The Lonely Star -- Chapter 4

[Mithadan]

The Main Cavern was dark, lit dimly only by a torch at the River Tunnel entrance and light entering indirectly from fires set in the Guards' Quarters Tunnel by the Noldor. Mithadan could barely see between the darkness and the smoke. Shadowy shapes of Hobbits and a very few Men flitted by on all sides. Orienting himself as best he could, he moved off toward the North, back towards the Locks.

He had only taken a few steps before he tripped over a body lying on the floor. He rolled to his right and regained his feet settling into a crouch with his sword held before them. Blinking, he looked back towards where Piosenniel and the others should have been. At that moment he was struck behind each knee. As he stumbled, he was struck again in the center of his back and fell sprawling on his face. Small hands fumbled towards his throat even as bodies pinned down his legs and right arm.

"Wait!" he cried. "I'm with Piosenniel..." The hands on his throat paused even as he felt a sharp edge press against his neck. Then the Hobbit sitting astride his back was pulled off by Daisy. "This is Mithadan!" she cried. "He is with me and Azra and Nitir!"

The pressure on his arm and legs was released and he climbed slowly to his feet. A Hobbit stood before him holding a knife. "Sorry," he said before he turned and joined his fellows and moved off across the cave.

Piosenniel's voice drifted to him from the left. "Are you alright?" Ignoring various aches and pains, he nodded. "I cannot see well in here," he complained.

"Then, let the Elf lead," she retorted with a slight laugh. "Why don't you do that," he responded.

They continued on to the North, pausing once to lend aid to a group of Hobbits held at bay by two guards. Just before they reached the tunnel entrance, a stone whizzed by Mithadan's head. He ducked and dodged forward into the perimeter path, where he was nearly skewered by an over-eager Elf before he was recognized. "It's dangerous in here," he muttered.