The Northern Mountains

~Eleven~

eleven

"If there are trolls down here so close to sunrise, then there has to be a troll hoard somewhere close." Jon wheezed from beneath the white direwolf, his voice slightly muffled by the dense soft fur of the animal.

Gandalf nodded and he and the rest of the dwarves started to search.

Hartlyn moved to Ghost and her soulmate with Morrigan shadowing her steps. The immortal witch bit her lip to hold in her laugh of amusement. She held out her hand to the male wolf and he rose, burying his nose into Harry's palm.

"Good boy," the Mistress said, using her other hand to stroke the animal's forehead then kissing his brow. Behind her, his counterpart whined at the attention, wanting some for herself.

Jon climbed to his feet, sending a small glare at Ghost before moving over to Morrigan and rubbed his knuckles under her chin, making her rumble with pleasure. He turned back to his lover, "Come, my love, no doubt the dwarves are finding themselves in trouble already."

Hartlyn smiled with a raised eyebrow, a twinkle of merriment in her emerald eyes, "Of course."

The two followed the large tracks left by the heavy footed dwarves, their dire wolves slinking back into the shadows of the forest, awaiting further danger.

:3

Jon followed the tracks with his soulmate's hand holding his tightly, running his thumb over her soft fingers. It wasn't clear to why they had gone this way, up a small hill, until the stench of a troll hoard hit them.

"Oh, that's horrid," Hartlyn muttered, holding her other hand to her nose.

"It's disgusting, I know." Jon agreed, his handsome face screwed up with distaste.

As they approached, the voices of their short companions filtered into their ears, "the little mongrels have no idea how to be quiet..."

The King of the North snorted at his Queen's jab. The two turned the corner to see all the dwarves, apart from Thorin who stood by Gandalf, digging around in the valuables taken by the massive creatures slaughtered moments ago.

One dwarf, in particular, seemed to take a certain liking towards a small box, "Seems a shame just to leave it lying around," he being Bofur, told his brother in a funny tone.

Beside him, Nori added as he nodded, "Anyone could take it."

"Agreed. Nori." Gloin called out, finally opening the chest to reveal it filled entirely with gold.

"Yeah?" Nori turned to him.

"Get a shovel."

:3

Hartlyn pushed forward wanting to look herself, leaving Jon at the entrance to watch with his arms crossed and alert. She walked over to the Wizard and the tallest dwarf, who held a sword that glistened even in the dark.

"These swords were not made by any Troll," Thorin murmured, with a crease in his brow as he and Dwalin skimmed through the mass of weapons buried beneath spider webs.

"Nor were they made by any smith among Men. These were forged in Gondolin... by the High Elves of the First Age. You could not wish for a finer blade." Gandalf explained slyly, a tone that seemed too familiar to Hartlyn. But from where...she couldn't remember.