[Hookbill the Goomba]

Fáinu raised an eyebrow. This was unusual. But it was not unheard of. Cree was renowned at Thranduil's halls as a deep drinker; most wood Elves were from that area. He shook his head and drank some ale, but it tastes bitter in his mouth, maybe the memories were having an effect on him, or maybe he was catching a cold.

"The cold steel blade," he muttered, but Avalon heard him and stared into his eyes, "yes, I remember what happened next. All too well." His voice sank and became dark, as he clasped his chest, "We should have known! Those-" he swore, "-goblins and their ways. They had a scout with them that we did not see, he must have taken news to the Dragon, and he knew we were coming... He knew." Fáinu rose quickly and dashed out of the door.

Cree and Avalon followed him, they saw him leant forward over a patch fence. Blood came from his mouth and he shivered. "It burns!" he said over and over. Fáinu looked at his hand and saw the burn return, the others saw nothing. In his mind, Fáinu could see the flames cascading around his hand and fingers. He cried out and wreathed on the floor, Avalon streaked and pecked him on the leg. Fáinu drew his knife and looked to stab the bird, but he stopped, and fell back, his eyes glazing over and his breathing returning to normal.

His eyes opened onto the warm light of the In several minuets later, a few old gaffers shook their heads and spoke of the strangeness of Elves. Cree gave to Fáinu a warm cup of tea and brought some toast, the elf sat up and drank it slowly. "I am sorry," he said, "I fear, this may happen again one day. That is why-" he stopped, "-never mind... I shall continue the story."

Avalon sat up and seemed anxious to hear more. "We travelled the rest of that day and night, seeing no sign of more Goblins, or the Dragon. Fundin and Killi lead the way up a steep climb towards the great basin, wherein lay the Dragon. The climb was a hard one; many of the footholds were far too small, even for the Dwarves. The rock fell apart in our hands, and we were conscious that they made a loud sound as they fell, so we had to be extra careful.

"Eventually we came above the climb and could see a small ridge ahead of us, behind which was our quarry. All we could see at that time was smoke, but we could smell the Dragon, oh yes, that vile worm..." Fáinu stopped himself, "So we climbed on top of the ridge and lay down to look into the basin.

"The ground was black with hard rock, whether the rock was black to begin with or the flame of the Dragons had turned it so, none could tell or dared to find out. Geezers were dotted around everywhere and the land seemed to be a barren wasteland. Smoke filled the air and we had to try hard not to cough for the stench was wretched. The air was stifling hot, and so we took our cloaks off and put them in our packs, these we left behind the ridge, taking only our swords, shields, bows and arrows. The blackness of the land made everything seem all the more dreary and horrid, this was how I imagined Mordor. But this was merely a small jest compared to that land.

"Cree and I went first, holding our shields before us, and keeping our Elven eyes open for anything unusual. But the main thing that confused me was the fact that there was no sound, the land lay in a deadly silence..."