Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nope, Hobbit is not mine. If it were than Thorin, Kili, and Fili would not die. They would live! THEY WOULD LIVE! But sadly, I don't own Hobbit. But I write this fanfic for amusement, and I hope all you will enjoy it.
Summary: A mistake as a child leaves Elizabeth cursed, and if she falls…so shall the Durin line.
Pairings: Eventual Thorin/OC, eventual Biblo/Eleanor
(I am open to hear suggestions for more pairings, but honestly romance won't come until I feel the story is solid enough to delve into it more)
Verse: It will be a mixture of the book and movie, but probably will lean more towards the movie since it's the one I know most about. I've only read half of the book so far.
Warning: Eventual nightmares, torture, sexual themes and more
I want to thank 0netflixme0, AnnieVogel90, Beckah Godric-Northman, BelievingInMiracles, BloodBlackAlchemist, Cassandra-Jayne, Copper360, CrazyDarkness15, Creative Lunatic, Curiouser-and-Curiouser101, DaRk-SnOw-FlOwEr24, Denpa-chu, ERidg17, Eevee22, , Ellerosse, Emily-Who-Killed-A-Man, EquusGold, Farahilde, FlyingHampsterOfDoom, Gingah18, Goalphabeticalorder, GypsyWitchBaby, HisLordFluffiness, ImaBiteChu, InezSophia, Jordan Lynn 7, Just4Me, Karana92, Katya Romanov, LadyLucy1990, LavenderFlowerFairy, Littlenori, LoverShadowGirl, MYSTERYGEEK, MarauderProperty, Mephistominion, MissVanora, MonMonMuffin2714, MustachedCrusader, Neewa, OFBLOODANDROSES, Ogregal, Oreleth, PR2, Peaceful Watcher Soul, Pippy231, PouringRain-BlazingStorm, PrincessMacaroni, Prost, Ravenshope, SaChan22, Scrubletta, Shasaria, ShirleyVillette, SnowWhiteWolf14, Solaryss, SpiffyPixie1, SprinklingStardust0596, StarlessGalaxies, StarrGazed, THE WALKING sexy AMC, TerribleSuccubus, ThaliaHuntressGrace, Tiryn, Trance20666, Twilight-WolfxXx, ValueMyHeart, Voletta97, WackyJ, Wake, Weisse-Lilie, Whiteling, WindyCorners, Wolves of Midnight, Yuilhan, aeriestar, blushingpixie, cheechee123, cullen cult, dianaemrys15, grace4735x, izatelles, jamber17, jasmine1810, jorja85, kassiopeia089, loser94, lostfeather1, machine hearts, naomimango, nbowles, rockrose, shinoyami, trulyaddicted4, valeries26, vanugh, viendla, xoulblade, jamber17, SpartanEra, Irishmadhatter3, bellehissam, drwastonn, meanlilbean, RememberingYesterday, SoManyRhosgobelRabbits, cherrybut quiet, Bara7, TempestStar, EverydayMagic17 and yukisawer7 for the follows! Thank you! WOOHOO, a hundred follows! :D
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And I am giving a special thanks to the reviewers, Guest 1, Guest 2, drwastonn, Zabuzasgirl, yukisawer7, Prost, Sharasia and xoulblade! You all are fabulous! If I missed anyone in the follows, favs, or reviews just shout out at me in a review, or PM. :D
Guest Reviews:
Guest 1: Here is some more story for ya! ;)
Guest 2: Wow, thanks! You made me blush, lol. I'm glad you like the story and will endeavor to keep you on the edge of your seat. Elizabeth's background will start to come out bit by bit in the next few chapters, so stay tuned for the reactions. :D
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT! GLAD YOU ALL LIKE THE FIC! :D
This chapter was inspired by the song 'Roundtable Rivals' and 'Moon Trance' by Lindsey Sterling. Please go check out Adrian Von Ziegler, Lindsey Sterling, and Peter Hollens on youtube. Their music is worth and I have even subscribed to their page because they are so worth listening to. Each of them are so fantastically talented and I guarantee that everyone will enjoy their original songs as well as the covers they do of popular songs.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
'Dwarven Recipes for Disaster'
The camp had been silent since Elizabeth's departure. Thorin had pulled on his armor, with a dour look on his face. He latched his gauntlet tightly around his forearm before he lifted his gaze to the forest around them. Thorin clenched and unclenched his fists, then shook his head stubbornly. He would go get the woman, force her to come back to camp and then wash his hands of responsibility of her welfare off of his hands. He rose from the log and squared his shoulders, prepared to head back into the woods when Fili burst from the tree line, an expression of pure panic across his face. He took in a deep gulps of air, and as soon as he caught his breath he spat out a single word.
"Trolls."
Alarm flared through Thorin, sudden and with a white hot intensity. "What?" He barked out, his blue eyes widening. "Where is your brother? Where is the hobbit?" He demanded, darkly. Where was the woman? He added, silently in his mind.
Fili flinched ever so slightly. "I…I left them back there. The trolls…they stole the horses. Bilbo is trying to steal them back," Fili explained, hesitantly.
Gut wrenching fear hit him swiftly and without a second to comprehend it. Then Thorin's face darkened with anger, and he ripped his blade from scabbard as the others shot to their feet. "Blasted hobbit! Is he trying to get himself killed?" Thorin nearly shouted. How could the foolish Halfling be so ignorant? And how could his nephews be so foolish to allow it to happen?
"Thorin, calm yourself," Balin told him, sharply. "You will be no good to either of them if you let your anger guide you."
Thorin gnashed his teeth together, biting back his anger. His blue eyes pinned Fili to the spot who looked ill with worry. "Lead us to them," he demanded, darkly. Fili gave wide eyed look with a sharp, single nod before he turned around and led the Company into the woods.
"Hoot twice like a barn owl…" The hobbit huffed underneath his breath after he tossed Kili a look over his shoulder and shuffled forward. Bilbo knew this was a bad idea. He just had no idea as to why he even agreed to this, or why he did not explain that he could not hoot like any kind of owl and that he most definitely did not wish to have anything with any kind of Trolls, thank you very much.
He crept along silently, and managed to get up to the pen in which they held the horse trapped. He was happy to note that the mutton they were cooking didn't appear to be any of the Company's horses. At least, not yet, Bilbo reminded himself with a grimace. He grabbed the rope that held the poorly crafted fence together and hoped to pull it apart. However, despite appearances the knot was done tight and held against the pushing and pulling of his fingers. He ducked down when one of the Troll whirled around, his heart hammering in his chest.
"Mutton yesterday, mutton today, and blimey, if it don't look like mutton again tomorrer," griped one of the trolls, as he stomped around the fire with a grimace on his nasty face.
"Never a blinking bit of manflesh have we had for long enough," said a second. "Besides the farmer and his wifeses. The chi'dren barely made a mouthful. Don' know 'hy you thought to settle h're, William."
Bile rose up in Bilbo's throat, and his mind went back to the farmhouse that sat in ruins. Those poor people! How horrible, he thought though the thought did not do justice how sick he felt in that moment. Bilbo drew in a deep breath before he peeked around the backside of the pen, and his eyes widened when he saw a knife hanging off the belt of the Troll. It was large, large enough to be more than a great sword to a hobbit, but Bilbo had confidence that if he could get it, he could use it to at least cut the rope. Then he could run to safety, he thought slowly moving forward.
William, the Troll, huffed and sneered. "Yer can't expect folk to stop here for ever just to be eat up by you and Bert, now can you?"
What was he doing? Trying to prove himself? And to whom? He gnawed worriedly on his lower lip as he crept closer to the Troll's knife while holding back a gag. Trolls reeked. It was a smell so terrible that Bilbo had a feeling it would haunt him for years to come, and he reached out to grab the knife when everything quickly dissolved into chaos and somehow he ended up in the Troll's handkerchief (oh, how he felt the irony of that) covered in Troll boogies. Disgust and fear rippled through him like a tangible force, and he stared up at the Troll with one thought rushing through his mind. Oh, dear, he thought
He wished himself a hundred miles away, but wishes seldom if ever came true, and he stayed just where he was in the Troll's hand.
"They'll never see you," Kili had said.
"We'll be right behind you," Fili had said.
If Bilbo somehow got out of this he would box their ears like there was no tomorrow. "Argh! Blimey! Bert! Bert!" The Troll positively squealed with a look of glee and awe on his face that made Bilbo quiver from his head to his toes. "Look what's come out of me 'ooter! It's got arms and legs and everything."
The other two trolls gathered around to take a look. Bert frowned, his face scrunched up. "What is it?"
"I don't know, but I don't like the way it wriggles around!" Tom shouted, and William shook Bilbo, covered in snot, off the napkin and onto the ground. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he scrambled to them and twisted around to face all the trolls.
"What are you then? An oversized squirrel?" Tom asked.
"I'm a burglar-uh, Hobbit," Bilbo sputtered.
"A burglahobbit?" William squeaked.
"Can we cook `im?" Bert asked, gleefully.
"We can try!" William shouted, and reached out to get Bilbo. Bilbo dodged out of the way then backed up when he was cornered by Bert.
"He wouldn't make more than a mouthful, not when he's skinned and boned!" Bert pointed a finger at the Hobbit.
"Perhaps there's more Burglahobbits around these parts," Tom suggested, with a malicious edge to his grin as he drooled for something other than mutton. "Might be enough for a pie!"
"Grab him!"
"It's too quick!"
Bilbo gave them chase, and dodged them for as long as he could with his heart feeling as if it would beat right out of his chest when a meaty hand clasped down upon his leg. He found him hanging upside down in the air, and coming closer to the a Troll's face than he had ever wanted to. "Gotcha! Are there any more of you little fellas `iding where you shouldn't?"
"Nope!" Bilbo said, quickly.
"He's lying," William accused.
"No!" Bilbo shook his head. "I'm not!"
"Hold his toes over the fire. Make him squeal!" William ordered, then he let out a monstrous howl and fell down to the ground hard holding his bleeding leg. Bilbo's eyes widened as he saw Kili standing there, his sword drawn and a cocky smirk on his face. There was a fierceness in his eyes that made him look more like his uncle than Bilbo had ever noticed before.
"Drop him," Kili demanded, heatedly.
"You what?" One Troll stuttered.
"I said, drop him," Kili said, through his teeth. His brown eyes were unflinching. At least, until Tom threw Bilbo straight at him. The two both fell hard to the ground, and then the Company burst out of the bushes with battle cries upon their lips. The Trolls yelped as the weapons slashed at their feet for the dwarves fought like they were mad, with battle cries and filled with a determination to bring the monsters down. Bilbo rolled off of Kili and looked up to see the Troll's knife lying on the ground.
He pushed himself to his feet and rushed over towards the ponies. He sawed through the rope as quickly as he could, spurred on by the noise of fighting behind him. The ropes came free, and the horses bolted at the first sign of freedom. He dropped the knife, intent on making his own kind of escape when he felt him, yet again, snatched up by a Troll. He feels his limbs being held out like he was about to be quartered.
"Bilbo!" Kili shouted.
The dwarves all halted in their fighting when Tom the Troll shouted, "Lay down your arms, or we'll rip his off!"
Thorin halted, vexation and frustration on his face as he stared up at the Halfling with a grudging glare and all the Company held their breath waiting to see what their leader would do. Bilbo swallowed thickly, for a moment certain this would be the end of his journey. Then Thorin plants his sword in the ground and took a step back. The other dwarves slowly drop their sword and weapons as well.
For several seconds after the curse passed her lips, the only noise was the faint trill of the wind through the tree branches up above. Elizabeth stood there a split second, before she shoved the blade away from her throat. She flinched slightly when the blade nicked her skin, and she reached up to wipe away the spec of blood that welled up on the hollow of his neck.
Shocked. Bemused. Irritated.
These were just a few of the emotions that slashed through Elizabeth as she rose to her feet and faced the pair of them. The man stood with broad shoulders, and draped in cloth of a Ranger. His face was sharpness and angled and his grey steel eyes held the sharpness of hunter. The woman beside him in silvery blue was nothing less than ethereal with her long raven locks that hung around her heart shaped face. Two pointy ears peeked out from underneath her hair, the unmistakable sign that she was an elf. Her skin was as white as the untouched snow and lips as red as a rose. Her blue eyes were knowing, yet mirthful with an ageless youth. Elizabeth stared at the pair for a moment of silence before another curse slip through her lips too fast for her fingers to hold it back though she did try.
The raven haired beauty let out a bell like laugh of pure amusement while the man only grinned. Elizabeth's eyes narrowed upon both of them, and she now knew why she had that foreboding sensation since the Company left Bree. It was because of these two, Elizabeth thought with a rueful expression on her face. "Arwen…Estel…" she spoken their names softly still in half disbelief that they stood in front of her. To see the two people that she consider her brother and sister in all, but blood standing before her after so many years apart felt like an arrow to her heart.
"An lema?" The Ranger asked, his voice smooth and nonchalant as if this meeting had been by chance and was not at all suspicions in the slightest. Long journey?
Elizabeth gave him a dry look filled with frustration. "Mani naa lle umien?" She dodged the question posed to her with one of her own. "Mankoi naa lle sinome?" What are you doing? Why are you here? Her voice however was far from the nonchalant tone he spoke with. Her voice held a sharpness, and demanded answers.
"Mankoi lle irma sint?" Arwen countered, her eyebrow arched in such a fashion that it would have made her father proud. Why do you want to know?
"Maybe I wish to know because it is clear the two of you have been following me since Bree," Elizabeth hissed out underneath her breath. She was not a simpleton who could not put the puzzle together when all the pieces were clear before her to see. "Mankoi?" Why?
"Andelu i ven. Merin le telim." Estel stated, seriously. So different from the last time she saw him. A young man with aspirations of joining the Rangers. She had heard much about him since, that he rose through the Ranks and under the guise of Strider. The road is dangerous. I'm glad we came to you.
"We were concerned," Arwen whispered, softly.
Elizabeth clenched and unclenched her hands. There were warring emotions in her chest, and she tried to gather them the best she could before she addressed them once more. "The road is always dangerous, and I have faced it many times before. There is no need for such concern or skulking about in the shadows," Elizabeth stared at the pair with more exasperation than frustration. She ran her hands across her neck, and pinned Arwen with a thoughtful look. "Why aren't you in Rivendell?"
"We did not mean, as you put it, to skulk in the shadows. However we weren't sure our presences would be…tolerated by the spangaerea," Arwen commented, hesitantly. "As for Rivendell…I've decided to pursue other ventures." She shared a look with Estel out of the corner of her eye, and then glanced away with a slight blush staining her cheeks.
Elizabeth frowned, her eyes flickered from Estel to Arwen then back to Estel when a snort of laughter worked up her throat. Despite her annoyance towards the pair, she could not fight the half smirk that split her face. "Oh…oh," she chuckled, with a shake of her head. "I assume that Elrond does not know about…" she wiggled her fingers at the two of them, enjoying the discomfort clear on their faces, "this little venture?"
"Do not look so smug. He is not pleased with you either," Estel shot her a look. "Or have you forgotten how you stole out of Rivendell like a thief in the night and haven't been back in…how many years has it been?" He stated, with an aloofness to his voice.
"Dôl gîn lost!" Elizabeth snapped, visibly stricken by his words. They were true. She had stole away from Rivendell in the middle of night, and without a word. She could only imagine what happened when the daylight broke and they found her bed empty. With no word afterwards for nearly seven years, Elizabeth had stayed away from Rivendell and had no contact with them since. If it did come down to who Elrond would be more displeased with, Elizabeth could not say for certain who would win the 'pleasure' of that prize. She had a feeling though she would find out.
"Peace," Arwen stepped between them, always the voice of reason. She gave them both sharp, reprimanding looks. "This is no way to be to each others. Elizabeth, we did not mean to be so underhanded. We just wanted to see you. It has been a long time, Aldanniel."
Elizabeth huffed, slightly. Her eyes downcast before she brought them back up, and she ran her fingers through her tangled hair. "It…was not my intention to part ways for such a long time," Elizabeth admitted, softly. "These last few years have passed so quickly, I have barely had time to acknowledge them and…I did not mean to stay away for so long. I truly did not."
"I believe you," Arwen stated, with a sympathetic smile. "He worries for you. All of us have worried for you. To disappear and journey is within your nature, but to disappear without a word for so many years…we began to fear the worst."
Guilt lanced through her heart, Elizabeth had to glance away from them in order to recompose herself. It felt like she was tearing at the seams, and her control was slipping through her fingers. Sometimes her emotions, the ones she bottled up so tightly, would get the best of her and she had a feeling tonight might be one of those times. She drew in ragged breath, and opened her mouth when a scream echoed through the night. Her head shot up as panic shot through her blood spurred onward by a heavy jolt of adrenaline. "Bilbo," she breathed out, recognizing the hobbit's scream.
All her senses sharpened and honed in on where the scream came from. Then she was moving, sprinting through the forest without a second thought spared on Estel and Arwen. She had no doubt if she looked back she would see the pair on her heels. She ducked under branches and leap over roots before she slowed when she saw a light gleaming through the trees. Bending her knees, she shuffled forward silently across the forest floor and her hand upon her blade. She reached out with a steady hand and slowly pushed branch down carefully to peer at the clearing when she nearly jumped backwards.
A troll! An actually troll stomped past where she hid with all the force of an earthquake and Elizabeth gaped in complete shock. Then her heart jumped in her throat. All the dwarves had been striped of their armor, and half were tied up in large sacks while the other half roasted like chestnuts upon the open flame. She could hear Bofur's dulcet tones screaming, "Hot! Hot! That's gonna burn!" Her hand gripped tightly on her blade, and she startled when a hand came down upon her shoulders. She craned her head to peer over her shoulder at Estel who looked at with concern in his gaze.
"Trolls," she mouthed at the Ranger. She then held up three fingers and gestured beyond the bushes. Estel leaned forward on his haunches to peer through the leaves with a high level of alarm written on his face and hand on his sword.
"Trolls? This far down from the mountain?" Arwen frowned, something troubling in her blue eyes gaze. "That has not happened in a long time, not since…" Arwen trailed off, worriedly.
"They must have a cave nearby," Estel murmured, quietly. He pulled back from the bushes, and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "They cannot travel by day, and the mountains are more than a forthnight's journey from here."
"We will ponder caves later," Elizabeth shook her head. "For now, something has to be done."
"You have a plan?" Estel arched a brow.
"Not exactly," Elizabeth admitted, with a mixture of sheepishness and worry on her face. "More like half of one…"
"Are you going to share, or keep us in suspense?" Arwen said, with a sly kind of smile upon her graceful features.
Elizabeth gave a wan smile in reply.
The dwarves fought hard like they were mad, which made the surrender all that more bitter. So they shouted and raged as loud as they could, but the Trolls did not pay them a bit of mind as they fought over the preparations. "Don't know why we bothered cooking them. Let's just sit on them and squash them into jelly," William suggested, .
"Nah! They should be sautéed and grilled with a sprinkle of sage," Bert countered, gesturing towards the dwarves.
"Is this really necessary?" Dori asked, not really caring to hear about ways they could be cooked.
"Ooh, that does sound quite nice," William agreed.
Oin looked thunderous. "Untie us, you monsters!"
"Take on someone your own size!" Gloin shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Never mind the seasoning; we ain't got all night! Dawn ain't far away, so let's get a move on. I don't fancy being turned to stone," Tom growled out.
Bilbo felt uncomfortable being separated a foot or two from the pile of dwarves, after all safety in numbers though in this situation that probably didn't matter. It would have made him feel better, at least for a little bit. He jolted when a hand came out of the bushes and landed on his shoulder. "Be still, Bilbo," Elizabeth's voice came from the shadows. "It is just I."
"Elizabeth…" Bilbo breathed, relieved.
"Distract them, Bilbo," Elizabeth urged, quietly. "I will try to find a way to bring them down then you try to untie the others, if you can without bringing too much attention to yourself. If you cannot, then stay put and let us handle it."
"Us?" Bilbo asked, out of the corner of his mouth. He felt the tie around his neck loosen, not enough for the sack to fall off of him completely, but enough that if he so chose to he could get free. He felt Elizabeth pulled away from him, and he swallowed thickly. "Wait!" Bilbo shimmed to his feet and hoped towards the fire while straining to keep the bag from falling off his body. "You are making a terrible mistake."
"You can't reason with them, they're half-wits!" Dori shouted at Bilbo as the spit turned.
"Half-wits that caught us," Bofur scoffed, sweat dripping down his face as he was quite literally being roasted alive. "What does that make us?"
Bilbo rolled his eyes before he faced the Trolls. "The seasoning!" The hobbit nearly shouted.
"What about the seasoning?" Bert demanded.
"Well have you smelt them?" Bilbo looked at them, incredulously. "You're going to need something stronger than sage before you plate this lot up. I can help you there. I am a good cook myself, and I know the secrets of cooking a dwarf, if you see what I mean."
"Traitor!"
"You wretched Halfling!"
"What until I get my hands on you!"
Bilbo barely concealed a sigh, and wondered if it was worth the trouble of saving them. The Troll called William leaned forward, and peered down at the hobbit thoughtfully. "What do you know about cooking dwarf?"
"Shut up, and let the, uh, flurgaburburrahobbit talk!" Bert poked William in the side with his great soup ladle that had been fashioned out of tree bark.
"Uh, the secret to cooking dwarf is, um-" Bilbo fumbled for a moment.
"Yes? Come on," Bert prompted. "Tell us the secret."
"Ye-yes, I'm telling you, the secret is … to skin them first!" Bilbo said, with a vigorous nod. Up on the hill, Elizabeth had to press her knuckles against her mouth to keep back a hysterical laugh that threatened to slip free. Honestly of all the things to think of, she thought with a shake of her head before she returned to her task. She peered down the hill at the Trolls and she glanced over at Estel who was at her side. "Dimwitted they may be," Elizabeth whispered, "but they will not be distracted forever."
"Try to have patience," Estel told her, his voice low. "We can not risk battling them outright. The odds would not be on our side, even if the hobbit manages to get a dwarf or two free." He twisted to look at Arwen who had her bow in hand and arrow drawn loosely. "I think it would be best if you stayed to the shadows, Arwen."
Arwen looked at him, her eyes blazing and a retort on her lips when he held up a patient hand. "I mean no insult to your battle prowess, but out of all of us, you are the better archer," Estel explained, patiently.
"He is right," Elizabeth agreed, with a slight nod. "It would do us much good to have you guarding us from afar. That and the dwarves aren't exactly elf friendly, if you know what I mean."
Arwen relaxed, but only slightly. "Very well," she agreed, stiffly and with a cool glance in Estel's direction. "But it does not mean I like it."
"And I do not like waiting," Elizabeth grumbled, underneath her breath.
"Tom, get me the filleting knife," William ordered.
"If I get you, you little-" Gloin struggled to get free.
"I won't forget that!" Dwalin roared.
Bilbo winced and hoped that all would be smoothed over once this was all said and done. Tom shook his head and placed his hands upon his hips. "What a load of rubbish! I've eaten plenty with their skins on. Scuff them, I say, boots and all."
"`e's right! Nothing wrong with a bit of raw dwarf! Nice and crunchy," William said, and grabbed Bombur who shouted, helplessly in the sack.
Elizabeth felt her heart hammer with alarm. Estel reached out to catch her arm, and the Ranger held on tight with a bruising grip. "Do not be foolhardily, Aldanniel," the Ranger warned her, darkly. "We can not match them in strength. We have to be smart about this, and that does not mean rushing in where everyone else fears to tread like you are prone to do."
Elizabeth gave him a dark glare, her jaw clenched tightly as she watched the Troll lift Bombur towards his mouth. Her eyes were wide and her breath caught in her throat when Bilbo shouted. "No! Not-not that one, he-he's infected!"
"You what?" Tom blinked.
"Yeah, He's got worms in his … tubes," Bilbo explained, lamely. William made a noise of disgust and dropped Bombur back into the pile of Dwarves. "In-in fact they all have, they're in-infested with parasites. It's a terrible business; I wouldn't risk it, I really wouldn't."
"Parasites, did he say parasites?" Oin looked startled, for he was the trained healer of the group so he should have known if anyone was carrying any kind of parasites before hand.
"We don't have parasites!" Kili said, offended. "You have parasites!"
"What are you talking about, laddie?" Gloin asked, confused. Bilbo gave aggravated sighed, and rolled his eyes with a baleful twist of his lips.
"Dwarves," Elizabeth huffed out.
Thorin narrowed his eyes upon the Halfling, the cogs inside his mind furiously at work as the outrage simmered down into a sudden understanding. He kicked the others and gave them a sharp pointed looked that conveyed a thousand words and what would happen if they did not quickly fall in line. Suddenly, the shouted of denial quickly change to proclamations about how they were riddled with parasites.
"I've got parasites as big as my arm!" Oin shouted.
"Mine are the biggest parasites, I've got huge parasites!" Kili called out, as loud as he could.
"We're riddled."
"Yes, I'm riddled," Ori said, nodding enthusiastically..
"Yes we are. Badly!" Dori nodded.
"What would you have us do, then, let 'em all go?" Tom demanded, glaring down at the hobbit with a nasty sneer upon her face.
"Well..." Bilbo began, fighting a grin.
"You think I don't know what you're up to? This little ferret is taking us for fools!" Tom pointed an accusing finger at Bilbo, and stomped forward.
"Ferret?" Bilbo stumbled over his words and his feet, offended.
"Fools?" Bert looked perplexed.
Then when the situation was already out of control, a loud high pitched whistle cut through the chaos. The entire clearing fell silent and the Trolls looked at each other. "What was that?" Tom demanded.
"I's don't know! Whys you looking at me for?" Bert asked, his eyes darting around widely as if something was going to jump out and get him.
Hidden in the brush, Elizabeth twisted and arched a brow at the Ranger. "Yes, Estel," she drawled, a sliver of ice in her voice. They were trying to avoid detection, not lead the Trolls right towards them. "What was that?"
"A new distraction," Estel commented, the faintest of color rose upon his cheeks as he narrowed a glare at her. He then pressed his fingers to his lips again and whistled once more.
Bilbo perked up. It was Elizabeth! It had to be! He barely restrained the grin that threatened to spill across his face, and he bit the inside of his cheek as his heart thundered beneath his chest. Estel and Elizabeth scurried when the Trolls whirled around on their hiding place and a great hand slammed through the trees and shrubbery. Elizabeth let out a deep breath, and saw the dawn peeking through the treeline. "Dawn approaches, but not swift enough. We need to keep them distracted for a bit longer," Elizabeth told him, in hushed tones. "But distractions will not last forever."
"I know," Estel admitted, with a weighty sigh. "We will have to fight. We have to be careful about it, Aldanniel."
"I'm always careful," Elizabeth said.
"You are anything but," Arwen commented, as she dashed past them and climbed nimbly up a nearby tree to get a better vantage point on the Trolls. Elizabeth took a higher path while Estel carefully made his way down the hill, hoping that splitting up would cause the Trolls even more confusion.
"Oh, it's the great Forest Spirits, that is!" Bilbo had a burst of imagination. "Yes, the Forest Spirits. You are in right trouble now with them running about."
"Forest what?" Bert asked.
"Don't listen to him! He's been having us on since the beginning," Tom snarled, jabbing Bilbo with a finger so hard it sent the hobbit on his backside.
"I wanna listen to him!" Bert shoved Tom back. "Speak up, little burrahobbit!"
"Uh…well," the Hobbit stuttered, but only for a moment. "How can you have not heard of the great Forest Spirits?" Bilbo pretended to be miffed, and he did quite a good job if he said some himself. He could see the light of dawn just peeking over the trees, and he knew that he had to keep them busy a little while longer. "They lurk in the shadows, swim within the mist!" They live and move within every rock and tree! They cause great mischief, changing things about and mucking things up."
"What d'es that mean?" Tom looked confused.
"It means that bad things are afoot. Yes, indeed," Bilbo nodded, vigorously. "They can turn the sunniest days into the blackest of nights. They can change a butterfly into a bee, a tree into a snake, and they can take something the size of mountains and shrink it down to the size of a molehill-"
"I don't want to be a molehill!" Bert cried out.
"He's having us on again!" William snapped, though he did cast a fearful around the forest around them. A high pitched whistle echoed through the trees ominously and the Trolls did indeed quiver a touch with fear. "What was that?" William huddled closer to Tom.
"Ah!" Bert screamed.
"What's the matter with you?" William snapped, startled.
"Something bit me," Bert whimpered.
"Ah, something got me, too!" Tom shouted.
William looked at both of them before he felt a sting in his arm, and he grasped the offending object and pulled it free from his skin. "Some one," William said, staring at the tiny arrow in his hand, "is shooting arrows at me back!" His eyes narrowed on the tree and he caught a flash of movement. He started to rush forward with a roar, but Elizabeth was not about to let him anywhere near Arwen. She ran up the boulder and leapt forward and landed on right on the Troll's shoulder, grasping his ear to keep her balance.
"What?" William yelped in shock. "What is on me shoulder?" He twisted his head around and Elizabeth stabbed his straight in the eye. William hollered in pain, and Elizabeth jumped off his shoulder rolling on the ground when Bert tried to grab her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Estel too had come out of hiding and put his sword right through Tom's foot before he dodged a hit that would have sent him sailing across the clearing. From somewhere deep in the forest, arrows came out from the trees and slammed into Bert's back making him squeal in pain and fright.
"Elizabeth!" Kili shouted, in shock.
"Lassie!"
"You came back!"
"Hey, who is that?" Oin pointed at Estel.
"Like I'd leave you all behind," Elizabeth huffed out, her voice ragged with emotion and exertion. The Trolls were swifter than they looked, and it was hard not to get stepped on in some way or another.
Thorin watched, his mouth parted slightly in shock. She was more fierce than fire, with a will as strong as his own. She moved with the agility and grace of an elf, but fought with the strength and heart of a dwarf. She was like poetry in motion, her movements a deadly dance. It was easy to forget how human she was in that moment, that was until Bilbo shouted for her to look out. Elizabeth hesitated, her attention stolen away and William scooped her up, like she was little more than a rag doll and slung her against a nearby tree so hard that it cracked the tree. Too hard because she slumped bonelessly in the trolls grip, the pain that lashed through her body almost too much to bear. It felt as if her entire body splintered into a million pieces, and all she was in that moment was pain.
Kili let out a shout of panic, while Fili sent several unflattering curses at the trolls. Dwalin positively roared, and Bilbo shouted, "Put her down! Put her down right now!" William tossed her straight into the pile of dwarves, and she landed sprawled out upon Thorin. His blue eyes looked down at her, her face buried into his stomach and she was so still for a moment he thought her dead. A feeling of dread clawed at his chest, and then she moved, slowly and gingerly. "Everyone alright?" Elizabeth groaned, her throat convulsing as she fought the urge to throw up right there on whoever she was lying on. Pain throbbed through her skull, and she felt something warm trickling down through her hair.
"Oh, yes, we are having the time of our lives," said Fili, with a growl of aggravation. His voice was muffled for Ori was lying on top of him.
"Until we get eaten," Kili huffed.
"Silence!" Thorin commanded, darkly.
Elizabeth jolted because when Thorin spoke, the body underneath her rumbled. Oh…you have to be kidding me! Of all the dwarves I could be laying on, she thought, and shifted with great care until she lying on her side. Her chest heaved with the effort, and she collapsed with her cheek pressed against his chest. For a moment, all she could do was lie there and breath, finally she gained the strength to crack her eyes open. A piercing blue gaze greeted her, and she let out a pitiful moan when she took in all of her surroundings. She could hear Dwalin, and a few others complain as they were being tied up to be roasted apparently if she was hearing the trolls right. And she had a feeling that her hearing was right.
"This…is uh, bad," Elizabeth croaked out, a bead of something warm running down her forehead. Thorin's eyes locked onto it, tracing the line of ruby red that ran down the side of her face from temple to chin and she watched his nostrils flare while his body coiled tightly beneath her. He was like a forge, radiating from within and it was soothing despite the circumstances. "I mean…I've been in worse, but uh," she shifted, trying to work her limbs, but they felt as if all the energy had been zapped right out from them, "this is definitely going to be one of the more memorable ones."
Thorin quirked an eyebrow.
"Unless we don't make it out," she coughed, her tongue darting out to lick her parched lips. Her eyes darted around the clearing and she hoped that distraction got underway quickly or they would be a meal before dawn.
"Do you ever stop talking?" Thorin questioned. It was hard for him to make the distinction between awe or exasperation in that moment as he stared down at her. Most likely something in between.
"Nope. Not even in my sleep," Elizabeth said, with a false grin that looked more like a wince instead. Her false grin faded into a pain stricken expression and she tried to sit up. "Es…Strider," she tried to look around. "Where did Strider go?" She did not see him. He must have slipped back into the forest in an effort to regroup and come up with a different strategy. Elizabeth closed her eyes, with a heavy breath. She had been foolish. It had been a most foolhardy decision to leap into the fray like that.
"The man?" Thorin inquired, brows furrowed. He recognized the stranger as the one that had watched them in Bree, and he felt suspicion crawl through his mind like a living thing. "I know not."
"Then all is not lost," Elizabeth breathed out. She closed her eyes, and tried to summon up the strength to get up, but it felt as if the world around her wobbled and she couldn't find her balance.
"Where is the other one? Where is the other one?" Bert screamed, dancing around trying to get arrows out of his back. William growled, and ripped the arrows out and Bert let out wail like a dying cat.
"Shut up! Don't worry about no others! Let's eat these ones and be done with it! Dawn is approaching!" Tom nearly shouted.
"I say we take the green one," William pointed a vicious finger at Elizabeth, "and make jelly out of 'er!"
"Not her! She barely be a mouthful of jelly!" A voice that sounded like Tom's said, but Tom's mouth did not move. For a moment, Elizabeth thought it was the blow to the head then realization crept through her and her mouth parted in a circle as a gush of relief passed through them. It was Estel! It had to be, she thought, her hand pressed against Thorin's chest to steady her as she fought to sit up.
"Well, not her. Who shall we sit on first?" Bert asked.
"Better sit on the last fellow first," said William, whose eye had been damaged by Elizabeth. He thought Tom was talking.
"Don't talk to yerself!" said Tom.
"I wasn't talking to myself!" William said.
"Then whos was yer talking to?" Bert demanded.
"Be silent," Gandalf appeared on top of the great boulder as if he had been waiting all along with the dawn glimmering majestically behind him. "And be stone!"
"It's a Forest Spirit!" Bert hollered.
"Can we eat it?" Tom asked.
"The dawn shall take you!" Gandalf cracked his staff asked the boulder and it fell apart letting the sunrays shine right onto the Trolls. The Trolls screamed, as their skin sizzled and hissed before they became that of stone. Silence descended upon the clearing, for everyone seemed in disbelief that it was all over. Then the dwarves all began to cheer, loudly. Except the ones on the spit.
Dwalin wiggled against the ropes with a disgruntled look upon his face. "A little help?" He asked, gruffly.
"Allow me, Mister Dwarf."
Dwalin blinked, and jerked back in surprise at seeing Strider standing there. "Who is that? Who is he?" Dwalin demanded, thunderously. Due to being tied to the spit, Dwalin had not seen Strider nor the way he had helped therefore had no inclination to trust him at all. Not that the dwarves who had seen the Ranger aid them were inclined to trust him either.
Elizabeth noted that he was by himself. It was probably for the best that Arwen did not show herself, if the hostile looks sent at Strider were anything to go by. The elf woman would find no hospitality from the dwarves, though she would bear it with grace for Arwen held no prejudices against their race. "My brother," Elizabeth croaked out, and all protests when Strider pulled out a dagger to cut through their binds fell silent. Strider shot her a glance, with an eyebrow arched.
She could feel the weight of the stares heavy upon, Thorin's weighed the most of them all and she turned to look straight at him. "He is Strider," she announced, her voice quiet, but loud against the silence. Thorin looked at her, a searching soulful glance as he head tilted to the side and then his eyes flickered beyond her to the man called Strider. Whatever he found made him frown deeply, and not for the first time Elizabeth couldn't help, but to wonder what was going on inside of his mind. Her expression softened, even though she did not know it. "And he is my brother."
Thorin made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat, and she looked up back at Strider to see him giving her a strange look, one mingled with surprise and thoughtfulness before he turned and continued the task of helping the dwarves of the cooking spit while Gandalf with a wave of his hands extinguished the flames. The dawn breaking over the horizon had never been met with such relief as it was today.
"Oi! I'm still tied up!"
Or perhaps not.
END OF CHAPTER
It does feel an abrupt cut off, doesn't it? But never fear! The next chapter will pick up right when this one left on, and we will get into Troll Caves, Orc Packs and more! :D
LANGUAGES AND REFERNECES:
In the novel the Hobbit, Estel (better known as Aragorn) is a child. However, in Peter Jackson's timeline for his movies, Estel during the time of the Hobbit would have been in his mid twenties. So in Aragorn's case I have kept to Peter Jackson's timeline since he will later on become more involved in the story. Not all of my timeline will fall with the movies, some will stick to the books for I'm trying to blend the pair while creating bits of my own. :D
1.) Spangaerea (elvish) Bearded ones
2.) Dôl gîn lost (elvish) Your head is empty
Rrs are appreciated. :D