Devotion (Thorin/OC)

Chapter 27: its good to be home...

Picture is of 'town hall' (that will make sense once you read the chapter) I couldn't find a perfect picture so I had to throw a few together to give you an idea.

Luka POV

"Stop ye moaning an' keep still!" Gloin snapped as i squirmed once more. It hurt, even with my high pain tolerance. This morning when Gloin had inspected the wound, he had suddenly rushed off to grab his bag. As soon as he returned I knew this would be painful. He had explained that it had sealed up wrong and an infection had begun, if he didn't reopen it and clean up the gunk inside I would be in trouble. It explained why it had been hurting more the past few days. I groaned as Gloin began slicing away at the scab and slightly healed skin again. Warm liquid dripped down my back making me grimace.

I growled as the knife he was using went to deep and made it hurt more. The pain made me jump up, away from Gloin.

"Ay!-"

"What did you just do?" I snarled trying to reach back and feel whatever he had stabbed. I groaned as it hurt to move, but this just panicked me more.

"Lass calm down-"

"Lass!-" I spun round and snarled at him, before instantly slapping my hand over my mouth. What the hell-?

"Gloin I'm-I'm so sorry I don't know what came over me?!" I apologised frantically.

"It's alright lass, pain does funny things to us. Now please sit down and let me find what's causing you so much aggro." I nodded and did as Gloin said. The company were giving me strange looks making my cheeks heat up. I stayed perfectly still this time as he worked. Why had I lost control over the beast? It couldn't be because of the pain could it? No I'd felt pain like that before, there must have been a better reason.

Gloin proceeded to clean out the infection then sew and apply more of the numbing cream before bandaging it all. Once it was done, I packed up my things. We had to leave, now if we wanted to reach the edge of my home by night fall. The 'check up' on my back had taken longer then I had thought and now the sun had fully risen.

"Let's go!" I called once the fire had been put out and hidden. We didn't need to give the orcs any hints at the fact we had been here. I had to keep this in mind as I was the one who would lead this time. I took the lead, moving in the direction of home. I could already taste the ash in the air, burning the back of my throat.

"Let's get this over with" I growled under my breath before putting on a new burst of speed.

----

We were heading in the right direction, I could feel it. With every step my wolf became more anxious, pacing constantly at the back of my thoughts. It was odd feeling, something moving within my head, but I was used to it. The grass I walked on looked dry, almost dead. Each step created a loud crunch.

We were getting closer. I could taste the ash and stench of death in the air, burning my nose and the back of my throat. Even the pups had stopped talking, they could feel the dark atmosphere in the air. I felt on edge, uneasy. This place was the resting place of many innocent and wrongly killed people. I felt like I was trespassing, like my loud footsteps could wake the dead.

Then I saw it...the edge. The boundary line. Where life ended and death began. The dry yellowed grass turned into a burnt, blackened forest. The trees were like skeletons, standing still in there final death bed. The ground was covered in black and grey ash. I stopped just at the edge, my toes just touching the line. I heard the others stop too, but I couldn't take my eyes off the blackened line. The sun would soon be down, and I had an odd feeling that we shouldn't be out in the open by then. I felt Thorins presence by my side and took strength and comfort from that.