Stay With Me [Thorin Oakenshield]

Chapter 17: The escape

Warning: This chapter entails graphic depictions of violence. Read at your discretion. Thank you.

If it weren't for his knowledge of what evil the place held, Gandalf would have admired the landscape surrounding him. The snowy mountain tops amidst the stony rubble seemed harsh and unforgiving but no one could deny their beauty.

However, his mind was much too preoccupied with the worries swarming it as he ascended towards the tombs in the high fells. Up and up he went along the seemingly endless staircase, if you could even call it that. When he had almost made it, a step suddenly gave way. The wizard grunted in fear as his heart dropped, thinking for a moment that he might fall to the depths below.
To his relief he was able to catch himself in time and proceeded to the entrance. His worry increased when he saw that the bars blocking it were broken and bent outwards. Something or someone had forced it open.
Slowly, he pushed himself around it, having to lean over the edge of the platform to get past. Gandalf held his breath until he made it to the other side, knowing that a fall from this height would surely be deadly.

Cautiously he entered the cave, dreading what might await him inside. He took a few steps before suddenly losing his footing as he slid down the slippery rock, towards an edge. A groan left him as he desperately tried to balance himself, throwing himself back against the wall, away from the dark chasm that he had almost fallen into. Gandalf breathed heavily, as he took a moment to calm his racing heart.

Unable to see anything he lit up his staff to illuminate the place a little. The sight that met his eyes did not bode well. The tomb across from him had been opened. He approached it hesitantly, slipping and stumbling a little along the way but he made it there safely. Entering the tomb to get a look at the grave itself, he was startled as a bird burst out from inside, flying past him with a shriek.

The wizard turned quickly to find his colleague from the greenwood stood behind him.
"Oh, it's you!", Gandalf exclaimed in relief, recovering from the fright. Radagast returned his gaze seriously as the bird settled on top of his hat. "Why am I here, Gandalf?", the brown wizard asked, clearly not enjoying the experience. He pulled the hat from his head, allowing the birds to settle in the nest in his hair before flopping it back on.

Gandalf paid his friend's strange ways no mind. "Trust me, Radagast. I would not have called you here without good reason.", he assured. His friend did not lighten up, being unsettled by the place they were in. "This is not a nice place to meet.", he said. The grey wizard had to agree. "No. It is not.", he muttered. Radagast quickly turned to look at the writings above the entrance to the tomb. "These are dark spells, Gandalf. Old and full of hate. "Who's buried here?", he asked curiously, dreading the answer. The taller wizard stepped forth to join him on the edge of the path. "If he had a name, it has long since been lost. He would have been known only as a servant of evil. One of a number."
Gandalf lifted his staff for them to be able to see the opened tombs below.

"One of nine.", he snarled.

The wizards quickly exited the tombs and descended, having found the answers they were looking for only to be confronted with more questions.
"Why now, Gandalf? I don't understand!", Radagast exclaimed as he turned to walk back towards his sled. Gandalf sighed. "The ringwraiths have been summoned to Dol Guldur.", he explained.
Radagast scoffed at the notion. "But it cannot be the Necromancer. A human sorcerer could never summon such evil.", the brown wizard brushed off the thought. Gandalf halted, wishing that he did not have to speak the next words. "Who said it was human?"

Radagast froze before quickly turning to his friend in disbelief. "The nine only answer to one master. We've been blind Radagast. And in our blindness the enemy has returned.", Gandalf said solemnly.