Everything belongs to JRR Tolkien, except for the plot and OC
I hadn't moved at all for several long seconds, maybe even a whole minute.
It was only Nori's hand on mine that steered me away from my frozen state. Our eyes met and I couldn't hide the fear in mine. Immediately I saw the change in Nori's behaviour. He had been cautious and on alert before, now though it was another thing entirely to witness. His face turned blank, his eyes cold and his muscles tensed. Barely moving he glanced in the direction I had and I immediately felt him tense some more.
That surprised me though.
Nori hadn't been here when I had met this man.
I was the only one who had faced him for a long period of time. I didn't think Fili had talked to him much either, but he might remember him. Nori though, had no reason to know him. At least none that I knew of.
I followed the man's moves as he strode confidently to sit at a large table in the centre of the room. He walked as if he owned this place and the thought that he might terrified me. The scar on his face was still disgustingly frightening, marring his face in an ugly grimace. I could see the weird metallic club hanging at his side. For some reasons, this weapon was deeply disturbing me.
The man from Gorm.
The mercenary, who had killed Gorm's master and taken his home before attacking Bofur, Fili, Kili and I, was sitting five meters away from me.
Fili had seen him too now and I saw his hand slowly go closer to one of his swords handles.
I held my breath afraid the man would look in our direction and recognize us despite the darkness and our hoods. I felt Nori lightly tug on my arm and I looked at him. He discreetly gestured towards the stairs and it wasn't complicated to understand what he wanted. Slowly and walking close to the wall, the three of us disappeared from the main room and went directly to our room. During the time it took us to go back upstairs, I could feel my heart hammer against my ribcage. My brain provided me with numerous scenarios in which someone would see and point us to the man. I could imagine bloody fights ensuing. I was in a pathetic state of worry when we finally arrived at our room.
This time it reassured me to see Nori block the door with a chair. Actually I would have liked him to block it with the beds too.
Immediately once that was done he unsheathed one of his weapons. At first I didn't understand why. But then I realized that he was getting ready for being attacked. Nori was nervous. Fili imitated him and I could only swallow thickly, scared.
"How do you know this man?" I asked worriedly.
"I'm more curious about how you could both know him." Nori snapped.
I didn't feel offended by his tone. He wasn't angry at us, he was just really on edge right now and it only made me more uneasy. Nori wasn't supposed to be nervous. It didn't feel right to see him like this.
"He was the one leading the group that attacked us back in Gorm." Fili answered immediately.
I saw Nori's face pale quite visibly as he looked at me. He seemed suddenly really, really worried, probably more than I had seen him in awhile.
Quickly he strode to me and grabbed my forearm. His grip was strong, but it didn't hurt me at all. The way he looked and behaved only made me more nervous though.
"You were alone with him?" He asked and I nodded. "What did he do to you? Did he do anything?"
Nori's anxiety was only scaring me at this point and I shook my head, eyes wide in fright. It took my brain a few more seconds to put words together in sentences.
"No. No he just questioned me for hours. He was scary, but he didn't hurt me." I quickly replied as soon as I could.
Nori's relief was so evident that it surprised me. It was rare to see him so obviously displaying his emotions. He inhaled deeply and slowly calmed himself. Hadn't we been in such a tense situation, I would have found it funny to see that his mood affected both mine and Fili's so much. As soon as Nori was calmer, Fili and I relaxed. It really was odd.
"How do you know him?" I repeated and Nori glanced at me.
"I happened to have met him…several times. He used to live in Dunlands." He said at first and then added. "He's the one who ambushed me last year."
It took me maybe a minute to put things together and I gasped loudly once I did.
"The…his weird club is." I stammered. "It's that thing who did…he did this to you." I gestured at Nori's chest and saw him nod grimly.
"Aye. I barely escaped last time. He's dangerous. Really dangerous." Nori spoke in a low tone. "His group used to pillage and raid travellers in southern lands. It was already a surprise that he followed me so far north when he attacked me. You're sure he's the man who attacked Gorm?"
"There's no mistaking him." Fili said with a frown.
"I remember him perfectly." I muttered, agreeing with the young dwarf.
Nori swore lowly in Khuzdul and frowned.
"Then it's more than likely that his group is behind all the recent attacks." He groaned.
"But he's here and there has been no attack in this area." Fili commented.
Memories of my old world flashed through my mind. Now wasn't really the time to think about TV-shows I would never see anymore, though there might be some truth in what had been said in some of them.
"If they are behind the attacks on our caravans, it might make sense they don't attack us in the area they reside in." I said before explaining further. "If they live here, they won't attack caravans around this place, simply because like this we won't suspect anyone from this area. Thus they are protected, somehow, from our suspicions."
In any case that didn't matter much right now. It didn't help us either. I had no idea what would be the better course of action for us. Should we stay here for the night? He hadn't seen us so he couldn't harm us. But wouldn't it be better to leave quickly, using the darkness of the night as a protection? We could quickly go back to Thorin's Halls and tell the other about our findings. That way, the dwarves could come back and surprise him here, hopefully capturing him too.
"You said you met him several times?" Fili asked, breaking my trail of thoughts.
"Aye. I bought information from him. None of them were useful though."
"Why did they ambush you?" I asked him with a frown.
If Nori paid them, it didn't make sense they would try to kill him.
"Each piece of information he sold was expensive and useless. I got tired. When I had the opportunity to earn some money on their back I agreed. I stole back something they had taken from a rich merchant of Lunetown."
"How could they know it was you?" I wondered.
"They went back to Lunetown, and killed the merchant after forcing him to reveal my identity." Nori shrugged as if it were perfectly evident.
My eyes widened at that and I shook my head while Fili voiced exactly my thoughts.
"Are you saying that you were hired to steal it back?"
Nori shrugged and didn't answer, clearly concentrating on the matters at hand. That probably was wiser. Still, it wasn't something I had expected to learn. I knew Nori was a thief and would probably have guessed it was the reason behind most of his injuries. But this was different. He had been hired. I was still pondering on that when Nori spoke.
"We'll stay here tonight and we'll leave early in the morning."
"What about the leather and skins?" I couldn't stop myself from asking.
"I don't care about those. Right now my first objective is to get the both of you back home safely. We have to let Thorin know that the mercenaries attacking us are hiding here too." Nori answered sharply.
His tone softened a bit when he looked at me and then glanced at Fili.
"You both should sleep. I'll take the first watch. Fili you'll take the second. We'll leave before sunrise."
Fili nodded and threw his cloak on the bed closest to the window, covering the dirty sheets and lying on his cloak instead. In a matter of minutes the dwarf was softly snoring. It would never cease to amaze me to witness how quickly Fili could fall asleep. Still, at that moment I had other things to think about. I turned toward Nori who was still standing in the middle of the room, staring at the wooden floor with a deep frown.
I slowly made my way to him and gingerly put my arms around his waist. The fact that he let me hug him was quite telling; Nori knew how much I had been scared and needed him now. He embraced me strongly with one arm, his other hand still holding his dagger.
"You should sleep Mizimul." He whispered against my temple.
"I don't think I'll be able to." I murmured so lowly I wondered whether he'll hear. "I'm scared."
"I won't let him go near you. I'll protect you."
I tightened my hold on him and nodded. I knew that. But I still believed I wouldn't be able to sleep right now.
"Can't we leave now?" I breathed out.
I wanted to be as far away from that man as possible.
"He'll probably see us if we leave now. And I know you're tired. You need to rest."
I couldn't sleep. Not when I knew that the man who had almost killed Nori, Bofur and Fili was just here, laughing and drinking. I clenched my teeth and hid my face in Nori's neck. His braided beard was brushing against my cheek but I didn't mind. I actually like the slight ticklish feeling it caused. Nori slowly brought the hand that was on my waist to the back of my head. Then he kissed my temple and whispered in my ear.
"Rest, Umzam. I'll stand guard."
I inhaled shakily before I stepped away from him. Immediately I felt less secure, less warm. Lonely. Without looking at him I nodded and walked to the second bed where I lay on my spread cloak, just like Fili. I forced my eyes closed and swallowed back the lump in my throat. Anxiety wouldn't leave me, even though I was probably quite safe at the moment.
Sleep was rather hard to find that night but in the end my tiredness won over my fears.
When Nori gently woke me, I immediately remembered the previous evening's events. My level of anxiety rose suddenly and I sat up in a jolt, almost head butting Nori in the process. With a quick glance around I calmed a bit. Nori was near me and Fili was standing close by. Both were fine and there was no sound around. There was only one candle to provide a dim light in our room, but it was enough to see the sombre expressions on the dwarves' faces.
"We're leaving now. Drink and eat a bit quickly." Nori instructed and I nodded, eager to leave this place.
I grabbed the old piece of bread he gave me and ignored the bland taste. Now wasn't the time to think about gourmet food. Not fifteen minutes had passed when we stepped out of our room.
The inn was eerily silent and I didn't like it one bit. I guessed it should have been a good sign, but this absence of sound only made me more nervous than I already was.
We were walking in a line. Nori coming first and I was in the middle. Both Nori and Fili had unsheathed their weapons and were obviously ready to fight. Unthinkingly I reached for the beads that lightly grazed my neck and chin. Grabbing the one offered by Balin and Dori a while ago, I silently tried to gather some courage from the cold stone.
It did work a bit and I silently took my staff and held it with one hand, carefully avoiding hitting anything with it. Now really wasn't the moment to be clumsy.
When we arrived in the large dining room downstairs, I was relieved to see that it was completely empty. Quickly I followed Nori to the main door.
Only when the dwarf muttered a curse did I understand that something was wrong.
"What is it?" Fili muttered so low that I barely heard him.
"There're three locks on that bloody door." Nori groaned annoyingly in answer.
Fear filled my heart.
"How are we going to leave?" I whispered while lightly grabbing Nori's coat.
The thief gave us a small reassuring smirk before he grabbed something from one of his numerous pockets. In a second he was concentrating on the highest lock, inserting two thin pieces of metal in it and softly turning them. He was concentrating on it intently and I realized he had mostly been annoyed by what he considered to be a waste of time.
Fili and I were completely befuddled as we watched Nori calmly pick each lock at a time. It didn't seem to give him too much trouble either and soon enough, we were outside.
The night air was cold but none of us minded that. Thankfully the sky was clear and the moonlight was bright enough to allow us to see. I sighed in relief once I got out of this awful inn.
I felt as if we were out of troubles already.
I probably shouldn't have. This false sense of security wasn't good at all in our situation. Thankfully Fili and Nori weren't caught by it and they were clearly attentive to our surrounding.
Even though we were outside now, we still tried to be quiet. The atmosphere in the dirty town was getting creepier as minutes ticked by and we slowly made our way through empty streets. There was no light save for that of the stars and moon in the sky. There was no noise whatsoever save for the ones we made involuntarily. I found out quickly that Nori wasn't guiding us towards the town's entrance. It was probably smarter as the wooden doors were probably closed and guarded at night. Nori was probably hoping to leave this place as quietly as possible. I had no idea in what direction we were going though. There was a wooden wall surrounding this town, hence explaining the use of a door at one side of it.
Still I followed the thief blindly, just like Fili, because the both of us trusted him completely.
After all, if there was one dwarf who could get us out of this town in the middle of the night, it was Nori.
We turned around the corner of one of the furthest houses and walked through the small garden. We were finally facing this wooden wall and I had no idea what Nori wanted to do now. Surely he didn't think to climb it. I knew without a doubt that I wouldn't be able to do that. I anxiously waited for his explanation.
Instead of talking to us, Nori crouched near the wall and put his ear against the wood.
Fili and I glanced at each other. We were both speechless and uselessly waiting for something to happen.
I was starting to think about terrible scenarios in which the men would find us and kill us on the spot. It wasn't good for my mood and worse still for my nerves. I looked up and around. The emptiness and darkness should have reassured me. It meant no one was here to stop us from running away. But I wasn't reassured in the least. The shadows were menacing. The quietness was ironically too loud in my ears.
Suddenly I reached for Fili and grabbed his tunic.
Immediately he looked at me.
It wasn't hard to realize I was simply getting too nervous.
Kindly he smiled at me and stepped closer. His presence wasn't as soothing as Nori's, but Nori was otherwise occupied. Right now the thief was lightly tapping the wood panels with one knuckle. He was clearly looking for something, but I had no idea what that could be. Finally after what seemed like an eternity a small creaking sound broke the eerie silence and my eyes instinctively looked for what had made that noise.
Nori was a bit further, he had walked down the wall, and he was now pushing lightly one wood panel. Several of those creaked and as Nori pushed a bit more, I could see the hole it created in the wall. We would be able to pass through.
I smiled.
Trust the thief to know about such things.
Fili and I quickly walked to him and Nori gestured for Fili to go first.
Soon the blond dwarf had disappeared to the other side of the wall and I didn't waste any time following him. While I passed next to him, I exchanged a glance with Nori. I smiled softly at him and he nodded. He was clearly focused on his task but he winked at me. I felt better just seeing that and quickly ducked my head to pass through the small passage.
Fili was a few steps away, looking around. As we waited for Nori I did the exact same thing.
The wall was in my back and I was facing a dark forest that was maybe ten or twenty metres away from the wall. In between it was a simple grass field with here and there taller grass and small bushes nearby the forest trees.
I heard a creak and a thud behind me and turned to see that Nori had followed us and closed the way, letting the wood panels slide back in their place.
"We're going to go through the forest. We won't stop much until late tonight. We have to be careful and walk fast, alright?" Nori said looking at Fili and me in turn.
"You think they'll try to find us?" I swallowed thickly at the idea of being tracked once again.
"Yes. If only because we're dwarves and disappeared in the middle of the night."
I took a deep breath.
Alright.
I was with Fili and Nori. I was safe. I could deal with this. Nori and Fili wouldn't let anything happen to us. They were strong and I knew that Nori might not be a warrior but he was still one of the best users of twin daggers of Thorin's Halls. That had to count for something. I was the weaker link of the chain, but I had already survived through the exact same situation once, there was no reason why I couldn't now.
"Amelia." Nori's voice caught my attention immediately. "I want you to hide this, take it."
I looked at what his hand was holding and my eyebrows rose in surprise. It was yet another dagger, though this one didn't resemble those I had been gifted recently or the one that was already hiding in my boot.
"But I already have three of them." I whispered.
"I want you to hide this one where it'll be easy for you to grab it." Nori was serious and I relented easily.
I took the blade.
It was really light and small. It was just the size of my hand. It wasn't a dagger but a knife. I had seen some of those when I trained next to the other dwarves, but very few of them used those weapons. Nori and Fili were probably among the few who did. It was a throwing knife. Fili had once trained while I observed him and I had seen how he held it. I had been impressed to see the dwarf almost reaching the centre of all the targets he had aimed at. I had no doubt that Nori was even better at throwing those.
"Where should I hide it?" I whispered.
"It has to be a place where you can easily reach it, but where it absolutely won't be seen." Nori explained in a low voice.
I nodded and thought for a short while.
In the end I looked at the small sheath and pressed my fingers against one of my beads. I smiled. I always wore the leather bracelet that Dori had offered me a while ago. It wasn't really a bracelet as the leather band was rather large. I quickly fumbled with the small leather cords that held it and after a few minutes I managed to attach the small blade with it. The metal of its handle was pressed against my skin and the point of the blade was just a bit longer than the leather band. Still with my tunic's sleeves, it was perfectly hidden and even I could barely feel it against my skin.
I tried to move my wrist in different positions, and when I was convinced the blade wouldn't hinder my moves or cut me, I nodded to Nori.
We turned toward the forest. In the darkness we could only see a wall of shadow from where we were. It seemed rather ominous.
Still we walked towards it.
I adjusted my bag on my back so that it wouldn't annoy me or hit me as we jogged more than walked.
Thankfully Nori's training had been so hellish that it didn't seem too difficult now to face such a situation.
I knew I could jog like this for hours with little to no break.
I was holding tightly my wooden staff. I wouldn't have to use it. At least not anytime soon and maybe not at all if we were lucky, but I still felt better with the cold wood against the skin of my palm.
We were quickly crossing the field.
The dark forest seemed to be both an enemy and an ally right now.
As we were about to reach the trees' protection, I heard a weird whooshing noise.
My brain barely had the time to wonder where this noise was coming from that I felt Fili and Nori each grab one of my arms. At the same time they yanked me brutally, forcing me to stop my course and step back.
It hurt my shoulders.
I had to bit my lip to avoid yelping.
When I saw a thin stick that protruded from the ground exactly where I had been a second before, I realized that the dwarves had just saved my life.
Who was firing arrows at us?
My eyes widened in shock and I took a few stumbling steps back. Nori and Fili placed themselves at the same time between me and the trees.
I held my breath as I saw several shadows slowly making their way towards us. They were facing us, stepping out of the tree line. I quickly made the count. There were five of them, including the archer that was recognizable easily with the bow he held snugly at his side. I did the maths. I didn't doubt that Nori and Fili could hold their ground against two opponents at the same time. The only unknown was whether I'd survive long enough against one of them for either of the dwarf to come to my help.
I slowly grabbed my staff with both hands.
I knew the feeling of the smooth, cold wood under my fingers. I took a deep breath and let the known sensation soothe me. It would be nothing but a spar.
A simple spar. In the dark. On uneven ground.
Against someone who probably wanted me dead.
Oh Mahal…could you please help me survive this night?
Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to beg, but right now I was a bit on the edge.
The men came closer but stopped several steps away. No one moved or said a word for a little while. Then one of the men took one more step. My gaze immediately followed his moves. I felt my muscles tense and my grip on my staff strengthened.
It was one of the men who spoke first. I couldn't see their faces but I guessed it was the one who had come closer to us.
"You won't go further dwarves."
After some time, Nori decided to answer in a cold tone.
"And why is that?"
"Because there's someone who wants to talk to you." Another voice snapped.
After that there was a long minute of utter silence. I didn't know what was going to happen. I had no idea whether Nori and Fili would act and attack soon. It didn't take long to guess that if 'someone' wanted to talk to us, then more men would soon pop out of the dark. We had to act or we would be fighting against terrible odds. I had no doubts we would fight. And I somehow knew that Nori and Fili were hesitating because of me.
I swallowed and inhaled slowly before exhaling the air through my mouth. Taking one of the defensive stances I had learned I whispered so low that only the dwarves could possibly hear.
"I'm fine."
In a second, the situation changed.
Silence and immobility turned into utter chaos.
The signal for this change was a single, swift move from Nori that was immediately followed by a gurgling yelp and a dull thud as the archer fell on the ground. Well, the numbers seemed already much better.
I saw two men unsheathe their swords as they shouted and ran towards Nori. The two left each chose a target. The one who went towards Fili clearly was unluckier than the one who ran in my direction.
During a second everything seemed to freeze around me. I let panic overtake my heart. I was going to die here. I would die in a pathetic, painful way in the middle of a field near a disgusting town. I would die stupidly because I was weak and this world seemed rather harsh with the weak people.
A bellowing shout brought me out of this dangerous daze.
"Khayamu!"
That was Nori's voice. That was Khuzdul. I smiled devilishly. I didn't understand this, but it seemed to bring back some courage in my heart. When the man arrived upon me, I was ready to spar. Because it was only that, a spar, and if I could last against Bifur when he went crazy, I could last against a stupid, stinking man who didn't even properly hold his sword. Even though I had never held a sword, I had observed warriors often enough to know that this guy fought like a pig.
But his blade would kill me just as well if it hit.
So I focused on what I had been taught.
Stay focused. Stay aware. Stay alive.
The man slowed down as he arrived closer and seemed to appraise me. I should have felt offended by his derisive snort when he looked at me and saw that my only weapon was a wooden staff. But well, at the moment I had other things in mind than being offended and I used the time he took to mock me to remove the backpack that would surely have hindered my movements. I then waited for him to move first. I knew I was at a disadvantage here. First, this man was taller than me. There was no questioning it as I barely reached the middle of his chest. Second he was swinging a sword at me and I was sure the wood from my staff would last long against cold steel. Third, if I were to use my twin daggers, my size and lack of strength would put me in greater danger.
I sidestepped quickly when I saw him swing in the direction of my head.
After a few missed blows, the man started to get angry. For my part I was heartened by one thing; I was quicker than him. As soon as I realized that I kept on dodging but now I used my reflexes to hit him each time he missed. It didn't take me long to understand this man wasn't a good fighter. He would let his body entirely open when he tried to hit me. Successively I managed to avoid his blows and hit his arms and shoulders.
All of this was happening rather quickly. I knew barely a few minutes had passed since the start of the hostilities.
I used a second to assess the situation around me instead of hitting the man's wrist.
The man fighting Fili was having trouble avoiding the blond dwarf's twin swords. It reassured me to see that the taller being was being forced to move back and defend itself as Fili was attacking him mercilessly.
I avoided another blow and hit my opponent's right knee, ignoring the insults he swore at me, and glimpsed in Nori's direction. The thief had already disabled one of his enemies; the man lay lifelessly on the ground. The second one was apparently rather evenly matched with the dwarf but Nori was quick on his feet and a master with his twin daggers. Soon the man would tire while the dwarf would still be as fine as when he started to fight.
Dwarves were more resistant and enduring than men and that was an undeniable advantage.
My own opponent was furious.
His face was a mask of hate and viciousness. His blows became less predictable and more frantic as he tried harder than ever to hit me.
I didn't have time to retaliate anymore.
I could barely dodge the flurry of blows that were aimed at me.
The man was swinging right and left and I felt true fear when I saw the arc drawn by his sword come closer to my face. I jumped backwards trying to raise my arms to at least slow his movements a bit. I wasn't fast enough.
The tip of his sword was approaching my head in a deadly move at an incredible speed.
At first I felt nothing as I stumbled backwards.
My eyes were locked on the point of the man's sword. My heart thumped loudly against my ribcage.
There was blood on it.
Only then did I realize my left cheek was stinging. My breath became suddenly ragged and my eyes widened in fear while my hand started to tremble.
He had managed to hit me. He had touched my face. Had I been one inch closer to him I would be dead. Had I been half a second late to jump I would be dead.
Adrenaline coursed through my veins, overflowing my whole system.
The man smirked and jumped forward.
His moves were more precise suddenly, he was faster too.
I could only yelp in surprise when I felt the cold steel graze my biceps.
My ears rang when I heard his gruff laugh. I wasn't a dwarf. I was getting tired. The lack of proper sleep, the fear and anxiety that had eaten my nerves, all of it was taking its toll on me right now. My stance wasn't so precise. My moves weren't so quick. I was going to get killed by this stinking man if I couldn't suddenly find a solution.
As my brain went in overdrive to try and find something that would help me, my body kept on reacting to his attacks. I finally understood what Dwalin had meant when he had once said that those spars were important to help my body learn automatism. I managed to hit the man's wrist once more before my luck abandoned me.
I slipped.
I stupidly fell on my back, hitting the ground heavily. All the air was forcefully expulsed from my lungs as I rolled away from the man's blade. It hit the ground a few inches away from my face and I struggled to stumble back up. My staff was still on the ground. The man's smirk grew cruel as he took one slow step towards me.
Not even registering that I was gasping for air I let my hands grab the handles of my daggers. The man's arm was already raised and starting his deadly descent towards me when I swiftly unsheathed the two blades and managed in extremis to bring them in front of my face. Sidestepping I used the twin weapons to deviate the course of the blade. It hit my shoulder instead of my head with its flat part and I was glad for it. The force of the blow resonated in my bones and I stumbled once more though.
I was exhausted.
My legs were starting to shake now.
His next blow was so strong that it forced me to drop my left dagger. The right one had almost followed it. The man was eyeing me with so much hate that I shuddered. His last swing wasn't as strong, but it brought me to my knees nonetheless.
I gasped loudly as I gripped tightly to the handle of my right dagger. I was trying to stand back up as the man prepared to deliver the last blow.
I was going to die.
He laughed as he raised his hand and witnessed my pitiful attempt to stagger away.
In a second his mean glare turned into a surprised and shocked stare.
I blinked at the sudden change in the man's behaviour.
And in half a second he spluttered dark blood all over his front and fell to his knees while trying to turn. As soon as he was down to his knees, I saw a hand grab his hair from behind and a bloodied blade press against his throat. In one swift move the man's throat was slit and blood gushed from the wound. The hand released its hold and the lifeless body fell to the ground with a thud. His sword was next to him and my blood was soon covered by his.
My heart was pounding.
I looked up to see Nori precipitating towards me. He knelt at my side and I saw him raise his hand to my face. He didn't touch me though. His fingers lingered a hairbreadth away from the cut on my cheek and his eyes were riveted on it.
"Mizimul" Nori breathed out.
Even through my half panicked state I could see he was about to lose it. It didn't take a genius to understand that Nori was shocked to see me hurt. I had almost been killed for the second time right under his eyes. I was still terrified. Then another thought breached through the fear and shock that froze my mind. I was alive. I had survived my first, real fight.
I locked my gaze in Nori's grey eyes and with a speed that surprised even me, I hugged him tightly.
"Oh Mahal…Oh Mahal…" I whispered repeatedly. "Oh Mahal I'm alive. Oh thank God, thank Mahal."
Only a second later did I realize that Nori was hugging me quite strongly too. I opened my eyes to see Fili coming closer to us. He seemed unharmed. Nori seemed fine too. I was relatively unscathed. Thank Mahal we were all safe. I swallowed back relieved tears and whispered in Nori's ear before Fili could come closer.
"Nori"
My still troubled mind, the exhaustion or maybe both were probably the cause of my next move. Quickly I turned my head and pressed my lips against Nori's jaw. It was a bit odd to feel his beard under my lips. And even though it all happened in a second, the feeling lingered on my lips as I quickly leant back and stood up. I staggered a bit before engulfing Fili in a hug too. I didn't register the fact that Nori was frozen on the spot. I hadn't seen his shocked face or his wide eyes either. Right now I was overjoyed by simply being alive and safe with my two friends.
"Amelia, I'm glad you're alright." Fili murmured before his eyes travelled from my cheek to my arm. "You're hurt."
"I'm fine, it's simple cuts." I turned to Nori who was only standing up now. "What should we do now?"
"We leave quickly before their friends arrive." Nori managed to say though he was clearly disturbed by something.
Fili and I immediately looked around to find our bags. I asked the dwarves to help me find my two weapons too. Their eyes were better than mine, and Fili's were very good even for a dwarf.
I didn't know how long the fight had lasted but I was exhausted.
Slowly I made my way towards where I could see the bulking form of my bag.
It was probably because I felt so tired at that moment that I didn't pay attention to what was going on around me. I had this very strange feeling that even though my body was there, my mind wasn't entirely.
While Nori and Fili were cleaning their blades, my mind drifted slightly away from the bloody display of corpses lying around. It was weird to feel my brain completely disconnect from the reality. Those forms I could see lying on the cold ground had been alive and well a few minutes ago. The world was painted in shades of greys thanks to the moonlight. The blood was already being absorbed by the ground, yet I could see the darker puddles under the dark bodies.
I didn't avert my gaze.
My mind objectively knew that they were dead and that Nori and Fili had killed them. But I didn't really care about it all. It was rather strange to feel so detached of everything.
Was it only my exhaustion that made me like this?
Was I simply desensitized to this world's cruelty?
Was it because they had attacked us?
Seeing these men lying lifeless didn't even bother me. I didn't feel anything about them. I wasn't angry or hateful. I wasn't scared or hurt. I didn't even feel the need to help them. That truly wasn't ethically right. I was looking at them as someone might look at dead plants; the sight is somewhat pitiful but easily forgotten.
I crouched to grab my bag and quickly checked that nothing had fallen from it.
Nori soon arrived at my side.
"Are you ready to leave?" He asked urgently.
I simply nodded and he helped me to stand back up. I saw his eyes trail over the cut on my cheek and I couldn't help but feel embarrassed. I froze when I felt his fingers lightly graze my skin. His touch was as light as a feather. I blinked before looking at him. My heart was pounding in my chest and I wondered whether Nori could hear it.
When our eyes met, I felt my heart rate falter. His grey eyes were somehow able to stop time around me. It was frightening. It was thrilling. But it wasn't really the right moment for this.
Nori held my gaze with his for a second more.
Then reality hit back.
Fili jogged to us and handed me my weapons. I quickly sheathed my dagger and grabbed my staff. As soon as I held it Nori quickly gestured us to follow him and we started to run at a slow and steady pace in the forest. It was harder for me. I could barely see where I was putting my feet.
Thankfully Nori was right next to me, and each time I was stumbling he would caught my arm. Fili was on my other side. Each of them would regularly look behind them. Personally I was trying to avoid thinking about the other men. Besides, I needed to concentrate on the ground and my feet.
I didn't know how long we ran.
To tell the truth it wasn't as if we were sightseeing. I was once more glad that Nori had been so serious during my training. Even if we were running, I was barely tired. My heart rate was high but steady, as was my breathing. It couldn't be more different than the last time I had run away in the woods. If I remembered correctly, it was with Kili.
The bigger problem I had right now was that the trees were preventing the starlight to come through. The further we ran, the less I could see. I could only distinguish general shapes around and it was all in shades of grey. It wasn't really ideal. And because I could barely see a thing, what was supposed to logically happen, happened.
My right foot caught on a root and Nori didn't have the time to catch me this time. My hand tightened its grip on my staff and I amortized my fall with my left one. I hit the ground painfully on my left side. The feeling of the heel of my hand hitting a rock made me wince. I bit my lip and took a deep breath.
"Nori. We can't go on like this." Fili whispered. "Amelia is as good as blind in here."
I didn't know why they whispered. Did they think that the men were already on our trail? Surely they couldn't. The night was pitch black. I couldn't see my own feet, there was no way men could follow our tracks right now. We had some time, right?
"Don't you think I know that?" Nori replied angrily. "But would you rather we get caught tonight?"
"She's going to break her neck! Can't you think of her?" Fili spat.
I knew I had to intervene. Fili was a bit out of line here. Alright, it was true I couldn't see much, but I wasn't about to break. I was stronger than before. I could deal with this situation. There was no need to use me as an argument against Nori.
The problem was, I wasn't quick enough to react and Fili had clearly said the wrong words. Nori was furious.
"What do you think will happen to her if these men catch her?" He stepped closer to Fili and glared at him. "It's because I think of her, and her only, that I'm pushing it right now."
"Right, and running in the dark in a forest is such a good idea." Fili sarcastically replied crossing his arms on his chest.
"Don't try to tell me what I should do to protect her lad, you're a century too young for that."
Fili's fists clenched before he uncrossed his arms, his face reflected his anger. I managed to stand at the perfect moment, just before he could find the words to retort.
"Alright. Both of you stop it." I snapped lowly. "Don't you two think we have enough problems for the moment? We don't need to deal with the two of you fighting over pointless things."
They ignored me completely and kept glaring at each other. I couldn't help but roll my eyes. I knew the both of them meant well, but they really weren't helping.
"Oh please, snap out of it!" I simultaneously hit each of them in the shoulder, wincing at the pain that shot from my left hand and arm with the sudden move.
That apparently was enough to break through their anger. If I had to make a guess, I would say that they were more nervous than actually angry. After all, the situation wasn't really ideal. We really had a knack to end up in trouble.
Nori looked at me and seemed to appraise me.
"Amelia, are you alright?"
I rolled my eyes and glanced at my left hand. It was bleeding and I had now yet another wound to clean when I'll have the opportunity. The cut on my cheek was stinging, especially each time I would talk. The movement would tug on the wound and the sting would turn sharp. I had more trouble with my shoulder, I knew I would at least have a bruise and the articulation was still a bit stiff after the blow I received. The cut on my arm was throbbing but the pain was rather dull unless I moved. The same could be said from the pain radiating from the heel of my hand. All in all I wasn't feeling that bad. Sore and tired, but alright.
"I'm fine. I can keep going, but it's true I can't see where I'm stepping that much."
Nori nodded and started to rub his forehead in an unusual display of worry and anxiety.
"Do you think the men would follow us during the night? They probably can't see any better than Amelia can." Fili voiced my own thoughts.
"I don't want to take any chance." Nori grumbled.
"Are you even sure they would try to catch us?" I then asked. "Last time, they ran away from Gorm and didn't try to follow us. From what I understood, each time they attacked a caravan, they ran away if they were losing."
"The situation is different." Nori sighed.
"What do you mean?" I frowned.
A feeling of dread started to pool in my chest. Until now Nori had seemed rather fine, he was in charge of the situation. Clearly something had changed. Was it the fact that the men had been outside the town that disturbed him so much?
"He clearly wanted to catch us. These men were waiting for us. I could bet that many others were hidden around the other exits. He wouldn't go to such extents if he didn't want to catch us."
"So you're saying that right now, he'll trail us as long as it's relatively safe for him?" Fili groaned.
"Aye. And we won't be safe until we reach the mountain paths." Nori nodded grimly. "He knows it's just the three of us. Unless there's a real obstacle to stop him, he'll try to catch us. He knows the risk is low for him, at least while we're far from the mountain. In a week or so, if he doesn't catch us, he'll leave."
I frowned. I could understand that the man wouldn't run away from Archet right now, it was logical. But I honestly didn't see how he could be a threat for us as we had been running away for quite some time now.
"But, we've a good head start. As Fili pointed out, they can't follow us during the night."
"Amelia." Nori looked in my direction. "They probably have horses or dogs. They won't hesitate to use torches either."
Oh damn. I hadn't thought of that.
I sighed. I was starting to consider going back in order to kill them all and be done with it. It was quite clear right now that this group was behind quite a lot of trouble in the whole area. We might not have any proof, but it seemed evident that these men were the ones creating so much trouble for the dwarves. Why did they? That was a question I couldn't answer. I had no idea whether they were attacking only dwarves or if they attacked humans too. Maybe I should have paid more attention to Balin's grumbling when he read his reports.
We needed to let the King know about them, about their whereabouts. Still I couldn't help but wonder; wouldn't they just disappear? The King and the other dwarves already knew there was a group that raided caravans. They already knew about the leader having a scar on the cheek. If we escaped and took the time to go back to the mountains, the men would have the time to leave and move to another location. Nori had said so himself; in a week or so, they would go. The problem would still be the exact same. The only difference would be we would once more ignore where they were hidden.
While I was thinking about this, Fili and Nori had calmed down and were now discussing what we should do next.
I hesitated a bit before talking.
It wasn't that I was shy about voicing my opinion. With Nori and Fili, there was no way I would be shy about such things. But I knew perfectly well that neither of them would like what I had to say. They would probably dismiss it entirely.
That didn't stop me from trying.
"Maybe we should go back to that town." I said hurriedly.
The two dwarves stopped talking entirely and seemed to be frozen for a second. Quickly though they reacted. Fili was the first one to voice his thoughts.
"Are you crazy?"
I could see that Nori was focusing his gaze on me.
"Amelia, what are you thinking?" He whispered to me.
It made me smile for a second. He trusted me enough to know I wouldn't say anything like that without reason.
"If we go back to the mountain, they will probably move away. You said it, they'll leave. We would have lost them once more." I said quickly, letting the words out of my mouth in a breath.
Fili was about to say something, but then he simply shut his mouth back and crossed his arms once more, tilting his head.
"She's right." He simply stated, though he didn't sound happy about it.
"You might be right, but that doesn't change anything." Nori replied calmly. "I won't lead you two back in there."
"But, Nori…" I tried to protest.
"You're already injured. Fili is our Prince and you're my brother's ward. There's no way I would lead you both into such a dangerous situation." Nori insisted.
"We're already in a dangerous situation. If we leave it like that, it won't be dangerous for us it will be dangerous for everyone. If we stop them now, then the caravans will be safer." I explained. "This means that Dori, Dwalin and all the other who follow the caravans will be safer."
Nori sighed loudly and mumbled something I didn't quite catch. I wasn't really playing fair. I was using his brother's safety against him. I knew perfectly well that no matter what, his brothers were more important than anything to Nori. It was the case with all the dwarves actually. Kin, family, those were the people they were the most loyal to. I knew that Fili would easily do anything if it meant that Kili would stay safe and uninjured. Just like I knew that Nori would do about everything he could think of if it meant he would be able to protect Ori and Dori.
My words had an obvious impact on the two dwarves. But Nori was more perturbed by them than Fili. In the end I wasn't being fair with him. I was asking him to choose between his duty and his family. He had to choose whose safety would come first. It was cruel, but I didn't do it to make him hurt. I was just persuaded that we couldn't leave a situation like that behind us. Too much was at stake. And if I were entirely honest, I wanted to get rid of these men too.
They were a threat to the dwarves. They attacked our caravans. I knew three dwarves had died already and five more had been severely injured during the various raids. It was only a matter of time before one of the dwarves I was close to would be injured as well. I wouldn't let that happen to Dori, Dwalin or any other if I could. I wasn't that close to Dwalin, but he was Balin's brother and I did appreciate and respect him. I didn't want him to die because of stupid bandits.
"I can't let either of you go back there." Nori finally said with finality in his voice.
"But…"
"Fili, do you think you could guide the both of you back to the Halls safely?" He continued without paying attention to my protest.
"Wait, what?" I frowned at his words.
"Nori, this isn't a good idea." Fili replied, shaking his head.
"Can you or not?" Nori insisted.
"We won't leave you behind!" I hissed while grabbing his sleeve.
My heart was pounding in my chest.
This dwarf truly was stupid. If he thought I would run away and leave him behind me, he really, really was stupid. The simple thought of abandoning him made my stomach twist painfully.
He brought his hand over mine and gently squeezed it. It felt as if it was my heart that he was squeezing in his hand.
"Amelia, you're right. I can't let these men go away. But don't ask me to take you with me. It's too dangerous."
The tone of his voice was soft, kind, and it hurt me. This idiot was tugging at my heart strings. How could I do something that would hurt him? He was using the exact same trick that I had just used against him.
I had no idea how long we had stayed here, but apparently we had lost quite some time.
As I was about to reply, Fili startled and took a step to get closer to us.
"Wait." He whispered lowlier than before. "I think I just saw some light."
Oh please, couldn't we catch a break?
A/N: Thanks a lot everyone! All your reviews were very kind and helped me stay motivated ^^ I hope this chapter didn't disappoint anyone. Some of you had properly guessed who the man was :) I told you I hadn't forgotten about the men who had attacked Fili, Kili, Bofur and Amelia ^^
I'm really grateful for all those reviews and the support.
I want to add a quick note here about the updates.
As you obviously realized, they are much slower right now. I am NOT going to abandon this story. But right now big changes are happening in my life, I'm preparing to move away from my country and travel to the other side of the planet (literally, I don't think I could go further away) All the preparation, planning and everything related to that is taking me a lot of time. The chapters are long and it's taking me time to write, so the updates are probably going to stay slow and sometimes a bit erratic. I apologize for that, but I'm sure you all understand why I can't do otherwise.
On a more cheerful note, I'm letting you know that I started (FINALLY) the part with the quest. I've got a few chapters written, I still have to edit them though, so you will just have to be a little bit more patient. Things with Nori are going along as I wanted it to, so right now I'm quite happy with this story.
I know I'm being mean with Fili, Nori and Amelia...but well...you know me by now, I like to be mean with the characters :D
I'll try and update in a week/a week and a half. :) Please don't give up on me.