She switched the sword to her left hand, and felt horribly clumsy. So she switched it back, trying to ignore the searing pain every time she moved her arm. Vaguely, she heard Thorin shout, "Cut the ropes!" She saw a platform full of goblins swing out, about to fall, only to be caught as others on ropes spiraled around it. Nice one, Thorin, she thought as she quickly and rather unexpectedly dispatched a goblin coming straight towards her.
Suddenly she was being pulled along with the group as they pushed a ladder before them, pushing goblins right and left. The came to a gap in the bridge, and setting the ladder down, they ran across it. Karra bit her lip and didn't look down. She jumped off onto the comparatively solid bridge just as someone knocked the ladder down and it fell into the abyss.
Karra managed to get herself into the middle of the group, and let herself be pulled along and somewhat protected by the surrounding dwarves. She let her sword arm rest for a moment and regretted it as pain flooded into the wound. She gasped and forced herself to continue running.
They ran again onto a very unstable bridge. Before Karra knew what was happening, someone had cut the bridge loose and they were swinging forward. She heard a cry of "Jump!" The bridge swung forward, and she closed her eyes and jumped blindly. She let out a sigh of relief and opened her eyes as when she landed on the other side. As she looked back, the bridge swung back, and goblins swarmed onto it, attacking those still on the swinging platform. As it swung forward again, the others jumped off, cutting the ropes of the bridge behind them, letting it fall into the chasm. Karra was pulled along again. They ran on, Karra gasping for breath and still desperately trying to ignore the pain in her arm as she swung her sword back and forth.
Suddenly there was a great flash of white light, and a boulder large stone dropped in front of them. Karra nearly shrieked. She was startled until she realized that Gandalf had dropped the boulder, and they were pushing it in front of them. She heard the horrifying squish of goblins being flattened beneath rolling boulder as they ran behind it. The stone rolled off a corner, and they continued on, running and fighting. They ran onto another rickety bridge. As they ran across it, there was suddenly a huge crash. A large ugly figure rose up before them….the goblin king. Karra nearly shrieked again. The entire company came to a stop and stared at the huge thing.
It grinned. "You thought you could escape me?" it laughed, swinging its staff scepter thing down onto the bridge right in front of Gandalf. Gandalf ducked and jumped back.
"What are you gonna do now, wizard?" the thing sneered. Gandalf raised his staff, and poked it in the eye. It drew back, crying, "Ow! Ow! Ow!"
What a wimp, Karra thought, and smiled grimly.
Gandalf drew his sword back and sliced the goblin king across the stomach. It practically screamed, and fell to its knees.
"That'll do it," it said matter-of-factly.
Gandalf sliced its chin, and it fell on its face. Karra couldn't help giggling a little at the slightly comical sight. As Gandalf drew back and raised his sword for the final strike, Karra suddenly heard a cracking beneath her feet. She looked down to see the bridge moving.
Before she knew what was happening, they were falling. Karra clung to the board above her, only to let out a cry and let go as a pain shot through her arm. The platform crashed into a wall, and Karra gasped and let out another cry as her body slammed into the rock wall, snapping her neck back into a painful position. As she desperately tried to hold onto the falling platform, she felt little tingles of pain up and down her neck.
They landed with a crash. Karra cried out again as pain sot first through her arm, then her neck. She tried to wiggle out of the mess, but found she was pinned under Bombur, for goodness sakes, and there was no getting out from under him.
"Well, that could've been worse," someone said. Are you kidding? Karra thought.
Suddenly there was a crash, and Karra felt a board slam into her face, setting off another wave of pain as she suddenly remembered the cut on her cheek. She looked up through the boards to see the body of the goblin king lying on top of them.
"You've got to be joking," Dwalin growled. The all began to wiggle out from under the ruin of the bridge. Karra sighed with relief as Bombur moved off of her, and she could move again. As she painfully began to make her way out from under a board, she heard a yell. Forgetting all pain for a moment, she jumped up and shrieked as she saw hundreds, no, thousands, of goblins rushing down upon them.
"There's too many; we can't fight them!" Dwalin exclaimed.
"Only one thing can save us now!" Gandalf said desperately. "Daylight!" He motioned quickly for them to follow him.
Karra felt pure panic descend on her. "Run?" she squeaked. "I can't run!" She tried to take a step forward and cried out again at the sharp pain in her arm and neck. She tripped and fell to her knees. "Don't leave me!" she cried.
And then she felt arms around her waist, helping her up. "I'll help you," she heard Fili's voice in her ear. He practically lifted her up and carried her, running to catch up with the others. Karra gasped at the sudden pain again, and the realization that Fili was….carrying her.
"Are you alright?" she heard him say, through a haze of pain and exhaustion.
"I—don't—think—so," she gasped as they ran towards the entrance, and towards the precious daylight.
That was quite possibly the longest chapter I've written yet. That was like the mother of all movie sequences to write. It just kept going and going and going. Phew! I hope you liked it.
I may or may not be updating for the next week and a half. We'll be on vacation, some of which time I will not have internet access. So if I don't update for a bit, that's why.