"Italics" - Elvish, Sindarin

'Normal' -thoughts to one's self

'Italics' - thought speak (thought speak only applies with Galadriel)

Always assume Victoria is using her wand in the left hand since she wields a sword right handed.

Chapter 4

Victoria slept until noon in her cozy room at the Prancing Pony. Dressing and dispelling the locking charm on her door, she made her way down one level to the pub in search of lunch, or breakfast for her. Some beef stew and bread later, Victoria made her way to the stables and brushed down her horse. Magicking the saddle into place, she climbed up onto the horse and made her way out the back of the stable, traveling northeast next to a lake. She was amazed at the horse's ability to handle the muddy terrain. An hour later she came upon the forest Gandalf must have been referring to. Walking her horse a little ways into the woods, she dismounted and moved in search of a small clearing. She found a small section that was nothing but small, young trees. Victoria felt a little sad as she ripped the trees up with Leviosa and stacked them in the middle of the new clearing.

Victoria reached into her magical core, pulling both native and the ambient magic currently flowing through, and cast Hermione's Blue Flame Charm on the trees. As she watch the trees burn for a few seconds, she thought the ambient magic didn't necessarily make her magic stronger, just replaced some of the magic she had to use for the spell. That would keep her up and casting spells longer.

Magical blue flames burns slow and waterproof, so even if it wouldn't put out the flames, Victoria wanted to try Dumbledore's Water Globe spell over the flames. She thought burning flames inside swirling water would look cool. She conjured a barrel and filled it with water, backing up to see both the barrel of water and the flames. Concentrating, she pointed her wand at the barrel, causing the water to rise as she directed to toward the fire. She began swirling the tip of her wand around in horizontal circles, but was disappointed when the liquid clumped together in many different medium sized beads of water and began orbiting the fire. 'Beautiful,' Victoria thought, 'but not useful in battle."

Ending the spell and vanishing the barrel, the water dropped onto the fire with no effect. She needed to put out the fire and get on with different spells. Barely giving it much thought, Victoria pointed her wand at the fire thinking, 'Ventus.' She wasn't ready for Vilya to pulse with magic for a second and the Wind Charm to burst out of the tip of her wand with hurricane force winds. The fire was immediately smothered, and everything on the ground was blown deeper into the forest at speed. Victoria watched a small burnt piece of wood embed itself into the trunk of a bigger tree behind.

"You're not called the Ring of Air for nothing," she said to herself.

Turning around looking for some rocks, she transfigured one into a stone statue of roughly a person. Moving back as far as she could, Victoria jabbed the Elder Wand at the statue releasing a bolt of lightning. She felt Vilya pulse again and was forced to duck to the ground as the lightning impacted the stone, sending shattered rocks flying her way as the front of the statue exploded. 'Apparently the lightning carries concussive force as well as electricity now,' Victoria thought, picking herself up off the ground.

"Ok, the ring seems to make two spells stronger," she admitted to no one, "Now some control would be excellent."

Two weeks later found Victoria apparating to her clearing in the woods earlier than normal. Laying awake last night, she had an idea about protection from arrows. No single orc should be able to get close enough to kill her, in theory. But orcs had ranged weapons too, she recalled as she pasted a merchant in Bree selling bows and arrows. Victoria needed to know if a Shield Charm could block an arrow, and the only way to test it was to have an arrow fired at her. A small challenge, but she had a plan. Transfiguring a rock into a human shaped statue again, she paid particular attention to how the arms and especially the hands and fingers turned out. She conjured a bow with a quiver of blunt arrows on the ground at the statue's feet and moved to the other side of the clearing.

Trying to focus and use another spell she watched Dumbledore pull off, she flicked the Elder Wand at the statute shouting, "Animus." She was happy to see the statue come to life, picking up the bow and a single blunt arrow from the quiver. The statue brought the bow up and nocked an arrow and launched it at Victoria, as was her intent.

'Protego,' Victoria thought, a shimmering blue circular shield appearing in front of her. She watched with seeker's eyes as the arrow cut through the air toward her. She was readying to hopefully dodge the arrow when it struck her shield, falling harmlessly straight down. Victoria had little time to celebrate as the statue reached for another arrow.

'This is actually fun,' she thought to herself as she blocked arrow after arrow. 'Lets try something else.'

The next arrow that came at her, Victoria refrained from casting a shield, following it with her eyes, she swept her wand in the direction of the arrow saying, "Depulso." The Banishing Charm made the arrow spin around in the air and fly right at the statue, shattering on its forehead, Victoria's intended target.

Seeing the statue out of arrows and feeling accomplished, she cast another Shield Charm in front of herself and let loose a bolt of lightning at the statue, trying to keep it to just electricity. Victoria was proud to not feel the pulse of the ring and didn't have to hope her shield would hold against stone shapnel.

Her control of these new powers were increasing.

By April 23, Victoria had grown restless. She had spent the last day practicing Feather-light Charms,Reducio Charms, and trying to master the Undetectable Extension Charm to help pack more provisions for the journey. Just a little more work, as she thought about Hermione lecturing both herself and Ron about the extension charm, and she expected to have it usable. Victoria decided to leave early and take her time going through the Shire. The hobbits she had seen so far interested her, they looked like children that stopped growing but took on the features of an adult.

Nodding at the barkeep and laying a few more coins on the bar, she exited the Prancing Pony and made for the stables. Entering the stables, she approached a man sitting down to ask about what she owed, and when that was payed off, she walked to her black horse and magicked the saddle and bridle into place. Victoria mounted her horse and left the stable through the front, back into Bree. The streets were even more crowded than they were at night, with merchants selling their wares at side stalls and people moving to and fro for business.

Victoria slowly made her way to the East Gate and cast a Feather-light charm on herself, hoping to lessen her burden on the horse. She also cast a Sticking Charm on the saddle so she wouldn't fly off the horse. Bringing her horse to a gallop, she hoped to make it to Brandywine Bridge by nightfall. The close by Barrow-downs were giving off a sinister feeling. Arriving at the bridge as the sun was setting, Victoria turned her horse north, cantering a ways before setting up camp near the river.

Waking up the next day, Victoria fed and watered her horse and started west again. She reached Whitfurrows, the first small town west of the Brandywine River, at noon and stopped at a pub for lunch. She introduced herself as a wizard, thinking her attire gave her away and any lie would be quickly found out. The barkeep and the patrons that overheard merely gave her curious looks, not unkind. It probably helped she said she was a friend of Gandalf the Grey.

After her meal, she continued on about ten miles to Frogmorton. Passing through, she could smell the marshland to the north. By nightfall, Victoria reach a fork in the road, of which the northwest fork would take her to Hobbiton. She made another camp off the road and didn't even bother with the protection wards. The Shire, with its beautiful green hills and cozy homes built into some of those hills, just felt safe.

She awoke well past midday, having overslept. She quickly got ready, starting up the Bywater Road toward Hobbiton. Hobbiton was a bigger hobbit town than she had seen so far. It also had nicer building for the most part, she noticed a nice pub called the Green Dragon. Asking a nearby hobbit tending her garden for directions to Bag End, she turned her horse north to cross a small bridge and make her way to Bagshot Row. The sun was close to going down when she spotted a blue rune in the shape of a slanted letter F at the bottom of a green round door on the biggest hobbit hole in the Row. Dismounting and letting herself and her horse in through the small gate, she approached the door and knocked.

A hobbit answered the door in a patchwork night robe. "Ye-Yes? Can I help you?" he said, obviously nervous, tying his robed closed with its belt.

"Did Gandalf the Grey pass by here recently?"

"Ye-Yes he did, but.." Victoria walked passed the hobbit, bending down to fit inside.

"Good, he said for me to meet him here along with some others," Victoria stated, taking off her hat and putting it on a nearby coat rack.

"Now see here, I never agreed to.."

Victoria leaned down giving the puppy dog eyes she learned from Arwen when dealing with Elrond. "You don't mind if I wait here for the others do you?"

"Well, no I suppose not, but I was just about to start cooking dinner."

"Oh, good. I'll join you," she said moving toward what looked like a mini-kitchen.

"But I only bought one fish from the market today, I wasn't expecting visitors."

"Then how would you like to see some magic?"

Bilbo watched in amazement at food flying slowly from his panty to be duplicated many times before flying back into its appropriate spot in the panty, fifty duplicated fish flying into an enlarged pan, cooking themselves, and then flying onto an enlarged platter. Kept warm by a "Warming Charm" the wizard said. Potato wedges baking in the oven of their own accord.

The doorbell suddenly rang and Bilbo pulled himself from his awe to answer the door. Outside stood a dwarf with almost a completely balded head and a brown beard.

"Dwalin, at your service," the dwarf said with a hard look on his face, but with a bow.

"Uh. Hm. Bilbo Baggins, at yours." The dwarf stepped past Bilbo, entering the front hall. " Do we know each other?"

"No," Dwalin said making his further inside to take off his cloak.

"Which way laddy? Is it down here?"

"Is what down where?" Bilbo asked.

"Supper," the dwarf said, throwing his cloak into Bilbo's arms. "He said there'd be food, and lots of it."

"There is lots of food, but who said? Gandalf?"

Dwalin didn't answer, moving down the hall toward the dining room.

"Is this one of the people you are suppose to meet, Victoria?" Bilbo shouted down the hall to the wizard who had left the kitchen to see who arrived.

Victoria looked at the dwarf who stopped to do the same to her. "I am Victoria the Black Wizard. Are you in the company of Thorin Oakenshield?"

"Yes. I am Dwalin, at your service." Here the dwarf bowed again. Victoria returned the bow and said, "Here have a seat and I'll bring you some food."

Dwalin sat down at the small table in the dining room and had just bit the head off the first of four fish Victoria had served him.

"Here try some of the biscuits," Victoria said, almost done with her food, setting next to Bilbo on the other side of the table.

Dwalin was three fish down, and Victoria and Bilbo were done when the doorbell rang again.

Biblo looked at up, slightly startled, when Dwalin said, "That'll be the door."

Victoria followed Bilbo to the door and watched as he opened it, revealing a dwarf with white hair.

"Balin, at your service," the dwarf said, holding his arms straight out and bowing.

"Good Evening," Bilbo replied evenly, still unsure what was going on, expect that Gandalf seem to think he could use Bag End as he pleased.

"Yes, yes it is. Though I think it may rain later," said Balin, walking into the front hall to stand in front of Bilbo. "Am I late?"

"No, no of course not. You seem right on time for whatever this is."

Victoria put a comforting hand on Bilbo's shoulder and watched the two dwarves, who upon seeing each other, felt that a headbutt was a proper greeting for brothers.

"My dear dwarves, there is food and drink in the kitchens, both ale and wine, please help yourself," Victoria said, stepping close to Bilbo again after he closed the front door. "I think I saved you from the dwarves cleaning out your panty."

"Yes, that will probably be true before the night is over. I may be quick to say this, but this night may be worth it in the end, just to have seen your magic." Bilbo looked down the hall to the kitchen, where the dwarves were grumbling over the ale or some such triviality.

When the doorbell rang again, Bilbo muttered to himself, "I think I did speak to soon."

Opening the door reveal two young dwarves, one blonde, one black haired. "Fili," said the blonde, "and Kili," said the other, "at your service," they said together, bowing in unison. "You must be Mr. Boggins," Kili said with a smile.

Bilbo gave off a high pitched, nervous laugh, "That's Baggins. And yes, by all means, come in."

As they walked in, Fili began to disarm, throwing his weapons into Bilbo's arms. "Be careful with these. I just had them sharpened."

Kili moved around admiring Bag End, "It's nice. This place." His brother muttered, "Yeah."

"Did you do it yourself?" Kili asked, scraping the bottom of his boots off on a nearby wooden box. "What? No, it's been in the family for years." Seeing what Kili was doing said in a higher voice, "That's my mother's glory box. Can you please not do that?"

Dwalin walked in saying, "Fili, Kili. Come on, give us a hand."

"Shove this into the hallway. Otherwise we'll never get everybody in," Victoria could hear Balin say down the hall.

"Everyone? How many more are there?" Bilbo asked to no reply as the bell rang again.

Victoria, still in the front hall, decided to save Bilbo the trouble and see who was at the door. Opening the door as she heard Bilbo say, "There are far too many dwarves in my dining room as it is," Victoria had to take a step back, as eight more dwarves felt face first over the threshold. Bilbo moved to stand beside Victoria as they both noticed the Grey Wizard crouch down to peer inside with a smile on his face.

"Gandalf," Victoria and Bilbo said together.

Supper turned into a rowdy affair, its grand finale was the throwing of the expensive plates and a song which irritated Bilbo to no end. Until he saw all the plates and bowls stacked neatly and cleaned in the kitchen. The dwarves were having a good laugh when a pounding came at the door.

"He is here," said Gandalf ominously.

Victoria opened the door to reveal Thorin Oakenshield. "Victoria," he said with a small smile and nod, "Gandalf, I thought you said this place would be easy to find. I lost my way, twice. I would not have found it all had it not been for that mark on the door," Thorin said, moving inside and unclasping his traveling cloak.

"Mark? There's no mark on the door. It was painted a week ago." Bilbo moved into the front hall, clearly approaching his breaking point.

"There is a mark. I put it there myself," Gandalf said as Victoria closed the door. "Bilbo Baggins, allow me to introduce the leader of our company, Thorin Oakenshield."

Both Bilbo and Thorin moved toward the other. "So, this is the hobbit. Tell me Mr. Baggins have you done much fighting."

"Pardon me?"

"Ax or sword?" Thorin asked, circling Bilbo.

"Well, I do have some skill at conkers, if you mush know but I fail to see why that's relevant."

"Thought as much. He looks more like a grocer than a burglar." At this, everyone but the two wizards laughed and they all started moving back into the dining hall.

"What news from the meeting in Ered Luin? Did they all come?" asked Balin as they all sat around the dining table, all save Bilbo.

"Aye, envoys from all seven kingdoms," replied Thorin to cheers from the dwarves.

Dwalin asked, "And what did the Dwarves of the Iron Hill say? Is Dain with us?" His voice turning serious at the end.

"They will not come. They say this quest is our, and ours alone," Thorin said as the dwarves grumbled.

"Your going on a quest?" Bilbo asked, showing up over Gandalf's shoulder. "Bilbo, my dear fellow, lets us have a little more light."

"Far to the east, over ranges and rivers, beyond woodlands and wastelands, lies a single, solitary peak."

"The Lonely Mountain," Bilbo read, bring another candle with him.

"Ravens have been seen flying back to the mountain, as was foretold," Oin said, "When the birds of yore return to Erebor the reign of the beast will end."

"Uh, what beast?" asked Bilbo.

Bofur answered, "That would be a reference to Smaug the Terrible, chiefest and greatest calamity of our time. Airborne fire-breather, teeth like razors, claws like meat hooks. Extremely fond of precious metals."

"Yes, I know what a dragon is."

Ori stood up exclaiming, "I'm not afraid. I'm up for it. I'll give him a taste of Dwarfish iron right up is jacksie!"

"Sit down," Dori said, pulling Ori back into his seat.

"The task would be difficult enough with an army behind us, but we number just thirteen. And not thirteen of the best, nor brightest," said Balin.

The dwarves grumble among themselves again before Fili said, "We may be few in numbers, but we're fighter. All of us, to the last dwarf," pounding his hand on the table.

Kili spoke up next, hopeful. "And you forgot we have two Wizards in our company. I've bet they've have killed hundreds of dragons between them."

"Oh, well, no. I wouldn't say.."

"I've encountered dragons twice. And both times I escaped with my life. So, I'm gonna call that two wins," Victoria said, speaking up for the first time. She had been listening, wanting to learn all she could about their quest.

"What are dragons like as far as intelligence? Where I'm from, dragon are little more than smart animals."

"Smaug will likely have a sinister and cunning intellect," Gandalf answered.

"Dragons, where I'm from are magical beast. Magic flows through their blood. I just hope Smaug isn't as magic resistance as the dragons I know of."

"You mean to kill the beast, Wizard?" asked Dwalin.

"If the dragon is awake, I see no alternative to a fight. Let us hope he is asleep so we can merely retrieve the Arkenstone. Then we can return with seven armies at our backs," Victoria replied smiling.

"On the sneaking in unnoticed part of the plan, I have something to show you," Victoria said, pulling out her invisibility cloak and standing up as far as she could. "This is my invisibility cloak, when worn completely it can make you totally invisible." She threw the cloak over shoulders, leaving her head visible to demonstrate.

"That is a fine tool, Victoria. How did you come by it?" asked Gandalf.

"I inherited it from my father. It's the only thing I have of his."

Thorin rose from his seat and gravely said, "If we have read these signs do you not think others will have read them too? Rumors have begun to spread. The dragon, Smaug, has not been seen for sixty years. Eyes look east to the mountain, assessing, wondering, weighing the risk. Perhaps the vast wealth of our people now lies unprotected. Do we sit back while others claim what is rightfully ours? Or do we seize this chance to take back Erebor!" his voice rising at the end.

The dwarves began to cheer before Balin said, "You forget, the Front Gate is sealed. There is no way into the mountain."

"I could probably blast my way in, but that would definitely wake the dragon," Victoria supplied unhelpfully.

"My dear Balin, what you said is not entirely true," Gandalf said, producing a key from up his sleeve, twirling it in his fingers.

"How came you by this?" Thorin asked breathlessly. "It was given to me by your father, by Thrain. For safekeeping. It is yours, now."

"If there is a key, there must be a door," asked Fili.

Gandalf, using his pipe, pointed to the map. "These runes speak of a hidden passage to the Lower Halls."

"There's another way in," Kili said, putting his arm around Fili.

"Well, if we can find it but Dwarf doors are invisible when closed." Gandalf sighed. "The answer lies hidden somewhere in this map and I do not have the skill to find it. But there are others in Middle Earth who can. The task I have in mind will require a great deal of stealth and no small amount of courage. But if we are careful and clever, I believe that it can be done."

"That's why we need a burglar," Oin said, like he had come to some great conclusion.

"Hmm. And a good one too. An expert, I'd imagine," Bilbo said looking down at the map.

"And are you?" Gloin asked.

Bilbo was confused at the question coming his way, "Am I what?"

"He said he's an expert!" Oin stated happily.

"Me? No, no, no. I'm not a burglar. I've never stolen anything in my life."

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Mr. Baggins, he's hardly burglar material," Balin stated. "Nope," Bilbo supplied helpfully.

"Aye, the wild is no place for gentle folk who can neither fight nor fend for themselves." Bilbo nodded in agreement with Dwalin's words. The dwarves started chattering angrily among themselves again.

"Enough! If I say Bilbo Baggins is a burglar, then a burglar he is." As Gandalf stood, shadows seemed to creep out of nowhere, and his voice grew distorted toward the end.

"Hobbits are remarkably light on their feet. In fact, they can pass unseen by most, if they choose. And while the dragon is accustomed to the smell of Dwarf, the scent of a Hobbit is all but unknown to him, which gives us a distinct advantage." Here Gandalf bent down to address Thorin directly. "You asked me to find the fourteenth member of this company and I have chosen Mr. Baggins. There's a lot more to him than appearance suggest. And he's got a great deal more to offer than any of you know. Including himself. You must trust me on this."

"Very well," Thorin said. "We'll do it your way. Give him the contract."

"It's just the usual. Summary of out of pocket expenses, time required, remunerations, funeral arrangements, and so forth." Balin handed the contract to Bilbo, who asked, "Funeral arrangement?"

Victoria watched Bilbo move into the hall to read the contract while Gandalf and Thorin shared a whispered conversation.

Bilbo apparently didn't like what the contract implied might happen to him. And the dwarves only encouraged his panic until he fainted and fell to the floor in the hall.

"Huh," Victoria said, moving to Enervate him.

Two hours after the company set off from Bag End the next day, Victoria sat on her black horse, thinking back on the night before. After Bilbo fainted, he and Gandalf talked for a while. She went about cleaning and repairing Bag End. When the dwarves started singing a slow, mournful song, she was working on her pack, casting an Undetectable Extension Charm on one of the side pouches. She then began duplicating more of the food and drink from Bilbo's pantry and storing it in the pouch under Preservation Charms. She was trying to tune out the dwarves complaining that coming to Bag End was a waste of time when she heard a voice call out behind them.

"Wait!" Victoria turned her horse to see Bilbo running toward them. "I signed it," he said, holding the contract in the air. He then walked over to Balin and handed it to him.

"Everything appears to be in order," Balin stated so all could hear after examining the contract, "Welcome, Master Baggins, to the Company of Thorin Oakenshield.

"Give him a pony," Thorin called out before turning his horse back to the east.

"No, no. That won't be necessary. I'm sure I can keep up on foot. I've done my fair share of walking holidays, you know? Even got as far as Frogmorton once." Bilbo just finished as Fili and Kili lifted him up as a pony was ushered underneath him.

Victoria watched with amusement as the dwarves settled their bets on Bilbo's change of heart, and gave a laugh when Gandalf won a bag of coins leaning over to say something to Bilbo.

For six days they rode at a slow pace, Victoria conjuring Bilbo a black cotton handkerchief, the company listened to Balin's tale of the Battle of Moria and Azog the Defiler at camp one night, and Gandalf talked of the other Wizards while the company rode through a light shower. Victoria thought of casting Impervious Charms on everyone, but she didn't want to show up Gandalf after he said he couldn't do anything.

On the sixth day, they approached a broken down farm house on the edge of the Trollshaws as the sun was setting. Thorin shouted they would camp here and for some of the dwarves to get a fire going, but Gandalf moved to converse with Thorin in private. The only thing Victoria heard was Gandalf suggesting it would be wise to move on and make for Rivendell.

Gandalf stormed away from Thorin and said he was, "going to seek the company of the only one around here, besides Victoria, who's got any sense." As Gandalf prepared to ride off, Bilbo asked who, to which Gandalf said, "myself, Mr. Baggins. I've had enough of dwarves for one day."

In the late hours before dawn, the food was finally served out. Victoria sat quietly eating, watching the company. She felt more responsible for them with Gandalf away. She heard Bofur ask Bilbo to take two bowls of food to the dwarves on look out. Fili and Kili, if she wasn't mistaken. Victoria put it out of her mind until she finished her bowl of stew and Bilbo hadn't returned.

Pulling her wand out, Victoria cast a Silencing Charm on her feet and started toward where the dwarves were suppose to keep sentry. She pasted the ponies and her horse on her way to investigate some over turned trees, thinking there seems to be less ponies than before. Only something very big and very strong could have uprooted those trees. As Victoria was looking over the trees, she saw the light of a fire in the distance. 'What's big and strong and lives in a place called Trollshaws?' she thought sarcastically, drawing out Arwen's sword.

Victoria started creeping toward the light, and after a few seconds she heard a rustling to her left. Looking over, she saw Fili and Kili running back to camp, presumably to warn the rest of the trolls.

Reaching the clearing that was the source of the light, she saw a curious sight. Three trolls standing behind a cauldron burning over a fire, the middle troll holding Bilbo in his hand while all three gazed at him in wonder. Victoria noted that these trolls stood as tall as the trolls she remembered from home, but these three were way more muscular. Also, Bilbo seemed to be covered in troll boogies. Every time with the trolls and the snot.

"Blimey! Bert, Bert. Look what's come out of me hooter."

Victoria almost laughed at that before she cast her wand like a fisherman before snatching it back. Bilbo flew out of the troll's hand and toward Victoria. Seeing Bilbo was headed over her left shoulder, she cast a Cushioning Charm on him to break his landing. Turning back, Victoria saw the trolls were confused that the hobbit in their grasp suddenly flew out of it.

Remembering her first troll experience, Victoria swished and flicked the Elder Wand at the cauldron and said, "Leviosa." The cauldron rose in the air slightly above the heads of the trolls, and turning her wrist and then bringing her wand down, Victoria brought the cauldron down on the middle troll, covering his head with the cauldron and spilling the boiling contents all over him. The troll screamed in pain, which was distorted by the cauldron, and then screamed louder when he reached up to lift the cauldron off to find it flaming hot from being over the fire.

The troll to the left of the group regained his senses faster than the other one and charged at the Wizard. With a jab of the Elder Wand, lightning lanced across the clearing, impacting on the troll's chest. He seemed stunned from the blast but nothing more. 'Trolls must have thick enough hide to have some electrical resistance,' Victoria thought wearily.

'Sectumsempra', she thought, slashing her wand diagonally at the troll. A large cut sliced across the troll from shoulder to half way down his stomach, but it only seemed to bring him out of his stunned state, as he gave a bellow of rage at Victoria. When the troll opened its mouth to roar at her, she saw an opportunity.

Aiming carefully she shouted, "Expulso." A jet of blue light burst from her wand, going right down the troll's throat. The troll almost seemed to swallow the curse before his head exploded into a hundred little chunks that flew everywhere. He dropped dead to the ground with enough force to send out small tremors.

Victoria lost her balance for a second, looking around to see the troll wearing a cauldron for a hat was still dealing with that. To her right she heard a grunt and turned to see the other troll had snuck up on her and was about to step on her. Holding Arwen's sword up, hoping to inflict some damage when the troll squashed her, Victoria was surprised to see Kili fly out of the bushes and with a over head swipe of his sword, he sliced into the bottom of the troll's foot as it was coming down.

"You will not harm her, troll." Kili looked at the troll with disgust. The troll jumped around on his uninjured foot as Thorin came out of the brush behind him, swinging his sword, hamstringing the troll's good leg. The troll dropped to his knees, hunched over, howling in pain. Dwalin walked up slowly, bringing his war hammer up high over his head, before bringing it straight down on the top of the troll's head with all his might. Dwalin's hammer sank three inches into the troll's skull before it fell over dead, the dwarf managing to rip his hammer back out before the troll hit the floor.

"How shall we deal with the last, Master Wizard?" shouted Thorin as all the dwarves came out of the woods.

Before Victoria could speak, a blooming voice said, "The dawn will take him!"

The company looked up to see Gandalf crack a boulder in two, revealing the sun behind it. The troll, just managing to remove the cauldron from his head, looked horrific with burns covering his head and neck. He screamed in pain or rage, Victoria did not know, as the rays of the sun hit his back and his body turned to stone before the eye's of the company.

"And where did you go to, if I may ask? If not for Victoria, I do not think we could have taken three trolls. She killed one herself and incapacitated the one you defeated with sunlight." Thorin, Gandalf, and Victoria were standing next to the stone troll as the other packed up camp.

"I went to look ahead," Gandalf said cryptically.

"What brought you back?"

"Looking behind."

All three smiled at that. "Nasty business," said Gandalf, "Still, they're all in one piece." Gandalf started staring at the troll statue. "They must have come down for the Ettenmoors."

"Since when do mountain trolls venture this far south?"asked Thorin. "Oh. Not for an age, not since a darker power ruled these lands." replied Gandalf.

"Oh, come on. This place is called Trollshaws. You are surprised we ran into trolls?" Victoria said looking at them both.

When neither offered an answer she asked, "Since they turn to stone in sunlight, doesn't that mean they have a cave nearby? Really nearby, if they were cooking so close to dawn."

"A troll horde, perhaps," Thorin said, looking around.

Victoria was the first to find the cave, calling out to the others before entering. The smell hit her immediately as she passed the dead bodies, probably some belonging to the farmer's family. She drew her wand and began casting Scouring Charms on the air. Taking her right hand away from her nose, she found the air mildly improved. Looking around she saw a lot of junk and bones lying everywhere. Moving farther in, Victoria began to see chest of treasure intermixed in the junk and a pile of gold coins just laying on the ground.

Scanning the rest of the cave, Victoria's eyes alighted on a pair of swords in a rack of a lot of swords. These two swords seemed to shine despite the dust and cobwebs that covered them. She cast two more Scouring Charms on the swords as she approached them. As she pocketed her wand and reached for both swords, she heard the dwarves start to enter the cave.

The sword in her right hand was the longer of the two and seemed to be double-edged and had a blue grip. It was simple and elegant in Victoria's opinion. The other sword was probably single-edged when unsheathed and had a handle of bone.

Hearing someone coming up behind her, Victoria turned to find Gandalf, holding a long dagger that was as shiny as the two swords she held.

"Here," she said, handing him the bone-handled sword, "I think this is more your size."

"I had intended to give this to Bilbo, if you must know. Seems the right size for a hobbit," Gandalf said, taking the sword from her.

Finally having her left hand free, Victoria grabbed the scabbard with her left hand and pulled the sword out with her right. The blade was long and slightly leaf shaped and so polished the sword seemed to give off a pale white light as the meager sunlight entering the cave struck the blade.

Laying the scabbard down, she stored Arwen's sword in the expanded pouch on her pack. Victoria drew her wand and tapped the grip, the sheath, and the belt once with her wand, changing the color to black.

"I think I'm going to claim this sword if no one minds, something about it just feels right," Victoria said, replacing the belt she was wearing with the sword belt.

Holding up her new sword, watching it catch more light, she asked, "What do you make of these, Gandalf?"

"I believe these swords, and this dagger, where forged in Gondolin by the High Elves of the First Age. How they came to be in a troll hoard is a mystery to me. They must have passed many leagues and through many vile hands to reach these trolls. Lord Elrond will be able to tell us more when we reach Rivendell."

"Are we going to Rivendell?" Victoria asked softly, looking around at Thorin, "Thorin seems dead set on no encounters with elves."

"Thorin's distrust of elves runs deep," stated Gandalf, leaning closer, "but circumstances may force us to Rivendell. Or maybe you could try reasoning with him, goodness knows I've gotten no where with him. He seems to respect you more after your fight with the trolls than he first did."

"I shall try, but make no promises."

As Victoria exited the cave she saw a couple dwarves burying a chest full of gold coins. She thought to shrink it so the dwarves could carry it with them but thought better of it. No guarantee the chest wouldn't be lost along the way given the dangers they would face, better bury it here and leave it where its save.

Victoria walked out of the cave, looking right to see Gandalf handing Bilbo the elvish dagger. Peace and quiet reigned for a few minutes before Thorin yelled, "Something's coming!"

Drawing her new sword and wand, she heard Gandalf say, "Stay together! Hurry now. Arm yourselves."

The company formed a semi-circle, ready to defend whatever was making all that noise heading their way.

"Thieves! Fire! Murder!" Victoria heard the voice of a old man yell before a sled pulled by very large rabbits came to an abrupt stop in front of them.

"Radagast," Gandalf said with a relieved sigh. "It's Radagast the Brown," he said louder, so all could hear. "Well, what on earth are you doing here?"

'If Gandalf looks like Merlin, then Radagast looks like he belongs in St. Mungo's with Lockhart,' Victoria thought, looking at the brown wizard with bird crap on his face. Gandalf had moved away from the company to speak with Radagast in private. Normally, she would butt in, claiming that wizard business concerned her too, but she needed to speak with Thorin about Rivendell.

Seeing he sat alone while they waited on Gandalf, she sat down next to him. "You know, they're probably two people in the world who can unlock the secret of that map. And they're elves." Thorin sneered and looked like he was about to start degrading elves when Victoria stopped him by speaking first.

She looked into Thorin's eyes and with her own hoped to convey her love of Rivendell and her friend Arwen. "When I first arrived here in Middle Earth, it was the Lady Galadriel of the Golden Wood who guided me to safety. It was Lord Elrond of Rivendell who took me in and his daughter, Lady Arwen, who taught me swordplay. And none of those elves are the elves of the Green Wood who would not come to your aid."

Reaching over, Victoria put her right hand on his shoulder. "Please reconsider going to Rivendell, if only to answer the secrets of the map. The entire company will be treated well there. I promise." She looked over to Gandalf to see him letting Radagast take a drag on his pipe. Judging from Radagast's reaction to the smoke, she began to wonder if something else other than tobacco was in that pipe. She would have to ask him later.

Turning back to Thorin she said, "I've heard word of something ancient and dark moving in the shadows once again. A time may come when all free races will need to put aside their grudges and come together against an evil more dangerous than a dragon."

Before Thorin could say anything, a loud growl was heard. She heard Bilbo ask if it was a wolf, but she didn't hear the answer as she saw a warg creep over a ridge in the trees between two boulders and leap at one of the dwarves.

"Confringo," yelled Victoria, pointing her wand at the face of the warg while it was in mid-air. Orange light erupted from the tip of her wand, catching the warg in the shoulder as it moved through the air. An explosion of fire blew away the right front leg of the warg, sending him flying five feet through air away from the dwarves and hitting the ground.

Victoria turned to see Kili put an arrow in a second warg and Thorin finish it off with his sword.

"Warg scouts," Thorin said, pulling his sword out of the beast's neck. "Which means an orc pack is not far behind."

"Who did you tell about your quest beyond your kin?" Gandalf asked forcefully.

"No one."

"Who did you tell?" Gandalf asked again.

"No one, I swear. What in Durin's name is going on?" Thorin asked, breathless.

"You are being hunted."

"We have to get out of here," Dwalin said.

"We can't, we have no ponies, only Victoria's horse stayed," Ori stated fearfully, cresting over a hill in the wood.

"I'll draw them off," Radagast stated with confidence.

"These are Gundabad Wargs. They will out run you," Gandalf said, his tone harsh given the situation.

"These are Rhosgobel Rabbits. I'd like to see them try." Victoria had to admit, the sled moved pretty fast when she saw it moving earlier.

"And while Radagast leads them away, which path will we take Thorin? Will we go to Rivendell?" she asked, turning the the leader of their company.

"Their is a secret path not far from here. All we have to do it make it there in one piece. It's our best chance out of these circumstance, Thorin," Gandalf said, gazing down with a hopeful look his face.

Thorin's gazed at Victoria for many long seconds before saying, "So be it then. Lead on, Gandalf. Guide us to this secret path."

Victoria smiled warmly at Thorin. He wasn't always as stubborn as Gandalf suggested.

A/N: I gave Glamdring to Victoria mostly because I like the way Glamdring looks in the movies and I wanted my MC to have it. Gandalf still gets Orcrist. Always thought it stupid they buried a badass sword with Thorin. The line about what's in Gandalf's pipe is just a joke, nothing will come of it. One reviewer suggested not using dialogue from the movie. I'm not going to novelize the whole movie but I like the conversations and the way they talk in general. But if you don't like that don't worry, things will be different because Victoria is there, mostly the battles, and everything changes at Mirkwood.

A/N2: I am so sorry the whole chapter was bolded. I bold the whole chapter to make it easier on the eyes to proof read and forgot to change it back before posting.