Authoress Note: Welcome to Chapter 8 of The Second Daughter. Thank you to those who have stuck with this story since it came out. I can't wait to show you guys who she ends up with for this story. I haven't decided yet. She has a lot of history with Thorin which makes me lean more towards Thorin being the one that she should be with. I am just not fully sure about the idea just yet. Anyway, I hope that you guys enjoy this next chapter. Without further ado Chapter 8.
Chapter 8
Trolls And Saving Time
Their fears came true when they got there. Bilbo had indeed been caught.
"Gotcha. Are there any more of you little fellas hiding where you shouldn't?" The troll asked him, as the poor hobbit hung upside down in his hand.
"Nope," Bilbo said nervously. He didn't want to say that there were thirteen dwarves and an elf that was not far away from the trolls.
"He's lying." The second Troll said.
"No, I'm not," Bilbo said, trying not to give away that the company was so close by.
"Hold his toes over the fire." The second troll said. "Make him squeal."
Aranduriel looked over and saw that Kili was moving. "Kili… what on earth…"
Kili jumped out, slicing a troll's leg causing him to scream. "Drop him," Kili shouted at the trolls.
"You what?" The third troll asked dumbly.
Kili swung his sword around. "I said drop him."
The troll that held Bilbo threw him at Kili.
Kili and Bilbo both dropped to the ground.
Aranduriel was the first of the company to run out. She used her blade trying to slice and hit whatever body part she could.
Fili ended up deciding to back her up. His back was pressed against hers at times.
Kili would join in with Aranduriel and Fili when it came to the fight.
Aranduriel was grabbed by one of the trolls squeezing her around the middle tightly causing her to scream out.
Fili looked wide-eyed in fear that Aranduriel was grabbed in such a way. He rushed forward and stabbed the troll in the foot causing the troll to drop Aranduriel.
Aranduriel yelped when she landed on the ground harshly.
Fili quickly pulled her up onto her feet. "You alright?" He asked her about her wellbeing.
Aranduriel stabbed the troll's leg that was coming towards them. Her hair swung around as she turned quickly to look at him. Her gray-blue eyes locked with his blue ones. "I am fine. Nothing that will need to be worried about." She told him, as she moved away from him. She didn't want to seem like a weak little flower. She was a warrior and she was willing to prove to the dwarves that she didn't need a man to protect her.
Fili had to admit he had never met a maiden who said she was alright and she could have been injured due to the troll. But he had to admit it was nice that she was still able to fight the way that she was before. He was really afraid that she had gotten hurt badly. He pushed the feeling back as he attacked the trolls. He couldn't let her cloud his thoughts.
Aranduriel saw that Bilbo was trying to free the ponies. She saw that one of the trolls had noticed him. She didn't think but knew that she needed to protect Bilbo. She rushed forward and shoved him into the cage that the four ponies had been in before. Aranduriel felt the strong hands of the troll grab onto her. She screamed out alerting the rest of the company.
"Ara!" Yelled Fili, his eyes were wide in worry. He hadn't expected her to do what she did. He didn't expect her to save their burglar.
Thorin launched his hand across Fili's chest, stopping him.
"Drop your arms." The troll hissed out. "Or the elf maiden loses hers."
Aranduriel struggled in the grasp of the trolls that held her above the ground.
Thorin looked up at Aranduriel with hatred in his eyes. He hated the fact that she had gotten caught. He was even surprised that she had gotten caught. It was all because of the burglar that she had been caught. She was trying to save Bilbo from harm. Something that he would not do.
Aranduriel's gray-blue eyes locked with his. She was hoping that he would do the right thing.
Thorin let out a huff and put his sword into the ground. The rest of the company had done the same.
"Strip down and into the bags you go." The troll who had told them to lay down their arms.
Aranduriel closed her eyes as the dwarfs began to strip down to their underclothes. She was a maiden. There was no way that she would see a male in his underclothes. She wouldn't allow herself to see such a thing unless she was to marry the male. She felt herself being placed down on her feet.
"Strip down." She was ordered.
Her eyes widened, she couldn't believe that she was being forced to strip down in front of the rest of the company. She knew that she had to do what she was told to do. She slowly began to strip out of the clothes that she wore. She revealed her corset and panties and quickly got into one of the bags so none of the dwarves saw how much skin she revealed.
They had tied Bifur, Bofur, Ori, Nori, Dori, and Dwalin on a spit to begin cooking them.
Aranduriel heard the screams coming from the ones that were on the spit. She had to think of something quick.
"We should eat the elf first. She has more meat on her bones." One of the trolls said.
"We are going to wait to eat her. She is a rare thing to eat." The second troll said.
Aranduriel bit her lip. She didn't want to become food to the trolls. Her mind was racing. She needed to think and fast or they were going to be eaten. She knew that she was just going to have to trust her voice. She was going to have to sing. She remembered from her studies of trolls that trolls liked hearing songs from beautiful women. She didn't think that she was beautiful, but she was going to have to try. "Stop." She said looking up at them.
The dwarves who were in the sacks looked at her. They couldn't help, but think what the heck she was thinking by saying stop. They were not prepared to face their fate of being killed by such creatures.
The three trolls looked at her.
"You what?" The first troll asked her.
"Stop."
"And why would we stop? We are hungry."
"I'll sing." She said looking up at them.
"What?"
"Let her sing. She is a beautiful maiden. Let her sing." The third troll said to the first troll.
"Alright sing pretty elf lady."
Aranduriel let out a sigh of relief that they were going to allow her to sing. Anything to buy them any kind of time. She could only hope that Gandalf would come and save them. She began to sing a song that her people sang when they were traveling to her grandmother's forest so she could spend time with her grandmother and grandfather. The last time she sang such a song like this was when she took her little sister Arwen to the forest to spend time with their grandparents.
I stood out here once before
With my head held in my hands,
For all that I had known of this place
I could never understand.
On the hills, the fires burned at midnight,
Superstition plagued the air,
Sparks fly as the fires burn at midnight,
The stars are out and magic is here...
I wished on the seven sisters,
Bring to me the wisdom of age,
All that's locked within the Book of Secrets,
I longed for the knowledge of the sage...
On the hills, the fires burned at midnight,
Superstition plagued the air,
Sparks fly as the fires burn at midnight,
Stars are out and magic is here,
The stars are out and magic is here...
So, the sisters smiled to themselves,
And they whispered as they shone,
And it was from that very instant,
I knew I would never be alone.
While on the hills
The fires burned at midnight,
Superstition plagued the air,
Sparks fly as the fires burn at midnight,
Stars are out and magic is here,
The stars are out and magic is here...
Many stars were long forgotten,
Many faded and became ghosts,
Still, my sisters glittered down from heaven,
Always there when I needed them most...
And on the hills
The fires burned at midnight,
Superstition plagued the air,
Sparks fly as the fires burn at midnight,
Stars are out and magic is here,
The stars are out and magic is here...
I stood out here once before
With my head held in my hands,
For all that I had known of this place
I could never understand.
On the hills, the fires burned at midnight,
Superstition plagued the air,
Sparks fly as the fires burn at midnight,
Stars are out and magic is here,
The stars are out and magic is here
The stars are out and magic is here
The stars are out and magic is here
The stars are out and magic is here...
She wasn't used to singing like this. Not when her life was in such danger.
Fili looked up at her in surprise. He hadn't expected her to sing like this. He knew that perhaps she was trying to buy time until Gandalf showed up.
"Don't bother cooking them. Let's just squash them and turn them into jelly." The third troll to his friends.
"They should be sauteed and grilled with a little bit of sage." The second troll said.
"Is that really necessary?" Dori asked. His nerves were almost shot.
"Oh, that does sound quite nice." The third troll said.
"Untie us you monsters!" Oin yelled.
Aranduriel winced. She could only hope that Gandalf would show up soon.
"Take someone of your own size," Gloin yelled.
"Never mind the seasoning. We ain't got all night. Dawn ain't far away. So let's get moving on. I don't fancy being turned to stone." The troll told his friend.
Bilbo thought quickly. He knew that Aranduriel was not able to keep the trolls busy with her wonderful singing. "Wait!" Bilbo yelled.
Aranduriel looked at Bilbo confused. What was that sandy-haired hobbit doing? He had to think of something.
"You're making a terrible mistake."
"You can't reason with them. They're half-wits." Dori yelled at Bilbo. He couldn't believe that Bilbo was trying to reason with such creatures.
"Half-wits? What does that make us?" Bofur demanded to try to look at Dori, but he couldn't.
Bilbo hopped up to his feet. He was careful trying not to fall over any of the dwarves that were around him and the elf that was not too far away from him. "Uh, I meant with the, uh uh uh, seasoning."
"What about the seasoning?" The troll asked him.
Aranduriel looked at Bilbo like he had done and lost his mind.
"Well, have you smelt them?" Bilbo questioned rudely. "You are going to need much more than sage before you plate this lot up."
"Traitor!" Thorin yelled at Bilbo.
Aranduriel rolled her eyes. She could not believe that Thorin hadn't caught onto this. She figured that Bilbo had a really good plan to be doing this. Dawn was approaching. She knew that was the idea. Getting the trolls stalled long enough to turn them into stone. She had to admit that the sandy-haired hobbit certainly had some guts to try to buy time for them so they wouldn't be killed.
"What do you know about cooking dwarf?" The troll asked.
Aranduriel laid her head back on the ground. She was happy that the troll at least forgot about her for at least a moment.
"Shut up." The third troll said snapping at his companion. "Let the uh, flurgaburburrahobbit talk." He kneeled some so he could hear what the sandy-haired hobbit was going to say.
"Um…" Bilbo hadn't quite figured out what he was going to say, but he needed to come up with something fast. He didn't want to be someone's dinner. He wanted to be able to finish this quest and then go home so he could be with the rest of the hobbits in the Shire. He could only hope that this adventure would not change him. "T-the secret to cooking dwarf is...um…"
Aranduriel closed her eyes. She couldn't believe that Bilbo didn't think this all the way through.
"Yes, come on."
"It's uh…"
"Tell us the secret."
"Y-yes. I am telling you." Bilbo thought quickly. "The secret to cooking dwarfs is to… skin them first."
"Tom, get me my fileting knife."
"If I get you, you little…" Gloin began.
"I won't forget that. I won't forget that." Dwalin said from the spit.
"What a load of rubbish. I've eaten plenty with their skins on. Scuff them, I say, boots and all." The second troll said.
"He's right." The third troll grabbed Bombur. "Nothing wrong with a bit of raw dwarf. Nice and crunchy." He held Bombur over his head trying to eat him.
"No, not that one. He's infected."
"Huh?" The troll that held onto Bombur looked in confusion at the hobbit.
"You what?" The second troll said, looking at Bilbo like he hadn't heard him right.
"Yeah, he gots worms in his… tubes," Bilbo said in a panic. He wasn't going to allow Bombur to get eaten by this troll. He knew that it probably wasn't the smartest idea to say what he said, but it was the only one that he could come up with.
The troll dropped Bombur back into the pile causing some of the dwarves to groan in pain when Bombur landed on them.
"In fact, they all are infected with parasites," Bilbo said. He was glad that he decided to say what he said. "Terrible business. I wouldn't risk it. I really wouldn't."
"What did he say? Did he say parasites?" Oin yelled, not sure if he heard the sandy-haired hobbit.
"We don't have parasites! You have parasites!" Kili yelled at the hobbit. He didn't get what the hobbit was trying to do.
"What are you going on about laddie?" Gloin asked, confused.
The troll picked up Aranduriel in the middle.
Aranduriel tried not to scream due to the pain that she already felt. She was already bruised enough as it was and this was just adding more to the pain.
"She doesn't have me." The l said as he handled her a little roughly causing her to whimper out in pain.
Fili tried his best to turn himself in to make sure that she was alright.
Aranduriel locked eyes with Bilbo. She nodded her head slowly. She was trying to tell him it was right to say the same thing.
"She has them too. The poor dear." Bilbo said to the troll that held onto her. "She is probably worse off than they are."
The troll dropped her with a thump.
Thorin figured out what Bilbo was doing and kicked his nephew.
Kili's eyes widened. He just now got what Bilbo was trying to do.
"I've got parasites as big as my arm," Oin yelled.
"Mine are the biggest parasites. I've got huge parasites." Kili yelled, trying his best to play it up.
"We're riddled," Nori said, trying his hand at it.
"I'm riddled," Ori said, hoping that it was enough for them to get away.
"Yes, we are bad," Dori said. He could only hope that Bilbo's plan was going to work.
"What would you have us do? Let them all go?" The second troll said in anger.
"Well…"
"You then don't know what you're up to? This little ferret is taking us for fools."
"Fools?" The third troll said.
"Ferret?" Bilbo asked, his confusion laced through his voice. He had never been called a ferret before.
Gandalf appeared on top of a rock. "The dawn will take you all!"
"Who's that?" The first troll asked.
"No idea." The second troll said.
"Can we eat him too?" Asked the third troll.
Gandalf brought his staff down onto the rock splitting it in half.
The sun hit the trolls causing them to scream out in pain turning into stone.
The dwarfs began to cheer.
Aranduriel looked at Gandalf and nodded her head at him. She was glad that Gandalf was back and had saved them from the fate of being eaten by the trolls.
"Oh get your foot out of my back," Dwalin said uncomfortably.
"Gandalf my friend do you think you can free us?" Aranduriel asked, wrinkling her nose in distaste due to the smell of the sack that she was in. But she also wanted to get her clothes on so she didn't feel so exposed to the company.
Gandalf came over to the dwarves who were tied up first getting them off of the spit so they wouldn't get burned by the fire that was below them. He then went over to the rest of the company who were tied up in the sacks. Gandalf released Aranduriel.
Aranduriel got out of her sack slowly. Her ribs were protesting in her movements. She grabbed her things quickly and hid behind a rock to get her clothes on. She pulled her breeches on quickly tying them. She slipped her white beaten tunic on with a little bit of trouble. She bit her lip in pain as her ribs protested some. She was able to get her vest on and then slipped on her coat. She came out from behind the rock.
"Where did you go, if I may ask?" Thorin asked, looking up at Gandalf.
Gandalf had a knowing look on his face. "To look ahead." He said before turning to walk away from Thorin.
"What brought you back?"
"Looking behind," Gandalf replied, looking at Thorin. "Nasty business. Still, they're in one piece."
"No thanks to your burglar," Thorin said as he looked up at Gandalf.
"He had the nous to play for time. None of the rest of you thought of that." Gandalf told Thorin with a knowing look.
Thorin didn't like the idea that the hobbit was able to do something like this. Saving them from danger such as trolls.
Aranduriel brushed past Thorin. Her eyes focused on the trolls.
Gandalf and Thorin looked at the trolls.
"They must've come down from the Ettenmoors," Gandalf said as he continued to look at the trolls.
"Since when do mountain trolls venture this far south?" Thorin asked, looking at Gandalf.
"Oh, not for an age, not since a darker power ruled these lands," Gandalf told Thorin.
Aranduriel turned and looked at Gandalf.
Gandalf and Thorin shared a look.
"They couldn't have traveled in daylight."
Thorin looked around. "There has to be a cave nearby."
"We better start looking for it," Gandalf said.
"We need to go back to camp first," Aranduriel said softly. "We need to get our things." She picked up her sword, arrows, and bow. She winced when she bent over. She closed her eyes in pain.
"You alright?" A soft voice asked. Right away Bilbo would be the first to notice that there was something wrong with the female elf.
Aranduriel looked over at him. A fake smile came to her lips. "I am fine." She lied. She wasn't going to tell Bilbo that her ribs were killing her.
They went back to camp to gather their items.
Fili looked over at Aranduriel who was grabbing lightly onto her ribs. Did she get hurt? More hurt than what she was leading on? If she was, why wouldn't she say something? Anything? Why wouldn't she tell the company? "Ara, are you alright?"
Aranduriel looked at him with wide eyes. She didn't know why he was asking her this question. She didn't think that they thought she had fit in with this group of dwarves, Hobbit, and wizard. They didn't trust her.
Fili could see the hurt that was laced in her eyes. "Are you alright?" He asked again. He wanted an answer from her and now.
"I am fine Fili." She told him, as she put her things on her horse. She wasn't about to let him baby her. They had to get out of there and find the cave that the trolls were in. Something that was most likely not going to be easy to find.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
That is the end of Chapter 8. I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter. I enjoyed writing it and it took me a lot longer to get this chapter written up. That is for sure and that is a good thing. It means that it was a challenge for me. We are getting closer and closer to the Rivendell chapters. I can't wait to write them that is for sure. I haven't decided on how many chapters will take place in Rivendell, but I will try my best to make sure that there aren't too many of them because in a way it will be boring and I don't want that. I also know that I have other stories that I am working on and I am sorry that I am working on so many at once. It just tells you that I do have too much free time on my hands which is a thing. I will try to get the next chapter out soon that is for in the upcoming chapters they will be quite interesting. The next chapter will be dealing with the troll hoard and the escape from the orcs. There will be more drama coming into this story. And perhaps the gift that Thorin gave Aranduriel will be revealed. Any guesses from my readers of what it might be? I am curious what my readers might think the gift that Thorin gave Aranduriel is. Whoever guesses best will get a treat as well. I will reveal what it is in a very close upcoming chapter. Most likely one of the chapters that they are in Rivendell. Until next time.