A Daughter of Warriors (A Hobbit Fanfiction)

Chapter 7 - Mazes

"Damn those damnable dwarves! And that wizard!"

I muttered the words out loud and looked up to see if Gandalf had heard me but of course he couldn't; not over the raging thunder storm that surrounded us. The rain pelted my face and I squinted into the hazy area in front, aware of Gandalf still pushing forward in search of those idiotic dwarves that had decided to run away. And guess who was chosen to be his lucky companion on this useless quest? Yes, that is right...me!

"I really think we need to head back!" I shouted over the storm, trying to cling onto the slippery surface of the rocky mountain edge that we were treading dangerously on, "Or at least find shelter and wait out the storm! We will never find them in this weather!"

"No, Kristen! We have to find them!" shouted Gandalf.

A frown crossed my face. Why was he so adamant to find these dwarves? They're just dwarves! I chose not to speak.

As I stepped forward my foot slipped and I came crashing down onto my knees. I let out a small scream as the sharp rocks cut into my hand. My quick reflexes stopped me from tumbling over the edge but what they didn't me stop from was looking over the edge to see the vast plummet that would have resulted in a very watery and very rocky death. Gandalf heard my shout and rushed back to help me. As he took my hand I could see the fear evident on his age-old face.

"I'm fine! Just a little scratch," I shook off the rocks from my hands and tried to ignore the searing pain caused by the cuts, "but what I'm not fine with is the fact that we are on a wild goose chase. How do we even know the dwarves came this way?"

I had to shout even louder as the storm grew worse. Gandalf turned back to walking and I could see by his shoulders that he was set on this quest and there was no going back or forward until he found those dwarves.

"Kristen, have you not noticed the absolute mess that we have been going through for this last part of the journey? There are rocks and boulders all over the place!"

I frowned. "Well, we are walking through a mountain range. I would expect to see a few rocks lying around," but as I said those words I looked closer around me and noticed that it did seem to be a little off. The boulders didn't really align as they should have and there really were a lot of rocks lying around, even for a mountain range.

"Okay, Gandalf, I see what you are saying. Something must have happened here but that doesn't necessarily mean your dwarves were here."

"Just look closer!"

I let out a huff. As usual, Gandalf was right. Instead of focusing on the storm I looked past the rain pelting my face and deeper into the haze. And there it was!

"Gandalf! Look, over there!"

I squeezed past Gandalf and into a small opening found on the side of the mountain. The small cave was small and dry; a perfect place to set up camp! And from the ashes I could see that someone had definitely set up camp here.

"Kristen, over here!" Gandalf whispered loudly to me. I crept to where he was crouching and bent down to see what he was looking at. He held up one of the dwarf's flasks and I suddenly felt a chill run through my body remembering the horror stories of these mountains.

"That doesn't mean anything," I said with a small voice as I tried to convince myself that nothing was wrong, "They must have set up camp, stayed for a bit and then carried on with their path." I stepped back and moved towards the entrance wanting to escape this dingy little cave.

"Kristen, you know what lies within these mountains as well as I do." The thought of those horrible creatures brought on another chill.

"And that is why I suggest that we leave now." I stood by the entrance and made a check to see that my weapons were still in place. The feel of the bow and arrows fastened onto my back and my sword hanging by my side gave me some small comfort. "Everyone knows about those goblins and I would hope that those dwarves weren't stupid enough to set up camp in a cave like this."