So, trolls and the beginnings of the wild wood I have decided that I'm not going to worry about the length, what must be said, will be said. Keep me informed, your critique and encouragement are totes floating my barrel (See what I did there? It was terrible.)

Of Mountains and Woodlands: Chapter 3

"I told Thorin of the detour you wanted to take,"

"Oh?"

"Needless to say he wasn't happy about it…and to be honest, Gandalf neither am I," Maya shifted astride her pony to look up at him, mild worry glinting in her eyes. She could feel it starting to burn in her heart. It had started when Gandalf had informed her of his intentions. A shadow was growing in the East, something had been moving under the watchful eyes of Middle-Earth's guardians and he wanted to know what.

"I do not understand why you fear them, they are your kin!" he sounded exasperated, completely thrown by her lack of faith.

"They are not my kin, not anymore. My 'uncle'," the word was bitter on Maya's tongue, "My uncle over threw my father and banished me from the realm when he learnt that I had chosen to help with this quest and that my Father approved of it by telling me that it was the right thing,"

"Do you doubt it?" Gandalf looked back at her over the tip of his nose, challenging her.

"No," Maya backed down slightly, her temper rising above average had caught her off guard and she quickly resumed her composure, "No, Gandalf, I believe it right with all my heart. But to go back…he will have me strung from the tallest tree and believe me I have tried so many times but I escaped from their grasp many times as well. Now, I have but 3 friends left that I know of, the others, my Uncle has hanged in my stead. I will have no more. The Nymph's you seek are not the Nymphs we once were. Ever since the reign of my uncle, they are as cold as stone and their ruler colder still. It was the day you came to us that I was banished,"

She sighed heavily,

"I don't even know what has become of my father,"

Gandalf pondered for only a moment and Maya gave way to the thought that maybe he was rethinking his decision but alas, Gandalf was not so easily swayed.

"I am sorry, Maya but I need to know if he's alive and if he knows about what is happening in the East. If you know of anyone that could have a surer idea than your father of what it might be; then lead on,"

Maya said nothing so Gandalf softened.

"I think it will do you good to know and I need you, Maya. I would not ask you to do this if I had another choice,"

She breathed in and nodded. Saying no more she moved onwards, leaving the conversation behind her, the knowledge that they would be there within the next two days, safely tucked away at the back of her mind.

The company had left early that morning and had endured wind and rain and Maya saw it coming before it arrived. Her skin had tingled with anticipation and her blood thinned for the cold and at last the little storm had hit and she danced in the rain, climbing down from her pony, she had taken off her boots, waded into the nearest stream and stood there. Swaying with the trees as the little droplets of water caressed her face. It had been too long. But that had passed and the company halted at a little broken stone house. Maya didn't feel right there and neither did Gandalf as it happened for he and Thorin spoke in slowly rising tones just a little way from the rest of the dwarves, Maya and Bilbo. When Gandalf had left in a humph, Bilbo turned anxiously to Bofur,

"Will he come back?"

"He's a wizard! He does what he pleases," Bofur smiled his cheeky smile and carried on with his stirring of the pot. Bilbo glanced at Maya for reassurance but Maya wasn't so sure herself and took a deep breath in and raised her eyebrows at a loss.

A few hours later, the food was ready and it was getting dark. Bofur had assigned Bilbo to take two bowls of food to Fili and Kili by the ponies but he seemed hesitant so Maya opted to go. She was tired of waiting for nothing and worry played her like a piano. She strolled through the trees into the next clearing where Fili and Kili surveyed the area looking confused,

"Here, I come bearing gifts,"

No answer,

"Food, I have food,"

No answer.

"What are you staring at? What seems to be the problem?" she came up beside Kili.

"Well, once we had 16 ponies and now we only have 14,"

"You lost the ponies," she turned her gaze to Kili and then to Fili, "You were watching them the whole time, how did you lose them?"

But they were distracted, looking around the broken tree branches and fallen trunks.

"What's that?!" Fili pointed through a little clearing between two bushes. All three snuck up to it and peeped through. Three monstrous trolls sat brewing their stew around a fire with the lost ponies tied to what was left of a paddock. Maya's eyes widened,

"That's the size of a troll?" she was struck dumb by such a sight. Kili turned and grinned,

"Never seen a troll before, have you?"

Her awe turned to amazement and then to sheer disbelief,

"No, obviously I have not, but you have," she turned to Kili, pointing at a forty-five degree angle up at the trolls, "But tell me, how did you not see that? That is a mountain that walked across your path!"

Fili and Kili went silent and she chuckled at them, releasing the tension, earning two large grins in return. It really was quite something. She gingerly gave them their food,

"Go get help, if you will. I don't see this ending the way imagine it too,"

"What are you going to do?" Fili asked the back of her head as she snuck off. She turned briefly,

"I'm going to get the ponies back," she grinned and slipped around the clearing and was gone from view.

Thorin sat by the fire, twisting the point of his sword into the ground from the hilt. He hadn't eaten much of his stew and so being unable to finish it, he had handed it onto to Bombur. He gazed over all the faces by the fire counting, making sure he knew where the missing faces were. Gandalf wasn't there. He smirked. Fili and Kili were watching the horses. The hobbit was there…

Why was the hobbit there? Where was Maya? Why was Maya not there? He began to rise, opening his mouth to give voice to his questions but he was interrupted as Fili and Kili burst through the undergrowth, breathless and holding their bowls limply. Thorin frowned at them but he was not yet angry,

"What is it, what's wrong?" he stood defensively, ready.

"The ponies, 2 of them are gone," Kili said breathlessly.

Thorin took a step forward, his heart beginning to beat faster,

"Where is Maya?"

The others had risen too.

"Aye, she's gone to try and get them back. She sent us to get help. Uncle!"

Thorin had already wasted too much time. He raced back through the branches and trees and vines from which Kili and Fili had come, coming to a stop at the same little clearing and watched the scene play out, assessing, planning and plotting.

Maya had been caught and she had expected no less. They had hung her upside down from an overhead tree branch so that she looked them all in the eye.

"I like this plane, Burt," One troll grinned at the one stirring the stew, "We've never 'ad Nymph before,"

"Yes, well, isn't Burt just filled with spectacular ideas? I actually think we'd do better as a salad dressing," Maya was trying to keep random small talk going as she wriggled and twisted her ankle. She could feel the rope was not tight and she could also see how they had linked up the ponies at the paddock to said rope. She wasn't clear as to why they thought that smart but they were halfwits and it worked to her advantage if she could just get her foot free, "That's my opinion, anyway,"

"Who cares about your opinion? Stupid Nymph thing, we don't eat salad,"

"So I gathered," just a little more…the plan was to swing free, land around the whereabouts of the paddock so that the ponies would bolt and so being swung in the right direction she'd bolt after them and all of them would disappear and she would gather the ponies when they were safe. It didn't work at all.

"Oi!" The troll named Burt saw her wriggling her ankle, "Wha' you doin'?"

Maya tried to start her swing but the rope snapped and she fell from above, landing on her shoulder and rolling onto her back. All had failed with the exception of the ponies which had bolted. Maya leapt to her feet turning to face the action, pausing, crouching, and thinking she was completely stuffed. It was then that Thorin rushed out sword in hand, yelling in his loudest battle voice. He cut, he stabbed, he sliced, he jabbed and it all but hindered the Trolls' strength. The whole company had come for her in full force, each one taking on a troll without fear. Maya had no weapon and no means to fight, so she removed herself from the battle and clambered onto a rock to look down on the commotion, as her mind raced.

What now? Where to? How to? How long until dawn? She looked up at the sky, it was beginning to brighten but a little, the only problem was that she looked down from the rock that would slow the light of day and if all went any more wrong, dawn would not come quick enough. It didn't go more wrong it went to the depths of worse and back. They had Bilbo between two of the trolls, threatening to tear him apart. Thorin paused, striking a match of fear in the hearts of Bilbo and Maya alike as he resisted the need to put down his sword but he did and before she knew it, all of them were in sacks. Besides the elite few who found themselves on the spit. Now was the time to think of a plan but no plan had come to mind. That was until she saw the crack below her feet. She began to wonder; eyeing the vine that hung from the tree to her right, then to the tree on her left and then to the pile of dwarfish-iron swords in a pile near the paddock. She glanced at the struggling sacked dwarves and made her decision. She slipped down from her rock and crept to where the pile of weapons lay forgotten. An axe was on the top of the pile and was suited just fine for her purpose. She was surprised, for since when, in such situations of dire need, did that ever happen? She discreetly lifted it from the pile, her face turning red from exertion. Dwarfish-iron was said to be indestructible and furthermore made it heavy, so now was the time to test that theory, but how the dwarves carried them around was a mystery to her.

She climbed back onto the rock, the axe being dragged behind her, and found her crack once more. She shoved the head of the axe hard into the opening, putting all the weight she had onto it to push it down. She thought she heard a cracking sound coming from below her feet but she wasn't sure. The axe was holding though, and that was what mattered. She scurried across to fetch the vine and scurried back across to the opposite side to climb the tree and prepare to take flight. She balanced herself on a thick branch and took a last glance at the sacked company and saw that Bilbo was on his last ounce of an idea to keep them alive until dawn,

"And what do you propose we do? Let 'em go?"

"Well…"

But the big, ugly troll shoved his big, grubby finger into Bilbo's chest and growled,

"Don't think I don' know wha' you're doin'! You think you so smar'! I think we should ea' you firs'"

And at that Maya jumped. The vine caught and she began to swing. She lifted her feet to brace herself for impact as the axe approached, faster and faster until she began to scream and drew everyone's attention.

"Who's tha'?

"Look' like the Nymph thing,"

"I though' we ate it"

Maya hit home hard making the axe shudder violently. Maya lost her grip of the vine and slid off the edge of the rock leaving it to heave and crack on its own in the most dramatic way. It was a monumentally chaotic crumble as bits of rock and stone were spat out from all sides. Cracks snaking their way all over its face emanating strange groans as the rock face began to split. It met its end swiftly after that as the rock merely collapsed and light flooded over the clearing onto the dwarves in sacks and on spits and of course onto the blinded trolls as they wailed and contorted in agony as the burning sun turned them limb by limb into stone until they were nothing but gargoyles in the forest.

Everyone looked on in stunned amazement at the scene that had so suddenly finished as it began. Bursts of cheers rang rather suddenly through the morning air at the magnificent stroke of luck that slowly made sense to them. Thorin found himself smiling widely at Maya as she appeared limping though the rubble. Her left pant leg had been ripped and she had a nasty graze on her knee that oozed blood from the torn skin and her face had gotten a little smudge of dirt here and there. She undid the ropes the spit-dwarves were being held up by first and then Mr Baggins and together, they untied and unsacked everyone else.

"I used your axe," she shrugged at Thorin as he approached from the pile of weapons where everyone else went to find their things. She assumed he was there to find out what she had done with it, "It's in the rubble there somewhere,"

She gestured to the broken rock behind her. It was going to take a while to find it and Thorin removed his mind and his gaze from it for the thought of having to dig through it made him weary.

"I – that's not why I'm here," he smiled at her, "Though that was foolish,"

"Would you rather have burned?"

"No, I wanted to know if you were alright. You're limping,"

Maya looked down at her knee, and frowned a little as the sting set in,

"No, it's fine. All is well," she was about to leave to go sort through the rubble but then she remembered, "Oh and thank you…for…coming for me so quickly,"

She smiled coyly,

"Very heroic," she thought she saw Thorin's chest rise a little and she tried not to giggle at his proud assertion.

"Thank you!" she heard him call after her as she limped off to dig through the rubble after collecting her own effects.

Gandalf came back late that night as the company huddled around the fire, it had grown cold and the fire didn't seem to be doing the trick. No one actually stood up but he was met with relief as he dumped a bag in the middle of the circle, just beside the fire with a clinking sound, taking a seat next to Maya.

"Where did you go?" Thorin asked, a little more savage sounding than he intended. Gandalf didn't look at him,

"To look ahead,"

"What brought you back?"

"Looking behind. I found your trolls. I commend you on your bravery," he nodded at the whole company, each one, including Bilbo, donned a smug smile, all but Thorin who was still feeling sour towards Gandalf.

"I found the troll cave they came from," Gandalf went on, "What they were doing so far from the mountain, I don't know but I suspect it has something to do with the East."

Glancing at Maya, he added,

"The need grows direr every day,"

She didn't bother to look back and settled for a single nod of submission. Thorin had begun to wonder about the Wild Wood. He had heard the conversation Gandalf and Maya had had earlier that morning and every time Gandalf brought it up, Maya's whole persona changed for the worse. It was another addition to the grudge he currently held against Gandalf. The need to go to the Wild Wood deeply upset Maya and what was it about her being killed? How dare he lead her into danger knowing that only she would suffer it!

But Gandalf was not done,

"We will be there by tomorrow's dusk. We will wait for the cover of darkness; I think it best that they do not know who you are for as long as possible, Maya. In which case, we will have to find you a disguise,"

"She can be a dwarf and wear my cloak," Thorin stated without hesitation, "She'd be small but she's about the right size for a dwarfish woman and the cloak will give her some bulk,"

Dwalin snorted,

"She'd be small? Small? No, no, Thorin, she'd be tiny!" and he began to laugh. The jest brought other smiles to the fire light, some chuckled. Even Bilbo cracked a small grin. Maya didn't smile, Thorin definitely didn't smile and instead he rounded on Dwalin,

"Do you have a better plan, Dwalin? If so, I'm sure we'd all love to know," Thorin's bite was harsh and banished the smiles from the realm. Dwalin glared at Thorin through narrowed eyes. Dwalin was a wee bit taller than Thorin though not by much but he was a good foot taller than most of the others and it gave him the distinct advantage of saying and doing as he pleased without being challenged, however when he was challenged, he never dared take a blade to anyone but he could bite back harder so as to never be challenged by the challenger again. Thorin was a different story. He would not speak out against his King and never take a blade to his friend but it was an effort to keep the bite at bay so Dwalin shut his mouth, gritted his teeth and replied,

"No,"

"Fine, then it is settled. Maya will lead us on but she will not be put into any situation where she will have to speak. I will not have her potentially recognised or put in any more danger than she already is, in any way."

He glared up at Gandalf,

"In any way,"

Gandalf did not protest nor did he agree. He merely raised an eyebrow in return. Thorin opted to ignore him for the rest of the night. He felt Maya's soft eyes upon him and he turned. She turned from his steely, blue eyes just as he did so but he felt her lay her hand on his and give a soft squeeze. It was brief and gone before he had the time to really notice it but he realised he missed the touch when it wasn't there.

"What's in the bag?" Bilbo asked changing the subject quickly for the silence that hung in the air was dark and dingy. The others all rushed to the same question, eager to make the discomfort go away.

"Ah, yes," Gandalf tapped his head, "Yes, yes. These," he heaved a sword out and tossed one to Thorin, one to Bilbo and what looked like flint to Maya, "Elvish blades; now before you throw yours away, Thorin Oakenshield, you should know they are the best blades, never blunting and glow blue when orcs are near,"

Thorin grudgingly laid his blade down in front of him.

"Yours, Bilbo," he looked up when Gandalf mentioned his name, looking slightly put out at the concept of carrying a sword, "All you need to know is that true courage is not knowing when to take a life, but when to spare it," he smiled.

That gentle statement made everyone stop and think. Made them think back on past times, wondering if they did the right thing. Gandalf then turned to Maya,

"I didn't know if you would need it,"

"Thank you," Maya tucked it into her little bag and didn't touch it again.

"What would you need it for?" Bilbo enquired, glancing between her and Gandalf but no one answered, Maya only smiled mysteriously and tapped her nose. That was the last of the mystery for the night, what lay ahead was left to rest too though it was something that never truly left Maya alone. Thorin could see it in the way she furrowed her brow and pursed her lips. She had an open face and he could see every ounce of worry that laid claim to the contours of her features. The dwarves sat around the fire and spoke softly to one another, whether it was about the coming events or Erebor or food, Thorin did not know. He had something else on his mind that he wanted to try. He glanced at Maya out of the corner of his eye, watched her shoulders rise in a deep, anxious sigh and he decided that then was the right time. He slowly lifted his hand and hesitated slightly, so slightly before gently resting it on her knee. He didn't dare look at her when he did so but he felt her shift a bit and his heart stopped when he thought she was going to get up and leave but she didn't do that. He felt the warmth of her body press up against his and he felt a slight thump on his shoulder as her head collapsed on his cloak. She said nothing to him but Thorin didn't mind so much. He just smiled awkwardly to himself (this was something he did not expect after his comely days as a younger dwarf were over) and was glad something was going right.

Well, just a word of warning. I plan to make the next chapter completely mine and in so doing, I imagine it to be pretty hard core. No heavy violence or explicit sex just a little sad…and some of you may recognise a character's name to be borrowed from some big and famous play-write, seemed cool to use it though.

Alrighty, please let me know how this chapter went, I had fun with it and it may not be a hundred and twenty % believable but I've had that going in my mind for aaaaages. Did it work?