A/N: Not quite Saturday, I know but I didn't realise that I would be planning to go to a 50th anniversary party... so sorry for the day delay but I hope this chapter makes up for it!
A message.
"So you are the one they call Oakenshield…" Beorn trailed off, as he lowered and tipped his jug to pour milk into Fili's large mug.
"And who are you referring to when you speak?" Thorin countered, seeing his company looking terrified that he would change back into the back that had chased them.
"She informed me of your situation." The hairy man spoke, tilting his head as his eyes landed on Theliëlréndis, who was stood at the back of the room.
Upon being mentioned, Theliëlréndis felt the presence of many pairs of eyes on her person. She looked at Beorn but then her gaze met Thorin's harsh, icy blue eyes which were full of anger and betrayal.
It seemed to Bilbo that he'd walked in at the wrong time when he saw the glares that was being exchanged between the dwarf and elf.
"And how much did she inform you of?" Thorin growled bitterly, his eyes still trained on Theliëlréndis.
Beorn ignored his tone of voice and question altogether. "That does not matter…" He claimed, moving along to tend to his guests. "If it were not for her, I would've gladly cast you out to your hunter's waiting."
Heads turned toward her now, the dwarves had had no idea what she'd done during the night but their faces were full of gratitude. In fact, none of them had even heard Beorn return to his home during the night, but obviously their elf had done some good by her part.
"Tell me… why is Azog the Defiler hunting you?" Beorn asked slowly, walking around the edge of the table.
"You know of Azog? How?" Thorin pushed himself off of the pillar he'd been leaning against to approach the skin changer.
"My people were the first to live in the mountains, before the Orcs came down from the north. The Defiler killed most of my family, but some he enslaved." Bilbo's eyes drifted to the remnants of the manacles on Beorn's scarred wrists. "Not for work, you understand, but for sport. Caging skin-changers and torturing them seemed to amuse him."
"There are others like you?" Bilbo asked, once he'd taken his seat at the table beside Fili.
The large man turned his head as he found the small creature, "Once, there were many." He let out, his voice growing quiet.
"And… now?"
"Now, there is only one." Beorn explained, as they all froze. Theliëlréndis's eyes saddened upon hearing the ill news, and that things had gotten that bad. "You need to reach the mountain before the last days of autumn?" He changed the subject quickly, attracting everyone's attention easily and his words soaking into their minds.
Thorin glared, crossing his arms over his chest and cast his gaze upon the elf in the room. She'd told him far too much without his persmission.
"Before Durin's Day falls, yes." Gandalf agreed, from where he stood smoking his pipe.
"You are running out of time."
Gandalf nodded, "Which is why we must go through Mirkwood."
"A darkness lies upon that forest. Fell things creep beneath those trees. There is an alliance between the Orcs of Moria and the Necromancer in Dol Guldur. I would not venture there except in great need."
"We will take the Elven Road. That path is still safe despite the forest has grown dark…" Theliëlréndis stated, with a distant look in her eyes.
"Safe?" Beorn questioned, looking to her with a sharp look in his dark eyes. "The Wood-Elves of Mirkwood are not like their kin. They're less wise and more dangerous."
As the man said that, all the dwarves looked to Theliëlréndis, seeing how she would react to meeting up with some more of her kin.
Thorin looked over at Theliëlréndis with his narrowed eyes, watching as her face remained the same. But he spotted something lying behind her eyes, and he struggled to place it.
"Then I will attempt to reason with them if we are to cross paths." Theliëlréndis countered with the hairy man, blinking away what had been in her eyes.
"But it matters not…" The man trailed off, only creating more questions, his eyes slowly drew away from the female.
"What do you mean?"
"These lands are crawling with Orcs. Their numbers are growing, and you are on foot. You will never reach the forest alive." Beorn stood from his large cushioned chair and began to walk toward Thorin, facing him.
"I don't like dwarves. They're greedy and blind, blind to the lives of those they deem lesser than their own…" Beorn picked up a mouse that had been scampering on the table and held it. "But Orcs I hate more..." He said, glancing over her as she held a mouse in her own hand. "And I like your friend."
The moment when Beorn had looked to her, he knew that Theliëlréndis was no woman of man nor was she a dwarf. He did not need to see her ears to know she was an elf.
Although he made an effort to avoid them, he knew an elf when he saw one, and he didn't need to see their ears to know either. It wasn't hard to know she was though, she carried herself well and when she spoke; her voice was softer than most when it reached his ears.
But that wasn't what he liked in her; he liked how she was with nature… seeing that she was at peace with everything. He wouldn't usually see eye-to-eye with an elf, but when he saw how she treated the animals in his home.
She had stayed up late into the night and talked with him about all that had happened to them prior to their arrival at Beorn's home. She told them how they'd escaped Rivendell, run into the goblins of Goblin Town and how they'd faced Azog momentarily before being saved by the Great Eagles.
When Beorn had asked why he should allow dwarves to stay in his home, she told him the truth.
She told him that there was the Heir to the throne of Erebor in the company, Thorin Oakenshield. She also told him that they were planning to reclaim Erebor and slay the dragon which dwelled there.
"And due to her, I am going to allow you all to remain here for a few days."
At his words, all the dwarves and the hobbit let out a relieved sighs, knowing they could relax for a few days without having to worry.
They could recover without fear.
"You may explore my land; there is also a stream which you may bathe in just north of the house. Follow the path at the back and you will reach it soon enough. But, do not stray otherwise your enemies will ascend." He said before moving off.
They quickly devoured their breakfast before deciding to bathe. They'd slept most of the day due to exhaustion and some well needed to sleep.
The Company, minus Gandalf, then decided to head down to the stream to clean all the dirt that had graced their skin.
Theliëlréndis remained standing, as she watched the dwarves and the hobbit walk outside, chattering loudly. She narrowed her eyes, watching as Thorin was the last to leave, carrying himself slowly and clearly demonstrating that he was hurt.
Sighing, the elf met Gandalf's eyes and he had a knowing look on his face, knowing that Thorin's pain wasn't only bothering him but her as well.
She would want to treat him.
Thorin had seated himself on a log, but was currently hissing in pain as he struggled out over his coat, letting it fall to the ground once it was off. He then moved to remove his boots but found the task too difficult due to his injured shoulder.
"Would you like some help?" The dwarf jumped out of his skin when he heard the quiet voice of the elf come from behind him. Looking over his shoulder, his eyes fell on Theliëlréndis who was stood, her tunic hanging out of her trousers with her bag in her hands.
"No, I would not." His voice was cold and harsh, but he turned back quickly and attempted to pry off his boot. Trying to tug it off, he winced in pain and shut his eyes when the ache in his shoulder became too much.
Suddenly, he felt careful fingers prying his hands away from his boot, his eyes shot open and he watched as her own hands took hold of his boot, and soundlessly he pulled his foot from its shelter.
Placing the boot next to the other, she looked up at Thorin, a questioning look in her eyes. "You'll need help with your armour as well…" She trailed off, moving to stand on her feet.
"No." Thorin grumbled darkly, already knowing that he would need two hands to undo the ties on the armour to even consider removing it.
He silently noted that she winced while moving to help rid him of his armour but he didn't bring it up and he didn't protest in her helping. He would've had to ask one of the others anyway but they were already washing up.
The ties quickly come undone and the armour shifted.
Thorin held his arms out, allowing the armour to fall to the ground beside his other clothes, leaving him in only his dark blue undershirt which was stained blood red at his shoulder.
"And the shirt as well…" She said, moving to undo it but his hand stopped her easily, pushing them away.
"No." He spoke again, finding it embarrassing that he was to remove most of his clothing in his presence. He didn't want her help, she'd helped him enough.
The elf only rolled her eyes before speaking, "Thorin, please do not be so naïve to think I have not seen a bare-chested man before, I can assure you that you're not the first." She scolded lightly, tilting her head.
"This is only a ploy so you can tend to my shoulder…" He grumbled, knowing that's what she was trying to do all along. "And I will not fall for it."
"That was my intention, yes. Remove your shirt, now." She folded her arms across her chest, and waited. She could play his game. If he was going to make things difficult, then so would she.
"Why should I listen to you? You lied to me - "
"I think it would be wise for you to remove your shirt, if you wish to reclaim that throne of yours alive." Her eyes had grown dark and she continued to watch him with that fiery spark in her gaze.
But Thorin loved to see that type of spark in someone, that angry spark. And he loved seeing it in her, especially when he was the cause of the anger.
Although she was getting nowhere with her persuading, she didn't give in.
"Thorin…" She trailed off, narrowing her eyes at him. "I'm fairly certain that you're aware that Wargs love to feast on corpse, decaying corpse..." She only received a glare. "And, surely you know that in between their teeth, lies the revolting flesh and it lingers well after they've finished their meal."
But he said nothing.
"With the same teeth, that had latched themselves around your shoulder and have most likely filling your blood stream with deadly bacteria which is porbably infecting your entire body. And if you don't let me treat your wound, then you'll just become another rotting corpse the Wargs will be feasting on." She was behind him now, and she lent close to his ear so he could hear her last words. "And you'll never see your precious, little Arkenstone ever again…"
Feeling her warm breath against the shell of his ear, he froze to his spot on the log, her voice speaking softly of his possible death but he heard none of it.
Thorin wasn't listening nor taking any notice of her words, it was her voice that had all of his attention.
But he heard the last words she spoke. She'd brought up the thing he desired most. Turning to face her, his blue eyes narrowing slightly as she taunted him with what he desired.
Frustration took over him, it wound him up because she knew perfectly which strings to pull to get a reaction out of him… she was brilliant at it.
Letting out a defeated sigh, wordlessly he held out his arm to her.
She silently moved over to his extended arm and her hand took a hold on his bare arm while she pulled off the sleeve swiftly before copying the same action with his injured arm.
Theliëlréndis moved to stand behind him, carefully moving his black mane out of the way so she could take hold of his collar.
Thorin was froze to his spot again as he felt the warm of her fingers grace across the cool of his necks, tickling him ever so slightly.
Carefully, she tugged the over shirt upward and it easily soared over his head, easing over his ears and left his body.
His dark hair collapsed over his broad shoulders. Immediately, her eyes began to scan his body for the injury and when her eyes found it she sighed.
"Pe-channas…"
"Is something wrong?" His voice called back and it drew her away from her thoughts.
"The bite had turned a slight reddish colour around where the teeth cut through your skin. It might be infected…" She then sat down on the log next to him, to get a closer look at the wound. "Go wash off, and when you're done… come back here." Theliëlréndis rose to her feet, collecting her bag before walking off down the stream.
Thorin stared as she walked away from him, "Where are you going?" He called after her, standing from where he'd been sat on the log.
"You're not the only one who needs to wash up!" She threw back at him, continuing on her way.
Thorin however, wasn't finished with her yet. He was determined to strike that spark that had appeared in her. He wanted to set it ablaze. "And what of my trousers?!" He couldn't help but allow the small, wicked smirk stretch out onto his lips.
But the elf paused, and smiled to herself before she turned to face him again. She'd listened to his words, which were full of tease and smugness. Two could play that game. "Oh, I already have your belt…" She held up her hand, which had hold of a strip of black leather.
Before he even managed to register her words, his trousers fell from his waist and hit the ground, his hands quickly moved to shield him from her view but when he looked up to see her he found that she was already walking away from him.
Walking through the forest, her eyes fell upon a quieter part of the stream and she decided that it was suitable enough for her.
Removing her gauntlets and placing them on the floor after removing her boots, Theliëlréndis moved to pull her tunic over her head, wincing as she stretched where she'd injured herself just a day and a half ago.
Once it was off, she glanced down at her binds and quickly saw that she needed to see to the wound before it got worse than it already was.
Stripping the rest of her clothes save her necklace, she quickly entered the stream but turned back to the bowl with the bottle in her hand which she pulled from her bag, containing Athelas.
But before she could even think about seeing to her wound, something gathered on her wrist, attracting her attention.
A message.
Translation:
Pre-channas - Idiot
A/N:
So, what did you think of this installment?
Please R&R!
Tell me what you think...
Ezeiel
