The Undecided Title Of Sara Miller *Hobbit Fanfiction* (Thorin/OC)

Chapter 59: The Return

Alright so heads up before you read... I apologize if you find more mistakes than normal, I'm writing through the brain fog of Covid.

"Quite the undertaking," said Balin.

"Indeed it is," agreed Thorin, watching the string of carts, animals, goods, and people march past them toward the mountain and Dale. They stood together on a rocky outcropping near the edge of the lake surveying the barely contained chaos as people of Laketown evacuated north. It had been three days since the attack on Laketown and with the combined urging of Bard, Eric, and Talson the town had been emptied and the slog north begun. Several large boats and barges were situated at the northernmost mouth of the lake where the River Running empty into it. Thorin chafed at the slow progress of people and goods but knew it was pointless to urge them faster. It was not easy to pack up your life and leave behind prized possessions while trying to plan for the necessities, especially when one was unsure what the future would hold. The people had been encouraged to bring only what was necessary and all the food they could carry. Unfortunately, there had been little food to be had and even less of it which was travel-worthy. This had been a real concern discussed in the past few days.

How were they to feed these people? Both Erebor and Dale had clean springs so long as the water had not been fouled by the dragon. But the food was going to be an issue. According to Legolas, there was enough food stored in his father's kingdom to see them all through the winter, but with no sign of Gandalf, Thranduil was still under Saruman's spell. Thorin snorted. No doubt by this time the wizard was struggling to maintain his hold on the elf king. The elf scouts and soldiers had ceased to appear from Mirkwood and Thorin strongly suspected that the fog had taken its toll on the wizard. The letter to the master had felt like a final desperate attempt at recovering Sara before his hold on the elf-king finally broke. With the orcs attacking Laketown, Legolas had at last been able to sway the elves he previously had been forced to hold hostage, and they had added their strength to his. But even with the help of the additional elves, there were still five new graves left behind in the cold ground. Four townspeople and one elf. The most heartbreaking of the graves had been the child-sized one.

"It will be a close thing if we are to find the hidden door by Durin's Day," said Balin. "It will take us at least two more days to see these people safely to Dale and another two to find the entrance."

"We can only hope that the book's description of the door's location is accurate," said Thorin.

"Might we send one of the company ahead to scout out its location?" Thorin mulled that over a moment.

It was a good suggestion. According to Balin's calculations, Durin's Day would be here and gone in five days. They cannot leave it to chance, too many lives road on the necessity of finding a way into the mountain to kill the dragon. Then there was the issue of the Dragon. How were they to go about slaying it? Despite the book's description of a missing scale, Thorin was well and rightly leery of simply relying on that information. Even if it were true, how did one get close enough to exploit such a weakness without fatal consequences? It seems that even if Bilbo were not needed to locate the Arkenstone, he would be invaluable in ascertaining the truth about Smaug. Was he indeed alive? How big? For it was a sure thing that if he still lived he had grown in the past 174 years. And most important, was there indeed a weak chink in the dragon's armor? On this count at least, Gandalf had been right. A human or dwarf could not approach the dragon, but little Bilbo with his ring of invisibility and unknown scent could. Still, Thorin disliked putting Bilbo in harm's way, even if it was the reason he had been included in the company. But all this would be all for naught if the door was not found by Durin's Day.