We should have known from the beginning that it was not going to end well, I mean there was very little land to begin with and they were riding wargs. There was no way in the world that we were going to outrun them once again! One time was lucky, the second time it would not happen like that. I felt like my wrist was burning off as we kept running and I was running just to keep from the burning getting worse. My breathing was heavy and as we made it to the end of all land I spun around to see that they were right on our tracks. I looked from one place to another, looking for a place to run, looking down at the ground below to see that there would be no way for us to live from that kind of a drop and then looked above. The pine tress that were all around us would made the perfect place to hide out, even if it would be for a long time. Just as I was thinking this Gandalf was as well because the next second he was yelling for everyone to get into a tree.
I was one of the last ones up with both Fili and Kili helping me into the tree that I would have been able to get into so easily before. As I smiled as I was able to get into the branch that was right below the brothers, I looked down to see that Bilbo was too short to be able to even reach a branch. I panicked as I moved so that I was laying with my stomach on the branch and got my bow as close to the Hobbit as I possibly could as he latched onto it and I pulled him into the branch as fast as I could and held onto him to make sure that he would not be able to fall from it at any moment. We smiled as we looked around to see that everyone else was settled into a tree, but I was still going everything that I could to not scream at the top of my lungs.
" Is that your branding?" Bilbo asked as my numbers shown through the dusk light, I tried to cover it with my sleeve.
" It hurts so bad, Bilbo, it feels like they are doing it over and over again." I lightly cried out as I closed my eyes as tightly as I could and rested my head on the tree and tried to take in some deep breaths.
" It will pass." Bilbo whispered as he tried to comfort me.
" I hope that this too shall pass." I said as I motioned to the whole situation that we were in.
" It will. It will." Bilbo said as my eyes were still closed and I could see a flash of light slash beside of me and fade.
" What just happened?" I asked as I looked to the next tree over to find Bilbo throwing pine cones that were on fire at the ground before the Wargs could come for them.
" Gandalf, you are amazing." I smiled as he threw a pine cone of fire to me and I started to light them and Bilbo threw them. All I could do was smile as I looked up to Kili and Fili.
" Hey Kili! Think fast!" I yelled as I threw one that was on fire to him and could hear the confusion that was coming from the two of them as they watched Bilbo throw the ones that were on fire towards the ground and then they understood.
But the wargs jumped the ring of fire that we had made and they made their way straight for us. First they tried to jump up the tree and get us, but when that did not work, they started to instead just start to try and knock the trees down, sending us right over the edge and to our deaths in that way. Gandalf was doing something as I and most of the others looked for another way to survive this. I was in a panic once again and could feel my heartbeat running through my skull. If we jumped from the trees we would be ripped to pieces by the wargs and sliced by the orcs. If we stayed in the trees we would be sent to our deaths from them falling over. There was no way to get out of this! I looked from one face to the other and could see that I was not the only one that was noticing this. I grabbed onto Bilbo tightly as our tree started to rock and hide my screams in his hair as I looked up and for the first time in year I saw the face of the Pale Orc.
" Thorin, no!" Fili yelled into the next tree over as we both looked around to see that he had jumped from the tree and was walking right for the Pale Orc, sword drawn.
" What is he thinking?!" I yelled as Bilbo and myself looked from one to the other.
" We have to help him." Bibo screamed as a warg sent the king to the ground. While our tree was shaking and was on the verge of falling, everyone else was jumping into anther tree Bilbo and I jumped from the tree and onto the ground.
" Ireth!" Fili screamed at the top of his lungs as he called for me.
" Stay there! Hang on!" I screamed back to him as I could see the look in his eyes, desperation and fear. It was a look that I was not used to seeing and did not want to see ever again after tonight.
" Bring me his head." The Pale Orc said and his voice sent chills through my body. " And my girl." He said as he saw me. I wave of panic washed over my body as I started to shoot down anything that came towards us.
" You take the orc, I will make sure that the Warg's do not come after you." I said as Bilbo nodded and before the orc's sword could connect with Throin's head, Bilbo's sword got in between the two.
I pulled out arrows and started to shoot down each and every one of the of them down. I could feel the smile that was coming to my face but the sounds of Thorin's screaming sent me out of my trance to see that there was something horribly wrong. But the others were starting to be able to get out of their trees and were coming to our aid. That's when their the loss of blood or the pain coming from the wrist finally sent me to the ground near Thorin's body. I kept shaking my head and trying to make sure that I stayed away, that was always the main thing when you were dying, was to stay awake, or that is what I had heard atleast. It's always stay awake. The living wargs were running off and I could feel that the burning within my wrist was starting to subside. Fili was first to my side as he pulled me into his chest.
" Hey." I smiled up at him as he started to push the hair out of my face and took the bow from my hands.
" You were foolish for doing that, you know that right?! You could have gotten yourself killed!" Fili yelled as he looked down at me. Then something happened that neither of us were expecting. We were lifted into the air. I thought about screaming but it took too much as we claws came away from around us to find that we were sitting on the back of an eagle. Kili was placed beside of us.
" I am so sorry Fili, I tried to protect him. I really did." I said as I could feel myself weeping. " But we did not get there soon enough. He is alright though, right? I mean he is fine?" I asked as I could feel my head nodding.
" Thorin!" Kili screamed as he looked for his uncle.
" Yes, of course he is fine, you foolish little girl. It is you that we are worried about." Fili smiled as he tried to keep wound clean, it had been awhile since it had bleed.
" Good. Good. I am glad to hear that." I smiled as I nudged my head into Fili's chest, he felt so warm. " I'm happy to see that you are safe too." I whispered as I allowed Fili's scent to fill my lungs.
" How is your pain?" Fili asked softly as he brushed the hair out of my hair once again.
" I do not have any." I smiled lightly. " It has all left my body." I shrugged with a smile as I looked up to the stars that were slowly starting to disappear into the night.
" That cannot be good." Fili whispered to his brother.
" Gandalf!" Kili screamed ahead of us.
The whirling of air around us made me feel colder as I got as close to Fili as I could and he wrapped his jacket around my body as he could feel me shaking. I looked up and into the sky and started to tell him each and every name of the stars and consolations that I knew from the nights when Elrond would bring me outside and we would look up at the stairs and he would teach me about all of them. Fili entertained me and allowed me to go on and on because it meant that I was still awake. I tried to point them out, but there was nothing more than I could do than point my finger in the direction that they were in. Yes, I knew that I was dying, but I tried to keep mine and the brothers sprites up by not acknowledging it.
When we finally landing, Fili lifted me into his arms and I knew that when he placed me on the ground that I was beside our fearless leader. Gandalf was using his magic on him and I could hear the coughing that was coming from the inside of the Dwarf and smiled when he finally started to talk once again as he asked about Bilbo and then turned onto his side to see me.
" Hello there. . . my husband." I laughed a little as I started to cough.
" Gandalf!" Thorin hissed as the wizard placed his hands onto my chest.
Instantly my eyes shut tightly and I could feel my chest heaving upward. It was like everything inside of me was nice and warm, it was like touching a beam of sunlight and it felt so comforting. I could feel the smile that was forming on my face, though I could not stop it if I tried. I thought of Elrond back at home doing this to me and wondered if he would be alright if he had to bury me. But when I finally opened my eyes once again all I could see with Gandalf and Thorin looking down at me. The smile on my face did not fade though, I was thrilled to see these two as well and knew that they were alright.
" Hello there." Thorin smiled as he helped me to my feet.
" Where if the Hobbit?" Thorin asked as Bilbo stood beside of me and we both must have looked like kids that were in trouble. " You." He said as he looked over to Bilbo. " Didn't I tell you that you had no place where. That you would case nothing but trouble since the moment that you stepped foot out of your little hole in the hills? And you." He said as he shot me a look that was sent right down to my soul. " I have told everyone that I have ever known that an Elf would never do anything to help us. They are all greedy and all they want is to help themselves. . . I have never been so wrong in my life about either of you." He said as he brought us both into a hug.
That is when Thorin then looked out to see the sun was starting to come up and from afar he could see what we had came this whole far for. The mountain and their forgotten gold that they wanted to get back to so badly. He and the other Dwarfs all moved in closer to the edge of the cliff that we had been place on as Bilbo, Gandalf, and myself all stayed where we were and just smiled at the rising sun as they looked at their long forgotten home. I had never seen all of them so happy like this before, they all seemed to be in a good mood and they all seemed to not mind the fact that it was rather chilly up here. That's when it hit me, right then and there, it was cold as ice up here. It was just starting to dawn, it was clear as the day and I could see clouds coming from afar. Snow was coming.
" Ireth! Come see!" Kili said as he waved his hand towards me.
" Well. Common then Bilbo, lets go see this mountain that we have nearly died for." I smiled as I placed my hand onto his shoulder and pulled him along.
" It's beautiful, isn't it Foolish one?" Fili said with a smile as he placed his arm around my body and pulled me in front of him, I leaned back and rested my head onto his chest.
" Is that my new name? Foolish one?" I said with a smile as I saw Kili smile.
" Well that and maybe a few other names when you two are alone." He said with a wink.
" You are so luck that I do not have my bow." I hissed as he automatically turned and looked back at the mountain.
" Be careful what you say around her, Brother, I really think that she will kill you one day because you tell her the wrong thing." Fili said with a laugh as I nodded, though I would never hurt my dear friend.
From behind a roar of some kind of creature came and I instantly went from where I was and took up my bow from the ground as many of the others did the same thing. There was no way that I was going to be killed by some form of an animal after I had just survived my second time of nearly being killed this month. So when the giant black bear finally showed himself from the coming trees and wildlife I took aim for the creatures eye. It would be a direct hit that would kill the beast instantly, no pain and more importantly it would not make the beast angry and come and attack us. As I and Kili both took aim Gandalf came between up and placed both of our bows the the ground as the bear stood up on his back feet and transformed into a man. I could feel my eyes widening and could see the eyes of all of the others widening as well.
" What the hell?" I asked as I looked over to Gandalf and back to the man that was now standing before us.
" Beorn, wonderful to see you once again." Gandalf said as he moved from between us and hugged the man.
" Gandalf the Grey, I did not think that I would be seeing you for quite a long time! How have you been my dear friend?" The man that I guess was named Beorn asked with a smile on his face as he looked back to our group.
" Again, what the hell?" I asked as I thought my eyes were going to pop out of my head.
" Everyone this Beorn. He is a shape shifter of the land." Gandalf said as all I could do was nod.
Soon we all felt rather at home with Beorn as he brought us back to his home in the woods that looked rather small from the outside but turned into a huge home on the inside. With a smile we all accepted the food that we was giving us and the hospitality that came with being indoors. I personally felt like I could have slept for days at a time without even getting out of bed. So when finally night fell and after our drinks and food was all well and over with, I called it quits for the night and found one of the many bedroom and called it my own.
It may have been because of the fact that the Dwarfs loved to drink and kept filing my cup up with more and more alcohol or because I just did not give a damn about where my clothes wound up, I just started to strip them all off and looked at myself, from what I could see, in the mirror that was made for a man. I looked horrible. I had been able to get most of the blood out of my hair and off of my face in the sink before lunch, but I would need a shower to be able to get it all out. I sighed as I placed myself in bed every so gently because even though Gandalf had healed them, my ribcage still hurt. I could feel myself drifting off to bed when the door opened and in walked Fili who had stayed out there to listen to everyone's stories and singing and more then anything else to have a few more drinks. With a smile he knelt down beside of me at my bedside and gave me a kiss on my forehead where my cut was healing and it was so light and careful that I could barely feel it.
" You have been through a lot today." Fili stated.
" Yes, so have you." I shrugged from my bed as I wrapped my blankets around my body tighter.
" Are you always like this?" He said with a smile as he looked down at me.
" Like what?" I laughed back at him as he mimicked the way that I was laying.
" Oh Fili, you have been though a lot like I have today, though I nearly died twice for some Dwarfs that most do not trust – did not trust before today – got a gash into my head that nearly killed me, and went toe to toe with some orcs including the one that enslaved me. But no, you have been through a lot too." He said with a smile as he shook his head and all I could do was smile and sigh at him.
" What did you come in here for?" I tried to act made but the only thing that I could do was smile.
" To tell you that Thorin does not want us sleeping in the same bed anymore." Fili said with a smile.
" Well then why are you smiling about this? That means that you will not be here anymore?" I asked as I looked at him with so many questions in my head.
" There are no other opened beds unless I slept with him, which he knows better than to do. So guess who has a sleeping buddy tonight, if you will allow it." Fili said with a smile as I unturned the blankets and he started to remove his clothing and got into bed with me.
We got in as close as we could to one another and I wrapped his arms around my body and could finally feel at ease once again as I drifted into sleep.