Hauling yet another heavy load of wood, Merry trudged into the innermost cavern, dodging the taller orcs, goblins, and uruks busy making ready for war. He disliked coming to this cave, though he'd been forced to do so more and more as the orcs needed more fuel for their fires.

Despite his reluctance, he had tried-and failed-to reach his friends' shadowy prison since he had made his terrible discovery. Once, he had managed to get close, but he'd been quickly noticed. Unable to explain away his movements, he'd paid for them with a brief beating.

Having abandoned his goal, his helplessness burned in his empty belly, and now he took to averting his eyes and keeping himself distracted until he quit the cave. Once on his way, he resumed his investigations of pathways and tunnels, fostering plans of escape. He could not bear the sight of Legolas and Gimli, but he would not leave them to their death.

Dumping the wood beside an oven, Merry stretched his tired arms. He would have to look for food soon. He hadn't eaten since Pippin had last snuck him the fruit and bread, when he had taken it to be morning. If they wanted him to keep moving, they had better feed him!

Heading back to the pile of wood brought in from the forest, Merry stole a glance across the cave where a large, dark tunnel led away somewhere, directly opposite the entrance through which Merry entered. The mouth of the forbidding passage was large and smoothly carved, as if done with care. Yet not one creature here paid the archway any heed.

Much as he dreaded it, he remained certain he had to investigate that tunnel. He had managed to get across the cavern once by toting materials that gave all the impression he was on an errand. None had questioned him until he had reached the other side, and there his journey had nearly ended in another beating.

"Oi!" Merry looked up, ready to defend his actions, but Uglúk had called Norgry over instead. "Get all the weapons gathered up. Or get one of the maggot-goblins to do it for you. But make sure every lad's got a weapon of some sort. Deal out what armor we got too. You take care of that yourself, as there ain't enough for every soldier. Got all that?"

"Right, got it. Any idea where we heading to?"

"We go where Saruman tells us to go! Now get on with it!"

Merry realized he knew more than the orcs around him of Saruman's plans to march to Edoras. He likely knew more regarding the location and significance of the city as well-his time in Rivendell's libraries had not been ill spent after all. Pippin had got it all right, like a good hobbit.

It looked like Saruman might take Strider with him to Edoras, maybe to use as a trick against the King of Rohan-or against Sauron? Merry shook his head. Pippin hadn't been clear on everything, except one thing: Rohan needed warning. But Merry had yet to come up with a plan for escape, much less one that would bring them to Edoras in time to give the people ample time to prepare.

Norgry stomped off with his orders and without a thought for Merry. Never the best at minding Merry, now Norgry was laden with enough to allow Merry to wander freely.

"Eh, halfling!" Or so he thought. "Any wood left?"

"Oh, eh, yes, there's some left. Maybe a couple of trips worth."

Norgry nodded. "Bring it out then. These lads gotta finish what they started."

Merry nodded, but Norgry was already on his way, giving his next order. Merry stood there for a moment watching Norgry stomp away. Orcs were running about, the pace picking up again as everyone got their new orders. Merry wasted no time.

From beside the woodpile, he picked up a small hammer, what looked like tongs, and other tools he had no name for. Merry left the cavern and turned into the corridor that ran along the outside of it. He re-entered the cavern at the opposite end, but all were too busy to take note. Barely glancing behind him, he slipped into the dark tunnel, the blackness swallowing him immediately.

He broke into a run, tools in one hand, the other running along the stone wall. He could barely see, but the wall of the tunnel told him the passageway curved to the right.

It grew darker until he could not see his hand before him. But then he noticed something else more remarkable. The air. It was cooler. Not a pleasant breezy day in the Shire, but cool enough to tell there was something different about this passage. But he had been gone too long. He'd have to return to the cavern.

When he reached the opening to the passage, he peered at the scene from the protective shadows. No one had noticed a hobbit walking into the tunnel. Would they notice him coming from it? He'd have to risk it.

Walking casually, tools in hand, he entered the cavern and turned right sharply, so that it looked as if he had come from his left. He skirted the edge of the cavern, traveling slowly in a large circle. Too late he realized he approached the recess he had tried to avoid. Without hesitating, he walked steadily on so as not to attract attention. He was in an area in which he had no true reason to be and he cared not for another beating.

"Eh! You! Get over here and help me!" Merry froze, again on the defensive. Turning to the voice, he saw a large uruk waving to a smaller orc some yards ahead of him. "Norgry's gone nuts, and I can't do all this by myself, no matter what he thinks."

"I gotta--" the orc began his protest.

"Don't give me excuses!" he barked, as Merry prayed the shadows would shield him. "Just leave it there! It'll be there when you get back. Nobody's gonna do your work for you. Come on!"

"If Norgry says one word to me," he said, dropping his load and stomping to the uruk, "I'm coming to find you!"

"Stop whining!"

As the two creatures went off to other duties, Merry crept a few steps forward into the dim light where the orcs had argued.

He slapped his hand over his mouth and pulled himself behind a narrow stretch of wall. On the other side of the wall, Gimli lay on the floor in a heap. The orc had been carrying Gimli! What for? To where? It didn't matter. Was he alive? That did matter.

Merry peeked around the wall. Orcs carried weapons and distributed armor, coming and going quickly. "Gimli!" Merry whispered from his hiding spot. "Gimli! Can you hear me?" He kept one eye on the bustling crowd and another on Gimli, praying for movement.

After a few more calls, the dwarf stirred with a groan. Not allowing himself to enjoy his relief, he called out, "Gimli, come, you must get up." He looked about. The wall he stood behind separated the main space from smaller niches just behind them. He ran to the opposite end of the wall, closer to Gimli, and called to his friend again. "Over here, Gimli, can you crawl over here?"

Gimli began to look about, likely confused by the moving voice. Finally, his eyes landed on Merry. "Merry?" he said after a long moment, his voice a mere croak. He said nothing more but cocked his head to the side, as if trying to work out the strange scene. "Or Pippin?" he asked again, then muttered to himself something about madness.

"Yes, Gimli, it's me, it's Merry. I'm really here. And you're really going to get up and, well, at least crawl over here. I know you can do that. Dwarves are the sturdiest of creatures, aren't they? So, show me it is so!"

Gimli looked about him, looked at the shackles on his wrists, then looked about him again. Finally, he began to crawl towards Merry, his pace excruciatingly slow, shackles scraping on stone.

"Come on, Gimli! That's it, just a few more!" As soon as the dwarf was in reach, Merry grabbed his shoulder and dragged him behind the wall. Peering around the corner one last time, he sagged against the wall in relief.

"What is happening?" Gimli looked confused and disoriented. Through the darkness, Merry could see that Gimli's face was smeared with blood and grit and dust, one eye was swollen and purple, and his lip was split. With what he had clearly suffered these last few days, he was sure not to think straight.

"Don't worry, Gimli. I'm going to get you out of here. Do you think you can follow me?"

Slowly, Gimli reached out and gripped Merry's arm. Staring, squeezing weakly, he eventually seemed to satisfy himself that Merry was indeed real. The dwarf sat back with his eyes closed for a long minute. Taking a deep breath, he seemed to gather his strength and his faculties and leaned forward. "You mean to say you have managed to find a way out?"

"I may have. It's certainly worth a try. And you're just the one I need to help me. Come, how do you feel?"

Gimli gave a hoarse laugh. "How do I feel? You rouse me from a stupor on the ground, urge me to my knees, only to demand I crawl towards your voice-a voice I had given up any hope of hearing again-then you tell me we might escape." Gimli made a rasp Merry interpreted as a chuckle. "If these shackles were still chained to the wall, they could not keep me!" He nodded then, and Merry saw a glimmer of the proud dwarf he'd known. "Lead the way, Master Merry!"