The Last of the Guardians Part 2 - A Hobbit Fan Fiction

Chapter 4 - The Night on the Plain

Nema did not return to the company all day, preferring to remain high above the clouds. The only sight they got of her was when she dipped below the clouds to check their position. Sîor travelled by their side, something Fili was less than happy about. No matter how fast he rode, or where he directed his horse, the dwarf could not avoid the Guardian. 

He gave up in the end, and tried his best to ignore Sîor, who flew beside him constantly. When they stopped for food, Fili hoped the Guardian would give up at leave him be. Alas, Sîor seemed to have other plans.

"Do you delight in hurting others?" that was the question Sîor seemed to favour most.

"I meant her no harm!" Fili hissed at him for the eleventh time. He threw down the hunk of bread he had been gnawing on, his appetite gone.

"Are all dwarves as stupid as you?"

"I am not stupid."

The Guardian snorted. Fili took out one of his throwing knives and began sharpening the blade. It was fairly small, having been intended for the stuffing up a sleeve or in a boot. Fili had carved the hilt himself from oak. It was one of his favourites. He had made it for his mother, Dís, but she had made him keep it, saying that she would sleep better at night knowing he was armed.

"Guardian's do not need to sharpen their daggers," Sîor said in a sneer. Fili shoved it angrily inside his boot and strode off in a huff under the excuse of checking on the ponies.

Sîor let out a low laugh as he followed. "You are so easily angered," he said. Fili ignored him, and stroked his pony's neck in an attempt to calm himself down. "I can read you like a fish reads a current, like a bird reads the wind, like a man reads a book."

Really, Fili thought bitterly, well read this. He imagined throwing a knife through Sîor's heart, dashing his head upon a rock, or squeezing the life out of him, his hands wrapped around the Guardian's throat.

"I'd like to see you try," Sîor laughed again, as though he truly had heard the dwarf's thoughts. "You lack the strength to break my skin with even the sharpest of knives. No rock is hard enough to knock me down, and as for strangling me? You have not the speed to get that close."

"Leave me be," Fili spat. He turned away from the Guardian, and started back to rejoin his kin, but the winged man moved to block his way. 

"Put her from your mind, dwarf," Sîor warned, stressing the last word as though it were an insult. Then he took off, his great wings knocking Fili to the ground.

Fili spat out the dirt. So Sîor knew what feelings Fili entertained for Nema. But what does it matter? She hates me anyway.

The male Guardian left Fili alone for the rest of the day, perhaps because he knew his words had hit home with the dwarf. He flew a few feet above the company, and though Sîor was no longer beside him, Fili could still feel his eyes on his back. 

Concerned they would not reach Erebor by Durin's Day, Thorin would not allow the company to stop for the night until Mirkwood appeared as a dark lump on the horizon. Another day and they would be on the edge of the great forest. The night had closed in around them before they finally dismounted, and it was as Bombur began to serve up a tasty rabbit stew that Nema returned to them. She crept shyly into the camp and had dropped down beside Fili before anyone noticed her.

The honey-haired dwarf straightened when he noticed her presence, his heart thumping in his chest. He had been practising how to apologise, but now his chance had come his words chose to abandon him. Across the fire, Sîor glared at Nema, angry she had abandoned him to eat with the dwarves.