Tear Me Apart- A Middle Earth Story

The Wise Is Not Always Right

"Anything behind us?" Thorin asked, rowing with a wooden stick. The barrels were going with the stream, so it wasn't very difficult for the dwarves. Their leader knew however that they hadn't defeated the orcs. They were still behind them somewhere, lurking in the shadows.

"Not that I can see!" Balin replied, gazing behind them. Bofur was looking behind as well, squinting his eyes.

"I think we've outrun the orcs." He exclaimed.

"Not for long; we've lost the current." Thorin replied. The orcs couldn't be far behind now. They needed to take action, quick.

"Bombur is half drown." Dwalin said.

"Make for the shore! Come on, let's go!" The leader of the company commanded, and they paddled to the riverbank. Bilbo shook his head when he climbed out of his barrel. He couldn't stop thinking about his daughter, and he had a big weight on his chest. The hobbit was so caught up in his worries that he didn't notice when Kíli fell. He jumped out of his daze to see the dwarf on the ground, gripping his wounded leg.

"I'm fine, it's nothing." Kíli replied to Bofur, who were all scrutinizing him with mixed worry and doubt.

"On your feet." Thorin said urgently, walking by. He was pacing backward and forth. The dwarves thought that he was stressed out because of the dwarves, but that was not the case. He was trying to decide whether or not to leave Abbie behind for the sake of the company. He knew he had to, or they would otherwise all be killed by the orcs. Yet his heart told him to grab his sword and run back to get her.

"Kili's wounded. His leg needs binding." Fíli told his uncle, who didn't even glance at his nephew.

"There's an orc pack on our tail; we keep moving." He commanded instead.

"To where?" Balin asked him with an uncertain expression. Bilbo smiled at them. Even though his heart seemed to be made out of stone this moment, he knew that they must move on. When they had taken back Erebor, he would hurry as soon as he could to get back to Mirkwood and rescue his daughter.

"To the mountain; we're so close." He told the dwarves. The eldest scrutinized him with his small eyes.

"A lake lies between us and that mountain. We have no way to cross it." He replied with a sigh, pointing to the lake.

"So then we go around." Bilbo said determinedly.

"The orcs will run us down, as sure as daylight. We have no weapons to defend ourselves." Dwalin argued. Thorin turned around to face them.

"Bind his leg, quickly. You have two minutes." He told his nephews and they instantly started binding Kíli's leg. Whilst they did that, Thorin moved on to Bilbo.

"What on earth happened? You were supposed to rescue her and then join us!" He scolded the hobbit, who looked regretful.

"I fell into the trap." He mumbled. Bilbo was embarrassed. It was such a dumb mistake, and it lead to his daughter being held as a prisoner in an elven kingdom.

"I should've gone and gotten her instead." Thorin muttered. Bilbo sensed that the dwarf king was starting to blame himself for Abbie being stuck, so he quickly jumped in.

"They would've seen you at once and probably killed you. So, no." He argued. Thorin sighed and looked away.

"You're right, Master Baggins." He said before walking away. Bilbo felt bad for Thorin. Yes, of course he had noticed the dwarf's affection for his daughter. It was as obvious as the fact that he was a hobbit. Abbie seemed to have taken liking to Thorin as well. Bilbo wasn't really sure what he thought about the match, but he certainly thought that his daughter could take care of herself. She was an adult.