An Unexpected Romance

Chapter Four

Chapter Four 

Was I seriously going to let this happen?

Just let Thorin's nephew kiss me?

After a day of knowing him?

Sure, he was attractive and fun and kind of hilarious and goofy and ... Attractive...

I cleared my throat and looked away. I could feel Kili deflate.

"I'm sorry." I whispered. "I've just never ... And I mean I ... It's just that.." I fumbled for an excuse.

Kili smirked and took a few steps back. "That's alright." He said. "I like a challenge."

He ran off to get the rabbit I had shot earlier. "Go on back to camp. I'll be there soon."

I smiled at him. "I'll see you in a bit."

***

The sun had gone down by the time I got back to camp. Eerie orange light spilled over the abundance of dwarves scattered around the fire pit. The flames casted shadow across my friend's faces, making them look almost frightening.

"You've been gone for quite a while," Fili observed from the far side of the fire. "What's the matter? Couldn't find a place to stash Kili's body once you'd off-ed him?"

"It was difficult at first, but eventually I shoved him into an empty tree trunk. Worked like a charm," I said with false conviction.

"Ahh, I don't blame ya, lass." Dwalin jumped in. "He could be an annoying bastard, that one."

"Who's an annoying bastard?" Kili asked, walking into the clearing.

"Bofur." I said without hesitation, walking over to Thorin.

"Wot?" Bofur slurred, looking up, his mouth full of pork.

"Nothing!" Fili and I called in unison.

Thorin looked up at me with a certain twinkle in his eye. "Sit," he murmured. I planted myself next to him. In a fatherly gesture, Thorin put an arm around my shoulder and crushed me to him for a moment.

Thorin was the kind of person who seemed very stiff and angry on the outside, but he was really a big teddy bear. I couldn't help but rest my head on his solid chest. Every once in awhile, a girl just needed something familiar. I breathed in his familiar scent of smoke and leather and iron. It drew me back to my childhood, when I would curl up next to him in the dark after hours of nightmares. He would always be there, holding me close until morning, whispering soothing words while I cried almost silently. After traveling with Thorin for a few months, my night terrors ceased. 

Loud howls in the distance shook me from my memories.

"What was that?" Asked Bilbo.

"Orcs," said someone.

"Orcs!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah," said Kili. "They like to attack in the wee small hours of the night. Quick and quiet. No screams, just a whole lot of blood." he smirked at Fili.

Thorin stood up and walked past them. "You think that's funny, do you? You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?" he spat.

Kili looked at the ground. "I didn't mean anything by it."

"No, you didn't." Said Thorin, standing on the overhang of the cliff. "You know nothing of the world."

"Don't take it too hard, lad." sighed Balin quietly when Thorin was out of earshot. "Thorin has more cause than most to hate orcs."

Balin launched into the story of the day the terrible dragon had taken Erebor, driving the dwarves out of their home. They had all been wandering, homeless. They'd tried to take back Moria, but the Orcs had gotten there first. They beheaded the king and Thrain, Thorin's father went missing. The battle was won, but so many lives were lost that there was no cause for celebration. No way they could find joy in feast and song, not after so much death.

I had heard quick versions of the story, whispered to me while Thorin was out of the room, but never in such detail. Never had I fully been able to grasp the suffering of our people.

Balin looked at me, his aged face etched with lines. I tried to focus on the laugh lines near his eyes, but all the wrinkles struck sadness into my heart. Balin was getting old. I'd first met him about a month after I started traveling with Thorin. Balin had taken to me like a grandfather. I couldn't imagine was losing him would feel like. 

What ever would I do without Thorin and his kin? Balin, the sensible old soul. Dwalin, the loud partier with a brave streak. Kili, the pretty archer boy. Fili, the lionhearted heir of Durin.

Thorin. 

My only family.

Thorin noticed me looking at him and walked to my side.

"Go to sleep, Ariel. You'll need you rest." He said, softly.

I nodded, yawned, and laid down on the far side of the fire. There was a wall of rock to my back, so that made an ambush less likely. I always felt much safer when I knew nothing could sneak up behind me. I barely had time to close my eyes before I was out.

***

Flames licked up the side of the mountain. The heat of the fire burned into my skin.

Through the haze of smoke, there was a flash of deep crimson red. A wind like a hurricane blew me backward. I stumbled and caught my footing.

I looked down and realized I was standing on a ledge just barely big enough for me to move around on.

Drawing my sword, I stood at the ready.

Whatever was coming wouldn't get me without a fight.

The flames were rising higher still- roaring across the plains below, consuming the monstrous pines, burning light into the night sky.

A single golden eye appearing through the smoke. A roar like the loudest thunder shook the Earth.

"Smaug." I whispered, realizing what would be my fate.

"Hello, little one." He said in a deep, melodic voice.

I could say nothing. My heart was pounding, my legs were shaking.

"I've been waiting for a very long time for dwarves to return to the mountain, and here you are."

"You won't take me so easily!" I yelled defiantly. Though my voice cracked, I brandished my weapon.

Smaug chuckled, or what passed for it as a dragon.

"Do not be so sure about that." He said.

A flame jumped far too close to me. I screamed and flailed backwards.

I lost my footing on the ledge and fell into open air.

Is this how a hero dies?

This is not glorious.

This is not brave.

I fell down, down, down..

Until Smaug's open jaw caught my body-

And severed me in two.