Courage ✔

Chapter 8

She flinched when a beast roared. It echoed in her head, creating the impression there were hundreds of animals growling at her.

"Stay calm," Fíli's voice sounded. "I"m with you."

He strengthened his grasp around her waist and secretly she was glad he was with her, even though he was small.

"You're sweet," she told him. His cheeks flushed and he mumbled something she couldn't hear well – partly because she didn't try very hard to distinguish his words.

A few feet away from her,  a group of little men was waiting under a tree.

"I think we're complete," she announced when she approached them.

Thorin gave her an outraged look, but Alyssae smiled back friendly and he turned his back towards her.

"Azog will be around too. Let's go. If –"

"I can't walk fast," she interrupted him.

"You have no choice. Thanks to you, we already lost a lot of time. It's a miracle the orcs didn't discover us here."

"Don't act like I invited them to the party," Alyssae responded. She noticed she hiccuped, even though she couldn't remember when that had started. Bile crept higher and higher up her throat and she began to sweat.

"Let's quit this discussion," Fíli said. "Kíli and I will help Alyssae."

"It's already your fault that she lost her mind," Thorin snapped. "It's even your fault she's here in the first place!"

His comment made her so angry she wanted to shout back, but her words were flushed away by a gulf of puke. She bowed and vomited. In shock, she stared at Thorin's shoes which were covered in sludge.

"Sorry," she whispered and she looked at him with big, innocent eyes. "Please don't hit me again. I just – I just don"t feel very well."

Thorin's face turned so red she was afraid he would explode. For a moment she imagined how his head would blow to bits and how pieces of brain, skin and beard would fly around. She trembled and looked at his face, glad it still consisted of one piece. Furiously, he tried to sweep his shoes on the grass but in the end he turned around without saying anything and rushed away.

In silence, Alyssae followed the dwarves. She felt miserable. There was a disgusting taste in her mouth and she bet he never wanted to look at her again. She tried to make things right by walking as fast as she could and she rejected a bottle of water from Fíli.

"You must drink enough," he objected.

"Don't waste it on me."

"Don't be so stubborn."

"You act stubborn yourself."

The dwarf said no more word about it and Alyssae stared at the starry sky. The lights seemed to switch places now and then and it scared her. It looked like it could rain fire at any moment.

"Did you ever wish you could fly?" she wondered.

"I – no. I think it's better to stay silent, Alys."

She nodded, but it was hard to keep her eyes open because of the surrounding darkness and their silent moving. Talking kept her awake, although she knew it would endanger the others and so, she shut her mouth. If not, she would make Thorin so angry he wouldn't hit her with his hand, but with his sword.

. . .

Alyssae started to hum and swayed her head a little. Sleep tempted her to enter its world and it became harder and harder to resist its sudden attacks. Around them echoed the cries of unknown animals and Alyssae sometimes thought to hear a warg, causing goosebumps on her skin. She thought of Bilbo, who'd heard these cries right before he died. Her lips trembled and before she realized it, she was crying in silence.