Rider (A Kili/ Hobbit novel)

Chapter 4: Fear and Uncertainty

"Oh no." I whisper to myself, but I know Kinjal hears it as well. "We cannot stop, not here, and all the medical supplies were in Rilin's pack."

"Then we must hasten to Erebor, for it is Castor's only hope."

In the time we had been waiting for Mae and Castor to join us, the orcs grew much too close for comfort, some of their arrows making it dangerously near to us.

"We need to go higher! Follow me!" I call out to Mae and Castor, leading us deeper into the mountains where it would be impossible for the orcs to keep up.

I guide us deeper and deeper in until I am sure we are far enough away to stop for a moment.

"Let's stop on the rocky cliff over there, that way we won't even leave any tracks to let the orcs know we were here." I say to Kinjal, and she hums in agreement.

Circling back around in an arc, Kinjal gracefully lands the three of us on the cliff face, striding farther in to leave room for the others to land. Soon the other two dragons, who I notice both happen to be shades of dusty silver, have landed along beside us. I slide from Kinjal's back and tread slowly over to Mae and Castor, careful not to slip as I do so.

"So where do we go, Duhului Drakai?" Castor asks wryly, even through the pain. He is twenty, only older than me by a week, and one of the sole people in our village that did not see my scar and fighting abilities as anything other than normal.

I hesitate for a moment, almost afraid to give them answer. What if I was wrong? I could be putting them all in danger.

"They need someone to look up to, Pandora; these three need someone to follow and keep them safe. Do what you think most wise, for it is all that can be asked of you," Kinjal encourages.

"I do not know if I can be that leader." I respond, unsure.

"You must. There is no one else to do it."

I nod, realizing she is right. Turning back to the others, I respond, "We will make for Erebor. Those that live there were our people's allies long ago."

"That was hundreds of years ago," Castor argues, wincing faintly as he shifts on his dragon's back, his dusty blond mop of hair stuck to his forehead with sweat even though it's freezing up this high in the mountains.

"We need protection. I fear the orcs will continue to hunt those that have escaped, and we will not survive on our own for long with you bleeding so much. They are our best bet." I say determinedly.

"How do we know they will not kill before we can explain?" Mae asks worriedly.

"We do not know for sure, but it is Castor's only chance." I state bluntly, wishing to be up in the air an moving again. We had remained grounded for too long here.

The other two nod in agreement.

"Do you know how to get there?" Castor asks me as I mount Kinjal behind Del again.

"Kinjal does; stay close." I respond and Kinjal then leaps from the edge of the cliff, unfurling her wings with a snap and lifting us into the air.

I look behind me once to make sure both Mae and Castor are following close enough to us. Castor is once again slumped over his dragon's neck, and I begin to worry that he will fall off.

"I need to ride with Castor, and I don't want Del riding alone in case orcs catch up to us. Can you fly next to Mae's dragon so Del can ride with her?" I ask.

She bobs her head once, and opens her wings outward slightly, causing us to drift back towards Mae.

"You are going to ride with Mae because I need to keep Castor from falling, alright?" Kinjal lines up so that we are flying directly over top of Mae. "All you have to do is drop down behind her; it's not very far."

"You promise she will catch me?" Del asks, holding my hand tightly.

"Yes I promise." I lean over Kinjal's large wing to make sure we had lined up properly, and then yell down to alert Mae. "Del is riding with you so I can keep Castor from falling off his dragon, alright?"

Mae gives me a thumbs up, and scoots forward a bit to make more room for Del to land.

I straighten up, and turn to Del. "Alright now jump, you'll be fine. Mae is ready for you."

"Okay." Del answers with a determined look on her face. She slowly shimmies off Kinjal's back, scooting to the very edge of her shoulder before dropping down next to Mae and landing precisely in the middle of her dragon's back.

I let out a small sigh of relief. "Now would you please fly me over by Castor?" I implore Kinjal, and she immediately flies over to be directly above Castor's dragon.

"Well what do you know, if I miss and fall off Castor's dragon, I've already practiced having you catch me." Kinjal laughs lightly at me, and I spring from her back, landing lightly behind Castor.

A wrenching pain comes from my lower ribs as I do, and I look down at my side in confusion. What I see causes a look of horror to display in my features that I immediately hide so as not to alarm Del if she looks at me. At some point I had been shot by an orc arrow, and I was steadily losing blood from the tear. It did not appear to be deep, luckily, as I could still see the very edge of the tip of the arrow, so it could not be lodged more than a few centimeters into my side.

"Kinjal, I was shot. I need you to fly over here so I get get my pack and see if there is anything I can use to bind it for the time being."

I feel Kinjal's alarm through our bond as she flies once again over to Castor, and I gently ease myself onto her back, trying to move my torso as little as possible. I open up my pack, digging through it until I find my extra shirt; it would have to do as a bandage. I also take out my fur vest, knowing the shirt I am currently wearing is ruined. Fisting both items tightly in my hand, I slide back over onto Castor's dragon and begin to tear apart my red shirt at the seams and cut it into long strips.

Castor has remained errily silent this whole time, causing me to worry and tear apart my extra shirt more quickly. Tying the extra strips around my leg so they won't blow away as we fly, I roll up a piece of the fabric to the size of my fist and press it firmly to where Castor is bleeding from his head.

"Not good," I mutter, "Not good, not good."

Head wounds bleed a lot, and although Castor's is only a deep scrape, the blood won't stop flowing from it. Holding the rolled strip of my shirt to the wound with one hand, I untie another strip from around my leg and tightly bind it around his head like a bandana. I watch in dismay as dark crimson blood quickly seeps through the rudimentary bandage, staining the red of the cloth darker.

Not thinking clearly after losing too much blood, I pull the arrow from my side, possibly causing even more damage. The wound begins to bleed more heavily, and I curse through gritted teeth while rolling up a second piece of fabric for my own side. I tear the shirt I currently wear, now soaked in my blood, so that my stomach is exposed, trying not to shiver at the coldness of the air on my skin, untying the thickest strip of fabric I had ripped from my extra shirt. I wrap the cloth tightly over the puncture wound and around my waist to the point where it becomes uncomfortable to breathe very deeply.

My makeshift bandage seems to control the bleeding for now, but it does nothing to stop the pain that radiates off the injury. I take out my fur vest, clasping it together over my bleeding side so I am not forced to watch the blood seep through my own bandage.

"Can we speed up, Kinjal? I don't know how much longer Castor will be able to hold on; he keeps falling unconscious."

Kinjal does not even respond, but pulls her wings tighter into her body and shoots forward ahead of us. The two silver dragons race to keep up with her, knowing the urgency with which we must move.

***They reach Erebor in the next chapter; don't worry, Kili will be in the story soon!***