Dark armor, the presence of a one-man army, and a faint, unconscious arrogance that seemed beyond mortal ken.
All of this reminded the Great Goblin of a certain master, a being who once commanded all orcs and wargs in service. That shadowy figure gradually overlapped with the one before him.
No, it couldn't be him.
Although this warrior was formidable, he was still far from that level of power. That one wasn't merely strong...
"Don't waste time fighting him! Take another route!"
The experienced and cunning Great Goblin led a vast horde of goblins away in hasty retreat.
"What? You're really just leaving? Come back!"
At that moment, within the cavern, Garrett was chasing and cutting down goblins, while on the other side, another group of goblins was assaulting the dwarves and Gandalf.
The Great Goblin was trapped between them, drenched in sweat, evading the terrifying warrior behind him while commanding the goblins ahead to attack the dwarves. The scene was utter chaos and noise.
---
While Goblin-town was engulfed in heated battle, in a secluded, hidden grotto, Bilbo had just regained consciousness.
The first sound he heard upon awakening was a raspy voice nearby, muttering to itself, narrating its current activity.
"Goblins... so little meat, so skinny. Must skin them first before eating..."
"Still better than nothing... gollum..."
Thanks to the hobbit's natural stealth abilities, he had remained undiscovered even while unconscious.
Now, he hid behind a boulder, quietly observing the strange, scrawny creature bashing a goblin's skull with a stone.
The goblin could not escape its fate and was beaten to death.
As the unfortunate goblin perished, a golden ring slipped from the strange creature and rolled to Bilbo's feet.
Bilbo picked it up.
"What's this?"
He examined the ring with curiosity. It looked quite pretty.
"Gollum!"
But his attention was quickly diverted, he looked warily at the strange creature still dealing with the goblin and casually slipped the ring into his pocket.
Taking a deep breath as he watched the gruesome scene, he felt this place was truly sinister. He turned away to compose himself. But when he looked again, the scrawny creature had suddenly vanished.
He became alert and looked up sharply.
A pair of large, luminous eyes were staring directly at him.
"Yesss, bless us, he looks tender and juicy, plenty of meat now, gollum..."
Just as the creature revealed a cruel smile and prepared to attack, Bilbo suddenly drew his short sword and held it to its throat.
"Back! Stay away from me!"
"Gollum..."
"Elvish blade. But you're not an elf, not an orc either. What are you, gollum..."
"I'm Bilbo Baggins."
"Baggins? What's a Baggins?"
"I'm a hobbit, from the Shire..."
"Ooh, a hobbit. We've eaten bats and fish, but never a hobbit, gollum. Are they tasty? Tender?"
"Be gone!"
Bilbo brandished his sword and forced back the creature that wanted to eat him.
"Listen, I don't want to make this complicated. Just tell me the way out, and we'll go our separate ways. I'm not here to play games…"
"Games?"
"We loves games! Gollum... how about riddles? If you win, we'll tell you how to get out..."
"We?"
"Yes, precious, we... gollum."
Bilbo looked about but saw no third party.
Great. The creature suffers from a split mind.
This strange being dwelling in the dark depths beneath the goblin warren was, naturally, Gollum. And so, by twist of fate, Bilbo and Gollum began a contest of riddles deep underground.
But today, Gollum had chosen the wrong opponent. Riddles had always been Bilbo's forte.
Before long, Gollum was thoroughly outmatched and ended up losing thoroughly. However, he was never one to keep his word.
"You lost. Now guide me from this place," Bilbo said, finally able to breathe easier after his victory.
"We lost?"
"No... we didn't lose. Gollum."
Gollum stared suspiciously at Bilbo's blade, his expression growing dark. One hand reached toward his waist, intending to put on the ring and turn invisible to launch a surprise attack.
But he found nothing there.
"Where is it?"
"My precious! My precious! No! No! It's gone!!"
"What has it got in its pocketses?" Gollum snarled at Bilbo.
"Nothing."
Bilbo quietly pulled out the ring and hid it behind his back.
"You stole it!"
Realizing the ring was missing, Gollum went mad. He no longer feared the sword in Bilbo's hand and lunged at him with a shriek.
Caught off guard, Bilbo was knocked to the ground.
The ring flew from his grasp, spinning through the air. It adjusted itself mid-flight, its size and trajectory, falling perfectly onto Bilbo's finger.
Clearly, it had grown tired of Gollum and desperately sought a new bearer, to escape the lightless abyss below.
The moment the ring slipped on, Bilbo vanished, fading from sight.
He had become invisible.
Gollum could no longer see him and began howling and wailing in despair.
"He must be going toward the exit..."
Muttering to himself, Gollum set off in one direction.
The exit?
Not having time to wonder why he'd suddenly turned invisible, Bilbo quickly followed behind.
---
"Run!"
Elsewhere in the cavern, Gandalf was clearing the path ahead, staff in his left hand, Glamdring in his right, cutting down goblins one after another with ferocity.
But when he turned around, he saw an endless swarm of goblins still pursuing them, seemingly in a hurry, as if being driven from behind by something even more terrible.
"Why are they still chasing us?!"
"They're like leeches!" a dwarf shouted in frustration.
Behind the dwarves, the Great Goblin heaved his massive bulk forward, shouting orders to his minions to block Gandalf and the others, while nervously glancing back over his shoulder.
There it was, that dark figure, relentless as shadow, still pursuing them. As he moved, he placed stone blocks beneath his feet, crossing steep terrain with ease.
"Why is he still hunting me?!"
At this moment, the Great Goblin was truly terrified.
Fortunately, after sufficient twists and turns, they finally managed to block the path ahead, trapping the dwarves and the wizard. The dark figure had been left behind, for now, giving them a moment to catch their breath.
"You think you can outrun me?"
Panting, the Great Goblin looked smugly at Gandalf.
Thud!
He swung his massive skull-crowned staff at Gandalf, who attempted to block with his sword, but no matter how sharp or sturdy, it was still just a blade, no match in size or weight for that war-hammer-like staff.
Clang!
The blow knocked Glamdring from Gandalf's grasp, sending him stumbling back several steps, nearly falling.
Seeing his opponent disarmed and surrounded by his forces, the Great Goblin could no longer imagine any path to defeat.
"Let's see what you have now, wizard!"
He raised his heavy staff again, preparing a killing blow. But Gandalf struck the ground with his own staff, and the sword that had been knocked away suddenly soared back through the air. It slashed across the Great Goblin's belly, dropping him to his knees.
"I'm thinking it's about time to wrap this up. How about I stop chasing you guys, alright?" the Great Goblin quickly attempted to negotiate.
"No."
Before Gandalf could respond, a voice rang out from above, a voice that made the goblins instinctively cower.
It was him. He'd caught up!
Above them all, Garrett stored away the stones he'd used to build his path and drew his longsword.
Without hesitation, he leaped down in a powerful arc and brought the Great Goblin's reign to a swift and final end.