Authoress Note: Welcome to Chapter 4 of Stronger. Thank you to those who have left reviews for this story. It makes me happy to know that you are all enjoying this story and I hope that I do this story justice. Without further ado Chapter 4. ENJOY!
Chapter 4
Sadly enough our night had gotten worse. Our hobbit who father had picked had decided to say no which caused a big problem for us. We needed someone who was light on their feet, didn't smell like a dwarf or had wings.
For the first time in my life, I was afraid that we would fail. Smaug would get to keep Erebor forever keeping what he had stolen from the line of Durin.
Thorin and the dwarves had sung about the Lonely Mountain that night. They were trying to raise their hopes that Bilbo perhaps coming with us in the morning. Something that I was sadly doubting already.
What were thirteen dwarves, a wizard, a half maiar half-dwarf witch, and four fairies going to do against Smaug? Absolutely nothing without a hobbit's helping hand in this and Bilbo so far was a disappointment.
"Terms. Cash upon delivery, up to but not exceeding one-fourteenth of total profit if any. Hmm. seems fair. Present company shall not be liable for injuries inflicted by or sustained as a consequence thereof, including but not limited to lacerations… evisceration… incineration?" Bilbo asked as he looked back into the room at the company hoping he had read the contract wrong.
"Oh, aye, he'll melt the flesh off your bones in the blink of an eye," Bofur said with a cheeky smile.
Bilbo looked over at Bofur looking rather breathless. "Huh."
"You all right, laddie?" Balin questioned rather concerned about what Bilbo was doing.
Bilbo bent over rather nauseous and pained. "Uh, yeah...Feel a bit faint."
"Think furnace with wings," Bofur said trying to help the poor Hobbit.
"Air, I-I-I need air."
"Flash of light, searing pain, then Poof! you're nothing more than a pile of ash."
Bilbo breathed heavily through his nose, trying to compose himself as the other watched on. "Hmmm. Nope." Bilbo said falling into a dead faint.
"Ah, very helpful, Bofur."
Amaris took a soft breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. Her amber-colored eyes closed before slowly moving and picking up the poor hobbit into her arms and carrying him into his sitting-room. She looked over at her group and let out a breath as she slipped out of the room. She looked at her father with her brows furrowed. "Are you certain about this hobbit?"
Calista's golden wings fluttered a little bit in worry. "I can't say I've seen such a thing. A poor lad fainting like that." She said shaking her head lightly.
Amaris looked over her brows furrowed at Calista's words. She could only hope that Bilbo would be willing to join in on this quest.
A little while later Amaris came into the room as Bilbo sat in a chair nursing a mug of tea as her father talked with the poor hobbit.
"I'll be all right, let me just sit quietly for a moment," Bilbo said softly taking a breath through his nose knowing that he needed to make a choice and it wasn't going to be an easy one.
"You've been sitting quietly for far too long. Tell me; when did doilies and your mother's dishes become so important to you? I remember a young Hobbit who always was running off in search of elves and the woods, who'd stay out late, come home after dark, trailing mud and twigs and fireflies. A young Hobbit who would have liked nothing better than to find out what was beyond the borders of the Shire. The world is not in your books and maps; it's out there." Gandalf said knowing the hobbit fairly well.
Amaris bit her lip softly knowing that she was rather adventurous as well, but perhaps not like this hobbit used to be.
"I can't just go running off into the blue. I am a Baggins, of Bag End." Bilbo said shaking his head lightly.
"You are also a Took. Did you know that your great-great-great-great-uncle, Bullroarer Took, was so large he could ride a real horse?"
Bilbo looked over at the portrait of Bullroarer Took that was on his wall. "Yes."
"Well, he could. In the Battle of Green Fields, he charged the goblin ranks. He swung his club so hard it knocked the Goblin King's head clean off, and it sailed a hundred yards through the air and went down a rabbit hole. And thus the battle was won, and the game of Golf invented at the same time."
"I do believe you made that up," Bilbo said looking over at Gandalf.
Amaris shook her head lightly at her father's large tall tale that he had told of Bilbo's great-great-great-great-uncle.
"Well, all good stories deserve embellishment. You'll have a tale or two to tell of your own when you come back."
"Can you promise that I will come back?" Bilbo asked slowly putting his mug down hoping that he would be able to promise that he would be back safely.
"No. And if you do, you will not be the same."
"That's what I thought. Sorry, Gandalf, I can't sign this. You've got the wrong Hobbit." Bilbo said as he got up out of his seat and walked away from Gandalf and Amaris.
Amaris let out a soft breath. "We couldn't expect that from him." She said softly shaking her head.
Balin and Thorin watched Bilbo walking away towards his room.
"It appears we have lost our burglar. Probably for the best. The odds were always against us. After all, what are we? Merchants, miners, tinkers, toy-makers; hardly the stuff of legend." Balin said with a shake of his head.
"There are a few warriors amongst us," Thorin said looking over at Balin.
"Old warriors," Balin said letting out a soft breath.
"I will take each and every one of these dwarves over an army from the Iron Hills. For when I called upon them, they came. Loyalty. Honor. A willing heart. I can ask no more than that."
"You don't have to do this. You have a choice. You've done honorably by our people. You have built a new life for us in the Blue Mountains, a life of peace and plenty. A life that is worth more than all the gold in Erebor."
Thorin held out the key that Gandalf had given to him. "From my grandfather to my father, this has come to me. They dreamt of the day when the dwarves of Erebor would reclaim their homeland. There is no choice, Balin. Not for me."
"Then we are with you, laddie. We will see it done."
The dwarves and the fae gathered in Bilbo's living room. The dwarves smoking on their pipes and the fae all grouped in a small huddle.
The dwarves began to hum, and soon Thorin began to sing, and the others joined him in singing.
Gandalf and Amaris listened from the doorway with sad looks upon their faces.
"Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away ere break of day
To find our long-forgotten gold
The pines were roaring on the height
The winds were moaning in the night
The fire was red, it flaming spread
The trees like torches blazed with light"
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This is the end of Chapter 4. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Reviews keep me going. I'm trying to figure out who Calista, Celinette, Dwynwen, and Estrellita should be with. Amaris I already figured out who she'll be with. I hope that this chapter is good. I hope to have the next chapter out soon. Until next time.