If I did chapter titles this one would have been called: Bilbo's Fun-Time Action Adventure.
When Bilbo was done packing he headed straight for the gates of Erebor. The entrance had been remodeled in the time since the battle ended. The gate looked similar to how it was before the dragon came, but with some minor changes.
Bilbo came to the closed gate, bags in hand, to see a horde of guards around it. The hobbit swallowed hard but kept a steady pace as he walked up to the main entrance. A large guard stepped out in front of him blocking the way.
"Excuse me," Bilbo said trying to get past the guard. Another guard stood stepped forward, then another one. They formed a line blocking Bilbo from the exit. "I'm trying to get through," Bilbo pointed out.
"King Dain has ordered that no one is to leave Erebor," one of the guards barked out.
"Yes, I understand that, but…," Bilbo tried to argue but the guards lowered their spears and pointed them at Bilbo. "…right," Bilbo said under his breath and took a few steps back. The guards lifted their spears and continued their watch over the gate.
Bilbo thought for a moment and hid behind a wall. He slipped on the ring, becoming invisible. He walked up to guards realizing that even if they could not see him the guards still stood so close together that Bilbo could not fit past them to open the gate and leave Erebor. Bilbo thought about trying to jump over them, but the dwarves were too tall. Smiling he picked up a rock off the floor and threw it. The rock made a large banging noise down a corridor. The guards kept their stance not even sparing a glance to where the noise came from. Bilbo sighed.
Leaving a chest and a cool shield Dwalin gave him Bilbo began to scale the wall near where the guards were standing. With the ring on Bilbo climbed up the walls of the gate hoping to get to the balcony where he could climb down and leave. He was only a few feet off the ground when he reached for a rock jetting out from the gate. He grabbed a hold of it and the rock crumbling. Yelling out Bilbo fell backwards to the ground, on his butt. He sat up rubbing his back side. He looked up to see all the guards were looking in his direction. Bilbo gasped and made sure the ring was on his finger. It was.
Bilbo remained still for a moment, till the guards diverted their gaze. He tried once more to scale the gate wall, but had similar results. Bilbo crossed his arms, with the guards paroling the main gate he had to find another way out of Erebor.
Picking up his small chest and shield Bilbo made his way to the secret door that he first used to enter Erebor. Bilbo guessed that Dain did not post any guards at the secret entrance and Bilbo could sneak out without anyone noticing. Bilbo quickly went to the door with the ring still on.
As Bilbo made his way towards the door he passed through the treasure room. He shook his head. It was a shame what riches could do to people, how gold and treasures could turn people against one another. Bilbo kept walking in silence, thinking about Thorin.
"Amazing isn't it?" A voice called out. Bilbo, forgetting no one could see him with the ring on, jumped behind a pile of gold. He heard footsteps approaching him then they suddenly stopped. Bilbo poked his head out from behind the stack of gold to see Dain and another dwarf he did not recognize standing and talking.
"All this gold, it's all mine," Dain said with his hands held out.
"Yes," the unfamiliar dwarf said. "But it is a shame king Thorin had to die for you to get it."
Dain nodded. "Yes, I suppose it is a shame. Yet, he had been missing too long. We had no choice but to declare him dead."
"Do you really think King Thorin dead?" the dwarf asked Dain.
"Yes, he is most definitely is dead by now," Dain said, picked something off the ground, and the two walked on.
Bilbo stood up and watched the two leave. He felt his heart sink down into his chest. Grabbing his things Bilbo quickly made his way for the secret door. He had to tell Bard how mad Dain was. He had to warn him about the dwarf's plans. Something had to be done and he knew if anyone could, it would be Bard.
Bilbo ran up the steps towards the door, turned the corner and was greeted by a handful of guards. They were blocking the exit completely, lined up so no one could pass. Bilbo panicked. There was no way out. He couldn't get out of Erebor to warn Bard.
Freaking out Bilbo ran to the armory to meet up with the rest of the company. He took off his ring and told them to meet him in his room. Within a matter of seconds the whole company was in Bilbo's, now empty, chambers.
"What's going on Bilbo? You're supposed to be heading for Lake-Town right now," they asked the hobbit.
"I can't get out of the mountain. Dain had the gate blocked off and he even had guards at the secret door. He ordered them to make sure no one left Erebor. I can't get out to warn Bard," Bilbo told them.
"There must be another way out," Ori said.
The room fell silent as everyone thought of any other ways they could get Bilbo out of the mountain. Bilbo desperately looked at the dwarves for one of them to think of a way out. He needed to warn Bard and he needed to get home.
"Frerin," Dwalin suddenly said breaking everyone from their thoughts. Fili and Kili raised an eyebrow at their other late uncle's name. "When we were young, Frerin dug a tunnel that led out of Erebor. He would use it to get out of training and to avoid Thrain when he was angry," Dwalin said trying to remember every detail of his childhood before Smaug attacked.
"Is it really an exit out of the mountain?" Kili asked hopefully.
Dwalin nodded, "Yes, but there is a problem. The tunnel was made when Frerin was just a dwarfing. The tunnel is going to be small; none of full grown dwarves could fit inside it. Tell me, Master Burglar, how tall are you?"
Bilbo informed Dwalin, quite proudly too, that he was just above three feet tall. Dwalin thought for a moment. "You should be able to fit. If I remember correctly, Frerin made the tunnel when he was just a little under your size. It may be tight, but you should be able to fit and get out of Erebor." Everyone cheered and Bilbo smiled knowing he would still be able to warn Bard.
"Where is it?" Kili asked.
"What?" Dwalin questioned.
"Where is Frerin's tunnel?" Kili asked.
"…oh," Dwalin paused. "I don't know."
"You don't know!" Fili gasped.
"Frerin kept his tunnel a big secret. He didn't want his father or grandfather to know about it. He only told me because I would yell at him and try to find him when he skipped his training. I doubt anyone else knew his tunnel existed. Thorin must have, Frerin couldn't keep a secret from him, but Frerin kept his tunnel hidden. I never learned where it was, but I remember looking."
"That doesn't help us. How are we supposed to find a secret tunnel in this place if uncle Frerin kept it hidden so well?" Kili hung his head.
"Would Mother know where it was?" Fili asked. "If Thorin knew, there is a good chance she knew too. She's always been good at getting information out of him."
"It's worth a shot," Bilbo said and the whole company made their way to Dis' chambers.
She was brushing her hair when the knocked. She welcomed them asking what was going on. Bilbo could tell she had been crying, but he pretended he didn't notice. Balin explained to her what was going on and how they needed to get Bilbo out of Erebor. Dwalin asked her if she knew anything about the tunnel Frerin dug when they were young. Dis nodded.
"Frerin's secret tunnel? Of course I remember it! Frerin would never shut up about it. He would brag about all night and day, he was very proud of it," Dis told them.
"Do you remember where it is?" Kili asked his mother.
She thought for a long time. It had been so long since she had been inside Erebor. She was only a young girl when Smaug attacked. She could hardly remember anything about Erebor and, after then after battle, she had a hard time remembering Frerin without making herself sad.
"I can't recall. He never showed me the tunnel; he only bragged about it to me. Yet, I do believe he had a map of it somewhere in his chambers." Dis looked at her youngest son. "Kili, you are staying in Frerin's old chambers, have you found any maps in there?"
Kili nodded happily. "Yes, there was whole chest filled with papers and maps."
"One of them must be where his tunnel is located," Dis said and the company hurried to Kili's chambers.
Kili apologized for the mess as they entered. Things had been thrown around the room and his clothing lay on the floor in piles. He got the chest and Dis began to look through it.
"Here it is," she said. She placed the map on a table and everyone gathered around to look at it. The map was worn, but the company could still make out the markings. "Here is the entrance to the tunnel," Dis said pointing to the map.
Bilbo took a closer look. He saw the tunnel went straight from the entrance for a little while then took a sharp left which led out of the mountain. The tunnel was simple enough to navigate, but showed no sign of where on the outside of the mountain it opened. Bilbo frowned. He could end up on the edge of a cliff, or on the wrong face of the mountain, or at very top in the freezing cold. Bilbo felt a little worried, but then he thought about the people of the lake. He thought about how they would all be killed if he didn't act. He thought about Bag End and his plants. He had to do this, no matter where the tunnel ended up.
"I know where this is," Balin said looking at the map. "It's down by the mines."
"Come on Bilbo, I'll show you where it is," Dwalin said patting Bilbo on the back. Fili and Kili agreed to see Bilbo off as well. Bilbo gave everyone another quick good-bye feeling a little awkward. Bofur just gave him a wave and a little laugh.
Bilbo left his chest and shield thinking they would not fit in the tunnel. Yet, Bilbo was content as long as he had the ring. He followed Dwalin down to the secret tunnel fiddling with the ring in his pocket. He felt nervous.
They came to the corridor where the tunnel was located. A guard was walking through it so the group stayed back till he past. Dwalin pointed to the wall, "this should be it." He pushed on the wall and Bilbo noticed a small crease beginning to appear. The door was about Dwalin's size.
"Hurry, the guard is coming back around!" Kili said in a hushed tone. Dwalin pushed harder and the door opened into a pitch black tunnel. Bilbo couldn't see anything beyond the door. He lit the torch they gave him and got ready to enter the dark, somewhat creepy tunnel.
"You have to go now," Dwalin said and pushed Bilbo inside. Bilbo yelled out falling into the darkness of the tunnel. Dwalin slammed the door shut behind him leaving Bilbo in total darkness. The torch provided some light, but less than Bilbo would deem comfortable.
The tunnel was dead silent. A wave of cold air rushed over Bilbo, who shivered pulling up his collar. He held out the torch looking at the tunnel. It was much nicer than Dwalin made it seem. In fact, it was nothing like Dwalin made it sound. The tunnel was large, big enough to fit two or three full sized dwarfs. Bilbo laughed, even Bombur could fit in the tunnel. Frerin must not have taken his small size into consideration when he built it. The tunnel was also well kept. He was not as nice as the corridors and halls or Erebor, but it wasn't a hole that looked as though a mole dug it. The tunnel was square, with a clear floor, ceiling and walls. Bilbo smiled to himself as he walked.
Bilbo had been walking for a few minutes till he stepped out with his foot and went to plant it on the floor only to realize there was a step downwards. Without enough time to correct his balance Bilbo fell forward. He rolled down at least twenty steps till he fell onto a hard solid floor at the bottom. His torch tumbled down next to him, luckily not going out or catching anything on fire.
Bilbo rubbed his butt. It had to be black and blue by now. He sat up and noticed the torch had rolled far away from him to the right. Bilbo stood up and walked over to the torch. He picked it up remembering that the tunnel was only supposed to turn left.
Confused Bilbo held the torch out in front of him checking out what was to his right. At first all he saw before the darkness was that the tunnel opened up a great deal more, perhaps to a room. Bilbo narrowed his eyes. The map didn't show anything on the right side of the tunnel. Letting his Took side take over Bilbo entered the room to the right.
Bilbo gasped loudly dropping the torch.
"Thorin!?"
Did I ever mention how much I love Frerin, because I do. He isn't really even in the books or the movies, yet I am emotionally compromised by him.
Please, please review and have a nice day.