The Wind Fell Silent

8. Out of the Frying Pan...

Bilbo gave Rivendell one last saddened glance as he followed his companions into the wild. He, like most of the company, was dreading the Misty Mountains, having heard many stories of the goblins and wargs that infested them. He thought unhappily of his comfortable hobbit-hole, and a singing kettle, and lazy afternoons, not for the first time (nor the last). Bilbo did not wish to leave Rivendell so soon, and hoped to one day return to it; he noticed however that his friend Arenna was not so disappointed about leaving. When Thorin had announced their departure, quite out of the blue, everyone grumbled at the thought of travel, but Arenna jumped up with a look of utter relief on her face. She had, oddly enough, already packed her bags and spent the day hurrying everyone else along. Bilbo thought that peculiar, but then again he thought Renn peculiar, but in a good, friendly way. Once they were on the road- well it was less of a road and more of a path, the weather... actually, now that I think about it, in all honesty it was not really a path, but more of a track. Anyhow once they were on this road, like a path, like a track *I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself* the weather took a turn for the worse, and shrill, icy wind was a normality. The company spent many a dreadfully cold day traversing rocky mountain trails, dodging and ducking the large boulders that had a habit of rolling and bouncing down into their path (track). The silence that hung in the air was intimidating, and the company dared not sing or talk too loudly for fear of breaking it. Throughout these gloomy days, Bilbo's mind kept wandering back to the Shire as he thought longingly of the blackberry harvest that was sure to be starting. Gandalf had stayed behind in Rivendell, having business to attend to that only Thorin seemed to be informed about. Gandalf had promised to reunite with them shortly, but his absence unsettled the small hobbit greatly, Bilbo found himself staying close to Arenna, in Gandalf's stead.

Arenna's Point of View

We were traveling on a small mountain footpath that had a sheer drop to our right. We had no choice but to travel slowly for fear of falling. It had been freezing all day, and in the evening, thunder and lightning fought for dominance in the sky. That is when the rain began, now until this point, I had rather enjoyed the rain that seemed to have been following our company around these past few weeks, but that soon changed.

We were all cold beyond reason, and drenched to the core, waiting for Thorin to tell us that it was time to rest. The relief in the air was palpable when Thorin called out over the thunder and rain "We must find shelter!" but the relief was short lived when we realized that there was none to be had. Thoughts of a dry cave and a warm fire were, however, were ripped from our minds as a large boulder came flying through the air towards us. It seemed to have come from nowhere and smashed the rock just above our heads. I watched in helpless amazement as the remnants of stone came raining down on us. Everyone took cover against the mountain, but I was too astonished to move, to see such an oddity was truly astounding. I could not guess how a boulder of that size could fly through the air. I stood trying to puzzle out what could have possibly sent the rock flying.

I would have most likely been pummeled to death by chucks of flying boulder if not for the pair of arms that wrapped around my waist and pulled me to the mountain wall. Kili was shielding my body against the downpour of rocks and rain, with his own. This brought me to my senses, to say the least, but I had not a moment to thank him for his actions, for the danger had not yet passed.

A large form had become visible in the fog, I thought that it was a rock formation that had somehow escaped our notice, that is, until it moved.

"This is no thunderstorm!" I heard Balin cry over the rain "It's a thunder battle!" I could not believe my eyes as the stone formation walked to a yet another large boulder and ripped it off the mountain.

"Well bless me, the legends are true. Giants! Stone giants!" I heard Bofur yell as the behemoth threw the gigantic hunk of stone past us as if it was nothing more than a ball. It sailed through the air and smashed into another giant that was behind us. The creatures seemed to be moving in slow motion, most likely due to their size, which may I remind you was gigantic.