Chapter 11 The Rescue
Kili and Nori brought their ponies into a full sprint into the small clearing, drawing the attention of the orcs. Several snarled and turned away from the house. Kili sent a few arrows their way, two hitting a single orc. The death of one of their comrades sent the orcs into a rage; several took the bait and pursued the two fleeing dwarves.
The lead orc roared for several to remain. His eyes shifted towards where the two dwarves had entered the clearing. The human scum had lied. A cold and calculating stare went across the wall of trees as he waited for the remainder to arrive. Reports had come in that there were a great host of dwarves traveling through the wild. These two would not be so far from their precious dwellings in the dark caverns of a mountain unless they had a purpose. Turning, he spied the two dwarves making short work of their pursuers.
Scum, he thought, and spat into the ground. Then, he heard the sound he was waiting for. Turning, he found himself dodging a dwarven blade. The lead attacker yelled in fury as he hacked at the lead orc. Taking up his weapon, the lead orc swung hard at the dwarven warrior. The dwarf was accompanied by several others, some attacking the lead orc, others moving around to intercept orc stragglers around the house. The first dwarf, with long dark hair, moved to disarm the lead orc by using his sword to hack at the sword in the orc's grasp. They were equals in strength, but the orc had the upper hand for the sheer reason that he was not plagued with worry for the fate of the girl in the burning house.
Thorin swiped at the orc, sending his weight into the swing. The orc stumbled back, but cackled as he parried the blow with a lightning fast block.
"Dwarven-scum. I knew the human had lied…it's a shame…she would've been delicious," the orc smirked as Thorin, quickly accompanied by Dwalin and Bifur, lunged forward at the mention of Eywn.
Bofur and Fili found their way into the flames through a small window in the living room. That was the only place where the flames were not as wild. Bofur helped Fili down and the two sunk to the ground. Gandalf was using whatever powers he possessed to send the flames onwards from the outside, but on the inside, the inferno was sweltering, almost unbearable. They had devised that if Eywn were still inside, it would be near the cellar. It was the only place she could hide from the orcs prior to the fire and the best option when faced with the flames. The only disadvantage was that she would be trapped if anything collapsed onto the door in the floorboards, not to mention the fact that the flames would eventually spread and trap her all the same.
They crawled across the ground. Bofur took the lead and pushed any burning debris out of their path. Fili had to pull him back when a bit of roof fell inches from his face. They crawled around the burning rubbish and felt their way towards the living space where the cellar was. Bofur knew they were almost there, but a hard surface blocked their path. A large chunk of roof had fallen and made it so they would have to go the long way towards the cellar.
Crawling along its edge, he felt for when the wood would end and soon came to that point. As he made to cross, his knee pressed down onto something that was not wood. He almost mistook it for a fallen rope, but the slim, bony feel made him stop. He backed into Fili's face and reached for what his knee had pressed against. The design was unmistakably a human hand. Turning back to Fili, he pointed towards the burning ceiling planks. He went to the opposite side and Fili took the side he was already on, they pushed and shoved until the planks gave way to topple onto Bofur's side. Dodging the flames, he reached further and found a wrist reaching out. He grabbed a hold of it, expecting her to return the grab. When she didn't, panic filled his mind and he started pulling her towards the two dwarves. Fili got a hold of her other hand and pulled her out from the remaining debris.
Making their way back to the point of entry, Fili saw the flames explode in that part of the house. He turned to Bofur, gesturing towards the back door. They crawled, guiding Eywn between them towards the door. The fire outside the back door was vicious, but Gandalf should've been working on lessening the flames there since it was the closest escape point from the cellar. Keeping Eywn's head down, they crawled faster towards what hopefully be a way to escape. Once they reached the door, the wall next to them collapsed and light issued into the room. Fili and Bofur looked at each other for a moment before braving the chance that they might be caught by a fire on the porch. Lifting Eywn's arms over their shoulders they crouched towards the gap in the wall. Light pierced their gaze and the little oxygen that remained in the area engulfed by flames was a godsend to their tortured lungs. Ori was waiting by the burning porch. At the sight of them, he began to push aside burning planks and cleared a path for them. The two dwarves, on the verge of collapse, rushed forward, thankful that Ori made their path far less strenuous than it could've been. Their hearts wrenched as they stepped over Avel's curled corpse. Bofur held onto Eywn tighter.
What surprised them most were the charred bodies of two orcs that also lay on the back porch. Fili looked over to Bofur and they both looked down at Eywn's unconscious form. The bodies were too burned to tell if she had been the one to end them, but they knew those two creatures hadn't willingly leapt into the flames so either Eywn got in two more kills before being captured by the orcs, or something strange was going on. Bypassing the corpses, Fili and Bofur were relieved to see Ori lunging headlong into the inferno to meet them halfway across the porch. Ori took Eywn's arm from Fili, putting most of her weight on his shoulder. Bofur guided the group the rest of the way, holding Fili's hand with the other. Ori kicked one of the killed off orcs out of their path.
Once they cleared the porch and were beyond the demolished garden, Bofur and Ori set Eywn to the ground before collapsing to their knees. Fili had fallen behind a few feet back, his lungs taking in as much air as possible. His head was woozy, eyesight dizzy, and he really wanted to lie in the grass for an eternity. He crawled over to where the other dwarves were collecting. The majority of orcs had been drawn off by Kili and Nori and eventually taken down by Dwalin and Thorin. The orcs that remained were picked off by the remainder of the dwarves, who now were all huddling around the collapsed Bofur, Fili, Ori, and Eywn. Gandalf was rushing back to them, a bucket of water in his hand. Oin went into healer mode and turned Eywn onto her side, patting her back to try and get her lungs to expel the smoke and ash that had filled them. Turning her onto her back, he breathed into her mouth, trying to get a response. The other dwarves watched helplessly as Oin continued to elicit a response from Eywn. Bombur and Bifur were helping Bofur and Kili was helping Fili but the rest had nothing to do but watch as Eywn continued to lie unresponsive.
After a minute of working, Oin gave a strangled cry when he felt chokes wrack Eywn's body. She began to cough loudly, her body expelling the infected poison of smoke and greedily drinking in the elixir of oxygen. Taking in ragged gasps, Eywn came to her senses and opened her eyes. They stung from being assaulted with ash and flames, but she needed to keep them open. She needed to drink in the sunlight. Why was she outside? Had the orcs gotten to her?
Trying to scream, she sat upright in a mad attempt to move away from whoever had pulled her from the flames. Her voice croaked in a strangled cry that did not sound like her own. She felt someone grab her shoulder and she tried to swat it away. Voices filled her ears, but they seemed distant. Her eyes fell upon the flaming remains of her home and she lunged forward.
"No!" she heard her voice cry. It sounded alien to her, as if another had replaced her voice with theirs.
Her hands scrambled across the ash-covered grass, trying to reach her home. Hands grabbed her, not roughly, but firm. She began to sob uncontrollably. Someone pulled her into a tight embrace; the comforting feel of the hold made her sink into it, tears stinging her eyes and burning the exterior of her cheeks. Her eyes looked to the one holding her and saw it was Bofur, his face and clothes were covered in ash and his breathing was just as ragged as hers. She felt others placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, but she didn't try to see who it was. She looked at the burning remains of her home. Why did this happen for a second time?
Tears fell from her eyes as she took in the sight. Bofur's form began to rock her back and forth. She had once again lost everything.
Her eyes traveled over to the pile of blankets and she saw the cloak still sitting there under a thick winter blanket. Letting loose a guttural cry, she tried to reach for the surviving reminder of her friendship with the caravan. Bofur, fearful that she would run back to her house, held firm around her arms, rocking her more gently and whispering soothing words. They did nothing to appease her as she kept reaching for the cloak. Bifur noticed and went towards the pile. Sifting through the blankets, he lifted the cloak and registered it held value to Eywn as she squirmed in Bofur's hold to reach the cloak. Bringing it over to her, he wrapped it over her collapsed frame in Bofur's arms and patted her on the shoulder. The tension ebbed and her eyes betrayed the retreat she was making back into the confines of her mind.
Watching the spectacle from afar, Thorin knew they couldn't stay for much longer. The orcs who had been waiting here were still expecting more to join them. The look of anguish on Eywn's face reminded him of the look he saw on so many of his people when Erebor was taken. He leaned over to where Gandalf was kneeling and grabbed the wizard's shoulder; Gandalf seemed to be thinking the same thing as he.
"We need to move…Gloin, Dwalin, Nori, fetch the ponies; Ori and Bombur, see what supplies you can collect from those piles; Oin, see what you can do for Eywn" Thorin ordered, standing to see if any orcs still lingered. They were in an extremely vulnerable position; Thorin hated to think of what would happen if they encountered another pack of orcs on their journey back. Straining to hear the sound of travelers through the forest, he didn't like that the fire still raged, though not as strong as it had before; the wizard had done his part in quelling the flames enough to where it wouldn't spread. But the noise it still emitted blocked out any other sound with the howling flames. Extremely vulnerable indeed.
"What about the flames?" Kili asked, "They could spread to the forest if they don't die soon."
"They'll die down eventually, laddie; those flames won't survive beyond the porch." Gloin called back.
Not wanting to argue with the one who held their tinder boxes, Kili returned his focus on Fili, who still gasped for precious oxygen.
Oin moved to Bofur and Eywn. Bofur looked to him and nodded. Releasing his hold on the young woman, Bofur now helped her sit up. Eywn looked in a daze from Bofur to Oin and back to her house.
"She was trapped under wooden planks when we got to her, Oin," Bofur told the healer. Oin nodded, placed a cool wet strip of cloak on her forehead in effort to cool her head.
"She might have internal damage, depending. Did she respond when you pulled her from the planks?" Bofur shook his head.
"Not that we could tell. The lass didn't move at all…I was afraid she was gone before we even got her outta there."
"Are you injured anywhere, Eywn?" Oin asked, looking for any tell-tale signs of injury. He feared internal damage, judging by what Bofur had said, but he wanted to hear from her first if there was something bothering her.
Eywn turned to him, meeting his gaze. "Avel…Avel is dead." She shook her head and leaned into Bofur. Oin knew he wouldn't get anything coherent out of her so he chose to inspect her himself. Feeling the muscles in her calves, ankles, and then thighs, he felt nothing out of place. Pressing a hand to her stomach, he felt for any bulging abnormalities that might suggest internal damage; there were none. Feeling her arms, hands, and shoulders, he sensed nothing popping out of place. He went to the curvature of her neck and felt the spine down her back, hoping to not find anything twisted or pushed away from its original position. Feeling her face, she had nothing broken, the back of her head, while covered with ash and debris, there were no signs of blood. Apart from the trauma of almost being burned alive and obvious bruising that would occur, she would be fine; Oin was relieved.
"What's the verdict, doc?" Bofur asked, a grim smile tugging at his beard.
"She'll be alright. I'm afraid any damage done was mental. Eywn is fortunate in the fact that her body wasn't hurt too terribly, but her mind will be reliving this moment for a long time"
Bofur let out a breath of relief. He looked to the young woman he had pulled from the flames and hugged her tighter. Her long hair had been burned up to near her chin; her face was scratched as well as her hands, from crawling through burning debris. Her skirt hung in tatters, burn marks covered the cloth and revealed ash-covered skin in places. He was pleased that Bifur managed to cover most of the damage with that cloak, but he knew it remained beneath the folds of forest green. He hummed softly while waiting for the rest to return. As the ponies were brought forward, Bifur and Bofur helped Eywn find her footing. She seemed compliant to whatever movement they asked, but she still relied on their support. Bifur placed the cloak around her neck, fastening it so it would not fall off.
Eywn was helped onto Ori's pony; seeing as the two were the lightest, they would be the best pair to ride together.
"Don't let her fall, Ori" Oin warned, "She's not injured, but her mind is very vulnerable right now. A hit to the head could do far worse than any fire."
Ori nodded, holding onto her tightly. Oin shifted the cloak so it surrounded Eywn's front, to quell the coldness he knew would settle into her system. Thorin and several others took to the front, leaving Ori with Eywn in the middle. Bofur rode directly behind Ori, keeping his gaze on the woman, rather than the path in front of him. They rode quickly away from the burning house, back towards the group. It took less time than their original departure from the house but not nearly as quick as their swift return. Eywn did little in that time except for stare ahead of her. Her eyes were glazed over, leaning back into Ori's tight hold.
Thank you for reading! Many Blessings ~Eylanan