A Heart of Gold

Chapter 11

Thorin woke up the next day to the sound of twittering birds, splashing water, and the laughter of his Company. He shot up from his bedroll, and immediately looked around to see the other bedrolls empty. He looked beyond the balcony of where they were staying and was quite relieved when he saw them enjoying a bath in a fountain. He sighed and looked back to the room, counting the sleeping bags and only counting fourteen, and not fifteen. He knew that Gandalf was staying in his own room, and the hobbit stayed with them when they slept...

Helga...

His shoulders slumped as he was reminded about the blonde woman. Yesterday's events came back to him, and this time, he really did think about it. Maybe he did over-react a bit and maybe he should have let her explain. It was just because knowing that she had befriended those-... vile creatures, he could not even understand what they see in those creatures. They are destructive, and nothing close to gentle. Even though he thinks ill about her race, he could not help but feel guilty about it. She has saved his nephew before they arrived here in Rivendell, and he knows that he owes her a lot. He could not even think of what to say in case he sees her. In fact, he does not even know where to start looking! He looked down to his stomach when it started to grumble

Maybe he'd be able to think better with a full stomach.

Once Thorin had eaten, he went down to the gardens, where the hobbit was. Thorin found Bilbo sitting down on one of the stone benches and was swinging his legs while looking around, admiring the view with a smile on his lips. He was startled, though, when Thorin approached him.

"O-Oh, Thorin! You're awake!" Bilbo squeaked and Thorin nodded.

"Tell me, Master Baggins, have you seen Lady Helga anywhere?" Thorin asked and he saw Bilbo freeze.

"Helga? N-No, I'm afraid I haven't seen her around this morning. You can ask her sons, perhaps, or Gandalf?" He said and Thorin nodded his thanks and was about to turn when Bilbo squeaked again. "Are you going to strip her contract?"

"I do not know yet." Thorin replied, not turning around.

"Well, if you are going to, well I just think that you should go easy on her." Bilbo said, and this time, Thorin turned to face the Hobbit.

"Why so?" He asked.

"Has life not been hard on her already?" Bilbo asked in return, which caused Thorin to pause, before turning and walking away to search for the dragon rider. It was just his luck when he saw her sons Gandalf, and Lord Elrond talking together in a courtyard. The four of them turned when they heard the clank of his iron boots.

"I am sorry if I am interrupting something." Thorin said, before making a move to leave when Gandalf stopped him.

"Wait, Thorin! I think that as the leader of the Company, you have the right to know about this." Gandalf said, and Thorin walked towards the small group.

"Has something happened?" He asked, and the older son -the big bulk of shoulder-length brown hair and blue eyes, spoke up.

"She's gone."

It took a few seconds for Thorin to realize that it was Helga that the older son -Alvor, he thinks, is his name, said.

"What? What do you mean gone?" Thorin exclaimed, and Alvor rolled his eyes.

"Gone! She's not here anymore! She ran off again in the middle of the night. The bitch couldn't take the guilt." Alvor muttered the last part to himself.

"Alvor!" Lord Elron warned, and he immediately stood straight, as a trained elven soldier would.

"Where has she gone?!" Thorin asked, and the one he knew was called Ren, had his eyes downcast.

"She mentioned something about going ahead, about not wasting time." He mumbled, and all eyes looked at Thorin. As if he was not guilty enough of his actions. They just had to rub his fault in his face, didn't they?

"But I would not worry. Helga has travelled the whole of Middle Earth... Thrice, I think." Gandalf said, offering comfort, which did nothing to ease Thorin's worry.

"But this is not a simple leisurely travel from one place to another, Gandalf! This-" Thorin suddenly remembered that he was in the presence of an elf , not to mention Lord Elrond. "I just sent her to her death." He simply said, before walking back to their quarters with nothing but the thought of how much he wanted to follow Helga.

Little did he know that that time would be soon.

Helga held her cloak and pulled on her hood, fighting through the strong wind and rain of the Misty Mountains. Helga rarely used this route, for obvious reasons, but time was wasting. She needed to get to Erebor as soon as possible, and this was the fastest way. Then, when she was feeling hopeless, she found an opening of a cave at the side. Immediately, she went in and settled down her pack. She removed her coat and hung it in front of the opening of the cave, to prevent the cool air from entering. She also removed her leather armor, in order to change her dripping blouse. Once she had managed to change, she looked over her pack and her eyes widened when she realized what was missing.

"Shit," She said, rummaging through her pack and was panicking that her sleeping bag was not there. "Shit!" She shouted, throwing her pack at the wall, out of frustration. She slumped on the floor and hugged her knees, feeling more lonely and tired than before

Maybe she really was getting old.

When she joined the Company, she felt something that she haven't felt in her years of lonely travels: friendship. At this point, she was used to tales told around the campfire, or brotherly bickering. Now, she has nothing; no warmth from the campfire, and no one to talk to. Now that she had a taste of what friendship feels like, she questions herself how she was able to survive those 1200 lonely years of travelling. She lied on the sand-like ground, not caring if it would stick to her wet skin. She closed her eyes and a tear slipped from her eye, feeling even more lonely than before.

But, all of these thoughts immediately vanished when he heard a hiss and a distant drumming, before she fell into a never-ending cavern.