A/N: Hello, hello, hello! Firstly, I know it's been an age since I last updated and I'm so sorry. Life got in the way and I truly wanted to update more regularly, but I have not found the time. However, over the holidays I'm hoping to be able to get this going again, assuming I have any readers left.

Without further ado, here is the next chapter!

Chapter Ten

Gandalf knew something. He was, after all, a wizard and wizards always knew things that they often did not feel like sharing with everyone else.

Gandalf the Grey was indeed such a wizard. Thorin had always known this about Gandalf, yet it still surprised him. His forefathers had always spoken highly of the wizard and saw him both as a dear friend, but also someone to be wary of. Wizards were infamous for their unreliable temper and it was best to remain on their good side. Thorin had seen first hand what happened to those who were on Gandalf's bad side. The three trolls didn't have time to know what hit them, before they were all turned into stone before Thorin's eyes.

It also hadn't escaped his eyes that Ellie wasn't there anymore. This in itself didn't surprise him, he was used to her comings and goings by now. No, what surprised Thorin was a small seed that had planted itself in his mind and that would not leave him. One question that he knew he wouldn't be able to let go of unless he got the answer.

Did Gandalf know about Ellie?

It certainly wasn't impossible, but if it was true, why would neither of them tell him? What were they hiding that was so secret not even Ellie could tell him?

Once upon a time, they told each other everything. Things that were silly or things that were difficult. Thorin had confided in Ellie thoughts that he had never shared with anyone. Not even Dwalin who was also one of his closest friends and a true brother-in-arms. He didn't want to think that Ellie was hiding anything from him on purpose, but now that the seed was planted, it would grow and its roots would fester.

Did they not trust him? Could he not trust them?

No.

Thorin shook his head, hoping the thoughts would leave him. He knew he trusted Ellie with every single fibre of his soul. She had never given him reason to be unreliable or someone who would wish malice upon him.

Even if there were things Ellie hadn't told him, then so what? Thorin also had things he had not yet told Ellie. In the years when she was gone, Thorin wanted to tell Ellie about the hardships of having to essentially raise Fíli and Kíli as if they were his sons rather than nephews. He wanted to tell her how worried he was for his sister, Dís, who after her husband's death went into a deep depression the likes of which Thorin had never seen before. He wanted to tell Ellie about the first time Kíli and Fili both first held a sword and their progression in combat training. He wanted to tell her how much he missed his brother and father.

Most of all, he wanted to tell her how much he had missed her and how much time he spent thinking about her during the rare moments he had to himself.

"Yer lost in thought, laddie." came Balin's voice.

The white-haired dwarf sat down on a stone next to Thorin, inhaled the tobacco from his pipe and exhaled several large smoke rings. Despite being the older of the two by over a decade, Balin always carried himself like a much older dwarf.

"Is that so?" said Thorin as he lit his own pipe.

"Aye, you have that same look in your eyes as your father did whenever he was deep in thought." replied Balin, "Now then, what's got you so preoccupied?"

For a brief moment, Thorin genuinely contemplated telling Balin everything. After all, what was the worst that could happen? Besides, Balin held far stronger beliefs in magic and the power of the Valar than any of the other dwarves in the company. Not that they lacked respect for the powers that had created this land, but simply because they had never been exposed to it.

Since the desolation of Smaug, there were even a few dwarves who had given up believing in the likes of the Valar, because how could something so almighty let something so awful happen to an entire race of people. Thorin couldn't blame them and after the disappearance of his father and death of his grandfather, a part of him believed that his family was cursed.

Now that he was an older dwarf with more life experience behind him, he knew things were more complicated than what they sometimes seemed. Ever since he first met Ellie, Thorin had known in his heart that there were powers out there that nobody could comprehend. Not even the mighty Gandalf the Grey who seemed to be invincible.

"Gandalf," said Thorin in a low voice, although even then a small part of him was sure that Gandalf could hear everything if he wanted to. "He is hiding something. I don't know what, but I can feel it."

"Aye, of course he's hiding something." Balin replied with certainty as he coughed, "He's a wizard, that's what they do."

"Are you not curious about what it is?"

"Of course I am, but in my experience, asking about it won't help at all. I have no doubt that when the time is right, Gandalf will tell us. I know it's hard for you to be anything but suspicious, but this time you will have to trust me. Can ye do that, lad?"

Thorin simply nodded and exhaled a sigh. Perhaps, he thought, it was a good idea to not tell Balin about Ellie.

At least not yet.

There was a type of serenity hanging over Beorn's House that Ellie had never felt before. The best way she could explain it was as if she was in a bubble where time itself had ceased to exist. She wondered if there was perhaps some kind of magic protecting Beorn's House so that nothing evil could touch it. Then again, Ellie thought, she very much doubted that anything could hurt Beorn.

At first glance, Ellie would never have guessed that Beorn was as kind as he had been towards her. Although she had a feeling that his temper could change in the blink of an eye if you ever offended him or attempted to harm his livestock.

Ellie had tried offering her help with the animals, but Beorn had kindly yet firmly told her to make herself at home and to relax (in his own way of course). She had a hunch that maybe that was the other reason Gandalf sent her here; giving her a chance to actually rest before the journey ahead. Ellie thought about the dream she'd had and wondered if it had anything to do with Gandalf's predictions about Thorin's fate. Could she really stop it? If so how? How could she do anything if she wasn't physically present? Would Thorin even accept her help if she told him everything?

In many ways, he was still the same Thorin she had grown up with. In other ways, he was an entirely different dwarf whose experiences had undoubtedly hardened him. Every now and again, Ellie had caught a glimpse of the harshness in his eyes that never used to be there.

She didn't want to accept, but there was a part of her that felt a small bit of fear. It was nonsense of course, because it was just Thorin. Sure he was older, but he was still the same as he had always been. Then there was the part of Ellie that felt immense guilt over how long she had been gone in his world. She must have missed so many crucial moments of his life, especially after the incident with Smaug.

Would he ever really forgive her for being away?

"Sometimes the forest calls out to us." came Beorn's voice, "Although not everyone can hear the call."

Ellie had been sat curled up on a huge tree stump, gazing out into the forest ahead. Just like everything else in Middle-Earth, Ellie got the sense that the forest was ancient. She was overcome by a yearning to explore it, but at the same time she was also filled with a deep reverence.

"It's like it's singing." Ellie said, "I know it sounds ridiculous, but it feels like I'm listening to a melody I heard a long time ago."

"You are a traveller a long way from home, little one." Beorn told her, "Perhaps you have been following a compass and are nearing its source?"

Something about Beorn's words struck a chord in me and I suddenly wondered if there was perhaps, another reason why Gandalf had sent me here. I was about to answer Beorn, but when I turned around he was no longer there and I found myself once again staring into the forest.

"Eleanor…."

"Eleanor, wake up dear one."

Ellie stirred beneath the blankets, deeply asleep, but when the voices called to her, she suddenly found herself wide awake.

There was no doubt in her mind that the voices came from the forest and she knew with certainty that she was meant to follow. Maybe, she thought, somehow it would take her to the next part of Thorin's journey. The thought only lingered a little bit in Ellie's mind, because she knew that wasn't what would happen and that frightened her.

A part of Ellie felt as though perhaps she should wake Beorn, but she quickly realised there was probably no point in that.

So, just like that Eleanor carefully opened the door and walked out into the mild summer night and headed towards the forest that seemed to call to her.

To be continued….

Not a super long chapter, but there we are. What do you think will/should happen in the forest? Should Thorin tell someone else about Ellie?