Love Takes Flight (Kili Fanfiction - Book 1) - SLOWLY EDITING!!

Chapter 10 - Apologies and the Troll Cave

The Trolls stripped us of our clothing, leaving us only in our underclothes. They tied a couple of us up in giant sacks, then put the others on a rotator above the fire.

"Don't bother cooking them! Let's just sit on them and squash them into jelly."

"They should be sautéed and grilled with a sprinkle of sage."

"That does sound quite nice."

"Never mind the seasoning. We ain't got all night. Dawn ain't far away. Let's get a move on. I don't fancy being turned to stone." I had been struggling to break free of the sack I was in, but when he mentioned dawn, I froze.

"Wait!" I yelled, struggling to stand up. "You are making a terrible mistake. I meant with the seasoning." I hopped over to where they stood, rotating the Dwarves.

"What about the seasoning?"

"Well, have you smelt them? You're gonna need something stronger than sage before you plate this lot up." The Dwarves at my feet glared up at me.

"What do you know about cooking Dwarf?"

"Shut up. Let the flurgaburbur talk."

"The secret to cooking Dwarf is," I said slowly, struggling to think of something, "is...to skin them first." The Dwarves starting yelling at me.

"Tom, get me filleting knife." Well, that plan didn't work.

"What a load of rubbish! I've eaten plenty with their skins on." A movement caught my eye and I saw that it was Gandalf. I was brought back to what was going on when one of the Trolls picked Bombur up off the ground.

"No, not that one! He's infected! He's got worms in his tubes." The Troll dropped Bombur back on the ground and I continued, "In fact, they all have. They're infested with parasites. It's a terrible business. I wouldn't risk it. I really wouldn't." The Dwarves at my feet started yelling at me, saying that they didn't have parasites and I glared down at them. There was a thud and Kili grunted. All the Dwarves were quiet before starting on a rant about how they have huge parasites.

"What would you have us do then? Let them all go?" I shrugged my shoulder. "You think I don't know what you're up to? This little ferret is taking us for fools."

"The dawn will take you all!" Gandalf yelled from atop a boulder. He brought his staff down on it, cracking it in half and revealing the bright sunlight. The Trolls cried out as they started hardening, their skin turning to stone. I stared at the stone Trolls, amazed, as the Dwarves started laughing and cheering. Gandalf helped us all out of our sacks and we started slowly dressing.

"Where did you go to, if I may ask?" I heard Thorin ask Gandalf as I stood by one of the Trolls, braiding small braids into my hair.

"To look ahead."

"What brought you back?"

"Looking back. Nasty business. Still, they're all in one piece," Gandalf said, looking around and noticing me standing there. Thorin wasn't able to see me.

"No thanks to your burglar."

"She had the sense to play for time. None of the rest of you thought of that." Thorin stayed quiet and Gandalf changed the subject. "They must have come down from the Ettenmoors."

"Since when do Mountain Trolls venture this far south?"

"Not for an age. Not since a darker power ruled these lands. They could not have moved in daylight."

"There must be a cave nearby." My head whipped around and I started following Gandalf and Thorin as they searched for the cave. Finding it, I sniffed the air and quickly covered my nose.

"What's that stench?" I asked.

"It's a Troll-hoard." I could feel the nausea and I moved away from the opening of the cave until I found fresh air. Sitting down against the rock wall, I pulled my knees up to my chest, looking around. I felt someone sit down next to me and when I turned my head, I saw Kili looking out too.

We sat there in silence for a minute before he cleared his throat, "I'm sorry about earlier. I was just worried about you getting hurt. Or worse." His eyes flicked to mine and I could see sadness in them. I grabbed his hand, entwining our fingers together and pulling it towards me to rest on top of my knee. "I thought you were going to die when those trolls had a hold of your arms and legs. It would kill me if something happened to you, Almi. Not to mention I made a promise." I smiled, remembering our conversation in Bilbo's bedroom and the new nickname he had for me. It was cute.

"Well, I'm sorry, too. For being such a jerk.  I shouldn't have yelled at you like that, I just didn't like that you were trying to stop me from helping. That's exactly what my father did when Erebor was attacked and I wanted to help. I don't like being controlled." He chuckled and we sat in silence again. I was drawing small circles on the back on his hand when Thorin came out of the cave followed by other Dwarves and Gandalf.

"Almithara!" Gandalf called for me. Kili and I reluctantly let go of each other's hand and I went over to where Gandalf stood, holding out a sword. "Here, this is about your size."

"I can't take this," I insisted.

"The blade is of Elvish make, which means," I cut him off, knowing what it meant.

"It will glow blue when Orcs or Goblins are nearby. But Gandalf, I haven't used a sword in almost two hundred years," I confessed.

"And I hope that you never have to again. But if you do, remember this: True courage is about knowing not when to take a life, but when to spare one."

"Something's coming!" Thorin yelled, alerting us all.

I OWN NOTHING BUT MY CHARACTER!!