There and Back Again: A Girl's Tale

Chapter 24 The Enemy

Chapter 24 The Enemy

Gandalf huffed as he made the climb toward the ruins. It had been a long but easy ride to Rhudaur from the border of Mirkwood. Too easy, he thought, as he finally reached the high fells.

There had been no sign of the Pale Orc and his hunters, but Gandalf the Grey was no fool. Azog had not given up the chase simply because the company had taken refuge with Beorn. No, Azog's and his ilk had been recalled. The questions were to where and what end, and the probable answers made Gandalf more than a little uneasy.

The side of the mountain was sheer except for the ancient carved stone steps leading up to Gandalf's destination. The climb was tricky, and the wizard had to watch his step closely. As he climbed higher, he had time to think and worry about the friends he had left behind to traverse the depths of Mirkwood alone.

It had been many, many years since Gandalf had found himself within the Woodland Realm. Long before Thranduil had laid eyes on Elwen's mother. There was a reason Gandalf preferred to spend his time with Lord Elrond in Rivendell, for even before the death of his second wife, Thranduil had not been an easy elf to deal with. The elves of the Woodland Realm were indeed wilder than their kin, far more quick to anger and slower to see reason.

Even as he clung to the side of a mountain, the old wizard couldn't help but smile slightly. Elwen is certainly a match for her father, but is he a match for her?

Either way, he was afraid for his friends and what they might come upon in the now dark, twisted forest. Best to be about his business quickly and join them as soon as possible. For if his suspicions were confirmed, they were in far worse peril than he could have previously thought possible.

Gandalf stepped into the carved out entrance, unaware of the way it steeply sloped. He slid down the passage and narrowly avoided falling feet first into the inky blackness of the cavern below. His shout echoed off the rock as he lurched backwards, breathing heavily. I'm too old for this, he thought.

He brought the end of his staff near and blew gently until he coaxed out a pure white light that chased away the darkness.

Gandalf had been inside mountains before, but not ever had he felt such dread and foreboding in the deep places of the world. A great evil had been hidden away here, one that had seeped into the very rock and stone of the mountain. It was not a place he wished to linger overly long.

His eyes widened when he looked across the cavern to the opposite wall. To the tomb.

Bars, long rusted with age, that had once covered the entrance were now ripped apart and mangled. What could have caused such damage? It certainly wasn't the slow decay of time.

Gandalf made his way over to a crumbling walkway and slipped inside, treading carefully. It was as he had feared...

The stone that had covered the body of the Witch-king of Angmar was shattered, the tomb empty.

Gandalf gasped when a creature, a bird, flew out of the empty tomb with a high pitched screech. When the wizard turned, he found that he was no longer alone.

"Oh, it's you!" he said in relief, spying Radagast's confused face staring back at him.

"Why am I here, Gandalf?" asked the other wizard.

The top of his head was covered in an extraordinarily strange hat that Bofur would have appreciated, and one side of his face looked to be covered with bird droppings. He held his staff, a gnarled, inelegant thing, as the bird hopped over the top of his hat. When he took it off, there appeared to be a bird's nest resting on top of his head made from his hair and bits of grass and leaf. That explains the bird droppings.