Hey all! I've not finished editing other chapters yet, but since I've been getting severe depression and such the past few weeks and I've not been up to rewriting, I thought I'd get this up for you now.
I've also got a favour to ask, if you haven't already, could you give my Love That Blooms story a read and let me know your thoughts on it, as I would love to know. Thanks you xXx
Review Responses;
Filisgirl251 – Yeah. Sophia obviously looking out for Aiden, thinking he'd be safe there. . .if only she knew about the dragon attack.
Guest Palacegirl – Yup, they're finally at Erebor! Hope you enjoy this chapter! Xxx
Chapter 27
In Bard's house, Kili is laying on a bed and moaning and straining in pain. His face is covered in sweat.
"Ah! Ugh! Argh!"
Aiden stands besides Fili, almost crying while he watches helplessly as Kili is going through such pain. Bofur fills a bowl with hot water and rushes to them, giving it to Oin.
Fili turns to Oin. "Can you not do something?"
"I need herbs, something to bring down his fever."
Bard searches through his bag of herbs. "I have nightshade, feverfew. . ."
"They're no use to me. Do you have any Kingsfoil?"
"No, it's a weed. We feed it to the pigs."
Bofur turns to him. "Pigs? Weed? Right." he looks back and points at Kili. "Don't move." before he runs out.
Fili watches Bofur run off, before turning to the boy by his side. He can see the fear on his face and tears in his eyes, tears the poor lad refuses to shed as he stares at his brother. After wetting another, cool cloth, he hands it to Aiden before lifting him and gently sitting him on the bed by Kili's head.
"Press the cloth to Kili's head, it should help him to keep cool."
Aiden nods as he holds the cloth on Kili's forehead, causing the dwarf to groan and open his eyes to look to the boy.
"Th-Thank you, Aiden. . .that feels nice. . ." Kili manages to get out, a pained smile on his face.
Despite the situation, Aiden smiles at both brothers before sitting closer to Kili as Fili put a hand on his back and taking his brother's hand with his other. This causes Oin to smile at the sight. He just prays to Mahal they can save the young prince before it's too late.
Balin, Bilbo and I walk down the tunnel leading to the interior of the mountain.
"You want me to find a jewel?"
"A large white jewel, yes."
I turn to the old dwarf. "That's it? Only, I imagine there's quite a few down there."
Balin smiles at me before turning to Bilbo. "There is only one Arkenstone. You'll know it when you see it."
Bilbo nods. "Alright."
Balin continue on down the tunnel, Bilbo and I following, but then stop just before some stairs.
"In truth, lad, I do not know what you will find down there. You needn't go if you don't want to, there's no dishonour in turning back."
"No, Balin, I promised I would do this, and I think I must try."
Balin looks at Bilbo for a moment, then begins to chuckle, causing the both of us to look to him.
"It never ceases to amaze me."
"What's that?"
"The courage of Hobbits. Go now with as much luck as you can muster."
They nod at each other, and Bilbo proceeds down the tunnel while Balin and I begin to turn back.
"Oh, and Bilbo...if there is, in fact, a live dragon down there, don't waken it."
Bilbo looks worried, but nods. He walks a few more steps, then turns as if to ask a question, but Balin is already disappearing around a corner. I watch as Bilbo begins to walk down the stairs.
"Bilbo."
He stops and looks to me. "Hm?"
I walk down the stairs and hug him, causing him to pause in surprise before he hugs me back. I smile at him as we pull away.
"You've come a long way since we first met, I know you will be able to do this. I believe in you."
He smile at me. "Thank you, Sophia. That means a lot to me."
I smile back before reaching into my sleeve and pulling out something I've not looked at in a long while. A black string bracelet with different coloured wooden beads on.
"Here, I want you to take this. My older sister made this for me when we were kids. It will bring you good luck."
He watches as I slide the bracelet onto his wrist, looking at it for a moment before looking back to me, gratitude clear in his eyes.
"Thank you. . .I fear I may need all the luck I can get."
I smile as I put a hand on his shoulder. "Go. You'll be fine and don't forget your secret weapon."
I finish by tapping the pocket he holds the ring in. He smiles and nods before walking along. I watch him for a moment before turning back and walk through the tunnel, thankfully without getting lost, and find my way to the door once again.
"Where is Sophia?" I hear Thorin ask Balin in worry.
"I'm here." I reply as I walk through.
The dwarves turn to me in relief, Thorin striding over.
"What were you doing?"
I just smile. "Just wishing Bilbo good luck."
He doesn't say anything, just nods before walking over to the edge and looks out over the valley. I take a seat beside Balin and we wait. We all just sit in silence, no one daring to say anything. Some time passes, I'm not even sure how long, before we feel the mountain suddenly shake, a sound reverberating around the mountain, almost like thunder, causing all of us to stand in fear as we look around.
"Was that an earthquake?" Dori asks.
"That, my lad. . .was a dragon." Balin answers.
I look to the still open door, fear flooding through me for our hobbit. "Bilbo. . ."
The reverberation reaches as far as Laketown; in Bard's house, everyone looks up at the sound, dust falling from the ceiling. Kili is still moaning in pain. Aiden instantly clings onto Fili in fear, the dwarf putting his arms around the lad.
Sigrid looks around in worry. "Da?"
"It's coming from the mountain." Bain says as he looks out of the window.
Fili leaves Kili's side and approaches Bard.
"You should leave us. Take your children; get out of here."
Bard turns to the dwarf, thankful that he's thought of him and his children, but he shakes his head. "And go where? There is nowhere to go."
"Are we going to die, Da?" Tilda asks, on the verge of tears.
Bard smiles at his youngest. "No, darling."
"The dragon, it's going to kill us."
Bard looks at his children worriedly for a moment, then reaches up and pulls a black arrow, the last of the three that Girion had in Dale, from where it had been hidden as a drying rack for plants. His children look at the arrow in shock.
"Not if I kill it first."
As I'm looking into the doorway, my heart drops even more as we see a glow coming from inside.
"What about Bilbo?" Ori asks from next to me.
"Give him more time." Thorin simply says.
Balin turns to him. "Trying to do what? To be killed?"
Thorin looks to Balin. "You're afraid."
Balin pauses for a moment, then steps up to Thorin.
"Yes, I'm afraid. I fear for YOU." Thorin looks surprised for a moment. "A sickness lies upon that treasure hoard, a sickness that drove your grandfather mad."
Thorin just turns back to the valley. "I am not my grandfather."
"You're not yourself. The Thorin I know would not hesitate to go in the-"
"I will not risk this quest for the life of one burglar."
Balin looks at Thorin disgustedly. Even my stomach drops at this. I know Thorin didn't really like Bilbo when the quest first began, but after Bilbo saved his life from Azog, I thought he had put whatever he felt aside and the both of them had begun a friendship.
"Bilbo. His name is Bilbo."
Thorin looks contemplatively out into the night, not bothering to say another word. I turn back to the door, thinking about my friend. He shouldn't be in there alone. I couldn't go at first because Smaug would have recognised my scent but now that he's awake. . .it shouldn't matter. Looking back to make sure the dwarves are distracted, I make my way through the door and down the hall to get my friend out of there.
In Laketown, Bofur runs through Laketown, trying to find Kingsfoil. He smells some flowers on a windowsill and rejects them.
"Na."
As he continues running about, Bolg and other orcs spy him from a rooftop.
"Khozd!" one of the orcs hisses.
Bolg growls softly. Bofur finds a pig eating some weeds; he yanks it out of the pig's mouth and examines it, then smiles and turns to get back to Kili. Bolg and his Orcs follow on the rooftops.
At Bard's house, Sigrid leans over the balcony outside the front door, looking for her father. She hears a noise and calls out.
"Da? Is that you, Da?"
She looks around for Bard but doesn't look up and see Orcs creeping on the roofs of the neighboring houses. Inside, Oin hears a noise on the roof and looks up. As Sigrid turns to walk back inside, an Orc drops on the balcony behind her. She screams and slams the door, but the Orc stops it with his sword. Hearing the screams, Bain, Tilda, Aiden and the dwarves jump up.
As Bofur hurries toward Bard's house, an Orcs leaps at him from above. As the Orc swings its axe, Bofur falls backward and drops the Kingsfoil.
At the house, another door opens and an Orc strides inside. Oin, who was walking past at the time, throws a stack of plates he had been carrying at its head, but another Orc breaks through the roof and falls into the house.
The first orc at the door swings at Sigrid, at she falls backward onto the table benches. She slides under the table and pulls the bench sideways next to her as a shield. Fili grapples with the Orc, tackling it into the wall, before it shoves him off. Before it can attack the dwarf, Aiden runs over and jumps onto its back, wrapping his little arms around it's neck and pulls at it with all his might to get it away from the dwarrow. This enables Fili to grab a kitchen knife and use it to kill the orc, making it tumble to the ground, allowing him to take Aiden into his arms before anything can happen to him.
While this is happening, another orc falls in through the roof, Tilda throws a plate at it, then Sigrid pulls her under the table as well.
"Get down!"
An orc threatens Bain, and Bain pushes the bench at it, knocking it over. Bain then grabs the end of the bench and throws it up, hitting the Orc in the head. More orcs jump in through the roof, and one approaches Kili, who is lying in bed.
Outside, Bofur tries to crawl away, but the Orc grabs him by the legs and pulls him back, then throws him onto a table which tips and causes Bofur to roll away. The orc raises its sword to cut Bofur down, but is suddenly skewered by an arrow through its chest. It falls over dead.
In the house, the girls scream as an Orc flips over the table they were hiding under. Another Orc leaps to the balcony in front of the house, but suddenly, Tauriel appears and stabs it in the throat with her knife. She pulls out her other knife as well, and begins killing the Orcs in the house. Legolas jumps in through one of the holes in the roof. He too begins killing Orcs.
Fili and Oin stay with the four children while the elves take care of the orcs.
An Orc approaches Kili and grabs him by the wounded leg. As Kili screams in pain, Tauriel throws her knife and it plunges into the Orc's throat. Legolas and Tauriel slay Orcs left and right. As an Orc runs at them, Fili grabs Bain and forces him down.
"Get down!"
Tauriel kills the Orc, then turns to kill another one. Kili stabs the Orc as well with the knife Tauriel had thrown earlier, and they together kill the Orc. But then, Kili falls over onto the floor, howling in pain, and Tauriel looks at him in worry.
An Orc, Bolg's lieutenant, flees from the house and jumps over the balcony, landing in a boat in the water below. He yells to Bolg, who is striding toward the house.
"Ekinskeld. Obguranid!"
Bolg growls in frustration. "Gur! Arangim!"
The remaining Orcs join him.
In the house, Legolas stabs an Orc and trips it, and it falls backward over the balcony railing and lands in the boat below. The boat acts like a see-saw and sends Bolg's lieutenant orc, who had jumped into the boat earlier, flying up into the air, where Legolas slices off its head with his knives. As the orc's body falls into the water below, its head still looks at Legolas. Legolas releases the head and it falls. Legolas looks and sees the remaining Orcs running through Laketown after Bolg.
Bofur dazedly gets up and sees the Kingsfoil lying in front of him.
In the house, everyone gets up once it's safe, Bain speaks to Tauriel in amazement.
"You killed them all."
"There are others. Tauriel, come."
Legolas strides toward the door. Tauriel, who had been looking after Kili, looks up. Kili is on the ground, Oin examining him as Fili and Aiden rush over to him.
"We're losing him!" Oin exclaims.
"No!" Aiden cries, causing Fili to hold him in his arms.
Tauriel, looking shocked, looks at Kili, then at Legolas, who is waiting at the door.
"Tauriel."
Legolas looks at her for a moment and then walks out the door. Tauriel remains standing, looking away and begins to head out the door to follow Legolas. Just as she reaches the door, Kili moans in pain, and Tauriel turns to look at him, then after Legolas, and back at Kili again, the hesitation clear for all to see. Hearing a noise, Tauriel grabs her knives, then sees Bofur running up with the Kingsfoil. Her eyes open in shock and she takes the leaves from Bofur's stunned grasp.
"Athelas." She reverently examines it after taking the weed from the dwarf, a plan forming in her mind. "Athelas. . ."
"What are you doing?" Bofur asks.
Tauriel looks to him. "I'm going to save him."
And there we have it. I hope you all enjoyed it. I have to say, I know I have never brought up anything before about Sophia's family, there never having been a good enough place to bring them up, but I still hope you like that little introduction to her family, which I will be putting in more in later chapters. Please keep your lovely reviews coming, please give Love That Blooms a try and stay tuned for next week xx
Translation;
Khozd! - Dwarves!
Ekinskeld. Obguranid! - Oakenshield has gone!
Gur! Arangim! - Fall back! Regroup at the bridge!