21

The Company had traveled all day long during the poor weather, much to their dissatisfaction. Oin grumbled as he emptied the water out of his hearing aid, while Dori complained to Gandalf about the deluge. Fili and Kili shivered in their clothes, which were entirely soaked through, as they talked and played games to pass the time. Bilbo, as questioning as always, had struck up a conversation with the wizard about others of his kind.

Thorin and Talia rode on ahead of the Company, listening to their chatter and thinking of their conversation of the evening before. Thorin could not understand how Talia remained so strong, and Talia could not understand how Thorin could hold so tightly onto the past. However, they both had made their peace, and they led to Company in a comfortable silence. Snapping back to reality, Talia nearly fell off her horse after hearing Bilbo unknowingly insult the Grey Wizard. She laughed so loud that she threw her head back, her hood falling to her shoulders. Her hair became soaking wet, and her mouth was open so wide that she could taste the rain. Thorin thought Mahal himself had heard her, though she had never looked more beautiful to him than in that moment.

Eventually, the storm cleared, and the Company approached an abandoned house, though it was far from ordinary. Gandalf and Talia rode closer to the home, taking in the broken frames and torn shingles. They exchanged a look, knowing that whatever occurred here had been, and could still be, a dangerous threat.

But before they could interject, Thorin spoke up. "We'll camp here for the night." Their leader said, dismounting his steed and passing the reigns to his nephew. "Fili, Ki­li, look after the ponies. Make sure you stay with them."

"A farmer and his family used to live here." Gandalf murmured softly to himself. He ran his hands along the ruined doorway with Talia in tow, her gaze following his upon the action.

"Oin, Gloin."

"Aye?"

"Get the fire going."

"Right you are."

"I think it would be wiser to move on." Gandalf interrupted, turning to face Thorin. "We could make for the Hidden Valley." He suggested, moving closer to the King. Talia watched their conversation progress as she leaned on the remnants of a stone chimney, her eyes narrowing from the borders of the shadows.

"But I've told you already. I will not go near that place." Thorin rebuffed, his voice firm.

"Why not? The Elves could help us." Gandalf asked, not willing to give into the pigheadedness of the dwarves. "We could get food, rest, advice."

"I do not need their advice."

"We have a map that we cannot read. Lord Elrond could help us."

Talia considered both the words of her husband and friend, her eyes shifting between each character. She hadn't even known there were instructions to be deciphered, and now that she knew her husband had blatantly ignored them, she knew that Gandalf was right. She understood where Thorin's hatred of Elves came from, for she had felt a similar pain from their actions on that fateful day. But it would be foolish to deny themselves the wisdom of Elrond, Lord of Rivendell, especially when they needed it most.

"Elrond's people were not the Elves that betrayed us." Talia began, lifting herself off the stone and walking forward. "If going to Rivendell will aid our quest, then we must not throw away such help."

"Help?" Thorin asked, his voice low in warning. "Talia, they will not help us. A dragon attacks Erebor. What help came from the Elves? Orcs plunder Moria, desecrate our sacred halls. The Elves looked on and did nothing!"

"Thorin!" Talia snapped, her green eyes stormy. "The only people that betrayed us were those of the Woodland Realm. The Silvan Elves are less wise and more dangerous than their counterparts. Those that reside within the Hidden Valley, however, are different. We must go to Lord Elrond."

"You forget that they did not show their face when we needed aid, either. Though Thranduil turned his back on our people, Elrond did not so much as spare a glance in our direction. I watched as all Elves alike let us burn. You ask me to seek out the very people who betrayed my grandfather, who betrayed my father."

"You are neither of them." Gandalf pressed, his brow furrowing in great annoyance. "I did not give you that map and key for you to hold on to the past."

Thorin looked up, his blue eyes churning with anger akin to the great waves of the sea. "I did not know they were yours to keep."

Gandalf huffed, storming off in enormous frustration as he pitched his staff forward with every other step. Thorin and Talia watched him go, stepping out of the broken-down house. He spared a glance in her direction, but she could only roll her eyes at him and walk back towards camp.

"Everything alright?" Bilbo asked, concerned. Though he hadn't heard the conversation, he had heard it's volume. "Gandalf, where are you going?"

"To seek the company of the only one around here who's got any sense."

"And who's that?"

"Myself, Master Baggins!" Gandalf retorted, retreating outside the borders of the camp and disappearing into the woods. "I've had enough of dwarves for one day."

...

"Thorin, we need answers." Talia sighed, letting her arm swing to her side as it held the map. A few hours later, the Company sat in the dark close to the firelight, happily scarfing down the soup Bombur had cooked for them. However, the King and Queen had stepped aside to confer about the prior matter, since Thorin wouldn't quit asking her to voice her opinion. Talia tried to make him see reason, choosing the high road despite her annoyance with him. She didn't even point out that she had done so before and that he had rejected it, which was progress for the both of them.

"And we will get them."

"How? Who else would willingly give up such information? Who is even left in Middle Earth that still reads Ancient Dwarvish, for starters?"

"Talia..."

"If this map was treasured by your ancestors so greatly, then the information within must be vital to our quest. Put your stubbornness aside, Thorin. It will be your downfall." She said, holding out the map to him.

Thorin took it, looking away and tucking it in the breast of his coat. As their conversation dwindled down, they took notice of other whispers within the camp, specifically those of their hobbit and nephews.

"What's the matter?" Bilbo asked, crouching between Fili and Kili as he held two bowls of soup out for dinner.

"We're supposed to be looking after the ponies."

"Only we've encountered a slight problem."

"We had sixteen."

"Now there's fourteen."

"What? Well, that's not good." Bilbo tilted his head, frowning and nodding at his astute observation. "Not good at all. Shouldn't we tell Thorin?"

Talia watched from Thorin's side as they whispered, her gaze narrowing as the hobbit disappeared into the shadows and left the camp. At this point, Thorin had struck up conversation with Balin about the map and the wizard, so he did not notice his wife rise. Sneaking behind some members of the Company, she reached her nephews, placing both of her hands on their shoulders as they jumped.

"Mahal, Auntie!" Fili exclaimed, his heart racing from shock.

"Where did Bilbo just go?"

Fili looked away from her eyes and scratched his head, while Kili took a sudden interest in the stars. Talia rolled her eyes for what felt like the fifteenth time today, pinching their ears and leading them deeper into the forest and out of earshot of the Company.

"Boys? Must I ask again?" Her voice lowered as she released them from her grip, putting an end to their incessant yelping.

"Well, we were watching the ponies, and..."

"And?"

"A few went missing. We thought, since Bilbo's our official burglar and all, it'd be best if he looked into it." Kili explained, realizing how dumb the idea was now that he said it to his aunt.

Talia shook her head, whacking them both on the arm. Kili yelped again, but Fili just took it, knowing it was well deserved. "Come on. We'd best go get him."

The Queen led the princes deeper into the wood, the three of them silent as they followed Bilbo's trail. Within minutes, they found the source of their pony problem and the location of their burglar, all in one place.

Three monstrous trolls sat around a roaring fire, one holding a large pot of Mahal knows what over the heat. They were easily the height of the boulder beside them when standing, and their hands were big enough to clutch a dwarf as if it were a doll. Their gray, leathery skin was almost entirely bare, aside from their loincloths and the apron that the cook among them wore. They were mumbling and grumbling about their hunger, and Talia knew immediately what had happened to those that had resided within the abandoned home.

"Trolls." Kili watched their mannerisms closely, intrigued and delighted by the prospect of adventure.

However, Talia's eye had caught on another figure. She pointed towards their hobbit, who was reaching for one troll's blade. "More importantly, Bilbo."

But before the three dwarves could act, the troll closest to Bilbo began to sneeze, reaching behind him to grab a rag for his nose. Instead, he grabbed the hobbit himself, much to both the dwarves' and Bilbo's horror.

Looking down at his hand, the troll took in the burglar, covered from head to toe in snot. He screamed in shock, nearly dropping Bilbo and jostling him around in the process. "Blimey! Bert! Bert, look what's come out of me hooter! It's got arms and legs and everything!"

"What is it?" The troll named Bert asked.

"I don't know, but I don't like the way it wriggles around."

"What are you, then? An oversized squirrel?"

"I'm a burgla—" But Bilbo thought twice about his word choice, not wanting to be caught stealing from trolls. "Hobbit!"

"A burglahobbit?"

"Can we cook him?"

"We can try!"

Talia growled as Bilbo slipped from the troll's grasp, dodging outstretched hands looking to grab him and heavy feet that could crush him. Her nephews looked to her quickly, understanding the direness of the scene before them.

"What do we do?" Kili asked, returning his gaze back to the frantically running hobbit.

"Fili, get your uncle. Kili and I will stall them. Go!" Talia pushed her nephew back towards camp, sparing a glance as he raced away behind her.

Then, she and Kili broke the forest line, both screaming as they slashed one of the troll's legs. The troll fell to the ground, screeching as it held it's injury. Talia and Kili stopped their attack momentarily, now that they were known to the trolls. They exchanged a grin, both proceeding to twirl their swords through the air and ready them for more combat.

"Drop him!" Kili yelled, the trolls staring at them in shock.

"You what?"

"He said, drop him." Talia asserted, narrowing her green eyes at them.

"Is that a lady burglahobbit, Willie?" Bert asked, looking to the dominant one of their lot.

"No, that's a dwarf."

"Then where's it's beard?"

"Ladies don't got beards, you blockhead!"

"What does it matter? It's edible, ain't it?"

Talia rolled her eyes to Kili, who nearly had the audacity to laugh at the situation. In their argument, the trolls had gotten distracted, and it seemed like they had forgotten the dwarves were there. Ordinarily, the two would've taken their leave, but the fact that the troll who had been incorrect about dwarrodams still held Biblo firmly in his grip kept them there.

"OI!" Talia yelled, the three trolls swinging their gazes back to her clumsily. "In case you forgot, you still hold our burglahobbit in your hands!"

"And why should we give him back, exactly?"

That's when Talia threw her dagger directly at one troll's head, causing him to squeal in pain. It looked down to see a ruby-encrusted hilt sticking out of his nose, the toothpick-sized blade buried into his flesh.

"Because I said so."

"Alright," The troll who held Bilbo said, watching as his friend picked the weapon out of his skin and flicked it aside. "Then you can have him."

The troll tossed Bilbo to Kili, who promptly caught the Hobbit, but both of them tumbled to the ground upon impact. Just as the trolls lunged forward, taking their chance to capture all three of them, Thorin and the Company broke the forest line, rushing into battle behind them. The great dwarven warriors darted around the clearing, ducking under arms as they sliced through leathery skin. Talia had retrieved her dagger amidst the fight and was now right by Thorin's side. She proceeded to slice off the thumb of one troll as she threw a knife at the eye of another, successfully embedding it within the socket.

"Took you long enough!" Talia called to him over her shoulder, glancing back as he cut straight through one troll's calf. Then, she scaled the arm of her current target with unparalleled grace, wrenching her knife from the troll's eye and kicking him straight in the face as a few teeth came loose. She backflipped and landed right next to Thorin and Dwalin as they fought another troll.

"Show-off!" Dwalin roared, causing Thorin to smirk at their banter. Being back on the battlefield alongside one another felt natural to the dwarves. They were enjoying themselves far too much to be anything but the warriors they had been all of their lives. Though they were also fighting, other members of the Company spared glances at the three of them, taking in their skill with awe. Fili and Kili were especially interested in that of their kin, and exchanged smiles when they saw their uncle cut a troll's pinky clean off.

"There's a reason they call me the Butcher of Beasts!" Talia replied, hearing Dwalin's laugh as she sliced through the skin of a toe.

But all chaos froze around them as Kili noticed two dwarves clenching Bilbo in their grip, holding him by the arms and legs. The prince moved forward, but Thorin pulled him back, knowing that those trolls had enough strength to kill Bilbo in just one movement.

"Lay down your arms!" The troll called William began, eyeing Talia as blood spurted from his nose. "Or we'll rip his off!"

Thorin grumbled as he exchanged a glance with his wife, who drove her sword into the dirt simultaneously with his. The Company did the same, some throwing down their weapons more violently than others. If Talia hadn't been so annoyed, she would've had half the mind to laugh at Kili's overtly childish reaction.

Ten minutes later, half of the Company were being held in cloth sacks, while the other half were being roasted on the troll's spit. Thorin sat in his sack, trying to pull the strings loose with his teeth. He had no idea how to get the dwarves out of their predicament. He could only hope that Gandalf would return with something up his sleeve, which he knew was slim based on their earlier conversation. Still, it was the only chance they had.

Meanwhile, Talia groaned as Dori's foot once again shifted on her back, his boot digging right into her shoulder blades. Noticing her discomfort, he mumbled an apology amidst the other cries of the Company, but it didn't matter. She was still uncomfortable because she was tied to a spit, literally being roasted alive. Then, she remembered the dawn that was coming, and knew that it was the Company's escape. All she needed was a way to free the dwarves before then, in addition to something to buy time before they were cooked alive. Trying to do so as inconspicuously as she could, she wiggled her hands down to her side and tried to reach another one of her daggers. She would free the dwarves; all she needed was a distraction.

She sighed as she heard the trolls talking about seasoning, knowing she didn't have much time. Then, Bilbo's eyes caught hers, seeing her action. Before the spit forced their gaze apart, she mouthed her message to their burglahobbit. Distract them, Bilbo. I need time.

And he would give it to her.

"Wait! You are making a terrible mistake!" Bilbo said, nearly tripping as he stood within the cloth sack that held him.

"You can't reason with them, they're half-wits!"

"Half-wits?" Bofur murmured to himself. "What does that make us?"

The trolls' attention turned to Bilbo, who thought of an excuse as quickly as he could. "I meant with the, with the... with the seasoning."

"What about the seasoning?"

As Bilbo talked, Talia finally reached her dagger, beginning to saw her way through the many ropes that bound her. Because she was so close to the trolls, she had to be extremely discreet, and the time that Bilbo was giving her was the only way her escape had been possible. Thorin, however, eyed the hobbit that he had doubted since the beginning. He wondered why the hobbit was choosing to speak up now, of all the times and places. But anyone could see that they were running out of time before they were eaten alive, and just as one troll picked up Bombur in a meaty gray hand, Thorin understood.

"N-not that one," Bilbo yelled. "He's infected!"

"You what?"

"Yeah, he's got worms in his... tubes."

The troll scowled in disgust, dropping Bombur down with a THUD on three other dwarves.

"In-in fact, they all have. They're infested with parasites." Bilbo built his narrative, finally developing a lie that would actually keep them alive. "It's a terrible business. I wouldn't risk it, I really wouldn't."

"Parasites? Did he say parasites?" Oin yelled, insulted.

"Yeah, we don't have parasites! You have parasites!"

Talia shot Thorin a glare as their nephew began to ruin Bilbo's plan. That was when he saw one of her hands wriggling free, a small smile coming to his face. She grinned back at him, jutting her chin out towards Kili. Then, Thorin dealt a swift kick to Kili's shin, causing all of them to fall silent as they realized what Bilbo was up to.

"I've got parasites as big as my arm!"

"Mine are the biggest parasites! I've got huge parasites!"

But then the leader of the three trolls turned to Bilbo, narrowing his eyes at the burglahobbit. "What would you have us do, then? Let 'em all go?"

"Well..."

"Good thing you don't have to." Talia swung herself over the fire and back up to the edge of the spit, holding onto the rope that used to hold her immobile. She was balancing on top of the contraption that held one side of the spit up, eyeing the three monstrous trolls with a ridiculously large grin on her face. "I've got that covered."

Then, Talia kicked the device and broke the contraption, sending the dwarves rolling towards the other members of the Company. The trolls roared in anger as the dwarves screamed in fear, colliding with their brothers and cousins in one big pile. The trolls swiped at the air blindly, looking for the female burglahobbit that had managed to get free.

Talia rushed back to the pile of their weapons, looking back to see that one of the three trolls had followed her kin. Catching Fili's eye, she threw the only blade she had directly at his shoulder, embedding it just close enough to the prince to cut the seam of his cloth sack. Fili reached through the hole and grabbed the blade, grinning as he set to work freeing himself and the others.

But just as Talia reached her sword, the two remaining trolls cornered her against the boulder. She sighed, wondering how the hell she was going to get herself out of this. Then, craning her head upwards to look to the top of the stone, she found her answer.

"The dawn will take you all!" Gandalf announced, staff in hand.

"Who's that?"

"No idea."

"Can we eat him, too?"

Then, Gandalf thrust his staff on the stone, cracking the boulder in half in such a perfect pattern that Talia's spine molded with the fracture. The left side of the boulder fell aside upon impact, allowing sunlight to stream through and hit the trolls' skin. She literally fell through the hole, rolling backwards uncontrollably as the trolls screamed in pain. A searing sound came from their skin, and the dwarves watched in amazement as they changed, although Talia was still rolling backwards behind them. Finally, the once mobile trolls were reduced to the rock that had been their downfall.

Once the transformation was complete, the dwarves cheered at their success. Those who had gotten free from Talia's dagger were pumping their fists in the air, while the others sat and marveled at the teamwork of the wizard and their Queen.

Thorin went to Talia first, who still lay on the green grass that was littered with sunlight. As much as her hair was a mess and her features were in a daze, probably from all the rolling, he still smiled at the sight. Picking her head up from the ground, she snorted, a small yellow flower flying from her nostril. Thorin clutched his stomach and laughed as she grabbed his hand, standing with her husband's help. The Company watched from afar and grinned at the sound of their leader's laughter, exchanging merry looks.

Thorin pulled her close to him with their intertwined hands, brushing his thumb over her face and neck as he checked for injuries. He was still grinning wider than all of Middle Earth. "You alright, Buttercup?"

She laughed at her husband, leaning in for a quick kiss. The Company began to hoot and holler at their King and Queen, even after they broke apart.

"I'm dandy, Thorin. Just dandy."