Chapter 4

It has been two days since they left and her father is still too far away from them.

"I say we call it a night," declared Ori.

Dili looked at him in disbelief. "Ori, we can't stay here. We're not safe."

Bofur dropped their bag of food and sat on a nearby tree root. "Lassie, you've been saying that two days ago and yet we 'aven't met something that could threaten our safety, save for some angry rabbits who attacked you yesterday whilst you rest. And you've gone all shouting and running and shooting your arrows everywhere you almost hit Ori's arse," he finished with a chuckle.

"Yep," said Ori lying comfortably beside Bofur, as he put his bag behind his head. "Another inch and I would have demanded we go back to Erebor and declare you a danger to the whole middle earth. I bet my safe arse Azog would have been frightened by you."

"Or take you to his kingdom," Bofur added and the two burst out laughing. Dili scowled in irritation.

They've been teasing her ever since they've entered the forest and she started questioning everything they do. It was supposed to be her to lead their group but half a day away from Erebor, Bofur decided it's time he took charge.

She sat under a tree and let out a sigh. Her bow rest beside her. "Come on. You both know I'm inexperienced. I haven't been out here since…well since I nearly drowned on the river. And that was millennia ago." She removed her quiver and sat it beside her bow. She was exaggerating about the time of course, but it seemed like it. Now though, the forest seemed foreign to her.

"We do know, lassie," Ori said.

"And this journey will teach you something," Bofur added. "Or try and let it teach you something as it once did. For now, let's just stay here and rest."

Dili thought of it for a moment and then let out a tired yawn. "Alright. It wouldn't hurt to sleep for a while. But we resume at first light." She looked at the two dwarves who were lying side by side, sharing one huge blanket.

"Yes, now go to sleep m'lady," said Bofur.

She wrapped her coat around her tighter and leaned her back onto the tree. She will sleep but will keep a watchful eye.

"Dili?" said Ori.

"Yes Ori?"

"Do ye perhaps want to share a blanket?"

Bofur groaned and smacked him. "Ooof! What was that for?" Ori complained.

"Get to sleep," Bofur scolded.

Dili chuckled. "Thank you Ori but I'm good with me blanket."

"Oh, alright. Good night then, m'lady," the sweet dwarf said.

"Good night, Ori." And then the three of them slept soundlessly into the night. Dili sat still for a moment and looked around the dark forest as she listened to the strange howl of the wind. She can still remember when she was a child; she would find a way to trick his father's guards, sneak out of the castle and go onto Dale or the forest. And it was such a triumph everytime she could manage to not get caught.

Hunting had been her childhood—sometime accompannied by the some of the eleven dwarves or her brother. But she was most happy when she was alone, carrying her bow and arrow. Running wild and free gave her a sense of satisfaction. But that carefree life left her when she almost drowned on the river. If not for Frenli, she would have died. After that, she never went outside.

Dili took out the rune-stone from her pocket and grazed her fingers over its markings. She knows who it once belonged to. Her father shed a tear in front of her as she showed him the stone, as did the other dwarves. That's when she knew that the legend of Fili and Kili was true. And Dili fell asleep thinking about her brave and courageous cousins that she never got the chance to know.

A loud howl of an animal woke Dili up in the middle of the night. She immediately reached for her bow and stayed still, adjusting her eyes to the dark. If there's one thing she was thankful for being a young female dwarf it was her light speed, her sense of smell and her sharp eyes.

There was another howl, and another. She got to her feet and woke Bofur and Ori up.

"Bofur, Ori," she hissed, shaking them.

They both stirred and looked at her. "What is it?" Bofur asked.

Dili, who was looking around vigilantly said, "wolves." And then the two immediately jumped up.

"How long have we slept?" Ori asked. "Wolves, how many Dili?"

There were three consecutive howls and Dili stood up then turned around behind her. "Three. Possibly four. And they are approaching." She turned back to them with her eyes wide in excitement. "And fast. Get up! They are approaching fast. They're running!"

Bofur and Ori gathered their things and to Dili's order, they ran. They ran as fast and as hard as they can, as Dili looks behind to try and see the location of the wolves.

And to her mortification, a bubble of thrilled laughter escaped from her mouth. "How amazing is this?!" she shouted over the quiet forest as they ran.

"Are you mad?! We're being hunted by wolves. You don't know what you are talking about. You haven't even seen a wolf your whole life!" shouted Ori, but Dili just ignored her.

Another howl and Dili looked back. She saw something big move in the woods to their left, and then to her right. That's when she started worrying.

"Run!" she yelled as she saw a wolf appeared running fast after them. "RUN! They're fast. Climb the trees! I'll try and hold them off."

She slowed down and positioned her bow.

"What are you doing?!" Bofur said. Both he and Ori stopped on their tracks.

"What are you doing?! I said climb up to the trees and I will follow you. I got this," she said and then fired an arrow on one of the wolves from her right as it jumped out of the woods ready to attack her. The arrow went straight into the wolf's eye and it fell back howling in pain.

She turned to her companions. "Go! This is an order!"

"No, it isn't!" yelled Bofur as he pulled out his sword, so did Ori.

Another wolf attacked them and Bofur and Ori went to kill it, while Dili shot another arrow to the howling wolf and killed it for good.

That's when she heard another two howls, and then another, and then another. "Bofur! Ori! Ruuunnn!" And they did. They ran for their lives.

"Climb up! We have to climb up!" Ori shouted. The three of them climbed hurriedly on a big sturdy tree but since Dili wasn't skilled at it, she slipped a few times until she fell to the ground.

"Dili!" Both Ori and Bofur yelled as two wolves jumped towards Dili.

A shot of an arrow stopped the other one before it reached her but the other one managed to bite her left arm and she let out a loud yell of pain. She was positive that it was her time, that she would be dead, and that the wolf had managed to cut her entire arm off. But then the wolf suddenly fell down and a mysterious man suddenly appeared as he shot another arrow onto the wolf's chest. But before she could ask who he is, her eyes turned hazy and she could feel herself falling. And after a while, she did, without knowing if Bofur and Ori were still alive, or if she would still wake up.

The sunlight hurt her eyes when she opened them. There were no trees and she wasn't in the forest anymore. Did she really die? Was her life that worthless and useless?

As the events of the night before slowly returned into her mind, she immediately got up but yelled out in agony as a shot of pain coursed through her left arm.

"Bofur? Ori?" she muttered. She couldn't speak for her throat was dry. For a while she laid there still, trying to move. "W-wher—" That's when she saw Ori and Bofur's faces as they sat next to her. She smiled, or tried to. "I am so…so-sorry. I wasn't able to save ye-er lives…a-and nn-now we're all d…dead."

"Oh Dili," Ori said as sniffed. "What are you talking about?"

Bofur touched her hand. "Dili, we're not dead. We're alive. And so are you."

Dili frowned in confusion. "But the…th-the wol—" she wasn't able to finish her sentence for she let out a series of coughs. "Wa—water," she managed to whisper.

Just then, an unfamiliar person filled her vision as he leaned down towards her and put his hand behind her head then carefully lifted her up.

Dili tried to keep her eyes open as she stared at the beautiful person in front of her but when she opened her mouth to ask who he is, he put something in her mouth and she felt water coming down to her throat. Water, she thought. He was helping her, whoever the man wass. And then before she could ever thank him, she fell asleep.

After a few hours she woke up howling in pain that was throbbing from her left arm. Her left arm, what has happened to it?

"It hurts!" she cried when the mysterious man—elf, she was certain now; those pointy ears, the straight red hair and fair blue eyes— touched her arm. "Do not touch me!" she yelled in protest.

"It's alright, lassie," Ori said. "He's here to help."

"I don't need help!" Dili yelled stubbornly.

The elf smirked. "She needs to cooperate if she wants to keep her life," he finally said. His voice was disdainful and Dili immediately hated her.

Bofur spoke to her. "Dili, you have to let him heal you. We have no time. You're losing too much blood. Your wounds are getting worse."

"It's alright," Ori assured her. "He's a good man."

"Well, I wouldn't really go that far as—" Bofur started to disagree but Ori smacked him. "Fine, fine. Alright. So, what now?" he asked her.

As far as she can comprehend what's happening, she was sure of these facts: she's not dead and an elf was probably the reason why. But her left arm was badly injured from the wolf's bite and she needs healing. But an elf helping a dwarf in danger and then save her again by showing his sacred healing ability was not what she was expecting.

She stared at the elf, studying him. "Why would we trust you?" she asked.

The elf narrowed his eyes curiously at her and said, "Because you are in desperate need and I'm the only help you can get at the moment?"

What he said annoyed her even more. But as much as she hates it, she had no choice. So after a moment of thought, she looked one last time at the elf and made a decisive nod.

"Bring the herbs to me," he said as he knelt beside her left arm. Then carefully he removed the blood soaked cloth that covered almost all of her arm and exposed her wounds to her for the first time.

Dili sucked in a breath as she started feeling nauseous as the sight of it. It was a bite wound. It left a large and deep wound to her arm. She had never seen something like that.

"It looked worse last night," the elf said. "You were lucky you have a thick coat or the wolf would have torn your arm off,"

"The wolf could have torn it off rather easily even with my thick coat. It was you who prevented it," she said. The memory of that night was coming back to her and she could remember his arrow flying towards the wolf's chest, as it released her arm. But to her dismay, she could not utter the words thank you. At least not yet.

"I could possibly not let it do that. You were quite good with your bow and arrow. How will you possibly wield your weapon with just one hand?" he said as he cleaned off dried blood from her arm with a clean cloth.

Dili looked at it and it looked like Ori and Bofur's blanket. She turned to them and smiled weakly. She was about to say thank you when the elf put something on her wound that made her jolt in pain as she cried in agony.

"Hold her down," the elf ordered and Ori immediately held her shoulders and Bofur held her feet.

"Aaargghh!" Dili cried out once again as the elf put another one of those herbs onto her open wounds. Dili gritted her teeth in agony as the elf covered her wound with his hand and started chanting something in his language that she couldn't understand.

She gazed at him as he repeated the words again and the pain in her wounds started subsiding, and she started feeling light but sleepy. The words were like a song in the woods back at Erebor; it felt as if the wind was singing to her.

With the last ounce of the strength she had, she managed to ask the elf for his name. The handsome elf smiled softly and said, "Vandiel."

"Vandiel," she repeated and then she allowed sleep to swallow her.