A Shot in the Dark (Thilbo - Bagginshield)

Chapter 47

Bilbo squirmed on a stone bench as Radagast examined his eyes and ears like a healer would with a child. Occasionally the wizard would even lean in close and sniff him like a dog, and mutter something under his breath. If it wasn't for the fact that Thorin was sitting next to him and glaring at the wizard, then he would have spoken up in complaint. As it was, the only thing keeping Thorin from tackling Radagast was Bilbo's hand on his knee.

Behind Radagast, Gandalf and Lord Elrond stood watching the proceedings with vastly different expressions. Gandalf looked like a puffed-up hen, angry and protective on behalf of his chick. Elrond, on the other hand, looked curious and considering as he studied Bilbo with unblinking gray eyes.

"Well? Can you do it, Radagast?" Gandalf finally asked, watching the other wizard with hawk eyes.

Radagast gave one last sniff to Bilbo's hair before leaning back and wrinkling his nose. "Yes. The link is still weak enough to destroy."

"Destroy?" Thorin repeated slowly, his eyes narrowing. Bilbo tightened his grip in warning.

"Mmm. How else do you expect us to get rid of the bond?" Radagast replied, his attention now focused on his robes as he dug through his pockets and sleeves. "Now where did I put those feathers...?"

"I think you need to explain this a bit more," Bilbo said as he watched the wizard and scowling Dwarf carefully.

"Think of the link between you two as a dying limb," Elrond said, speaking up for the first time. His gray eyes were so clear and intense that Bilbo swore they could pass as silver. "If left untreated, it will spread and consume your whole leg. But if you cut off the infected foot, then you can save the rest of your leg. We will destroy a piece of your soul that Sauron has consumed in order to save the rest of you."

"But...he said in order for him to die, I must die as well," he said, biting his lower lip as he recalled his conversation with the Dark Lord. "Why would he say that if it wasn't true?"

"You really shouldn't take the word of someone like Sauron seriously," Radagast said, pausing in his rummaging to give the Hobbit an unimpressed look. "Your death would weaken him greatly, yes, but he would still exist as a shadow of himself. Only by destroying the ring can we be completely free of him."

Bilbo still didn't feel convinced. "Then why did he go through all the trouble of keeping me alive?"

"He didn't want to lose the advantage he has now with you alive," Gandalf explained calmly. "Thanks to you, he is able to gather his strength faster than he would if he was still a shade."

"How will this work?" Thorin asked, his eyes still glued on Radagast.

"We are going to perform a ritual that will, I suppose you could say, cut out the piece of Bilbo's soul that Sauron has consumed," Elrond explained slowly, furrowing his brows as he visibly tried to find the correct words to use.

Bilbo stared at the three with his brows raised high. "How the hell do you have the power to do that?"

Gandalf chuckled and gave him a fond look. "We don't. The power will come from the Valar. We will simply be the tools that they use."

"That's why Master Radagast is here," the Elf added, nodding to the eccentric wizard. "He is the... messenger, you could say, between us and the Valar."

"Oh, is that what I am now?" the wizard in questioned said, sotto. "Good to know you all think of me as a mail service."

Elrond sighed and looked close to rolling his eyes if such a thing was allowed for Elven lords. "I can hear you."

Radagast just looked at him. "And?"

"We should probably begin soon," Gandalf said, eyeing the two like he didn't know if he wanted to encourage the discussion or avoid it. "The more time we waste, the more of Bilbo's soul Sauron consumes."