17. A Risky Game

            “Well, Baggins first,” Gollum offered. I kept a close eye on him, sticking close to Bilbo’s side. I didn’t trust Gollum and his split personalities. It explained why he was one thing one minute and the next he was the total opposite. I kept my bow at my side, but the arrow was still ready.

            Bilbo paced a little bit, trying to think of a riddle. Let’s make this quick. He turned to Gollum, addressing the creature:

“Thirty white horses on a red hill

First they champ, then they stamp

Then they stand still”

            I was glad I wasn’t included in this game, that I was a spectator. I never played any riddle games in my life, not even when Bilbo and I were younger. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Bilbo tried to get me to play with him once when we were much younger, and that was the only time I ever did.

            Silence filled the air around us as Gollum mulled over his answer. Ever fiber in my body wanted him to get it wrong, but I knew it wouldn’t be that easy. Nothing ever was.

            “Teeth?” Gollum answered. I looked at Bilbo, who obviously gave it away with a defeated look on his face. Gollum rejoiced. “Teeth! Oh, yes, my precious! But we—we only have nine!” He pulled his lips back, exposing the nine he had left. I swallowed the bile that threatened to come out of my mouth. As if his appearance on the outside didn’t unnerve me enough…

“Our turn.” It didn’t take Gollum long to spit out his riddle.

“Voiceless, it cries

Wingless it flutters

Toothless bites

Mouthless mutters”

I was trying to recite the riddle in my head, but I felt like I kept mixing up words.

“Just a minute,” Bilbo murmured. He paced near me, muttering words under his breath. While he tried to think of the right answer, I watched Gollum. He was behind a rock, so I could only see the top half of him.

“Oh. Oh! We knows! We knows! Shut up!” I shook my head. Being down in here all by yourself probably could make you insane as Gollum. I shuddered, never wanting to imagine myself isolated from civilization. I certainly didn’t want to see myself looking anything like Gollum.

“Wind,” I heard Bilbo mutter to him. “It’s wind. Of course it’s wind.”

Gollum hissed. “Very clever, Hobbitses. Very clever.”

“Ah, ah,” I snapped, shielding Bilbo as Gollum tried to sneak closer. “Don’t even think about it.” Gollum bared his teeth at me, I snorted at him.

Bilbo was ready with his next riddle:

“A box without hinges, key or lid

Yet golden treasure inside is hid”

That was perhaps the shortest of the riddles exchanged in this game. Gollum looked as befuddled as I did, and that was saying something.

“Box,” he whispered. “Oh, um…Box. The lid and a key.”

“Well?” Bilbo demanded.

“It’s nasty. Box. Key.”

“Do you give up?” I pressed.

“Give us a chance, precious! Give us a chance!”

 I hated to admit it, but I grinned as Gollum became more frustrated with Bilbo’s two-line riddle. He squeezed his eyes shut, pounding the side of his head, as though the answer would come tumbling out if he did it long enough. My body quivered in eagerness. Get it wrong, don’t have an answer. Though I had patience for this game Bilbo and Gollum were stuck in, I had no patience to stick around Gollum’s home for much longer.

Just when I thought Bilbo and I were home-free, my spirit faltered.

“Eggses!” Gollum crowed. “Eggses! Wet, crunchy little eggses.” He cackled. “Yes. Grandmother taught us to suck them, yes!”

A faint noise—a bat, I was sure—made me panic. I whipped around, weapon at the ready. Bilbo looked around warily, like I did. I looked back over my shoulder only to see Gollum had disappeared. My jaw locked. The little sneak, he’d used this chance to slip off.

I looked around, focusing behind each rock with extra care. Gollum knew this place like the back of his hand, he could be anywhere. He had an advantage over us right now.

“We have one for you,” Gollum’s voice called. It echoed. His riddle:

“All things it devours

Birds, beasts, trees, flowers

Gnaws iron, bites steel

Grinds hard stones to meal”

I gnawed on the inside of my cheek, noticing Bilbo looking a bit taken aback.

“Answer us,” Gollum sing-songed.

“Give me a moment, please,” Bilbo retorted. “I gave you a good long while.” He lowered his voice so only I could hear. “Keep a close eye out.”

“I’ll stick close to you. He won’t get a hand on you.”

“Birds, beasts…Beasts? Trees, flowers. I don’t know this one.”

“Keep thinking, you’re safe as long as I’m here,” I encouraged him. “Think. You can do this.”

“I’m glad you aren’t pressuring me.”

“Is it tasty?” Gollum sing-songed. His voice ran a chill up my spine. “Is it scrumptious? Is it crunchable?”

I whirled around the moment I felt hands try to wrap around my throat. I snarled at Gollum. He wasn’t smart, trying to grab the one Hobbit who was armed. He was lucky I didn’t shoot him on the spot. Actually, Bilbo and I were lucky that I didn’t murder the cavern-dweller. Without Gollum, we would turn into creatures like him, never finding a way out.

Gollum was perched on a rock, his beady eyes giving away what he wanted most: Hobbits for dinner.

“Let me think,” Bilbo said. “Let me think.”

“It’s stuck,” Gollum whispered. “Bagginses is stuck.” Gollum watched with greedy eyes as Bilbo continued to try and find the answer. “Time’s up.”

“Time.” I looked to Bilbo. He had said it as though he had had a revelation. “The answer is time.” Gollum looked peeved. “Actually it wasn’t that hard.”

I wanted to smack Bilbo for making me fear for our lives, but I knew that could hold off for later. Or, more likely, I would forget being mad with him about something small like this.

“Last question,” Gollum growled. My eyes narrowed as he picked up a rock the size of his hand. “Last chance. Ask us. Ask us!”

“Yes, yes. All right,” Bilbo said shortly. I heard him mumbling questions under his breath to himself. “What have I got in my pocket?”

That’s not a riddle, Bilbo. You must have a few others in that head of yours. I bit my lip, bouncing in place.

“That’s no fair,” Gollum protested. My eyebrows rose. “It’s not fair! It’s against the rules!” In anger, he threw down the rock he had been holding. “Now ask us another one.”

“No,” Bilbo said, catching on. “No, no, no. You said ask me a question. Well, that is my question. What have I got in my pocket?”

I tried not to cry out in joy. Gollum had done it to himself. Instead of asking for a riddle, he asked for a question. I hadn’t picked up on that loophole, though I wished I had sooner.

 There was no way Gollum would find the answer! Even I wouldn’t get it, as I never saw what Bilbo put in his pocket.

Gollum jumped off his perch. “Three guesses, precious! It must give us three!” He held up two fingers.

“Three guesses. Very well, guess away.”

This I had to watch. I was tense but relaxed enough to where I felt an arrow didn’t need to be pointed at Gollum.

“Handses!” Gollum guessed.

“Wrong.” Bilbo showed his hands. “Guess again.”

“Fishbones, Goblins’ teeth, wet shells, bats’ wings…” Gollum was listing things he had. “Knife! Oh, shut up!”

“Wrong again. Last guess.”

“String. Or nothing.”

“Two guesses at once,” Bilbo sang. “Wrong both times.”

Gollum collapsed onto the rock floor, heaving nasty-sounding sobs. I wanted to hug Bilbo for saving us from a jam, but I knew now wasn’t the time to.

“So…Come on,” I said. “Bilbo won the game. You promised to show us the way out.”

“Did we say so, precious? Did we say so?” Gollum’s voice sounded dangerous. I shuffled next to Bilbo, who had put his sword back out. “What has it got in its pocketses?”

“That’s no concern of yours,” said Bilbo. “You lost.”

“Lost?” Gollum snarled. “Lost?” He advanced towards us slowly. “Lost?” Realization crossed his face. He searched his loincloth, panic settled into him. “Where is it? Where is it?!” He exploded into a screaming rage, tossing aside old bones on the ground. “Where is it?! No! No!” He sprinted for the water, kicking it up with his hands. “Curse us and splash us! My precious is lost!”

“What have you lost?” Bilbo asked in a feeble voice.

“Mustn’t ask us! Not its business! No! Gollum, gollum!” Gollum’s attention turned to the water. His dangerous voice came out again. “What has it got…in its nasty…little…pocketses?”

The realization dawned me much longer after Bilbo realized it. He held the very thing Gollum lost. Was that what Gollum meant by ‘precious’, the object that he lost?

We definitely weren’t going to be shown the way out now.

Gollum seemed to piece things together too, he slowly turned towards us. Bilbo had his sword out, his arm quivered.

“He stole it,” he growled. “He stole it!” Gollum chucked a nearby rock at us, which Bilbo deflected nicely with his sword. “He stole it!”

“Run!” I barked, shoving Bilbo away from a pursuing Gollum.

We dived blindly into the tunnel maze. I could hear Gollum’s wheezy, crazed breathing behind us. Bilbo took lead, though he had no better of an idea as to where we were going than I did. He led me through twists and turns, confusing me even more. Even though we had lost Gollum five turns ago, his pursuit could still be heard thanks to the tunnels’ echoes. We could hear him snarling, hear his hands and feet patter against the rock floor heatedly.

I skidded into Bilbo when we encountered a dead end. I panicked, tucking my bow and arrow away. Now wasn’t the time to really use them. As Bilbo made us backpedal, the head wound made me slightly dizzy. Bilbo noticed, he grabbed a hold of me to keep me tethered to him.

“Give it to us!” Gollum screeched, his scratchy voice grating on my ears. I hissed, shaking off the pain.

Bilbo continued to lead us anywhere he thought would possibly help us. It wasn’t until I found a slit between two rocks did I get his attention. I came to an abrupt halt, pulling him back. He nearly knocked me onto my ass.

“What?” he snapped.

“There.” I pointed. “Come on.” This time, I grabbed him and led him. “I’ll go first.”

The slit was narrower than I had anticipated. Still, with little difficulty, I slipped through. As I inhaled deep breaths, I watched as Bilbo tried to squeeze through.

We would have made an easy getaway…if he could have gotten through.

“I’m stuck,” he grunted.

“You should have watched your weight.” I went over and pulled on his right arm.

“Lily, now is not the time to discuss my diet!”

“Suck in your gut or something.”

Bilbo looked through the opposite end of the slit. “He’s coming. Hurry!”

“You’re not helping!” I pulled, I felt Bilbo flinch under me.

“It’s ours,” I heard Gollum snarl from the other side. “It’s ours!”

Just in the nick of time, Bilbo managed to slide through. His weight knocked me into a wall, which made me hit the back of my head. I grabbed at it, closing my eyes. When I opened them, Bilbo was nowhere in sight. I could hear Gollum charging.

 I quickly scrambled away, hiding behind the opposite side of the wall I had just hit.

Gollum’s inhuman snarls met my ears. How had Bilbo disappeared so quickly like that? Did Gandalf give him something else magical that none of us knew about? Was what he stole from Gollum something magical? Was perhaps the sword he held more powerful than either of us could have ever guessed?

I muted my breath as I heard Gollum’s wheezy breathing.

“Thief!” he cried out. I trembled, fighting the throbbing in my ears. “Baggins!” He galloped off past my hiding spot.

I didn’t move from that spot for what seemed like an hour until I made sure Gollum hadn’t tricked me into thinking he had left, when really he hadn’t. During that time I stayed hidden, I wondered where Bilbo had run off to. Was he safe? Did he find his way out? Was he coming back for me? Did Gollum find him?

I distracted myself from those questions by coming out of hiding. Using the direction I remembered Gollum sprinted down, I quietly trekked along, making sure to not attract attention to myself. Gollum could still be hunting for Bilbo or me.

A faint sense of paranoia crept into my mind. The hairs on my arms prickled, like they knew I was being watched or followed. Whenever I’d look, nobody would be there. I wanted to convince myself that I was just being over-alert, that I was home-free.

I wouldn’t be until I saw the exit, and daylight.

“Baggins! Thief!”

I stopped in my tracks, my blood ran cold. Oh no, he’s found Bilbo. I swallowed, debating on whether or not to run towards Gollum’s voice or to turn the other way. I shook my head, mentally smacking myself. I can’t just leave Bilbo behind to die. Carefully, I continued towards Gollum’s voice, much to my disliking.

“Curse it and crush it! We hates it forever!” Gollum’s voice travelled, running right through me like wind. I shivered, hearing his words echo in the tunnels and in my head. He’s sounds close, but how close?

I dove for cover when I heard padding feet come my way. I became silent stone, watching with anxious eyes as I saw a flash of pale skin—Gollum. I didn’t see anything else with him, so that led me to believe two things: Bilbo had escaped, or he was dead and Gollum didn’t bother to drag his body back with him.

I nearly vomited at the thought of my best friend being dragged away by a lunatic that lived in underground caves.

Like before, I waited a while until I was positive Gollum wasn’t tricking me. I took a right, trying to figure out what path he had taken before backtracking.

All was silent as I continued my way through the maze. My mind was running with thoughts. During this whole experience with Gollum and the riddle game, I had completely forgotten about the thirteen Dwarves who Bilbo and I accompanied. Were they fighting for their lives right now? Had they been slain?

If that was the Dwarves’ fates—which I prayed that it wasn’t—I would find Bilbo if he was still alive and try to find a way back to some place familiar, like Rivendell. There would be no point in two Hobbits trying to carry out a goal that wasn’t even our own.

I nearly dropped dead with joy as I saw light peek out from an exit route on my left. With my heart lifted, I barreled out of the tunnels like nobody’s business, only to be greeted with forest, fresh air, and a setting sun. I didn’t realize just how long we had really been in those caves.

My legs wobbled, I supported myself against the exit of the tunnels. I laughed wearily. If Gollum hadn’t led me to it, I would have probably ended up like him.

Carefully, as the slope downhill was steep, I stumbled downwards, trying to peek through the forest to see if any of my companions had made it out alive since the ambush. I had to squint to see small figures from a distance. I took a head count. I ticked them off in my head a few times before I confirmed it was the Dwarves and…and Gandalf.

I smiled to myself. I would never understand that Wizard for as long as I lived.

I now wondered where he had come from, and when he had. He must’ve helped the Dwarves, because I couldn’t see Bilbo helping them out.

Bilbo. I recognized the smallest figure to be my best friend. Relief flooded through my veins. He had escaped. Still, how he managed to evade Gollum was beyond me. I definitely wanted an answer.

As I took my slow time down the hill, hoping that the company would see me, a harsh, low, unfamiliar tone made me stop cold. I focused my hearing behind me, listening to the foreign language. It certainly wasn’t Goblins; all they had done was screech and squawk.

My blood turned to ice. I turned around only to confirm my suspicion.

At the top of the hill, a pack of Wargs with Orc riders were waiting. At the head of their pack was a pale Orc riding a white Warg. I squeaked, realizing who I was staring at. Azog the Defiler. The pale Orc who was thought to be dead by Thorin Oakenshield. He’s alive.

My eyes flashed from the Orc pack down to my companions. They couldn’t have seen the enemy yet, they weren’t reacting. They have to know.

Instead of yelling or shouting in hopes that my voice travelled, I did the most logical thing a Hobbit could do when faced with being heard by an Orc pack.

I whistled shrilly.