I had not understood what Fili had meant by saying that the others have been busy until I got the time to observe. When they saw me awake in the morning there was many smiles and relieved looks though... Kili and Ori seemed... wrong. I had no other way to put it. They shied away from me as did Nori and Gloin. Bifur, Bofur and Bombur seemed their rightful selves if not a bit on edge though Bifur twitched a lot more than he usually did. Dwalin stayed ever so close to Dori in his own way keeping a watchful eye out, but... it wasn't out in the woods he was watching, it was the others. There was a thick air of distrust amongst a few of the company towards the others that had cat like grins and knowing eyes as if they all privy to a secret.

A few days pulled by in languish. I only had Thorin, Fili, and Bofur to talk to most the time. Sometimes Dori and Dwalin would talk to me when the helped clean my terrible state. It was embarrassing, shameful, but what could I do besides apologize and thank them for helping me when I could not even sit up?

It was at night when things became... unsettling to me. I would dream of Old Mad Smallburrow and of mother's voice screaming at me to stay awake. I would wake in the middle of the night to see someone pull another into the woods only to be gone for a good while before coming back looking... similar. It scared me. It made my fingers worry the iron clasp around my wrist as I came to a dreadful conclusion. I had to keep quiet now, my lips sealed shut. I had to tell Thorin. I had to figure out a way to save the last of us and help the others.

In the middle of the day, when the others made excuses not to come near me I shivered uncontrollably, the forest pressing a damp cold upon us. Fili took off his coat and laid it over Thorin's furs and he snuggled under the warmth beside me in desperation to share our body heat, what little we had. We tucked our heads under the coats, our breath warming our faces. It felt like snow should be drifting down upon us. I could hear the thunk of wood being added to our fire and I wished we had more than one burning.

I could hear the hollow hiss of Fili's breath trying to heat his cold fingers. I took his hands into mine rubbing them. Since this whole mess started I had grown closer to Fili, we were close friends now especially since Kili had been preoccupying himself with Ori. It left Fili at a sort of loss but he was still very happy with his brother.

"Do you think you'll be well enough to travel soon?" Fili broke the silence between us.

"In a few more days, perhaps." I sighed. "It would be much easier if I had a sleep draught to help with that, or a salve for the pain of movement. I don't think Thorin could stand to hear another shout from me."

Fili was silent for a bit, his voice full of uncertainty. "I... will have to agree with you. Uncle is a good man and has far too many emotions bottled up. I fear it will be his undoing." Fili swallowed, I could barely see his pale blue eyes in the darkness of our cover. "I mean no offense Bilbo... but I believe you will be the end of him. You take him so high that his fall will be a great one."

"He will be fine. I have no intentions of leaving."

"Intentions are... fickle things." Fili wrinkled his nose a little. "They are easily changed as we have seen with our friends. All sworn to help you and I and now will not come close."

"That is not something they can help." I hushed my voice. I had to tell someone, anyone and I could not get any privacy with Thorin. This would have to do. I would confide in my friend though, what good he could do with his broken leg and still healing shoulder I did not know. Perhaps we could put our minds together and think of a solution. I tried shifting closer to Fili only to be lanced with pain. I put my hand over the large puckered wound that was making for a rather attractive scar that I could use in a story for little fauntlings. I moved so my lips were placed up against Fili's.

"Do not move, do not speak, but listen to me my dear friend." My voice was grave and heavy with the secret I had bared all this time. "We must tread carefully. They are not themselves but a Canwyll Corph inside. A terrible being that was once alive but refused to move to the world beyond ours, twisted with the need and desires of our mortal plain. They possess people with their own mind but the feelings of the one they inhabit remain. A Canwyll Corph will become overwhelmed by the emotions, unable to cope as to not having felt such things in so long and will drive the body insane over time. They are dangerous with no limitations. They rape, murder and..." Bilbo swallowed hard. "They eat."

"Eat?" Fili's voice was just as small as mine.

"Pigs, cattle, deer, dogs, humans, dwarves, elves all alike."

"If what you are saying is true... then why have they not done so now?"

"I do not know."

"This... Canwyll Corph, if they truly have taken over our friends then how do we return them to normal?"

"They will have a gem on them that they will guard fiercely. I must have them, the rest I must do on my own."

"Bilbo... I do enjoy a good story as anyone should but this... what you speak of is nothing but fiction. Such things do not happen in our world."

"I assure you, they do."

Suddenly the coats were ripped off of us. The dwarves that had stayed away from us for so long stood over us.

Kili knelt down, his usual beautiful grin twisted, a knife in his hand."You know... you really should have been quieter. It made it difficult to keep calm while thinking up different ways to get Thorin to leave camp. But he would do anything for you." He slipped the flat of the blade over my forehead to my nose. I grabbed Fili's arms tightly stopping him from making any sudden movements. Kili mused, a grin on his face. "Hobbits are such... interesting creatures, always knowing when to sniff us out. Thought we would have more time a few left of us trapped in this god forsaken forest."

"And you're no good to us as you are now." Ori leaned over Kili, his usual kind face tainted with the same poison as Kili's bore. "But more so, we need Thorin and to do that, we can't just outright kill you. He'd turn on us too quickly. So we'll have to be clever about it."

Dwalin and Nori grabbed Fili, he struggled but they pressed on his injury making him shout.

"Don't you touch him!" I yelled.

The fisted his golden hair yanking back his head and grabbing his chin. They tried to open his mouth but he kept it closed shut. Oin came in front of him with a piece of paper with some powder on it. He jabbed and ground his thumb into Fili's wounded leg forcing his mouth open come more with a scream before dumping the powder into his mouth. I watched in horror, screaming and shouting for help, for Thorin to come and save us, for them to stop hurting Fili! But Fili's eyes glazed over, his body limp and he was dropped to the ground with a terrible thud.

I struggled but my mouth was opened easier than Fili's. The powder tasted bitter and salty as it dissolved quickly. My mouth become number and within such a short amount of time I could not move, not even my eye. I could not blink and I was only barely aware that I was breathing.

I watched as they all shuffled around each adjusting themselves to set up a convincing scene. Soon I heard the panicked running steps of Thorin's heavy boots, the ragged breathing as he stumbled coming closer. Kili moved from my line of sight, fake tears in his eyes.

"U-uncle, we-" He swallowed sounding wrecked and so convincing in his grief. "We-we tried. B-bilbo just had a fit and he... he... And Fili just... he just stopped moving suddenly." He gave a sob as Thorin came running forward.

His knees cracked hard onto the ground. His face above mine. His lip quivered, his hands coming to the sides of my face, hesitating before touching. He shook me, my body limp. "Bilbo... wake up."

We are awake! Thorin, oh Thorin use a mirror! We're still breathing! I screamed in my mind, though I could only stare. I couldn't make a sound. I was helpless and had to watch him with eyes darkened with sorrow. Large pearls of tears fell from his eyes down onto my face. He turned to Fili, a meager attempt to wake him up as well, his voice broke like a man come home to the slaughter of his family. He pulled Fili and I up to his lap, holding us both in an arm each and crushing us against his chest. He gave a painful wail that stabbed at my soul.

I felt someone slither an arm behind my back, someone hugging Thorin from behind. "Uncle." The well practiced tiny voice of Kili wept his poison. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

It took hours of suffering for Thorin to be convinced to let go of us. Therein he so gently, lovingly braided a lock of my hair and cut it off. He shifted and I was certain he was cutting off one of Fili's braids. Then he placed a kiss on my brow then to my lips and all his warmth was gone.

"We should bury them," Balin said softly.

No! Don't bury us!

We're alive!

We're alive!

"N..no." Thorin's voice was so hoarse and raw from his grief. "I cannot bare..."

"You do not need to be present laddy."

They were trying to kill us, first this now tying up the loose ends.

"I said no!" He swallowed hard, "The ground is frozen. Snow will be upon us soon... we.. we must continue to Erebor. Winter comes too soon in these lands, Durin's Day will be upon us soon and we must reclaim what is ours for Bilbo, for Fili. Pack up the ponies, we must leave."

No, no, no! Don't leave us Thorin! Don't!

But no matter what I did to scream out in my head I could not get the words to escape my mouth. Thorin slid our eyes shut, took off our coats and placed a blanket over each of us covering our whole body. We listened as they gathered everything together, asking what they should do with our things. Thorin told the company to take our belongings.

We were left. In the cold, to die in the elements with Thorin in danger and the company possessed by corpse candles, those Canwyll Corph's with only a handful of hobbits that knew how to save them.

They left.

We were left.