With Hope and Without Hope

Chapter 37: Follow Your Nose

Merry offered the dwarf a faint smile as he sagged against the wall that separated them from the cavern of orcs. The expression felt strange on his face. Motioning for Gimli to remain where he was, he edged to the corner of the wall. A few orcs argued on one side. Others carted off yet more weapons. Some finished off the arms they had begun to forge.

"It'll be a close thing, Gimli. Either we make a run for it, or we saunter our way over, hoping to not draw any notice. Either way has a risk." He looked back at the scene. "I suggest we walk to the tunnel. It seems dangerous, but I don't think anyone will take notice. They are all quite frantic right now. And the darkness here will help cover us."

"I will follow your lead as best I can, Merry. Do as you think we should." Gimli sounded tired, and Merry had his first doubts that the dwarf could follow him. Perhaps Merry should have tried to get food first, but he would not risk losing this opportunity.

Merry stepped out, saw that the orcs had yet to notice his absence, then leaned back. "After five paces, follow me. Slowly, as if you're just going about your business. Don't look at them. Just keep going."

"Slowly is doubtless all I can manage. And if someone sees us?"

"Leave that to me. Let's go." Merry didn't know what he'd do if someone saw them, but he didn't want Gimli worrying about anything but moving.

Gimli nodded and Merry turned from him. He stepped out with a deep breath and walked confidently towards the tunnel, still holding the tools he'd pilfered. Grunts and shouts echoed from the cavern, mixed with clangs and bangs of iron as weapons piled up. Sweat dripped from his brow, likely due to more than simply the heat that pulsed around him.

Upon reaching the tunnel, darkness enveloped him, and only then did he turn to see Gimli's progress. The dwarf was only halfway across, lumbering across the open space. Stiff with aches and pains from the last two days of torture, he needed rest and much more Merry could not give him, not yet.

Finally, Gimli gained the tunnel and Merry pulled him farther into the passageway and its protective darkness. They caught their breath while Merry trained his ear on the ruckus beyond, listening for pursuing orcs. After a minute, Merry gestured into the dark and continued, putting an arm around Gimli for support.

He did not speak until he reached the point where he had been earlier, where he could no longer see. "What do you think, Gimli? Wouldn't you say there's something different about the air here? It feels cooler, doesn't it?" He knew Gimli best of all of them would understand the implications in the change of air. He hoped to hear the answer he desired from the dwarf.

"A moment, please, Merry." Gimli panted for a few minutes and Merry regretted pushing him so hard. Gimli glanced behind them. The light from the fires was faint.

"None of them come down this way. That's why I came to see what was here. So, we needn't fear any of them coming this way."

Gimli nodded. "Good. You ask me about the air here, if it is cooler. You think that means there is something different here." He paused, and Merry wondered if he was already tired out.

"The heat is less intense, but that could simply be our distance from the ovens. There is more than that, though. The air is-well, I would not say fresh, but less stale, certainly. You may have found something, Merry!" Gimli clapped him on the back, even as he leaned against the wall in exhaustion.

Merry's heart leapt and he squeezed Gimli's arm. With half a smile Gimli couldn't see, he added thoughtfully, "Gandalf always said when in doubt, follow your nose."

"You understand that whatever path we find out of here will involve climbing of some sort. How are hobbits at climbing?"

The thought of climbing out of the tower made Merry's belly quiver, for a different reason than it had the last few days. "Quite good. At least, with climbing trees. Climbing rock may be something different altogether." Merry tried thinking back to any time he had climbed rocks, but there was nothing of this sort of rock in the Shire. He truly couldn't say if he could climb it or not.