"Twice I would die
for a little more once with you."
Illdera.
I woke up the next morning on one of the couches. I sat up and looked around. Some of the dwarves lay on the floor beside the couch. I started counting them to see who was missing. It was about the only way to keep track of all of them.
Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Ori, Nori, Dori, Balin, Dwalin, Oin, Gloin and...
I could not see Fili, Kili and Thorin anywhere. I stood up, careful not to wake the others. It was quite the mission to get over them without waking one of them up.
As I entered the alleyway , I heard voices. I walked closer, trying to identify who the voices belong to, but careful not to make noise. One voice was slightly familiar, but the other totally unknown.
"We have to work quicker," I recognised the first voice as the captain of the guards. He sounded anxious and even... scared.
"Why sir?" The second voice, slightly younger, asked.
"We're should be right on schedule."
"Because, you halfwit, having a half-wizard in town can mean a lot of trouble for us. Especialy now, when the master wants to abandon the town. It is said that wizards can smell traitors"
"Yes sir, of course sir."
The conversation broke off and their footsteps moved away in a hurry.
Traitors? Their conversation struck me as very odd indeed. And all that talk of the master wanting to abandon the town? But why?
I had to talk to Thorin about this.
I jogged back to the town house where we stayed. As I reached it, the dwarfs and a few other people trickled out. The dwarfs were dressed in travel clothes.
"Where have you been?" Fili asked me.
"Walking" I replied.
We all walked to the main outlet of the town. I changed into bird form and flew just above their heads. When we got there, the dwarfs started filling into the boat. I perched on the side of the one boat.
When Kili wanted to climb in, Thorin stopped him with a firm hand.
"Not you." Kili looked at him, surprised.
"We travel at speed you'll slow us down." Thorin continued.
"What you talking about? I'm coming with you." Kili said.
"No no." Thorin shook his head.
Kili's face fell, and his expression turned desperate.
"I'm going to be there when that door's opened! And when we first look upon the halls of our fathers..."
"Kili." Thorin cut him off. "Stay here. Rest. Join us when you're healed."
Fili and Kili stood and watched as the dwarfs sailed out of the town. I flew up and circled above them. And at that moment I was torn. Torn between my responsibility to Gandalf and my heart. Gandalf told me that I had to stay close to Thorin the nearer we got to the mountain. But I also told Gandalf I would protect all of the company if I could.
Then, as I watched, Kili crumbled into his brother's arms. Fili tried to steady him.
And in that moment I knew what I had to do. I'd be happy to take on the consequences, afterwards.
I flew down and changed into human form.
I went to Bilbo, who was just about to climb into one of the boats. I took him by the shoulder, and turned him to face me
"Be careful. Don't get killed. And do not let them do something stupid. Please?"
He nodded, then climbed in the boat. I turned and headed back.
When I got to Kili, Bofur had joined us. Apparently he was left behind. Oin was also with us. We tried to get the attention of the crowd, but they didn't even give us as much as a sideways glance.
We stumbled along, with pretty much nowhere to go. Out of nowhere, Teresa appeared.
"What happened?"
Whether her eyes fell on Kili or on the desperate look on my face, she understood our situation immediately.
"Come on." She said.
We set off back towards Bard's house.
"I hope Bard is not mad anymore." She mumbled to herself as we walked.
When we reached the house, Bofur pounded on the door. In my head, I silently begged that Bard would let us in. He did not look happy after last night.
My suspicion was soon confirmed.
When Bard opened the door, he wore a look of confusion at first, but it quickly changed into irritation and anger.
"No!" He said. "I'm done with dwarves. Go away."
He tried to close the door, but Bofur stopped him.
"No, no! Please. No one will help us. Kili's sick. He's very sick." Bofur begged.
"Bard." Teresa said behind me. "Please. Let them in."
Bard looked at Teresa, they had a silent argument, but he then nodded.
We stumbled inside. Fili, Oin and Bofur laid Kili down on a bed nearby.
*****
As it got darker, Kili got worse. His fever picked up, his face whitened and his pain got worse. He was sweating and crying out from the hurt.
Both Fili and Oin tried to help, all to no avail. By the time night had fallen the dark magic in Kili's leg was so strong that even my half- human side could sense it.
Bofur was running around fetching water while I clutched Kili's hand. He squeezed it so hard it started turning blue.
Fili looked pleadingly at Oin.
"Can you not do something?"
Oin shook his head miserably.
"I need herbs, something to bring down his fever."
Bard was busy throwing suggestions of possible herbs. None very useful.
"Hanksheed, we've a few."
Oin shook his head.
"They are no use to me. Do you have any Kingsfoil?"
"No. It's a weed." Bard replied. "We feed it to the pigs."
"Pigs?" Bofur said. Then a look of realization crept upon his face.
"Right." He said. He pointed at Kili.
"Don't move." He said.
"Bofur! Bad timing." I shouted after him.
"Sorry!" I heard him cry from outside.
I looked at Bard, very confused.
"One of the most important and useful plants you can get, and you feed it to pigs?"
"It doesn't help us, so why keep it around?" Bard replied.
"Pigs are the only ones that find it useful."
"Pigs are smart then." I said.
Bard smiled at my silly joke. At least I managed to lift his frustration a little.
But our joy was only fleeting, for right at that moment, the ground shook. It was that kind of rumble that you can feel all the way into your bones.
Sand poured from the roof. Sigrid, Tilda and Bane stopped their work.
"Da?" Sigrid asked.
"It's coming from the mountain." Bane told his father.
Bard's eyes and mine met and I knew that we had both realized what the rumble was.
A Dragon.
I looked at Kili, still clutching my hand. My heart felt a pang of pain seeing him this hurt. The worst part was that he could not be moved, or we risked hurting him even further. We were stuck here.
Fili must've also realized this, because he stood up and walked to Bard.
"You should leave us. Take your children and get out of here."
"And go where?" Bard asked.
"There is nowhere to go."
"Then we're stuck here together." Teresa said.
"Together." I whispered and glanced at Kili.
"Are we going to die Da?" Little Tilda asked.
Again I saw that horrible image of her slaughtered on the battlefield.
"No darlin' " Bard replied.
"The dragon. It's going to kill us." Tilda said.
I saw something cross over Bard's face. He looked at the roof next to his head the pulled something out of the board. It was a long arrow. A black arrow.
"Not if I kill it first." He answered his daughter.
He took Bane's shoulder with one hand and the black arrow in the other, and they went out the door.
I let go of Kili's hand and went outside to see whether Bofur was near with the Kingsfoil. But he was nowhere to be seen.
I felt a cold feeling creep up my spine. A chill I haven't felt since we left the goblin tunnels. It was the feeling of trouble.
That's when I heard Sigrid's scream. I whirled around to see her straining to shut the door against... An orc!
Why now? They couldn't have picked worse timing. I thought
The door flew open and another orc came in. I tried to throw him off by targeting him with plates. But it didn't really work. I silently wished that I had my sword and my bow and arrows.
Then I remembered the dagger in my boot. It had stayed with me all this time, and now it would serve me well.
Then everything got a little blurry. About five or six orcs charged inside the house. And more was coming.
Fili slammed one orc against the walls. Sigrid and Tilda hid under the table while the rest of us fought.
But the odds were horrible, since we didn't have any weapons to defend ourselves with, except for my dagger. The others used anything they could get their hands on to try and repel the orcs.
Another orc was climbing onto the rail, when he got stabbed by the person I least expected. A red haired elleth. Tauriel.
She entered the house with a expression of bloodlust. And at her side hung my sword and on her back my bow and arrows.
She handed me my sword and took my quiver off and placed it on the nearest cupboard.
"Had a feeling I might see you." She said as she stabbed an orc and beheaded another.
There was no time to reply, because, jumping from the roof came Legolas.
I was so shocked to see him that for a moment I forgot about all the fighting around me.
But I soon recovered and after a few seconds we were fighting orcs, slashing and cutting the creatures down.
I heard a shout from the other side of the house. I turned to see an orc jump on the bed Kili was laying on. Before I could react' Tauriel swiftly twirled around the foot piece and stabbed the orc in the shoulder.
Kili grabbed a dagger and drove it through the hart of the orc. He cried out in pain as he fell to the floor. Tauriel looked at him, bewildered. I rushed to his side and yelled for Fili to come and help me. Together we managed to get Kili back onto the bed.
Meanwhile, Legolas stabbed and sliced and cut through the orcs like they were made of dough.
The orcs turned and fled. I heard shouts of Black speech as they fled through the town...
I grabbed a wet cloth from the table and pressed it against Kili's head. I could feel his fever burning through the material. I could feel his pain. It was worse than anything I had ever sensed before.
Bane and his sisters crawled out from under the overturned table. He had a look of awe on his face.
"You killed them all." He breathed.
"There are others." Legolas replied, as he entered the house.
"Tauriel. Come." He walked out.
He turned around at the door.
Beside me, Tauriel looked at Kili's anguished face. I saw her mind considering all her options.
Legolas saw her looking at Kili, and his face hardened.
"Tauriel." he said in a firm voice. Then he turned and left.
Tauriel hesitated, then followed Legolas. I knew that she would always chooose him over anyone else.
Oin looked at me with a pleading expression.
"We're losing him." His tone was desperate.
I felt anger build inside me. Here was Tauriel, an elf, skilled in the art of healing, but she won't help because of her stupid feelings.
I stood and marched towards her, and grabbed her arm just as she was leaving.
"Tauriel." I hissed at her. "If our friendship ever had any meaning to you, help me. Help me save someone I deeply care about."
"I..." Tauriel began, but was cut off by the sound of footsteps.
We both whirred around, or weapons drawn, and nearly impaled poor Bofur. He stood infront of us, looking very confused.
Then I noticed what he was clutching in his hands. A small green weed, with tiny white flowers. Kingsfoil.
Tauriel took the plant in her hands, then looked at Kili, shrieking in pain. Her face softened.
I smiled.
"What are you doing?" Bofur asked.
I put a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm going to save him." Tauriel answered.
We rushed in and got to work. We worked together to place Kili on the table. It was hard work, because he kept shrieking and struggling. Tauriel shredded the Kingsfoil into a bowl and mixed it with a little hot water.
"Hold him down." She instructed us.
"I hope you know what you're doing." I told her.
She pressed the plant to Kili's wound, and he let out a dreadful scream. I felt like dying, seeing him like that.
Tauriel began chanting. As she continued, Kili's face got more and more relaxed, until he closed his eyes.
Tauriel stopped chanting and looked at us.
"He will be fine, just let him rest."
Then she began binding his leg with a fresh cloth.
The other dwarfs went to sit together, while the children began to clean and get the house back in order.
I stood beside Tauriel as she bandaged Kili's leg.
"Thank you." was all I said.
Just then Kili opened his eyes a little.
"Tauriel..." He mumbled.
She smiled at him. Her mouth smiled, though her eyes did not.
"Lie still." She said.
Kili shook his head slightly.
"You cannot be her. She is far, far away from me. She walks in starlights in another world. It was just a dream."
I couldn't stay to hear anymore. Hearing that, it felt like someone was trying to suffocate me, rip my heart out and stamp on it.
I walked away, but I was near enough to hear one last sentence:
"Do you think she could have loved me?"
I ran out and grabbed the railing for support. I stood there, feeling completely numb. My mind was blank, so was my heart.
I didn't even notice that Tauriel came to stand beside me until she spoke.
"You love him, don't you?" She whispered.
I turned to her.
"Do you love Legolas?" I retorted.
She hung her head and stared at the water. I went back to staring at the horison.
After a while, she spoke. Her tone was unsure.
"What does it matter? He is mad at me for staying here instead of going with him. Our chances are ruined. But yes, I love him. More than anything in this world. I might have doomed myself by choosing him to pledge my heart to."
I didn't reply. She looked at me, but I just stared straight ahead. Seeing that I didn't want to talk, she turned and went inside. I stood there, feeling, if possible, even worse than before.
I had little time for grief however, because then I saw a dark shape in the evening sky, getting closer and bigger by the second.
As it grew, I could make out enormous wings and claws. I heard a deafening roar that sounded like a thousand earthquakes. It was unmistakably a dragon.
And if that dragon was flying towards us, it could only mean one thing.
The dwarves had failed.
"Oh Thorin, what have you done?" I whispered.
Shout out to slayinbarnes. who designed the new cover!
She deserves a more than huge thank you.
Thanks so much!
All credit goes to her and her talent!
<3