The path proceeds by a series of treacherous staircases along high cliffs, so steep that the hobbits have to crawl. After hours of exhausting climbing, they reach the top of the stairs and find a place to rest before they attempt the final tunnel. Frodo and Sam discuss their predicament, realizing that they have become part of one of the great stories that never really end. While they talk, Gollum disappears, and when he returns he finds them sleeping peacefully. A look of longing reveals that he is truly an old, lonely hobbit who should be pitied rather than hated. Sam wakes, and the moment passes. Frodo offers to let Gollum leave, now that they are within sight of the pass, but he insists on staying at least until they pass the tunnel.
They reach the tunnel soon after, and it reeks of filth. Determined to go on, Frodo and Sam enter, gagging on the stench and blinded by its impenetrable darkness. They soon lose track of Gollum, and the atmosphere weighs on them so heavily they can barely force themselves to continue. They hear gurgling and hissing and realize that Gollum has led them into a trap. At Sam's urging, Frodo pulls out the phial of Galadriel, and its healing light reveals the source of the reek and the malice: the glittering eyes of an enormous spider, Shelob. She retreats from the light, and the hobbits find their way to an exit. Although it is blocked by Shelob's webs, Frodo hands Sam the phial and cuts them with his elven sword, Sting, allowing them to escape.
