Fili looked back at Zinlaza. "Stay by my side."

She couldn't help but smile a bit at his possessiveness.

The company ran into the forest deeper.

"Stay together! Hurry now. Arm yourselves!"

Fili glanced back again and Zinlaza caught his eye. There was no way he was letting her out of his sight now. "I'm still here. I'm not going anywhere."

"Thieves! Fire! Murder!" A voice shouted from the woods. In a matter of moments an elderly chap with a long uneven grey beard pulled on a sled led by giant rabbits was in front of them. Gandalf lowered his staff but the rest stayed on guard. Fili wrapped his free arm around Zinlaza's waist and pulled her close. She sheathed her axes but he still held one of his dual swords in his hand, shielding her in case the danger was still close at hand.

"Radagast! It's Radagast the Brown!"

Zinlaza exhaled in relief and her and Fili looked at each other with distrust.

"What on earth are you doing here?" Gandalf questioned.

"I was looking for you Gandalf. Something's wrong…."

"Yes?" pushed Gandalf.

Zinlaza leaned over to Fili. "We must hurry, we cannot delay much longer."

Fili nodded but held her waist closer so she was still leaning into him. Her chest began to flush and her breathing more rapid. She could feel her chest pressing up against him. It made her feel dizzy. He made her head spin.

Gandalf and Radagast went off a few paces to speak in private.

Zinlaza huffed, clearly exhausted from the lack of sleep, her latest tantrum, and the desire that began to build up that she had for Fili. She began to feel heavy, as if a great weight was on her shoulders. Fili took notice in the change of her demeanor. At first he couldn't help but smirk at the way she had responded to him pulling her body close to his, but now something changed. She was turning pale. He set her down gently on a boulder and called for Oin.

Oin felt her pulse and noticed her heavy breathing. Dwalin walked over cautiously not wanting to pull attention to her. She was still considered an outsider to the company. And Thorin would find ANY reason to send her back.

"You alright lass?" He questioned with a hushed tone.

"She'll be alright. She is just physically exhausted." Oin smiled at her softly. "When we reach somewhere safe she just needs a few hours of sleep and she'll be good as new."

But Fili still paced a few feet away, giving her some space as Oin made sure she didn't have any physical ailments. His brother was holding back a big grin.

"What do you find so amusing?" Fili threw his arms up and stared at Kili.

Kili laughed. "You! Look at you, Fili. Zinlaza is merely drained, yet you act as if she were dying." Fili looked away and grimaced.

"Fili, what has she done to you? You've shared naught but one kiss and, as your brother, I know you've kissed a lass before."

"As have you." Interjected the older.

"That's besides the point. I haven't found a dwarf maid that has sent my senses into a frenzy like Zinlaza has done to you! If I didn't know better, I would say that you have fallen in lo…."

"I do love her." Fili whispered so that no one but Kili could hear. Kili immediately stopped talking and looked at his brother stunned. He had never seen Fili so vulnerable. Fili shook his head and rubbed his temple.

"Kili, that first night I saw her, I dreamt of her in my sleep. Not one of THOSE dreams mind you, she was just there…smiling, laughing, talking. I felt so at peace. More so than I have ever felt before. I did not carry any burdens or feel their weight. I tried to keep myself distanced, but it only made my longing for her worse. All I want is her safety, happiness, and for her to be my wife."

Kili had never seen Fili so torn. He could tell that he was weighed down by the thought of his duty as the Heir of Durin and his love for Zinlaza. Before Kili could respond, a howl was heard in the distance. Fili immediately broke his train of thought and looked into the forest for a sign of trouble. Dwalin immediately took Zinlaza by the arm and brought her to her feet. She knew what howl that was…

"Was that a wolf? Are there—are there wolves out there?" Bilbo asked, clearly shaken. "Wolves? No, that is not a wolf." Bofur looked out into the woods, even more nervous than Bilbo. From behind a nearby crag, a warg appeared and leaped into the midst of the company, and shoved Zinlaza into a boulder. She winced in pain.

"Zinla!" Fili raced over to her.

Thorin struck the warg down using his new Elvish blade, killing it on contact. Another warg then appeared on the other side and Kili shot it with his bow, bringing it down to be killed by Dwalin. Zinlaza fell against a tree and Oin quickly tried to steady her.

"'Tis a scratch, I'm alright!" She steadied herself with Oin's help.

"Warg-scouts! Which means an orc pack is not far behind!" Thorin shouted to the company.

"Orc pack!?" Bilbo scanned the forest, eyeing for any more oncoming attacks.

"Who did you tell about your quest, beyond your kin?" Gandalf half-shouted at Thorin.

"No one."

"Who did you tell?"

"NO one I swear! What in Durin's name is going on?" Thorin inquired to the wizard.

"You are being hunted!" The dwarves stirred uneasily.

"We have to get out of here." Dwalin growled and held onto his axe fiercely. Oin wrapped his arm around Zinlaza and Fili took her left side.

"Really, I'm fine." Zinlaza tried to shrug them off, but her grimace told them otherwise. Ori ran up to the group.

"We can't leave! We have no ponies. They bolted."

Zinlaza groaned. They had only just rescued the ponies from one danger, now they were to face another? This was it…thought Zinlaza. They were all going to die now.

"I'll draw them off." Radagast stepped forward.

"These are Gundabad wargs. They will outrun you." Gandalf advised otherwise.

"These are Rhosgobel Rabbits. I'd like to see them try."

Gandalf quickly turned to Zinlaza.

"Can you run?"

"I did not damage my legs did I? I am a sprinter. I'll be fine." She replied firmly and withdrew her axes, and they felt so much heavier than before.

"Zinlaza…" Fili turned to her.

She quickly hushed him.

"What would you have me do, Fili?" He opened his mouth to argue, but resorted to nodding and before anyone could move, or she could stop him, Fili crashed his lips against hers and she kissed him back with fervor as if she was never to feel his lips against hers again. As soon as the kiss began, they broke apart, leaving Zinlaza flustered but they then raced along with the company.

Radagast burst through the trees.

"Come and get me!"

The orc pack raced after the wizard. The company took their chance and made a run for it. The wargs didn't notice them and continued to rush after Radagast. They dodged the sight of the pack by hiding behind the boulders, scattered around. Zinlaza blinked heavily. This territory looked familiar, she had been there before, but she couldn't seem to focus.

"Zinlaza, please, just a little further…" Fili beckoned, whispering in her ear as he tried to support her. His voice echoed in her ears. She blinked even harder, trying to see, but she began to grow weary.

"Where are you leading us?" Thorin pushed to Gandalf.

Wherever he was leading them, they had better reach there soon, thought Zinlaza.

Gandalf stopped them quickly. A warg had broken away from the pack and began to pick up their scent. Zinlaza held her breath. Fili let go of her and prepared himself for battle. Zinlaza felt like lead but held her axes close to her body. She finally glanced down to her shoulder. The warg growled, he was directly above them. Zinlaza swallowed hard. Thorin then turned to Kili and nodded to the bow in hand. Fili prepared himself to take out the warg if Kili's shot didn't kill on impact. Kili slowly withdrew an arrow from the quiver, jumped back and hit the warg, just barely missing his heart. The warg tumbled down off the boulder, where he was finally killed by the members of the company. But they had not evaded danger just yet.

"Run…run!" Gandalf yelled to them when they realized the rest of the pack caught their trail. The company then took off once more but it was too much for Zinlaza. Fili then stayed close to Thorin but glanced back to his love. Her face was pained but she nodded for him to continue on, unbeknownst to him that when he turned she could only take a few more steps. She then collapsed and fell to one knee, panting. The warg scouts howled as they stopped pursuing Radagast and finally found the company.

"There they are!" Gloin pointed out.

"This way, quickly!" Gandalf beckoned.

The company came to a grassy clearing but finally paused when they discovered the wargs approached from all sides.

"There's more coming!" Kili yelled back to Thorin.

"Kili! Shoot them!' Thorin withdrew his sword and looked to his youngest nephew to try and take down some of the wargs. Gandalf ran towards a large rock, then vanished.

"We're surrounded!" Fili had been pressing forward and when he finally realized he couldn't lead on anymore he turned back. To his complete and utter horror…Zinlaza was gone.

"ZINLAZA!" He yelled and the entire company could hear the fear and anguish in his voice. Kili shot at an orc and brought him down. He immediately started searching for Zinlaza, he was further back than Fili was, maybe he could find her. He knew that if they could not find her or if they couldn't save her in time…Fili would be destroyed. He couldn't let that happen to her or to his brother. He knew what he had to do.

"Get up. GET UP!" Zinla mentally shouted at herself; she could hear a warg approach her slowly yet every time she stood, she fell back down.

"Zinla!" She could hear Fili's voice crying out for her, but it was so distant.

"Zinlaza!" This time it was Kili's and he was very close. He shot another arrow and hit a warg that was just a mere few yards away from her.

"Kili! Kili, I'm here!"

Kili heard her muffled cry and ran straight to her. He could see a silhouette in the grass. He quickly shot another arrow at an attacking warg that began to charge, bringing it down in a single shot. Zinlaza gasped, her chest heaving.

"…Kili…"

"I'm here! I'm here. No…no…no! Hold on, keep looking at me! Don't stop thinking of Fili. Hold on, Zinlaza. I have to get you back to Fili!"

Zinlaza simply nodded and thought of Fili. She couldn't let that last kiss be their last.

"Fili…" She groaned. In that moment another Warg approached.

"Back, devils!" Kili shouted and shot the Warg down.

"Alright, Zinla, this is going to hurt!" And with that Kili reached down and grabbed Zinlaza. He grabbed her left arm and threw her over his back with a grunt, but she was far lighter than he anticipated. She felt her shoulder dislocate at the blunt force of the dwarf, but it was the only way. He had to be able to keep fighting if necessary and they were running out of time.

"I am sorry! I know this hurts!" He shifted as he positioned her correctly and began running towards the rest of the company.

"Where's Gandalf?" He shouted ahead.

"He's abandoned us!" Dwalin yelled.

Zinlaza was so glad to hear their voices, despite the fact they were so distant.

She saw Ori desperately fling a rock from his slingshot at the approaching Warg, but it barely budged.

They were being surrounded, and the Wargs closing in.

"Hold your ground!" Thorin commanded his company.

"This way, you fools! Quickly!" Gandalf stood and motioned for them to jump down a secret passage.

"Come on, move! Quickly, all of you! Go, go go!"

"I'm alright, you can put me down." Zinla shrugged off of Kili's shoulder and he immediately withdrew his bow and shot another Warg.

She started jogging towards the cave entrance, stumbling as she went, her shoulder sore and tender.

Gandalf counted them as they slid into the opening.

Fili was just ahead. "Zinlaza, RUN!" He yelled and she ran to him. He had his hand out for her and they slid into the crevice together.

Zinla heard the sound of horns as she lay on the cave ground. She heaved, and looked to Fili.

"You're safe now. I've got you."

She nodded and he picked her up, carefully avoiding her injured shoulder. She weaved in and out of sleep as the company continued along the pathway, but deep in her spirit - she knew they were safe.

"Sleep my love, I am not letting go."

She sighed and smiled and finally fell into a deep slumber.