[Orofaniel]

"What's that you've got there?" Annû asked his brother with great curiosity. He tried to crawl towards Carandû but was stopped by the big rock that lay in between. "There is a rock there..." Carandû said, without turning to look at his brother as he stumbled over it, loosing his torch. "Ouch!" Annû exclaimed. Galhardir crawled forwards to help the poor elf up, but Annû managed it on his own.

"I apologise brother," Carandû said causally as he still seemed fixed on his discovery. "Eh..no problem," Annû said, with a great deal of sarcasm. "I'm alright, if you were wondering," he then added, smiling widely. Hs brother burst into a merry laughter and so did Galhardir. But still, Galhardir was a bit worried about Annû’s fall, and asked him if he really was alright. Annû didn't seem to want to discuss it so Galhardir accepted Annû’s short answer. Now both Galhardir and Annû had reached Carandû and his discovery. "What exactly is that?" Glahardir asked Carandû as he examined it with his own torch. "It's...it's a fossil," Carandû said, looking very proud of what he had found. "See the lines here?" he then asked. Galhardir nodded.

"Where is your helmet Annû?" Galhardir then asked, noticing that Annû’s helmet could be everywhere else than it should be; on his head. "Uh..I don't know," the elf said, touching his head. "I probably lost it as I fell over the rock..." he then said. "Without noticing?" Galhardir then asked suspiciously. "Aye, must have been..." Annû continued.

"You better go get it," Carandû then said, finally looking away from the fossil. "Ah..you're right," Annû said. "Hand me your torch, Galhardir, will you?" Annû said, holding his empty hand out. "I could need both; it's so dark in here..." he then said, while Galhardir handed his torch over to Annû. "You two just stay here," Annû then said, turning his back on them to find his helmet.

Not a minute had gone by before Galhardir and Caranû could hear a great boom. Galhardir jumped, holding Carandû by the arm. "What was that?" he whispered. Carandû didn't answer, just had the only torch they had in the direction they had heard the noise. "Maybe it's Annû!" Carandû exclaimed. "Maybe...he went after all, in that very direction!" Galhardir then whispered back. "What shall we do?" Galhardir continued. He suddenly became aware of the tales that had been told about this cave; what if they were true? He got anxious and frightened, but could not tell by looking at Carandû that he felt the same; he seemed so calm. "We should just stay...hush!" Carandû said. "I hear something," he continued, he too was whispering. Galhardir could also hear it; slow footsteps, as they were dragged along the cavern.

"Who's there?!" Carandû then yelled.

Galhardir heard nothing but the echoes.

"It's just me..."

It was a familiar voice. It was Annû’s voice! "Annû!" Carandû exclaimed, as he saw the elf move slowly towards them. "Aye, it's me.." he then replied. "What was that frightful noise we heard? Did you hear it too?" Galhardir then asked.

"I did hear it, indeed. Too well, one might say..." Annû then said. He had now reached the two others. The light from the two torches he bore mad it possible for Galhardir to see the blood from his forehead. "What happened?" Galhardir then gazed. "The same old rock..." Annû said, smiling a bit.

"That doesn't look good, my friend," Galhardir continued, shaking his head. "No, we better return to the main cavern, don’t you think?" Carandû then said, holding his hand out to touch Annû head. "Nah-a," Annû said, taking a step backwards. "It's alright my friends," he said. "There is nothing to worry about...although returning to the main cavern is something we could...and should do after, my opinion," he said as he handed Galhardir the torch back. "Aye, there is nothing to find here...let’s go," Galhardir then said, leading the way.