An Unexpected Romance

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

The cave that the trolls must have used to protect themselves from the sunlight was located quickly. I was the first one to slide down into the damp, dirty dark.

"This place is a gold mine!" Whispered the dwarves coming down behind me.

It was true. The floor was littered with coins and jewels, carelessly abandoned in the troll's ravenous hunger. Gandalf was using his staff to poke around amongst the treasure. He stopped when he hit something with a clang. Metal. He stopped and brushed aside the debris covering the object, revealing a sword coated with dust and cobwebs.

He handed it to Thorin, who unsheathed it quickly. It was a wicked sharp thing of pure destruction.

"The blade is of Elvish make." Gandalf said, eyeing another sword for himself.

Thorin grunted and moved to discard the weapon.

"You will not find a better blade than these." Gandalf said pointedly.

Thorin looked at him murderously and strapped the new sword to his belt.

I, after watching this exchange quietly, turned around and saw a few of the boys filling a chest with gold, then lowering it into a freshly dug hole.

"The hell are you doing?" I asked.

"We're makin' a long term deposit." Gloin grunted, shoveling dirt back onto the chest.

I chuckled and started climbing out. As I looked around at the forest, everyone else had followed me back out. The trees around us began to rustle. My body tensed, I was instantly on alert. The trees shook more violently as we drew our weapons, forming a line of dwarfish destruction.

The tree line burst, and out flew a small, peculiar little man with a brown hat on a sled being pulled by rabbits.

"Thieves!" He gasped. "Fire! Murder!"

Gandalf relaxed and chuckled. "Radagast! Radagast the Brown. What are you doing in these parts?"

"I was looking for you," Said the Wizard in a nervous but determined voice.

"You.." I began, pointing to his hat. "You've got bird poop. Just there."

Radagast looked confused before reached up to feel his hair. "Oh, oh dear- wait, never mind that!"

"Radagast, what is it?"

"I was looking for you, Gandalf." Radagast said, focused once more. "Something's wrong. Somthing's terribly wrong."

"Yes?" Said Gandalf warily.

"The Greenwood is sick, Gandalf." Radagast said, climbing down from his sled.

Gandalf lit a pipe as the rest of us busied ourselves gathering gear. My curiosity got the best of me, and I made sure I could hear Radagast and Gandalf speaking.

"A darkness has fallen over it." Radagast cried with increasing urgency. "Nothing grows anymore. At least, nothing good. The air is foul with decay. But worse.. are the webs." The Brown wizard shuddered.

"Webs? What do you mean?" Gandalf said, his back to Radagast.

"Spiders, Gandalf."

It was my turn to shiver. I hated spiders. Thorin always had to kill them for me.

"Giant ones. Some kind of spawn of Ungoliant, or I am not a wizard. I followed their trail. They came from Dol Guldur."

Gandalf turned, smoke rising from his pipe. "Dol Guldur? But the old fortress is abandoned."