𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐇𝐄𝐋 || legolas greenleaf¹

FOUR ; FAITH

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The next morning was slow. The dwarves, Magauna, and Gandalf all packed their bags to their horses, and left Bag End, beginning their trek through the nearby forest.

Magauna often got strange looks when she rode her horse, as she often didn't use a saddle. But she didn't need one, so it was useless to her. She gripped her horse's reins as she followed behind Gandalf in the line they had created, glancing at Thorin out of the corner of her eye every once in a while, and he did the same to her.

It wasn't until they were in the forest that they all heard the thudding footsteps and hollering voice of a hobbit. "Wait! Wait!" They all stopped their horse trotting and turned their heads to look at the commotion. To some of their surprises, Bilbo Baggins came running toward them with a smile, the contract, and a large backpack full of who knows what. "I signed it." He said once he reached their halted line. He handed it to Balin, who looked it over.

"Everything appears to be in order." The dwarf said. "Welcome, master Baggins, to the company of Thorin Oakenshield."

Thorin looked back at the dwarves. "Give him a pony." They all began to ride their horses on again.

Bilbo held his hands up. "No, no, no, no. That...that won't be necessary. Thank you. Yeah, I...I've done my fair share of walking holiday's, you know? Even got as far as Frog Morton once." Suddenly, two of the dwarves picked him up as they passed on either side of him, and placed him on a pony, which he rode begrudgingly.

They all continued to ride through the woods, and Magauna found herself on one side of Bilbo, as Gandalf was on the other. The dwarves began throwing sacks of coins to each other, telling them to 'pay up', and several were tossed to Magauna, which she caught with smug smiles.

Bilbo looked at her confused. "What's that about?"

She looked over at him. "Oh, they took wagers on whether or not you'd turn up. Most of them thought you wouldn't. You seemed pretty set on 'no' last night."

"Oh...I'm guessing you thought I would, then?"

Another sack was thrown in Magauna's direction, and she caught it. She looked back af Bilbo, smirking. "I had faith in you. And I know not to doubt Gandalf."

Bilbo looked like he was going to respond, but instead he sneezed. "Oh, it's horse hair. Having a reaction." He started looking in his pockets. "Uh...wait, wait. Stop! Stop! We have to turn around!"

Everyone pulled their horses to a stop, irritated at the interrupt. "What on Earth is the matter?" Gandalf asked, obviously annoyed as well.

"I forgot my handkerchief." The hobbits said. Magauna rolled her eyes, and kept riding with everyone else.

"Here! Use this!" Bofur ripped off a piece of cloth from his robe and tossed it back to Bilbo, who caught it, and looked at it in disgust.

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The rest of the day passed slowly until they all stopped to rest for the night. Their horses were tied to trees while they set up a small camp and laid down to sleep. Unlike Blibo, Magauna was able to sleep fairly well despite the dwarve's loud and obnoxious snoring. It took quite a lot of noise to wake her up, but not as much as it would for dwarves.

Some time during the night, she suspected midnight, Magauna was jolted awake by the loud, wild shrieking of a creature. She jumped up into a sitting position, and looked around frantically, reaching for her bow, which she always kept by her side when she slept. It was a habit.

When she stood up, she found that Bilbo was awake as well, looking around. "What was that?"

Kili, who sat by the fire with Fili, answered him. "Orcs." Magauna felt her breath catch in her throat.

"Orcs?" Bilbo repeated.

"Throat cutters." Fili told him. "There'd be dozens of them out there. Low lands are crawling with them."

"They strike, in the wee small hours, when everyone's asleep." Kili said. "Quick and quiet, no screams, just lots of blood." Him and Fili started laughing as they teased poor Bilbo, who looked extremely worried by now.

Magauna scowled and glared at them. "You think that's funny? You think a night raid by Orcs is a joke?"

Kili looked up at her. "We didn't mean anything by it."

She narrowed her eyes. "No you didn't. You don't know anything." She walked away from them, and stood at the edge of the camp, staring out into the dark with anger.

Balin, who was now awake as well, shook his head slightly. "Don't let her bother you, laddie. Magauna has more reason than most to hate Orcs." The other three looked over at him, as a way of urging for more information. Balin sighed. "She grew up in Gondor, a kingless kingdom far from here of the race of men. Everyone there treated her horribly, and it was perhaps only her mother that did not."

"Why was she treated horribly?" Bilbo asked.

Balin glanced over at Magauna, who was still standing by herself with her back to them. "She is the Half-Elf from the legend." The other three raised their eyebrows.

"Wait, THE Half-Elf?!" Fili said, shocked. "But she's just a myth!"

The older dwarf shook his head. "No, she's real. She's here, right among us. Her mother was a human, and her father was an elf from the woodland realm, Mirkwood. Half-breeds aren't treated with much respect, and her being a woman only makes it worse. That's why she keeps her ears behind her hair, so no one sees their point. I reckon if you give her quite the shock she'd let out a few words in Elvish. But once her mother passed away, Magauna finally fled Gondor in search of her father. She was headed for Mirkwood, but she was ambushed by Orcs. And they- well, have you been told the story of Sauron and the One Ring?" The three all nodded quickly. "Well, the Orcs took her captive and brought her to the forbidden lands of Mordor, for they believed she possessed knowledge of the whereabouts of the One Ring. But she did not. The Orcs tortured her for a near twenty years in the dungeons of Mordor. It was only eight years ago she was able to escape, but she was left weak, and barely alive. She stayed in hiding for six of those eight years, constantly running across the plains and forests, in fear that if she returned to Gondor, she wouldn't have the warmest if welcomes. But two years ago, Gandalf came across her in his travels, and she was offered help. That's why she's with us now, she owed him a debt. She's repaying him by protecting you, Mr Baggins."

Bilbo furrowed his eyebrows, taking this all in. The rest if the dwarves had now awoken, and had heard Magauna's story. They all looked over at her, and she turned around, having heard the whole conversation. "What happened to your father?" Bilbo asked.

She looked at him for a moment, before answering. "I never found him. And I don't suppose I ever will."

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