The second and third photos Kyle snapped was of the stone trolls and the company stuffed in burlap sacks. Including Maia.
"Took you long enough! I'm deleting those, you know!" called Maia, while the dwarves beside her struggled and protested. They all knew about the camera. Ever since the day the Dainsons talked about machines from their world, such as their car, Kyle's gameboy, and then finally Maia's Pixel digital camera, some of the dwarves had been wary of these strange "magical" objects. It had been hard to explain that objects running on electrical charge was not the same thing as Gandalf's magic.
Kyle smirked. "Liar! This is going to make the front page of my new autobiography! Gran and Gramps will love it!" Lori giggled nearby.
"Will you just get us out of these blasted sacks?!" growled Thorin, and the dwarves echoed in agreement, while Bofur called from the spit, "And don't forget about us! We're still hanging and sweating!"
"Alright, alright, keep your beards on! Geez!" Kyle pocketed the camera and started with Kili, fumbling with the robes of the sack.
"Oh, sure, start with him and not your sister," said Maia sarcastically. "By all means!"
"You kidding? You threatened to kill me just hours ago and you really think I'm that stupid?" Kyle pointed out, glancing at her. "No thanks!"
"Kyle!" gritted Maia, while the dwarves next to her couldn't help but chuckle.
"Man, these are tight!" muttered Kyle, still yanking at the sack's threads. "And they smell like fart!"
"Those firecrackers were genius, mate!" complimented Kili to Kyle with a wide grin. "Did you have them this whole time? Why didn't you mention them before?"
"Firecrackers?" echoed Fili. He had been unconscious when it happened.
Kyle shrugged. "Yeah, I have tons of them in my bag, stored and stalled for Operation D-Day 24/7!"
"Oh, my God!" muttered Maia. She couldn't believe that it's been practically a month, and he had all that junk stuffed in his backpack the whole time. Then again, she wasn't that surprised.
Her brother smiled smugly. "Hey, they don't call me 'Sparky' for nothing!"
It was already bright in the morning by the time everyone was free and back in their clothes. Gandalf, Kyle, and Lori first cut loose the sacks and Gandalf managed to cut through their bonds loose before the dwarves went to carefully cut the six trapped dwarves from the spit.
Everyone was uncomfortable except for Kyle and Lori when Maia finally kicked off her sack and stood up in her shorts. This annoyed her; why did this world have to be so old-fashioned that a girl's modesty was practically a taboo? If there was anything she should be embarrassed about, it was two things: one) her capture, along with Bilbo, resulted in everyone else's capture, and two) she stank. Her hair felt greasy and matted, her clothes stuck to her skin from perspiring heat, and the odor from her sack just increased the smell about her. Well, most of the dwarves also smelled, but they would get away with it. She hadn't bathed in weeks. She would give anything for a hot shower with body wash and shampoo.
Once everyone was free, Maia rounded up on Kyle and Lori once the dwarves were fully dressed, rearming themselves with their weapons that had been piled in the far corner and out of reach. Bofur and Bombur were helping their cousin, Bifur, pull up his trousers, though the process proved to have more effort than it was worth with Bifur's loud grunting.
When she moved toward them, Kyle and Lori flinched a little, but the first thing she did was wrap her arms around them both. "Are you guys okay?"
"Uh-huh!" said Lori, and Kyle nodded, "Yeah." They looked more relaxed.
Maia pulled back to study their faces. "You sure?"
"Absolutely!" replied Kyle in confirmation.
Maia nodded...and then suddenly snatched their ears, causing both younger siblings to yelp in pain and surprise. "Good!" she growled, while dragging them across the field and toward the trees. "'Cause we're gonna have a little chat!"
"OW!" squealed Lori, trying to pull away and bat at her sister's arm with her teddy bear.
"Ow! Ow! Ow! Maia! Quit it!" cried Kyle, bending over from the pull in her grip and trying to pry her hand away. He did not see that one coming!
When the Dainsons disappeared into the trees, Lori and Kyle's protests becoming muffled, Thorin watched with slight amusement.
Before, he had half a mind in confronting Maia, Kyle, and Lori Dainson for getting them into this mess to begin with, along with the foolish venture of Burglar Baggins, and give them a good lecture, but decide against it when Maia already beat him to her own siblings and decided to let her do the rest. With her usual shy and awkward behavior, he did not think much of the lass...or maybe he did not want to, especially with the infatuation she had over his heir...but at least when it came to playing the role of eldest sibling, he had to admire the way she was handling her brother and sister for their mischief. The stern maternal behavior surprised him, but it reminded him a little of his own sister, Dis, around her sons and...sometimes...around him.
Gandalf was circling the stone trolls, who were bent or crouched over in flinched positions, the growls forever frozen on their bulbous faces. The wizard banged his staff against the stone with a hollow clunk and made a sound of satisfaction.
Thorin stepped forward with raised eyebrows. "Where did you go to, if I may ask?"
"To look ahead," answered Gandalf.
"What brought you back?"
"Looking behind."
Thorin smiled a little and looked at the ground, nodding to himself. Wizards and their riddles! At least the danger has passed and Gandalf was back. He could not longer find himself angry at the wizard, being to grateful for the rescue to care anymore.
"Nasty business...still, they're all in one piece!" nodded Gandalf, cheerfully glancing back at the dwarves, who were still regathering their weapons.
"No thanks to your burglar!" said Thorin, eying the old man with meaning. "Him and those foolish children."
Gandlaf gave him a look. "He had the nous to play for time," he pointed out. "As for the Dainsons, Maia seemed to have caught on with the distraction more quickly than the rest of you, while young Master Kyle, Miss Lori, and I improvised for further distractions. The fireworks display was Kyle's idea, if you must know," he added. "Impulsive behavior, but has quite a strategic young mind. Much like your kin, you must admit."
Thorin grunted, but didn't argue.
Their attention then turned to the now-stone trolls, their loin cloths still fluttering in the breeze. "They must have come down from the Ettenmoors," Gandalf observed.
"Since when do mountain trolls venture this far south?" pondered Thorin, warily.
"Oh, not for an age." Gandalf paused, his gray eyes clouding from a long-distant memory. "Not since a darker power ruled these lands."
Thorin frowned at Gandalf, suddenly feeling uneasy. If monsters such as these trolls had ventured during such dark times, then what of the times that were happening now? Could Gandalf be implying that there was something else roaming about in the southern lands that the Company should be aware of?
"They could not have moved in daylight," said Gandalf, thoughtfully.
No, they wouldn't. The trolls would not have been able to make it this far without turning to stone, as they had done now. Unless...
"There must be a cave nearby," said Thorin, the thought striking him as he turned around.
While Thorin started ordering everyone to split up, Bilbo went into the trees to follow the Dainsons. Though it was his motive to make sure Maia wasn't too rough with Kyle or Lori, he mostly wanted to get away from the dwarves before they rounded up on him for his previous improvising. It only took him a minute's search before he heard their loud voices and found them arguing behind a nest of tangled roots.
"...just saved your life!" argued Kyle, shoving Maia away once they were a fair distance away from the dwarves. "Talk about ungrateful!"
"I am grateful, but I'm also tempted to strangle you right now! You both wandered off on your own and nearly got yourselves-Grrrr! What the hell were you thinking? And I mean you too, Lori!"
"Teddy and I wanted to look around," said Lori, quietly, as if she was being the reasonable one. "Teddy said to go back, but I wanted to-"
"God, Lori, will you stop pretending that your stupid bear is real for once and speak for yourself like a normal kid?" retorted Kyle.
"Hey, I'm the one who gets to be angry here!" snapped Maia, catching both their attention. "The whole point of this discussion is for you to realize how stupid it was for both of you to even think about wandering off on your own-" She glared at Lori, who shuffled uneasily, "-or thinking you can manhandle three giant, ten ton trolls!" She then glared at Kyle, who glared right back. "Freaking unbelievable! We're in wild, uncharted territory, for crying out loud, and you guys just act like we're some corny theme park! This isn't Texas!"
"We know, Maia!" snapped Kyle, throwing up a hand in frustration. "We get it! We're in the 'No Fly Zone' and could've got burned, but we didn't! We saved your lives, didn't we? Why don't you just thank us and get over it?"
"Get over it?" exclaimed Maia in disbelief.
"Yeah, why not? What else are you gonna do, ground us?"
"Maybe I should! You're clearly long past due!"
"Why, because Mom's in a coma?" Kyle shot back angrily. "You're not her, okay? So quit acting like it!"
Coma? What is he talking about? Confused and alarmed at the growing heat of the quarrel, Bilbo chose this time to intervene, stepping out from the shrubs. "Everything alright?" he announced himself. "Thorin is having everyone moving and...I thought...well..." He watched uneasily as the silence stretched between the siblings, and it was extremely uncomfortable indeed.
"Yeah, everything's fine!" Maia spoke first, her voice still edged with anger and hurt.
"So, we're done?" said Kyle, bitterness still tracing his tone.
"Yeah, we're done!"
"You don't have to be mean, Kyle," Lori said softly.
"Not in the mood, Lori!" With that, Kyle turned around and stomped back to the troll camp, brushing past Bilbo, growling under his breath, "She freakin' started it..."
"Jerk," muttered Maia, before taking Lori's hand and following her brother out with Bilbo, who still looked fidgety.
"He had no right to say those things to you," said Bilbo, trying to help.
"It's fine, I just ignore him," said Maia, dismissively. "Sorry you had to hear that."
"Does he do this to you often?"
"Sometimes. Ever since our mom...Just give him time to cool down. He'll feel guilty afterwards." Maia hesitated, then said with sad reluctance, "I was...being a little unfair, I guess. He's not entirely wrong." She squeezed Lori's hand, as if in apology.
Bilbo was quiet for a moment, his expression looking troubled. "I-Pardon me, but I couldn't help but overhear your brother's words." His eyes were gentle as they flickered at either girls. "Is there something you would like to tell me...about your mum?"
Maia's eyes widened. Oh, crap. She forgot that they had never mentioned this to Bilbo. They had been so busy trying to find their way home that Maia, Kyle, and Lori agreed that it wouldn't be necessary to tell Bilbo what really happened to their parents before they plummeted into the Shire. She forgot that Fili was the first one she told.
Obviously, things have changed since the dwarves and wizard arrived at the hobbit's doorstep.
After a silent exchange with her sister, it was Lori who said, "Mommy's asleep."
"Yes, Lori, I know what it means, but-why?" Back in Bag End, Maia, Kyle, and Lori had shown him pictures of their family, friends, and home world through the screen of that digital camera of theirs; Bilbo was aware that Maia looked almost exactly like her mother, except for the eyes and age difference. Also that the younger had more sun streaks in her hair, while her mother had more curls. Their father was an older image of Kyle, but much taller with longer hair, a small dark beard, and a faded scar barely shown beneath his right cheekbone. His gray-blue eyes were also heavier and sharper, holding hints of frostiness and wisdom that made the hobbit shiver to the bone, almost the same way Thorin made him.
Maia sighed and explained to him what she had told Fili weeks ago. Bilbo's face fell with remorse.
"Oh, Maia, Lori," he said, swallowing. "You never said...I'm very sorry. If I had known..."
"It wouldn't have made much of a difference," said Maia, shaking her head. "We didn't think it mattered."
"Well, of course it matters! Your mother is injured and your father...I am just amazed at how well you three are handling this together. Although, it doesn't give Kyle an excuse to disrespect you like that!"
"Sparky gets mad a lot," said Lori, frowning.
"Kyle has a tendency to lash out when he's upset, especially now that he's in puberty," said Maia, smirking a little at the last part. "You gotta give him time to cool down before he's sorry. Trust me, it'll happen. He finds it easier to apologize than to forgive."
"I cannot tell whether that's a good thing or a bad thing," said Bilbo, slowly.
Maia scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Neither, but it's process."
When everyone was gathered together by Thorin's orders and were soon searching for any signs of a cave, Maia and Lori returned with Bilbo, all looking sullen from the conversation. Bilbo looked uncomfortable when glancing at Maia, who still looked slightly hurt but determined to remain stoic. Kyle was wandering nearby the trolls with his arms crossed, kicking at the giant statue in befuddlement.
As the dwarves had split up in two groups, one party going to gather the supplies and the other party to explore the forest, Maia watched Thorin finish what looked like a heated discussion with Fili and Kili, and the brothers looking annoyed as they stomped in the opposite direction of Thorin. Fili especially looked red in the face.
"Everything okay?" she asked.
"We're fine," assured Fili, forcing a smile, though his cheeks were still pink. Maia wondered what Thorin said to him.
"Just suffered a lecture and are ordered back to collect the supplies," Kili said glumly, pointing a thumb back at his uncle. He gave a small smile at Bilbo. "I think he has a few words saved for you as well, Master Boggins."
"It's Baggins," giggled Lori, while Bilbo sighed heavily, "You love doing this on purpose, do you?"
"The highlight of my day!" said Kili, and Fili shook his head with a small laugh.
"Well, can we come with you?" offered Maia. "We still left our bags back at camp, and frankly, I'm little worried about getting robbed."
"I think, for once, I'm thankful that I didn't bring much of anything to worry about being robbed," said Bilbo.
"All the same, we should go follow the others and make sure everything is as it should be," sighed Fili, wearily. "Let's go."
"What about Kyle?" piped up Lori as they all started walking, watching as her big brother started following Gandalf, Thorin, Dwalin, Gloin, Bofur, and Nori in the opposite direction. "Where's he going?"
"That group is off to search for the trolls' domain," explained Kili, but sounded rather put out. "Fili and I would have gone if we weren't reprimanded for our irresponsibility."
"What's 'rep-er-manded' mean?" asked Lori, confused.
"It means they got in trouble," Maia told her little sister.
"Kili and I weren't watching the ponies close enough," said Fili, shrugging. "Thorin doesn't forget that easily, especiallywhen Kili jumped right in the middle of the camp and into the trolls' sight without warning," he added, shooting a glare at his younger brother, who looked back with wide, puppy-dog eyes. "I still have a thing or two to say about that, nadadith!"
"That troll was gonna eat Bilbo!" complained Lori.
Kili grinned. "See? Little Lori here agrees with me. I acted out, that's all. And that troll did release Bilbo, didn't he?"
"It suppose he did...but it was still reckless!"
"I heard that before," muttered Kili.
"Kyle was about to do the same thing," said Maia, still fuming at the thought of her stupid little brother. "At least you had something to defend yourself with. Kyle had nothing but his ego!"
"Sounds like you two didn't work things out very well," said Fili, looking at her with concern.
Maia scoffed, and then wiped an arm across her nose to cover the flash of hurt she tried to hold back. "That's putting it lightly."
"What did he say to you?"
"Nothing worth repeating. What did Thorin say to you to make you all flushed up?"
Fili blinked, his cheeks turning red again, and a small smiled started creeping on Kili's face, though the latter began walking ahead of them with Bilbo. Maia tilted her head, curiously. "What?"
"Nothing," muttered Fili, not looking at her.
Maia bit her lip. Every time she looked at Fili, she remembered how close his face had been to hers when he had used his own body to shield her from the troll. It had been a failed attempt in the end, when the troll knocked him out, but she couldn't forget the look on his face when he fought back with everything he had, even without the use of his hands. She remembered all those days and nights she spent with him, remembered their conversations and lessons...and now, him defending her when she had been so helpless and trapped, fearing for his life...
"Fili," she said. When the dwarf looked up, his deep blue eyes meeting hers, she tried to ignore the rapid butterflies in her stomach as she said, "I...I wanted to thank you for...for before. I-I-I still can't believe you did that."
Fili's expression softened into a warm smile. "I would do it again, milady," he said softly. "I just wish I had been able to try harder. When I woke up…..I feared the troll had gotten you." Then he murmured shyly, "I...I care deeply about you, Maia. More than you know and...I don't know what I would have done if something happened to you."
Fili's gaze seemed to bore deeply into her soul, penetrating all barriers and making her very being shiver. Her heart pounded as her own gaze was magnetized. More than you know.
"I care deeply about you too, Fili," said Maia, her soft tone matching his. More than you know. "Next time I'm going to find a way to return the favor," she joked.
Fili chuckled and shook his head. Then he glanced up her and said, "Maia, I-"
"Hurry it up, lad!" Oin's shout interrupted him. "Those ponies are not going to untie themselves." They hadn't realized that they had walked out of Trollshaw Forest and were approaching the outskirts of camp.
Fili looked at Maia, sheepishly. "It's time to get to work. Care to join me?"
"Let me get my stuff first." Maia was disappointed to be interrupted, but tried to keep her tone light. "I'll see you in sixty seconds."
Fili nodded and then walked off to join his brother with the ponies. As Maia watched him go, she felt a tug on her hand and looked down to see Lori giving her a wide, toothy smile.
The elder sibling blushed. "Oh, shut up," Maia told her, though a smile threatened to break, and Lori giggled in delight.
Stupid Maia!
Still steaming from yelling at Maia, Kyle kicked at the troll statue one more time.
She always did this. Always got mad, always nagged, always acting like it was his fault, always thought she had to act like Mom when she was not...His world flared briefly, stinging his eyes with barely suppressed rage that lit hot like fire.
After a few more minute, he closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths. and forced himself to count to ten.
He could feel his sisters behind him. A familiar pool of guilt threatened to rise in his chest, heating up his face, but he wasn't ready to go back to them. And he definitely wasn't going to freaking apologize! Not yet.
Turning around, he saw a group of dwarves heading toward the forest, lead by Gandalf and Thorin, and ran to catch up with them. "So, what are we looking for?" he asked, walking beside the wizard.
"Any sign of a cave," said Gandalf, "large enough for possibly all three trolls to dwell in the daylight. If there's a possibility that those beasts smuggled more than possessions of a few raided farmhouses, then we must look into it."
"It would be better that you went back with your sisters, Master Dainson," said Thorin, irritably, though not looking at the boy pointedly. "I imagine our provisions will need extra hands to regather."
"Nah, searching for a troll cave sounds better."
"It wasn't a request," said Thorin tightly, finally glaring back at the boy. "This isn't a game."
"Yeah, you're right. It's a treasure hunt. Sounds verydangerous," said Kyle sarcastically.
"You watch that tone, boy," growled Dwalin, jabbing a finger at the lad, "or I'll knock it right of ye!"
He slapped the tattooed finger away. "Touch me, and I'll shave you!" shot back Kyle.
"Kyle Dainson!" scolded Gandalf, while Dwalin snarled, "What did you say?"
"Alright, lads, calm down now!" Bofur said loudly, waving his hat for their attention. "There's no need to get a fuss over a little precaution."
"Bofur's right!" said Nori, stepping in. "Look, I was going to scout ahead for troll tracks. Master Kyle can be my second pair of eyes. If no one objects, that is," he said, glancing at Thorin.
Everyone, who had stopped walking, looked to their leader, while Gandalf shook his head with a bemused groan. Thorin seemed to consider, and then sighed, giving a reluctant nod. "Alright. Master Dainson, with Nori. Scout the upper hills, and we'll search the lower. Wander off again, Dainson, and I will have you dragged back to the rest of the Company by the ear."
"Already been through that, man," remarked Kyle, unconsciously touching his sore ear. When Thorin glared at him, the boy quickly corrected himself, "I mean, yessir."
"Good. Now go on."
Nori nodded and beckoned Kyle, who turned and followed the thief up the hill.
As they searched the rocky mountainside, Kyle rubbed at the bags under his eyes, sighing. He felt tired, both mentally and physically. He and Lori had been up all night trying to figure out what to do, panicking that all dwarves, including their older sister and their friend Bilbo, were in burlap sack hostage situation. One that included sage and a roasting spit. The only thing he had thought of at the time was to try finding a way to distract the trolls long enough to get them away from the dwarves. Kyle had pulled out his spare set of firecrackers, showed them to Lori, and explained to her that they were going to set them off in the forest so that the trolls would follow them (at least, he hoped so), and then Kyle and Lori would circle around to camp and attempt to untie the dwarves.
The plan sounded lousy, especially when the trolls proved to be smarter than they looked, but it was the best that Kyle could come up with at the time...until Gandalf showed up.
The gray wizard had showed up out of nowhere, in a nick of time, when Kyle and Lori were arranging the set of fireworks. At first, Kyle had been pissed at the wizard, demanding where he had been the whole time and why he didn't show up sooner, but it had only lasted a few moments when Gandalf dismissed it like swatting away a fly and told them he knew a better way of getting the dwarves out of trouble.
Gandalf had explained to them that when the sun rises, the trolls would turn to stone, their bodies being completely pervious to sunlight. Since it was already in the a.m. in that time of night, they didn't have to wait too long for the first signs of sunrise; however, Gandalf instructed Kyle and Lori to gather their fireworks, handing them some matches, and encouraged them to throw them out in the troll camp for distraction if the trolls made a move of harming any member of their Company.
Together, Kyle and Lori watched the scene with a mixture of nervousness and amusement while seeing six dwarves spinning on a spit and the others trapped in the far side like sacks of potatoes. Kyle had nearly thrown his first firecracker when Bombur had been snatched up by one of the trolls, but Bilbo had spoken out, claiming Bombur and the whole company were filled with parasites. Kyle and Lori also watched as their sister loudly acted like she was being consumed inwardly by worms, her response allowing the dwarves to catch up with the act, but when the trolls weren't convinced of the plight, it was not until that grumpy troll called William knocked out Fili and attempted to pick up Maia that Kyle lit the first firecracker and threw.
Lori had scattered around to the other side to throw other firecrackers, while Kyle remained on his side, but what he didn't see coming was the quick reflexes of the troll called William snatching his leg before he would run away.
Note to self: don't underestimate big, dumb, ugly trolls.
In the end, which only happened a little more than an hour ago, everything worked out, though Kyle couldn't get the image of those trolls filleting into stone from the sunlight just above his head, seconds after that nasally troll called Tom was about to skin him alive. Literally. He still shuddered whenever he thought of how close that knife had lured toward his nose if Gandalf hadn't split that rock just in time.
"What was all that about?"
Kyle blinked and looked at Nori. "Huh?"
The ginger-haired dwarf was tapping the rocky mountainside with his knife, frowning in concentration when he continued, "Knew you had a sharp-tongue and all, but that was a little more farfetched than normal. You get into a rough spot with your kin?"
Kyle shrugged. "We had a fight. S'nothing new. Maia hardly gets mad, but when she does, she can get a little bitchy."
"Oi!" Nori turned around with wide eyes and pointed the knife in Kyle's direction. "I may never had a sister, but I didhave a mother and tis disrespectful in the worst way for either to be called such!"
Kyle held up his hands. "Dude, that's not what I meant! I'm just saying she nags a lot, and it gets annoying, ya know? She'll tell you the same thing. Trust me."
"Hmph." Nori eyed him and then nodded. "I can understand that. Still, I advise ye to be careful. I knew a lot of scum in my life that get so bitter that they never take it back. It ain't a flower field, lad."
Kyle eyed him. "Part of being a smuggler?"
"Aye, and other things. I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill ya."
Kyle snorted. "Oh, I get it. Code of being spy. You guys are so secretive that even your secrets have secrets. Or something."
"It's nothing personal. Dwarves are not only secretive by nature, it's part of our ancient laws. Not even a juvenile like me can go so far as to break them. It's part of who we are, just like what I can do is part of who I am. It can't be helped, but it does have it's value." Nori grew sad. "Even when it can cost you the trust of your kin."
Kyle frowned, surprised by the string of emotions crossing the thief's expression. "Dori and Ori? But...I mean, I notice that Dori is a bit...um..."
"Of a mother hen?" Nori guessed with a smile.
"Yeah!" laughed Kyle, that response wiping his dry mood away momentarily. "Exactly like that! But Ori...if Ori had any grudge against you, he doesn't show it. Look, I may never had a brother, just like you never had a sister, but I definitely notice how Ori clings on to you. Until Dori drags him away," he added with an indifferent shrug, and Nori tilted his head in agreement. "Look, my point is that...and I'm not trying to be too mushy here...but your brothers love you, man. In a very different way, but still...Dori's just being the big brother and Ori the little brother. It's the same for me, Maia, and Lori." Kyle stopped when he watched a wide smirk slowly growing on Nori's face. He glared at the dwarf in dismay. "You totally tricked me into that speech, did you?"
"And it was a damn good one!" complimented Nori, still smiling. "Here, I'll already know everything you just said, lad. I understand more than ye know. I'm already in my prime and clinging to a few personal experiences with my kin...things maybe I'll one day tell you about...but I meant what I said about trust. It's a tricky thing to keep when you're built for shadier things, but just remember what you are doing it for. Not that I'm encouraging ye to become a thief or anything-I get enough lectures and plenty of nagging out of Dori from that one-but all I'm saying is that kin is the most important in your life. I got Dori and Ori, and you got Maia and Lori. That's all there is to it."
Schooled, by the Company's smuggler, thought Kyle, feeling the irony of the situation. He returned a crooked smile at Nori. "Guess we middle kids have to stick together, huh?"
Nori nodded. "If Thorin's brother Frerin were alive, he would have made a good companion in this little club. You would've liked him. I didn't know him much, being away most of the time back then, but I hear he was the energetic sort, much like Kili. Could've made a good mate out of him, I suppose."
Oh, yeah, Thorin had a brother. Kyle almost forgot, his heart clenching at the memory of Balin telling the story of Moria a few weeks ago in the lone lands. Since then, Kyle wondered what Frerin may have looked like and what his personality was. He sounded like a good guy. And from the description of Balin's story, Thorin and Frerin were very close as brothers, just as Fili and Kili clearly were.
Kyle opened his mouth, but then stopped when he noticed tracks covering the forest floor. They were fresh and large, nearly hidden, but they were there. His gaze gliding across the trail, he then spotted a sharp curve penetrating from the mountain side. "Hey, look!" Along the edges were covered in soil and weeds, shrubs and trees rooted along the hillside, but the stone seemed to swallow into itself. "Over there!" Kyle ran ahead, Nori trailing behind. His suspicions were confirmed when the entrance of a hollow cave appeared in view, flies buzzing around the entrance and a heavy smell polluting the tunnel like morning breath.
"Ugh! Pew!" Kyle's nose scrunched as he and Nori observed the entrance. "I think we found the troll's den!" The light showing the outskirts of the entrance showed thick, lumpy soil that looked suspiciously like crap, mottled with the half-buried remains of animals and human skeletons. It was a wonder that trolls stunk so badly all the time!
"Oi, over here!" called Nori, waving the rest over in view.
When Thorin, Gandalf, and the others caught up, flinching from the smell that instantly hit them in the faces, Gandalf was the first to straighten up, gasping as though breathing through his mouth, and used his staff to thump the ground in front of him before stepping forward. "Come on. Watch your step. It slopes downward."
Thorin had been given a torch and lit it from one of Gandalf's matches before following the wizard, nodding for the others to follow. "Stay close, Kyle," he said to the boy, before he disappeared inside. Kyle gave an exasperated look at Nori, who gave him an 'After you' gesture.
Sighing, Kyle followed Gloin into the darkness, who followed Bofur...and instantly gagged as the smell grew stronger than ever, slapping a hand over his nose as the odor was strong enough to sting his eyes. "Oh...God..." he groaned under his hand. It was literally stepping into a cave of BM! If Kyle wasn't so familiar with smelly rooms and barn house toxicity, he would have bolted out of here in one whiff.
"Oh...What is that stench?" groaned Nori.
"It's a troll hoard," said Gandalf, in an as a matter-of-fact tone. "What did you expect? Be careful what you touch!"
Thorin also had his wrist up to his nose, gagging while the other dwarf started coughing and groaning from the horrid pollution, their voice already echoing in the hollow burrow. As the torch's fire waved around from Thorin's wandering, the light bounced and flickered off the wall until everyone's shadows loomed like giants along the rounded ceiling.
One look at their surroundings, and Kyle knew this truly was a hoard. There were bones on the floor, of course, but around the sides of the cave was an untidy litter of plunder, all sorts of brass buttons to pots and chests full of gold and brass coins standing the corners under mounds of dusty cobweb.
As the fire's light danced across the pile of coins spread out across the cave floor, Bofur nudged them with his jerk-skin boot, causing the boon to clink. "Seems a shame to just leave it lyin' around," he said, his voice tinged with fascination and desire for the riches at his feet. His eyes, like the other dwarves, were lit with a greedy, possessive light. Nearby, Nori opened another chest filled to the brim with gold coins. "Anyone could take it."
"Agreed." Gloin stepped forward, his eyes flicking sideways, as though he was guarding some dark secret. He was a master of coin, after all. "Nori, get a shovel."
Kyle, Thorin, and Gandalf seemed to be the only ones left who interested in exploring the rest of the hoard. There were lots of human-sized clothes hanging on the walls, all tattered and dirtied with soil and snot (belonging to the victims, no doubt). There were creepy-looking artifacts, the creepiest being a totem staff decorated with the pelvis of a large deer or elk, adorned with horns, teeth, and ribs. Kyle shuddered and backed away from the monstrous craft, thinking about the horrible fate that met that deer's end.
There were also pile of weapons in various makes, shapes, and sizes, all contained in emptied barrels and tins. The swords and knives were protected by leather sheathes...but as Gandalf knocked aside a basket, Thorin started pulling the swords one by one before dropping them. It was until he selected two in particular, the largest and fanciest looking blades with scabbards embedding with a religious design. One sword was more curved with a hilt that looked like a bone (more like a huge fang), while the other was straight and lithe with a more diamond-like hilt.
Kyle watched with wide eyes as Thorin examined each sword with curious awe. Gandalf stepped up from behind Kyle, his eyes also on the swords.
"Those are pretty awesome!" Kyle pointed out, a smile curving is lips.
Thorin didn't argue against that. "These swords were not made by any troll," he whispered. He looked up and handed the lither sword to Gandalf.
The wizard held his sword at eye-level, fingers tracing the single-edged scabbed delicately. It was completely dirtied with cobwebs and dust, but the designs had shown through the mess. "Nor were they made by any smith among men," murmured Gandalf, as he slightly unsheathed the blade and blew away the dust to read the forgery of its shining silver.
While Thorin started shifting his sword in both hands to test its weight, excitement bubbled with Kyle as he started rummaging through the selection of swords. "Sweet!" he breathed.
All his life, he wanted to hold a real sword, like those heroes in his video games...and now there was a whole pile laid out before him. He needed a weapon. Maia needed one, too, and maybe Lori, even if it had to just be a knife.
"These were forged in Gondolin," said Gandalf, breathless with wonder. "By the High Elves of the First Age!" Thorin froze at the mention of the elves, his wonder instantly dropping to disgust, and then made a move to place the sword back when Gandalf snapped, "You could not wish for a finer blade!"
"Hey, if you don't want it, I'll have it," offered Kyle, also glaring at Thorin. The Dwarf King already had a sword, so what was the harm? "It's up to you, man!"
Thorin hesitated, glancing at both the old man and the boy. Finally, the dwarf leader lifted the sword at eye level and yanked it halfway from its sheath with fluency. The blade was blueish silver, shiny compared to the dust of its sheathe. From the look on Thorin's face, the dwarf may hate the elves, but there was no question about their handiwork.
Kyle shrugged with a small, satisfied smile and turned. "Okay, then. I'll just keep looking."
As his hands brushed through the sheathes of swords, their metal clinking heavily together as he rummaged through them, they were mostly just plain swords compared to Gandalf and Thorin's. Kyle was starting to believe that they managed to get the good swords when he spotted a large bow leaning in the far back. Eyes wide at the huge bow covered in bluish silver and gold, he reached out and plucked it the cobwebs. The bow was three-fourths his height and lacked a string, but it was surprisingly light and fluid. Were there any arrows? Looking over, to his disappointment, there were none...but there was a fancy looking chest in the back. Curious, Kyle carefully stepped over the pile of weapons, wincing as he knocked a few over with a sounding clatter, but managed to crouch over and reach the chest, placing the bow aside before digging his fingers under the lid. He tried lifting it, but barely budged.
Behind him, the dwarves had managed to dig a yard deep hole in the ground, placed the chest full of coins at the bottom, and then started sweeping in mounds of soil to bury it. Dwalin, who had been standing guard, eyed them disdainfully.
"We're making a long-termed deposit," explained Gloin, as he, Nori, and Bofur continued burying the treasure like squirrels bury a nut for winter. Dwalin rolled his eyes and shook his head. He didn't tolerate nonsense.
Thorin sheathed his new required sword and stood up. "Let's get out of this foul place! Bofur, Gloin, Nori!" The dwarves stood up, regathered their weapons, and started heading outside after Dwalin. Thorin turned and spotted Kyle still crouched over the chest, struggling to open it. "Kyle!"
"Give me a minute, will ya?" grunted Kyle, gritting his teeth as he pushed the lid with his might. After failing again, he huffed and muttered, "Okay," before giving it one last shove. Finally, the lid burst open with an explosion of dust blasting in his face. Coughing and spluttering, he waved the dust away and squinted.
In the center of the chest, laid out on a lavender silk cushion, was a crisscross sheathe of daggers. But not just normal daggers. Kyle gently picked them up, their metal sheaths being tied together, and unsheathed one of them, causing a chill to go down his spine as the steel's graceful ring. The hilts were made of chestnut wood and pure gold, the dark lines trailing like hair strands from the base to the blade, which curled like a leaf before running lithely in a fine, curved motion until reaching the length of one's forearm.
As badly as Kyle wanted these twin daggers to be his, the other part of his mind battled against it. "Maia would dig these," he murmured.
"How so?" inquired Gandalf, watching him from behind.
Kyle fidgeted. "Maia's ambidextrous," he said. "She's a righty and a lefty. Got it from Dad. Since these are twin daggers, I think these would fit her better."
"Now that sounds like a noble idea, Master Kyle," said Gandalf, nodding in approval. "Take those daggers and that bow. I see with Master Kili, you have been taken to archery lately."
"Choose a sword," suggested Thorin. "A bow and daggers are hardly the best fit for a battlefield." With that, Thorin left the cave, carrying his new sword with him.
Taking Thorin's advice, Kyle just elected two more random swords and another smaller dagger, gathering them all in his arms with the bow and twin daggers, before heading outside. Behind him, as Gandalf started to follow when his foot got caught on an object buried beneath the dead leaves. Brushing them aside, the end of his staff nudged the hilt of a small, blueish-silver dagger.
"Hm," Gandalf gazed a tit thoughtfully. He knew just the right bearer for this peculiar little weapon.
When the sunlight hit his face, finally escaping the stuffy stench of the cave, Kyle finally breathed into the clean forest air. He was surprised, however, to see that the rest of the Company had already tracked them over here, dropping their baggage on the ground nearby the cave's entrance. When Kyle spotted Maia and Lori and Bilbo, Fili, and Kili, he hunched his pile of supplies in his arms and walked over to them.
"Howdy!" he called over to them.
"Kyle!" Maia exclaimed, her eyes widening when she saw all the weapons in her brother's arms. Lori and the others matched her astonished expression. "What in the world...!"
"Ladies and gents, I come bearing gifts and call for a truce!" Kyle heaved the blades onto the forest floor with cluttering crash and gasped excitedly, while pointing a thumb over his shoulder back at the cave. "You're not gonna to believe how stuffy it is in there!"
The Dainson siblings, the Durin brothers, and Bilbo were sitting at the entrance, rummaging through the new required blades. Bilbo watched as Maia held up the daggers with breathless awe, its gold-silver metal gleaming in the sunlight as she slowly had them unsheathed, twirling in her hands like spinning leaves. She laughed, watching their light spin with almost familiarity.
"It appears that you and those daggers were made for each other," said Fili, watching her with a wondrous smile. "Since we're both ambidextrous, I would be happy to show you how to use them properly."
Maia side-glanced at him. "Time to boost the training level a little?" she said, raising her eyebrows.
"A little," Fili agreed, and Maia snickered.
"You guys are training?" asked Kyle. Lori also looked surprised, looking at both Fili and Maia. Bilbo was also surprised at this piece of news, even though it hadn't escaped his notice of how close Maia and Fili had gotten on the journey.
"Yeah," admitted Maia, sounding a little sheepish. "A few nights a week, since back at the lone lands. Knife throwing. Intense stuff." She looked at Fili and winked. "Very intense stuff!"
Though blushing, Fili raised an eyebrow at her, while Kili laughed with Lori. Kyle just rolled his eyes with tight lips. "'Course it was," he said, sounding a little edged. "Too bad you couldn't use your new skills on that troll!"
"Kyle..." Maia said with a warning tone.
"Sorry, sorry. Ignore my brutally, cold honesty. Carry on! Love you, sis."
"Love you, too, bro-dre!" Maia answered sweetly. Kyle and Maia apologized to each other the moment Kyle had dropped the weapons on the ground. It had been his peace offering when he apologized first, and Maia instantly forgave him, also apologizing for being a little harsh. Although, Bilbo couldn't help but feel there was still a little tension between them...
"Bilbo!"
"Hm?" Bilbo looked up to see Gandalf walking out of the cave and stood up. In the wizard's hand was a leather-sheathed dagger. He was surprised when the wizard presented it to him. "Here! This is about your size."
Bilbo looked at the dagger and hesitated before taking it, holding it uneasily between his fingers. Mixed emotions swirled in his mind as he studied the weapon. It was fairly the length of his forearm, the blade leaf-shape underneath the belted sheath with a blade hilt looped in golden Elvish outlines. The Tookish part of him felt his heart leap at the amazing light weight in his bare hands...but the Baggins part of him took over with fear and self-doubt. He was not a warrior. He was not even a burglar, or a fighter of any sort. He was certainly not a killer, and never wanted to be.
"I can't take this," he said sadly.
Gandalf leaned over at his level, gray eyes meeting greenish-blue. "The blade is of Elvish make, which means," he said, "it will glow blue when orcs or goblins are nearby. It should serve you well in the face of danger."
Bilbo opened his mouth, looked around at the dwarves with all their weapons brandished as familiarly as using a third arm, and whispered at Gandalf, feeling slightly embarrassed, "I have never used a sword in my life!"
"And I hope you will never have to," said Gandalf gently. He nodded over at the Dainsons, who were still admiring their new weapons with the Durin brothers. "You, and them, for no youth or gentle creature should be forced into the world of violence...but if you do, then remember this..." His tone became all knowing and mysterious, all his years of wisdom lighting in the gray eyes of the Istari, making Bilbo feel small and entranced. "True courage is about not knowing when to take a life...but when to spare one."
Bilbo blinked, and looked down at his sword, still feeling unsure, though Gandalf's words echoed in his mind. That made no sense. Not that Bilbo ever wanted to take a life...but he certainly did not feel courageous with this fact. How will know if the wizard is right?
"Something's coming!" Thorin shouted out. Everyone instantly jumped to their feet, weapons at ready. Even Maia and Kyle had their swords ready, which looked plain and heavy in their grip, but effective. Lori huddled into Maia's hip, wide-eyed.
"Gandalf..." started Bilbo, helplessly, but the wizard had stood tall and readied his new sword, along with a raised staff.
"Stay together!" he ordered. "Hurry now! Arm yourselves!"
As everyone started charging out into the forest, Bilbo could feel their air brush his curls he slowly unsheathed the blade of his weapon, his little hand gripping the hilt as the leaf-shaped blade hovered in the view. The sun gleamed off the rippling curves of its beautiful shape, singing with grace as though there was a voice in his head calling out for him to fight.
Fight! the Tookish part of him cried.
"C'mon, Bilbo!" Lori called out from behind. "Let's go!"
They need you, Bilbo Baggins! Strengthening his resolve, Bilbo turned around and charged after them, little heart pounding like the head of a little bird in its cage, battling to be set free.
To Be Continued