~ Chapter Two, hope you enjoy!~ thanks for the reviews guys!
Chapter two- Wolves
Rain, rain and mud. It was predominate outside, as he struggled to keep his footing in the clearing, weighed down by Kilis weight as well as the water immediately drenching them to the bone. He held tight to his brother, slowly trying to get them into the trees, trying to avoid falling or dropping the younger dwarf and hoping quietly to himself that at any moment Thorin would come running to them from the woods.
Not that he was holding out hope, just a fools dream.
Fili wasn't one for wishing, he didn't put much stock in it, children did it, maybe Dwarrowdames that were hopelessly in love with a lad; but not warriors. Warriors had to be real, had to know on instinct that things didn't always go the way you wanted and now he needed to stay grounded in the present because his brother was hardly able to walk. So he shook himself out of his thought and gazed steadily at his brother, Kili was shaking, a glazed look in his eyes that would only be pain and maybe, Fili thought, maybe also the effects of the concussion. The protective older brother in him was bubbling to the surface and he wanted nothing more then to just set Kili down and run back to the camp and get Oin and Thorin and Gandalf so they could fix this but he also knew he couldn't leave his brother alone, Kili was in no state for that, he couldn't defend himself like this, no matter how stubborn the brunette was.
So Fili had them marching on words, stumbling in the dark, hardly being able to see two feet in front of them and Kili letting small whimpers out each time he was nearly dropped, he trusted Fili, with his whole heart but he was afraid he was going to far at the moment, Fili was also hurt, also upset and at risk of being very reckless but Kili stayed quiet, even though the rain was pounding down on them in buckets and the trees were obscuring potential threats and he wasn't being helpful at all but his body had shut down and he was trying to move his feet but Fili seemed to notice he was dragging. Not that the blond cared much, he was running on adrenaline and was taking notice of little besides his brother and getting back to the company.
Never noticing the lurking shadows behind them.
Thorin was growing restless. His nephews should have been back at some point but he had seen hide nor tail of the trouble makers since he'd sent them off around late noon. The sky had been light then, the moons increasing height in the sky was making him worried, though not panicked, he was well aware that the lads could watch out for themselves and each other but worried him was that if one got hurt the other would be useless.
Fili was very bad about throwing caution to the wind when Kili was hurt and Kili was no better. They were an excellent fighting pair, excellent brothers but they left much to be desired when it came to being safe.
So as the hours marched on and his sisters sons did not return he decided he needed to look for them. He looked around the camp and sighed, why was it always his lads?
"Dwalin!" he said and the weapons master looked at him evenly. The mountainous dwarf was intimidating but had a soft spot for his kings family. " I'm going to look for the lads, I want you and Nori come along."Nori, both Thorin and Dwalin hardly trusted him as far as he could be thrown; which would be because he was a notorious thief and was sly as a fox; but he was an excellent tracker and Thorin required him at the moment.
So the king waited as his hunting group pulled themselves together and began to head out. The rain had gotten worse as they began their long hike, none of them talking as they searched for a hardly existent trail or sounds that would point out the boys, wolves howled not to far away, the sound forcing the older dwarves to stand tall and at the ready, Thorin's blue eyes narrowing and he ran.
He ran to the cold, blood curdling sound because he knew that it would take him to his nephews. He ran because he knew on a cellular level they would indeed be in danger and he ran because he knew their would be many wolves present.
Dwalin could only run after Thorin, his heavy boots splattering mud and water everywhere, coating him and making it harder to keep his footing but he did even as Nori grabbed him so he didn't fall, the usually graceful, agile dwarf practically useless on the terrain as the skirted over leaves and rock and mud and soon the howling permeated the air around them like some dark music that had Dwalin wishing that it wasn't present. Even if he did see himself respecting the beasts tactics.
Encircle, corner, kill.
Dwalin just hoped they weren't too late.
It had been Kili who first noticed that they were being followed and he made it known by pulling on Fili's braids. He was alert as ever just not so coherent when he spoke and Fili was more then a little wary over it. But he waited as he watched his brother, as he slowly made the sign for 'followed' and that's when the howls began.
Normally Fili didn't mind the creatures, they were intelligent, worked as teams to bring down prey larger then them, but right now was a bad time, a bad time he could not escape. He was cornered, he knew it, Kili, as gone as he was, knew it. So he carefully deposited his brother at the base of a tree, handing him twin knives just in case, and he slowly drew out his swords. The howls grew in volume, a strategy used to flush out potential prey. But he wasn't running, he'd done this before with a much larger wolf...the wolf whose fur now adorned his, Thorin's and Kilis jackets. The wolf who had strayed to close to his family and had learned that Fili's family was not to be messed with.
Slowly the creatures entered the glen, hackles raised, teeth flashing, eyes like fire in the darkness, snarling and snapping and hungry.
There were seven, he was out numbered and he had a slim chance of surviving this, he knew they attacked together, strategizing and learning as they did so...top predators and here he was, already injured.
He spotted the pack leader, a handsome grey wolf with yellow eyes and a fierce aura. If he could kill that one the rest would leave.
Not that he got a choice. As soon as that wolf entered the glen the others went about attacking.
Everything happened to fast, he was tackled by a weight to much for him to throw back, landed hard and lost a sword to the fall, the other was brought up to block fierce jaws and then embedded into a broad auburn furred chest. The wolf yelped and slid off to fall to the ground, boneless.
Another replaced It as he got up, and soon he was fending off three, one would lunge and he would lunge back then the other and it was a deadly dance, a lion trapped by poachers and all the while Kili was shouting for him to look out or be careful.
But it didn't matter because one had broken threw the defense and had latched on to his arm, dragging him down..
then it was dead, just as Fili could feel his bone straining in the beasts mouth, the pressure let go and a heavy body fell on him. He could hear voices, he could hear swords and he could hear Kili calling a familiar name.
"Thorin!"
And all Fili could think then was that they were going to be okay. that Kili was going to be okay, that he could relax now.
