Chapter 14: Are Trolls Considered Human?
At the foot of the mountain.
What Thorin Oakenshield said wasn't entirely unreasonable.
After all, Fíli and Kíli were on watch. Even though they were nowhere to be seen at the moment, there had been no cries or alarms—so, in theory, nothing strange should have happened.
Compared to Bilbo Baggins, Thorin trusted Dwarves of his own kind far more.
And besides—a raven delivering a warning?
That was simply ridiculous.
"I'm just saying, to be safe, why don't we go take a look?" Bilbo snapped back, clearly fed up with Thorin's arrogance and a little angry now.
At that moment, the wise Dwarf Balin stepped in to smooth things over.
"Thorin, being cautious never hurts. Let's go check."
"…Fine," Thorin said at last. He also wanted to know what the two brothers had wandered off to do. "If it'll put Master Baggins at ease."
Soon, the group set off.
They had barely taken a few steps when Fíli and Kíli—who had been investigating the disappearance of several horses nearby—heard voices and hurried back.
The moment Thorin saw them, he snapped irritably,
"You were on watch. Where did you two run off to?"
Kíli scratched his head. "We heard something and went to check. A few horses were missing—we were about to track them down."
That changed everything.
Thorin's expression darkened instantly. The arrogance vanished. He drew his sword and stared in the direction Bilbo had pointed earlier.
"We're going to take a look."
Shhk—shhk—shhk.
The other twelve Dwarves drew their weapons one after another.
Bilbo, having none, could only follow along empty-handed.
They moved carefully.
After about seven or eight minutes—
Three trolls came into view, sitting around a campfire, tearing into a horse.
Bilbo had never seen a troll before. At first sight, he flinched hard and whispered instinctively,
"What… what are those?"
"Trolls," a Dwarf beside him replied.
"…!"
Bilbo was stunned speechless.
"Shh," Thorin whispered grimly from the front. "No talking. Slowly back away. We leave. Now."
There were only three trolls—but Gandalf wasn't here. They were thirteen Dwarves and one Hobbit.
Risking their lives over a few horses simply wasn't worth it.
Leaving quietly was the smarter choice.
The group turned around and began to retreat with extreme care.
---
Up in a nearby tree, Smaug, who had been waiting for a show, saw this and was immediately dissatisfied.
That won't do.
The fun hadn't even started yet.
So—
Smaug acted.
He darted over to the remaining horses and pecked at one of them—peck, peck, peck.
The horse shrieked in pain.
In the stillness of the night, the sound was deafening.
All three trolls heard it and turned their heads at once.
"Annoying," grumbled the largest troll as he stood up.
"Go grab them all."
The other two trolls immediately moved.
At the same time, Thorin's group froze in place, not daring to move an inch.
Right now, Thorin Oakenshield faced a crucial choice.
Abandon the horses and retreat quietly—
Or try to kill the three trolls.
In truth, the decision wasn't difficult.
Without horses, they might be forced to walk for a very long time—until they could buy new ones.
And Thorin—foolish, proud, arrogant as he was—was not a coward.
Two seconds later, he made his choice.
"Kill them!"
With a roar, Thorin raised his sword and charged straight at the three trolls.
---
The fight ended very quickly.
From the tree, Smaug watched with immense satisfaction as Thorin's group rushed the trolls—
—and then one troll grabbed a Dwarf and took him hostage.
After that, one Dwarf after another was seized, bound, and tossed into a heap like trash.
Ha.
Absolutely hilarious.
Smaug nearly laughed himself breathless.
It was ridiculous.
For a moment, Smaug laughed so hard his body actually trembled.
---
"How are there Dwarves here?" one of the three trolls asked in confusion as they worked quickly, hoisting three Dwarves over the campfire.
"Who knows," another troll replied indifferently. "At least we can change up the menu. Never tried Dwarf before—wonder if they taste good."
"Better than horse, probably," the third troll chimed in. "Just too small. Not even enough to get stuck between my teeth."
"Enough talk—hurry up," one of them growled impatiently. "Dawn's coming. I'm not turning to stone."
"We're not tasty! We've got no meat on us!" one of the Dwarves shouted desperately from above the fire.
Once he started, the others joined in, yelling over one another.
It was painfully noisy.
---
Behind a patch of bushes not far away, Bilbo—not because he was cowardly, but because everything had happened too fast for him to react—watched the scene unfold.
Listening to the trolls' horrifying words, his head buzzed, his heart pounding wildly. Panic clawed at him as he desperately tried to think of a way to save them.
Second by second, time slipped away.
One Dwarf, who hadn't yet been thrown onto the fire and was tied off to the side, finally noticed something.
"Bilbo isn't here," he whispered, hope flickering in his eyes. "We have to stall. Maybe he can save us."
It wasn't that the Dwarf truly believed in Bilbo's strength—but Gandalf had chosen him, and surely that meant something.
"Hmph," Thorin Oakenshield snorted coldly when he heard that. "He's probably already run off in fear. We'll have to rely on ourselves."
Bilbo heard the words—but he had no time to dwell on them. His mind raced.
And raced.
Just as the three Dwarves over the fire were about to give out—
Bilbo suddenly had an idea.
There was no time to consider whether it would work.
He bolted forward and shouted,
"You've made a terrible mistake! These Dwarves aren't edible!"
The three trolls froze.
None of them had ever seen a Hobbit before.
"What are you supposed to be?"
"A squirrel?"
"Are you tasty?"
One question each.
By the time the last one was asked, Bilbo was drenched in cold sweat—but he forced himself to stand tall.
"I'm not a squirrel! I'm a Hobbit—and I'm not edible either!"
---
Up in the tree, Smaug turned his gaze toward the east.
The horizon was still dark. Dawn was a long way off.
Which meant—
he had advanced the timeline.
At this rate, could Bilbo really stall long enough for Gandalf to arrive?
Then again…
Trolls probably didn't count as humans.
And his basic shapeshifting spell only worked on beasts.
So the question was—
Could he turn into a troll?
If he could…
That would be very interesting.
Smaug's eyes gleamed.
He made his decision, moved swiftly, and slipped into the shadows to the side.
Transform.