Hi everyone! Sorry for the cliff-hanger in the last chapter, but I must admit I love them...
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Enjoy this chapter :)
Chapter XXVIII : The darkest fears
"Thorin, no!"
Luna held her breath but with a sudden, clattering sound, Kili stopped his uncle's sword with his own and stepped in between him and the young girl.
The glare he exchanged with Thorin was one of pure hatred.
"Don't you dare threaten her" he darkly said.
"Kili, out of my way"
"No"
The dwarves shifted uncomfortably and taking a quick glance around her, Luna caught the increasing worry flashing in Fili's eyes.
"Do as he says"
They all turned towards her, bewildered.
"Luna…" Kili started.
"Stand back"
"Listen to her" Thorin spat. "This is no concern of yours"
"No concern of mine?!" the young dwarf repeated, shocked. "It is no concern of mine if you kill the woman that I love?!"
"You don't love her" Thorin exclaimed, annoyed. "It's just an illusion from that witch"
"How dare you…"
"Kili!" Luna cut him short. "Stand back. Now"
"How can you…"
"It's an order"
"No"
"I said stand back!" she shouted and acting so quick that he didn't see it coming, she strongly pushed him towards Dwalin and Fili who, fortunately, had enough nerves to react and grabbed him firmly to keep him from interposing himself again between the two dwarves.
"No!" he shouted and Luna tried her best to ignore him and turn her focus back on Thorin.
"Finally a wise move" he murmured.
"Listen, Thorin, I don't want to fight you" she said and dropped her blade that fell to the ground with a clattering sound that wasn't loud enough to cover the dwarves' terrified gasps. "I know you can't see it but what I did, I did it for your own good and for theirs"
She took a deep breath.
"I am ready to bear the consequences of my acts and if you want to kill me then do it. But do it in front of them all"
They all held their breaths for the few seconds that followed and silence settled back on top of the wall and in front of the gates where the elves, Bard, Gandalf and Bilbo weren't losing a second of what was happening up there.
Thorin then slowly walked towards her and Luna didn't move. Fili was still strongly holding his brother back and he could feel him shake. Himself was terrified of what might be about to happen.
All of a sudden, the dwarf king knocked Luna down on her knees and brutally grabbed her by the hair to pull her head back and hold her still. She felt the coldness of his blade against her throat and heard the dwarves unsheathing their own weapons but they stood where they were when Thorin shot them the most terrifying glance they had ever seen.
"Your father probably taught you the three punishments for a captain who betrays his king" he spat at the young girl. "The dungeons, exile…"
He pushed his blade a bit more against her throat and a trail of blood ran down on her collar bone.
"And immediate death" he added in a whisper.
At that moment, she was sure she was going to die here and now and waited for the blade to cut her throat but it didn't come.
"I would gladly exile you because I never want to have to look upon you again but that would only please you, wouldn't it? You wish you could leave this mountain, granting you this wish wouldn't be a punishment"
She swallowed nervously. He was right. Exiling her would be the best thing he could do to her.
"And as much as I want to kill you right now, you don't deserve such a quick and merciful death"
So this left only one possibility and she stiffened. Now, she prayed he could just kill her now and be done with it.
He smirked at her.
"I know your fears" he murmured. "And they will kill you"
He looked up at the faces of his company.
"Dwalin!" he barked. "Take this traitor to the deepest cell of the dungeons! I forbid anyone to come near her! She will be left there and die!"
"No!" Kili shouted.
However, Dalin didn't move. His eyes were passing from Thorin to Luna and to Kili who he was still holding with Fili.
"Dwalin!" Thorin barked.
"Thorin, I can't…"
"Do as he says"
Once again, they all turned to Luna in shock.
"Lass…"
"If you don't, then I'll kill her now!" Thorin exclaimed and put his blade against her throat again.
"No!" the big warrior exclaimed. "No! I'll take her"
"That's better" the dwarf king said, ignoring his youngest nephew's desperate cries.
He all but kicked Luna towards Dwalin who bent down to pull her up on her feet. Bifur had come to replace him next to Fili to hold Kili back.
"Be back as quickly as you can. Do not linger with that traitor" Thorin spat. "And if you or anyone else tries to help her escape, I will kill her in front of you all and send him in her place to the dungeons!"
Dwalin shot him a dark look but lead Luna down the steps back inside the mountain.
As they went, Luna didn't even dare a look towards Kili, afraid that it might make her break down while now more than ever, she needed to be strong.
"Luna!" Kili shouted, his cry heart-breaking.
Then silence fell on them again. All were shocked by what had just happened , dwarves, elves and men alike. Bilbo even thought of climbing the wall back up to go and help the young girl but he knew he wouldn't be able to do much, except make it all worse.
Bard was the first one to clear his thoughts and come back to the purpose of all this, although he was shocked like all the others, maybe even more than some. He had ended up growing quite fond of Luna and had been happy despite everything that she had survived the dragon.
"Are we resolved?" he asked. "The return of the Arkenstone for what was promised"
Thorin didn't reply. They all waited in silence, fearing his answer. Instead, he just turned his glance towards a hill on his left.
"Give us your answer!" the bowman insisted. "Will you have peace or war?"
A raven came flying towards the top of the wall at that moment and landed on a stone next to Thorin. The dwarf stared at it for a moment then turned towards Bard again.
"I will have war"
He had barely said those words that a noise grew louder and louder. They didn't take time to realise it was the sound of hundreds, maybe thousands of feet walking in their direction. They all turned their faces towards the hill Thorin had been staring at and on its top arrived a whole army of dwarves.
"What is that?" Luna asked, suddenly stopping.
Dwalin stopped as well and turned his head towards the wall on the other side of the hall that they had now crossed. They listened in silence for a few seconds until there was no mistake possible : thousands of people seemed to have arrived in the plain and they could hear a loud voice that was probably shouting insults at the elves.
"Dain Ironfoot" she exclaimed.
"Thorin's cousin?" Dwalin's face lit up.
"He must have called to him for help…this is bad"
"Bad? We were fourteen against two armies, how can this be bad?"
"Because this new army is lead by the one my father used to call the trouble-maker" she sighed.
Dwalin nodded and they paused for a few minutes, listening to what was going on outside then she shrugged her shoulders and nodded towards the corridor they had been about to step into.
"Come one" she said.
"Luna, we don't have to go…there is a room that I saw when we first arrived with a window not too far from the ground. It's small but ye aren't very big, ye'd fit through it. We still have time"
"No, Dwalin, I'm not going anywhere"
"But I can't just take ye down there"
"You can and you will. Please, don't make it any harder than it already is. I need to stay in this mountain, my job is far from over, especially with that war"
"But what will ye be able to do from down there?"
"Maybe Thorin will come back to reason soon enough and send for me" she shrugged her shoulders but she was absolutely not believing a word of it. "Let's go"
"Luna!"
They snapped their heads back to see Kili racing down the stairs, closely followed by his brother. The young dwarf had taken advantage of Dain's arrival to finally free himself from his brother and slip away from the group.
"Kili, come back!" the blonde dwarf was shouting.
He didn't listen tough and crossed the vast hall in a couple of seconds to throw himself at the young girl who he pulled close against him and closed his arms around her as if to prevent anything from taking her from him.
"It's alright, you're alright, we'll get you out of here" he whispered.
"Kili, what are you doing here?!" she exclaimed, gently but firmly pushing him away.
"Coming for you of course! I am not going to let you go into that dungeon!"
"Yes you are. Go back"
"What?!"
"I said go back. Before Thorin sees you"
"But…Luna!"
There was so much despair in his voice that it hurt her. She had ever wanted so much to go into his arms and let him take her away but she couldn't.
"It will be okay, Kili. I have to stay here"
"No it won't! You know it won't!"
She shushed him and it was her turn to pull him against her. She felt him shaking and tears were building up in his eyes.
"You need to trust me" she whispered.
"I…I can't let you die"
"You will be okay, Kili"
She cupped his face and gently kissed him.
From the moment she had stood against Thorin, she had forbidden herself to even look at him and even more when the king had condemned her to the dungeons. She had been afraid that a single look from him would be too much to bear and that it would break all the courage she had been trying to build up insider her.
But now that he was here, she wasn't able to resist anymore. This was most likely the last time she would ever see him and she wanted to be in his arms and kiss him one last time before the end.
He let her do then answered her kiss and held her so close against him that she could feel his precipitate heart beats.
When they parted, he hugged her and she met Fili's eyes behind his shoulder. He hadn't been able to contain a few tears and even Dwalin, the big tough warrior, was struggling to keep a composed face when seeing the two young dwarves desperately clenching at each other one last time.
She gave a small nod at Fili who understood.
"I will always love you" she whispered, a single tear rolling down on her face.
Then, without a warning, she suddenly pulled herself free from his arms and before he could reach for her again, his brother strongly grabbed him and kept him from going after her as she turned her heels and all but ran into the dark corridor, followed by Dwalin and in a few seconds they were out of sight.
"Luna!" the young dwarf was shouting, the tears finally streaking down on his face and panic in his voice. "No, Luna!"
The reassuring words Fili was whispering to him in a broken voice and very unconvincing tone were not enough to calm him down.
The dungeons were even deeper than Luna had thought.
After half an hour of walking down towards the roots of the mountain, the only light they had left was the torch that Dwalin was holding and that sent strange, menacing shadows on the walls.
Luna was trying her best not to take a look inside the cells they were passing after she had caught a glimpse of a skeleton in one of them.
When they finally arrived to the point where they could go no further down, they stopped before a barred door ; the deepest cell of Erebor. Dwalin just stood there like frozen so the young girl stepped in the cell.
"Luna…" he started.
"Close the door" she said in a hoarse voice.
He didn't move so she did it herself.
"Now lock it"
"I can't…"
"Dwalin, do it. Lock this door then go. Leave this place and never come back here again. They need you up there"
"They need ye too"
"Please, Dwalin. It is an order. Am I not your captain?"
"Of course ye are!"
"Then listen to me and do as I say"
The dwarf swallowed nervously and with shaky hands, turned the key into the lock.
"Good. Now go"
"This is not over, ye know. We'll get ye out of here"
"Dwalin…"
"I'll speak with Thorin, and as soon as Dain learn that ye are down here, he'll come and get ye out himself"
She sighed. She really wished she could believe him.
"Can I ask you one last thing?" she asked.
"Anything"
"Don't let Kili do anything stupid"
"Ye mean more stupid than usual?" he asked with a little smile and she chuckled. "I promise"
"And on Fili? He doesn't want to show it but he worries a lot these times. For Thorin, for his brother,…"
"And for ye"
She shrugged her shoulders.
"I won't let them out of my sight" he promised and she gave him a little smile.
"My father was right, you know" she said. "You really are one of the bravest dwarves in this kingdom"
Was that the hint of a blush that appeared on the big warrior's cheeks beneath his beard? With the darkness around them, she couldn't be sure but that made her smile.
"If I had one day been told that I would be the one putting his daughter to death…" he muttered in a darker tone.
She reached for his hands through the bars and squeezed them.
"It is not your fault, Dwalin. I am grateful for everything you have done"
He paused for a little moment and looked at her hands. They were so small in his, how could he bring himself to abandon her here?
"Your father was the greatest person I had ever met…but that was before ye joined this quest"
It was her time to blush.
"He'd be proud of ye"
She gave him a shy smile.
"Go now" she whispered. "Before Thorin sends for you"
He nodded. The only way he could bring himself to leave her there was because he was certain he would come back soon to get her.
"I'll come back for ye" he promised but she shook her head.
"Go. Don't look back"
And he turned his heels to leave.
She stared back after him until the light he was carrying completely disappeared and she was plunged in the dark.
When even the sound of his footsteps had vanished, she finally allowed herself to break down and she slipped down to her knees, tears streaking down her face.
Her claustrophobia and fear of the dark were creeping up her spine, she had to do something to keep her mind busy. She remembered an old song from her family that her brothers used to sing to her whenever she was afraid as a child and started singing it softly. Never had the lyrics so well fitted the situation.
"Oh misty eye of the mountain below
Keep careful watch of my brothers' souls
And should the sky be filled with fire and smoke
Keep watching over Durin's folk"
That's all she was able to sing before her sobs became so strong that all she could do was cry. Now she was alone, buried beneath the mountain, facing her darkest fears and death was coming her way.
