Rider (A Kili/ Hobbit novel)

Chapter 14: Something Reckless

"I suppose if anyone asks what we are doing, we can always tell them we have gotten ourselves lost." I tell Kinjal.

There is no point in trying to sneak around with Kinjal; she is much too large to hide behind anything. We walk forward like we have a purpose, and no one stops to question us.

"Where do you think this feeling is coming from?" I ask as we make our way down yet another hallway.

Kinjal is leading the two of us, and I have yet to ask where we are headed.

"I would think the evil would reside in the deepest parts of their mines. Evil seems to lurk hidden, in the deep places of the world."

"Perhaps we should start there then." I suggest. "Do you know the way down to the mines?"

"I have not found them yet while exploring the mountain, no," she replies. "Perhaps you could ask your dwarf friend."

"I have no idea where he-" I cut off in my thoughts to Kinjal as I see Kili walking towards us. "You planned this didn't you."

Kinjal says nothing, so I just growl at her, the sound coming deep from within my throat.

"Careful now, you are beginning to sound like a dragon." Kinjal teases me, and I roll my eyes at her.

By the time Kinjal and I have finished our little exchange, Kili has walked up to meet us.

"This will be the fastest way to find the mines." Kinjal reminds me.

"Hello Kili." I call out in greeting.

"Hello," he responds immediately, coming to walk by my side as Kinjal continues moving. "Off exploring are we?"

I see an easy opening to ask him about the mines without seeming suspicious. "Yes, actually we are. Do you think you could show us to the mines?" I ask him.

"Should I tell him why?'' I ask Kinjal as I wait for Kili's answer. Kili's response comes first though.

"I would be honored to, though why the interest? I would think one who enjoys the sky so much would not wish to go farther underground."

Maybe it was a little more suspicious than I originally thought.

"Ask him to lead us there, and that you will tell him once you get back." Kinjal replies eventually.

Speaking to Kili, I repeat what Kinjal had told me to say. "How about this; you take me there and once I am back, I will tell you." I smile innocently.

He looks at me oddly for a second, as if attempting to decipher what it is I am going into the mines for by my expression alone. I keep my face carefully neutral as he does so, even turning my lighthearted smile into a smirk to make it more believable. My insides are turning over and over though, and my mind is screaming to me that this is a bad idea. Whatever force awaits us in those mines is repulsive, but I have to know for sure what is down there. I already have a suspicion as to what it is, but I hope with all my heart I am wrong for once.

"Alright then, follow me." He steps up to walk in front of Kinjal, and leads us down many passageways.

***

"I hope you have memorized the way to the mines as we are traveling there, because I am now hopelessly lost." I think to Kinjal as we turn down yet another stone corridor.

As an answer, Kinjal shows me a map in her head of where we have turned in the tunnels of Erebor.

"Good, good.  I am quite jealous at times of your impeccable memory, my friend."

It ends up taking us the better part of an hour to make it down to the mines, Kili and I making idle talk all the way. He is fascinated by the stories I tell him of our people, and asks lots of questions as soon as I stop talking. His questions make me realize how interesting our people truly are; I had never though about the fact that we are the only race that is able to fly.

"Here it is." Kili says, coming to a halt at the edge of a cliff in the mountain. I lean over the edge carefully, looking down to see a mine so deep that the bottom is only blackness to my eyes.  All of my previous dread comes back to me in a rush, almost knocking me off balance.

"The darkness is most certainly coming from down there." Kinjal growls softly, and Kili looks from her to me in question.

"Thank you for taking us here, Kili. Hopefully we will be back soon." I carefully choose my words, trying not to give away what we are doing.

I leap up onto Kinjal's back, and she dives over the edge of the cliff, swiftly taking the pair of us deeper and deeper into the mine. The wind rushes past me, drowning out all other noises, but for once the sound does not comfort me. We soon leave behind all light, and I close my own eyes to look through Kinjal's. She still sees in the darkness with perfect clarity, able to easily avoid crashing into the increasingly tight space we fly through.

But suddenly, the mine is not completely dark. Kinjal's mind reads the same confusion as my own; why are there dwarves so far down here and away from the others?

"Unless they are not dwarves," I think suddenly.

Kinjal comes to a screeching halt just above where the light seems to be coming from. It takes me a moment to grasp that the light is not in the mine itself, but rather it seems to seep in through the walls, as if there is some just on the other side.

"The evil feels very close now. We must remain silent." Kinjal says to me through our bond.

I tune back into Kinjal's superior senses, and am able to make out the sound of harsh voices.

My breath catches as I stare ahead into the darkness, unable to grasp what it is I can hear through the thin layer of rock. The rough, foul language that greets my enhanced ears makes my head hurt, and Kinjal holds in a roar, if only to keep our whereabouts hidden.

"They are Balrogs of Morgoth," Kinjal says quietly in my mind. I can feel the fear and hatred that laces through her words.

Father had told us of these creatures; they were our greatest enemy long ago. Our people fought along with the dragons to destroy all of them, for only dragon fire or black arrows can destroy them. It was soon after the Balrogs were rid of that people began to fear us. They were always terrified we would become evil and take over, just as the Balrogs under Morgoth Bauglir had tried to.

Slowly, I lean in and press me ear to the rock, now able to pick up full words.

"They do not even suspect, those daft idiots. They will not know what is coming until it is too late for them, my lord." I freeze. Morgoth could not be back; he had died long ago.

"We must attack now; that Rider of the bronze dragon, the one they call Duhului Drakai, is beginning to suspect. The Riders are too smart for their own good." the voice growls in answer.

"Then when do we attack, Lord Gothmog?" the first voice asks.

I have to physically hold my hand over my mouth to prevent a gasp from escaping it. Gothmog had been slain in battle; he was gone from Middle Earth.

"Patience. We must wait for the right moment. It shall be very soon."

"We must warn them!" I think to Kinjal, shaking off the initial horror and shock, and we take off back towards the top of the mines.