Chapter 26
I don't own any of Tolkien's work. Thank you and enjoy! As you can already tell, I am not exactly going by the movie or book. When they get to the mountain, I am not going to have it be the same; I am going to make it different. I just wanted to let you know!
I was woken abruptly from Kili shouting at us. Subconsciously, I grab for my sword and quickly throw off my blanket and rise to my feet, slightly unsteady. The sun is just starting to rise and Kili is pointing in the general area behind our camp and when I turn my head I see a handful of orcs charging at us, weapons glinting in the sun. I try not to panic and take a deep breath, only slightly calming my nerves. The dwarves charge ahead of me weapons raised and I stand my ground, sword at the ready. Thorin is the first to reach the orcs and he swings his sword, killing two of the orcs in one blow. All the dwarves work together to fight the orcs and I notice a stray orc that is coming straight at me. I almost decide to run for it, but part of me keeps me standing and ready to fight. Instinct has me ducking when the orc swings at my head and I take that opportunity to slice at the orc's legs. Once I sliced, I quickly jump back, gaining a little ground between the orc and me. The orc staggers and I dive roll to the left and stab the orc in the back. Aggressively, the orc turns around and takes another blow at my head. Adrenaline is picking up and I dodge easily and aim one final blow at the orc's neck. I successfully kill the orc and look around to see the dwarves finishing off a few of the orc. I drop my sword and notice that I am very out of breath, so I take a few moments to even out my breathing.
"Ilana, you did such a great job!" I hear Fili congratulate me. "My training is really helping you be a better fighter!" He's grinning ear to ear.
"I definitely have you to thank! That was scary, but I just stayed focused and it worked!" I exclaimed excitedly, smiling big.
"Ilana! Nice fighting!" Kili shouts, running towards me. He gives me a bear hug and nearly squeezes the life out of me. "I'm so proud of you!"
"I can't… breathe…" I manage to choke out. He chuckles and lets me go.
"Sorry about that!"
"It's quite alright!" I laugh and Fili and Kili both join in.
We start packing up our bags and head out in the direction of the Lonely Mountain. The weather was absolutely perfect today. A few clouds scattered the sky and the sun rose brilliantly, covering the land with light. The winds were calm and I heard birds chirping from all around us.
"Nice job fighting, Ilana!" Bofur scurried up from the back of the crowd to reach me, his floppy hat bouncing in the process.
"Thank you! It was rather scary, but I think adrenaline hit me and kept me focused."
"You are learning a lot from practicing with Fili! You are becoming a little warrior!" Bofur smiled and laughed heartily. I couldn't help but laugh with him since his laugh is so contagious. He gives me a side hug to emphasize his happiness.
"I'm glad I'm not completely useless anymore! I'm ready to take back Erebor!" I exclaim slightly joking as well. Bofur smiles again and goes to talk to Bilbo.
As we continue our journey to the mountain, I notice a small village to the east and jog up to Thorin who was at the front of the pack. He already heard me coming and turned his head to greet me.
"Hey, Ilana!" Thorin smiles and I blush immediately.
"Do you think we are going to stop at that little village up ahead?"
"We probably should since we have been travelling all day." Thorin nods his head and turns to look at the rest of the company. "Listen up! We are stopping to rest for the night at the village up ahead!" He shouts loudly for all to hear. Everyone cheers in response, exhausted from the long day of travelling. "I hope the village is welcoming." Thorin says to me.
"Yeah, me too. I'm sure we will be alright!" I reassure him, basing my hopes on my positivity.
"If I could, I would travel all day and night until I reached the mountain, but for the safety of our health, we need to rest frequently." I could tell Thorin is getting more restless the closer we get to Erebor. I take the opportunity to lay my hand on his arm and he looks at me.
"We will get there soon enough. I know how much you long to see your home." I give his arm a squeeze to let him know that I understand him.
"Thank you, Ilana." Thorin smiles in return and we both look up to see that we are almost to the village.
Once we arrive, a man in armor walks up to us. "State your business."
"We are simply passing by and want to find an inn for the night." Thorin responds with authority.
"Very well." The gatekeeper steps aside and motions for the other men to open up the gates. The gates creak open loudly and begin opening rather slowly, taking a couple minutes. As soon as the gates completely open, I see streets busy with people going in and out of shops. The sound of laughter fills the air and I can tell this village is a friendly one by the actions of the villagers.
"There is an inn down this street and it will be on your right." The gatekeeper informs us.
Thorin and I lead the way and we walk past shop after shop, catching glimpses of all the pastries and other various items being sold. I smell cinnamon wafting from one of the pastry shops and my mouth waters involuntarily. I make note to stop by the shop sometime. We eventually make it to the inn the gatekeeper told us about and make our way inside. The inn was larger than what I've seen before and very rustic looking. It smells of fresh wood and I wonder if they recently built it or remodeled it.
"How many rooms do you have available?" Thorin asks the innkeeper, a tall and slender woman with long wavy brown hair.
"We have two rooms at the moment. Would you like to take both?" The innkeeper smiled invitingly.
"Yes that would be perfect. We will have them just for the night." Thorin handed over money and the innkeeper took us up a flight of stairs. Once we got to the top, she opened up two doors for us and gave Thorin the two keys to the rooms. "Thank you." Everyone split up between the two rooms. Thorin, Dwalin, Fili, Kili, Ori, Nori, Dori and I went in the first room and the rest went into the second room which was right across the hall from ours. The room was quite large with four beds, two couches and four four-pane windows. Knowing that I am the smallest, I went for one of the couches while everyone else fought for the beds. Thorin and Dwalin obviously got a bed each and Nori and Dori as well since they are older than the rest of us. Ori took the other couch so Fili and Kili had to sleep on the floor which I found amusing.
"Wow! I gotta sleep on the floor now!" Kili complained. "I failed at claiming a couch. I must punish myself by sleeping on the ground." I giggled at him. Fili and Kili both placed their sleeping bags right by my couch so that if I happen to get up in the middle of the night, I will be stepping on them. I rolled my eyes and Kili said, "You knew we were gonna put our stuff right by you, silly." I laughed and shook my head.
"Whatever, I guess you'll be stepped on in the middle of the night if I have to use the bathroom. Your own fault." I stuck my tongue out at him and he lunged at me, tickling me furiously. "I surrender!" I yelled.
"Serves you right." Kili gave me a little push. "We like being right up in your bubble. Get used to it." I laughed and gave him a little push in return.
The sun was just about to set and some of the dwarves left the room to explore the village. I took the opportunity to claim the bathroom so that I could properly clean up. I didn't even look into the mirror and jumped straight into the hot bathtub, enjoying the moment. After a good half hour, I finally felt refreshed and squeaky clean. I left my hair down to dry instead of restraining it into a braid. I exited the bathroom and found that no one was in the room. They must have all wanted to wander around the town. I start to put on my cloak and boots when I hear someone enter the room and I turn to see Fili walking over to me.
"Hey, do you wanna go around the village with me?" He asks.
"Yeah! I want to stop at the pastry shop that we passed on the way here."
"Sounds good! Let's go!" Fili grabs my arm and we exit the inn into the busy street.
Author's Note: Hey guys! Another chapter up! I'm starting to get back into the swing of things and writing more for this story! I hope you enjoyed it and look out for some more chapters soon! Love you all! :)
