"What was that?" I whisper, snapping my eyes open and glancing around the camp. The howl had ripped me from my sleep, but it had not bothered Bombur, who swallowed quite a few moths in a snore. I couldn't believe that most of the dwarves were still asleep. A select few were still awake. Fili and Kili sat with their backs up against the wall, the flames from the fire throwing shadows on their faces. Thorin was stood at the edge of the camp, staring out over the forest below us. Gandalf and Balin were sat to the left of Fili and Kili. I glanced towards Bilbo's sleeping place. Seeing the covers thrown back, I panicked as another howl tore through the silence.
"Bilbo!" I whispered, worriedly. Sighing when he wandered back from the ponies, worry in his eyes. I sat up, my cover still wrapped tightly around my shoulders.
"What was that?" He asked, actually earning an answer, where I did not.
"Orcs," Kili said, a tinge of worry in his voice.
"Orcs," My voice came out as a squeak. My mind wandered as I scanned the tops of the trees below us. Just thinking those things were down there made me shudder. My fingers found the hilt of the blade that Kili had given me earlier.
"Orcs," Bilbo repeated, scampering over towards the fire as if that would protect him from the monsters that lurked below us. He certainly sounded more worried than I did.
"Throat-cutters," Said Fili. "There'll be dozens of them out there. The lowlands are crawling with them."
"They strike in the wee small hours when everyone's asleep," added Kili. "Quick and quiet, no screams, just lots of blood." I swallowed, my eyes still wandering across the treetops and towards the path we had followed to get to camp. Two very similar chuckles made my head turn. Fili and Kili were attempting to hide their laughter.
"You think that's funny?" Thorin's voice cut through their laughter. "You think a night raid by Orcs is a joke?"
"We didn't mean anything by it," Kili said, his voice low.
"No, you didn't. You know nothing of the world." Thorin stalked past the fire and towards the other edge of the camp. He stopped just at the edge of the pathway, and stared out over the lowlands.
"Don't mind him, laddie." Balin said. "Thorin has more cause than most, to hate Orcs." Kili still had his head turned towards the ground, but Fili was now listening intently. I turned to face Balin who no doubt going to begin a story. I tugged the cover tighter around myself, the howl of the Orc sounded again.
"After the dragon took the lonely mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient dwarf kingdom of Moria. But our enemy had got there first. Moria had been taken by a legion of Orcs, led by the most vile of all their race. Azok the Defiler." An image of the most grotesque Orc I could ever imagine crossed my mind. Terrible scars littered its body, red sunk in eyes… "The giant had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began… by beheading the king. Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief. He went missing, taken prisoner or killed, we did not know… We we're leaderless, defeat and death were upon us. That is when I saw him." Balin glanced towards Thorin, who was standing watchful over the lowlands, his hands clasped behind his back. "A young dwarf prince, facing down the Pale Orc… He stood alone. His armour bent, wielding nothing but an old oaken branch as a shield… Azok the Defiler learned that day, that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken. Our forces rallied, and drove the Orcs back, our enemy had been defeated."
I glance over at Thorin, who stands silhouetted against the light of the moon and the fire. The death he has seen… His grandfather and his father dead, killed by Orcs. I wouldn't blame him for hating them, especially Azok. If someone would have beheaded my father, I certainly would have wanted to kill them.
"But there was no feast," Balin continued. "No song that night, for our dead was beyond the count of grief. We few had survived and I thought to myself then, there is one who I could follow. There is one, who I could call King." When Thorin turned, we were all looking at him, the admiration showed in every single dwarf. Even I admired him somewhat.
"And the Pale Orc," Bilbo said, asking the question that I was thinking. "What happened to him?"
"He slunk back into the hole from whence he came," Thorin muttered, walking back into the camp. "That filth died of his wounds long ago."
The camp then became silent once more. The sound of the Orcs had died out during Balin's tale, and Balin's tale had silenced us all. The wind blew through the trees below us, whistling around the rock. That night I dreamt of the Pale Orc, holding a once king's head.
I was tired when I awoke, or rather when Bilbo woke me. My bones were sore from sleeping on the hard ground, and my dreams had me tossing and turning all night. As if sleep deprivation wasn't enough, the ride on my pony was less than comfortable. My thighs were already aching from yesterday's travels, but now at every bump they ached and stung. I wish that I had more experience on horseback, that way, perhaps it wouldn't hurt as much.
It was around mid-day that the rain began. It began and it didn't stop. I tightened my travelling cloak and shivered, my hair stuck to my face and the water dripped down my cheeks. I glanced at Bilbo; he was soaked to the skin, as were the rest of us. The mud under the pony's feet was squelching with every step, it was unstable and steep descents caused Minty, my pony, to slip and slide all over the place.
"Blast this weather," I curse; wiping my nose on the handkerchief I had stuffed in my pocket.
"'Ere, Mr Gandalf, can't you do something about this accursed rain?" Dori yelled, from near the front.
"It is raining, Master dwarf." Gandalf said, seemingly undeterred by the weather. "And it will continue to rain until the rain is done. If you wish to change the weather of the world you should find yourself another wizard."
"Are there any?" Asked Bilbo.
"What?"
"Any other wizards?" I strained to hear Gandalf's answer over the patter of the rain. I sneezed into my handkerchief, inwardly cursing.
"There are five of us," Gandalf commented, turning back momentarily to glance at Bilbo. "The greatest of our order is Sauroman, the White. Then there are the two blue wizards… do you know, I've quite forgotten their names."
"Who is the fifth?" I ask, throwing my voice so Gandalf could hear it.
"Well that would be Radagast, the Brown."
"Is he a great wizard?" Bilbo asked. "Or is he more like you?" I reach across from my pony and smack Bilbo on the back of the head; from behind us I hear Fili and Kili laugh. I send Bilbo a don't be so rude look as Gandalf replies.
"I think he is a very great wizard." He said, matter-of-factly. "In his own way. He's a gentle soul, who prefers the company of animals to others. He keeps an eye over the vast forest lands to the east, and a good thing too, because evil will always try to find a foothold in this world."
For a moment I imagine a raggedy old wizard dressed entirely in brown running through the forest, animals at his side. He would live in a tree and depend on the land around him to tell him the news of the world. He would be one of those people you could never forget if you saw him.
"Daydreaming, are we?" Asked Fili who had rode up next to me with his brother.
"Only about a wizard who lives in trees and talks to animals, you know, I'd imagine him to be a rather strange fellow." I muse.
"Well I would too, if he lived in a tree." Replied Fili.
"Some elves live in trees," I offer.
"And you know exactly how we feel about elves," Kili smirked. I shake my head at them and brush a strand of hair from my face.
"Oh, I wish this rain would just stop!" I mutter, as the stray piece of hair falls back into my eyes. "Have you even met an elf before?"
"No," They said together. "And I don't think I want to," Finished Kili.
"Besides, I've heard they only eat vegetables and sing all the time." Fili said, patting his horse that had just whinnied at the uneven ground.
"From what I've seen you sing all the time,"
"Yes, but we sing merry things. It's all flutes and harps with the elves," Said Kili, pretending to place a flute to his lips and play it. I chuckle at him; only just catching the look Fili cast him.
"I thought flutes and harps were merry."
"Yes but it's nothing like playing the teapot," Fili says. I laugh heartily this time, remembering Bifur playing the teapot to Kili's song back in Bag End.
When the rain stopped I was surprised at the suddenness of it. But I was even more surprised when Thorin ordered us to stop before the sun had fallen from the sky. There was a house close to where the horses stopped, you could see into it from every angle and there was a large gaping hole in the roof. The shingles lay scattered around the structure and stray rocks littered the area further around the house.
"We'll camp here for the night," Thorin declared. "Fili, Kili, look after the ponies. Make sure you stay with them."
I clamber down from my pony, a little more gracefully than I had done yesterday. At least this time I managed to stay on my feet. I pat Minty on the nose and lead her over to where Kili was tethering Bilbo's pony, Myrtle, to a tree. I take the rope that is attached to Minty's saddle and tie it tightly around the nearest tree to Myrtle.
I glance around at our camp; the others had already started to collect wood for a fire. Bombur and Bilbo were unloading the food and Gandalf and Thorin were talking in the wreckage of the old house. The land around us was mostly green, a large thicket of trees lay just beyond where I had tied Minty and in front of us lay a moss covered rock face that we would find our way around at first light.
"Everything alright, Gandalf?" I turned at Bilbo's voice, almost bumping into Kili who was busy tying Bungo to the next tree. "Where are you going?"
"I seek the only company of the only person around here who has got any sense." Gandalf muttered, heading back the way we came.
"And who is that?"
"Myself, Master Baggins!" He shouted, not bothering to look back at a startled Bilbo. He passed me and Kili and then headed up towards the rock side muttering something about the stubbornness of dwarves. Wait, where is he going? He can't just leave us. Maybe he is just going to sit up on the rock side for a bit. If he seeks his own company he only wishes to be alone. He won't go far… will he?
"Don't worry," Kili said, noticing my gaze on the retreating back of the old wizard. "He'll come back."
I sat with Fili and Kili whilst the sun descended. I listened to their tales from their homeland and in turn I explained what it was like to live in the Shire. My stories definitely weren't as interesting as theirs, but they did laugh heartily when I explained how I spilt a half full bowl of soup down the front of old Terence Proudfoot at the midsummers eve party last year. That was something I do not wish to repeat, he still gives me horrid looks if I pass him on the road. As it became dark the smell of stew wafted down from the camp, I offered to head up and gather their stews for them, so I left them to their devices and headed to camp.
When I traipse into the camp Bifur is dishing out the food, and of course, Bilbo is fretting about Gandalf. "He's been an awfully long time."
"He's a wizard, he does as he chooses." Said Bifur, handing two bowls of stew to Bilbo. "Here, do us a favour and take this to the lads." In turn he passes me my own and I walk with Bilbo back down to where Fili and Kili are sitting watching the ponies. Only, when we get there, they are not sitting watching the ponies at all, they're standing looking rather worried at them.
"What's the matter?" Bilbo asked, two pots of stew still in his hands.
"We're supposed to be looking after the ponies," Kili muttered.
"Only, we've encountered a slight problem…" Added Fili.
"We had sixteen,"
"Now we have fourteen." I do a quick add up of all the ponies and there is indeed only fourteen.
"How did you lose two ponies?" I ask.
"We didn't lose them, they we're tied to the tree." Kili said, going round them and naming them all.
"Well they're not now." I say, heading towards the edge of the trees and looking as far as I could see for them.
"Daisy and Bungo are missing," Kili announced.
"I did not tie Daisy to the tree." Said Fili,
"We'll neither did I," I say, after Fili looked over at me.
"Well that is not good." Interrupted Bilbo, "That is not good at all. Shouldn't we tell Thorin?"
"No!" All three of us said together, I would have laughed at the comedic looks our faces but this was not the time for laughing. Thorin will go mad if he realised we've lost Daisy and Bungo.
"Let's not worry him," Fili added. "As our official burglars we thought you might like to look into it."
"Well- uh- it looks like something big uprooted these trees." That was certainly an understatement. The roots on those trees were huge, so that means something massive ripped up the trees.
"Well that was our thinking," Said Kili.
"Something very big and possibly quite dangerous." I follow Bilbo round to the tree, and look at the destroyed roots.
"Hey, there's a light." Fili said, crouching behind another uprooted tree. I turned to face the direction Fili was looking and sure enough, a dim yellow light could be seen.
Together the four of us moved further into the trees. Bilbo still carried the two stews; mine lay forgotten on the floor. Halfway towards the light we dropped down behind another fallen tree, a deep laugh could be heard booming where the light resided. "What is it?" Bilbo asked.
"Trolls," Kili said, my eyes widened as I stared back towards the light. The two scrambled off into the trees at the mention of the word. I looked at Bilbo and then we hopped over the tree and followed after them. Fili and Kili had ducked behind another tree, but Bilbo and I didn't make it that far. Deep rumbling thumps coming from beside us made us hide behind the closest tree. Turning my head around the tree I saw the huge troll that uprooted the trees, he carried another two ponies in his grasp. Minty was one of them!
We stayed behind the tree until the troll had fumbled far enough away from us that we wouldn't be seen. "They've got Myrtle,"
"And Minty," I finish Bilbo's sentence.
"I think they're going to eat them, we have to do something!"
"Yes!" Said Kili, jumping up from his hiding place. "You should." He pushed Bilbo forwards while Fili explained that trolls are slow and stupid.
"You're so small, they'll never see you." Said Kili, "It's perfectly safe, we'll be right behind you." Perfectly safe? What would be perfectly safe about walking into a troll camp and freeing our horses?
"If you run into trouble hoot twice like a barn owl, once like a brown owl." Fili pushed Bilbo out from behind the trees. I was about to follow him but Kili pulled me back.
"Don't go," he said quickly. "If the two of you go they'll surely see you."
"What? No. You can't expect me to let him go by himself." I say urgently, watching as he disappears into the bushes.
"It's perfectly safe,"
"What is perfectly safe about walking into a troll camp?" I hiss quietly. Bilbo had completely disappeared from view now; my heart was pumping a mile a minute. "If it's perfectly safe then let me go." Kili looked from me to the light. Every second I stood here Bilbo was getting closer to danger.
"I can't." He said.
"That's what I thought." I say quietly, "I've told you before, he is my brother. We go together or not at all. Go and get Thorin if you are so worried." I pull from his grip and run of through the brush, just barely catching the whisper of a 'Shut up!' sent Fili's way.
I quieten my steps the closer I get to the troll camp. I slide behind a tree and pop my head round the bark. There in the clearing are three huge trolls sitting round a campfire. The troll carrying Myrtle and Minty drops them into a small rope and stick made pen, they whinny and stamp there hooves, terrified. Then, off to the left I see Bilbo, making his way round the back of one of the trolls. For the love of a Took, Bilbo, what are you thinking? I follow silently, my hand reaching for the small knife Kili had given me; it might not be much, but it will buy Bilbo some time if things go wrong. So far he was doing well, he had not made a sound, and the Trolls still remained unaware of his presence behind them, until that glint appeared in his eye when he saw the blade attached to the closest Trolls side.
I had to fight the urge to yell 'Bilbo Baggins, don't you be so stupid!' but that would have given my position away and possibly have put Bilbo in more danger than he was already in. I moved closer, breaking past the line of trees and into the tall shrubbery, Bilbo was so close to the Troll now, his hand reaching out to take the knife…
I didn't even have time to gasp. The Troll that Bilbo had been trying to acquire the knife from had reached behind him, presumably for his handkerchief, and snatched Bilbo with it. My brother was lifted towards the face of the beast before being sneezed on.
The noise that came from the Troll could have been laughed at, if not for the severity of the situation. "Blimey! Bert! Bert! Look what's come out of me hooter!" I watched as the two Trolls gathered round their companion, surveying the snot covered Bilbo. "It's got arms and legs and everything!"
"What is it?" The other asked, as Bilbo squirmed in their grasp. My hand twisted around the hilt of my knife… If I go running in there now it will be useless, I'll only cause more harm than good… Bilbo was thrown to the floor violently, he gasped as the wind left him, I started forwards but my mind held me back. Wait, wait just a moment… it pressed.
"What are you then?" Asked the first Troll, pointing something that looked identical to a filleting knife at Bilbo.
"I'm a Burglar- Uh- Hobbit." Bilbo said correcting himself.
"A burglarhobbit?"
"Can we cook him?"
"We can try!" Their voices turned sinister and something inside me snapped.
"No you most certainly cannot!" I hissed running from the undergrowth to where Bilbo was being chased by the Trolls. "Bilbo!" I yelled, "Bilbo! This way! Hurry!"
My knife was drawn, but now running into the path of these beasts didn't seem like a very good idea at all. The ground rumbled as a foot came down in front of me and I squeaked. "Look, Tom. Another burglarhobbit!" A grotesque hand reached down towards me but I ducked and ran between its legs.
"Bilbo!" I yelled, glancing round in the dark, I could not see him but a glance up at the other Trolls meant that a lump settled in my stomach. Bilbo was held aloft by the beast. I instinctively ran forwards, "Put him down, you brute!" I cried, ready to slash at the ankles of the beast that captured my brother.
I tumbled however, when a hand grasped my leg and pulled me into the air. The ground fell away and I yelled out in fright. Still dangling with my head towards the ground I yelled out, "Put me down! Put us down, or so help me I'll-"
"Look, Bert. This one's a girl burglarhobbit." I was righted and twisted round to face the beast. This Troll was probably the ugliest of the lot. Its cheeks were sagged with fat, the skin covering him grey and leathery, its nose was squashed into its face and its eyes bulged unnaturally from their sockets.
"You're right, William." I squirmed as the grip around my waist tightened, "I haven't had a girl in a while."
"So…" Said the other Troll, Bert, I think. "Are there any other of you little fellas hiding around here?"
"No," Bilbo and I said together, a little too quickly.
"They're lying," William growled, tightening the grip even further if that was possible, I felt the pain build under my ribs.
"No we're not!" Bilbo said, quickly. His head turning to face me. I yelped as William thrust me towards Bilbo.
"What if we hold his toes over the fire, will you tell us then?"
"No!" I yelled, feebly struggling to loosen the grip around my waist that was becoming unbearable. "There are no others! I swear! Just don't hurt him, please!" I felt the tears sting my eyes, as William loosened his grip. The air rushed back into my lungs, burning my throat on the way down.
"Make him squirm!" Ordered Tom.
"No!"
There was a cry, something between an angered yell and a battle howl. Then I was swung forwards, attempting to cover my ears from the shrill yell that William screeched. The floor rushed forwards at a dizzying rate, but I was pulled back again right up close to Williams smashed in face. What was going on underneath me I could not see, but William wailed again and the sound of metal slicing skin echoed in my ears. William staggered and the ground rushed upwards, somehow I wasn't flattened by the beast's giant hand.
"Drop them!" The yell was quite clear and I recognised it immediately. Kili.
"You what?" Tom asked menacingly.
"I said, drop them!" William's grip was still tight around my waist as he stood; he made no move to drop me. My head pivoted as Bilbo was launched towards Kili at an alarming rate, they hit the floor with a thud and I couldn't help the cry that came from me. I swivelled and squirmed, inwardly cursing that I had allowed the blade to fall from my grasp. Throwing all the hygiene I had learnt from my mother to the wind I leant forwards and sank my teeth into the skin of my captor.
I was proud at the yelp that I had learnt but the panic grew as I was flung through the air and onto the ground. Took knows how I had missed the stampede of dwarves running through the trees to attack the trolls. I scrambled up quickly, my head spinning in all directions, firstly for Bilbo, and secondly for my knife. I was stationary for only a moment when a troll foot came down next to me and I jumped forwards to stay clear. The dwarves were yelling, the Trolls were roaring and glinting over at the far side of the camp, the firelight reflected on the blade, was my knife. I ran forwards, dodging and ducking both Trolls and Dwarves, the dirt squelched under my feet and I slid to the floor, snatching up my blade and turning to the battle. I have no idea what to do, the dwarves seemed to be doing extremely well by themselves but I had to look for Bilbo. Amidst the clang and crash of swords I heard the stampede of horse hooves and looked over at the makeshift paddock. There, just barely, I could see Bilbo, and it seemed I was not the only one. One of the Trolls had managed to escape the initial battle, the other two keeping my companions wrapped up in the fight.
I started forwards, "Bilbo! Bilbo, look out!" But I couldn't be heard over the noise. The wind was knocked out of me instantly, and I hit the floor, the blow from the hand of the troll making it hard to breathe. A hand reached out towards me and I took it. As I was pulled to my feet I heard the roar of the beasts and glanced up at them.
"Bilbo!" Kili yelled, his sword still drawn ready to attack. A hand firmly on my shoulder kept me in place, just as the hands of those giants kept my brother suspended in mid-air.
"No!" Thorin said, grabbing Kili and pulling him back.
"Lay down your arms," The troll began, "Or we'll rip his off." I had never seen such fear written on my brothers face, never in my whole life. My blade slipped from my hand and clattered on the floor. I saw Ori look down at the ground then back at his slingshot. That is when Thorin slammed his sword into the dirt, immediately twelve other weapons followed. Kili threw his sword to the ground with more anger than the others, Ori followed his lead, his slingshot bouncing as it hit the floor.
"Build the fire boys," Said one of the Trolls, dropping Bilbo's arms and leaving him to the other Troll who promptly shoved him into a potato sack. "We'll feast tonight." My breath stopped in my throat as the three trolls sauntered towards us.
There are several things that I have never wanted to experience in my entire existence. Being shoved into a potato sack is one of them. There are several reasons why: they itch, they smell and they mean that we are going to be eaten very soon. I don't want to be eaten and I am sure nobody else does.
With the string of the potato sacks tied tightly so we cannot escape I am unable to reach over to Bilbo, who lies but a few feet from me. Several of the dwarves are tied up on some makeshift spit; they are not in potato sacks. I suppose there is no need for them to be. The rest of them are on the ground with me and Bilbo, struggling and squirming to break free from their woven prisons, it is no use.
I try not to think about the idea of my impending death. If being held over a fire and being slowly roasted wasn't enough, if these Trolls got impatient they would just scoff us whole. The sound of my bones cracking between their rotten teeth made my skin crawl. I hope that I don't look as frightened as I feel. Bilbo has always been better at hiding his emotions than I have, and right now he only looks the tiniest bit frightened. I, however, am shaking and I hope that nobody can see, the only person who looks as half as frightened as I do is Ori. I briefly wonder whether Gandalf is alright, wherever he is. I hope that he hasn't run into anything like we have, although I am sure he can handle himself. But then again, I thought we could handle ourselves.
"Don't bother cooking it," Said one of the Trolls. "Let's just sit on them and squash them into jelly." I thought back to the moment I was held in the crushing grip of William. The pain was unbearable, so being sat on by these brutes would definitely be worse.
"They should be sautéed and grilled, with a sprinkle of sage."
"That does sound quite nice," It may have sounded nice for them, but all I could imagine was being thrown into a frying pan and cooked till my skin was all red and blistered. The dwarves were still arguing amongst themselves, struggling against their restraints, they had certainly not given up.
"Never mind the seasoning. We haven't got all night, dawns not far away. Let's get a move on, I don't fancy being turned to stone."
Dawn. Surely they wouldn't be able to cook us all before dawn? But they don't have to cook us; they'd just eat us raw I suppose. Despite that, dawn was the only thing we could hope for. But the night is still black; I can't even see a tint of colour in the sky.
"Wait!" Bilbo exclaimed, my head whipped around to see him struggling to his feet. "You are making a terrible mistake."
"You can't reason with them!" One of the dwarves yelled from the spit. "They're halfwits."
"Halfwits? What does that make us?" Ignoring their argument Bilbo stood and hopped over towards the fire.
"I meant with the- uh- seasoning."
"What do you mean about the seasoning?"
"Well, have you smelt them?" All three Troll heads turned towards us, "You're going to need something a lot stronger than sage before you plate this lot up." What is he doing? Almost immediately cries of outrage came from every dwarf, 'Traitor' was thrown around a lot.
"What do you know about cooking dwarf?" Said the Troll turning the spit.
"Shut up! Let the hubburglarhobbit talk." Bilbo inclined his head towards the Troll that allowed him to speak.
"The secret to cooking dwarf is to- um-"
"Yes? Come on?"
"Yes- is to- uh- Yes. The secret is to… skin them first!" Bilbo added at the last moment. Skin them first! The yells came thick and fast, once again 'Traitor' was batted back and forth.
"Tom, get my filleting knife." I shuddered at the thought of the knife Bilbo had tried to grab slicing through skin. I could almost feel the sting of the metal running over my body.
"What a load of rubbish! I've ate plenty with their skins on! Scoff 'em I say, boots and all."
"He's right," The ground rumbled as the closest Troll walked over to us. "Nothing wrong with a bit of raw dwarf!" A hand reached down towards us and Bombur was snatched from the pile. "Nice and crunchy!" Bombur was yelling, dangled over the Trolls mouth, there were cries coming from all over the camp.
"Not that one! He's… Infected!" Bilbo yelled suddenly. "He's got worms… in his… tubes!" Bombur was released in disgust, dropped onto the pile again. "In fact they all have, they're all infested with parasites! It's a terrible business. I wouldn't risk it, I really wouldn't."
"We don't have parasites! You have parasites!"
Their shouts were cut short. I still stared up at the Trolls who were contemplating whether to actually eat us. "I've got parasites as big as my arm!"
"Mine are the biggest parasites! I've got huge parasites!"
"We're riddled with them!"
The troll tuning the spit stopped suddenly, a smirk on his face. He thundered over towards Bilbo and stopped just before him, my heart leaped into my throat. "What about this one then?" I cried out as the Troll snatched me from the ground and held me up for all to see. "Girls don't have parasites. So we can eat this one boys!"
"No! Wait! I have more parasites than the lot of them!" I yelled desperately, struggling against the potato sack and the grip of the Troll.
"Didn't you hear us? We all have parasites!" Yelled Bilbo desperately. I wanted to be able to see him, to tell him that it was going to be alright, the pain in his voice was unbearable.
"Don't you think I know what you're doing? This little ferret is taking us for fools!"
"Ferret?" The Troll turned, taking me with him. "We should take this one back to the cave before dawn arrives."
"No! I have parasites! I swear I do!" The panic in my voice rose at the thought of being taken away from Bilbo. The yells from the others were almost drowned out in my ears at the thought of being taken away from him. The thought of losing him was too strong to bear. I squeezed my eyes shut, fear taking over every nerve in my body. This is the end.
"The dawn shall take you all!" I snapped my eyes open and tried to pivot myself so I could see where Gandalf was standing but I could only just see the smallest of light creeping over the copse of trees.
"Who's that?"
"No idea."
"Can we eat him too?" A loud crack sounded from behind me, the squeal of the Trolls rumbling in my ears.
One moment I was in the air, the next the grip of the Troll had loosened and I slipped through its palm. The wind rushed through my ears and the ground collided with my back, knocking the air from my lungs. My eyes found the sky, changing slightly from navy to reds and oranges. Then they found the stone forms of the three Trolls, cracked and grainy. My breath was coming in ragged gasps. My mind only thinking one coherent thought.
We are safe. We are alive.
I am going to apologize now, because this has taken forever for me to upload and i don't think it is as good as i hoped it would be. But i suppose you guys will tell me that.
I will hopefully be including more of the book in the next chapter, so that should help *I hope*
Anyway, drop me a review and let me know what you think! :)