What a great response to the last chapter! All your questions will be answered...just not this chapter. This chapter we find out what our rescue party is up to!

Chapter 10

Bofur wasn't sure what to expect when they entered Mirkwood. Perhaps they would have found the lads wandering about hopelessly and hilariously lost. It would have made their lives easier, but Bofur knew that wouldn't be the case. Fíli and Kíli never made things easy.

Even so, they were not expecting to find a battlefield.

They had stumbled upon it while searching for a place to rest for the night. Almost missed it too, if Bifur hadn't jumped from his pony and landed on an Orc head. The moment his boot hit the offending object it rolled out from under him, sending the unsuspecting dwarf onto his backside. Bofur and Nori had a right good laugh until it rolled out into plain view.

"Is that an Orc head?" Nori asked.

Bifur picked it up as Bofur and Nori dismounted their ponies, noticing the rest of the remnants of battle.

"You think Bilbo and the lads had anything to do with this?" Nori asked.

"If so, I hope they made it out."

Bofur looked at Nori, watching the thief pocket a leather pouch that hung from the belt of a slain Orc. "What are you doing?"

"I know a buyer in Dale who would pay good money for this."

"I would have thought your share of the treasure would have been enough."

"You can never have enough," Nori replied with a wink.

Their arguing was delayed by the arrival of a sleigh drawn by rabbits that came gallivanting through the forest. Nori had to jump to the side before the lead rabbit ran him over. The owner of the sleigh didn't notice the dwarves and was rather confused as to why his rabbits had come to a stop.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" Nori shouted at the old man.

"Who said that?" Radagast asked, frantically looking about and over the heads of the dwarves. After having overlooked them about three times, Bofur cleared his throat and waved his hand, gaining the wizard's attention. When his eyes landed on the dwarves he nearly fell off his sleigh. "My goodness, I didn't see you there."

"You don't say," Bofur muttered under his breath, sarcasm dripping off of every word.

"What are dwarves doing so far away from Erebor?"

"You wouldn't have happened to have come across a couple of dwarves and a Hobbit recently?" Bofur asked hopefully.

Radagast looked at them in confusion.

"I'll take that as a no," Nori muttered.

"Are you looking for the princes?"

"So you have seen them," Nori clarified.

"Of course!"

Bofur and Nori's faces brightened at the news. Perhaps their journey would be a lot quicker and less trouble than they had originally thought.

"Really? Where? When?" Nori questioned.

"Why, at Erebor, of course! Where else would they be?"

Bofur groaned as Nori smacked his forehead. Of course it seemed too good to be true. After all, look who they were talking to. Maybe if they had run into Beorn or the Eagles, but no, they ran into Radagast the mad wizard.

"Well that was a waste of time. Come along, Bifur, let's go before his madness rubs off on us," Nori called before starting to walk away.

Bifur emerged from where he had been just as Nori began to walk towards the ponies. He hadn't made it far when the wind began to pick up. Leaves began to rustle around them, swirling around their feet. A soft voice could faintly be heard, almost drowned out by the roar of the breeze that carried it. The language was dark and foreign to their ears.

"Do you hear that?" Nori asked.

The voice seemed to be getting louder and louder as the wind blew even quicker. Radagast's face paled instantly, having heard that very voice before in a place of darkness. "The Necromancer," he muttered.

The three dwarves all turned to look at him, Bifur's face the most confused out of them.

"The what?" Bofur asked with almost a squeak in his tone.

"We must leave these woods, now! Come, I'll take you somewhere safe."

"But the ponies…" began Nori.

He had no time to finish his statement before Radagast pulled him and Bofur onto the sleigh with such force that almost knocked Bofur's hat from his head. Before they were carried off, Nori grabbed Bifur by the back of his shirt, dragging him onto the sleigh just as the rabbits set off with such speed.

The three dwarves had a hard time trying to hold onto something. Eventually Bofur and Nori gripped the handles Radagast held onto while Bifur wrapped his arms around the wizard's legs. A shadow seemed to fall over them as they fled. Bofur chanced a glance behind them, his eyes wide with shock when he saw a shadowy figure flying towards them.

It didn't seem that they were going to outrun whatever this thing was.

The dwarves weren't sure exactly how far away or for how long they had ridden that crazy chariot. They were too busy focused on the threat following them. When they did come to a stop they tumbled forward, landing uncomfortably.

"Quickly, inside!" Radagast ushered.

When they got up, they finally got a glimpse of where they were. A house built around a tree… or was it a tree growing through the middle of the house? They weren't quite sure but at this point they didn't care. Very quickly they rushed through the door, Radagast being the last in.

The moment they were inside, they witnessed a mess of small creatures scurrying to small holes in the tree trunk or up the robes of the wizard. Radagast was not bothered at all by this in the least. Instead he faced the door, holding his staff in a threatening manner. Rather quietly he began to mutter a strange string of words. The dwarves looked around as they listened to the boards of the house creak and crack. There was a flash of light and then everything became still.

Dots danced in their vision as they tried to recover from the sudden blast of light. When things grew less fuzzy, they saw Radagast placing a small hedgehog back onto the table, whistling a tune as he did so.

"What just happened?" Bofur asked.

"The Necromancer. He's been haunting these woods for some time."

Bofur and Nori stared at him with eyes that pressed for further information.

"You three stay here and make yourselves comfortable. I need to go find someone. Won't be long."

Before they could even stop him to get further answers, the wizard rushed out the door, the rickety old door nearly falling off its hinges as it came to a close.

Once the wizard was gone Bofur and Nori stood frozen and confused.

"What just happened?" Nori asked.

Bofur shook his head, not sure what had happened himself. He turned to ask Bifur, but saw that his cousin was busy playing with the little hedgehog, cradling it in his arms and tickling its belly with his finger as he muttered Khuzdul words at it.

TBC…

Sorry, I couldn't help myself! Bifur with Sebastian was one of the cutest images that came to mind when I was writing this :) No worries, the fates of the Durins will be revealed next chapter! Here, I'll even give you a little tease:

"You are the Prince of Erebor?"

Again, Kíli remained silent.

"If you are the prince, then, who was the yellow one who traveled with you? The one I chased through the plains?"

Kíli sought his brain for an answer. He had known Bolg had seen Fíli in those plains. With a confident voice, he replied, "My protector. He makes sure nothing happens to me."

It wasn't completely a lie. Fíli was his big brother and had always kept him safe from harm in any way that he could. Always had since they were dwarflings.

"It seems your protector has failed you."

Alrighty then, please read and review.