Violet

Chapter 18: That is Our Host

It was late afternoon when Thorin and Gandalf were leading their group through plains and was around late afternoon. Thorin and Company were walking through tall grasses, the sun was nearly setting, and it had to be around four o'clock, by hobbit's standards. She wished the day was over, and Violet always wished that their travelling days were over. In fact, Bilbo had to make sure she was keeping up. They had a moment to catch their breaths, taking their time through the marshes. Their calm walk came to a stop when they heard the sound of roars from a certain bear and the howling of Wargs. Violet and Bilbo grabbed each other's hands.

"This way, quickly!" Gandalf shouted at their wizard resumed to lead them out of the woods. Half of them looked behind and saw a large bear come out from the trees and brushes. The company ran faster, but surprisingly, Bombur was a mega-runner. He outran them all and at the beginning of the line. He was not about to become bear-meat. They were in so much of a panic. Bombur crashed into the locked door, followed by Fíli, Kíli and a couple other Dwarves.

"Come on, get inside!" Gandalf shouted.

"Open the door!" Violet shouted as she shoved through the crowd of dwarves (all of them were attempting to open the door.

"Quickly!" Thorin shouted. The dwarf king shoved through the dwarves, helping Violet lift the latch off the door's handle. Once everyone was inside, most of them tried pushing the door against the bear's weight. Bilbo, frightened, took out his sword. They finally managed to close the door, most of them out of breath.

"What was that?" Ori asked.

"'That' is a who, and he is our host," Gandalf informed the company. Everyone looked at Gandalf if he had grown another head.

"I'm sorry Gandalf, but did you just say that he was our host?" Violet asked skeptically.

"Indeed, Miss Greenhill. His name is Beorn and he is a skin changer. Sometimes he is th..."

"Furrier, a man that calls rabbits conies, when he doesn't turn their skins into squirrels?" Violet asked. Now, everyone was looking at Violet as if she grew a tail between her legs.

"Good heavens, of course he is not Violet Greenhill," Gandalf said. "Sometimes he's a huge black bear; sometimes he's a great strong man. The bear is unpredictable, but the man can be reasoned with. However, he is not over fond of dwarves."

Ori looked in between the crack of the doors and looked back at his kin and friends

"He's leaving!" Ori whispered. His older brother pulled him away from the door.

"Come away from there! It's not natural, none of it," Dori said. He said almost accusingly, "It's obvious: he's under some dark spell."

"Don't be a fool; he's under no enchantment but his own," Gandalf snapped at Dori. Then he looked at the dwarves and the Hobbits. "Alright now, get some sleep, all of you. You'll be safe here tonight."

Violet heard him murmur, "I hope."

It was well into the night when the Company went to sleep. Their hunters were not so lucky. The skin changer, Beorn was guarding his home, to keep it from invaders. They were watching his house, but Beorn was watching them and never left that spot, just moving back and forth.

"Attack them now," Narzug tells the Orc warlord. "Kill the Dwarf filth while they sleep."

"No. The Beast stands guard," Azog ordered. "We will kill them on the road."

The trees and the bushes were rustling, and the orcs alarmed readied their weapons until it revealed a nasty figure of Bolg, son of Azog the Defiler. Like his father, Bolg was ruthless, sadistic, and very bloodthirsty.