A short piece for WritersMonth2021
Prompt: Time
Visiting Bilbo's trolls on the way to Rivendell
"That was quite a time."
Kaylea Wolf looked up from pouring out the last of the coffee. "That time you almost got eaten by trolls?"
"Seems like forever ago," Thorin replied softly. They looked much less threatening now, mostly covered with vines, their features worn down by years of weather. He looked over at Kaylea, just past their camp was the rock Gandalf had split to reveal the rising sun. "We were never in that much danger," he said dismissively. "Though I wonder now what I was thinking."
Kaylea came up beside him, handed him a cup. "Taking on a dragon with twelve Dwarves and a Hobbit? What was the plan, exactly?"
"It was Gandalf's plan," Thorin sipped at his coffee thoughtfully. "He never gave me more than a vague idea of what he intended to do when we reached the mountain." His eyes took on a faraway look. "Returning to Erebor had long been on my mind, when the wizard said he knew how it could be done, I jumped at the chance."
"Perhaps he intended to talk Smaug to death."
"That would have worked better than trying to unite the Seven Families with the Arkenstone," Thorin laughed. "I don't think he really understood the politics!"
"I remember being so surprised to see him in the company of Dwarves, I always think of him as one of the Elves," Kaylea smiled at the memory. She had first laid eyes on Thorin Oakenshield not too far from this spot. And her life had been forever changed.
"I guess I just assumed he was going to use some kind of magic on the dragon," Thorin said. "Then he up and disappears right in the middle of the quest! Just like a wizard: gone for the fighting, back to collect the glory."
Kaylea tossed the last of her coffee and collapsed her cup. "Well, it turned out alright in the end." She looked at the rising sun. "We should get going if we want to make Rivendell tonight."
Thorin caught her hand. "I would have died on that field if not for you." He brought her hand to his lips. "If I had not followed Gandalf, we never would have met."
Kaylea smiled and kissed him. "Thank Mahal for meddling wizards!"