The company of Thorin Oakenshield was awoken suddenly in the middle of the night, as the floor began to fall beneath them.
"Wake up! Wake up!" Thorin yelled.
But it was too late. The dwarves and the hobbit fell rapidly and slid down the tunnels of the mountain – bewildered, screaming, and frightened.
They were dumped unceremoniously into a trapping cage, the smell of goblins reeking in the air. All at once a hoard of disgusting goblins ran at them, grabbing and shoving. The group was pushed and led down bridge after bridge.
"Get off!" Dwalin yanked his arm away from the creatures.
But there were too many goblins surrounding them for anyone to escape. Or so they thought. Nori noticed as Bilbo ducked, and by great fate or dull coincidence, he was left behind.
The thirteen dwarves were led to the heart of the goblin tunnels, where a giant, nine-foot-tall, gargantuan goblin sat upon his throne. To left of his chair made of old bones, sticks, and teeth, sat a young, feminine creature. She sat upon a pile of wood covered in one old rug. She leaned against a fur backboard - uninterested. She was no goblin, to be sure. Rather, she was lovely. With short curly hair, bright green eyes, and a sad, loathsome expression on her face. A large iron ring sat round her neck, connected to chains that looped to more iron rings on her wrists connected to the throne so she could not run away. She was small, almost 5 feet shorter than the goblin king she sat next to. She did not seem to stir or be bothered by the commotion approaching her.
The hoard stopped on the platform where the king and his slave sat. The dwarves were stripped of their weapons, the goblins throwing them at the feet of the giant king.
"Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom?" he demanded with a horrible voice. "Spies? Thieves? Assassins!?"
"Dwarves, your malevolence!" A tiny, wart-ridden goblin spoke.
The tiny female slave suddenly sat upright, chains clanking, so she could see who the dwarves were. She sat wide eyed, looking at the thirteen of them hopefully.
"Dwarves?!" the giant goblin yelled in disbelief.
The goblin king ordered for them to be searched in every crack and every crevice. Some dwarves began to protest, while some stared dumbfounded at the female creature in chains.
"What are you doing in these parts?" The goblin king asked sarcastically.
None of the dwarves spoke. A secretive silence fell in the caves.
"Help. Me." The curly haired girl mouthed to none of the dwarves in particular.
"Very well! If they will not talk, we will make them squawk! Bring up the mangler! Bring up the bone breaker! Start with the youngest!"
Goblins began cheering as the dwarves began to yelp in protest. The goblin king turned tenderly to his slave, smiling, caressing the side of her face gently with one wart-covered finger, and cooing at her softly. She grimaced and turned her head away in disgust.
"Wait!" Thorin stepped forward from behind his comrades.
"Well, well, well. Look who it is. Thorin. Son of Thrain, son of Thror. King under the mountain," the fat Goblin bowed mockingly. "Oh! But I'm forgetting! You don't have a mountain. You're not a king. Which makes you… nobody really. I know somebody who would pay a pretty price for your head. Not a body, just a head. Perhaps you know of who I speak? An old enemy of yours? The pale orc - "
"Was destroyed in battle long ago!" Thorin interrupted.
The goblin king chuckled and sent orders to send word to the pale orc. "Tell him, we have found his prize," he laughed again, turning to his slave.
The giant, horrid creature broke into song. Yelling at the top of his lungs threats to mangle and kill the dwarf company. Suddenly a goblin mercenary cried in horror, throwing a sword on the ground.
"I know that sword!" Cried the goblin king. "It is the Goblin-Cleaver! The blade that sliced a thousand necks! Slash them! Kill them! Kill them all! Cut of his head!"
The crooked creatures rushed towards the dwarves, slamming them on the ground, and pulled out their weapons. The curly haired girl stared in horror as time seemed to slow down. And just as a knife was about to cut into the young dwarf king, a pure white light flooded the cave. A tangible pulse could be felt as it swam through the air, sending a gush of wind. It knocked the king off his feet, slamming him to the ground. Many of the goblins were whisked away, falling off the edge of the platform to their deaths. The gush of power hit the curly haired female hard on the back, breaking the throne, and sending her rolling down her pile of wood, her hands still bound by chains.
"Take up arms," A deep voice rumbled and echoed through the caves. "Fight," Gandalf called. "Fight!"
Quicker than the young girl could open her eyes, the dwarves were already rallying and fighting the goblins, killing them off one by one faster than she could count.
"He wields the Fohammer!" The goblin king cried in horror. The giant turned suddenly and crawled on his belly. He began attempting to grab desperately at the young girl's wrists. "You're not going anywhere! You're mine!" he hissed at her.
"No! Help!" She moaned pathetically as she tried to wriggle away.
The giant found his footing and scooped her up by the bicep. With his free hand he grabbed his staff, ornamented with a ram's skull and swung down at the dwarf king.
"Thorin!" Fili shouted in warning.
Thorin deflected the swing with his sword, and with his free hand grabbed the young girl by her other bicep as the goblin king stumbled and slipped, falling off the edge of the platform. Thorin and the girl were yanked forward by the momentum but did not fall. The two regained their footing and breathed heavily. The young girl turned towards the dwarf with wide eyes. He released the firm grip on her bicep. Without another breath the curly headed female turned on her heal and began sprinting away.
"Wait. Wait, stop!" Thorin yelled after her.
"Quickly! This way!" Gandalf yelled at them all.
Thorin hesitated briefly, but followed after.
For what seemed like ages the wizard and the thirteen dwarves ran down the trails, killing goblins that did not seem to have an end. Working together ran down a final bridge, when the goblin king burst through the underneath of the wood.
"You thought you could escape me!" the goblin king shouted as he and his minions surrounded the group. "Return my slave and pray for your lives!" He yelled as he swung his weapon at the wizard.
In a tremendous effort of bravery, Gandalf swiftly slew the disgusting giant. But to their dismay, the king's heavy body broke the wood of the bridge, sending the company plummeting down into the cliffs of the mountain. The bridgework slid down the mountain with the dwarves clinging on for dear life when they finally slammed into the ground.
"Well, that could've been worse," Bofur sighed.
The goblin king's body suddenly dropped on the lot of them.
"Oh, you've got to be joking," Dwalin groaned.
But none of them were able to catch their breath.
"Gandalf!" Kili yelled in horror.
An army of goblins were running at them. Too many to fight. The group was in mortal peril yet again.
"Only one thing can save us now! Daylight! On your feet!" Gandalf cried as they ran.
The dwarves and their wizard made their way through the tunnels, running and breathing heavily. By miracle, they made their way into the lush nature outside the mountain, Gandalf counting exhaustedly, making sure each member was intact. Each was accounted for, except for one.
"And Bilbo? Where is our hobbit?" Everyone began looking around. "Where is our hobbit?!"
"Curse the Halfling! Now he's lost?" Dwalin said.
The group began arguing about who saw him last, desperately searching for answers. Thorin spoke up, accusing Bilbo of never wanting to be a part of the company.
"…he is long gone!" Thorin spat.
Bilbo suddenly appeared to everyone's relief, however ignoring everyone's inquires as to how he escaped the goblins.
"Look, I know you doubt me, I know you always have. And you're right. I often think of Bag End. I miss my books. And my armchair. And my garden. See, that's where I belong. That's home. That's why I came back, 'cause you don't have one. A home. It was taken from you. But I will help you take it back if I can."
Gandalf leaned on his staff and sighed, forever amazed at the courage of hobbits. When suddenly, his eyes widened.
"Thorin," he turned to the dwarf king, "Where is the other hobbit?"
"Other hobbit?" Fili furrowed his eyebrows.
"Who, Gandalf?" Nori said.
"So she was a hobbit," Thorin stated outloud.
"Who? No I'm here, I'm the hobbit and I'm a…a him." Bilbo tried to correct.
"The young creature that was chained up!" Bofur said. "She called for help before you showed up Gandalf."
"Yes and where is she?!" Gandalf exclaimed. "What happened, Thorin?"
"She ran," Thorin said.
"Why!" Gandalf said in disbelief.
"I don't know!" Thorin yelled. There was a long pause as the dwarves sighed. Surely she must be dead they all thought to themselves, looking down. Bilbo looked utterly bewildered. "I don't know," he said again quietly.
A soft, feminine, almost squeaky voice called out from behind the trees.
"Here. I'm… I'm here!" Small hobbit feet stepped out from behind the pine trees. The dark, curly-haired hobbit began walking unsurely towards the dwarves. Her green eyes glinted in the setting sun. She was dressed in rags, barely covering her breasts and a small fur skirt wrapped around her lower half. The iron ring still wrapped tightly around her neck. Her hands were also bound in chains and clinked as she walked forward.
Balin shook himself out of his stupor and purposely stepped on a few others' feet to shake them out of their awe as well. He acted quickly and pulled a blanket from his bag and ran up to the young hobbit, wrapping the fabric around her shoulders to protect her modesty.
"My! There are hobbits simply popping out of nowhere today!" Balin jested, trying to ease the tension and fear. "Uhm, uh, yes, Gandalf, do you think you could possibly remove these irons?"
Even the wise wizard had to blink a few times and come to his senses. "Yes, excuse me," he walked to the young girl. Gandalf whispered a small spell to his staff and pressed it to the young girl's iron cuffs. They sizzled for a moment, and unbuckled, releasing the hobbit from her chains. The irons fell to the ground. The marks, however, red and scabbed, remained on her skin. The wizard looked into her eyes with pity.
"You're a hobbit then?" Bilbo spoke up.
"Yes." She replied softly.
Another silence followed. The group waited for her to say more.
"You're not from the Shire." Bilbo deducted.
"I come from the Gladden Fields," she said.
"Do you have a name?" Thorin asked rather coldly.
The young hobbit girl stared blankly forward for a moment, and opened her mouth as though she was about to speak, but closed her mouth and thought hard for another moment. Her eyebrows scrunched together.
"Well?" Thorin asked impatiently.
"Matilda!" She said suddenly. "Til… Tilly!"
The dwarves looked at each other in befuddlement.
"They called me Tilly," the hobbit said lowering her head in embarrassment.
"How did you come to be chained in such a lowly place?" Gandalf asked. He spoke slowly, his words dripping with concern.
"Who are you?" Thorin asked with even more impatience. He seemed annoyed.
Tilly kept her head bowed but looked up at Thorin, clutching the blanket around her shoulder.
"I am nobody. I'm. . . I'm nothing," she whispered.
Thorin looked away, not able to keep eye contact.
Tilly continued, "I'm but a daughter of a merchant. We were attacked on the road. He was killed. I was taken, and sold to the goblins."
"How long have they kept you in there?" Bilbo asked.
"I don't know," Tilly replied.
Thorin straightened his back, and lifted his chin. "Well. You're free now. Come on lads, let's go,"
"Thorin!" Gandalf and Balin both said in unison, protesting.
"What? Are we to sit about, having heart-to-hearts with strangers, or are we to finish this quest?" He replied indignantly. "We do not have the time nor room to accommodate a female on this journey."
Bilbo walked to Thorin and spoke softly so the young Halfling could not hear.
"We can't just leave her out here in the wild, the goblins will catch her, or she'll die of exposure," Bilbo stated matter-of-factly.
"She is not my concern," Thorin hissed. He looked back at Balin, who was still holding the young Halfling under his arm.
"Please, don't leave me here," Tilly looked at Thorin with pleading eyes.