Some Hearts

3.

Soon enough, most of the dwarves and the non-listening hobbit were placed in horrible-smelling sacks. Surprisingly, they did not force me into a bag. I made it evident I couldn't escape my bonds. After that, they took the remaining dwarves and tied them to a spit before lifting them over their fire.

"Don't bother cooking them. Let's just sit on them and squash them into jelly." One of the trolls suggested. 
"They should be sautéed and grilled with a sprinkle of sage." The cook said again poking the dwarves on the fire.

"That does sound quite nice." I rolled my eyes.

"The stupidity of trolls. Surely, we can figure something out." I huffed looking at Kili.

"Well, thanks to our hobbit, we find ourselves in a rather tight situation." 

"What time of night do you think it is?" I asked. If dawn was approaching they would need to hide from its light sooner than later so they didn't turn to stone. If we could buy some time, it may just be our way out of this. 

"Dawn shouldn't be far off, but I don't see how that's relevant."

"Trolls turn to..." I was caught off when another troll was getting frustrated with his companion.
"Never mind the seasoning. We ain't got all night. Dawn ain't far away. Let's get a move on then. I don't fancy being turned to stone." The one turning the dwarves said. I looked at the dwarf leader whose name I do not know yet and nodded at the comment. Hopefully, he picked up on it.
"Wait! You are making a terrible mistake." The hobbit nearly yelled, stopping the trolls in their tracks and grabbing their attention.
"You can't reason with them. They're half-wits!" One dwarf over the fire called out.
"Half-wits? What does that make us?" Another added and I chucked at his comment before getting a stern glare from the dwarf I was talking to.
"I meant with the seasoning." The hobbit started.
"What about the seasoning?"
"Well, have you smelt them? You're gonna need something stronger than sage before you plate this lot up."
"Traitor!" Was heard along with multiple other insults coming from the dwarves surrounding me as well as over the fire.
"What do you know about cooking Dwarf?" One asked with a bit of an attitude.
"Shut up. Let the flurgaburburhobbit talk."
"The secret to cooking Dwarf is..." Oh! He is trying to stall them! Smart little hobbit! You can do it!
"Yes? Come on. Tell us the secret."
"It's, uh..." Oh no he doesn't have any ideas!
"Yes, I'm telling you. The secret is...to skin them first." He said defeated and out of times.

"Tom, get me a filleting knife." The cook motioned.
Now the dwarves were in pure outrage. So much for trusting your company; it seems that they have no faith in the little hobbit. He is the one buying time. I could barely see some rays of light painting the sky but it would still be some time before it would scare the trolls back to their cave.
"What a load of rubbish. I've eaten plenty with their skins on. Scarf them, I say, boots and all." The second said.
"He's right, nothing wrong with a bit of raw Dwarf. Nice and crunchy." The third troll said picking up the fattest dwarf with orange hair. He looked petrified.
"Oh, not that one. He's infected!" The Hobbit shouted as the dwarf dangled above the troll's mouth.
"Huh?"
"You what?"
"Yeah, he's got worms...in his tubes."
"Eww!" The troll nearly threw him back into our pile of dwarves and I screamed as he landed on top of Kili and thus pushing all his weight onto me. They both shifted to relieve the pressure off of me. Kili also turned to face me, concern in his eyes.

"Are you okay?" I simply nodded watching the trolls come closer to the Hobbit once more.

"In fact, they all have. They're infested with parasites. It's a terrible business. I wouldn't risk it. I really wouldn't." He said shaking his head as if he was disgusted.
"Parasites? Did he say 'parasites'?" One from our pile shouted.
"We don't have parasites. You have parasites!" Kili shouted. I felt my eyes roll once more as the leader and I both kicked him simultaneously
"I've got parasites as big as my arm." One shouted catching on finally.
"Mine are the biggest parasites. I've got huge parasites." Kili was now singing a different tune as he too understood. They all chimed into the topic but a little too far with their exaggerations.
"What would you have us do, then? Let them all go?"
"Well..." The hobbit shrugged his shoulders.
"You think I don't know what you're up to? This little ferret is taking us for fools.
"Ferret?" He asked almost insulted by the term.
"Fools?"

"The dawn will take you all." I hear the bellow of the Grey Wizard and smiled.
"Who's that?" One troll asked.

"Gandalf, I have never been so relieved to see you!" I nearly shouted at the wizard. He stood opposite of us on a large boulder, sunlight starting to filter into the camp slowly.
"No idea."
"Can we eat him too?" Suddenly there was a large boom followed by a crack as he slammed his staff into the rock he stood upon. It split in half and light rushed toward the trolls and us. The trolls started to whine and groan as their skin hardened and their bodies changed to stone.

Everyone started to cheer as Gandalf made his way toward us. Relief finally coursed through my veins. I looked at the two dwarves adjacent to me. Kili held a large grin and the nameless dwarf held a look of relief and pride in the wizard but it was soon wiped away when he saw my gaze locked on him.