He cannot be serious.
After asking Bard if we could take Kili inside, he replied with a: "No. I'm done with dwarves. Go away." Then he attempted to slam the door.
Just as I was about to say something I'd ultimately regret, Bofur stopped the door with his foot and addressed the stubborn bargeman. "No, no, no! No one will help us; Kili's sick. He's very sick."
Bard glanced at Oin & Fili before allowing us inside. I shot the man a quick glare before following Bofur and the other dwarves. Once we got inside I helped carry Kili over to a nearby bed. "Come on. You'll be fine." I muttered.
"How long has he been like this?" Bard asked.
"He started showing severe signs of pain this morning when the other dwarves left." I replied.
Bard nodded curtly and began rummaging through a cupboard. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I turned away from Kili momentarily and sighed.
"Kyja? Are you okay?" Fili inquired.
"I'm fine!" I snapped. "My god, can't I be left alone for one minute without someone questioning my well-being?"
Fili's eyes flickered to the ground before meeting mine once more. "That's what I thought." He said. Before I could reply, he strode back to Kili and murmured a few inaudible words.
You hot-tempered, self-centered twit. Mithren scolded me. After all he's done and said to you, that's your answer?
I licked my lips nervously as my chin trembled. It wasn't right, was it?
No! It wasn't! If I was a human I would be slapping you across the face!
Since when did you gain such a strong attitude?
Ever since I realized how oblivious you were to his love!
My mind stopped as the words Mithren just stated suddenly clicked.
... I can't love him back.
Why not?
After the Master did... that to me, I had trouble trusting a man, let alone a person for some time.
But he's different! He loves you Kyja! Your heart could finally be mended and-
Out of the blue I snatched Mithren off of my shoulder and held her firmly in my fist. She desperately tried to escape my grasp as I squeezed her body tighter by the second.
My heart can never be mended! Don't you understand? I am beyond repair! Fili is stupid for falling in love with me! I will only ruin him.
Kyja- please, I can't-
I have been scarred for the rest of my life. I have been exposed to the utmost form of evil. Whenever I look at my body, I never feel clean. I used to constantly scrub my arms and legs, thinking that there were some remnants of him on me. Now I realize that most of the pain is on the inside. And that is something that can never be fixed- especially by love!
Realizing that my eyes had been closed the whole time, I opened them to see Mithren's limp body in my hand. My mouth fell open as I gently stroked her feathers.
"I'm so sorry...." I choked. "This only proves my point. I always end up hurting the ones I care for." Slipping out the door, I knelt down my the water and scanned my surroundings. I took a deep breath and softly placed Mithren's body onto the water's surface.
"Goodbye, my friend." I whispered. "I suppose I'll never know why you came to me."
All of a sudden, Mithren dissolved into a dust-like substance and sunk into the murky depths of the lake's interior. I stepped back in surprise and shook my head.
My dear skin-changer, some questions are never meant to be answered.
I pressed my hand to my forehead to see if I had a fever. Great, now I'm hearing voices. I thought to myself.
There is no need to doubt yourself.
"Oh, come on!" I exclaimed. Hearing cries coming from the house, I brushed my hands on my pants and headed inside.
"Ah! Ugh! Argh!"
As Kili continued to moan, Bofur filled a bowl with hot water and rushed towards him. "Can you not do something?" Fili demanded.
"I need herbs, something to bring down his fever." Oin fretted. In the corner Bard was going through his bag of medicines.
"I have nightshade, feverfew...."
"They're no use to me. Do you have any Kingsfoil?"
"No, it's a weed. We feed it to the pigs."
"Pigs? Weed? Right." Bofur pointed at Kili and bowed his head slightly. "Don't move."
As he left in search of the Kingsfoil, I felt two fingers tap my shoulder. I swiveled my head to see Sigrid shyly standing there.
I flashed a small smile as Tilda emerged from behind her sister. "How are you both?" I asked.
"Well, Da's been pretty worried about the dwarves." Sigrid confided. "And now that some of you have returned...." Her statement was interrupted as a loud thunder reverberated throughout the room. "Da?" She gasped.
"It's coming from the mountain." Bain added. Fili left Kili's side and approached Bard.
"You should leave us. Take your children; get out of here."
"And go where?" Bard growled. "There is nowhere to go."
"Are we going to die, Da?" Tilda chirped. My heart softened at the sound of her innocent little voice.
"No, darling."
"The dragon, it's going to kill us!"
Bard gazed at his children worridely for a moment before pulling something off of the ceiling. My eyes widened at the sight of the old weapon. "A black arrow." I murmured.
Bain, Sigrid, and Tilda couldn't take their eyes away from the object in their father's hands as he declared, "Not if I kill it first." With that he gestured to Bain and the both of them ran out the door.
I knelt down in front of Tilda and managed a smile. "You are not going to die." I promised. "I swear on my life, that dragon will not touch you, or your brother and sister. Okay?"
Tilda nodded and kissed me on the cheek. I stood up and grinned as Sigrid called for her father out on the balcony. "Da? Is that you Da?" All of a sudden an Orc jumped onto the balcony and snarled.
Instinctively I took a few steps before realizing I had set down my sword. 'Damn it!" I cursed as my eyes searched the room. A faint glimmer of silver caught my attention as Sigrid and Tilda screamed for their lives.
Once Baratinu was safely in my hands, I whirled around to see Oin throwing plates at an Orc while Tilda and Sigrid made refuge under the dinner table.
"Hey you! Come on over here you sniveling toad!" Two of the Orcs snarled and barged towards me. Considering there wasn't a large amount of space in the house, it made fighting abilities quite limited.
Nonetheless, I thrusted Baratinu into one of their chests whilst elbowing the other in the face. Before I could respond another Orc kicked my back.
I flew forward and landed on the ground. Groaning, I wiped the blood off of my lip and smiled. "That all you got?" I exclaimed, kicking the same Orc directly in the face.
In the corner of my eye a red-haired figure appeared in the doorway. Upon closer inspection I noticed it was Tauriel. I didn't know whether to be pleased or angry, especially since Princess has shown up to fight as well.
Hacking away at the Orcs in front of me, I couldn't help but question what exactly they were doing here. Aren't they more interested in Tho- that's it. That's why they are here. They still think everyone is in Laketown.
"These are not the dwarves you're looking for!" I yelled to the Orcs. In the meantime Kili had managed to grab a knife and was now stabbing an Orc with it. As he did so, the dwarf fell to the ground and howled in pain.
"Ekinskeld. Obguranid!" A voice from outside called.
"Gur! Arangim!"
I glanced out of a window and spotted the remaining Orcs joining their leader. Shivering in disgust, I moved to face the children who were now addressing Tauriel. "You killed them all." Bain praised.
"There are others. Tauriel, come." Legolas barked. I rolled my eyes and started to wipe the blood off of my sword.
"We're losing him!" Oin exclaimed as he examined Kili hurriedly. Tauriel gazed at Kili, then Legolas.
"Tauriel." Legolas repeated.
"Princess, just get out of here. She's already made up her mind." I hissed. Legolas glared at me before striding out of the door. Tauriel began to follow him, but Kili moaned once more, causing the elf to turn around and look at him.
I got into a defensive stance once I heard the sound of footsteps. After I saw it was only Bofur, I relaxed and let out a sigh.
"Athelas." Tauriel spoke as Bofur stared at her absentmindedly. "Athelas...."
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"I'm going to save him." She asked Tilda for a tub of water while gazing affectionately at Kili every so often. Oin, Bofur and Fili lifted the sick dwarf onto the table as I patted Sigrid's shoulder comfortingly.
Tauriel rinsed the kingsfoil off in the water and approached Kili. "Hold him down." She demanded. I walked over and pressed an ample amount of force against him as she began chanting in elvish.
"Menno o nin na hon i eliad annen annin, hon leitho o ngurth."
Kili thrashed and screamed in pain. Sigrid jumped in to help along with her younger sister. The time seemed to pass abnormally fast as Tauriel continued to heal the poor dwarf.
Afterwards Fili, Oin & I stood in the kitchen watching a pot of water boil. "I've heard tell of the wonders of elvish medicine. That was a privilege to witness." Oin acknowledged.
I nodded in agreement and stroked my chin thoughtfully. "Excuse me. I need- I need to go outside. Just for a little while."
As I made my way through the door, I caught sight of Kili's hand intertwined with Tauriel's.
The night sky was absolutely stunning. I gazed up at the stars, and I couldn't help but smile. "Are you Kyja?" Someone asked. I whirled around to see a short, skinny girl standing before me.
"Maybe I am." I retorted. "But you'd better state who you are unless you want a sword in the chest."
"My- my name is Indie." The girl replied. Her gray eyes flickered between my face and the sword in my hand. "I mean no threat to you."
"How did you know my name, Indie?"
"An older woman that I am good friends with told me about you."
"... Did her name happen to be Novalee?"
"Why yes, it was."
I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion as I loosened my grip on Baratinu. "Well, what exactly do you want?"
"I want to come with you. On your journey."
Laughing softly, I shook my head and shot an amused glare at the girl. "It isn't exactly my journey." I chuckled sadly. "Besides, you don't look as if-"
Suddenly a loud rumble echoed throughout Laketown. I whipped my head around to see bursts of fire and light escaping the entrances of Erebor. Indie gasped in surprise as she motioned to my sword.
The actual blade itself now possessed an orange glow, whilst the dragons on the side began to release steam. I raised my eyebrows as Indie gaped at the whole sight before her.
I glanced at the girl before directing my eyes to the Mountain. My jaw dropped, and four words that have plagued my heart since the beginning of this journey escaped my lips.
"What have we done?"
========================================================
Is it really the end of the second portion? My gosh, I feel like crying.
I'm sure you all have several questions about this chapter.
- Why did Mithren's body dissolve?
- Whose voice was that inside Kyja's head?
- Are Fili and Kyja going to stay apart?
- What relationship is there between Baratinu and Smaug?
A day or two from now I will be posting an official thank you along with notes and details about the overall story.
Seriously, you all are awesome.
Big shout-out to @amelia_141 for winning the contest I hosted a week back. I hope I did okay writing what Indie was like!
Also, did any of you catch the Star Wars reference? If so, you win a free piece of Lembas bread.
Picture to the right is Smaug the Stupendous.