I didn't want to hold out on you guys so I decided to publish this chapter right away. (The original plan was to do a mass publish on Valentine's Day but if I get enough REVIEWS I'll definitely be able to give you guys another chapter on the day of love.)

eeemkaaay: You were my first review and I love you for it! Ever since I saw Nori trying to steal that gold in Desolation of Smaug, I've had a special place for him. He's just such a good, minor character with a really interesting backstory.

nemeisisswan: This was such a long review and it made me so happy. Like ridiculously happy. Another reason why I wanted to publish this was to try and earn your trust back. I promise that there are more chapters to come and more adventures to be had.

Cassandra-Jayne: Aw. I love being a hoot. I hope you like this chapter!


Chapter 9: Roast Mutton

I had taken longer than I should have, finding the herbs for dinner. Glancing up through the dense foliage, I caught the wispy light of nearing dawn, that lightening that whispered along the horizon as the sun started to yawn awake. Sighing, I stuffed the garland of fresh herbs inside fo the breast of my vest, the gray material puffing out at the large mass of plants I had already shoved inside.

Quietly I turned, picking my way back through the brush and roots and back to the safety of our little camp. The truth was that I had been wandering rather aimlessly since I had overhead Balin and Thorin talking. It was an odd, uncomfortable feeling to know that the topic of my inclusion into the group was garnering as much attention as the actual quest itself. In the back of my mind, I suppose I knew that the other dwarves were talking about me but it was one thing to think it and a completely other thing to bear witness to it.

Dori had once told me about the longstanding grudge that Thorin held against the elves. When Smaug had first come to the Lonely Mountains and desecrated our homelands, the line of Durin had begged for help from the wood-elves. They were homeless, some still barely able to walk from the burns that coming into contact with Smaug had caused them. Food and a plea to aid in the recovery of Erebor was all that they asked.

They received nothing. No reply and no aid.

I was sure that the months follow - months of selling off the prized possessions that the dwarves had fled the mountain with, months of watching kin perish from the burns that they had suffered at the hands of the dragons - had made Thorin more than bitter. The years that followed were hard. From the little that Dori had told me, the dwarves of Erebor were all but forced to sell themselves off. They worked in human villages, forging and mining, their pride dwindling with each petty request. They had been mighty, Dori had told me. And now they were nothing but common peasants, whoring themselves out for enough money to buy bread.

And then the battle to take Azanulbizar had come and even more had been taken from us.

I broke the treeline, scrambling down the rocky hillside and making my way quickly to the small shack. It was strangely quiet, I realized, something altogether too still making me keep to the backside of the rubble. My mind worked quickly as I peeked around the bend. Dwarves weren't a quiet lot. Even in their sleep, they made noise, grunting and groaning like they were working in their dreams.

"Not good," I whispered, catching sight of the campfire which hadn't been banked for the night, the embers glowing warmly from a fire that hadn't been fed for an hour or so. And strewn all about were half-eaten bowls of stew, chunks of bread lying in the dirt. Another thing that a dwarf never did was leave food behind, especially Erebor dwarves.

I checked my axes quickly, following along as silently as possible beside a variety of scuff marks. If anyone were tracking us, we were making it remarkably easy, I realized, following it quickly into the woods where I had left Fili, Kili, and Nori. My heart sunk. The horses had been untethered from their lines, a tree toppled where they had been grazing. Sitting in the mud, were two full bowls, cold in the pre-dawn night.

We had been remarkably stupid.

The hill, I thought furiously, mentally lashing myself. I had even noticed the terrain and I hadn't picked it up. Dense darkness in the forest areas which meant that the ground wasn't flat which meant that there were caves. Which meant that there was a possibility of trolls. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Unclipping my axes, I continued on, dodging carefully around roots and brush until I saw the glow of a nearby fire. The lack of clashing metal told me all I needed to know. Stone trolls were commonly the ones who needed caves to roam about. And other than stuffing their faces, they rarely thought of anything else. They were big, lumbering creatures with hides that were near impenetrable and blood caustic enough to melt metal. I glanced at the canopy of trees once more. It was almost daylight. All I had to do was bide some time.

And hopefully not get myself killed.

"Never min' the seas-non," a deep voice boomed, making me duck behind a tree as I got close enough to the troll camp to hear the turn of a spit and the general grumble of unhappy dwarves. I winced, readjusting my grip on my dual axes as I peeked around the trunk. "We ain't got all night. Dawn ain't far away. Let's get a move on."

Three. My brain stuttered over the number, silently cursing. Three stone trolls. It was enough to make a dribble of sweat run down my neck. They were giant monstrosities - standing well over ten feet tall and made up of enough muscle to rip any one of my limbs clean off the rest of my body. I shook my head. That definitely wasn't what I should be thinking about.

Turning on the spit were at least six dwarves, each sweating a moaning as the fire licked up at them. And of those six, three of them were my brothers. You had to be fucking kidding me. My eyes moved swiftly to the base of a tree nearby, where a heap of wiggling sacks, lay. That was the rest of them.

I crept closer, keeping low and to the shade of the trees and brush.

"Untie me, mister!" Bombur bellowed, making me dive behind the tree once more as one of the trolls whipped around to give the grey-haired dwarf a glare.

They were just making so much noise. If they could just shut their traps. I peeked around my tree, getting a face-full of ebony hair streaked through with silver. Crystal blue eyes snapped around to me, making me reel back in surprise before I gave a wan smile.

Of course, the first person I would come to was Thorin Oakenshield.

His brows lowered in a scowl, his eyes flicking from where the trolls were currently making a dinner menu and then back to me. "Tori."

Using the edge of my axe, I started to cut carefully around the rope that was cinched around his neck. "Good evening, my king."

"Tori." I paused, glancing to the side in time to catch the forlorn stare of Kili and then the burning gaze of Fili. All of the attention had been drawn to me in a second.

"If you would turn your eyes back to the trolls, I would really appreciate it," I breathed, sawing through the first layer of ropes at Thorin's throat. "I don't want them to particularly know I'm here."

"Which you shouldn't be," Fili hissed, his blue eyes striking as he glared up at me.

"Odd," I hissed right back. "I thought you would be overjoyed that I had come to save your sorry-"

"Not if it means that you're going to be put on the menu as well-"

"Lot of thanks that is-"

"Now what do we have here?" My heart stopped beating, my muscles cramping as a shadow so deep fell over me. The overwhelming stench of troll made my eyes sting.

Slowly, my eyes moved over the thick, muddy feet, up to the muscular thighs and that barrel of a chest and then to the mouth that was currently covered in a thick layer of drool and finally to those beady eyes. Not intelligent eyes. Eyes that you knew wouldn't flinch away when they killed you. Eyes that had stared down on screaming creatures before and carried on with supper.

I gave a shaky smile. "Hi."

"TORI, RUN!" Thorin roared.

I didn't have to be told twice. Or even once for that matter.

Wind tickled my neck as I dove to the side, landing hard on my side. Not good. Three trolls against little old me. It had taken the combined efforts of Nori and I to take down one in that cave last summer.

"THERE'S ANOTHER ONE!" One of the trolls howled as I dove into the camp area, catching the crash of a troll trying to lumber through the forest behind me. Good, he thought I had run off. That would keep him for a little bit.

"SHE'S OVER HERE, BERT!" A high, girlish voice called and suddenly one of them was diving towards me, an over-excited mess of a creature. I jumped forward to meet him, bringing my axes down into the soft flesh at his achilles. There were three soft spots in the troll's natural body armor. One in the neck, another in back of their knees and then finally at their feet.

"LASSIE, YOU IDIOT!" Dwalin bellowed as I went careening past him, dodging around the fire as the one that I had just slashed into gave a howl, jumping about. It was a good thing that he had a friend that didn't care about him. I yelped out a breath as the third dwarf, lumbering over to block my path.

"THE DAWN!" Nori shrieked, reminding me of our days spent in troll caves. No time for that. Gritting my teeth, I sent a hefty kick into the side of the spittle.

"What's that she's doing?" the third troll asked curiously, I gave him a smile, landing another kick. The spit groaned, jiggly. Confused, the troll inched a bit closer.

Up above, Dori's mouth pulled open in horror. His eyes glinted down at me with a warning. "Don't you dare-"

"Sorry!" I huffed, slamming my foot into it one final time. With a final moaning, the tethering gave out and the contraption went crashing back into the troll, slamming him into the rock hillside just behind. His head gave a sickly crack as it hit a particularly jagged expanse of stone.

"Tom!" I didn't have time to help the dwarves still tied, sweating and complaining to the fallen spit, the troll still beneath their combined weight. The one that I had slashed through was limping towards me. Gritting my teeth, I glanced down at the axes that had cut through his achilles, seeing the warped metal, sizzling as the troll blood ate through it. Useless. I flung it to the side, my last ax glinting dimly in the firelight.

"HEY, YOU UGLY KAKHUF INBARATHRAG!" Fili roared, struggling desperately at his bindings. His face reddened as he spit out a series of insults in khuzdul, trying desperately to draw the troll's attention.

"Tori!" Thorin bellowed, his eyes glinting in the firelight. "I gave you a command, girl."

"WAIT!" I heard a prim, nervous voice call as one of the sacks struggled up and to its feet. Bilbo. "Wait! She doesn't even look that good!"

My eyes whipped to the side as the sound of breaking branches and crashes proceeded Bert as he lumbered into the clearing. His eyes flicked over me. I was boxed in, the other troll still lying to my back as the other two slowly made their way toward me.

"You didn' tell me she was here," Bert grumbled, flicking an irritated gaze to where his friend stood. "I've been searchin' all about, tryin' to find her."

I gulped, my skin burning at the closeness of the fire. Behind me, I could hear the murmur of my brothers, insistent and altogether irritating. And then farther away, the roar of Fili as he screamed insults at them. My mouth was dry, sweat coating my skin. I couldn't move my focus from the two trolls though. If I paid them any sort of mind then it would give them an opportunity to catch me. And as for fleeing… It would look beyond pathetic if I tried to run now. Especially since I knew I would be caught.

"She killed Tom," the smallest troll murmured, both of them caroling me like a dog. I shuffled a bit with them, my knuckles going white on the hilt of my ax. I was dying to look up and catch a sight of the sky, to try and see how much more time I needed to buy until dawn. But I didn't dare. They were within arms reach now.

Bert's eyes flicked to where his fellow troll lay, narrowing for a moment as he gave an indignant huff. "She broke the spit!"

One more step and they would be able to catch me without a thought. My only hope was to bring one of them down and then hope that in the following chaos, the dwarves on the spit had gotten free or the dawn had come. I didn't take enough time to fully think it out.

"WHAT'S SHE DOING-" Dwalin roared.

"I TOLD YOU TO RUN!" Thorin exploded.

Bert wasn't expecting me to be so agile. Or so quickly for that matter. Or maybe it was the fact that I had leaped at him and not away. Digging my hands into the meat of his forearm, I swung myself up, hefting myself up his forearm with a grunt.

The vulnerable skin of his throat was just a short swing from there.

"What's she-" I saw his eyes go wide, beady and dark in the campfire light, moments before my blade sank into his throat. Searing pain burst up my arm, making me bite down on scream as his blood splattered across my arm, burning through the cloth and leather of my bracers and eating away at the flesh beneath. My ax bubbled, welding into his throat as it hit the cool, night air.

"You vile, little dwarf!" So much for the calculated bet that the other troll would be paralyzed with either fear or shock. I gasped out a breath as fingers closed around my uninjured arm, yanking my shoulder to the side as it hauled me into the air. Spittle flew from the troll's mouth as he brought me closer to his face. "You killed Tom and Bert and broke our spit!"

I let out a choked cry as his fingers squeezed down even further on my arm, crush my wrist.

"LET HER GO!" Ori screamed from the wiggling mass of dwarves.

"YOU'RE MAKING A TERRIBLE MISTAKE!" Bilbo screamed.

"Abrâfu shaikmashâz!" Fili yelled and I forced my eyes toward him as his voice cracked. Kneeling in the dirt, his blonde hair wild in the firelight, he looked unfairly handsome. My heart gave an uncomfortable squeeze as his eyes crinkled in agony, the veins in his throat popping as he screamed. "LOOK AT ME!"

"I still think that we should have just eaten ya raw," the troll said, a grim sort of smile curling his lips as he raised me. I gave a scream, jerking against the trolls hold, clawing at his hands and kicking out as I tried desperately to get free. Hot breath tickled along my ankles as the clearing boomed with a dozen voices crying out, yelling so many different things that I couldn't make out a single one of them.

Unwanted tears blurred my vision, my fist slamming uselessly as the troll raised me a little higher.

"TORI!" Fili. I let out a sob, my lungs constricting as I turned my head toward the voice. He was crying, his face red and rageful. I - I think my biggest regret would be him. I closed my eyes. Always him.

My eyes drifted to the streak of light peaking over the rocky hill. He would be safe. They would all be safe. Real tears burned at my throat, fear and relief mixing into a confusing muddle in my mind. I wouldn't make it. But the rest of them would. My insides knotted as i jerked up my legs trying to curl away from the gaping hole, the rows of teeth just beneath me.

"Ah, I love it when they cry," the troll whispered gleefully as he brought me a little bit closer to his lips. Unwanted, I felt a few more tears run down my face. "Makes 'em salty."

"SHE'S INFECTED!" Bilbo screamed, his voice reaching an octave that made my ears pop. I blinked, the troll pausing, his head whipping to the side.

"Infected?" he questioned dumbly. My throat constricted, tears still blurring my vision. This couldn't possibly be working.

"With - with worms," Bilbo squeaked, nodding emphatically. His little nose wrinkled, his eyes sweeping in a panic from the troll to where I dangled.

"Worms?!" the troll squealed, dropping me on the spot. My breath wooshed out of me as I hit the ground hard. My head spun dully. It had worked. An irrational urge to start bawling almost overtook me along with a well of relief. It was dawn.

"LET THE DAWN TAKE YOU!" My heart leapt with wonder. Oh thank Aule.

"Who's that?" the troll sniffed, taken aback.

A great crack broke through the clearing as a staff slammed into the hillside.

"Gandalf," I breathed in relief, sinking onto my back as the troll gave a particularly loud shriek of agony.

Sunlight flooded the clearing, bright and fresh as all morning light is. I shut my eyes, breathing in the sunlight as a dusting of stone dusted down on me and the screaming of the troll dwindled into the settling of stone.


As always, much love and happy reading. Leave me a review - it would make my night and I'm kind of holding next chapter ransom for them so fingers crossed! XOXO - Mylovelylions

Khuzdul:

KAKHUF INBARATHRAG: Goat turd.

Abrâfu shaikmashâz: Spawn of rats