Chapter 4 - Fear

Dark shadows rushing back and forth. She couldn't focus. Deep voices, glowing eyes. They were everywhere. Greed and violence filled the air. Laughter echoed from invisible walls. And pain. Laughter and pain. Again and again they came. Please stop! Please stop hurting me! It hurts... it hurts!

"Aah!"

With a cry the girl woke from her nightmare. Her body ached, her head was spinning. It was them. It was them again! They had almost...

"Malithrá!"

A dark figure loomed over her.

The girl screamed in panic. "NO! Get away! GET AWAY!"

She tried to move and pain shot up her side.

Big hands tried to get hold of her but she pushed her assaulter against the chest as hard as she could.

She could hear the impact leaving the creature out of breath for a moment. Quickly she scrambled out of bed and aimed for the door. Hitting the floor as her feet gave in. Getting up again. It hurt so much!

Someone grabbed her shoulder and she spun around to free herself with a punch. It hit. She was free.

The door.

Down the hallway.

Twice she fell.

Twice she forced herself up again.

Out of the house.

Out of this place.

Under a big tree her body eventually denied her any further service.

Searching for support at the tree trunk, the girl broke down, sobbing.

Back at the inn's room, Kíli was staring at the open door and empty hallway in shock. He had noticed the girl having a fitful sleep and went over to check on her. Just when she had woken up. He didn't understand what had happened next. She had screamed and hit him and ran out of the room in the end despite her wounded state. But what had truly left him frozen where he was, was the fear in her eyes. The horror when she had looked at him.

Someone shook him at the shoulder. "Hey, Kíli. Kíli! Hey! What happened?"

It was his brother. As if in trance, he turned his head towards him. "... she's gone...", he mumbled.

"I can see that. But what was all the screaming about? What happened?"

He looked worried.

Kíli just stared at him. "I don't know." He gazed aside and repeated "I don't know. … but she was afraid."

Fíli shook his head in incomprehension. "Afraid of what? Well, doesn't matter, we gotta go and bring her back. Come on!"

But Kíli didn't come. Instead he got hold of his brothers arm, stopping him.

"No, Fíli. We can't."

"What?! Why? She's gonna bleed to death out there!"

The younger dwarf only shook his head.

"Fíli, no. You don't understand. … she was afraid of ME."

A silence arose as Fíli stared at his sibling, baffled. Then he took a deep breath and frowned.

"... is that so..."

He let out a sigh and placed his hands on each of Kíli's shoulders. He could see how much this seemed to distress his little brother.

"Kíli, look at me" he ordered softly. Slowly the spoken to met his gaze. "It's alright, okay? There is nothing you could blame yourself for. And that's why – even if she was afraid of you right now – we gotta go and search for her. If we don't, you'll blame yourself if something happens to her. She needs us right now, okay? Even if she doesn't feel comfortable with it. It's up to us to help her. … agreed?"

Silently his brother nodded. Then they set out to search for the wounded girl.

Malithrá was leaning against the tree. She could see the lanterns around her, occasional people entering and leaving houses. The night was dark and chilly. Probably thanks to this, her head had cooled down rather quickly, leaving her the chance to think properly.

In her panic, the girl hadn't paid attention to where she had run to. The menacing dwarf at the room must have been Kíli or his brother. Had he really wanted to harm her right then? She frowned. They had been so nice and caring. Even if her feelings told her otherwise, she couldn't find a proper reason for a change of mind.

A shudder ran down her spine and she could feel something pulsing at her side. Did the wound open again? She wouldn't be surprised if it had. Why had she been in such a panic? Oh, yes, that must have been a dream again. Just another nightmare. So it wasn't really the brothers' fault.

She bit her lip, feeling guilty. Hadn't she hit who ever it was? In the face? Yes, dwarves were stronger than usual people, but they were still beings made of flesh and bones. Hopefully she hadn't hit the nose...

Another shudder rushed through her body and she pulled her legs closer. Her left ankle was hurting badly once she moved her foot. She couldn't see it in the dim light but it must be swollen.

Suddenly, she heard voices drawing near. Now that was the least thing she wanted – being seen in this precarious state. Carefully she slid deeper into the shade. But her white dress gave her away.

"Hey, guys! Look over there, at the tree!"

"Hm?"

"Ooouuh, hey there, pretty girl! Whatcha doing here all on your own?"

"My, my, aren't you cold I wonder? Come here, I'll warm you!"

Malithrá grimaced as six men – obviously having already drunk a little too much – spotted her sitting under the tree. She detested drunken men. They were unpredictable, violent and even more driven by "basic needs" than usual.

Gathering her strength she tried to bring an answer that would make them leave her alone.

"Thanks, but I'm waiting here for my friends. They must be here any moment now."

The six guys looked at each other, then grinned and started walking towards her. Not what she had hoped for.

"Waiting for your friends? Probably some other girls, right?" one of them inquired with a look on his face she didn't like at all.

"Sorry to disappoint but no, there won't be any other girls." Malithrá managed to say.

Most faces indeed showed disappointment, nevertheless they kept coming closer.

"Ah, pity."

"But that's alright, Missy. We'll just keep you company till then."

"Yeah, you must be freezing in that dress!"

"I know a way to make you feel warm again in no time!"

Malithrá started to feel sick. They had her surrounded by now and she couldn't move without inflicting pain on herself.

"Thank you, but I'd rather like to spend the time waiting on my own", she gave another try but her hopes sank rapidly as the first guy crouched down beside her and looked at her more closely. Too close for her taste.

"Aw, c'mon little beauty. Don't spoil the fun. You're a pretty one, why don't we go and have a drink or two together?"

"No, thanks!"

"I bet she's just touchy cause she's cold" she heard from the other side. She froze as she felt the guy who had just spoken sit down right beside her.

"Please, I just want to be left alone right now!" she begged but that seemed to only make things worse. The guys stood too close to leave an opening and the latter one simply put his arm around her shoulders and leaned in. Malithrá pulled up her shoulders, trying to make herself as small as possible. "Stop it!..."

"Hey, I'm just being nice to you! You're freezing and I wanna help you get warm again. Here, lemme rub your legs..."

"Don't touch me!"

"Hoi, hoi, no need to get loud. You'll see, you'll feel better right away."

"I said: Don't touch me!"

Slowly the cold grip of fear tightened around Malithrá's insides. How far were they going to go? She couldn't defend herself against six men. All she could think of was curling up as much as possible to give as little contact surface as possible. But that guy's hand didn't leave her leg as much as she protested. She couldn't even back away. Fear rose and made her shiver, which only gave the other man at her side the idea to join his fellow's actions in order to "help her get warm again".

She cried out in distress. "Please just leave me alone!" But to no avail.

"Hey, you! Leave her alone at once!"

Six heads turned as a loud voice came from behind them. "Huh? What do you want?" the guy on the left asked. That voice... "Kíli!" Malithrá shouted without second thought. "Kíli, I'm here!"

The guy beside her glared at her.

"Tche, your friends I suppose..."

"You're not needed here, dwarves! She'll rather hang out with us now."

"That I doubt." That was Fíli's voice. "It would be better for you if you leave now."

Not only Malithrá had heard the warning undertone. The guys at her sides stood up and stepped beside their friends.

"Oh yeah? And what if we don't?"

"Then you'll regret it." was the simple answer.

Then men laughed nervously. "We're six grown ups against two midgets. I see no reason why we should be the ones regretting."

"I'll say it one last time", Fíli's calm voice rang out. "Leave our friend alone and get lost."

"Try and make us!" the most cheeky one shouted. Then Malithrá only heard something fly through the air followed by a cry and an impact at the tree trunk.

"That bastard!"

The line in front of Malithrá cleared and gave her sight at the dwarves. Or rather on one of them. Fíli was standing in the place, one hand at his belt, tossing a dagger into the air and catching it again with the other. None of the guys had fallen, so the first thrown object hadn't hit any vital point. Thankfully!

The guys withdrew from around the girl, unsure if they should try to take on the dwarf or rather leave the place. They probably had no weapons themselves, so their calculation 6 on 2 wasn't going very well anymore.

Suddenly she heard a rustle beside her and turned to see someone hurry over to her side. Unspeakable relief made way in her chest and tears started welling up. "Kíli!"

The dwarf stopped at half an arm length distance and glanced at her worriedly. "You okay?"

"Oh Kíli, I'm so sorry! I'm so glad you came!" the girl started sobbing. But her words made a relieved smile flash over Kíli's face.

"Me too..." he murmured. "Can you walk?" She shook her head and tears ran down her cheeks. "... I think my wound opened again..." Kíli grimaced. "Thought so. May I carry you?"

The girl nodded and as the dwarf carefully picked her up, she even put her arms around his neck for support. "What about Fíli?" she asked. The brown haired only grinned. "Oh, he's just seeing those bullies off. He'll be right there."

And so it was. The group had decided on leaving the dwarves and girl to themselves and headed off to the next open tavern. After pulling his dagger out of the tree, Fíli joined his brother and the girl on their way back to the inn. Malithrá was so relieved, she didn't even try to stop her tears from running. For once, she felt rather safe with dwarves than men.

Back at the room, Kíli put the girl down on the bed and turned to get clean bandages and water, but Malithrá held him back. "Wait."

The dwarf looked at her surprised but followed her wish.

"I'm... I'm sorry... for earlier..."

That was an earnest apology and Kíli smiled. "Apology accepted. But now we need to get your wound fixed."

The girl grimaced but didn't reject. Kíli turned and almost bumped into his brother who had brought warm water and a soft towel. "Here. You get started, I'll get the rest" the blonde dwarf smirked and handed his younger sibling bowl and towel.

Malithrá had given up on moving herself right now and glanced at the nearing dwarf a little helpless and insecure. He put the items on the bed table and carefully covered the girl's lower body with the blanket before pulling her dress up to get access to the wound. The bandage was stained with blood. Kíli glanced at the girl's tense face and loosened the old bandages as gentle as possible.

"You know" he started, trying to avert Malithrá's attention from the aches, "that was quite impressive how you ran out of here." He sent her a grin. "I'd have never thought you'd make it that far in this state."

Her reply was pained. "I was panicking. People tend to do impressive things by then – be it for better or worse."

Kíli bit his lip. "Did I scare you?"

Silence. He didn't stop taking the bandage off but hoped for an answer without having to look at her. In the end he did though and was met with a difficult and slightly sad expression.

"... yes. You did."

Kíli nodded slightly. "Thought so... I'm sorry."

"No, it's... it has nothing to do with you in particular... it's just... it's... it's a long story", the girl muttered.

Kíli sent her a side-glance and reached for water and towel. "We got time."

Shout out to a friend who gave me tons of feedback on the so far written story! I'll update the first chapters as soon as I can. It'll be only small changes but still. Feedback is always appreciated! :)

Thanks for reading and take care! :D