I couldn't think of what to name the chapter so it is untitled.

Alardus POV

Something is going on at Eva's house. I run as fast as I could. My heart is beating so hard that I feel like it will burst from my chest. I am met inside the door by Sandarr the town drunk and two orcs.

" Sandar what have you done?" I choke out the words.

One of the orcs seizes me and forces me to my knees.

"Let him alone," Eva yells. She rushes towards the orcs with a large knife and cuts the smaller ones upper arm. He groans in pain clutching at the dripping wound. The larger of the orcs strikes her across the face sending her tumbling across the room and causing the knife to fall out of her hand and beyond her reach.

Sandarr tells Eva that he has hated her ever since she banished him from the Prancing Pony. He was ambushed by the orcs on the road outside his home. They asked him where the Oakenshield's family lived. He was only too happy to point the way.

The larger orc pulls Eva off of the ground and demands that she hands over the ring. Eva looks confused. "What ring? I don't have any idea of what your talking about." Her body is shaking uncontrollably.

" You lie!" the orc snarls. Saliva is now dripping from his lips. Again he hits her and again she falls to the floor. The orc asks about the ring again. Eva swears she knows nothing about the ring. He lifts her up from the floor and plunges his knife deep into her chest.

The large orc turns to Sandarr and plunges his knive into his neck. "I hate traitors."

I lunge towards the orc with the knife that Eva was using to prepare dinner. I bury it into his eye. He falls back dead. The smaller orc runs off but not without saying " I will find the Oakenshield's son and I will kill him slow and painfully."

I rush to Eva now laying in a large puddle of blood. She pleads with me," Please take my son. Keep him safe. Thorin I love you." With that she breathed her last breath. I can not hold the tears back. They stream down my face unchecked. My best friend, my soulmate is gone.

I look around the house for Golther but I can not find him. I call his name and after a few minutes his head appears from the trap door hidden beneath the kitchen rug.

When Sandarr had knocked on the door Eva sent Golther to his hiding spot and instructed him not to leave until she told him it was safe.

"Where's my mom?"

I don't know how to tell him his adored mother has been murdered. It turns out that I don't need to tell him. He spots her body and runs over to it. He embraces her cradling her limp body on his lap. The scene causes my tears to flow again.

I can not stay here with him. The orc knows where the boy lives and he will return with reinforcements. We must get out of here quickly. I grab a few provisions and we sneak out into the night making sure to stay well hidden. We will stay in the barns tonight and then make our way to the south where the rangers have already cleared out the orcs. Once there I will attempt to get a message to Thorin if he is even still alive.

The ring they were looking for was one of the 7 given to the dwarves. Thorin's grandfather had one but he passed it to Thrain before he was killed.

I'm hiding behind a brick wall. Holler if you need me.

~JFDragonFire