The Hobbit: An Unexpected Discovery

Chapter ten: a darker threat

Gandalf walked over to one of the troll statues and thumped it with his staff, with a pleased smile on his face. He then turned to Fae and handed her a small package. "For Later.' He said with a small wink. Fae nodded and put it into her pack.

"Where did you go to, if I may ask?" she said

"To look ahead." Replied the wizard coyly. Fae just nodded once again, but Thorin, who did not find that answer the least bit satisfying asked "What brought you back?"

"Looking behind. Nasty business. Still, they are all in one piece." The wizard replied with an answer just as vague as the first.

"No thanks to your burglar." Thorin sighed, realising he was to get no answer from the wizard. Hearing this Fae, who had walked over to Kili and Fili, to scold them once more, turned around in outrage. "Oi! What about me?" she shouted, as Fili patted her on the back sympathetically. She turned back to the brothers and smacked them round the head one last time and handed them her pack. "You can saddle my horse up for me, for being so stupid." She said and the brothers bowed their heads and scuttled off into the forest.

"They must have come down from the Ettenmoors." She said, walking over to Thorin and Gandalf.

"Since when do mountain trolls venture this far south?" the dwarf prince asked, wrapping her in a side hug.

"Oh, not for an age." The wizard said grimly.

"Not since a darker power ruled these lands." Fae added under her breath, looking up at the trolls. Gandalf and Fae looked meaningfully at each other, the same thought crossing their minds.

"They could not have moved in daylight, there must be a cave nearby." Thorin said, oblivious to the look shared between Fae and Gandalf. The dwarf scuttled off in order to assemble the company once more.

"Do you think this is just a coincidence?" she asked, quietly so only the wizard could hear.

"I don't believe in coincidences." He replied. "I think it best we ask your brother when we arrive at Imladris."

"I fear it cannot wait. I will ride ahead and warn him." She said grimly, turning away.

"No!" shouted Gandalf, gripping her arm. "We cannot let Thorin or the company suspect anything, we cannot put them in any more danger than they already are. If you leave he will know something is up. Stay with the company we will make it in our own time."

"But this is more than just trolls." She protested. "Before I came on this quest, at my mother's request, I visited Dol Guldur. Gandalf, I saw..."

"Not here." He said "I fear we are not the only ones here. We are being watched."

"Oh, what's that stench?!" a dwarf shouted

"It's a troll hoard. Be careful what you touch." Fae answered. While exploring, Thorin found two swords covered in cobwebs. Fae and Gandalf approached him.

"These swords were not made by any troll." Thorin said handing one sword to Gandalf and keeping the other one.

"Nor were they made by any smith among men." Gandalf said, passing his sword to Fae, hoping she would know their origin.

"These were forged in Gondolin by the High Elves of the First Age." Fae muttered, looking at her own sword which had been made by the same craftsmen, she had been in the room when it was forged. Realizing that they were Elven swords, Thorin started to put his away in disgust.

"You could not wish for a finer blade." Fae snapped at him. She was beginning to get rather offended at his distaste of her kin. Reluctantly, Thorin held on to the sword, and gave Fae an apologetic look. She just turned on her heel and stomped out of the cave. Thorin sighed. His mood had become almost as rank as the cave itself, and he yearned for sunlight. "Let's get out of this foul place. Come on, let's go. Bofur! Gloin! Nori!"