The Elf, the Hobbit and the Dwarf - Book 1 NEW VERSION

The Goblin King

Míriel stood still as she awaited their doom; the hissing from the floor was not stopping and she knew there was no way out of there now. Before the Dwarves had time to react, the floor suddenly opened up and they all fell endlessly down a tunnel of rock. Míriel screamed as she did not enjoy the sensation of free-falling, yet her voice was muffled by the screams of the Dwarves who had barely awoken before this all happened.

Míriel spotted the ground far away and grasped that it was going to be a harsh landing. Since the Dwarves were heavier than Míriel, they would meet the bottom before her and to slow the fall she stretched her arms out an conjured a spell. It wasn't powerful enough to keep them from landing quite harshly either way, but at least they had not died. Míriel landed softly on Bombur who caught her awkwardly but smiled as he was pleased that he had caught her.

"Thank you Bombur," Míriel said breathlessly and smiled faintly. The smile didn't last very long, though, because they were soon attacked by hundreds of small, pale Goblins who seized them, making it very hard for them to fight back. Míriel was grabbed by her hair and whimpered as they grabbed her arms and begun dragging her away with the others.

Míriel and the Dwarves were forced over many different bridges, and she was thankful that she wasn't afraid of heights for they were very high up. This was a large cave inside the mountain and it became apparent that the company had set their camp in a terrible spot. It was a stupid mistake to sleep in a cave in an unknown mountain because it seemed as though they had walked right into a Goblin lair.

The longer they walked, the larger the caves grew and finally they arrived in what seemed to be a whole city of Goblins. This was their home, this was their mountain, and the Dwarves had walked right into their trap. They stopped in front of a large throne, and upon that throne sat the foulest Goblin Míriel had ever seen. He was three times the size of the others with a crown on his head and warts all over his body. He was coughing out mucus as if he was sick which disgusted them greatly.

"I feel a song coming up," the Goblin King said with a wry smile.

Snip snap, the black crack

Grip, grab, pinch and nab

Batter and beat

Milk 'em, stammer and squeak!

Pound pound, far underground,

Down, down, down in Goblin Town

You can yell and yelp,

But there ain't no help

Pound pound, far underground

Down, down, down in Goblin Town!

"Catchy isn't it," said the Goblin King when he was done and bowed to the applause he received from his fellow Goblin subjects. "It's one of my compositions."

The song had been a way for the Goblins to threaten the company and warn them what they did to intruders. Míriel tried to reach for her sword but realised that the Goblins would surely see her and attack. They hadn't hurt them yet so perhaps there was a way of convincing them to let them go or bribe them with something.

"That's not a song," Balin said and stepped forward. "It's an abomination!"

"Abominations, mutation, deviations... that's all you're going to find down here," replied the Goblin King and chuckled. "Search them!"

His subjects began seizing their weapons and despite Míriel trying to fight them off she was held tightly by four Goblins as she was taller than them all and needed more restraint. Míriel saw her sword and daggers falling onto the ground and hoped dearly that they would not destroy them. The sword was her father's after all.