Hey all, here we are with the next chapter, on time today :D! This chapter, it's smaller than the others, but found the ending was a good place to stop on this one, but still hope you like it anyway.

Review responses;

juliebigjewlzbrowning – Oh, I'm glad you're still enjoying this just as much. Hope I continue to live up to your standards with this xx

Guest Palacegirl – Oh, I bet you enjoyed that lol! Hope you enjoy this chapter xx

Chapter 14

The next morning, we're all woken up by the howling of Wargs. We all panic as we jump up, Aiden clinging tightly to me. Thorin sends Bilbo up a path to scout out the Orcs while the rest of us gets everything packed up. Once we are done, we wait for Bilbo. I hold Aiden in my arms to give him some comfort as he's trembling in fear, Kili rubbing a hand up and down his back as he and Fili stand on either side of us.

Bilbo soon returns to us.

"How close is the pack?" Thorin asks as he notices the hobbit.

"Too close. A couple of leagues, no more, but that is not the worst of it."

"Have the Wargs picked up our scent?" Dwalin asks.

"Not yet, but they will; we have another problem."

"Did they see you? They saw you!" Gandalf panics.

"No, that's not it."

Gandalf smiles and turns to us. "What did I tell you? Quiet as a mouse. Excellent burglar material."

The dwarves chuckle loudly in appreciation of Bilbo. As I look to him, I can see Bilbo looking exasperated that no one is hearing him out.

"Will you listen – will you just listen? I'm trying to tell you there is something else out there."

We all instantly look worried.

"What form did it take? Like a bear?"

"Ye. . ." Bilbo does a double take and looks curiously at Gandalf. "Y-yes. But bigger, much bigger."

Bofur looks to Gandalf "You knew about this beast?"

Gandalf turns and walks a few steps away.

"I say we double back."

"And be run down by a pack of Orcs." Thorin point out.

"There is a house, it's not far from here, where we might take refuge." Gandalf explains.

"Whose house? Are they friend or foe?"

He hesitates before he replies. "Neither. He will help us, or he will kill us."

The dwarves and I look at each other in dismay, Aiden clinging to me.

"What choice do we have?"

A roar splits the night behind us, making everyone jump, Aiden yelping in my arms.

"None."

As we turn and run, Kili takes Aiden into his arms, allowing me to run without his weight bringing me down. We run through plains and across streams, the orcs and bear on our tail.

"Come on!" Gandalf yells out.

As we run through a forest, we stop suddenly when an ear-splitting roar sounds nearby.

"This way, quickly!"

We turn to run on again, Bombur looking on in shock, paralysed by fear, until he is pulled along.

"Bombur, come on!" Thorin yells out as he grabs hold of the rotund dwarf and pulls him along.

As we exit the forest, I spy a house surrounded by a hedge in the middle of a field.

Gandalf turns to the others. "To the house! Run!"

We run across the plain; Bombur, the fattest dwarf, outruns all the rest of us in his fear, surprising all us as he does so. We run through a gate in the hedge.

"Come on, get inside!" Gandalf calls out as he stands by the gate, ushering us all through.

We run to the front door of the house; it is closed. Bombur, who reaches the door first, throws himself against it but falls flat on his back when the door doesn't budge. The rest of us catch up and begin throwing ourselves against the door, trying to open it, Kili passing Aiden back to me. As Aiden cries out, I look to see him looking behind us, looking back, my eyes go wide as I see the huge bear barreling towards us.

"Open the door!" Gandalf shouts as he runs to us.

"Quickly!" Thorin yells out.

Thorin, pushing through the dwarves pressed against the door, manages to raise the exterior bolt, opening the doors. We all bolt inside the house and the dwarves try to slam the door shut, but the bear has already gotten its head in the door. As the bear roars and tries to push the door open, the dwarves yell and strain to close it. Bilbo pulls out his sword and points it unsteadily at the bear, I do the same as I keep Aiden behind me. The dwarves yell as they press against the door.

"Come on, lads!" Dwalin exclaims.

With a final heave, the dwarves manage to close the door and drop the bolt across it. They sigh in relief, shock, fear, and tiredness. I slump forward slightly before kneeling in front of Aiden to make sure he's alright.

"What is that?" Ori asks as he turns to the Wizard.

"That. . .is our host." Gandalf replies.

We all turn to Gandalf in bewilderment.

"His name is Beorn, and he is a skin-changer."

Oin checks his hearing trumpet to make sure he has heard Gandalf correctly.

"Sometimes he's a huge black bear; sometimes he's a great strong man. The bear is unpredictable, but the man can be reasoned with. However, he is not overfond of dwarves."

I scoff as I stand, allowing Aiden to explore the house with the others. "Of course he isn't. The only house you bring us to for safety and the host doesn't like dwarves, where there's thirteen of them."

Gandalf chuckles slightly in amusement as Ori peeks out a crack in the door.

"He's leaving!"

Dori rushes over and pull his youngest brother away from the door.

"Come away from there! It's not natural, none of it. It's obvious: he's under some dark spell."

"Don't be a fool; he's under no enchantment but his own. Alright now, get some sleep, all of you. You'll be safe here tonight."

The dwarves start spreading out through the house. Gandalf whispers quietly to himself.

"I hope."

I glance at him after hearing this but look around the house myself, noticing that all the furniture is built in mind for a man of seven or eight foot in height. I swallow at the thought of this man, now realising Gandalf's hope for our safety. I soon come to the animals he has in the stable area of the house and smile at the cattle. I reach out and pet one of them on the snout, giggling as it's tongue reaches out to lick my hand.

"Seems to like you." Fili says as he and his brother join me.

I just grin. "Animals seem to always like me."

We soon hear a yelp and at Aiden calling out for me, we rush over to the stall we heard the yelp and stop, looking on in amusement as we see Aiden's legs sticking out of a hay bale.

"Aiden. . .what happened?"

"I jumped on the hay and fell." he explains, his answer muffled slightly by the hay.

The three of us laugh as Fili walks forward, gently grips onto one of his ankles and pulls him out, Aiden giving another yelp, giggling away as he sees us.

"Hi."

"Are you sure that's Aiden, Soph?" Kili asks as he walks over. "I'm sure his head wasn't pointing down last time I saw him."

He then reaches out and tickles Aiden's belly, now exposed as his shirt is folded under his chin, causing him to squeal in delight.

"I'm upside down, Kee!"

"I thought there was something not right." Fili says as he gently lays the boy on the ground.

Aiden jumps up and runs over to me. I smile as I kneel down, pulling pieces of hay from his hair.

"Come now, Aiden. Oin and I need to check your wounds and then it's time for sleep."

"But mummy, I'm not tired." Aiden says through a yawn.

I just chuckle as I pick him up and walk back to the hay bale, make a little bed sitting him down and calling Oin over. After we both get his bandages changed, I lay down beside my son, pull our blankets out of our packs and cover us both up. Fili and Kili settle down on either side of us, doing the same, before the others go to sleep.

As I hold Aiden close to me, thoughts on what's just happened goes through my mind. Seeing the bear, hearing his name is Beorn and that he's a Skin Changer, even this house, everything is so familiar to me. But, for the life of me I can't remember what that is, just like a lot of other instances on this journey. It's getting really frustrating. At certain points, I can feel a niggling sensation in the back of my mind, as if something is there that's wanting to push through, wanting me to remember, wanting to warn me of something. . .I just wish I knew what it was.

"Sophia, are you alright?"

Snapping out of my thoughts, I look up and smile as I see Thorin standing there, looking at me in concern.

"I'm fine, Thorin. Don't worry."

He looks to me for a moment, as if to analyse the sincerity of what I said before he nods, settling himself down by the doorway of the pen, leaning against the wall behind him as he rests his right arm on his raised leg.

"Get some sleep, Sophia. We're safe here, for now."

I nod as I settle down, going still at Aiden stirring, but he just snuggles closer to me before continuing to sleep. I smile before closing my eyes and also sleeping.

Well, there we have it, the Company are now at Beorn's for their well deserved break. Hope you all enjoyed this and will see you again next week xx