A Heart of Gold

Chapter 15

"I am sorry I doubted you." He said, and Bilbo just laughed.

"No, I would have doubted me too. I'm not a hero or a warrior...not even a burglar," He joked, and everybody laughed. However, Bilbo looked behind Thorin and he walked past him. The others follow the Hobbit's gaze and fell silent at what it was. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Erebor—The Lonely Mountain. The last of the great dwarf kingdoms of Middle-earth." Gandalf said, as he looked into the distance at the solitary peak.

"Our home." Thorin said, a smile in his face. Then, a bird flies past them and cheeps.

"A raven!" Oin exclaimed. "The birds are returning to the mountain." He said happily as the bird chirps even more.

"That, my dear Oin, is a thrush." Gandalf corrected. However, before any of them could say that it was a good omen, they were reminded that there were three other members who they have quite forgotten in this short moment of joy.

"Gandalf!" They heard someone exclaim from behind. Gandalf was the first to approach, and sighed heavily as he saw Amren and Alvor -who was wrapping a bandage around his forearm, with an unconscious Helga lying down. "It's starting! She's burning up!" Amren said, touching her forehead. Gandalf bent down and touched her forehead, only to retract his hand from the intense heat coming from her forehead.

"We have to get her down, find water," Gandalf said, nodding at Amren. He looked at Alvor and sighed. "Will you be able to carry Helga down?" He asked, and Alvor just sighed in annoyance.

"It's not like I have any choice, do I?" Alvor asked, and lifted Helga, bringing her down along with Amren behind him. Thorin, who was concerned about the woman in their Company, went to Gandalf.

"What is happening to her? Is she dying?!" Thorin asked in a hurry. He spent his time hoping he could find her and get to apologize, only to find her severely wounded, and the next time he does have a chance to talk to her, she might be dying at the very moment.

"She might be, yet she might not." Gandalf said, and Thorin was getting annoyed.

"I deserve answers, Gandalf." Thorin growled and Gandalf huffed.

"It would be better if we get down from this rock, first. Then, I will be giving answers."

"Now, speak." Thorin said, as soon as his feet touched the soil on the ground. Gandalf sat on a small rock first with a groan, before he started explaining.

"Well, healing for the Dragon Riders is different from us," Gandalf said, as the Company settled down and listened to what Gandalf had to say. "They have the blessing of their god, Bathala, a dragon god. He thought that immortality was a cruel punishment, so instead, he gave the dragon riders the gift of slow aging, and fast healing, so that they may still enjoy a long life, but not live long enough to be bored with it. However, there was a consequence he did not expect. He did not expect that when Dragon Riders would heal, they would have an intense fever -a fever so hot that you can get an actual burn from it. So, the worse the wound is, the worse the fever is. The only solution is to constantly keep her at a cool temperature to fend off the fever, which will only last for a day. However, if not treated right, they will die," Gandalf explained, which left the Company silent. Amren then emerged from the trees, where the river was, and sighed. The Company looked at him, their guard ready from the not-so-unfamiliar face. "It's alright, his name is Amren, and he is with me." Gandalf said, and the Company placed their weapons down.

"She is soaked in the river and still unconscious, for now. She needs to be checked now and then. She needs to be given water every ten minutes and at least something to fill her stomach," He explained, while Alvor emerged from the trees, too. "I may have not had the time to introduce myself. My name is Amren, and this here is my brother, Alvor. We are what's left of Helga's family." Amren said, while Alvor just rolled his eyes. He then caught the dark glare of Thorin from across and just glared in return.

"We will set camp here tonight, until Helga is healed," Thorin told the Company. "Oin, Gloin, get a fire going. The rest of you, search for food around the area." He commanded, and everybody were off to do their job. He looked at Amren, who sat down on a rock with his hands in his hair, tugging at the single, thin braid at the back of his head. Thorin was about to ask Amren more details about Helga's condition, when the young boy exclaimed.

"Oh, Bathala, I am so sorry. It's all my fault!" He said, looking utterly devastated.

"Why are you blaming yourself over her obvious mistake?!" Alvor scolded his younger brother, causing everyone to stop and look at the brothers. "She thought it would be best to just march off in the middle of the night to kill that damn dragon she's been chasing after for 1200 years! When will you ever learn, Amren, that she doesn't care for us?! That she left us alone with no one to guide us?!" He said, and Amren looked up, anger in his eyes.

" But she had to, Al! She had to do it for herself, don't you understand?!" Amren defended.

"No! I don't understand how this woman can leave two children in the middle of the night -children that she was supposed to take care of, by the way, just to kill a damned dragon for revenge!" Alvor said, his fists clenched.

"We are not children anymore, Alvor!" Amren shouted, standing up. "Stop being so fucking thick-headed and just accept the fact that she's back and what she did, she did so she can move on from what happened to her! She lost her whole family in a day!"

"Well, she didn't lose us! She didn't have to lose us, too, by leaving us!" Alvor roared, his face dangerously close to Amren's. Thorin saw the look on Alvor's face, and it was the look of being prepared for a fight.

"Stop it, the both of you!" Thorin exclaimed, walking towards the brothers.

"Stay out of this!" Alvor said, slightly pushing Thorin away, who was on the brink of punching the brat himself. " This is only between the three of us!"

" No, I will not! Not while you speak to your mother, who might be dying at this very moment, in that manner!" Thorin said, and Alvor's face went from angry to confused.

" She's not our mother," Alvor said, still slightly angry. "She's never been our mother." Thorin looked at the elder brother in disbelief. Some role model he was! The younger one had more sense in him!

"How could you say that? How could you talk about her like that after all of the things she's been through?! After she brought you in this world?" Thorin said, resisting the urge to punch Alvor.

" What are you talking about? Helga didn't give birth to us." Alvor explained, already getting annoyed by Thorin, who became utterly confused.

" W-What...?" Amren, who already calmed down, walked to Thorin.

"Helga's not our mother," Amren said, "Because she's our aunt. Our real mother handed us to Helga when she was pinned down by a burning log." Amren explained. The whole Company was quiet, and everything happened so fast that the Company did not notice how Thorin punched Alvor square in the face, and only saw the elder brother being pinned down by the dwarf king, receiving multiple blows on his face, enough to knock the living daylight out of him.