A Sword and A Shield [The Hobbit X OC]

20 - Queer Lodgings

"Well, the fact is that we've had a bad time of late. From goblins, in the mountains."

"What did you go near goblins for?! Stupid thing to do."

Gandalf waved a hand to agree with his statement. "You are absolutely right. You see—" We paused when footsteps emerged from the cabin. Beorn raised his ax in alarm as two dwarves appeared from the doorway.

"Dwalin, and Balin," Dwalin introduced.

I could see Gandalf shaking in his boots. "I-I-I must confess that several of our group are, in fact, dwarves."

"Do you call two 'several'?" Beorn asked, warily looking about for more.

Gandalf stuttered a bunch before coming out with an actual sentence. "Yes, uh, there could be more than two. Let's see." He started counting on his fingers, but Gloin and Oin came out before he could give a number. "Ah! And here are some more of our, uh, happy troop."

Beorn looked a bit perturbed. "Do you call seven a troop? What are you? A traveling circus?"

Gandalf continued to chuckle as Bilbo and I exchanged nervous glances, wondering how Beorn would feel about several more dwarves.

Next came Dori and Ori. "Dori, and Ori, at your service!" announced the older brother as he pushed the other forward and then bowed. Ori was far too terrified to speak.

"I don't want your service!" retorted Beorn.

"Absolutely understandable."

Two more dwarves stepped out.

"Oh! There's Fili and Kili. Almost forgot them," Gandalf grinned.

Our chances of survival slowly dwindled.

"And we have Nori, Bofur, Bifur, and Bombur."

"Is that it?" Beorn questioned. "Are there any more?"

Thorin slowly stepped out in front of the company.

Beorn looked at him in recognition.

⛰

After deeming us trustworthy enough, Beorn brought us all back into his kitchen. Though it was summer, he got a wood-fire burning in the fireplace, the smoke rising to the blackened rafters in search of the way out through an opening in the roof. We were served fresh milk from his cows, fruits, nuts, bread with honey, and cheese. Oh, there was lots of cheese from the cows, and from goats, too. Enough cheese to keep Bombur stuffed for a week.

I sat in a chair near a pair of shaggy dogs, who had previously brought me a bowl of nuts and berries. "Clever things," I cooed and rewarded them both with scratches behind their ears. They barked happily before scampering off to play.

Thorin stood a little behind me, propped up against a pillar, torso turned away from the group, arms folded across his chest in a Thorin-like manner. Though he seemed impartial to the refreshments, he remained close enough to ably snag a berry or two from my bowl. He and the rest of the dwarves remained on their best behavior, daring not to try anything to upset our host as he went around refilling tankards with water, milk, or mead.

After quite a long mixture of silence and munching, Beorn spoke at Thorin. "So, you are the one they call Oakenshield? Tell me. Why is Azog the Defiler hunting you?"

"You know of Azog?" replied the dwarf, turning straight towards Beorn. "How?"

"My people were the first to live up in the mountains before those orcs came down from the north. The Defiler killed most of my family, but some he enslaved." He showed the remnants of manacles on his wrist. "Not for work, you understand, but for sport. Caging skin-changers and torturing them seemed to amuse him."