chapter 4

"I am considered handicapped among my people. That is why I am here and not with my brethren in the battles. I was going to trail then and join them secretly but decided that I would be of more use other ways."

Gamli was stunned as he took in the magnificent, curved form now shyly but proudly standing before him, her now barely disguised curves lit by the firelight.

He felt a stirring in his loins he hadn't felt in a long while and stuttered as he tried to formulate a response.

"By the wizard's beard maiden, you put all other elven women to shame as well as every dwarf maiden ever born," he whispered thunderstruck.

"We share the same fate, while there are other dwarves fatter than I, I am a liability because of my un-dwarfish height...combined with this belly I carry... makes me more cumbersome and slower of foot. Also I have a bad sense of direction, hence my presence at the feet of your...pardon my boldness...your stunning beauty."

Gamli tried with dificulty to both conceal his arousal and to avoid staring at her spectacular breasts, now unbound though concealed by the sheer elven fabric covering them.

"My party is lost," he continued, stammering, "no doubt leagues ahead and who is also no doubt not missing me in the slightest. That said, I am armed, willing for adventure and if you are willing to put up with my slow but steady pace I will pledge my axe to your service gladly in whatever task you set us or path you wish to follow."

Melda could feel the eyes of the dwarf watching her. She flushed with embarrassment. How foolish he must believe me to be. She remembered the taunts those she used to consider friends. "You are no warrior" they would say. "Just sit up there with your father and eat berries off of pillows" She remembered dressing as a male and fighting with them. Until her chest had grown that is.....she had worked for months designing armour that would hold them in enough to fight.

But him on the other hand....she could marvel at him all night long. The strength and shape of the dwarf stirred something within her.... something that she had never felt before. She found it confusing. But she pushed it out of her mind. She had other things to worry about. Setting up her bow and quiver she propped herself up on her pack and turned to her new companion. "If you want, I can keep a short watch while you go to sleep. Just to ensure there are no more of those beasts around. I have a lot to think about."

"Very well," he replied, watching different emotions chase each other across her beautiful small face. Waves of heat rushed through him as he watched the tips of her delicate pointed ears redden when she saw his eyes move over her and then again as she looked down at him. She was different, somehow special and something he hadn't experienced before welled up in his breast causing him to almost choke.

He knew he was no prize of manhood, nor even dwarfhood...where came this sudden desire for someone not of his race and an elf no less? What made him suddenly agree to bind himself to this woman, pledging his support and help.

Shrugging he stretched his beefy arms and yawned, "yes mistress Melda, we do have a lot to think about, both of us. Thank you again for your kindness to a lost dwarf. Wake me if you need me."

He nodded to her a last time and rolled to his side toward the fire, his sizeable paunch flowing out in front of him onto his soft bedroll, his curving front warming in the heat of the campfire. Pulling his ragged cloak over his shoulders he slowly drifted into sleep, for the first time in a long time feeling safe.

She watched him sleep for a few minutes, trying to sort through the thoughts that were suddenly in her mind. She had never found herself attracted to the males that she grew up with. They were too frail for her tastes. Great warriors yes, but slender. She thought that maybe the loneliness of her situation was just making her crave companionship but she knew in her heart it was something more. Giving up she rolled over herself and closed her eyes, her dreams filling of her home.

The strange, unfamiliar rustlings of the forest woke him. Sitting up he saw the fire dying and the elf maid sound asleep. Not much of a watch he smiled to himself. Looking up at the stars he judged dawn was still several hours off. He shivered a bit as he tossed back his cloak and stood, moving ponderously to the pile of faggots at fireside. Four or five of which he put on the fire, stirring it back to life. Two more he positioned so that they would slide into the fire as they were consumed, a trick he had learned from his father. A picture of whom entered his mind unbidden... short, stout, looking up at the son towering over him. He could hear his father's deep baritone still echoing in his ears, "You are a fool boy, you have no business out there on your own...you'll only get lost and become a rather large meal for the wargs."

Shaking off the memory he moved to her side and looked down at her, trying to decide what it was about her that stirred such turmoil and mixed emotions in him. Kneeling at her side he noticed her cloak had slipped off her shoulders offering him a glimpse of a full rounded breast that rose and fell as she breathed. Was that it? He wondered...yes, she was truly magnificent but no; while he ached to caress that silky round softness, he knew that wasn't it. He gently pulled her robe up, covering her from the chill night air. No, it was something more...it was the way she carried herself, her attitude, her confidence. And even more it was the peculiar, mysterious gleam in her eye whenever she looked at him. For long minutes he knelt next to her until he was sure she had slid deep back into sleep.

A wave of tiredness swept over him as he stood, moving back to his bedroll he lay down, musing over the evening events. Yes, he said to himself as his thoughts slowly stilled, this is becoming an interesting adventure.