The Tarnished in LOTR with Elden Ring

Bilbo's eye twitched as he watched the Goblins continuously charging forward only to be cut in half by the sweeping greatsword. He didn't know how long this scene had lasted.

Half an hour? Or just a few minutes?

Bilbo wasn't sure. In this vast cave, aside from areas illuminated by torchlight, everything was pitch black, making him lose his sense of time.

Then he turned to look at the other side. If Tarnes used ultimate violent aesthetics to destroy those Goblin bodies and harvest their lives, then this prosthetic-armed lady called "Millicent" was the embodiment of elegance.

She was like a dancer moving with her sword. Bilbo had previously worried that her prosthetic arm might be inconvenient, wondering if this expedition would be as uncomfortable for her as it was for him.

After all, Bilbo felt Millicent's frame was quite slender compared to Tarnes and the others, and having lost an arm, she was technically disabled.

So during every meal, Bilbo would thoughtfully add a little extra to Millicent's portion.

Eating more helps one grow, though Bilbo didn't know if her arm could ever be healed.

But now, seeing Millicent's dazzling swordsmanship, he realized his previous concerns were completely unnecessary.

Without doubt, he was the one in the expedition who most needed looking after.

Bilbo Baggins suddenly realized this fact.

Tarnes called to Bilbo: "Don't daydream, Bilbo. Keep moving down. Gandalf and the others are still waiting for us."

Bilbo quickly nodded and followed closely behind Tarnes.

Soon they reached the bottom of the valley, where Goblin corpses that had fallen from above were scattered everywhere, nearly covering the valley floor.

Bilbo nervously looked up. On the path they'd come from, many more Goblins were still streaming toward them.

"I don't think I'll ever forget this scene," Bilbo said, then lifted his feet and followed behind Tarnes with his head down.

Tarnes had switched from his greatsword to a longsword, as the valley floor's path was somewhat narrow, unsuitable for greatsword swinging, which could easily get caught in rock crevices.

Though with Tarnes' strength, those rock crevices would probably be destroyed outright, it would still waste considerable effort.

Tarnes noticed a place where sunlight was streaming in and immediately called to Bilbo and Millicent: "Look over there! Sunlight and fresh air blowing in. That must be the exit Gandalf mentioned. Let's go!"

The Goblins swarmed over with sharp screams. Tarnes noticed that the passage leading to the exit was a narrow path that only allowed one person through at a time.

Of course, this referred to normally sized humans like Tarnes, not Hobbits, Dwarves, or Goblins.

Tarnes' eyes darted around. He turned back, grabbed Bilbo, who was following behind him, lifted him up, and gently tossed him into that narrow passage.

Then he said to Millicent: "Take Bilbo out first. I'll find a way to block these Goblins here."

Millicent nodded quickly and passed Tarnes to enter the narrow passage.

Bilbo hadn't reacted in time to being tossed to the ground by Tarnes, landing among several fungal plants about the same size as himself.

The soft flesh didn't injure Bilbo, allowing him to quickly get up.

"Hmm? What's this?"

As Bilbo stood up from the fungal plants, he saw a golden ring on the ground. He instinctively picked it up and was about to examine it when he heard Millicent calling.

"We're leaving... Watch out, Bilbo!" Millicent came to Bilbo's side and suddenly shouted urgently.

A Goblin that had emerged from some corner was lunging at Bilbo with claws extended, frightening him.

"Bang!"

Millicent braced her hands against the wall, positioned herself in front of Bilbo, and kicked the attacking creature flying back.

Bilbo watched this scene with lingering fear. The creature's foul breath had already reached his nose.

He was certain that without Millicent's help, it would have bitten off his nose.

Too terrifying. These Goblins had all become mindless madmen after their king's death.

While Bilbo's heart was still pounding, the creature didn't seem to be dead, which surprised Millicent slightly.

After all, the force of her kick should have been enough to kill a Goblin, as evidenced by the Goblin corpses they'd left along their path.

"Thief... thief, give back my precious..." Bilbo noticed this creature seemed to be saying something.

Though Millicent's kick hadn't killed him, he was nearly unconscious.

Only his obsession with something kept him from completely passing out.

Bilbo picked up a fist-sized stone from the ground and threw it at the creature, hitting his forehead with perfect accuracy.

The creature's legs kicked twice, then went still; whether dead or alive, he made no more sound.

Seeing this, Millicent kicked the creature aside and led Bilbo to continue running toward the increasingly bright cave entrance.

As Bilbo passed the creature, he glanced sideways at him, which raised doubts in his heart.

Was this creature really a Goblin? From his features, he looked more like a Hobbit who hadn't seen light in a long time...

But the moment this thought arose in Bilbo's mind, he dismissed it himself.

Impossible. Don't scare yourself, Bilbo. What Hobbit doesn't like sunbathing?

The precious he mentioned, could it be this golden ring I picked up? Should I give it back?

Bilbo reached into his pocket, his fingers touching the cool metal ring, hesitating whether to take it out and throw it back to the creature.

Since he was willing to risk his life to get it back, it must be very important to him, right?

Just as Bilbo was about to pull the ring from his pocket to return it, a sudden explosion made him shudder and put it back.

"What happened?" He looked back. The explosion had come from Tarnes' direction.

Tarnes ran out of the smoke, his White Wolf armor, previously stained with Goblin blood, now covered in dust and debris.

Seeing Bilbo standing there in a daze, Tarnes quickly called: "Don't just stand there, Bilbo. I just threw some Fire Pots at the narrow passage entrance, but I misjudged the power. Nearly brought down the cave entrance. I'm not sure if it'll affect this area. While those Goblins are blocked by fire and rocks and can't get through temporarily, let's get out first."

Bilbo seemed to forget about the ring in his pocket, didn't even look at the unconscious creature, and quickly nodded before running out.

Millicent was already outside, her relaxed voice coming from the cave entrance: "It's safe outside. Mr. Bernahl, Gandalf, Thorin, and the others are all here waiting for us."

…

About ten minutes earlier, in the deep water pool of the Goblin underground kingdom.

"Gollum, gollum!"

A pale, hunched figure was crawling by the pool's edge today, famished and coughing, waiting to see if any plump fish would be caught to give him a full meal.

His name was "Gollum" because he often made "gollum, gollum" coughing sounds, causing creatures who saw him to call him that.

As for his real name, it had long been forgotten in time's erosion.

Even the creatures who called him "Gollum," he'd forgotten whether they were humans or something else.

"Whether sweet fish meat or that greasy fish oil, anything will do, as long as it fills us up, anything at all."

His stomach made hungry sounds as he prayed in a weak voice.

Then his expression suddenly turned vicious, his tone seeming to change to another person: "Oh, come on! We need to be proactive. Grab a stone and sneak up to bash a Goblin's head in. That way we'll have a week's worth of food."

Then his expression became timid again, his tone reverting: "But, but those Goblins are so fierce, and their meat is smelly and rank, not tasty at all."

"You're just afraid you can't beat them! Besides, don't we have our precious? Put it on! Those stupid, filthy Goblins can't even see us."

"Right, right, we still have our precious."

Just as Gollum was pulling a golden ring from his tattered, filthy pocket, so worn its original color and material were unrecognizable, and admiring it with obsessive eyes, sudden noisy sounds came from overhead.

Then came many dull thuds of heavy objects falling.

Gollum immediately looked up alertly, put the ring back in his severely worn shorts pocket, and then crept like a gray wolf preparing to hunt in the night, using all fours to reach where the sounds were coming from.

Then Gollum froze. What had fallen wasn't stones or the occasional Goblin who'd lost footing to become his extra meal, but masses and masses of Goblins that had fallen and been smashed into pieces.

Sometimes large chunks of suspension bridges or other wooden debris would also fall.

"Is, is this a feast?" Gollum muttered to himself, cowering.

Then his expression turned fierce again: "Shut up! Whatever's happening up there, first grab a couple fresh corpses. Enough to last us a long time."

The fierce expression disappeared. Gollum nodded and was about to emerge from his hiding place when he heard hurried footsteps.

So he shrank back, hiding behind a rock with his back against it, using the corner of his eye to watch where the sounds came from.

"Keep running, don't stop, my good lads! We're almost at the exit!" An elderly man in gray robes held a sword aloft, followed by a large group of Dwarves and two male humans.

He held his breath, keeping his presence to a minimum. The Dwarves passing this rock didn't notice there was still a living humanoid creature quietly watching them from behind.

Soon these people left the area, but Gollum still waited half a minute before peeking out.

After confirming they were gone, he showed a purely happy smile, picked up a stone, and pounced on a Goblin who was only severely injured but still alive, grinning as he brought it down.

"One strike, two strikes, strip the clothes, pick the bones, drain the blood~"

Gollum hummed a little eating tune adapted from some unknown melody while dragging two Goblins toward the narrow passage.

As he swayed his body, the golden ring in his pocket somehow began to work its way out bit by bit.

"Bilbo, run quickly, don't look back."

A clear male voice came, making Gollum jerk his head up again.

He immediately realized another group had fallen behind and not yet emerged. After hesitating while looking at the Goblin corpses he was dragging, he let go and darted into the narrow passage leading outside.

Just as Gollum was trotting past those fungal plants, the ring in his shorts pocket finally shook loose, rolled to the ground, and slid among those fleshy leaves to lie peacefully on the ground.

When Gollum hid, he habitually felt his back pocket, then his eyes suddenly widened.

Gone. It's gone?

Where did it go!?

He showed a pitiful, helpless, anxious expression, crawling on the ground looking left and right.

Could it have fallen when I was moving the corpses?

Gollum was frantically about to poke his head out when a young Hobbit was suddenly thrown into the narrow passage.

In Gollum's incredulous, shocked expression, he watched the Hobbit pick up a golden ring when standing up and put it in his pocket.

That's mine! You thief! Robber! Liar! Burglar!

That's mine, our precious!

Gollum's shocked expression quickly became twisted and vicious. His face, which had still been recognizable as having features, now looked no different from those ugly Orcs.

But from his perspective, after a beautiful human female swordsman kicked him away, he fell into a semi-conscious state.

"Thief, thief, give back my precious..."

Then Gollum felt his forehead struck by a stone and completely passed out.

…

Time returns to the present.

When Tarnes, Millicent, and Bilbo rushed out of the cave entrance, another huge sound came from inside, then the cave's stale air mixed with dust rolled out, leaving the area around the entrance in chaos.

Gandalf's relieved voice came: "Tarnes, Millicent, and our dear Bilbo. Now we're all here."

Then Gandalf's brow furrowed slightly. He noticed that when Bilbo heard his name called, he didn't show his usual happy smile but instead kept looking back at the cave while keeping one hand in his jacket pocket, feeling around for something.

But Thorin's actions drew Gandalf's attention away.

The Dwarf quickly walked forward, rushed up to embrace Tarnes, and said with worry and concern to all three: "I thought you wouldn't make it out. If you'd died because of me after finishing the Lonely Mountain expedition, I would have led a Dwarf army to level this place."

After hearing Thorin's words, Bilbo took his hand out of his pocket, wiped his nose, and said somewhat bashfully: "Thorin, uh, I, uh, really appreciate you pushing me to safety at the entrance. Thank you."

Thorin shook his head without saying anything but asked curiously: "So how exactly was that door opened? When we fell, I noticed the Goblins on both rock walls were very shocked."

Hearing this question, Bernahl, Millicent, and Igon instinctively looked at Tarnes.

Oh crap.

Tarnes' expression changed, fortunately hidden by his White Wolf faceplate.

He immediately cleared his throat and said with equal concern: "Let's rest here for a bit, Thorin. You must all be exhausted today. Don't travel anymore; wait until tomorrow to set out."

Author's Note: In the original, after Thorin's group left the cave, they continued being chased by those goblins/orcs.

In the movies, Azog caught up with them right after they left the cave because the Goblin King had sent word (due to Azog's bounty).

In this book, the cave was also collapsed by the protagonist, and the Goblin King was directly killed by Igon's three arrows before he could send word.

Therefore, neither the goblin hordes nor Azog will appear.

Moreover, even if Azog knew Thorin's location, he wouldn't dare come—an elite army was directly eliminated by the wizard. He's not stupid enough to rush over and get himself killed.

Therefore, Gandalf didn't need to call the Great Eagles for help.