Chapter 4
"We have to get Thorin back to Erebor." Harond argued.
"I realize the urgency of the situation but to leave at this hour would be stupidity, we would never reach Erebor before nightfall which would leave us at the disadvantage against the Orcs." Abigail fired back at him.
"Enough," Thorin said in a commanding tone "I respect your opinion Abigail, however, we must reach the mountain tonight."
Abigail ran a hand through her hair "There is one way…but I'm not sure we could make it with your bum leg, and we'd be much more exposed."
"It's a chance I'm willing to take, I won't risk the people of this town's safety by staying here when I have Orcs on my tail."
Abigail glanced over at him surprised. That was the last thing she had expected to hear from a dwarven prince, he didn't even live here.
"We'll be at a serious disadvantage…" she warned half-heartedly
"You could always stay behind with your brother and just tell us where the path is."
Whether or not he'd meant it as a jibe at her courage she didn't know but it did set her teeth grinding and her fists clenching.
"No," She spat "of course not, I simply wanted to be very clear; if we die out there, it will be your own fault."
With that she turned and stalked away from the dwarves, leaving them to follow in stunned silence. Abigail led them through the streets she knew would be less crowed. Although she doubted that Orcs would be so stupid as to come into the city in broad daylight they couldn't be too careful. In truth the more she thought about the Orcs who were now after them the more nervous she became. She had only seen one Orc in all her life and yet that was enough. Their way their stench hung in the air, their beady little eye's full of hate, everything about them was meant to be terror inducing, and it seemed to work on her. Abigail forced herself to abandon that train of thought once they reached her destination.
"A little help please," she said gesturing to the sewer covering in the middle of the street.
"Oh, you've got to be jokin'" Harond whined "I'll not be going down there."
Before Abigail could point out that they were more than welcome to try their own luck elsewhere, Thorin spoke.
"Yes you will," he said firmly "if Abigail says this is the safest way to leave the city then this is the way we go."
She momentarily forgot that she was angry with him and felt a surge of pride that he trusted her. Quickly the emotion faded back into a silent brooding, as soon as they had removed the covering she jumped down. She landed with a sickening sloshing sound, the smell hit her like a ton of bricks, making her want to gage. She refused to let her mind acknowledge what exactly she was standing on, instead she called up to tell the awaiting dwarves it was safe. Harond landed next to her and immediately started choking on air to the point she thought she would have to step in. Next was Thorin, he handled the smell with nothing more than a grimace before returning to his passive expression. How he managed to look dignified even in a sewer she would never know.
"I know you know the city lass but you couldn't have picked a different way out?"
"Oh I'm sorry it's not to your liking but I thought you wanted to reach the mountain." She said sarcastically.
"He didn't mean anything by it." Thorin defended.
"Then perhaps he should have kept his mouth shut." She snapped.
The surprised look on the dwarves face made her almost feel guilty. Quickly she turned to hide her face and remind herself that it had been him who lied to her and he had no business making her feel bad. She didn't turn to see if they were following her as she took the lead again.
Thorin stared after her with wide eyes, he glanced over at his guard to watch his reaction. To his surprise Harond simply shrugged, he even thought there might have been a smile on his face.
"She rivals the attitude of a female dwarf." Harond said "I like her."
Thorin's raised his eyebrows
At last they came to the end of the sewer tunnels which emptied into the river. They took just a moment to wash the muck off their boots, then Abigail urged them on in the direction of the trail. She glanced back at Thorin who was back to limping. Abigail glanced anxiously up at the darkening sky, she didn't like this, not one bit. The feeling inside her stomach made her grip her bow tighter, something was off about the forest around them but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. A while later she heard footsteps approaching from behind her.
"I was wondering if we might could talk for a minute?"
"If you must." She said simply, not looking at him.
"Look," the dwarf came to walk beside her with some difficulty "I'm sorry I lied to you, I shouldn't have."
"Then why did you?"
"I don't know, at first I didn't know you. I didn't know if it was safe to tell you." He said.
"After that?"
"To be honest, I enjoyed the fact that you did not treat me as royalty. To you, I was just a dwarf, nothing that special."
"And you liked that?" Abigail asked skeptically.
"Well, yes." Thorin answered "All my life I've been surrounded by people who are afraid to speak their mind because of my title. I guess it was nice to have someone different."
Abigail risked a sidelong glance at him and found him also watching her. She searched his face for any sign of falseness but found only sincerity. Even so, she wasn't sure if she was quite ready to forgive him yet. A sudden snap of a twig made her freeze mid-step, throwing her arm out to stop Thorin as well.
"What is it?" Harond asked from behind.
She shushed him harshly, listening to the sounds of the forest. Or the lack there of.
"There's something wrong," Abigail whispered "it's too quiet."
Abigail took an arrow from her quiver and notched it on her bow. Thorin and Harond took her queue, drawing their swords. Her fears were confirmed when she caught scent of a pungent smell. Another twig snapped, this time much closer. Acting swiftly Abigail loosed an arrow in the direction of the sound. An ear-piercing shriek sounded in the small clearing, chaos ensued after that.
Almost immediately the three of them were pushed back to back. The sheer number of them made it difficult for Abigail to use her bow, and before long she was forced to abandon it entirely for the small hunting knife in her boot. Even outnumbered four to one the trio were holding their own fairly well. Each looking out for the others back when one of the goblins forced his self between them. They carried on like that until all the goblins had been slain. After that they stood panting for breath, Abigail looked down at herself and was horrified to find that she was covered in goblin blood. She counted herself lucky that she'd only suffered minor scrap's and scratches.
"Is everyone alright?" Thorin asked.
"It'll take a lot more than a few half-wit goblins to take me down." Harond said almost merrily.
"Abigail?"
"I'm fine." Her voice sounded weak and shaken.
She was not meant to be a warrior, the blood on her hand, even though it was goblin, nagged at her.
"We should keep going." Thorin said softly placing his hand on her shoulder "Is that the right way?" He asked pointing.
She nodded but before she could say anything, she caught sight of movement just beyond the tree line. By the time she realized what it was it was too late to warn the two dwarves. With a scream she threw Thorin down to the ground as an arrow came whizzing through the air. Abigail felt a sharp pain in her abdominal muscles, when she looked down she saw a nasty black arrow protruding from her stomach. As if far away she heard someone yell her name but she couldn't seem to focus. Her legs gave out from under her but something stopped her from falling.
"Abigail…Abigail you must hold on. We're going to get to the mountain, we can get help there."
"We've got to pull the arrow out Thorin."
"No we can't, she's already lost to much blood." The prince responded.
"When I killed the goblin the rest of his arrows were laced with poison. It stands to reason that that one is too." Harond argued.
Reluctantly Thorin nodded laying her down on the ground.
"This might sting a bit lass." Harond said apologetically.
He took hold of the arrow and roughly pulled it out. Abigail let out a scream as tears formed in her eyes.
"Abigail? Can you hear me? You must keep pressure on the wound." Thorin said.
His deep voice was calming to her even if he spoke in a rush. She felt him pick her up fully and wondered briefly how he could manage that with his hurt leg but her mind was fast becoming hazy and hard to navigate. Abigail fought to keep her eyes open but in the end, despite Thorin's urging's, she fell into unconsciousness.
Hey guys I'm really sorry for the long wait! Life, love and Writers block. You know, the usual excuses. Anyway let me know what you think!
