L�m looked out of his calm grey eyes at me. �Why not?�
I shrugged. �I�m nobody. I can�t do much.�
L�m chuckled. �No one is what they seem on the outside. One who judges character from what he thinks he sees is unwise. A wise Dwarf judges from observation, not from sight.�
I did not really feel my question had been answered. I felt like I had been handed a riddle instead. And I thought, too, that L�m sounded a bit like Lanthir when he said that. I began to wonder if Dwarves and Elves had been made out of the same stock and they did not even know it. I said nothing else to L�m who had begun to eat heartily.
When our lunch was finished, we picked up our packs and moved on. We had walked but a few yards when Lanthir suddenly swung around and raised his bow pointed in my direction. I jumped at the sight. The Elf was looking beyond me, his blue eyes bright and fixed. His voice rang out sharply.
�I see you! Show yourself or I will kill you where you stand!�
L�m had turned almost as soon as Lanthir, his stance that of one ready to fight with his bare hands. Priscilla gasped at Lanthir�s words and I was stunned when she dashed over to me, putting her hand in mine. Her emerald eyes were also focused behind me. I dared not turn around. I did not want to invite whatever was lurking after me. I heard some rustling of leaves and a dark arrow shot just above my head.
�Pady! Down!� Lanthir screamed. I fell to the ground, pulling Priscilla with me. Another arrow whizzed by, this one moving in the opposite direction. It was silver and I knew it had come from Lanthir�s bow. I heard a screech, like a hawk that had just been killed. I turned my head and saw the most horrible creature stumble onto our path.
The creature seemed to be made of translucent fish skin stretched over a thinning frame. His body was mottled white as if he had not seen the light of day in a long time and was wrinkled and cracked all over. His eyes were blood red and his grimace revealed teeth that were yellowed and askew. The hair on his head was dark as mud, matted and clumpy. He was very dirty, covered in dirt that I knew came from under the earth; I had seen that dark soil many a time when I had broken the ground for new seeds. The creature�s clothing was almost nonexistent, torn and missing in spots, parts of it looking like rusted metal. I then saw that its feet were flat and boasted three clawed toes. In its right foot was lodged Lanthir�s silver arrow.
The moment the creature had come out into the open, L�m had rushed at it, knocking it down, yelling about his possession. Lanthir had run up to the struggling pair and had pulled L�m off, needing all his strength to do so. He grabbed the creature by the throat and threw it up against a tree, his face inches from its own.
�Who are you? Why do you follow us?�
The creature gasped and whined. �Pull it out! The arrow. It�s burning!�
Lanthir roughly reached down and I flinched as he yanked the silver arrow out of the creature�s foot. The creature howled in pain and finally began to whimper quietly. Lanthir squeezed harder on its throat.
�Who are you?� He repeated.
Now, the creature cackled. �One of your distant kin!� He seemed to think this a tremendous joke and kept on laughing harshly.
Lanthir pushed him into the tree, thrusting his free hand into the creature�s chest. The creature gasped for breath.
�You�re an Orc. But not like others I�ve seen. Why do you follow us? What do you look to gain with us?�
The Orc, so Lanthir called him, became silent. He only grinned viciously, showing his crooked teeth.
Lanthir pressed so hard on the Orc�s throat, I thought he would crush it. �Tell me, now!�
The Orc could hardly talk, but managed a strained reply. �Torture me to get your answers, Elf!�
Lanthir�s eyes flashed in anger and he gripped the Orc even tighter. �You know I would never do such a thing!�
The Orc cackled again. �Then no answers will you find in me.�
After what seemed many long minutes, Lanthir called to me. �Pady! Bring me the cord from my satchel.� I pulled myself up off the ground and found Lanthir�s bag. Looking inside I saw a bluish rope, the same color as the Brandywine River as it flowed around the Island of the Dolenwaith, Lanthir�s home. I brought it to Lanthir. The creature looked down at me with unmistakable hatred. L�m, who had been standing next to Lanthir, watching him interrogate the Orc, helped him to tie up the pale creature so that finally it was bound tightly with the rope around its middle and its hands behind its back. When Lanthir had finished, L�m looked into the face of the creature.
�You know those who took my possession. Where are they?� He demanded.
The Orc laughed once more. He shrugged. �I don�t keep track of them. Not my business them.� He cackled so much that he began to cough.
Lanthir looked down at him. �If you refuse to answer our questions, then you will travel with us.�
The Orc shook his head. �Very dangerous that is. Very dangerous. They�ll come for me. They will.�
�Who?� Lanthir asked, but the Orc looked away, refusing to answer.
Lanthir turned to L�m and spoke sternly. �This is the time to prove that I can trust you, Dwarf. I cannot both protect the Hobbits and watch this villain. Keep Pady and Priscilla near you. If any harm comes to them, I will hold your life in my hands.�
I was at first taken aback by Lanthir�s words and then I was encouraged. Had Lanthir finally seen in L�m what I saw, an honorable Dwarf that could be relied upon? L�m looked up at Lanthir with solemnity in his grey eyes.
�I said at the beginning I wish no harm on you all and it is still so now. I will guard them with my very life if I must.�
This time, Lanthir�s eyes did not hold hate for the Dwarf. Instead I saw respect creeping into them. He was not completely convinced by what L�m said, but neither was he disbelieving. He simply nodded and then handed L�m a dark bow and a quiver of arrows in a black sheath. Looking back at the Orc he indicated that they were his.
�You have no weapons and now we have grave need of them. Though I do not know how useful this bow will be to you.�
L�m grinned slowly. �I have not used a bow in many years, but the skill is not new to me.�
Lanthir raised his eyebrows in surprise. He contemplated L�m for a couple of seconds and then turned to the Orc. He forced the pale creature to walk in front of him, as he held the end of the rope. L�m, Priscilla and I followed quietly. Priscilla did not return to her normal place in our travels. She held back and stayed near me. I tried once again to catch her eye. This time, she did not avoid me. But she did not smile. She simply looked at me with fear.
�This is too much for us, Pady Proudfoot.�
I understood her meaning. We were but little Hobbits in this earth that had been caught in something far too big for us. What else was out there? I knew that Lanthir was not afraid of this Orc. Indeed, he had no trouble confronting it. Where was the �he� Lanthir feared? Was the �he� involved in this? In my stomach I felt uneasiness. I had a foreboding feeling that this most evil of beings was involved in my family�s story. Was that who would come to rescue the Orc? L�m has said we are not far now from the body we seek and I fear what we shall find when we reach it.