Disclaimer: I do not own anything associating with The Hobbit or the Lord of the Rings. That honor goes to the creators. Only Kelda, Sitheiyra and the Sky Folk can be credited to me.

Okay, so I've had a few mentions that people liked the way I ended the last chapter, with the comment about the strawberries. I'm glad you all found it amusing; I added it last minute and I was entirely unsure of it. Thank you also for the continuous support!

Now I apologize if the fight in this chapter seems a little choppy. I haven't yet caught the hang of fight scenes, but I did my best. Let me know what you think! :-)

Sitheiyra landed lightly on the ground nearby the abandoned farmhouse ruins that the company had chosen to camp by and Kelda hopped off of the gryphon's back, her mood greatly improved since the rain had stopped some hours ago. The skyling woman hummed to herself as she undid the straps that held the saddle and battle-armor onto the sleek black gryphon, listening to Thorin give marching orders to the lads as she did.

"We'll have to ask our fearless leader before I let you go," Kelda said to the gryphon as she pulled the shimmering silver helm from Sitheiyra's head. "Considering you're as much a part of the company as I am I'm sure he'll want to know where you're off to, as per usual."

I'm certain he'll understand, Sitheiyra answered as she stretched forward like a cat, her lethal curved talons reaching out in front of her. Unlike the rest of you, I cannot survive on stew and salted meat. I've said as much before.

"Well obviously I know that, but sometimes I think he forgets."

Ask, then, so I might be on my way, the gryphon answered with mild impatience, shaking out her long wings. Kelda smiled, patting her old friend on the neck before turning and heading toward the farmhouse, where she thought she had seen Thorin head with Gandalf.

Kelda made her way across the camp to where the ruined farmhouse stood, humming an old dwarvish folk song to herself as she went. The dwarves had spread out over the camp, as they often did, and were either talking among themselves, preparing their bedrolls or doing whatever task Thorin had set for them, but as she passed them they were still certain to acknowledge her with a greeting or a wave of the hand. She smiled fondly at each of them, reciprocating their greetings; the longer she was among them the more they became like family.

"I do not need their advice," the skyling heard Thorin say gruffly as she approached the farmhouse. She stopped just before the entrance, unsure whether or not she should interrupt.

"We have a map that we cannot read," Gandalf replied to Thorin, doing his best to calmly persuade the dwarf of the truth of his words. Kelda was quite certain nothing would change; she'd heard the wizard attempt this conversation several other times since they set off. "Lord Elrond could help us."

"Help?" Thorin growled back. "A dragon attacks Erebor, what help came from the Elves? Orcs plunder Moria, desecrate our sacred halls, the Elves looked on and did nothing. You ask me to seek out the very people who betrayed my grandfather and betrayed my father."

"You are neither of them. I did not give you that map and key for you to hold on to the past."

"I did not know that they were yours to keep."

Obviously having had enough of trying to argue with the stubborn dwarf, Gandalf stormed off angrily, going right past the skyling standing there as he headed out of the camp. The rest of the company watched him go, including Bilbo who called after the wizard.

"Is everything alright?" The hobbit asked as Gandalf passed him. "Gandalf, where are you going?"

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

"Who's that?"

"Myself, Mr. Baggins!" Gandalf shouted back over his shoulder, his foul mood showing. "I've had enough of dwarves for one day."

As the wizard disappeared into the surrounding wilderness, Kelda sighed and shook her head before heading in to where Thorin still stood. The dwarf's stubbornness was going to be the death of him, she thought. Of course, she wasn't really one to judge; the same was often said about her.

"Come on, Bombur, we're hungry," Thorin called to the large dwarf cooking over the fire; their fair leader was seemingly unconcerned by Gandalf's departure. Thorin glanced at Kelda then, looking her over suspiciously as if he half expected her to start arguing with him about the elves as well. It was true, she had half a mind to do exactly that, but at the moment she had something else to bring up with him that she deemed more important.

"Sith would like your permission to leave the camp to hunt tonight," the skyling said, doing her best to look as passive as possible, despite the fact that she wished to challenge him about his decision. She was hoping that he would either not notice or, if he did, that he would ignore it.

"Hm. Very well," he answered somewhat shortly. "She'll return in the morning?"

"She always does," Kelda said distractedly as she reached out to the gryphon across the camp. Go on ahead, Sith. Just be careful.

I am always careful. Will you be alright to deal with the Mountain King on your own, little one? He seems to be in quite the combative mood.

Oh, yes, I think I can manage. As everyone seems to enjoy reminding me, I'm the one he likes, remember?

I remember. Very well, then, I will return before the company leaves in the morning, the gryphon answered, beating her wings and lifting off into the air. Kelda looked up in time to see Sitheiyra glide past the farmhouse, over the heads of the rest of the company. He's watching you, she added as she flew out of sight.

"She'll be happy to get out on her own for a bit," Kelda said conversationally, glancing over to find that Thorin was indeed watching her. She couldn't help but fidget under his intense gaze; he always seemed so focused when he looked at her like that. She wondered what he was thinking.

"You have an opinion on the elves," the dwarf said after a moment, keeping his gaze on her to observe her reaction. Kelda glanced back at him and then shrugged her slender shoulders, keeping an entirely casual demeanor.

"Yes, maybe, but seeing as I'm in a fairly good mood right now and I really have no wish to fight with you at the moment, I believe I will keep it to myself."

"You think I'll fight with you?"

Kelda simply arched an eyebrow at him in answer, a look to which he responded with a small huff of amusement and the slightest of smiles. Success! Once again she had safely navigated one of Thorin's foul moods. She found she was quite skilled at it. The skyling hummed victoriously, shuffling her wings as she looked back out at the camp and then to the trees beyond it. She and Sitheiyra had seen a stream coming down from the mountains when they'd first passed by and Kelda found herself wondering if it might be warm enough for her to go bathe herself in.

"There's a mountain spring just a five minute or so walk over the ridge," she said to Thorin, pointing so he knew where she was talking about. "I think I'm going to go and wash; all this dirt and grime is bad for the feathers. I'll be there if you need me, alright?"

"Very well," she heard him reply as she began to walk off. "Do not stray any farther than that, Kelda, and do not stay overlong."

"Yes, mother," she called back cheerfully, letting out a light laugh when she heard him grumble at her facetious response.

Kelda hummed quietly to herself as she made her way back over the ridge, running her hands over her still slightly damp plumage; she felt more refreshed now than she had for quite a while. The cool, crystal waters of the spring had soothed her aches and washed away the dust and muck, leaving her clean, invigorated and cheerful. She was looking forward to filling her stomach and bullshitting with the lads. Of course, she'd stayed far longer than she had intended; she'd lost track of time and evening had changed into night. No doubt she was going to get an earful from Thorin about it. She was more than willing to deal with his attitude now that she was clean, of course, but as she got closer to the camp something caught her attention and pulled her from her thoughts.

It was the quiet that was bothering her. She couldn't hear anything beyond the sound of the night, no voices or laughter or any other thing. Immediately concerned, the skyling picked up her pace, jogging back to the camp only to find it entirely empty. Neither the dwarves nor the hobbit were anywhere to be seen, but all of their belongings remained…everything besides their weapons. Alarm shooting through her, Kelda strained her senses, trying to pick up any sign of where they might have gone. It only took her a moment of concentration before she finally heard it; the faint sound of very unhappy dwarves coming from somewhere in the trees beyond. Without a moment's hesitation Kelda snatched up her staff from the ground and dashed in the direction of their voices.

The state she found her companions in was, frankly, pitiful. Several of the dwarves had been tied to a large branch and were being roasted on a spit over the fire. The rest of them, Bilbo included, were in sacks on the ground. They were all still alive, thankfully. Unfortunately, though, so were their captors. As Kelda crouched in the underbrush, she counted three large mountain trolls in the clearing, sitting around the fire discussing how they should go about eating the dwarves. The skyling shifted her weight slightly, her lips pinching together; these were not good odds. She'd faced down trolls before, but in those previous encounters either the troll had been alone or she'd had backup. Taking on three full grown trolls all by her lonesome was not something she was looking forward to, but what choice did she have? She couldn't very well sit there and let them eat her friends.

"You found them!" Kelda exclaimed as she moved out of the underbrush and into the open clearing, garnering the attention of both the trolls and the company. She really wished that she had a better plan, or really any plan at all, but she didn't. As per usual she'd have to make do and wing it.

"Say what?" One of the trolls said as they all turned to her. She ignored the calls of warning from the dwarves as she looked up at the trolls with a smile, hoping to the gods that the dumb brutes would ignore how she slowly spun her staff in her right hand. She had to keep them going long enough to gather as much energy in the staff as possible.

"You found my idiots!" The skyling motioned to the dwarves with her free hand, to help the trolls understand what she was talking about. Even in their current situation, the dwarves managed to take offense at her comment, shouting and arguing in protest. Kelda continued to ignore them. "They're always wandering off getting into trouble. I thought I'd lost them all for sure this time. Thank you for finding them for me!"

"Idits? What's an idit?" The troll who had a lazy eye asked before looking off toward one of his companions. "I thought you said they are dwarves, Bert!"

"Oh, no you misunderstand, they are dwarves," Kelda interjected, still steadily spinning her war staff as she took a few steps closer, trying to position herself in the best way before the trolls came for her, and she knew they soon would. "They're dwarf idiots. You know, the kind that go running off to battle without their War-Mage. It's a terrible affliction, idiocy, it really is and I don't want to burden you with them any longer, so might I have my idiots back now, please?"

"Why would we do that?" The third companion to Lazy-Eye and Bert said, eyeing Kelda suspiciously. "We found them, so they're ours now, and we're going to eat them!"

"Yeah…and that one looks like it might be tasty too! Just pluck the feathers off of it; it might taste like a chicken!"

"Now, fellas," Kelda said as she shifted to a wider and more powerful stance. "There's no need-"

"That's right! It's only just a mouthful, but it's more than nothing." Bert said to Lazy-Eye, starting to move around the fire towards Kelda. The little woman simply stood where she was, calmly watching the trolls move themselves so they might capture her. She concentrated on the sound her staff made as it swung by her head at an ever quickening speed, picking up momentum as the heavy hematite orb at the top rushed through the air.

"Very well," Kelda said, her voice eerily cold, a sudden and obvious change compared to her earlier friendliness. "If this is to end in blood, then so be it."

As the trolls closed in and the dwarves could be heard yelling and trying to pull out of their various bonds to try and help her, Kelda raised her whirling battle-staff in the air before slamming its end down on the ground with a snarl. The moment the staff hit the earth a blast of force rushed out from it, staggering the trolls, pushing them back and tripping one up altogether so that he fell with a ground-shaking thud. Dirt flew as Kelda ripped the bladed end of her staff out of the forest floor and swung it toward the nearest troll as she began her deadly dance.

The skyling's steps were light and fluid as she whirled, a mix of flashing blade, heavy swinging stone and blasts of fire and force that danced around and between the trolls. Her small size made it easier for her to dodge their grasping hands and stomping feet. She answered every attempt to grab her with a slash of her staff blade or a blast of fire and was rewarded with blood and cries of pain every time, but she knew that she wasn't going to be able to keep this up with three giant opponents. Not for much longer at any rate. Kelda had been hoping that maybe one of the dwarves might be able to escape and free the others to take up arms, or perhaps that Gandalf or Sitheiyra would appear, but it seemed that she would have no such luck. She would have to last for as long as possible and pray that something would happen in the interim that would tip the encounter in her favor.

Sliding beneath one of the trolls' swinging fists, Kelda sang a few notes, releasing a shield enchantment that she had stored in her pendant earlier on the journey for just such an occasion. A shimmering barrier of force sprang up around her, its light casting the dark forest and the figures within in an eerie green glow; she hoped it would allow her to take more hits and make her ability to fight last longer. The war-mage wasn't about to sit there and wait to find out, though, and as Lazy-Eye charged at her with a roar of frustration, she rolled beneath him, jumping to her feet behind him in just enough time to leap over the thick arm the third troll attempted to clobber her with, using him as a springboard in order to jump up and slam Bert in the face with her staff's stone head. Bert placed his hand over his bashed in nose and, with a bellow of outrage, he swung his arm out to hit Kelda's barrier with immense force. The energy shield buzzed at the impact and Kelda was flung to the ground, getting the air knocked out of her lungs as she landed. She was otherwise unharmed, though; the shield, while pretty badly cracked, had done its job and softened the blow for her, but it probably wouldn't take another hit like that. She had to get up and moving again before one of the trolls took another swing at her.

The thought came a little too late, though, and by the time Kelda had regained enough of her breath to get moving again Bert was slamming his fist down at her. Eyes wide, Kelda forced herself to roll to the side as the troll's arm came down, shattering the barrier and hitting the ground where she had been only a moment before. Spotting her staff laying a foot or so away, the skyling girl scrambled to her feet and reached out to try and grab the weapon, but before she was able to something hit her hard from behind, sending her flying across the clearing and right into the trunk of one of the trees. Her vision flashed white with pain upon impact and she ended up on her back on top of the pile of sacked dwarves beneath the tree. Kelda could hear the voices of her dwarves and hobbit calling to her, but wasn't able to respond before the world went black.

Sound was the first thing to come back to her. It was just a mind numbing buzz at first, everything mashed together into one loud, persistent noise that forced her mind awake. It was only after a moment of listening to the white noise that she was finally able to differentiate one sound from another. She recognized the voices of her dwarves first, protesting and cursing as they tried to free themselves from their bindings. She could hear the trolls after that, the crackling of their cooking fire drowning out most of what they were saying. Or maybe it was the crackling going on inside her head that was drowning them out, the sound that reminded her how hard of a hit she had taken.

That was when her feeling returned and as a sharp, thudding pain rushed through her Kelda really wished that it hadn't. She was unable to keep a groan from escaping her lips as she attempted to shift herself, causing a whole new wave of pain to wash over her. The skyling did her best to ignore it as she tried to assess her current situation. She had been sacked. She could tell as much without bothering to look. Sacked and tied up like some sort of game animal and dropped on top of her other bound friends, who were still growling and cursing and shouting, as angry dwarves were known to do. Kelda arched her back as she tried to shift her wings out from under her.

"You're all idiots," she breathed, though it was more to herself than anything, as she had no reason to believe any of them would hear her over their own hissing and spitting. Of course, they did seem to love proving her wrong.

"Kelda?" She heard Thorin say, his most obviously concerned voice very nearly right in her ear. She couldn't quite stop the relieved breath that escaped her, despite her ridiculous predicament. So he had been the one she'd been dropped on top of? She wasn't really sure how that made anything better, but somehow it did. Maybe it was simply because that meant he hadn't been eaten yet. Kelda shifted herself again, gasping at the shot of pain that went through her as she finally managed to shift her wings out from under her; the brainless brutes hadn't bound her wings. A mistake she'd make them regret, if she could get out of the sack and overcome the pain from what she was almost certain were several shattered ribs.

"You're all a bunch of blithering idiots," she repeated in response to the dwarf king, louder this time so he would be sure to hear it. Kelda clenched her teeth and swallowed the shout of agony that threatened to escape from her as she stretched her wings as far open as she could in the bag. "Go with the dwarves to Erebor, the wizard said. It will be fun, he said. I'll bet he didn't bank on everyone being captured by trolls…"

"Never mind the seasoning; we ain't got all night," Kelda could hear Bert saying to the other two trolls as she did her best to hum the enchantment that would harden her feathers to metal. "Dawn ain't far away, so let's get a move on. I don't fancy being turned to stone."

Being turned to stone? Kelda's eyes widened slightly as she looked to the sky, finding that it was growing ever brighter in the east. Trolls couldn't travel in sunlight, as they would turn to stone by the rays of light. Unfortunately an outcropping of rocks was blocking the sun from reaching the foul creatures.

Somebody would have to do something about that.

"Wait! You are making a terrible mistake," Bilbo said from where he lay nearby in a sack of his own. Kelda, still humming the enchantment, turned her head to see the hobbit somehow manage to stand up in the sack and look up at the trolls.

"You can't reason with them, they're half-wits!" Dori called from the turning spit. As Dori was turned out of view, Bofur came into view of the sacked group on the ground.

"Half-wits? What does that make us?"

"Fucking imbeciles," Kelda muttered when the enchantment finally took and her feathers glimmered and shone in the firelight as they took on their sharp metallic forms. Kelda did her best not to push her steely feathered head against Thorin as she pressed her weaponized wings against the inside of the sack; she would have to cut her way out.

"Uh, I meant with the, uh, with…with the seasoning," Bilbo said as he stood there, a little hobbit facing down three large trolls. Bert turned a suspicious eye to Bilbo as he stirred the soup in the cauldron in front of him.

"What about the seasoning?"

"Well have you smelt them? You're going to need something stronger than sage before you plate up this lot."

Kelda frowned at that, pausing in her sawing to turn her head and give the hobbit a befuddled look. What was he up to? He certainly didn't seem the kind of person to sell out others for the sake of his own hide. Was he, perhaps, trying to play for time? The dwarves, of course, reacted predictably. They shouted and cursed, the ones in the sacks within reach of Bilbo attempting to kick him. Thorin shouted 'Traitor!' at him, seemingly having no problem believing that Bilbo had turned on them. He never had been the most trusting dwarf.

"What do you know about cooking dwarf?" The companion of Lazy-Eye and Bert said to Bilbo, but was dismissed when Bert waved a hand at him.

"Shut up and let the, uh, flurgaburburhobbit talk."

"Uh, th-the secret to cooking dwarf is, um-"

"Yes? Come on," Bert interrupted as Bilbo attempted to come up with an answer. Kelda just continued to saw through the sack, it was tough to cut through the thick material without being able to better position her wings.

"It's, uh-"

"Tell us the secret."

"Ye-yes, I'm telling you, the secret is to…to skin them first!"

At any other time, Kelda probably would have found that comment and the dwarves' reactions to it funny. If they lived through their predicament, she would more than likely laugh about it later. She couldn't quite bring herself to see the humor in it at the moment, however, as the dwarves shouted at Bilbo in anger. She could see Thorin pulling at the lip of the sack with his teeth in a panic; good as the hobbit's intentions may have been, the skyling knew she had to get out and save them all before the trolls actually decided to take Bilbo's advice. As she could hear Bert saying something about a filleting knife, Kelda held back a gasp of pain as her wing finally punched through the side of the sack. Clenching her teeth, she stretched her wing out and up so it sliced through the entirety of the sack before releasing the hold on her feather's metallic forms. She then reached out and grabbed onto one of Thorin's broad shoulders in order to pull herself out of the bag, ending up having to rest for a moment on top of him as she did her best to push back the pain in her chest. Thorin looked up at her and opened his mouth to speak, but Kelda clapped her hand over the royal dwarf's mouth and simply rested her forehead against his briefly, breathing out a soft shushing sound. Hoping he understood that he needed to keep quiet about her movements, she released him and then rolled herself off of him and into the underbrush. She hoped he wouldn't say anything that might give her actions away; the trolls hadn't noticed what she was up to just yet, as they were still too distracted by Bilbo.

"What a load of rubbish!" One of the trolls was saying. "I've eaten plenty with their skins on. Scuff 'em I say, boots and all."

"'E's right! Nothing wrong with a bit of raw dwarf! Nice and crunchy."

Kelda had just about managed to crawl her way to where the trolls had piled everyone's weapons when Lazy Eye reached down and grabbed Bombur, picking him up and dangling the dwarf above his mouth, about to eat him. The skyling threw herself forward in an attempt to clear the distance between her and her war staff before it would be too late to save Bombur. Her fingers were just an inch away from the hard, dark wood when she heard Bilbo shout:

"Not-not that one, he-he's infected!"

"You what?"

"Yes, he's got worms in his…tubes…"

As Kelda heard the troll make a noise of disgust and drop Bombur back onto the ground, she finally managed to get her hand around her war staff and pull it to her, holding it to her chest a moment as she attempted to catch her breath. She glanced over at where Bilbo stood; she admired his bravery, and his quick wit. Nobody else had thought to play for time and wait on the rising sun. Hopefully she'd get a chance to tell him it later.

"In-in fact they all have, they're infested with parasites," Bilbo continued, catching Kelda's eye across the clearing briefly as he did. She could see an imploring 'help me' look flash across his face momentarily before he continued speaking to the trolls. "It's a terrible business; I wouldn't risk it, I really wouldn't."

As Kelda made her way slowly and quietly through the underbrush, trying her best not to draw any attention to herself, she could hear all the dwarves protesting Bilbo's assertion that they all had parasites. She heard Kili, in particular, shout 'We don't have parasites! You have parasites!' over all the other statements of denial. Kelda sighed and shook her head; as much as she loved her dwarves, sometimes they could be a little thick. Luckily, though, it seemed at least one of them had figured out the idea. As Kelda slunk behind the pile of her captured friends, she saw Thorin glance at Bilbo before kicking out at the other dwarves in front of him, causing them to stop, some of them twisting around in the sacks to look at him before they all finally began to catch on.

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

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

As the rest of them began to chime in on the size and amount of parasites they were 'riddled' with, the suspicious companion of Bert and Lazy Eye looked at Bilbo and frowned, his ugly face somehow managing to look uglier.

"What would you have us do, then, let them all go?"

From where Kelda was hidden in the underbrush, trying to figure out the best way to remove the stones blocking the sunlight, she thought she saw the briefest glimpse of a very familiar pointed hat flash between the rocks.

"Well…" Bilbo answered the troll, doing his best to look innocent.

"You think I don't know what you're up to? This little ferret is taking us for fools!"

"Ferret?" Bilbo said, managing to sound offended even in his current precarious situation. Kelda knew that Gandalf was there, somewhere, and up to something, but as the troll reached out to silence the little 'ferret' causing them trouble, the skyling knew she didn't have time to wait. Not knowing whether or not she'd even be able to put up a decent fight in her condition, Kelda sprang from where she had been hidden, twirling her staff and catching the trolls hand with the weapon's serrated blade. Yelping in pain, the troll drew his hand back at glowered at the little woman.

"You," he spat, his voice taking on an angry snarl.

"Me," Kelda replied sharply, managing to stand straight and act like agony wasn't rushing through her every nerve. "You'll not take even one of them. Over my dead body."

The mountain troll snarled, bringing his arm back to smash down on the feathered nuisance that had caused him more pain in one night than he was willing to ignore, but as he went to swing down and Kelda prepared to defend, someone shouting in a loud and authoritative voice stopped them both. Kelda wasn't entirely certain what had been said; all she could hear was her adrenaline filled blood pounding in her ears, but when she turned toward the noise she saw Gandalf standing on top of the outcropping of stones and relief immediately flooded through her.

"Who's that?"

"No idea."

"Can we eat 'im too?"

Before the trolls could gather themselves to do anything more than speak, Gandalf struck the rock with his staff, causing it to split in half with a loud crack. As the fractured stone fell away, the early morning sunlight poured into the clearing and as it reached the trolls they began to scream and howl in pain as their skin started to turn to stone. It was only a matter of seconds before three large gray statues stood where living trolls had just been. As the dwarves behind her began to cheer for their wizard, Kelda let the smallest of smiles flicker across her face.

"Imhêr kethâm, let's just agree never to do that again, yeah?" The war-mage breathed to Bilbo before wrapping an arm around her damaged ribs and lowering herself to sit on the ground. The hobbit simply looked at her with his wide eyes and nodded.

Khuzdul Translations:

Imhêr kethâm- Burning Bells, a swear referencing the bell towers of Dale burning in Smaug's flame