So… small confession. The Hobbit films aren't always great at establishing terrain and placements or features such as rivers and rocks. Directors and producers, as with any film are more preoccupied with story for obvious reasons. And I need to use a lot of detailed references to sculpt up what I'm basing my events on. So (and don't judge me for this) I've been using 'LEGO: The Hobbit' as a reference for ground type and locations around the Lonely Mountain. Yeah, screw me right? So if you're confused about where my rivers and bodies of waters are placed as well as distance between locations, that's what I'm going off.

Also, um yeah. I did abandon the story a little bit. But coronavirus has me in a different sort of place. I know you feel me here. So here's an upload for the first time in 2 years

Ellie x

-x-X-x-

If Artemis had been panicked before, he was now beyond hysterical. Breath was no longer coming naturally to him. He felt submerged, drowning in some unknown inescapable terror and grasping at the hem of his coat manically, almost folding himself in half to force his lungs to contract to push out a held breath.

"This isn't happening" he heaved

The words to explain these new happenings hadn't left Tristan's mouth in a proper sentence. But Artemis seemed to have got the gist of the events of the past few days. Or at least the way Tristan had experienced them. He was yet to calm down enough for Vahri and Narius to speak.

"This is very much happening" Vahri insisted "And something needs to be done. Your people are wading directly into our territory. The fire has already woken our families up, activity will just provoke them further"

Artemis shook his head, still partially gasping "We're not provoking them we're just getting our things and going to Dale"

"They don't know that!" Narius insisted "Not trying to be difficult here but the last time the lake burned like this we barely survived. And now our entire existence has run off a prophecy that we follow like religion and with that prophecy coming true we're kind of inclined to go along with it for our survival"

"Now wait" Tristan halted his stream of thought "Wait just a minute. You two don't hate us. Right? You understand what's going on here. Some of your people might get it."

Narius barked out a laugh "Oh yeah. Nice one, man. Let's just all have a big picnic and sit in a circle and talk about our feelings! They'll love that shit"

"No he's right" Vahri admitted "The older generations won't listen but our brothers and sisters? Our cousins and the people our age? Narius, admit it. They might listen"

The Ex-sea nymph huffed. It was unclear entirely what he thought of the idea but Tristan and Artemis didn't sense overwhelming agreement from him.

"I'm going to them" Vahri insisted

There was a sort of choked out gargle emerging from Narius' throat. Tristan guessed it was a kind of pained laugh

"Yeah, that will go so well" He jested "Sorry folks, you're going to need to stop drowning these people because they're actually aright really. Forget what our religion says, they're pretty chill"

Vahri's face steeled "I'm going to them to issue a warning. To give them a chance. I will tell the merfolk that if they emerge from that lake they will die. Tristan, Artemis you need to go to your new leader and tell him everything. Tell him the legend, tell him what the merfolk will do. You tell your people that if another thing emerges from that lake, they kill it on first sight. For their own safety"

Narius' heaved out a gasp. "You would order them to kill our families? You know they won't listen to your warning. They'll come up here and they'll…"

"I really don't know what else to do!" She shrieked suddenly. The sound was shrill and metallic, like scraping steel. For the first time she resembled the mermaids Tristan thought he knew from stories growing up.

"If you have any other ideas, Narius then now would be the time to share them with us" She was almost spitting now, practically venomous.

There was silence

"Really?" Vahri glared as Narius' permanent smirk suddenly slid away "Nothing at all? Nothing to say? Wow. For the first time in forever you have NOTHING to say?"

Tristan and Artemis glanced between one another uncomfortably. If the dark look on Vahris face was anything to go by, this scenario would not be cut short anytime soon.

"You know this is just fantastic. Gentlemen, this is wonderful! Look at him, just look!" She waved her arms manically towards Narius who looked uncharacteristically sullen. "The DIRECT descendent of a legend! Narius here is practically a prince! You can follow all the way up his line directly to the first Sea-Nymph, to the Priestess Nerthus who travelled here all those THOUSANDS of years ago! He's royalty, boys! Everyone knows it and everyone treats him like a god! He flits around our home acting cocky, having everyone idolise him for his entire life. He gets away with everything because everyone knows one day he'll be leading us! He'll be governing our entire lives and it'll be his job to keep us safe. His ONE job is to keep us safe. But when it comes down to it in this moment RIGHT NOW, to do what must be done to keep as many of us alive as possible he can't make that call"

There was another pause. Vahri kept her eyes trained on Narius who had gone very white, very quiet and had very real tears welling up in his eyes.

"You're a disappointment, Narius"

She had ducked beneath the water and disappeared into the depths before any of the young men had a chance to stop her

There was yet another awkward pause

"Well" Artemis curtly offered folding his arms and kicking a rock

Tristan quickly slapped his hand along Narius' back as comfortingly as he could muster "She didn't mean it. She's just in a difficult place. She's scared"

"Doesn't mean she's wrong" The water-nymphs legs wobbled briefly underneath him. When Tristan looked back up at Narius' face, inky blue tears were bleeding from his eyes

There was a contemplative quiet around the small trio as he lifted his hand up and touched away the moisture, feeling it between his fingers "This has never happened before"

"We're not giving that order" Tristan insisted "We tell them to be careful, that the merfolk are real and are dangerous but we do not tell them to kill"

"Agreed"

The other two boys nodded although Narius seemed distracted

Tristan nodded sombrely "I'll go then. I'll go to Bard. I'll be back soon"

Artemis watched, impatiently as Tristan jogged off towards the main party who were hurriedly gathering their things to pull away from the edges of the lake.

"How long do you think he'll be gone?"

Artemis glanced down dumbly at Narius who had just opened his mouth. He was sat on the rocky ground peering up at him through mossy eyes. The red colour coming through into his hair at the crown looked like he'd been struck too hard with a rock. His legs, pale and spindly, launched from him at odd angles. He still wasn't used to placing them yet.

"I think… maybe not too long…perhaps…" Artemis stammered. He couldn't take his eyes of the hybrid at his feet

Narius stumbled awkwardly onto his feet, grasping Artemis' shoulders without invitation. It made his skin feel too hot

"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" The sea-nymph asked, He was a good few inches shorter than the human but his gaze was intimidating

Artemis shook his head "You're so creepy" It came out as a whisper

The changed siren only smirked at him, his pointy little canines glinting slightly too much

"Thanks that's so nice of you" He cooed mockingly.

Artemis forced himself to swallow. He was struck with a sudden pang of guilt, something he had experienced far too much of in the past day. He though of little Ellen who he'd carried through the water. It had been fruitless and she had died. He wondered, once this adventure was all over, if Tristan would forgive him. The thought of Alesia hit Artemis too. He almost choked on his own breath. It hadn't truly sunk in that she had died yet. He expected it would in the next few days when the panic was over. Would he have spent the rest of his life with Alesia? Probably not. But she had always fluttered her eyelashes at him across the docks and she was pretty too. She'd have made a perfect wife for a great many men in Laketown. But not Artemis and he couldn't quite place his finger on why.

"Where have you gone to?"

Narius' voice snapped him out of his thoughts and brough him back to reality

"I'm sorry" Artemis shook his head "I'm not sure. It's all a bit much, you know"

There was silence between them

"It'll be okay, I promise" Narius' voice barely came out in a whisper.

Artemis found himself gently comforted by it all the same. Which, after a few seconds, only served to make him feel more nervous.

They lapsed back into quiet as they spied Tristan tripping carefully back towards them. Artemis tried to banish the realisation of how comforting the sea-nymphs presence actually was.

"What did he say?" Artemis shouted

Thee was a pause "Well I told him that we were very pleased that he killed the dragon but that he now needed to protect everyone from murderous merfolk". There was a pause whilst Tristan took another breath, tired from his excursion. "Yeah… he wasn't too happy about that. They're continuing on their way to Dale. He was hoping to recuperate for a day or two on the shore before making the trek but with the danger and the lack of available water that's not really an option anymore"

"He believed you?" Artemis asked

"Yes. Yes, and he knows about Narius too. Bard was even less pleased about that bit in particular"

The nymph in question bristled slightly. Artemis reached to press his hand against his shoulder. It was meant to be a comforting gesture but it looked like he was checking the creature was still corporeal. Narius glanced at him uncomfortably and the human snatched his hand away.

"So, what do you say Arty?"

Artemis snapped back to reality and his eyes left Narius' gaze.

"We head to Dale with the rest of the survivors, find an empty home and set up a base there?"

He nodded at Tristan's idea slowly. It made sense. They'd find Vahri later.

Narius huffed carefully as he turned his gaze towards The Lonely Mountain

"This is going to be a long walk, isn't it?"