Stuck in bloody Tergathil Cave!

Once upon a time, there was a country called the Midlands. There lived a great population of dwarfs, who worked until nightfall in their halls of stone. They were skilled minors, with strong hands and a kind of patience that could only be found in the souls of dwarfs.
This story is not about the Midlands. It’s about Torin and Borin, sons of Dorin, the king of the Midlands. Dorin was a graceful dwarf, how silly as it may sound, since dwarfs are often a bit clumsier and sturdier than the elves and humans from the North. But he really was graceful. Sadly, this grace hadn’t been passed on to his two sons, who were indeed clumsy and utterly filthy in their mouths. Yes, the sons of the Great King of the Midlands had this passion, you see. They loved to swear in every single one of their daily conversations. And in this story, there will be a lot of swearing, since the brothers will get trapped in a gloomy cave in Ordon. They will not be very delighted about that. Ho ho ho, indeed they will not. Let’s begin, shall we?

”Come on, wart face! Or all the oxen will be taken before we’ve even reached the fields!” Torin was getting more and more impatient about his brother’s delay, and he was dying to get his hands on at least one ox that day.
The dwarfs of the capital city of the Midlands, Hagrûliath, had found a diamond that was the size of a full grown dwarf, and that didn’t happen every day in the mines. A celebration was needed, and it was the task of Torin and Borin to capture the oxen that would fill the guests’ stomachs at King Dorin’s dinner table. But how could they capture seven oxen in only three days, when Torin’s brother wouldn’t come down from those bloody stairs already?!
“I’m coming, I’m coming! Can’t find me axe. Mustn’t leave without if”, Borin shouted from upstairs.
Torin and Borin lived in a little cottage in the forest, just a few kilometres away from the mines where they worked six days a week. You might wonder why the King’s own sons lived in a petite cottage in the woods. I’ll tell you the reason why. The boys simply weren’t cut out for royalty. In fact, it wasn’t the King who had told them to move out of the glorious halls, it was their own decision. With their beloved axes, they had cut down a few trees and built themselves a house, where they swore in front of the open fire every evening, after working hard in the mines. Not without a pint, of course. The dwarves were very fond of beer.
Even with the age difference between them, Torin and Borin were very much alike. They both had large noses, bushy eyebrows, raspy voices and big bellies. This description fit to all dwarves. In fact…every one looked the same in the Midlands. All dwarfs had the same height, approximately 4 feet, and a long beard was a must-have.
It was the colour of these two brothers’ beards that made it possible for others to tell them apart; Torin had a deep crimson beard, and Borin’s was light orange. But enough of personal descriptions. Let’s get back to the story.
“I’m on my way!” The whole house shook violently as Borin jumped down the stairs with a heavy sack in his hands. He had packed all his dear belongings for their trip to Ordon. Torin sighed. “Finally”, he said.
After making sure that no wolves were near their cottage, they went out of the door and boomed it shut with a push. And off they went to hunt down some delicious oxen!

“Torin, me feet are aching. Bloody shoes, they’re all worn down after this bloody walk, I’ll tell ye!”, Borin complained after their fourteen hour long walk through woods, along mountainsides and through caves full of nasty rats. “I’m hungry. Oi, let’s get ourselves some bloody rest!”
Torin, who was very stressed, muttered “no time for that”, as he kept up his fast pace to get closer to his goal. They only had three days to get the oxen home to their father’s dinner fest, and almost an entire day had past: they had no time to lose.
Except beer, perhaps, food was the main attraction on special occasions in the Midlands. What would everyone say if the food wasn’t there on time? Ouff, the very thought sent a shiver down Torin’s spine. He had to follow his schedule, and there was no time to rest. No matter how many times his brother kept whining.
“Hurry up, ye moron! We’re almost there, you’ll see. Just a few miles ahead!” Oh, but they wouldn’t get to the fields of Ordon as soon as Torin had hoped for. When they went into the Terghathil cave, heavy blocks released themselves from the walls and blocked the entrance. There was no way for them to get out, unless they found a way through the darkness.

“Are ye happy, ye fool? Now look what happened. We’re trapped in a bloody rat hole!” Borin sighed unhappily. The sentence had started out as a silent mutter and ended up in a scream of frustration. Torin’s feet had been aching for a long time, and his belly had begged for food ever since they had left their cottage. There was absolutely no way he could settle down in a cave like the one they were trapped in.
Even though he refused to admit it, his biggest fears were darkness and monsters. Who knew what was hidden in here?
“Shut up, you! We just have to find a way out!” said Torin, braver than his younger brother. Although, that bravery soon got crumbled into pieces when he met the gaze of two eyes with the size of orbs in the corner of the cave. Oh yes, the brother’s had entered the cave of a wicked creature, where no one had the permission to enter. Unless you wanted to get eaten for supper.
Her name was Scumcrow, and she was a really terrifying little thing. She most certainly wasn’t a dwarf, since she had no big belly or beard to prove it (female dwarfs had beards as well, indeed!). An elf she was not, since she did not posses the grace or the beauty that defined the race. She was no human either, since she was very small, shorter than dwarfs, and was covered in a stench that filled every recess of her cave. Scumcrow left trails of slime behind her as she got closer to Torin and Borin.
“What’s thisss?”, she hissed with a smug smile on her tiny, pale face. “My dinner, perhapssss?” Borin released a screech from his throat. “We mean you no harm. We mean you no harm!”, he repeated, until Torin shuffed his elbow in his brothers stomach, just to make him stop.
“Scumcrow. We did not foresee that we’d go through yer cave. Please show us the way out, and we’ll not disturb ye again.”, said Torin bravely.
Isn’t it weird, though, that Torin spoke so politely to this wicked creature? Dwarfs were normally impolite against enemies, and they quickly took out their axes to get prepared for battles. Why was Scumcrow an exception? Well, probably because Torin knew about the powers that she possessed. She was not a magical creature. Only the elves could perform magic. No, Scumcrow had the gift of night vision. She had spent her whole life in exile in the dark, and so her eyes had gotten used to it. At least that’s what it said in the stories.
Torin and his brother had spent most of their days in daylight, and if not in daylight, in front of a fire in their cottage. Yes, their eyes were used to light, so there was no chance that they could foresee Scumcrow’s attacks in pure darkness. Besides, Torin didn’t want to take any risks, and believe me, Borin didn’t want to either (he had hidden behind a boulder as soon as Torin had said his first words to Scumcrow). Seven oxen needed to be delivered to the fest dedicated to the humungous diamond , and everything had to go as planned.
Would Scumcrow let them get away that easily, when she’d eaten only spiders and other foul insects that she could find in her limited living space? When she had the chance to eat warm flesh; dwarf meat?
“Disssturb me?”, she asked. “Dissssturb me? Silly dwarf, how could you possibly disssturb me?” Torin and Borin exchanged a quick glance of confusion as she continued to speak. “I’m all alone in this cave, and have absolutely nothing to do. Disssturb me? HAH!”. Her laugh echoed for a few seconds. “I can sssee you, dwarf. Why are you hiding behind that block of ssstone?”
Borin quickly rose up on his two feet and went to his brother, who looked at him with eyes that practically had the word “coward” written in them. He felt really dumb, so he opened his mouth to trade a few words with the creature that scared the stuffing out of him.
“Scumcrow? That’s a fancy name ye got there. Eh…please, let us go.”
“Why should I let you go when I can have a lovely yet hairy supper right at this inssstant?”
”We must get to Ordon and back to the Midlands in only two days, with seven oxen on our shoulders!” Torin spoke instead of his brother, since he had proved that he wasn’t a skilled spokesman. He continued. “This cave is the only obstacle in our way. If we get through it, we’ll finally reach our goal!” His desire to please his father coloured his tone; he was practically screaming now. Scumcrow looked amused.
”Easssy, dwarf. Eaaasssy. I will not harm you.”
”Then what will ye do then? Come on, we don’t have much time! Speak yer mind and be done with it!”, Torin said, confused and annoyed. Scumcrow was really getting on his nerves, since she wouldn’t let them continue their journey.
”Torin! Why are ye being so impolite, ye dung beetle?”, Borin asked in a high pitched voice. Why was his brother being so rude, when they had a slight chance to actually get out from the cave? What if his brother’s mood swings changed Scumcrow’s mind? What if she’d eat them for supper after all?
“I’ll let you pass through my cave.”, said Scumcrow with a smile on her face. Torin and Borin sighed in relief. “If…you know the answer to my riddle.”

Borin jumped up and down in pure excitement. He absolutely adored riddles. “Ooooh, riddles!” he said, and started clapping his hands. “I LOVE riddles!” His big smile turned into a frown when Torin smacked his head with the back of his hand, just to make him stop being so bloody excited.
This was a serious situation. If they answered the riddle correctly, they would get guided to the exit of the cave by a greatly disappointed Scumcrow. If not…they’d get eaten alive. Torin did not like this, since he had a very low IQ. Brain teasers were not his speciality, and when he and Borin were little, he never knew the answers to the riddles their father used to tell them.
Although, Borin always answered them. Most of the time, his answers were completely wrong, which made little Torin delighted with joy. But sometimes, only sometimes, he answered them correctly. He just had to trust his brother, since he was their only hope at this moment. The oxen had to be delivered to the Midlands! The main thing of the party rested on their shoulders! An ox was very hard to come by in the entire country, and all the excitement were based on eating them. The fest would get completely ruined if Torin and Borin didn’t get there on time!
“Sssooo?”, asked Scumcrow, whirling around them in enthusiasm. “Will you ansssswer my riddle?” Torin took a deep breath. “Fine. Give us yer riddle, ye bloody scum crow!”
“Watch yourssself, dwarf!! My patience is getting thin.” Her eyes got wider as her pupils started to grow, releasing scary wibes of rage towards Torin.
“Easy, Torin. Don’t make it…I mean her, your highness…”, Borin bowed, then continued. “Don’t make her upset, or we’ll never get out of here.”
“Fine! Now give us yer riddle before I cut my own head off!”

“An elf from Àranath ridesss to the clear river bank in Mytril on his white horssse. He gets there on Friday. When he ridess back to hisss home, it takesss him three daysss. He getsss home on Friday. How did he do it?”
Scumcrow had given them her riddle; it made no sense whatsoever, which most of the riddles never did when you heard them the first time without knowing the answer. But this riddle was absolutely ridiculous. How can you get somewhere on Friday, ride for three days to get back home, and get there, once again, on Friday?
“Listen, lady”, Torin said with sarcasm in his voice, “if ye ride for three days, starting Friday, ye get home on a Monday. Don’t ye know anything?” He laughed and looked at Borin to get some agreeing laughs. But Borin didn’t laugh. He was thinking of an answer.
“That’ssss the riddle, my dear.”, said Scumcrow as she smiled crookedly. “Do some good thinking, dwarf, or I’ll eat you without waiting for an anssswer!”
“He gets there on Friday, he leaves and after three days he gets home on Friday…”, mumbled Borin while he sat on the boulder he had hidden himself just a few hours ago. There he sat for forty minutes, until his face suddenly shone up. He had found out the answer to the bloody riddle. They were saved!

”The horse’s name was Friday. PAH! I don’t freakin’ believe it.” Torin was exaggerated with joy. Borin had answered the riddle correctly, and now they were on their way home carrying seven oxen (the dwarves were very strong!). The mountains of the Midlands were in sight, and they had a total of eight whole hours to spare! Borin whistled gaily as they went calmly through the same forest they had went through a couple of days ago. Only this time, they were heading home. Finally! Their journey was almost over, and they’d be the heroes of the fest. They were a little late, but they’d still get there just in time for the party. Their father would be asking them a lot of questions about their delay during the fest. Boy, did they have a story to share with their hairy friends!

* * *

The story was shared that night. Torin and Borin were celebrated alongside the biggest diamond ever found, during the biggest fest of the Midlands. The oxen where delicious, and they got praised for their excellent picks (the dwarf brothers had taken home the biggest oxen they could find in the green emerald fields of Ordon). There were lots of beer, food and laughter, and everyone had the time of their lives. You too, I reckon?