Hunter of the Rings

Chapter 23

As the sun peaked in the midday sky, Maddie let out a sigh as she finally left the mountains; the scrapes and bruises decorating her body were proof of how relieved she was to be on somewhat solid flat ground. Glancing ahead, the girl watched as Gollum jumped up and down before landing on a large rock, turning towards her "see, see! We've led you out!" he cheered, a wide grin plastered on his face "hurry humanses, hurry! Very lucky we find you" he praised himself happily. Shaking her head at the behaviour, Maddie passed the creature before, much to her discomfort, she found her foot landing in something cold and wet. Taking in her surroundings before her, Maddie's shoulders dropped in annoyance as she realised where they were "it's a bog!" she turned and watched as Gollum joined her "you've led me into a swamp!" she accused. Nodding with enthusiasm, however, the creature jumped ahead where he appeared to land safely and without sinking further into the marsh "come mistress! We will take you on safe paths, through the mist" he gestured for the teenager to follow, in which she did with much reluctance and hesitation. As they trekked through the bog, Gollum explained how he had found the secret way through the marshes which not even the Orcs knew of "they go round for miles and miles" he grinned. Maddie might not have liked the situation, but she couldn't deny such a thing would pose as an excellent advantage for her against her enemies. What she wasn't expecting, however, was for the swamp to stretch out for as long as it did; they had been walking through it for over three hours, sticking to the secret path, and there was still swamp and mist for as far as she could see. Calling for them to take a break, Maddie took a seat upon a large dry bolder where she rummaged through her bag and pulled out her canteen and the wrapped bread she had taken from Gondor.

As she was about to eat, however, the girl watched as Gollum pounced onto the ground and pulled up a large wriggling worm, covered in dirt and mud before throwing it into his mouth, crunching away as he ate. Such a sight and sound quickly made the sixteen year old's own appetite evaporate as she lowered the bread from her mouth. Letting out a sigh, Maddie took a moment to take in her surroundings that she had quickly found herself hating "it's too quiet" she commented, taking note of how there had been no sight nor sound of even a bird for two days. Gollum agreed with a huffed "no birdses to eat - no crunchable birdies" he grumbled with self-pity, unknowingly making the girl hold back her breakfast from reappearing "we are famished! Yes! Famished we are, precious" he whined. Upon hearing this, Maddie's eyes dropped down to her hand holding the small slice of bread that she had planned to eat for herself; she called out to the creature before throwing him the food as an offering. "What does it eats? Is it tasty?" Gollum questioned before giving the bread a try, only to choke and spit the bread out, glaring at the chewed up food now on the floor "aggh! It tries to chokes us!" he let out a yell of defeat "we can't eats human food! We must starve!" he cried. Rolling her eyes at the overdramatic behaviour, Maddie mentally cursed him for wasting food "it was bread, not poison" she said as she returned her canteen to her bag "which is food we cannot afford to waste" she added. Pushing on through, Maddie noticed little fires burning in the swamp; she kept an eye out for where she stepped when she noticed something in the water. Below the mirky surface, there lay faces, all cold and still. Noticing the girl's horrified stare, Gollum followed and spotted the very same thing "all dead, all rotten" he spoke, revealing they were all elves, men and orcs from a great battle long ago. "The Dead Marshes - yes, yes! That is their name" he nodded to himself as he recalled what he knew.

Continuing to follow the creature as he guided her through the marsh, Maddie did her best to ignore the disturbing sight of bodies floating around her before something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. Taking a closer look, the girl found herself staring at a light emanating from below the water; it was coming from yet another face of which she stared at intently, falling deeper into a trance as Gollum's voice began to fall silent to her ears. Stepping closer to the light, Maddie watched as, to her horror and shock, the eyes of the Elf-like face suddenly opened; the girl was unsure of if she had simply lost her balance or if she had been grabbed or pushed, but she was standing one moment and submerged beneath the water the next! Maddie tried to swim up as she held her breath, but she was pulled to a stop at the sight of a greenish mist surrounding her, taking the form of ghostly faces as they screamed and reached for her. Maddie felt panic take over as she wriggled and kicked her legs out, doing all she could to get away yet it seemed as if she wasn't moving a single inch before she felt a sudden tight grip on her the back of her cloak. Fear struck the girl before she was pulled up and out of the water, dragged ashore where she was safe from whatever the hell it was she saw down there! Coughing out the water from her lungs, Maddie looked up to find a seemingly worried Gollum looming over her; she choked out his name in surprise "don't follow the lights!" he exclaimed. Lying on the path, Maddie took her time in regaining her stolen breath before pushing herself up to her feet; she checked on the ring around her neck, letting out a sigh of relief to find it was still there. As Gollum resumed his task of leading the way, Maddie couldn't help as her eyes wandered over to him; she couldn't quite believe it but...Gollum had saved her.