Author's note: Anything written in italics is a vision sequence.
Mara sighed, feeling tired and drawn as she lay back against the firm pillows of her bed. She had been in this position for what felt like years, though in reality it had only been two months. Still a long time to be confined to a single area of the house. This pregnancy was certainly taking its toll on her, having been almost twice as long as the previous one so far, and with no vision to guide her there was no end to look for. Suddenly her sight dimmed. 'Oh the irony, call upon it and it shall come,' she thought as a vision swamped her mind.
Dis gathered a meal onto the wooden tray in front of her, humming absentmindedly and heading for Mara's room. She felt hopeful that her friend was nearing the end now, her belly could not possibly expand any further and the babies (for it was obvious now that there were two), were barely moving they were so crammed together. Pushing the door open with her hip, Dis danced into the room, greeting her friend cheerily as she set the tray down. "Here we go, a wonderful soup for lunch, and some of those tomatoes you like..." She was arranging them in an appealing fashion as she spoke, and happened to look up at this point, gasping in concern when she was greeted by an unexpected sight. Mara sat upright, hands clutched to her belly and a look of utter horror in her vacant eyes.
'The screams were terrible. Noise surrounded her, pounding through her skull and driving her to her knees amid a whirlwind of viciously fighting bodies. She was being bumped and battered around, flung in all directions like a rag doll in a strong wind. It was easy to forget in that moment that she could not actually be harmed, the phantom pain was enough to swamp her mind whenever she got in the way of the battling forces. Elves, men, dwarves, all fought valiantly against masses of orcs and wargs. The sky above was darkened with a premature nightfall by the clouds of bats brought by the enemy.'
"Mara!" Dis screamed, shaking her and trying to get her out of whatever terrible vision had stolen her sight. Her friend remained unresponsive, whimpers of terror escaping her parted lips. "Mara wake up!" The fae twitched, face turning towards Dis, but not seeing her. Her hands scrabbled for something to hold, so Dis swept them both up in a powerful grip, helpless to intervene further.
'Mara was running now, looking for her friends, for her family. She was certain they were here, she could feel the knowledge in her very bones. She looked down, unsurprised to see that she was as thin as she had ever been. Her vision self never changed. She looked back up and flinched as hot blood sprayed across her face, tasting the bitterness of death on her tongue. The conflict in front of her stilled for just a second as an elf lost his life, his adversary joining him in death moments later. She did not know this elf, but still she felt tears streaming down her face to mingle with the filth that already coated it.'
Dis clutched Mara tighter as the girl began to sob weakly, muttering unintelligibly. She had only ever seen such devastation on her face once before, when she had spoken of the loss of her people. Dis despaired to think of what would bring that look back, trying in vain to keep her thoughts from straying to their family, now so very far out of reach.
'Finally, an opening. Mara slid her way through to get to the small spire of rock that pierced the battlefield, dodging the burgeoning mass of bodies and making a hasty ascent. She scanned her surroundings, blocking her ears with both hands to banish the sounds of death and pain. There! She could see the company, they were close, fighting in small groups against overwhelming odds. They had been cut off from the others, and Mara felt her heart stop when Fili disappeared, crushed underfoot. Suddenly she felt a harsh pain in her own stomach, and she stared down at the blade that seemed to have pierced it in confusion...'
"Fili," Mara whispered fearfully, causing Dis's eyes to widen in agony. She jumped when Mara suddenly wrenched her hands to her stomach, a gasp of pain following the terrible plea. Mara was shuddering, and Dis leaped to her feet as wetness spread rapidly across the bedding. She wrenched the blankets out of the way, heart dropping at the sight of blood.
"Oh no," she murmured. Mara had been pushed into labor by the vision, but already something had gone wrong, and Dis knew she would have precious little time to aid her before all was too late. She ran outside, making it to Lona's house in a matter of minutes and banging on the door in panic. "Lona hurry! I need you!" she screamed. The door was flung open, the woman on the other side taking one look at her distraught friend and following without question. Dis explained on the way back. "It's Mara. She got caught in a vision, something terrible, and it pushed her into labor."
They got back to the house to see that Mara was now lying back, pale and trembling, and still unaware. "Oh dear, this is not good," Lona said breathlessly.
'The battle raged on, and Mara could get no closer to her comrades. She was hemmed in, an island in a sea of chaos. Across the distance she saw an elf fall in front of Kili, and she could hear his scream above the noise of the battle as he sank down to catch her. Her family was bruised and battered, Fili was still missing from her line of sight, and around her the horror was unending. Above them rain began to fall, soaking her through and sending icy rivulets down her back. As if it were a trigger her vision began to fade, washing away with the cleansing waters until she saw only darkness...'
"We need to get her conscious," Dis said worriedly. They patted at Mara's hands, shaking her gently and calling her name, but nothing registered.
"Right then," Lona scowled fiercely. "This calls for stronger measures." She picked up the pitcher of cool water sitting nearby and dashed a fair portion in Mara's face. The girl thrashed and spluttered, but her eyes refocused on them at last. The two almost wished they hadn't when she let out a wail of distress, her haunted gaze suddenly overwhelmed by the pain that had taken back burner until that moment.
"What is happening?!" she cried, her voice cracking in fear.
"The babies are coming," Dis replied hurriedly, breathing deeply to maintain her composure. "We need to get them out now. Mara, you need to focus alright?"
Mara nodded, shuddering as another pain wracked her and setting her will against the unrelenting enemy that is time. She had run out, and she put all her effort into making sure that her long wait in confinement would not be in vain. Hours passed as the three worked together to help her through this, mopping her brow, feeding her tea for the pain and calling forth a steady stream of encouragement.
She was almost done in when they were blessed with the most beautiful sound to ever fill the air. Healthy crying announced the arrival of not one but two newborns, just as they had predicted. Lona and Dis each took one into their arms, smiling in awe at the tiny girls they held. "Twin daughters," Dis murmured in tired delight, holding the baby out for Mara to see. Lona did the same on the other side, and Mara felt a sense of peace wash over her, banishing for a time the dark things she had seen.
"Sarra and Bella," she whispered happily, paying homage to her niece and her distant cousin. She fell back soon after, completely drained but relieved that the care of her girls was in the safe hands of her friends.
Author's note: Just a note, it is quite possible that for the first time Mara's vision was not entirely accurate, but at risk of giving anything away with regards to the coming battle I will say nothing more on it at the moment. Next chapter we return to our company, and an encounter with a certain dragon.