I'm back! I wonder how long it's been this time...

I've been busy with a number of things, but I finally had a little bit of a break, and we all know what that means.

On with the story!

I have to say, nearly becoming monster chow is not an experience I ever hope to repeat. I didn't know then what those things or their riders were, and I hoped I never found out. They were like massive, hybrid wolves, the riders…indescribable. They looked like something that had sprouted from the forest floor and grown teeth and appendages. There was a foul odor in the air all around them.

As we ran, pounding along, I fell from Dwalin and Ori's arms and rolled down a hill. It was better for them that way. They could run. Alternately, I would be free of whatever fate awaited me, albeit through a very painful (but hopefully quick) death. I would rather die than live for however much longer this journey would take fearing the unknown.

But suddenly the beast turned its attention from me and veered wildly in the opposite direction, throwing its rider and finally falling over dead. When I was sure the troll thing with a pitchfork for an arm wasn't coming for me, I crawled back up the hill. When I reached the top, I saw what had killed the thing was an arrow in the back of its head. Thank you, Kili. I thought. I really owed him one.

What I realized next was that my companions were nowhere to be seen. Needless to say, this left me more than panicked. I wanted to be free of them, sure, but in a place that wasn't the middle of nowhere.

"Ori!" I called. "Bilbo? Bofur?" No one answered. I jogged up and down the hills, cupping my hands around my mouth, each call becoming more frantic. "Hello? Help! Anybody, help me!"

But no one came. Eventually, I sat down in the middle of the field close to where they'd left me. To my disgust, I began to cry. Again. It was useless. They were long gone by now. I would die here, alone. The creatures would come back and devour me, and this time no one would be there to kill it. And then I remembered. I had a sword. Gandalf had handed it to me while I had been busy plotting my escape. I was so distracted I had barely taken any notice. It hung from my belt loop now, so heavy it nearly tore the waistband of my skirt.

I drew it out of its sheath to take a closer look. The handle was thin enough, but the blade looked like some kind of broadsword with a strange angle to it, growing wider at the tip almost like a large arrowhead. It was dusty and somewhat dull—useless if I actually needed to use it at some point. I slid it back into the sheath and tried to resign myself to eventual certain death. But try as I might, I just couldn't persuade myself to be comfortable with the thought of dying, now that I had just narrowly escaped it.

It seemed like hours before I heard someone approaching. I straightened up, gripped my sword and held it at the ready, on the off chance I was met with an enemy. But it was Fili and Kili, who must have been scouting for me.

They were out of breath and both looked concerned but relieved to have found me. I carefully replaced my sword and stood up.

"Âkminrûk zu." I said to Kili, pointing at the dead creature with the arrow in its head. Ori had taught me a few phrases in their language. The guttural mouthful I had just uttered meant 'thank you'. I thought he would be pleased that I was learning their language. But he looked confused.

Fili, on the other hand, was angry. He wrenched me by the arm and asked me something in a demanding tone. I shook my head—my main means of communication—and he repeated his question more forcefully, though I still couldn't understand a word. Eventually, he gave up. Still grasping me by the arm, he and Kili led me towards a large rock formation.

We stood at the edge of a large crevice, and Kili jumped down into it. It was a few seconds before we heard him hit ground. Fili edged me closer to the ledge until my toes were at the edge of the dusty ground. I stood high above a chasm into abysmal darkness and a hard stone ground, and that's where I froze. The palms of my hands began to sweat and and for the second time that day, a sick, cold feeling washed over me.

Kili shouted up to us, and I could tell Fili was getting impatient with me. He yelled back down to his brother in an irritated tone and looked up at me, annoyed, eyes rolled, one eyebrow and corner of his mouth quirked up. He made a move to shove me, but when he saw the fear in my eyes, his gaze softened a little. For a moment he took my hand in both of his, and then pointed down into the shaft. He called down again, and got what sounded like an affirmative response. From below, I heard Kili clap his hands twice, and I understood that he meant to catch me. Fili patted my arm and nudged me forward. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and jumped—

—and landed roughly on my feet before falling sideways, awkwardly twisting my left knee and landing on the sheath of my sword, with Kili holding me tight under the arms. He helped me to my feet again, and that's when I felt the numb shockwave of pain in my legs and knee. I hoped I hadn't broken anything. I limped to one side as Fili jumped down, landing without a problem. The two helped me along further into the tunnel, muttering to each other and nodding towards me.

At long last, we reached the company, at the far end of the chasm. The others cheered, Bofur and Ori patting me on the back, and we continued on until we reached an opening where bright light shone through. We emerged onto a narrow ledge facing the most beautiful place I had ever seen. A large palace complex sat at the edge of the mountains, on a ledge leading down into a valley. Waterfalls cascaded all around. This was no town; it was a kingdom.

"Rivendell," Gandalf proclaimed, sweeping his hand in a grand gesture. The dwarves inexplicably groaned. I remembered what I was most likely here for, and felt weak in the knees. As I swayed dangerously, Fili and Kili rushed to steady me before I fell off the ledge. The others looked curious and concerned as they dragged me back from the edge. Kili said something that I took to be an explanation that I was injured.

Well, here we were. And I had no idea what would happen to me from here on.

...

They had lost Bridget. They didn't know where, Dwalin said, but told us that she had put up a fuss about being carried, especially by him, and had wrenched herself out of their grip somewhere and hid away during the chase.

"What?" roared Gandalf. "How could you have let her go? It didn't occur to you that she would be killed? I gave her a sword, but I could tell she had no idea how to use one!"

"What does it matter to you, Gandalf? We should never have taken her with us." grumbled Thorin.

Balin, who'd been the voice of reason ever since she'd come across us, spoke up before Gandalf could get another word in. "Laddie," he said to Thorin. If anyone else had called him that, they'd surely be dead. "She is lost. She has nowhere to go. And it may have escaped your attention, but she is also very frightened."

"I know that." Thorin growled impatiently. "All the more reason why we should have left her. My loyalties are to the Company, not some girl."

Balin drew near to Thorin and spoke in a low voice, though most of us could hear. "Don't you remember what it's like to be lost, lad?"

Thorin was silent for a moment, and I could tell he was thinking back to what he had lost. We were all accustomed to this habit of his by now. Every so often, he'd go quiet and there'd be a distant look in his eyes. He probably preferred no one notice, and as a matter of course we all pretended not to.

"All right." he said finally. "Fili, Kili, see if you can find her. If she's alive, bring her back. We will wait for you down there." He indicated the chasm under the rock where we'd be safe from any further attack. "If you do not find her by sunset, return to us."

"And if we find her dead?" Kili asked. Fili elbowed him in the ribs.

"Leave her."

….

"How could you?" demanded Ori suddenly. "How could you tell them to leave her?" he had come face-to-face with our leader. Thorin merely glared at the impertinent lad.

"Ori, be quiet!" ordered Dori, pulling him away. "My apologies, Thorin. The boy doesn't know what he's saying.

Everyone fell silent after that. It was all that had happened for hours, and they still did not return.

….

She was alive! They'd brought her back alive, but injured. Kili explained that she'd had a bad fall into the chasm and landed sideways on her knee. We did not have time to examine her now, we had to leave before someone—or something—found us. We had no way to tell how safe we were here.

We edged our way along the narrowing space until we reached a gap where a light shown through. The ledge was even narrower outside. Gandalf announced that we had arrived in Rivendell. Bridget suddenly collapsed, and Fili and Kili rushed to pick her up before she fell.

The landscape before us was nice, but to us it signified the Elves' preoccupation with beauty and vanity. It was going to be a long stay.

Chapter 5 is in the works and should be up soon.

A quick translation:

Akminruk zu- thank you