#like the clashing differences as a baggins and as a took

[heart-select]

shire movie but its literally just belladona and bungo's love story (altho probably just belladona adventures really)

[disphoriasweater]

i dont like how hair customs only seem to be a dwarf thing even though Hobbits hold their foot hair in very high regard so ive decided to come up with some of my own Hobbit hair customs

to hobbits beginning of life are very important to them. the first harvest after winter is cause for celebration. that being said its an custom for Hobbits to shave their foot hair and wrap their feet in times of new beginnings. Often done in the day before or on the night after weddings, this is a sacred custom that is done in private. One of the other times this was done was after the Fell Winter. While typically only the foot hair is shaved in some cases a person might shave their head or other body parts (depending of the significance)

Respectability is important to hobbits and thus braids are often seen as a faunt thing to do however several generations ago they picked up a couple of Dwarven braids that they then adjusted. Some braids announce that they are looking for courtship, some announce things like gender and some are for mourning. these braids can be seen on either the foot hair or the head of a hobbit (depending on the specific braid)

Hobbits cut their hair often. the hair is sometimes woven into bracelets or put in lockets. Some sick plants or hobbits may be found with locks of hair tied around their limbs. Respectability also comes into play here. Hobbits must have their hair neat and orderly (the only exception being Tooks but they were already know for being adventurous and wild).

[the-worm-man]

Here’s an idea that i’ve been working on for some time and i hope you enjoy

It’s called Character Clash!

The evil overlord of emptiness, ERASASERA, is hell bent on destroying all creation and originality. They has sent an army of minions and corrupted many secondary characters and antagonists! Only you and your characters can stop their terror!

~

Bored in school, a meeting, or just in general? Then get out a notebook and play...

*CHARACTER CLASH!*

A video game... on paper!

You can use ANY character or OC, as long as you get the creator’s permission if necessary, for either side! If you want to make Garfield, Sans the Skeleton, and Frodo Baggins fight a giant Peppa Pig, you can!

Materials Needed:

A sharp pencil

A notebook

A couple Characters 

A Coin (for flipping, if you wanna play that way)

SETUP

Take a notebook, and draw your team of characters with their HP bar. Then draw your adversaries with their respective health bars. Then rip that page out.

Now write what happens on turns in the notebook, coloring in HP bars and editing your battle page as events unfold. Here’s an example of a turn.

Skribble used Crash!

Enemy took 20 Damage!

Brushie cast Fire! [Status]

Enemy was Burned!

Enemy was damaged by burn for 10 Damage!

Enemy used Slash!

Brushie took 14 Damage!

...etc. 

GENERAL RULES

Combat is based in turns. Your team goes first, then your adversaries. You have three options on your turn, but can only do one action.

ATTACKS

MAGIC

ITEMS

ATTACKS do not cost anything to use. You can use these as much as you like. They do damage to adversaries. However, some attacks need movement, and if you are stuck behind a barrier, like a tripwire, You cannot move. You can use ranged attacks, like rocks. 

You can only have up to three ATTACKING moves each battle, and you can switch them out. What they are is up to you!

MAGIC costs MP. Magic uses different elements. The elements are as follows:

Fire, Ice, Storm, Quake, Dark, Flash

Some enemies are weak to specific elements! Also, MAGIC can be cast in two ways, Damage and Status. Damage does elemental damage to adversaries. Status inflicts a status upon adversaries or allies. What each one does is decided by you!

ITEMS are limited, and you can only have four items per character. To get items, you fight smaller, weaker enemies. How many items they drop is up to you, depending on their difficulty. What the items are and what they do are up to you. Some examples are:

Chili Dog: Heals 15 HP, ATK Up

Salsa: Cures a Freeze

Reverse Wrap: Takes the stat changes of an enemy and gives them to ally/gives it to another ally

However, you can make whatever you want as long as it’s not TOO powerful! Or you can. It’s up to you!

There are multiple CLASSES to choose from. They each have their own respective HP and MP. What they are is up to you, but here’s some examples.

Hero- 100 HP, 4 MP

Warrior- 120 HP, 3 MP

Spellcaster- 80 HP, 5 MP

You start out with ONE character. Then, you gain more the more bosses you beat! You can have a maximum of Three per battle, however, so keep records of each! 

You can also gift characters to friends! Send them a character and a moveset with move descriptions, as well as a drawing of them! Give them to friends over messages or IRL! 

Finally, after as many Battles and Boss Battles you can handle, you can fight an ERASASERA ADMIRAL! They can look like whatever you think they look like! Erasasera is beyond our reach for now, but we can weaken their army! And who knows, maybe more to do will be unlocked...

Let’s save imagination together!

Note: This is made to be fun. If you want to make it super hard, go for it! If you want to make it super easy, that’s fine too! Headcanons? Use ‘em! Do whatever you want while following these generic rules & guidelines!

Note: From my experience, this is great to do while listening to music. Try it!

[stocknlisianthus]

Alice In Middle Earth [Hobbit] (Various x reader)

A/N This chapter is longer than the previous chapter! All the other chapters would be this long if not longer, chapter one is the only exception because it’s like a prologue/chapter 1. Hope you enjoy this chapter as well! If you haven’t read chapter one, click this below.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

  Numbness and coldness. Those were the first thoughts that rushed into (Y/N)’s mind. Then, as if a sudden electricity travelled her body, she sat up, choking up some water that was blocking her airway. She coughed violently before coming back to her senses and looking around her surroundings.

 “Where am I….?” She gasped when all she could see was green. There was no sign of the blue ocean that swallowed her whole. In fact, there was nothing blue as far as she could see except for the clear sky.

“So you are finally awake,” A voice called from above and it was only then that (Y/N) realized that she was sitting up with her legs out on the grass, water dripping down from her hair, face, and body and making a puddle around her. A tall man stood over her, blocking the sun. He was dressed in grey; grey robe, grey beard, and pointy grey hat like of a wizard-

“A wizard?” A word slipped out from (Y/N)’s lips and she shook her head no. He doesn’t seem to have a wand in his hand. Just a fancy walking stick is all he had with him. Forcing her numb legs, she stood up, crunching her nose for a split of a second as she realized that her flipflops were gone. She didn’t expect anything until the older man spoke again, a look of surprise evident on his aged face.

“Yes, I am Gandalf the Grey. A pleasure to meet you, Lady….” He took his point hat off and bowed down his head, giving a warm smile as his voice drifted off. (Y/N). (Y/N) (L/N) And the pleasure is all mine. (Y/N) smiled back, also bowing her head in respect. She found this situation quite amusing although she had no idea where she was, nor how she got here, and where her friends had gone.

“Mister Gandalf the Grey, have you by any chance seen my friends? One of the guys has red hair and…” Gandalf gently shook his head no and (Y/N)’s face fell. It didn’t make sense. Harry, Ron, and Hermione would have never left her side when she was unconscious. She pondered for a moment, then coming back to her senses when Gandalf cleared his throat. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I’m just so confused… I don’t even know where I am!” She basically screamed that last part, panic finally registering into her.

“Do not worry. You must be freezing, Lady (Y/N). I know of a place where you could take shelter for a while. Come, come! We best be on our way!” So she followed the wizard, although she wasn’t quite sure of it yet, her heart strangely thudding fast for a strange reason in this strange situation.

   *

   “What is it that you find so unfamiliar?” Gandalf spoke after a few minutes of walking in silence, bringing (Y/N)’s attention to him. She staggered for a while, not sure if she should give out her hypothesis to a complete stranger. After a few quick thoughts, she decided against the idea and just beamed at the old man that reminded her very much of a friend of hers.

 “It’s very different from where I come from. There’s…. a lot less buildings around here,” She said, looking around, to which Gandalf informed her that they were now at the Shire. The Shire… That didn’t sound familiar at all, did it? Sighing, (Y/N) gazed at the sky and noticed that the sky was already tinted dark blue and the sun had gone down.

  Gandalf the Grey eventually led her up the hills and together they spotted 8 short men leaning against what is supposed to be a door...? because the moment Gandalf was about to call out to them, it opened and they all fell forward, piling on top of one another. Before Gandalf leaned in she caught a glimpse of another short man looking baffled, confused, flustered, and even possibly angry and couldn’t help feeling a little bit sorry for him despite not knowing him at all. So when they all got into the house, (Y/N) very slowly set her foot in the comfortable looking house-err, she wasn’t sure if she should call it a hole or a house- and bowed her head, an apologetic smile forming on her lips.

 “I’m so sorry to barge in on you like this, especially so late, but I haven’t got anywhere else to go and Gandalf suggested that I follow him here,” (Y/N) said, putting her hand out for a handshake, which the man took and shook firmly despite him being so flustered.

 “Bilbo Baggins, Miss….” (Y/N), she smiled, “(Y/N). I suppose… since there are already more than a dozen people so politely enjoying my hospitality, one more wouldn’t hurt,” His sarcastic remark made her laugh despite the loud noise coming from the kitchen which also made her ears hurt a bit. Nonetheless, Bilbo led her to the kitchen before walking off towards Gandalf for confrontation.

  (Y/N) quietly took the empty seat, which happened to be right across from one of the younger men. She felt her stomach grumbling for food and was about to grab a biscuit when a hand landed on top of hers, also reaching out for one as well. When she looked up, she saw the man with the shortest beard meeting her eyes with a… shocked expression? She couldn’t put a finger on it but she slid her hands back and let him take one first before bringing one to her mouth.

 “Um…. I….” He stammered, not even thinking of retrieving his outstretched hand. (Y/N) lifted her gaze up onto his face again from her plate. She smiled politely, waiting for him to go on. When a minute passed by and the man still hadn’t mouthed a single word, the blonde man right beside him spoke up instead.

 “I’m Fíli and this is my brother Kíli,” Fíli said, nudging his brother on the side, at which Kíli jolted and muttered a “pleasure to meet you”.

  Just when (Y/N) was about to introduce herself to the brothers, Gandalf took a seat beside her and she was asked to check on Bilbo, the host, who certainly didn’t look pleased with the situation. When (Y/N) rose from her seat and carefully made her way to him without being noticed by the other men- or she had thought, which had been proven wrong in less than an hour- and laid a hand on his shoulder. Are you okay? You don’t look so well. Her worried face must have calmed the host a bit because he sighed instead of giving her an angry speech about how rude the men were.

 “Yes, I’m just very tired today. I just… never expected so many guests, if not none.”

 “And so late at night too. I apologize, Mister Bilbo Baggins. I really do appreciate your kind act, though I must say, and the food is delicious! Did you make it yourself?”

 “Why, yes, of course!” Bilbo beamed. Finally! Someone sensible enough to thank him for his hospitality! “I lived by myself for a while so I have familiarized myself with cooking. I quite like it very much.” He looked up at the woman and was caught by surprise when he saw her smiling widely. It made him a little bit giddy inside.

 On the other hand, (Y/N) found herself enjoying Bilbo’s company. He had a kind heart and was also very polite. It made her wonder how he knew those men in the kitchen. Not to be rude or anything, but it seemed like they were the total opposite of him! Except for the height, of course, Bilbo only came up to about her chest and the men in the kitchen about her shoulder. Just as Bilbo was about to talk to her about his favourite recipe, he was interrupted by one of the men.

 “Excuse me, I’m sorry to interrupt, but what should I do with the plates?”

“Here you go, Ori, give it to me.” A blonde man (Y/N) recognized from the earlier conversation as Fíli interrupted again and threw the plate at his brother, who also tossed it around his back to another person. (Y/N) and Bilbo watched with a horrified look on their faces, (Y/N) because she didn’t think anyone would do that as a guest and Bilbo because he was terrified of the dwarves breaking his plates.

  “Excuse me, that's my mother's West Farthing crockery, it's over a hundred years old!” Bilbo yelled across the room and (Y/N) ducked down just in time to miss the flying plate that was coming her way. The men had started to bang their hands on the table and clashed their knives and forks to start a rhythm by the time the two horrified people rushed into the kitchen. Can you not do that? You’ll blunt them! The host’s cry was ignored by the man who snorted and Kíli’s singing.

 Blunt the knives, bend the forks

Smash the bottles and burn the corks

Chip the glasses and crack the plates

 That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!

 Cut the cloth, tread on fat

Leave the bones on the bedroom mat

Pour the milk on the pantry floor, splash the wine on every door

Dump the crocks in a boiling bowl, pound them up with a thumping pole

When you're finished, if they are whole, send them down the hall to roll

 That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!

  Despite Bilbo getting paler by the passing second, (Y/N) couldn’t fight the smile that was forming on her lips. The men seemed to be enjoying themselves and the lyrics were hilarious- most importantly they reminded her of her troublemaker friends: Fred and George, not to mention her three best friends, Ron, Harry, and yes, surprisingly Hermione too. After the song ended, she let out a small giggle, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.

  “Say, who are you-“

Bang, bang, bang! One of the men started but was cut off short by the loud banging on the round green hobbit-sized door, taking away yet one more chance for (Y/N) to introduce herself properly to the fellow guests.

[igotanaddixon]

Fallen Stars (Thorin x OC)

A/N: Hi guys!! Here is the new chapter of Fallen Stars! This one was really challenging. Writting Gollum was extremely hard and I hope that you will like the actions scenes!

Fandom: The Hobbit

Pairing: Thorin Oakenshield x OC (Elentári)

Forever taglist: @weirdnewbie @villainlove @fizzy-custard @fictionalquintessence-deactivat @ealasaid @xalexandriaxk@maidenadventure @sdavid09 @lainternettuale @deepestfirefun@shewalksinanotherworld @fangirl570 @tschrist1 @babybarrie@fandomgalcentral @j25m18c24 @bbcrazypraise @tenthousandcolors@sesshomaru-lover @dreamingoftheza @fullvoidmoon

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10 --> Current read

Chapter 11

Chapter 10: Goblin Town

Elentári’s eyes fluttered open in the middle of the night. Thorin’s arms were still wrapped protectively around her but she was now facing away from the dwarf, her back pressed against his strong chest. Elen smiled, feeling a bit embarrassed as goosebumps ran down her arms and entire body when she felt Thorin’s warm breath over the skin of her neck. She felt warm but weirdly, the elleth couldn’t be at peace. She had the bad feeling that something might happen in this cave.

The Company was resting; all the dwarves were asleep but Elen couldn’t bring herself to go back to sleep. Elen watched the company sleep for a while but when her eyes stopped on Bilbo, the elleth frowned. The hobbit, only pretending to be asleep, stealthily opened his eyes and looked around. Elen closed her eyes pretending to be asleep and seeing that no one was watching, Bilbo quietly rolled up his blankets and packed his things. Grabbing his walking stick, he started to leave the cave, tiptoeing over the sleeping dwarves. Elen’s eyes shot open and she tried to move from Thorin’s grip to stop Bilbo but the dwarf tightened his arms around her. Elen looked back at him to see him awake and looking at her. Elen’s eyes widen but Thorin shook his head in disagreement. The elleth was ready to argue when Bofur’s voice broke the silence.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Bofur asked, his voice low enough not to wake the others. Elen and Thorin, however, were close enough to hear.

“Back to Rivendell.” Elen heard Bilbo say.

“No, no, you can’t turn back now, you’re part of the Company. You’re one of us.” Bofur tried to convince the hobbit, his voice filled with fear for his poor friend.

“I’m not though, am I?” Bilbo answered almost sarcastically. “Thorin said I should never have come, and he was right. I’m not a Took, I’m a Baggins, I don’t know what I was thinking. I should never have run out my door.” Bilbo’s voice was sad and Elen couldn’t help but glare at Thorin. The dwarf was staring thoughtfully at the wall, not daring to look at the elleth, as he listened.

“You’re homesick; I understand.” Bofur tried again but Bilbo lost his temper, the frustration and concealed anger finally exploding.

“No, you don’t, you don’t understand! None of you do… You’re dwarves. You used to… to this life, to living on the road, never settling in one place, not belonging anywhere.” Bofur looked offended, and Bilbo felt suddenly repentant. Elen’s glare soften as she watched Thorin’s eyes filled with sorrow. The elleth sighed and placed her right hand on Thorin’s chest, right over his heart, trying to show him that she understood.

“I am sorry, I didn’t...” Bilbo tried to apologize to Bofur but stopped in the middle of his sentence, scared to worsen the situation. Thorin’s eyes briefly met Elen’s as he listened on.

“No, you’re right. We don’t belong anywhere. I wish you all the luck in the world. I really do.” Bofur said then the usually merry dwarf smiled sadly and placed his hand on Bilbo’s shoulder. Bilbo gave him a grateful smile and soon turned and began to walk away. However, Bofur’s voice stopped him before he could walk out of the cave.

“What’s that?” Bofur asked and Elen’s heart clenched in fear.

Something was glowing at Bilbo’s belt. The hobbit pulled his sword partway out of its sheath and saw that it was glowing bright blue. Bilbo remembered what Gandalf had told him about elvish blades, and he knew that Orcs were nearby. Thorin raised his head as he heard strange machinery noises and saw cracks form in the sand on the floor of the cave. Elen pushed herself up on her elbows and gasped.

“Wake up. Wake up!” Thorin shouted suddenly and Elen only had the time to grab her sword because before anyone could react, the floor of the cave collapsed downwards; the floor was in reality a giant trap door.

Thorin grabbed Elen in his arms once again and the entire Company fell down a chute, slid through a tunnel, and landed in a giant wooden cage. During the fall Elen couldn’t help but scream, as did the entire company. Her shoulder and abdomen hurt as she hit several rock walls but hopefully Thorin’s body somehow protected her enough. Nothing was broken.

The company landed on the hard floor of the wooden cage, Elen landing on Thorin’s chest with a hard thud. The elleth looked up but her breath caught in her throat, her face was an inch away from Thorin’s, their lips brushing as they tried to catch their breaths. Elen suddenly forgot where she was and what was happening, she was lost in Thorin’s beautiful and entrancing blue eyes. However, a horrible shriek snapped her out of her daze. As the company struggled to get up, a horde of goblins attacked them. Thorin pushed Elen up by her waist but it was already too late. The goblins were on them and took away their weapons, then dragged them all away.

“Don’t touch me!” Elen screamed as one of the goblins tried to grab her hair to pull her forward.

Elen punched the nasty creature in the face then kneed him in the stomach but another goblin hit her hard on the back on her head. Elen groaned in pain and was ready to kill the disgusting creature but didn’t have the time as Thorin punched the goblin away. The dwarf rushed at Elen’s side.

“Are you alright?” He asked but couldn’t reach her as another goblin dragged him away. They were outnumbered and Elen knew that she had to wait to be able to do something.

As the dwarves were led away kicking and yelling, Bilbo somehow got missed by the goblins. He crouched down in hope to be able to sneak away. The goblins, not seeing the hobbit, left him behind. However, Nori, looking over his shoulder, saw this happen. Bilbo scampered behind some railing to hide as he watched the goblins proceed through the tunnels. Bats flied in the darkness over Bilbo’s head and the tunnels were suddenly silent. Bilbo drew his sword, which was still glowing bright blue, and slowly followed the goblins. He needed to help the company. Even if he originally wanted to leave, he cared deeply for the merry troop of dwarves, he had to do something. Suddenly, a goblin jumped down in front of the hobbit and rushed at him with his sword. Bilbo tried his best to face the nasty creature but after a brief fight - in which Bilbo barely managed to keep himself alive - the goblin and Bilbo both fell over the edge of a platform and fell through the darkness.

  “What is this horrible sound?!” Elentári said, loud enough for everyone to hear.

The goblin horde brought the dwarves through a vast network of tunnels and wooden bridges to the throne room and platform of the Great Goblin King. Some sort of distorted music started to fill the place. The dwarves protested as they listened to the song, Elen trying to block the horrible sound by putting her hands over her ears. The Great Goblin King was a massive goblin sitting on a throne, holding a mace topped with a skull. He was far larger than any other goblin, and he was incredibly ugly, with warts all over his swinging chin. Elen gagged as she watched him and her eyes widen. As the distorted sounds started to get louder, Elen saw Bifur trying to block his ears with his hands as well. Bofur looked up at the different levels of the town, probably wondering how they’re going to escape. Thorin and Elen were just behind them.

As the Goblin King sat on his throne, the music started to get louder, and the Goblin King said; “I feel a song coming on!”

The dwarves watched helplessly as the huge goblin started to sing.

“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.”

Elen looked around her at the other dwarves, her eyes caught Bofur looking at her with a slightly scared look and Thorin quickly pulled her behind him, trying to hide her from the Goblin king. They arrived on the platform before the throne as the huge goblin kept singing. Thorin slipped his hand into Elen’s left one, needing a connection with his elleth. As if the simple gesture was enough to calm him down.

“With a swish and smack

And a whip and a crack

Everybody talks when they’re on our rack

Pound pound, far underground

Down, down, down in Goblin Town.”

The goblins around them sang along with their king, their nasty voices filling and echoing in the huge cave.

“Hammer and torch, get out your knockers and gongs

You won’t last long on the end of my prongs.”

The goblin king used his mace to impale one of his goblin subjects and whirled him around before throwing him above the company’s heads. Elen’s jaw dropped at how barbaric the entire scene was and she felt Fili and Kili squeeze her between their shoulders, shielding her as best as they could. Thorin’s hand squeezed her cold one and gritted his teeth.

“Clish, clash, crush and smash

Bang, break, shiver and shake

You can yell and yelp

But there ain’t no help

Pound pound, far underground

Down, down, down in Goblin Town.”

At the end of the song the Goblin Kind swirled around with his arms extended, the mace in his hand came dangerously close to everyone’s heads and the company had to duck to avoid being hit. The goblin then walked back to his throne and sat down, crushing some goblins to reach the throne. The dwarves glared at the King, Thorin and Kili trying to hide Elen behind them.  

“Catchy, isn’t it?” said the Goblin King. “It’s one of my own compositions.” Elen couldn’t understand why he was so proud of such a horrible song.

“That’s not a song, it’s an abomination!” Cried Balin from behind Elen and all the dwarves agreed loudly, the elleth nodding her head in agreement.

“Abominations, mutations, deviations…that all you’re gonna find down here.” The Goblin King replied, stepping forward. The dwarves’ weapons were then piled together by some goblins and the Goblin King jumped off his throne, trampling several goblins once again, and approached the Company.

“Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom? Spies? Thieves? Assassins?” The huge goblin shrieked.

“Dwarves, Your Malevolence.” One of the goblins said, earning another shriek of surprise from the goblin king.

“Dwarves?” He asked, looking upon the Company with raised eyebrows.

“We found them on the front porch.” The same goblin explained.

“Well, don’t just stand there; search them! Every crack, every crevice.” The goblin king exclaimed and Elen’s eyes widen at the idea.

The goblins started to search the dwarves thoroughly, throwing away whatever they found. Even Oin’s hearing trumpet was thrown on the floor and crushed underfoot. Elen cursed at the goblin who was trying to search her but her voice died down when she heard one of the goblins emptying out a large bag of what appeared to be Elvish cutlery and candlesticks. The Goblin King examined a gold candelabra and turned it over; “Made in Rivendell?” He said.

“Bah… Second Age, couldn’t give it away!” He exclaimed, and tossed it aside.

Everyone turned to look at Nori, Elen shaking her head in disbelief. Nori had a guilty expression on his face as Dori turned to look at him.  

“Just a couple of keepsakes.” Nori explained, trying to defend himself.  

“What are you doing in these parts?” The Goblin King asked, his eyes landing in Elen but the elleth tried to hide behind Thorin’s back even more.  

“Don’t worry, lads… I’ll handle this.” Oin suddenly offered, catching the huge goblin’s attention. Elen sighed out in relief.  

“No tricks!” Said the Goblin King. “I want the truth! Warts and all!”

“You’re going to have to speak up.” Oin said. “Your boys have flattened my trumpet.”

“Oh, oh… Here we go.” Elen muttered as she watched the horrible face of the goblin king twist in anger.

“I’ll flatten more than your trumpet!” The Goblin King roared, and walked toward Oin but Bofur jumped forward and shouted to catch the goblin’s attention.

“If it’s more information you’re wanting, I’m the one you should speak to!” Bofur offered and the Goblin King paused. “We were on the road… Well, it’s not so much a road as a path… Actually, it’s not even that, come to think of it, it’s more like a track. Anyway, the point is we were on this road, like a path, like a track, and then we weren’t! Which is a problem, because we were supposed to be in Dunland last Tuesday.”  

The dwarves tried to add additional information before the Goblin King cut them off by shouting for them to shut up, the entire place shook and the Bofur stopped talking. Elen rolled her eyes but suddenly gulped when the nasty eyes of the Goblin King landed on her again, his attention shifting to what he thought he had seen a few seconds before.

“Well, well, well! Look at that, this one is not a dwarf.” He said with a twisted smile that made Elen’s stomach jump in disgust. “Bring her forward!” The goblin king ordered and suddenly two goblins grabbed Elen by her arms and tried to push her in front of the company. Thorin’s hand tightened around her own and pulled her to his side.

“No!” The elleth heard Kili shout and try to keep her by his side as well. Thorin punched one of the goblins but Elen grabbed his arm to stop him. The goblin king couldn’t recognize him. Elen glanced at Thorin, her eyes telling him to stop, that she could handle herself. Thorin reluctantly let go of her hand, his heart hurting as if Dain combat pork had run him over. The company kept protesting until Elen was pushed on her knees in front of the Goblin King.

“Well… Look at you, little delicate thing.” The horrible goblin said, his voice filled with amusement. “What are you doing with these dwarves?” He asked, looking down on the young elleth.

“None of your business, filth!” Elen hissed, pushing herself up to glare at the nasty goblin. He laughed at her, apparently amused by her reckless behavior.

“What are you? A very small elf?” The goblin king asked just inches away from Elen’s face.

“You shouldn’t step so close to me. The temptation to kill you is way too strong.” Elen said, smirking like the devil.

The company held their breaths as they watched the interaction then Elen looked up at the goblin revealing her eyes and her face in the dim light of the huge cave. The Goblin’s eyes widen as he recognized the elleth.

“Look who we have here! Elentári of the Lothlorien! Princess of the Lorien’s elves!” The goblins around the company shrieked and roared as the dwarves growled at the Goblin King.

Thorin watched in fear, he couldn’t let anything happen to her but he was stuck. If he moved to protect her and the goblin recognized him, the entire company could be in great danger. However, if he did nothing and his elleth got hurt because of him he would never forgive himself. Elen glared at the goblin, her eyes burning holes into the goblin’s nasty bulging eyes.

“Well done! You know who I am… Then you know you should release us if you value your life.” Elen said with an exaggerated smile on her features.

The Goblin King laughed darkly then grabbed her by the throat, pulling her in the air in front of him. Elen gasped, trying to free herself and control her temper. She couldn’t use her light in this place. The installations were too frail and precarious, she couldn’t take the risk to hurt the company by fighting with her powers.

“You are in no position to threaten me, she-elf!” The goblin roared and the company shouted and kicked at the goblins, trying to defend their elleth friend.

“Let her go!” Elen heard Kili and Fili shout.

“I’ll kill you if you hurt her!” Dwalin roared, pushing and fighting against the goblins.

The goblin king ignored the company and tightened his grip on Elen’s throat, making her gasp again as she tried to breathe. Thorin watched, screaming with the others. His heart stopped but his anger was suffocating. He wanted to kill that filthy goblin with his own bare hands. How dare he touch his One! How dare he hurt the woman he loved!

“Speak!” The Goblin shouted in Elen’s face but the elleth smirked, her face red and contorted in pain. She looked at the goblin with hate filled eyes then spit in his face. The goblin king closed his eyes and roared in anger. He threw Elen on the ground, the elleth trying to catch her breath, coughing and gripping her sour throat. “Well then, if they will not talk, we’ll make them squawk! Bring out the Mangler! Bring out the Bone Breaker! Start with the youngest and the she-elf!”

The Great Goblin pointed at Ori and two goblins grabbed Elen by her arms. Thorin’s heart hammered in his chest, he was living in a nightmare and suddenly, the dwarf king couldn’t take it anymore as one of the goblins hit Elen on the back of her head, and he stepped forward.

“Wait.” Thorin shouted and everyone quiet down. Thorin stepped past his friends, his eyes locked on Elen as he revealed himself. Elen’s eyes widen and she fought against the goblins holding her.

“Thorin! No!” She shouted but the dwarf king shook his head. His eyes looking back at her once more, sadness evident in his gaze.

“Well, well, well, look who it is. Thorin son of Thrain, son of Thror; King under the Mountain.” The Great Goblin bowed exaggeratedly to Thorin and Elen felt her anger boil in her blood. “Oh, but I’m forgetting, you don’t have a mountain. And you’re not a king. Which makes you nobody, really.” The Goblin said, making fun of Thorin.

“Oh, and what does that make you, disgusting filth?! Thorin does not need a crown to be a king. He is our king!” Elen screamed, feeling the need to defend Thorin’s honor. The goblin king shouted for her to shut up but Thorin stepped forward again.

“Let her go. You have me, you don’t need her.” Thorin tried to reason with the goblin but the disgusting creature smirked devilishly.

“You care about her!” The nasty goblin laughed and Thorin glanced quickly at Elen but stayed silent. The elleth looked up at Thorin, watching his reaction. She couldn’t understand why he had not denied the goblin’s statement. Thorin couldn’t care about her, yet the memory of their almost kiss in Rivendell and the night she had spent in his arms haunted her thoughts.

“Then you will see her die first!” The goblin king said with a smirk as he saw Thorin’s eyes filled with anger and fear. “Before I trade you to someone else. I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head. Just the head, nothing attached. Perhaps you know of whom I speak, an old enemy of yours. A Pale Orc astride a White Warg.” Thorin looked up in surprise and disbelief.

“Azog the Defiler was destroyed. He was slain in battle long ago.” Elen heard Thorin’s voice break at the end of his statement and she looked back at the company, her eyes meeting Balin’s in a worried look.

“So, you think his defiling days are done, do you?” The Great Goblin laughed, then turned to a tiny goblin sitting in a basket and holding a slate. Send word to the Pale Orc; tell him I have found his prize.” The tiny goblin wrote down the message on his slate; cackling, he then pulled a lever, causing his basket to start sliding down a system of ropes and pulleys into the darkness.

  Bilbo slowly regained consciousness after his long fall with the goblin he was fighting. His eyes fluttered open to find himself in a dark cavern, lying behind a clump of mushrooms. His first thought was that these mushrooms were abnormally huge but then, his eyes landed on the goblin who attacked him lying nearby, nearly dead. Suddenly, Bilbo saw a strange figure approaching the goblin. Its eyes glowed in the dim light, its breath resonating against the damp rocks of the cavern, and his steps quietly disturbing the silence of the desert crevasse. Bilbo held his breath as he heard the creature speak for the first time, his voice high pitched and strangled.

“Yes. Yes. Yes! Yes! Gollum. Gollum.” The creature said, approaching the goblin.

Bilbo, out of sight behind the mushrooms, watched as Gollum circled around the goblin. Gollum then began pulling the goblin away by the feet. Bilbo wondered what he was doing when suddenly, the goblin woke up and began flailing around. In a fit of rage, Gollum grabbed a rock and pounded the goblin on the head with it, knocking it unconscious again. Bilbo watched in horror but what he didn’t see was a golden ring falling out of Gollum’s loincloth and hit the floor heavily. Gollum resumed pulling the unconscious goblin away, now content with his work.

“Nasty goblinses. Better than old bones, Precious; better than nothing.” Bilbo heard the creature say as he disappeared around the corner of the tunnel.

Bilbo, emerging from his hiding spot and retrieving his sword, decided to follow after Gollum. After all, he needed to find his way out of the cave to find the company. Bilbo advanced in the tunnel but by the light of his sword he saw something shine on the rock floor. The hobbit bent down with a frown and picked up a golden ring on the ground. As he examined it, Bilbo couldn’t help but think it was extremely beautiful. Even if it was rather odd to find a golden ring in the caves under Goblin Town…

Hearing Gollum singing in the distance, Bilbo put the Ring into his pocket and followed the sound of Gollum’s voice.

“Too many boneses, Precious! Nothing of flesh!” Bilbo heard the creature say, its voice sounding weirdly gentler as he spoke.

“Shut up! Get its skin off. Start with its head.” The voice suddenly said with a harsher tone. Then the gentler voice started to sing.

“The cold hard lands, they bites our hands, they gnaws our feet. The rocks and stones, they’re like old bones, all bare of meat. Cold as death, they have no breath, it’s good to eat!”

Rounding a corner, Bilbo saw Gollum silhouetted on top of a rock in the middle of a small lake. Gollum was singing as he beat the goblin’s body. He smashed it in the head again with a rock when it steered but the movement made him look up and see the glow of Bilbo’s sword. Bilbo quickly hid behind a rock, realizing that his sword was still glowing brightly.

However, the sword’s light started to flicker, then completely died out, signifying that the goblin was dead. Bilbo peeked out from behind the rock but was shocked to see that Gollum was no longer there. Gollum stealthily paddled through the lake in his little boat, using his hands as paddles and breathing in anticipation. Bilbo slowly looked up as he heard the creature’s breathing and found Gollum on a rock above him. Bilbo’s heart started to beat hard against his chest as he tried to stay calm. Gollum jumped down in front of Bilbo and the hobbit watched the creature in fear.

“Bless us and splash us, Precious! That’s a meaty mouthful.” The creature said as he approached Bilbo, but the hobbit placed the point of his sword on Gollum’s throat, causing the creature to retreat in fear.

“Aaahh. Gollum. Gollum. Ack” Gollum complained as he looked rather annoyed.

“Back. Stay back. I’m warning you, don’t come any closer.” Bilbo said, his voice waving with a mix of emotions as he got up and pointed his sword at the crouching creature.

“It’s got an elfish blade, but it’s not an Elfs. Not an Elfs, no. What is it, Precious? What is it?” Gollum shrieked out, observing Bilbo with huge eyes.

“My name is Bilbo Baggins.” Bilbo answered with an annoyed sigh.

“Bagginses? What is a Bagginses, Precious?” Gollum asked, looking Bilbo up and down.

“I’m a Hobbit from the Shire.” Bilbo answered, his sword falling to his side as he observed Gollum’s every move.

“Oh! We like Goblinses, batses, and fishes, but we hasn’t tried Hobbitses before. Is it soft? Is it juicy?” As Gollum approached again with threatening eyes, Bilbo held out his sword in front of him and wildly waved it about.

“Now, now, K… keep your distance! I’ll use this if I have to!” The hobbit said with apprehension. Gollum snarled at Bilbo, causing the hobbit to step back. “I don’t want any trouble, do you understand? Just show me the way to get out of here, and I’ll be on my way.” Bilbo tried to reason, desperate to join the company and help them.

“Why, is it lost?” Gollum asked, stepping behind a huge rock before Bilbo.

“Yes, yes, and I want to get unlost as soon as possible.” Said the poor hobbit.

Upon hearing this, Gollum answered in a different voice than before; Bilbo didn’t know it but this was his Smeagol personality speaking.

“Ooh! We knows! We knows safe paths for Hobbitses. Safe paths in the dark.”

The Gollum side suddenly took over the Smeagol side; this exchange of control between two personalities was really confusing for the poor lost hobbit. However, Bilbo soon understood what kind of sickness haunted this creature’s mind.  

“Shut up.” Gollum shouted suddenly in reaction of what Smeagol had said.

“I didn’t say anything.” Bilbo answered, confused.

“Wasn’t talking to you.” Gollum harshly said then hid behind the huge rock.

“But yes, we was, Precious, we was.” The gentler voice said, confusing Bilbo even more.

“Look, uh, I don’t know what your game is, but I…” Bilbo started but Gollum jumped out of his hiding spot and smiled suddenly in happiness.

“Games? We love games, doesn’t we, Precious? Does it like games? Does it? Does it? Does it like to play?” He asked, looking at Bilbo in hope.

“Maybe?” The hobbit answered, unsure. His answer apparently contenting Smeagol as he held up his hands, then began reciting a riddle.

“What has roots as nobody sees, is taller than trees. Up, up, up it goes, and yet, never grows.” Smeagol asked with a smile. Bilbo thought quickly but found it quite easy.

“...The mountain.” He answered and Smeagol began laughing uproariously.

“Yess, yess, oh, let’s have another one, eh? Yes, come on, do it again, do it… do it again. Ask us.” Bilbo watched as the creature’s eyes shifted suddenly, his face contorted in anger.

“No! No more riddles. Finish him off. Finish him now. Gollum! Gollum!” Gollum snarled, and began rushing at Bilbo to kill him, but hobbit held out his hand to stop him and began speaking.

“No! No, no, no. I wa… I want to play. I do. I want to play. I can see you are very good at this. S… so why don’t we have a game of riddles? Yes, just, just you and me.” Bilbo said in a gentle voice as he crouched until he was leveled with Gollum. Gollum scuttled forward, close to Bilbo, whispering excitedly.

“Yes! Yes, just, just… just us.”

“Yes. Yes. And… and if I win, you show me the way out.”

“Yes. Yes…” Gollum started but his eyes changed again as he took cover and snarled, turning away from Bilbo. Gollum’s two personalities started to talk to each other as Bilbo waited a bit confused.

“And if it loses? What then?” Gollum asked to himself.

“Well, if it loses, Precious, we will eats it!” Gollum laughed to himself, then turned back to Bilbo.

“If Baggins loses, we eats it whole.” Gollum said as a matter of fact then shrugged his shoulders. There was a pause for several seconds as Bilbo digested this new information. After all, he didn’t have the choice.

“Fair enough.” Bilbo finally agreed and stood up, putting his sword away as Gollum looked on interestedly.

“Well, Baggins first.” Gollum said with a devilish sparkle in his eyes.

  Elen sighed as she watched dozens of goblins carry massive instruments of torture on their shoulders, bringing them to the Great Goblin. Meanwhile, the goblin king was dancing and singing lustily.

“Bones will be shattered, necks will be wrung! You’ll be beaten and battered, from racks you’ll be hung. You will lie down here and never be found, down in the deep of Goblin­town.”

“Is this one of your other ‘compositions’?” Elentári asked in disgust, the goblin king glaring at her.

“Talk when you still can, she-elf. Soon you’ll only be screaming and begging for me to end your miserable life!” The disgusting huge goblin said, smirking as he watched Thorin struggle to get closer to Elen.  

As Elen shouted insults in Sindarin – making the goblin king laugh - Grinnah, one of the goblins, was examining the weapons the dwarves brought with them. He picked up Thorin’s sword, Orcrist, and slid it a few inches out of its sheath. Recognizing the sword, he gasped in horror and threw down the sword. It landed in view of all the goblins and Elen raised an eyebrow in confusion. Recognizing it, the goblins howled in fear and rage as they retreated from it. The goblins holding Elen suddenly releasing her arms. The Great Goblin ran rapidly to his throne, trampling many goblins on his way. He spoke loudly, pointing at the sword.

“I know that sword! It is the Goblin­Cleaver, the Biter, the blade that sliced a thousand necks.” As he spoke, Grinnah and the rest of the Goblins began whipping the dwarves with ropes and leaping upon them, biting and slashing.

Elen shouted but the two goblins tried to grab her once again. She fought against the two nasty creatures as she tried to get to the company. The elleth suddenly roared, her eyes glowing with light and one of the goblins holding her was thrown in the hair with force, the other one releasing her in surprise. Elen turned around to see several goblins whipping Thorin, the dwarf’s face contorted in pain. The elleth couldn’t help but run at Thorin, the burning leather of the whip hitting her on the cheek as she threw herself at a kneeling Thorin, shielding him from the whips and from the pain. She felt his arms wrap around her waist and trying to protect her as well but suddenly, the elleth was thrown on the ground with force as she heard the goblin king scream.

“Slash them! Beat them! Kill them! Kill them all! Cut off his head!” The goblin king shouted and Elen’s heart stopped.

“No!” She screamed, her voice breaking as she saw some goblins holding Thorin down. Thorin’s eyes searched Elen, he needed to see her one last time, he needed to tell her. Tell her how much he loved her, how much he would have loved to show her Erebor and love her for the rest of his life. How much he wanted to make her his Queen. One of goblins pulled out his knife and prepared to behead Thorin. Elen got up ready to attack as she shouted, tears already falling down her cheeks. Then, suddenly, there was a massive explosion of bright light; the sound went muted in the cave as a shockwave ripped through the area, flinging goblins in the air and destroying the torturing machines. Everyone was knocked down, including the Great Goblin. When the force of the explosion had passed, most of the lights in the area had been snuffed out. In the background, a shadow with a tall pointy hat walked up. It was Gandalf, holding his staff and his sword, Glamdring.

Light slowly returned to the area as the goblins and the dwarves slowly looked up, recovering from the shock. Gandalf held his hand for Elen, pulling her on her feet as she watched in awe. They all stared at Gandalf, confused and dizzy but Elentári soon fully recovered and grabbed her swords as Gandalf shouted.

“Take up arms. Fight. Fight!”

The dwarves quickly got up and began fighting the goblins. Elen jumped forward to join Thorin and helped him up, their eyes locking for an endless second as goblins ran at Gandalf. He killed them with his sword and staff. The Great Goblin, still lying on the ground, saw Gandalf’s sword and pointed at it, crying aloud to his goblins.

“He wields the Foe­Hammer, the Beater, bright as daylight!”

Some of the dwarves reached their pile of weapons and began tossing the weapons to each other; they used their weapons to defeat the goblins around them. Oin managed to reclaim his hearing trumpet, although it has been quite flattened. Nori, while fighting, landed on the floor; the Great Goblin ran at him and swung his mace.

“Nori!” One of the dwarves shouted, bringing Thorin and Elen out of their daze.

Thorin and Elen jumped forward and deflected the Great Goblin’s blow at the same time, causing the Great Goblin to stumble backward and fall off the edge of his platform, falling to the depths below. The rest of the dwarves and Gandalf continued to fight, Thorin having Elen’s back and vice versa.

“Follow me. Quick! Run!” Gandalf shouted as he ran. Thorin grabbed Elen’s hand and pulled her with him, keeping her close.

Cutting down the goblins around them, the dwarves and Gandalf ran along a pathway leading away from the throne room.

 Bilbo hurried through the cave, fleeing from Gollum, whom he could hear in the distance.

“Give it to us!” Gollum screamed.

After their game of riddles, which Bilbo had won, Gollum had found out that Bilbo was now in possession of his ring. Apparently, it made the creature extremely upset and he was now trying to kill the poor hobbit. Bilbo was in a side cave as he saw Gollum running past the entrance. Gasping, he turned around and tried to run through a crack in the wall. However, he got stuck partway through, misjudging the place he needed to reach the other side. He looked up in fear as Gollum, attracted by the noise, backtracks and saw Bilbo stuck in the crack. Snarling, Gollum approached Bilbo like a predator approaches his prey.

“It’s ours. It’s ours!” Gollum snarled again; Bilbo exhaled and pushed as hard as he could.

He finally managed to slip through the crack, but his waistcoat buttons were ripped off in the process and they hit Gollum in the face, taunting him. Gollum snarled and ran as fast as he could to reach the other side of the crack. Meanwhile, Bilbo lost his footing and fell down from his exertions. As he hit the ground, the Ring, which was in his hand all along, flied into the air. Bilbo’s eyes widen as he reached up and as the ring descended, Bilbo reached up to grab it. However, instead of landing in his hand, the Ring slid onto his finger, and Bilbo suddenly became invisible.

Gollum jumped into the area where Bilbo was, growling, and looking around for Bilbo. However, since Bilbo was invisible, he didn’t see him. Gollum continued down the cave, trying to find the hobbit. Bilbo, with the Ring on, saw everything as if he was in a different reality. All the colors are muted, and the edges of everything he sees was blurred and wavy. The air seemed thick and heavy in his lungs and the time seemed to slow down only a little bit. The hobbit was aware of everything around him as if the ring gave him strength and courage.

“Thief! Baggins!” Gollum yelled into the cave, his voice filled with hate. Seeing Gollum ran away, Bilbo slowly stood up in shock.

  Gandalf, the dwarves and Elen were running through the suspended passageways of Goblin Town, with hundreds of goblins running after them.

“Quickly!” Gandalf said pulling the group forward as he ran.

“Faster!” One of the dwarves shouted. Elen looked behind them, seeing the goblins close.

“They’re getting closer!” The elleth warned just when Dwalin saw several goblins running at them from in front.

“Post!” Dwalin shouted as he and some of the dwarves cut a guardrail post from the side of the path and held it out in front of them like a massive spear.

“Charge!” The fierce warrior ordered the rest of the dwarves. He and the other dwarves charged at the oncoming goblins and swept them away with the long rail. Dropping the rail, Dwalin pulled out his axes and began knocking aside goblins. The rest of the company did the same.

Gloin hit one goblin who fell and landed on another suspended path, breaking the path and dropping all the goblins on it into the darkness below. The rest of the Company also fought the goblins around them with their various weapons and fighting styles. Thorin released his elleth’s hand as he fought, his sword cutting goblins with ease. Elen jumped in the air, landing in front of Ori who was struggling with a particularly nasty goblin. The elleth grabbed Ori by the arm and pulled him behind her as she plunged her sword in the goblin’s stomach then kicked him off of the platform. Several goblins snarled as they swung on ropes toward the dwarves.

“Cut the ropes!” Thorin shouted. The dwarf king and some of the dwarves cut the ropes holding a raised platform in place; the platform fell outward, entangling the goblins swinging on the ropes. Elen watched in awe as the dwarves fought. They were amazing fighters, even the youngest.

As Kili fought, several goblins started shooting arrows at him. He deflected some arrows with his sword then he grabbed a nearby ladder and dropped it on the oncoming goblins. Elen joined him and with some of the other dwarves ran forward, pushing the ladder and the goblins it had trapped in front of them. As they approach a missing area of the path, the goblins fall down into the darkness; the ladder, however, acted as a bridge for the dwarves and the elleth to cross to the rest of the path. As soon as they crossed it, Dwalin broke the ladder, preventing the goblins chasing them from crossing it.

“Quickly!” Gandalf shouted again, grabbing Elen by her shoulder and pushing her forward.

The dwarves and Gandalf continued running through the maze­like paths; they got on a section of the path suspended by ropes from above. They sliced some ropes, and the pathway began to swing away from the rest of the path, approaching a different path. Elen tried to keep her balance as the wooden pathway swung, Thorin’s hand instinctively grabbing her cool fingers as they approached the other side of the path.

“Jump!” Thorin shouted, pulling Elen with him as he jumped. Several dwarves managed to jump to the other side. However, before the rest could, the suspended path swung back like a pendulum to where it started, and several goblins leaped on.

“Fili!” Elen shouted as she saw the young golden prince struggle with four goblins but Thorin followed the elleth and stopped her at the edge of the path, wrapping one of his arms around her waist to hold her back.

“Wait!” Thorin told her, whispering in her ears to calm her down.

As the path swung back again, the rest of the dwarves and Gandalf managed to jump to the new path as well. Fili, the last one to jump, cut the ropes, causing the swinging path and the goblins on it to fall. Elen and Thorin caught the young dwarf and followed the other. The dwarves and Gandalf continued running through the tunnels, killing all the goblins in their way. Gandalf struck a rock above them with his staff, causing the rock to fall down and began rolling in front of the Company, squashing all the goblins in their way. Elen followed, killing as many goblins as she could.

Soon, they approached a bridge between two walls of the cavern. However, as they try to cross it, the Great Goblin suddenly broke through from underneath the bridge and pulled himself up in front of the Company. As the dwarves paused, trapped by the goblin king, hundreds of goblins approached them from all sides.

“You thought you could escape me?” The goblin king said and swung his mace twice at Gandalf, causing the wizard to stumble back and almost fall.

“What are you going to do now, wizard?” The goblin king taunted, looking at Gandalf in triumph. Elen huffed and turned around to see Gandalf leap forward and strike the Great Goblin in the eye with his staff. The Great Goblin dropped his mace and clutched his face in pain.

“Ow, ow, ow!”

Gandalf stepped forward and sliced the Great Goblin in the belly, making him fall to his knees, clutching his now bleeding belly.

“That’ll do it.” The goblin king said, looking at Gandalf almost praying for his life.

“I don’t think so…” Elen muttered next to Thorin at the back of the group. Then, Gandalf swung his sword once again and sliced the Great Goblin’s neck, causing him to fall down dead.

Elen looked down as she felt the bridge shake because of the goblin’s weight. Suddenly, the section of the bridge on which the company was standing broke away from the rest of the bridge and started sliding down the side of the cavern. Elen shrieked as she understood what was happening. The bridge slid at a terrific speed down the cavern’s wall, demolishing everything in its way; the dwarves clung on, screaming in terror.

Thorin and Elen fell on the bridge and tried to hold on. The dwarf king pulling Elen to his chest with one arm and gripped the railing with the other. The bridge finally slowed down and landed at the base of the cavern, breaking apart and burying the dwarves in the timber and wood. Elen felt the impact of the bridge hitting the rock ground, however her fall was cushioned by something firm and warm. Gandalf got up from the pile of wreckage and inspected the rest of the dwarves, who were still stuck in the wreckage.

“Well, that could have been worse.” Elen heard Bofur say, his optimism suddenly crushed down by the heavy corpse of the Great Goblin king landing on the wreckage, squishing the dwarves further. They cried out in pain, Elen groaning as she hid further in the warm chest that had cushioned her fall.

“You’ve got to be joking!” Dwalin complained as he tried to pushed himself up.

Elen looked up as she felt the person move under her small body. Her eyes widen as they landed on a worried Thorin.

“Are you alright?” The dwarf king asked, his hands pushing on the elleth’s lower back to keep her close. Elen blushed, finally understanding that she was positioned on top of Thorin, their bodies pressed against one another, their legs tangled and their noses brushing. She had landed on top of him, once again.

“Y… Yes…” The elleth stuttered, lost in her king’s eyes.

As the company extricated themselves from the rubble, Kili looked up and saw thousands of goblins running at them.

“Gandalf!” The young archer shouted, catching Elen, Thorin and Gandalf’s attention.

“There’s too many! We can’t fight them.” Dwalin said as he grabbed Ori out of the rubbles.

“Only one thing will save us: daylight! Come on! Here, on your feet!” Gandalf shouted and the dwarves got up quickly, helping each other out of the rubble.

Thorin pushed Elen up by her hips then shot up before grabbing her hand and following the others. The elleth tried to focus on the danger around them instead of the feeling of his warm skin against hers but the task was nearly impossible.

As they ran away, following Gandalf through yet another tunnel, Elen couldn’t help but suddenly wonder… Where was Bilbo?

Tell me what you think guys! I love to have feedbacks! 

xxx Lisy 

[junkyard-trash-blog]

Got a few [possibly] related dreams from my naps - or is it nap because technically, I was only awake between them for a few minutes before conking back out.

Anyway.

First Dream:

Setting: magic school for [possibly] magical creatures

I walked into the classroom to take a test and was quietly sitting under the tables (for some reason I didn’t wanna sit in the chairs like everyone else) when there was this commotion. Suddenly there was this huge clash of thunder (or what sounded like it) and a bolt of electricity that shattered the classroom windows and scattered the test papers.

Everyone ran out screaming.

Then the scene changed. I was in a cafeteria line getting my food (thankfully actual food and not the lunches I used to get back in school) when there was another commotion. I looked at where it was coming from and saw SNK/AOT’s Eren, Mikasa, and Armin at a table (apparently they were students too). Eren was trying to bite his hand and his friends were trying to stop him, and it created quite the racket.

Eren transformed and the students in the cafeteria went crazy. My lunch was knocked from my hands.

Another scene change. I was standing in front of a wall with windows with several classmates and a teacher (looked like Akame ga Kill’s Susanoo) - Armin was there too. Outside the windows was what looked like a lake and it was filled with rubble and what looked like bodies.

He discussed the assignment - go out there and search for survivors / clear away the rubble. He sent us all out as we were (we had to use magic in order to maneuver under water). I stayed to the side for awhile watching the others, they complained about “trash duty” while working. They didn’t seem to notice the bodies though and when I tried to point them out, my classmates ignored me.

I decided to go on my own and free the bodies trapped within the rubble - on closer inspection, I realized they were more of my teachers and some were bleeding. After freeing them - Armin decided to help but didn’t know why at first until he used magic to help him see through whatever spells the teachers placed on themselves - and after the assignment was completed, they congratulated me and Armin on a job well done since I was able to see them and rescue them - they weren’t actually in any danger of drowning, they had their magic keeping them from doing so.

Second Dream

Setting: same magic school?

[this one doesn’t make a lot of sense] I was in a hallway when a classmate found this odd wooden doll/token thing, it transported him back in time to change one thing he regrets. When he came back, he told some of his friends about the doll and they used it too - one made a whole relationship with a girl not happen.

The teacher took the doll away from the students and locked it away.

The scene shifted to his office and it was nighttime. The teacher was still working at his desk when he was started by a voice (I don’t remember what it was saying) and then a spirit walked into the room through a wall. The ghost was dressed in colonist/revolutionary attire (think George Washington era but not the Great GW himself) and he was speaking in a foreign language (possibly French?)

It freaked the teacher out and then another spirit walked in, this time a girl with bloody clothes who was blaming him for some wrong done in the past. There were two or three more spirits after that which pestered him and he ran from the room, they followed. He tried to get help from his colleagues but they thought he was crazy, I stepped up to his defense (at first I thought that I was just an abject viewer with no corporeal form but apparently I was just an invisible person that floated about). 

Third Dream

Setting: Cadet Academy, [possibly magic related?]

I was in a car with a cadet recruiter and he was explaining my new life to me - going to classes for cadet-ship and living in a dorm and different assignments. He stopped the car in a parking lot and we got out. The building ahead of us was at least a dozen and a half stories high and made of stone (like a hospital type building), there was long stretches of staircases running along a couple of the sides.

I followed the recruiter through the parking lot and up the stairs where I passed a few civilians, and he explained that parents/families normally dropped their kids off at the academy but since I didn’t have any, I wouldn’t have to deal with that mess (I got the feeling he wasn’t much of a family person).

We got to the top of the staircase when my phone started going off, I stopped to shut it off but couldn’t find it, then for some reason I sat on the top step where an old Asian lady and a little girl was - the lady looked sad and the girl was crying as she tried to climb down the stairs.

Scene shifted after a few minutes and I found myself walking into a classroom for orientation. The classroom was packed with new students looking to become cadets. A guy named Petra (who looked like a tanned Takeshi from Ouran Host Club) came up to my side asking where we should sit (apparently we were friends?), I pointed out a couple spots in the second row from the back (there were about five rows of desks). 

We found our places, Petra to my right and a weird little squishy guy to my left (Johnny Tests’ Bling-Bling Boy but more fancy-French attitude, a bit emo-looking, and wearing TUA Five’s schoolboy uniform) that creeped me out because he kept staring at me.

Orientation began with a presentation on a screen and students busted out some food to eat, I had a whole meal from Panda Express in Tupperware dishes (lo mien noodles, black pepper steak, black pepper chicken, beef broccoli, and crab ragoon). I was eating with my right hand and taking notes with my left when I dropped my pen.

I went to pick it up when weird squishy guy next to me picked it up with telekinesis or something and handed it back to me, I thanked him and went back to paying attention. 

I left the room during break and the scene shifted again. I was walking fast down a hallway feeling suffocated and like something was after me, there were students loitering and chatting. I thought about escaping to the outside world and found myself going into Petra’s room because I knew he had a window that could be opened in there.

Petra was passed out on the bed, I crossed his room and exited through the window there and made my escape into the outside world. I closed the window again and felt like I could breathe, then I ran over the grounds and into the forest.

Many of the trees there looked like they had once been hit by a bad wind storm (look up Derecho damage and look at images of trees, it was like that) but they had recovered. I wandered awhile on a path near a deep canyon with a river below when I noticed that some of the trees had long wide red markings like someone took a paintbrush and tried to paint the bark. The markings were a bit blood-colored.

Ghost Adventure’s Zak Baggins was suddenly there and telling me that it wasn’t blood but instead red clay dust from the river/canyon below that the trees would soak up and it would change the color of their bark. I asked him what he was doing there and he told me him and the boys were checking out an abandoned building nearby, then he asked if I wanted to investigate with them.

I accepted the invitation and stayed with them for awhile but then I had to get back to the academy so I left. When I got back to the academy, I was immediately stopped by one of my teachers who wasn’t very happy with me. She said that my sneaking out through Petra’s window caused the room to get cold which caused his heart defect to act up which then caused him to get petrified (however that works).

She dragged me to see him in his room and I found that his skin was a bit hardened and cracked like stone, but he was still alive and moving around. She said that he would recover soon but that I was in big trouble and should make it up to him.

Then she sent me back to class so Petra could rest. I wondered to myself how opening the window for a few seconds could cause him to petrify (apparently dream logic didn’t make any sense to me in this case), then I entered the classroom again and sat down for another lecture, and I wondered how I could make up my error in judgement to him.

This is where I woke up.

[mydigitallworld]

The Best Fantasy Books of All Time

One factor we all have in typical, we all like outstanding Fantasy Books. The objective of this information is to help you choose what rare collectible books should you study next. "The Way of Kings" by Brandon Sanderson One of the best science fiction books you will find isThe Way of Kings, its plot and story are awesome. From starting to end, he holds the reader full attention. Brandon Sanderson does an outstanding job with personality and storydevelopment, He's so legendary, so innovative, so exactly what I want to learn. This fantasy book begins outstanding but ends outstanding and this is one fantasy book I liked very much! "The Black Company" I'm amazed when I started reading this book that I had not look at this fantasy book before now. This book was really exciting and        amazing. it is a relatively different read than most other fantasy activities. It's published in a first-person likely and jumps directly into the story. "Ship of Magic" by Robin Hobb This is another Robin Hobb "epic" fantasy book and yes, another 5-star review. A vibrant study with a well-paced, the figures are incredibly specific, and the story is awesome, and it's just simply outstanding storytelling. "A Clash of Kings by George" R. R Martin This is not simple reading! is a must-read for those who really like studying about knights in fights, legendary beasts, old-time politics, dragons and magic! Suitable for adultreaders. Henry R.R. Martin, stories are fantasy, set in a legendary world, but the magic, dragons and so on are much less essential than the ability clash of different kingdoms and houses, the individual and family disputes, and the figures themselves.  "The Hobbit" by J. R. R. Tolkien Review: The Hobbit fantasy book took me on an amazing journey of fantasy, one that took me through anoutstanding feeling. Bilbo Baggins is a regular hobbit, encounter might be in his blood, but it's not really his factor. He'd rather remain in his awesome house under the Mountain and have tea. But they have many adventures which will permanently change his lifestyle and the life of those around him. The story is spectacular. There are amazing fights, charming settings, and one of the best being in English literary works. If you have look at Lord of Rings, or other antique books, I suggest you to read this fantasy book.

[readbookywooks]

Barrels Out of Bond

The day after the battle with the spiders Bilbo and the dwarves made one last despairing effort to find a way out before they died of hunger and thirst. They got up and staggered on in the direction which eight out of the thirteen of them guessed to be the one in which the path lay; but they never found out if they were right. Such day as there ever was in the forest was fading once more into the blackness of night, when suddenly out sprang the light of many torches all round them, like hundreds of red stars. Out leaped Wood-elves with their bows and spears and called the dwarves to halt. There was no thought of a fight. Even if the dwarves had not been in such a state that they were actually glad to be captured, their small knives, the only weapons they had, would have been of no use against the arrows of the elves that could hit a bird's eye in the dark. So they simply stopped dead and sat down and waited-all except Bilbo, who popped on his ring and slipped quickly to one side. That is why, when the elves bound the dwarves in a long line, one behind the other, and counted them, they never found or counted the hobbit. Nor did they hear or feel him trotting along well behind their torch-light as they led off their prisoners into the forest. Each dwarf was blindfold, but that did not make much difference, for even Bilbo with the use of his eyes could not see where they were going, and neither he nor the others knew where they had started from anyway. Bilbo had all he could do to keep up with the torches, for the elves were making the dwarves go as fast as ever they could, sick and weary as they were. The king had ordered them to make haste. Suddenly the torches stopped, and the hobbit had just time to catch them up before they began to cross the bridge. This was the bridge that led across the river to the king's doors. The water flowed dark and swift and strong beneath; and at the far end were gates before the mouth of a huge cave that ran into the side of a steep slope covered with trees. There the great beeches came right down to the bank, till their feet were in the stream. Across this bridge the elves thrust their prisoners, but Bilbo hesitated in the rear. He did not at all like the look of the cavern-mouth and he only made up his mind not to desert his friends just in time to scuttle over at the heels of the fast elves, before the great gates of the king closed behind them with a clang. Inside the passages were lit with red torch-light, and the elf-guards sang as they marched along the twisting, crossing, and echoing paths. These were not like those of the goblin-cities: they were smaller, less deep underground, and filled with a cleaner air. In a great hall with pillars hewn out of the living stone sat the Elvenking on a chair of carven wood. On his head was a crown of berries and red leaves, for the autumn was come again. In the spring he wore a crown of woodland flowers. In his hand he held a carven staff of oak. The prisoners were brought before him; and though he looked grimly at them, he told his men to unbind them, for they were ragged and weary. "Besides they need no ropes in here," said he. "There is no escape from my magic doors for those who are once brought inside." Long and searchingly he questioned the dwarves about their doings, and where they were going to, and where they were coming from; but he got little more news out of them than out of Thorin. They were surly and angry and did not even pretend to be polite. "What have we done, O king?" said Balin, who was the eldest left. "Is it a crime to be lost in the forest, to be hungry and thirsty, to be trapped by spiders? Are the spiders your tame beasts or your pets, if killing them makes you angry?" Such a question of course made the king angrier than ever, and he answered: "It is a crime to wander in my realm without leave. Do you forget that you were in my kingdom, using the road that my people made? Did you not three times pursue and trouble my people in the forest and ' rouse the spiders with your riot and clamour? After all the disturbance you have made I have a right to know what brings you here, and if you will not tell me now, I will keep you all in prison until you have learned sense and manners!" Then he ordered the dwarves each to be put in a separate cell and to be given food and drink, but not to be allowed to pass the doors of their little prisons, until one at least of them was willing to tell him all he wanted to know. But be did not tell them that Thorin was also a prisoner with him. It was Bilbo who found that out. Poor Mr. Baggins - it was a weary long time that he lived in that place all alone, and always in hiding, never daring to take off his ring, hardly daring to sleep, even tucked away in the darkest and remotest comers he could find. For something to do he took to wandering about the Elven-king's palace. Magic shut the gates, but be could sometimes get out, if he was quick. Companies of the Wood-elves, sometimes with the king at their head, would from time to time ride out to hunt, or to other business in the woods and in the lands to the East. Then if Bilbo was very nimble, he could slip out just behind them; though it was a dangerous thing to do. More than once he was nearly caught in the doors, as they clashed together when the last elf passed, yet he did not dare to march among them because of his shadow (altogether thin and wobbly as it was in torch-light), or for fear of being bumped into and discovered. And when he did go out, which was not very often, he did no good. He did not wish to desert the dwarves, and indeed he did not know where in the world to go without them. He could not keep up with the hunting elves all the time they were out, so he never discovered the ways out of the wood, and was left to wander miserably in the forest, terrified of losing himself, until a chance came of returning. He was hungry too outside, for he was no hunter; but inside the caves he could pick up a living of some sort by stealing food from store or table when no one was at hand. "I am like a burglar that can't get away, but must go on miserably burgling the same house day after day," he thought. "This is the dreariest and dullest part of all this wretched, tiresome, uncomfortable adventure! I wish I was back in my hobbit-hole by my own warm fireside with the lamp shining!" He often wished, too, that he could get a message for help sent to the wizard, but that of course was quite impossible; and he soon realized that if anything was to be done, it would have to be done by Mr. Baggins, alone and unaided. Eventually, after a week or two of this sneaking sort of life, by watching and following the guards and taking what chances he could, he managed to find out where each dwarf was kept. He found all their twelve cells in different parts of the palace, and after a time he got to know his way about very well. What was his surprise one day to overhear some of the guards talking and to learn that there was another dwarf in prison too, in a specially deep dark place. He guessed at once, of course, that that was Thorin; and after a while he found that his guess was right. At last after many difficulties he managed to find the place when no one was about, and to have a word with the chief of the dwarves. Thorin was too wretched to be angry any longer at his misfortunes, and was even beginning to think of telling the king all about his treasure and his quest (which shows how low-spirited he had become), when he heard Bilbo's little voice at his keyhole. He could hardly believe his ears. Soon however he made up his mind that he could not be mistaken, and he came to the door and had a long whispered talk with the hobbit on the other side. So it was that Bilbo was able to take secretly Thorin's message to each of the other imprisoned dwarves, telling them that Thorin their chief was also in prison close at hand, and that no one was to reveal their errand to the long, not yet, not before Thorin gave the word. For Thorin had taken heart again hearing how the hobbit had rescued his companions from the spiders, and was determined once more not to ransom himself with promises to the king of a share in the treasure, until all hope of escaping in any other way had disappeared; until in fact the remarkable Mr. Invisible Baggins (of whom he began to have a very high opinion indeed) had altogether failed to think of something clever. The other dwarves quite agreed when they got the message. They all thought their own shares in the treasure (which they quite regarded as theirs, in spite of their plight and the still unconquered dragon) would suffer seriously if the Wood-elves claimed part of it, and they all trusted Bilbo. Just what Gandalf had said would happen, you see. Perhaps that war part of his reason for going off and leaving them. Bilbo, however, did not feel nearly so hopeful as they did. He did not like being depended on by everyone, and he wished he had the wizard at hand. But that was no use: probably all the dark distance of Mirkwood lay between them. He sat and thought and thought, until his head nearly burst, but no bright idea would come. One invisible ring was a very fine thing, but it was not much good among fourteen. But of course, as you have guessed, he did rescue his friends in the end, and this is how it happened. One day, nosing and wandering about. Bilbo discovered a very interesting thing: the great gates were not the only entrance to the caves. A stream flowed under part of the lowest regions of the palace, and joined the Forest River some way further to the east, beyond the steep slope out of which the main mouth opened. Where this underground watercourse came forth from the hillside there was a water-gate. There the rocky roof came down close to the surface of the stream, and from it a portcullis could be dropped right to the bed of the river to prevent anyone coming in or out that way. But the portcullis was often open, for a good deal of traffic went out and in by the water-gate. If anyone had come in that way, he would have found himself in a dark rough tunnel leading deep into the heart of the hill; but at one point where it passed under the caves the roof had been cut away and covered with great oaken trapdoors. These opened upwards into the king's cellars. There stood barrels, and barrels, and barrels; for the Wood-elves, and especially their king, were very fond of wine, though no vines grew in those parts. The wine, and other goods, were brought from far away, from their kinsfolk in the South, or from the vineyards of Men in distant lands. Hiding behind one of the largest barrels Bilbo discovered the trapdoors and their use, and lurking there, listening to the talk of the king's servants, he learned how the wine and other goods came up the rivers, or over land, to the Long Lake. It seemed a town of Men still throve there, built out on bridges far into the water as a protection against enemies of all sorts, and especially against the dragon of the Mountain. From Lake-town the barrels were brought up the Forest River. Often they were just tied together like big rafts and poled or rowed up the stream; sometimes they were loaded on to flat boats. When the barrels were empty the elves cast them through the trapdoors, opened the water-gate, and out the barrels floated on the stream, bobbing along, until they were carried by the current to a place far down the river where the bank jutted out, near to the very eastern edge of Mirkwood. There they were collected and tied together and floated back to Lake-town, which stood close to the point where the Forest River flowed into the Long Lake. For some time Bilbo sat and thought about this water-gate, and wondered if it could be used for the escape of his friends, and at last he had the desperate beginnings of a plan. The evening meal had been taken to the prisoners. The guards were tramping away down the passages taking the torch-light with them and leaving everything in darkness. Then Bilbo heard the king's butler bidding the chief of the guards good-night. "Now come with me," he said, "and taste the new wine that has just come in. I shall be hard at work tonight clearing the cellars of the empty wood, so let us have a drink first to help the labour." "Very good," laughed the chief of the guards. "I'll taste with you, and see if it is fit for the king's table. There is a feast tonight and it would not do to send up poor stuff!" When he heard this Bilbo was all in a flutter, for he saw that luck was with him and he had a chance at once to try his desperate plan. He followed the two elves, until they entered a small cellar and sat down at a table on which two large flagons were set. Soon they began to drink and laugh merrily. Luck of an unusual kind was with Bilbo then. It must be potent wine to make a wood-elf drowsy; but this wine, it would seem, was the heady vintage of the great gardens of Dorwinion, not meant for his soldiers or his servants, but for the king's feasts only, and for smaller bowls, not for the butler's great flagons. Very soon the chief guard nodded his head, then he laid it on the table and fell fast asleep. The butler went on talking and laughing to himself for a while without seeming to notice, but soon his head too nodded to the table, and he fell asleep and snored beside his friend. Then in crept the hobbit. Very soon the chief guard had no keys, but Bilbo was trotting as fast as he could along the passage towards the cells. The great bunch seemed very heavy to his arms, and his heart was often in his mouth, in spite of his ring, for he could not prevent the keys from making every now and then a loud clink and clank, which put him all in a tremble. First he unlocked Balin's door, and locked it again carefully as soon as the dwarf was outside. Balin was most surprised, as you can imagine; but glad as he was to get out of his wearisome little stone room, he wanted to stop and ask questions, and know what Bilbo was going to do, and all about it. "No time now!" said the hobbit. "You must follow me! We must all keep together and not risk getting separated. All of us must escape or none, and this is our last chance. If this is found out, goodness knows where the king will put you next, with chains on your hands and feet too, I expect. Don't argue, there's a good fellow!" Then off he went from door to door, until his following had grown to twelve-none of them any too nimble, what with the dark, and what with their long imprisonment. Bilbo's heart thumped every time one of them bumped into another, or grunted or whispered in the dark. "Drat this dwarvish racket!" he said to himself. But all went well, and they met no guards. As a matter of fact there was a great autumn feast in the woods that night, and in the halls above. Nearly all the king's folks were merrymaking. At last after much blundering they came to Thorin's dungeon, far down in a deep place and fortunately not far from the cellars. "Upon my word!" said Thorin, when Bilbo whispered to him to come out and join his friends, "Gandalf spoke true, as usual. A pretty fine burglar you make, it seems, when the time comes. I am sure we are all for ever at your service, whatever happens after this. But what comes next?" Bilbo saw that the time had come to explain his idea, as far as he could; but he did not feel at all sure bow the dwarves would take it. His fears were quite justified, for they did not like it a bit, and started grumbling loudly in spite of their danger. "We shall be bruised and battered to pieces, and drowned too, for certain!" they muttered. "We thought you had got some sensible notion, when you managed to get hold of the keys. This is a mad idea!" "Very well!" said Bilbo very downcast, and also rather annoyed. "Come along back to your nice cells, and I will lock you all in again, and you can sit there comfortably and think of a better plan-but I don't suppose I shall ever get hold of the keys again, even if I feel inclined to try." "That was too much for them, and they calmed down. In the end, of course, they had to do just what Bilbo suggested, because it was obviously impossible for them to try and find their way into the upper halls, or to fight their way out of gates that closed by magic; and it was no good grumbling in the passages until they were caught again. So following the hobbit, down into the lowest cellars they crept. They passed a door through which the chief guard and the butler could be seen still happily snoring with smiles upon their faces. The wine of Dorwinion brings deep and pleasant dreams. There would be a different expression on the face of the chief guard next day, even though Bilbo, before they went on, stole in and kindheartedly put the keys back on his belt. "That will save him some of the trouble he is in for," said Mr. Baggins to himself. "He wasn't a bad fellow, and quite decent to the prisoners. It will puzzle them all too. They will think we had a very strong magic to pass through all those locked doors and disappear. Disappear! We have got to get busy very quick, if that is to happen!" Balin was told off to watch the guard and the butler and give warning if they stirred. The rest went into the adjoining cellar with the trapdoors. There was little time to lose. Before long, as Bilbo knew, some elves were under orders to come down and help the butler get the empty barrels through the doors into the stream. These were in fact already standing in rows in the middle of the floor waiting to be pushed off. Some of them were wine-barrels, and these were not much use, as they could not easily be opened at the end without a deal of noise, nor could they easily be secured again. But among them were several others which had been used for bringing other stuffs, butter, apples, and all sorts of things, to the king's palace. They soon found thirteen with room enough for a dwarf in each. In fact some were too roomy, and as they climbed in the dwarves thought anxiously of the shaking and the bumping they would get inside, though Bilbo did his best to find straw and other stuff to pack them in as cosily as could be managed in a short time. At last twelve dwarves were stowed. Thorin had given a lot of trouble, and turned and twisted in his tub and grumbled like a large dog in a small kennel; while Balin, who came last, made a great fuss about his air-holes and said he was stifling, even before his lid was on. Bilbo had done what he could to close holes in the sides of the barrels, and to fix on all the lids as safely as could be managed, and now he was left alone again, running round putting the finishing touches-to the packing, and hoping against hope that his plan would come off. It had not been a-bit too soon. Only a minute or two after Balin's lid had been fitted on there came the sound of voices and the flicker of lights. A number of elves came laughing and talking into the cellars and singing snatches of song. They had left a merry feast in one of the halls and were bent on returning as soon as they could. "Where's old Galion, the butler?" said one. "I haven't seen him at the tables tonight. He ought to be here now to show us what is to be done." "I shall be angry if the old slowcoach is late," said another. "I have no wish to waste time down here while the song is up!" "Ha, ha!" came a cry. "Here's the old villain with his head on a jug! He's been having a little feast all to himself and his friend the captain." "Shake him! Wake him!" shouted the others impatiently. Gallon was not at all pleased at being shaken or wakened, and still less at being laughed at. "You're all late," he grumbled. "Here am I waiting and waiting down here, while you fellows drink and make merry and forget your tasks. Small wonder if I fall asleep from weariness!" "Small wonder," said they, "when the explanation stands close at hand in a jug! Come give us a taste of your sleeping-draught before we fall to! No need to wake the turnkey yonder. He has had his share by the looks of it." Then they drank once round and became mighty merry all of a sudden. But they did not quite lose their wits. "Save us, Galion!" cried some, "you began your feasting early and muddled your wits! You have stacked some full casks here instead of the empty ones, if there is anything in weight." "Get on with the work!" growled the butler. "There is nothing in the feeling of weight in an idle toss-pot's arms. These are the ones to go and no others. Do as I say!" "Very well, very well," they answered rolling the barrels to the opening. "On your head be it, if the king's full buttertubs and his best wine is pushed into the river for the Lake-men to feast on for nothing!" "Roll-roll-roll-roll, roll-roll-rolling down the hole I Heave ho! Splash plump ! Down they go, down they bump!" So they sang as first one barrel and then another rumbled to the dark opening and was pushed over into the cold water some feet below. Some were barrels really empty, some were tubs neatly packed with a dwarf each; but down they all went, one after another, with many a clash and a bump, thudding on top of ones below, smacking into the water, jostling against the walls of the tunnel, knocking into one another, and bobbing away down the current. It was just at this moment that Bilbo suddenly discovered the weak point in his plan. Most likely you saw it some time ago and have been laughing at him; but I don't suppose you would have done half as well yourselves in his place. Of course he was not in a barrel himself, nor was there anyone to pack him in, even if there had been a chance! It looked as if he would certainly lose his friends this time (nearly all of them had already disappeared through the dark trap-door), and get utterly left behind and have to stay lurking as a permanent burglar in the elf-caves for ever. For even if he could have escaped through the upper gates at once, he had precious small chance of ever finding the dwarves again. He did not know the way by land to the place where the barrels were collected. He wondered what on earth would happen to them without him; for he had not had time to tell the dwarves all that he had learned, or what he had meant to do, once they were out of the wood. While all these thoughts were passing through his mind, the elves being very merry began to sing a song round the river-door. Some had already gone to haul on the ropes which pulled up the portcullis at the water-gate so as to let out the barrels as soon as they were all afloat below. "Down the swift dark stream you go Back to lands you once did know! Leave the halls and caverns deep, Leave the northern mountains steep, Where the forest wide and dim Stoops in shadow grey and grim! Float beyond the world of trees Out into the whispering breeze, Past the rushes, past the reeds, Past the marsh's waving weeds, Through the mist that riseth white Up from mere and pool at night! Follow, follow stars that leap Up the heavens cold and steep; Turn when dawn comes over land, Over rapid, over sand, South away! and South away! Seek the sunlight and the day, Back to pasture, back to mead, Where the kine and oxen feed! Back to gardens on the hills Where the berry swells and fills Under sunlight, under day! South away! and South away! Down the swift dark stream you go Back to lands you once did know!" Now the very last barrel was being rolled to the doors! In despair and not knowing what else to do, poor little Bilbo caught hold of it and was pushed over the edge with it. Down into the water he fell, splash! into the cold dark water with the barrel on top of him. He came up again spluttering and clinging to the wood like a rat, but for all his efforts he could not scramble on top. Every time he tried, the barrel rolled round and ducked him under again. It was really empty, and floated light as a cork. Though his ears were full of water, he could hear the elves still singing in the cellar above. Then suddenly the trapdoors fell to with a boom and their voices faded away. He was in the dark tunnel, floating in icy water, all alone-for you cannot count friends that are all packed up in barrels. Very soon a grey patch came up in the darkness ahead. He heard the creak of the water-gate being hauled up, and he found that he was in the midst of a bobbing and bumping mass of casks and tubs all pressing together to pass under the arch and get out into the open stream. He had as much as he could do to prevent himself from being hustled and battered to bits; but at last the jostling crowd began to break up and swing off, one by one, under the stone arch and away. Then he saw that it would have been no good even if he had managed to get astride his barrel, for there was no room to spare, not even for a hobbit, between its top and the suddenly stooping roof where the gate was. Out they went under the overhanging branches of the trees on either bank. Bilbo wondered what the dwarves were feeling and whether a lot of water was getting into their tubs. Some of those that bobbed along by him in the gloom seemed pretty low in the water, and he guessed that these had dwarves inside. "I do hope I put the lids on tight enough!" he thought, but before long he was worrying too much about himself to remember the dwarves. He managed to keep his head above the water, but he was shivering with the cold, and he wondered if he would die of it before the luck turned, and how much longer he would be able to hang on, and whether he should risk the chance of letting go and trying to swim to the bank. The luck turned all right before long: the eddying current carried several barrels close ashore at one point and there for a while they stuck against some hidden root. Then Bilbo took the opportunity of scrambling up the side of his barrel while it was held steady against another. Up he crawled like a drowned rat, and lay on the top spread out to keep the balance as best he could. The breeze was cold but better than the water, and he hoped he would not suddenly roll off again when they started off once more. Before long the barrels broke free again and turned and twisted off down the stream, and out into the main current Then he found it quite as difficult to stick on as he had feared; but he managed it somehow, though it was miserably uncomfortable. Luckily he was very light, and the barrel was a good big one and being rather leaky had now shipped a small amount of water. All the same it was like trying to ride, without bridle or stirrups, a round-bellied pony that was always thinking of rolling on the grass. In this way at last Mr. Baggins came to a place where the trees on either hand grew thinner. He could see the paler sky between them. The dark river opened suddenly wide, and there it was joined to the main water of the Forest River flowing down in haste from the king's great doors. There was a dim sheet of water no longer overshadowed, and on its sliding surface there were dancing and broken reflections of clouds and of stars. Then the hurrying water of the Forest River swept all the company of casks and tubs away to the north bank, in which it had eaten out a wide bay. This had a shingly shore under hanging banks and was walled at the eastern end by a little jutting cape of hard rock. On the shallow shore most of the barrels ran aground, though a few went on to bump against the stony pier. There were people on the look-out on the banks. They quickly poled and pushed all the barrels together into the shallows, and when they had counted them they roped them together and left them till the morning. Poor dwarves! Bilbo was not so badly off now. He slipped from his barrel and waded ashore, and then sneaked along to some huts that he could see near the water's edge. He no longer thought twice about picking up a supper uninvited if he got the chance, he had been obliged to do it for so long, and he knew only too well what it was to be really hungry, not merely politely interested in the dainties of a well-filled larder. Also he had caught a glimpse of a fire through the trees, and that appealed to him with his dripping and ragged clothes clinging to him cold and clammy. There is no need to tell you much of his adventures that night, for now we are drawing near the end of the eastward journey and coming to the last and greatest adventure, so we must hurry on. Of course helped by his magic ring he got on very well at first, but he was given away in the end by his wet footsteps and the trail of drippings that he left wherever he went or sat; and also he began to snivel, and wherever he tried to hide he was found out by the terrific explosions of his suppressed sneezes. Very soon there was a fine commotion in the village by the riverside; but Bilbo escaped into the woods carrying a loaf and a leather bottle of wine and a pie that did not belong to him. The rest of the night he had to pass wet as he was and far from a fire, but the bottle helped him to do that, and he actually dozed a little on some dry leaves, even though the year was getting late and the air was chilly. He woke again with a specially loud sneeze. It was already grey morning, and there was a merry racket down by the river. They were making up a raft of barrels, and the raft-elves would soon be steering it off down the stream to Lake-town. Bilbo sneezed again. He was no longer dripping but he felt cold all over. He scrambled down as fast as his stiff legs would take him and managed just in time to get on to the mass of casks without being noticed in the general bustle. Luckily there was no sun at the time to cast an awkward shadow, and for a mercy he did not sneeze again for a good while. There was a mighty pushing of poles. The elves that were standing in the shallow.water heaved and shoved. The barrels now all lashed together creaked and fretted.. "This is a heavy load!" some grumbled. "They float too deep-some of these are never empty. If they had come ashore in the daylight, we might have had a look inside," they said. "No time now!" cried the raftman. "Shove off!" And off they went at last, slowly at first, until they had passed the point of rock where other elves stood to fend them off with poles, and then quicker and quicker as they caught the main stream and went sailing away down, down towards the Lake. They had escaped the dungeons of the king and were through the wood, but whether alive or dead still remains to be seen.