The Woman Out of Time [1]

Chapter 13: Goblin Town

I enter ruins, covered in vines and shadow. It looks as if it were once a beautiful castle, taken by the aging decay of nature. I venture further into the ruins, a statue revealed to me. I look up at it with a tilt of my head. It appears to be a King, a crown of sharp blades pointed from its head. His hands grasp a long sword, eyes vacant and distant. It sends a shiver down my spine.

A flash crosses my sight. I'm looking down a hallway into the castle, a shadow morphing before my eyes. I take a step towards it, eyes wide as I watch it begin to form a figure. Before me stands a man made of shadow, pointed silhouettes of a crown atop its head. A creepy hand reaches towards me.

I stumble backwards as if appalled by the mere gesture. My heart begins to race as I retreat from the shadow. It advances on me like a beast, no steps taken as it sweeps across the hall in a blink of an eye. A scream forms in my throat before a flash of light covers my vision.

I get a glimpse of a woman in white, dressed like the moon and glittering like starlight. I immediately feel at ease, an inviting presence of the women. I then notice the crown of starlight and pointed ears. She is an elf, one of great power and status.

"Something moves in the shadows..." she says in a calming and magical voice. A flash of fire covers my vision. "Unseen, hidden from out of sight...it will not show itself, not yet. But every day it grows in strength...."

A flash of an army appears to me, fowl faces of orcs crossing my mind. A tree of white flashes in my mind, dead and lit on fire. It burns with fury. The fire overcomes me.

"Wake up! Wake up!" I'm jolted from my deep slumber to the sound of Thorin's alerted scream. I blink away sleep, disorientated. I barely registered that I have woken before I am free-falling.

The air in my lungs lunches out of me as I find impact with hard stone. I could have sworn I heard a crack as I let out a cry. I'm tumbling down a shaft, rocks digging into my skin, drawing blood as I go. I come to an abrupt stop. I gasp for air as I lay there amongst the group of dwarves, my legs crushed beneath Bombur.

I groan as I try to sit up, surveying my bloody hands covered in cuts, my hair now falling from my braids in messy strands. I don't get a moment to think about what had happened before hideous creatures swarm me. I let out a scream as fowl creatures grab onto me, dragging me to my knees. I'm taller than most of them, forcing them to drag my already sore knees against the floor.

I thrash and cry out in defiance as they drag the rest of the company and me away. Their boney hands grab at me, little screeches leaving their scabby lips. I gag at their appearance, continuing to fight against them.

Horrible drums fill my ears, a tune echoing through the vast cavern and tunnels. Wooden bridges creak and groan under our weight; the company dragged to their leader. The song contains horrible verses depicting torture and pain. It does not ease me as we approach a vast open cavern.

I pause my thrashing, jaw agape, as I see a giant goblin. He is massive, seated upon a throne made of bones and skulls. He holds an enormous mace with a skull atop it, waving it around as he sings in glee and excitement. He must be the leader, larger than any of the goblins I see. I gag at the swinging chin covered in warts.

I hiss as fowl hands grab at me, pulling my weapons from my body and discarding them in the centre of the bridge. I hit the hand away as they grabbed at me, pulling my bag from my back. They shove me forward into the group of dwarves.

"Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom?" The giant goblin king asks, "Spies? Thieves? Assassins?

"Dwarves, your malevolence", a goblin at the head of our captures offers.