Guarding Your Heart

Chapter 7

Lucy ran as fast as she could, pushing her body to its limit.

She ran past trees, through shrubs and bushes, climbing the steep forest hillside, trying to get as much distance between her and the cabin as fast as possible. Branches scratched her bare arms, leaves and twigs caught in her hair but she kept running, trying not to think about Fili.

After a few minutes she had to stop, out of breath and her legs burning, not used to running uphill and the heavy boots she was wearing weren't exactly ideal running shoes either. She leaned forward and rested her hands on her knees to try and catch her breath. Her side hurt, her stamina deteriorating quickly after not being able to maintain her running schedule.

There was no time to lose, Fíli told her to go deep into the forest and she didn't get very far yet, the steepness of the forest hill slowing her down immensely.

She leaned her back against a tree and closed her eyes, trying to keep a clear head. Her mind was reeling, she needed to focus but she was terrified. She felt so helpless.

After opening her eyes, Lucy looked around the tree to make sure she wasn't followed.

As soon as she did, she wished she hadn't.

From where she stood, she had a clear view of the cabin all the way down. Men dressed in black were closing in, taking posts at the windows, their weapons drawn. There was no way out for Fíli, she realised to her own horror. He was completely surrounded.

He told her to go, to run for safety. If she'd known what was coming for them, she would have never left.

And then it suddenly hit her, Fíli had known...

He warned her that they were coming, he knew how many there were and that they didn't stand a chance. And still he chose to stay behind, putting her safety first.

She had to go back.

They were here for her, she was not going to let Fíli sacrifice himself for her sake, bodyguard or not. They needed her as leverage for her father, so they wouldn't kill her. Not right away at least. It might buy Fíli enough time, or save his life altogether.

She was going to surrender herself.

It was her turn to save him.

Lucy took a few deep breaths before she rounded the tree and started to make her way back down. Fíli was going to be furious, she had no doubt about that, but there was no way she was going to let him do this alone. If he was allowed to risk his life for her, then she could do the same for him.

In her haste to get to Fíli, she was more sliding and stumbling her way down than actually running and she felt her ankle throbbing painfully in her boot. Her determination to get to him however was stronger and she bit through the pain, the thought of Fíli taking on those men by himself spurring her on.

When she finally reached the foot of the hill, the cabin only a couple of hundred yards away, she pushed herself even more until she felt someone grab her arm. The force of which the other person had grabbed her made her stumble, but before she could fall to the ground, two arms wrapped around her to keep her up.

Fíli was still in the cabin - she could hear the fighting - so she knew whoever this person was had no good intentions towards her and didn't grab her to prevent her from falling.

Lucy acted on instinct, using the techniques Fíli taught her to fight herself free. She brought her arms up and hit them in the neck with her elbow, before she dropped all her weight. Her attacker had no choice but to let her go.

She got back to her feet and wanted to run, but they were too fast, grabbing her wrist and turning her around with her back against their chest. Lucy wasted no time and started kicking and screaming, trying to fight this person off of her.