An unexpected journey

Chapter 5

  Sneezy was still holding me up as the two others put the dwarves in sacks. Where they got the sacks from, I don't know.

"Bert?" Sneezy asked.

"What is it now?" Cook asked.

"I realized something. This one is smaller than all the others. Maybe its not a male but a female. Maybe we could try farming them so we can have enough to make a pie" He replied. I deadpanned. Please don't think about. Just leave the subject alone and say he's stupid. Maybe even hit him on the head with the ladle.

"Good thinking! Let's see...This one looks strong" Cook suggested.

"Yeah...Oh wait! How about this one? He seems to be the leader" Dummy said lifting Kili's sack.

"I say we put her with this one." Sneezy said bending over to pick up Thorin's sack. I became bright red. He wants Thorin and I in one sack... Close together. Very close... I shook my head from those thoughts.

"Your call. You made the observation" Cook said. Sneezy open the sack enough for me to fit. He put me in it and then placed us on the ground gently.

"When ever you're ready" He said. I looked up at Thorin and he looked back down at me.

"They really are dumb" I stated. He gave a small snort.

"That's an understatement" He replied. The trolls started mounting the dwarves on a roasting spit. They started turning it. After a while, I could feel Thorin's arms start to shake.

"Thorin" I said. He looked down at me.

"What is it?" He asked. I sighed.

"This is going to be weird... put your weight on your elbows and straddle my waist. It should be easier for you" I said. He pondered it for a moment before sighing and shifting his weight to his elbows. His face was now a mere inch away from mine. I felt him shift his legs so they were now sitting around my waist. I nervously gulped as I felt his warm breath hit my face. We were incredibly close to one another. I suddenly got an idea.

"Thorin. Help me stand up" I instructed.

"Why?" He asked.

"I have an idea. Just follow my lead" I said. He nodded and after a few tries and teasing from Kili and Fili, we got to our objective. I also managed to turned around.

"We don't need to cook all of them. We should smash the others except for our couple and make them into a delicious jelly" Sneezy said. Cook shrugged.

"Wait!" I exclaimed. The trolls stopped and looked at me.

"What is it?" Cook asked.

"You've got the seasoning all wrong" I told them. They looked confused.

"What are you doing?" Thorin whispered in my ear, giving me shivers. I ignored him.

"What do you mean?" They asked.

"You need to wash them. They've got a lot of bacteria. I wouldn't want you to get sick. Also you need some Kingsfoil and rabbit dung. Or at least, that's what I heard is the best way to cook dwarf." I said. Dummy now looked annoyed.

"Nonsense! I've eaten dwarves skin and all before. I haven't gotten sick" He exclaimed. He grabbed Gloin from the pile and brought him towards his mouth.

"I wouldn't eat that one. Or that one either. They have parasites" I stated.

"Whose side are you on?" Dwalin exclaimed.

"You have parasites" Kili also replied.

"Boys!" Thorin yelled from behind me. I suppressed another wave of shivers. They started yelling where they have parasites.

"What would you have us do? Let them all go?" Cook asked. I stayed quit.

"Bert, we could let them go and keep the couple. We could start a farm" Dummy said.

"You don't think I know what you're up to? This little ferret is taking us for fools!" Dummy said. Ok maybe I shouldn't really call him dummy anymore...

"Ferret?" Cook asked

"Fools?" Sneezy asked. Just then, I saw Gandalf climbing up the rocks.

"Let the dawn take you!" He yelled as he broke the rock

"Who's he?" Cook asked.

"Can we eat him too?" Dummy asked. The sun then shone through the middle of the split rock and it caused the trolls to turn into stone. Gandalf climbed down from the rocks and started to let the others out of their sacks. While untying Oin from in front of us, he knocked us over. I ended up lying on my back but also on Thorin. Since I couldn't move, I was pressed against Thorin so I could feel everything. His arm muscles, his leg muscles and even his chest muscles! And they we're under layers of clothes and armour! I'm pretty sure Gandalf did it on purpose but he untied us last. I crawled out of the bag and Thorin followed. Kili came up to us along with his brother.

"How was the honeymoon?" They asked. Thorin rolled his eyes and turned away from his nephews and towards the wizard.

"Where did you go, if I may ask" Thorin asked him.

"I went to look ahead" He replied

"And what made you come back?" I asked him.

"Looking back" He said. Logical answer for a wizard, I guess.

"At least they're still in one piece" He continued looking at the trolls.

'No thanks to your burglar" Thorin muttered. I rolled my eyes

"I didn't see anyone else thinking of distracting them until dawn" I argued. He glared at me.

"They must have come from the Ettenmoors" Gandalf observed.

"Since when do mountain trolls venture this far south?" Thorin asked. Gandalf shrugged.

"Not for an age. Not since a darker power ruled these lands" He replied.

"There must be a cave nearby'' Thorin said firmly believing that he was right. We walked a bit and found it...It really wasn't hard to find though. You just had to follow the stink of troll. We walked in and it badly stunk. I walked around looking at things when something caught my eye in the corner. I walked over to it. It was a sword. I grabbed it and pulled it out of its sheath. It was beautiful. It had to sculpted dragons, their tails intertwining at the base of the blade and a small hole also at the base. I backed up and made sure no one was around me and held out the blade. The weight and balance was almost perfect. I got into a stance and swung it.

"That looks about the right size" I heard Gandalf tell me. I turned around while putting it back in the sheath.

"But I still hope I won't have to use it" I said. He nodded

"It looks like an elvish blade. It should glow blue when goblins or orcs are around" He said. I nodded.

"I don't know if I should keep it or leave it here" I said. I quickly though about it and strapped it to my waist.

"Let's get out of here" I heard Thorin say. I walked out the exit and found the company talking amongst themselves. Thorin was sitting on a boulder looking at something in his hand. I walked over to him and he quickly closed his hand.

"What's that?" I gestured to his hand

'Nothing" He said and put whatever it was in his pocket. All of a sudden, we heard running.


"Something's coming!" Thorin exclaimed. All the dwarves and Gandalf huddled around me.

"I can defend myself" I stated. Fili looked at me before looking back at the possible danger.

"Thieves! Fire! Murder!" A man yelled as he burst out of the forest. He had a brown coat and a brown hat and...bird poop on the side of his head...EW!

"Radagast, old friend! What are you doing here?" Gandalf greeted the man. Radagast? Must be the fifth wizard Gandalf was talking about earlier on yesterday.

"Something's wrong. Something's terribly wrong" Radagast said. Gandalf patirntly waited for him to continue.

"Oh just give me a moment... Oh! I had a thought and now I seem to have lost it. It was right here on the tip of my tongue...Wait, that's not a thought. It's just a...a stick bug" He said. I looked at him weirdly. Suddenly, we heard a howl.

"Wishful thinking but are there any wolves out here?" I asked.
"That's not a wolf mate!" Bofur exclaimed

"It's a warg scout. Which means the orc pack is not far behind us!" Thorin exclaimed. I unsheathed my sword.

"Bombur! Watch out!" I said as I saw a warg getting closer. Bombur wasn't going to be fast enough. I jumped and cut off the wolf like creature's head. I hit the ground with an 'oomph'. Bombur looked at me shocked but gave me a nod in thanks.

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

"No one! I swear. Now what in Durin's name is going on?" The dwarf prince replied.

"You are being hunted!" Gandalf stated simply. Thorin's eyes widened.

"We have to get out of here" Someone said. I didn't quite catch who said it because I was little busy making sure no one else got hurt.

"I'll draw them off" The brown wizard stated. Gandalf looked at him worried.

"These are Gundabad wargs. They will outrun you" Gandalf told Radagast. He just smirked in reply.

"These are Rhosgobel rabbits. I'd like to see them try' He said and jumped onto his sleigh. Off he went into the distance with wargs following him.

"Come get me!" Radagast taunted from far away.

"Come on! Quick!" Gandalf whisper-yelled. He ushered us towards another rock.

"Where are you leading us" Thorin asked him. His question was ignored as the wizard continued running.

"A warg is coming this way" I warned the company as I saw one of the wolf like creatures stop and start sniffing the air, walking towards us. We hid behind some rocks. We stayed quiet and the warg came up right on the edge of the rocks we were hiding behind. Thorin looked at his youngest nephew and nodded. Kili took out his bow and an arrow. He readied the arrow and jumped out from his hiding spot. He shot the warg and it fell dead right in front of the young dwarf. The orc on top of the warg got up and started fighting Kili. I took my dagger out of my belt discreetly. Everyone was watching Kili worriedly so no body would see me. I threw the dagger and it landed right where I wanted it to land; in the orc's throat. The orc fell to the ground, dead. Gandalf led the others towards another rock. I quickly retrieved my dagger and followed the rest of the company. We killed a good amount of orcs and wargs before we stumbled across a tunnel hidden in the rocks. Gandalf pushed us all in before coming in himself.
'There's a pathway. Should we follow it?" Dwalin asked. We all looked at the wizard.

"That would be wise" He replied. It was decided. We would follow the tunnel. It was quite narrow but I had no problem going through. Some dwarves on the other hand, like Bombur or Dwalin had trouble because they were too wide. Finally though, the path widened and we found ourselves looking across a beautiful valley.
"The valley of Imraldis. In the common tongue, it is known as another name" Gandalf said.

"Rivendell" I breathed in awe.