Chapter 10

The plan to teach Ember Khuzdul that evening failed, as Thorin insisted that they all head to bed right after supper. He wanted to get an early start as the rain had caused them to travel slower than usual. The sun had barely cleared the horizon the next morning when he woke them to start. Ember found herself dozing at times on her pony, and was relieved when the company came to a halt at an abandoned, burnt out farmhouse in the late afternoon. Ember noticed Dwalin approach Bilbo and let out a giggle. Kili looked at her, and she flicked her eyes towards Dwalin and Bilbo. Kili grinned back at her. Dwalin had wanted to work on Bilbo's fighting skills…or rather the lack thereof. Deciding to join them, she pulled her sword from her pack. Gandalf had insisted that her weapons not be of Elvish make before setting out on the quest, and she groaned at the heaviness of the dwarven blade. Joining Dwalin and Bilbo in the clearing behind the farmhouse, she watched intently as Bilbo struggled to follow the dwarven soldier's footwork. She finally decided to intervene. Dwalin grinned as she stood up.

"Ah, lassie, have you come to learn the art of swordsmanship from a master of cut and thrust? Lunge and parry? In and out?" he chuckled at the lewd remark.

"I don't think you could teach me that if you tried, Dwalin," she retorted in laughter. He clapped her shoulder good-naturedly. "Now Bilbo," she said, turning to the miserable hobbit. "I understand that hobbits love to dance." With a surprised look, he nodded, and she continued. "Well, watch my feet. Try to think of swordplay as a dance!" Dwalin snickered, but Ember shot him a glare and he wisely said nothing. She began to step in a slow rhythm, and Bilbo watched her for a moment. Finally, he shyly began to mimic her movements. "Good, that's good," she encouraged, "Now let's add the arms." They began to swing the blades through the air. Dwalin eventually stepped forward, and soon, she and Dwalin had taught Bilbo some basic combat maneuvers. There was a loud cheer as they turned to see the rest of the company watching them with pride. Ember noticed, however, that neither Gandalf nor Thorin was present. She hugged Bilbo, who was looking quite proud of himself, punched Dwalin, who was looking impressed with her teaching abilities and proceeded to put her gear away. She felt footsteps approach behind her. A warm cedar scent wafted towards her, and she inhaled deeply.

"Is there anything you can't do?" Kili asked softly, his voice making her spine tingle. She turned to face him, grinning up into his forest eyes. She raised her eyebrow.

"Well, there are a few things I haven't tried yet…perhaps you could teach me?" she replied cheekily. Kili blushed at her obvious flirting, and was about to respond when with a furious snort, Gandalf stormed past them. Bilbo watched him stalk away.

"Everything alright?" he called. "Gandalf, where are you going?"

"Too seek the company of the only one around here who's got any sense!" Gandalf snarled.

"Who's that?" Bilbo asked.

"MYSELF! Mr. Baggins, I've had enough of dwarves for one day!" He growled, stomping away. A wave of anger rose in Ember. Though she had been keeping her distance from Gandalf, she did not like to see him upset. Indeed, it took a lot to get him that angry. Ember rose to her feet, her eyes searching out the only dwarf she could think of that would frustrate the Wizard so easily. Thorin. He appeared around the corner of the farmhouse. Her blue eyes locked on his, and he took an involuntary step back. Her eyes blazed with anger, and she made to walk towards him, when Kili grabbed her arm.

"How about archery?" he asked. She shook her head in confusion, shifting and softening her gaze to his hazel green eyes.

"What?"

"Well, you said there were a few things you haven't tried. How about archery?" He grinned and pulled her back towards the clearing, his bow in his hands. She glared back at Thorin, who stood in thunderous silence, before following her dark-haired archer.

Kili was amazed to discover that while Ember had never tried the bow before, as she was a natural, hitting her first 6 of 10 shots. They had barely noticed the night creeping up upon them. As she went to draw back again, he noticed her stance needed adjusting. She was twisting her body a little too much, and that was throwing off her aim. "Here," he murmured, hesitating for a moment before placing his hands on her hips, turning them ever so slightly. Her breath caught as she realized how close he stood to her. His hands still rested on her hips and she turned her head to look back at him. Kili took a small breath, inhaling her intoxicating aroma as once again, the world seemed to stand still. Her eyes met his, and he felt that he could stare into those eyes for the rest of his life and be content. Ember felt as if she was drowning in her senses, and she couldn't get enough. There was nothing but HIM…his eyes, his scent, his lips…which were now dangerously close to hers. Their noses softly touched, her eyes gently closed when…

"AHEM!" They were startled from the moment and Ember accidently let loose of the arrow she had knocked, barely missing Fili as he dove to the ground. He rolled gracefully to his feet, grinning mischievously at them. "Dinner is waiting, lieb frul!" Kili glared at him and if looks could kill, Fili's life would have ended. Ember blushed and fled back to the camp, punching Fili in the arm as she passed. He winced in pain, but could not stop laughing. It looked like he was going to have a little talk with his baby brother tonight. He wrapped his arm around his brother, who shrugged him off with a miserable look as they headed towards the fire. Thorin stood at their approach. He was not happy. He had seen Ember run back into the camp with flushed cheeks. She had stopped at his obvious disapproval. Straightening her shoulders, she walked past him to help Bomber with dinner. Both Fili and Kili opened their mouths to explain, when Thorin raised a hand at his nephews for silence.

"Fili…Kili…look after the ponies. Make sure you stay with them, lieb khuzdith." He stared at their embarrassment, watching them as they walked back towards the forest pasture. He then turned to Ember, who stood handing out bowls of warm soup. "Ember…" he growled. She looked at him innocently. "I will not tolerate any further distraction from my Company." Her icy eyes hardened, burning with anger at his implied accusation.

"Then perhaps we should make sure your nephews are fed, Thorin. Hunger can be SUCH a distraction." She stood up, grabbed two bowls from Bombur, and strode away into the dark. After a moment, Bilbo joined her. "Mahal," Thorin sighed as he sat down beside Dwalin, "Emz barathaz kaon!" Dwalin nodded in agreement, and the others joined him. Every dwarf had noticed how Ember's eyes could change from cool blue, to warm navy, to fiery black.

"There is something familiar about her eyes," Balin mused. "I have seen that before…" When he was met with silence, he shrugged and continued to eat.

Bilbo ran up behind Ember, who handed the bowls of soup to the dwarf princes silently. She noted that they seemed distracted. "What's the matter?" she asked gently.

"We were supposed to be looking out for the ponies." Kili whispered.

"Only we've encountered a slight problem." Fili continued.

"We had sixteen."

"Now there's fourteen." Ember raced out among the grazing ponies.

"Daisy and Bungo are not here!" she cried. Bilbo looked worried.

"Well, that's not good! That is not good at all. Shouldn't we tell Thorin?" The hobbit asked. Three sets of eyes stared at him incredulously in the darkness.

"Uhhh…no," said Fili.

"Let's not worry him," added Kili.

"As our official burglar we thought you might like to look into it," Fili continued, shoving Bilbo forward as Ember chuckled quietly. They may be princes, but they still wanted to avoid their uncle's wrath. Not that she could blame them. She peered into the darkness as Bilbo noticed some uprooted trees. "Hey, there's a light! Over here, stay down!" whispered Fili, leaving the soup bowls forgotten on a log. They quietly ran towards the light ahead, stopping behind a large fallen tree.

"What is it?" whispered Bilbo.

"Trolls," Kili answered as a second Troll carrying a pony under each arm approached the fire. Ember felt a hot rush inside and gasped. Kili grabbed her hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

"He's got Myrtle and Minty! I think they're going to eat them, we have to do something!" Bilbo said.

"Yes, you should. Mountain trolls are slow and stupid, and you're so small. They'll never see you!" Kili said with encouragement. Bilbo shook his head, his attention turning back to the trolls. Kili dropped Ember's hand, pushing the hobbit forward. Ember felt as if she was on fire, shaking with rage over the treatment of their poor animals. Especially Myrtle, Bilbo's pony. "It's perfectly safe," Kili continued, "we'll be right behind you!"

"If you run into trouble, hoot twice like a barn owl, once like a brown owl!" Fili added. They watched as Bilbo crept up to the firelight. Kili reached out for Ember, finding nothing but air. He peered into the darkness, spying her black cloak racing towards the edge of the troll camp.

"Ember!" He gasped. Fili followed his brother's gaze, and groaned softly.

Ember moved silently through the forest, keeping to the outskirts of the fire. The flame she felt inside her kept building, and she watched as Bilbo approached the pony pen. He stopped, turning towards the closest troll. Ember saw that Bilbo meant to go for the long knife attached to the troll's loincloth. She pulled her daggers out from her arm-guards. Just then, Bilbo was hauled into the air, as the troll grabbed for a dirty rag from its pants. The troll sneezed ferociously.

"Blimey! Look what's come out of me 'ooter! It's got arms and legs and everything!" The troll seemed appalled that something like that could have appeared from his body. Had she not been full of rage, she would have laughed at the irony.

"What is it?" the second troll asked. "What are you?" Their distraction at seeing Bilbo was all she needed. She threw her dagger at the troll, striking its left eye. It roared in pain, the other nearly dropping Bilbo as he turned to his companion. Ember leaped into the campsite, slicing at the ankle of the troll holding her hobbit. As it reached for its bleeding leg, she grasped desperately for Bilbo.

"Look out!" the hobbit cried as a third troll clutched her in its hand. She gasped sharply in pain.

"Oohhh, a female! I love females for dessert!" It leered at her. Ember tried to lock her eyes on the troll, when a figure shot from the bushes, slicing into closest troll's leg. She groaned as the grip from her troll tightened around her.

"Drop them!" yelled Kili. The troll looked at him confused.

"You what?" it thundered.

"I said, drop them!" Kili swung his sword threateningly. The trolls looked at each other, before Bilbo was tossed through the air at Kili who thankfully caught the hobbit. A thunderous battle cry broke the night as the rest of the company charged from the trees, brandishing their weapons. Her troll glanced down at her and her flaming eyes locked on it. It froze in terror, wailing in pain.

"My hand! It burns! The female burnt me!" The beast howled, flinging her roughly away from him into the night. She hit a tree, smacked her head against a large rock and lay motionless on the ground.

"Ember!" cried Kili, moving to go to her, when Thorin grabbed his arm. The dwarves halted as they saw two of the trolls holding Bilbo by the arms and legs.

"Lay down your arms, or we'll rip his off." Thorin looked at Bilbo in frustration, before tossing his sword to the ground. As the others followed suit, Kili fixed his eyes on Ember's small, still form.

lieb frul - you animal

lieb khuzdith - you dwarflings/ young dwarfs

Mahal, Emz barathaz kaon - God, her bloody eyes

Please Review! I promise explanation is coming...but not until at least Rivendell! HAHA!