Chapter 7

It had been little more than a week since the battle, since Bilbo got hurt and still hasn't woken up. The dwarves were all still looking for their friend, they tried asking anyone they could, only receiving negative answers from everyone. Many said they hadn't seen the hobbit since before the battle began, a young girl told them that she was with him when the orcs attacked the city, but the moment she found her mother she lost sight of him. The news that Bilbo had been guarded by the elves of Mirkwood by the King's command had been shocking. That lead the dwarves to wonder if maybe one of Thranduil's elves had seen him, all the dwarf decided that Balin should be the one to ask around, he was more polite when it came to elves than all the company combined. But that did not work, each elf Balin asked would deny seeing the Halfling. They were all getting restless, the hobbit was nowhere to be found and the dwarves didn't know whether or not to trust the word of the elves, they all wanted to see Bilbo, to ask for his forgiveness for what they did to him.

Thorin, Kili, and Fili were now able to get up and walk around though not for a long period of time, of course neither of the three paid any attention to that. The moment Thorin was able to get out of his bed, he joined the group in their search for the hobbit, and that only lasted for a day when soon more important matters made itself known. Dain was pushing Thorin to take his place as king under the mountain and start to reconstruct Erebor, Balin said it would be a good idea to make a peace treaty with the elves and give the men of Laketown their share of the treasure. Thorin was not too happy to give up his research of Bilbo but he had no other option, he would start the negotiations with Bard and Thranduil and let the rest of the company to look for Bilbo.

Meanwhile Bard was in a similar situation, the men had named him their Governor, therefore he was expected to act as one and lead them on their next actions. He knew they would need to start the reconstruction of Dale as soon as possible but there were still people injured. Thorin had started to make plans with his council, the few he had with him, including his cousin Dain Ironfoot. He didn't know what to make of that, he needed their fair share of the treasure to be able to reconstruct Dale but didn't know if Thorin would be willing to give it to them. It was Dain who seemed to do most of the planning, Thorin was distracted with the research of the Halfling, putting more attention to that than to the negotiations of his own kingdom. It had been a non-spoken agreement between everyone that survive the Battle and knew what was going around, not to inform the dwarves of the current location of Bilbo Baggings. Bard knew exactly where the Halfling was but even with Thorin claiming he was once again in his right mind, Bard didn't trust him with that information. No one could blame him, after all the last time he had seen the hobbit in the presence of dwarves he had been hanging from the rampage of the Erebor by the hands Thorin Oakenshield. No, Bard didn't feel any remorse at all in denying knowing the location of Mister Baggings. In Bards opinion what the hobbit did was a brave act of friendship and loyalty, even knowing full well what would happen for his actions, he still did them to try and save his friends and at the same time prevent war. The dwarves had Bilbo's loyalty, and that much was clear to Bard when the small creature give him the King's Jewel, it was such a pity that they couldn't see it until now. Bard didn't knew the reasons for which King Thranduil was protecting the Hobbit, but he trust him, and he was sure they would not hurt him. Gathering his self-appointed council he started making plans on the best ways to start the reparations and how they would convince Thorin Oakenshield to come to an agreement.

A day after the ceremony Thranduil sent his son, Legolas, back to Mirkwood with the rest of the Elves, all the injured were well enough to last the journey back home, there they would be treated better by the healers. The only elves remaining were Thranduil's guards and a few of the elves of Imladris, carts would come and go with more supplies and medicine, not staying for much longer than a day. Lord Elrond was among those staying, he would often come and check on Bilbo, his expression more worried after every visit, and he wasn't the only one. Nestor, who had stayed as part of his guard, told him that Bilbo's soul was thinning, becoming more and more fragile. Thranduil didn't needed to be told this, he already knew, he could feel it, every time Bilbo had a nightmare he would get weak. Thranduil was letting Bilbo borrow his energy, it was a risky thing to do if two mates are not yet bonded and it could only be done if one of the two was in a life threatening situation. To Thranduil this surely counted like one, he could not lose Bilbo, he would not allow it. He spend as much time as he could with Bilbo, holding him and whispering words of love to him, encouraging the hobbit to come back, sometimes he would just sit there with him in his arms and sing, or talk about his kingdom. Sometimes it work others not, all the while lending Bilbo some of his energy, a rush of fatigue would wash over him but he ignore it and hide it from the rest, all that mattered to him was Bilbo. Thranduil notice the dwarves were getting restless in their search for Bilbo, anyone they asked all they would get was a negative answer, it seemed everyone had come to an agreement not to say anything, Thranduil was grateful for that.

He was aware of the movements that were going around, the men beginning to plans on the reconstruction of Dale, the dwarves were being more secretive, and all he knew was that they were planning to reconstruct Erebor. Thranduil didn't expect the dwarves to make any type of deals with him, he was almost sure that Thorin would insist in no giving anything to either the man or the elves, so it came as a big surprise when a white haired dwarf he recognize as part of Oakenshield's company came to his tent his a scroll send to him by the King under the Mountain. Thranduil had been laying with Bilbo in his arms, like he had been doing ever since he found him in Ravenhill, when one of his elves came inside, by then all his elves knew their king had been given a second name to bear, saying that there was a dwarf outside asking to see him. Intrigued Thranduil gracefully got up and went to greet the dwarf, he stumbled slightly when he got close to the door, regaining his balance quickly he ignored the look of worry of his elf and walked outside. Just like his guard said a dwarf was waiting there, the moment he saw Thranduil he bowed and presented himself.

-"Mister Balin, Son of Fundin, I have with me a message from Thorin Oakenshield"- he said extending the scroll to him, a polite smile on his face. Eyeing the dwarf warily Thranduil toke the scroll, opening it and reading its content.

"Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thrain, son of Thror, King under the Mountain, asks for the presence of the Elven King Thranduil tomorrow at noon in Erebor to sort out our conflicts and come to an agreement in an orderly manner."

The letter was short and formal, it made Thranduil wonder if it had been in fact the dwarf king who wrote it, he pretty much doubted it. He look up at the dwarf who was waiting patiently for his response. Thinking about it for a moment Thranduil decided to go along with the meeting, he nodded his head while rolling back the parchment.

"Tell Oakenshield I will be there tomorrow"- He said and turned around to head back to Bilbo but was stopped by the dwarf.

-"King Thranduil if I may ask you a question"- he said, his look hopeful, facing him once again he nodded already knowing the question.

-"You see, we haven't been able to find Bilbo Baggings, the fourteen member the company, I wanted to know if you perhaps knew anything about him"- the dwarf was hesitant like he feared what the elf might do to him for asking.

-"I have not talk to Mister Baggings since before the battle Master Balin"- He replied softly, which was somewhat true due to Bilbo being unconscious since then.

-"Right I just thought to ask, have a good day King Thranduil"- Thranduil tilted his head to the side wishing him the same and watch as the dwarf bowed before leaving, he turned to look at one of his elves.

-"I require only three of you to accompany me tomorrow to the meeting, the rest guard the tent don't let anyone that is not Lord Elrond or Nestor inside."-

-"Yes, My Lord"- he said bowing, turning once more to go inside Thranduil's vision become blurry, he swayed on his feet vaguely aware that of the elf's arms around him keeping him from falling. –"My King, are you alright?"- the elf asked, straightening up Thranduil kept a hold on the elf as he regained his balance.

-"I am alright Cennan, worry not"- Thranduil manage to say walking once more, stopping at the entrance –"You may go to rest"- he said over his shoulder and walked in missing the concerned glazes between his elves. Hurrying over to Bilbo he touched his forehead, his fever was back once more, sweat all across his face and small body. Thranduil quickly stood up and a bowl with water and towels, setting back beside Bilbo, the elf put the wet towels on his forehead, wrapping him in blankets setting him in his lap. Thranduil rocked him back and forth, muttering in his ear the whole time, closing his eyes, Thranduil lend him his energy, giving Bilbo enough without draining himself. He was afraid, it had been a long time since he had been this scared and it upset him, Bilbo was getting weaker and he couldn't do anything about it. He could feel Bilbo slipping away between his fingers, holding his love close to him, Thranduil wept.

Bilbo was getting tired of waking up to the same dark and cold place that he was in, in every way he looked everything he could see was darkness, no matter how much he walked it felt as if he wasn't waking at all. Sometimes the place would change, sparks of white would appear every now and then bringing different memories, at first Bilbo knew which ones were real and which ones were fake, but as the time passed he could no longer tell the difference between the two. Slowly Bilbo started forgetting the names of those he saw in his dreams, one by one he started forgetting them, their faces becoming more and more blurry each time. Bilbo tried to resist it, he tried really hard to bring his memories back, but it was a lost battle. He would dream of trolls, grotesque and foul creatures, a ring, giant spiders, but everything was so confusing. During each dream he would hear a voice, a soft, melodic voice whispering to him that everything was going to be alright, that he had nothing to fear, that he was there with him. At first the voice had sounded familiar, almost as if he knew the owner of such a beautiful and soothing voice, but like everything else, it faded away. He didn't know why that voice was there, he didn't know if it was even real or just another thing his mind had created, an illusion to make himself feel better.

More than once Bilbo had wished this to end, he would pray to the Valdar to end this, to end his constant suffering, to please bring him peace, but his wish was never granted. He could no longer remember how he ended up here, what had he done wrong that he would end up in this frightening place, alone, with no one to talk to. He asked for forgiveness, that whatever he had done wrong would be forgiven and he would be able to get away from here. But nothing never happened. He was ready to give up, he didn't want to continue this any longer, he couldn't, and he no longer had the energy to live through this over and over again, never ending the cycle. This was just too much, he couldn't go on, not anymore, and with one last breath Bilbo closed his eyes and finally let the darkness take him away from the suffering, away from everything. He give up the fight.

The next day a little before noon, the Elvenking and his guards made their way over to Erebor, since the morning Thranduil had made sure his guards were taking guard around the tent, Lord Elrond then came saying he would look after the hobbit in Thranduil's absence that made him feel more relieved knowing his Hobbit would be taken care of. As he made his way over to the mountain a feeling of dread was making its way all over his body, for some reason he felt as if something bad was about to happen, he give it to the fact that he was to make a peace treaty with the dwarves, could such thing even happen? Eventually they reach the mountain, dwarves in armor where standing at the sides of the gates guarding it.

-"Stop"- one of the dwarf said in a hostile voice, had Thranduil been any other creature he would have rolled his eyes, instead he stayed there until not a minute later the same dwarf that had informed him of the meeting came up to greet him.

-"King Thranduil greetings, the King is waiting for you"- the aged dwarf said in a pleasant tone of voice, the Elvenking inclined his head in greeting and together with his guard started to follow the white-haired dwarf. As they walked through the halls of the mountain, Thranduil couldn't help but gaze at the place, it was quite decent considering a dragon had been leaving there for over sixty years. There were some burns along to walls, and some gold coins all over the floor, the worse would be the smell. After a few minutes of walking in silence they reached the room in which the meeting was being held. Two dwarves on either side opened the doors for them, inside was Gandalf, Thorin and his nephews, Ironfoot, Bard the Bowman, and a bald dwarf with a sour expression. They stopped whatever conversation they had the moment Thranduil stepped inside with a smirk he inclined his head in greeting to Bard and Gandalf before turning to look at Oakenshield.

-"Please do continue, don't let my presence interrupt your chatter, although I do hope this meeting is worth it"- he didn't do anything to try and hide his hate and annoyance for the dwarf and being there.

-"If ye do not like it ye are' welcome to leave elf"- Ironfoot guff saying the word elf with disgust.

-"So much for a peace treaty"- Bard muttered shaking his head, Gandalf's lips curved up in amusement before turning a stern look at the dwarf.

-"Ironfoot please do try to control your childish behavior towards the Elves, it was because of their help that we are here today alive"-

-"We never asked them to join, we woul' have manage just as perfectly without their help"- Dain responded angrily pointing towards Thranduil who had made himself comfortable in one of the chairs, his guard standing behind him.

-"We could see that quite clearly"- The sarcasm was clear in Thranduil's voice as he looked on the argument with a bored expression.

-"Thranduil please, we are here to make a peace treaty between Dwarves, Men and Elves do not make things more difficult"- Gandalf said exasperated, turning to Dain he said –"If you want to keep being in this room I suggest you to keep your words to yourself, Dain Ironfoot"- Thorin who had been silenced until now spoke up.

-"You have no authority to order my kin around, if anyone should leave that would be you, this meeting does not concern you wizard"- Gandalf glared at the dwarf king who seemed unaffected by that.

-"You are wrong Thorin Oakenshield, it does concern me as much as it concerns everyone else out there. I am here to try and make you see reason instead of causing another battle because you couldn't get past your old grudges against the elves. To make you see beyond your love for gold that nearly caused the death of an innocent creature that only tried to help!"- That seemed to shut Thorin up, he visibly slumped back in his chair, head bowed.

-"As much as I agreed with you Gandalf it was not Thorin's fault, the Gold Sickness has been running through Durin's line since Thor was king, it was bonded to happen"- Thranduil looked over at the dwarf who had spoken, it was the young one, the one that was with Tauriel.

-"That is still no excuse to justify Oakenshield's deeds against the hobbit, young one"- Thranduil said softly, yet his eyes held anger and hate within them as he gazed at the dwarf king. He was starting to feel dizzy.

-"I agree with King Thranduil"- Bard spoke, he too was glaring at Thorin –"That hobbit risked his life to protect your people and how they you all repay him? By standing there doing nothing as Thorin toke Bilbo determined to throw him over the wall"- The dwarf had the decency of looking ashamed, suddenly the bald dwarf stepped forward a nasty sneer on his face.

-"That hobbit committed treason against the King, what Thorin was about to do was small compared to the real punishment for stealing something so precious to the King"- Thranduil was having a hard time keeping his posture, how dare that dwarf? Bard stood up angrily looking at the dwarf who had spoken.

-"Bilbo Baggings had the best of intentions when he give the Arkenstone to us, his only intention was to prevent a war from happening,"- his comment only served to get the dwarf angrier –"If anything he deserved to be honored"- the dwarf let out a huff before replaying, -"That coward worthless rat does not deserves our respect or honor, nor the very dirt in which he walks"- The moment those words left the dwarf mouth everyone spoke at once, the majority was supporting Bilbo even Thorin, surprisingly, was defending the hobbit, only Dain and the bald dwarf were throwing insults to him. Thranduil stood with the intention of stopping the argument and defend his love, but the moment he stood his legs failed him.

-"My King!"- One of his guards shouted, getting a hold of him before he hit the ground, his other guard looking concerned and at a lost of what to do, most of the elves had never seen their king in such a weak state. Thranduil let his guard keep a hold of him, the whole time keeping his eyes closed, flashes of a dark place kept coming to him there were trolls, spiders like the ones seen on Mirkwood, and in the middle of all was Bilbo, he was in despair, he was suffering surrounded was darkness he was really to give up. Opening his eyes with a gasp Thranduil stood straight it took him a moment to notice everyone's eyes were on him, -"He's giving up, he has stop fighting"- and with that he turned around and ran out of the mountain not paying attention who was following and who wasn't, the only thing on his mind was Bilbo. He couldn't give up, he couldn't just surrender and leave him alone, the pain on his chest was like never before the journey to his tent had never seem longer. At last he arrived his guards surprised at seeing their King in such a state, without paying them any mind he went inside the tent were he stopped right on his tracks at the sight that greet him. Lord Elrond was on his knees, eyes close and whispering a magic verse in elvish one of his hands was on the hobbits chest and the other one on his forehead. Paying close attention one could see that his chest was barely moving, Thranduil was momentarily distracted by the sound of voices coming from outside, it seemed that the wizard, Bard and Thorin had followed him and were asking about his abrupt departure but his guards wouldn't let them in. Having full faith that his guards would be able to keep them outside he continued to move by his loves side.

He couldn't help the small whimper of pain that escaped his lips at the sight of Bilbo, his skin was too pale to be considered a good sign, he was hardly breathing Lord Elrond's magic the only thing forcing him to keep going. He reached out to hold Bilbo's hand almost dropping it in shock at how cold it was. Thranduil could feel Bilbo's spirit trying to leave his body, trying to give up the fight, without being aware of it the Elf King started giving Bilbo some of his energy not caring how much it was draining him. He was sending a mental prayer to Bilbo asking him to keep going to not leave him alone, he didn't know what he would do without his Love.