Brine walked outside Erebor with Zirb by her side. They were ready to go back home, although Brine felt guilty somehow. She would like to say goodbye to Fili, but it was too late for them.
"This way." Zirb pointed as she guided Brine through the side of the mountain. The path was not an easy one. Brine doubted at each step she took. She was holding her breath without even knowing it. Zirb, however, did not seem to have any problem.
"I am wondering, how many times have you done this way?" Brine asked as she felt like part of the mountain fell under her feet. Zirb took her hand and made sure that she was fine.
"I've taken it each time I wanted to visit you. It is the best way if you don't want to be seen." Zirb explained as she paid more attention to Brine.
"What I don't understand is why didn't you want to be seen..." Zirb stood in silence.
"I needed to be apart from Thorin," Zirb said after a while. "We cannot be together, Brine. He is a dwarf King and I am just... I am just a maid. And a human one."
"Zirb. You are the most worthy woman in the world. He is an asshole if he doesn't see it!" Brine exclaimed and Zirb turned quickly. She looked at her with plain expression. "You know I am right."
"I think you have spent so much time with those dwarfs." Zirb laughed without control and Brine did not take long to join her.
Brine and Zirb arrived at the City of Dale after some minutes. The city was empty.
"Where is everyone?" Brine asked as she looked around. Zirb was looking suspicious too. A woman crossed in front of them. "Hey!" Brine called her. "Where is the rest of the people?"
"The battle is begging. Our men are getting ready to fight against those dwarfs and orcs." The woman explained quickly. Brine could feel the hurry of her as she saw her running up the street.
"Come with me, Zirb." Brine said as she took her friend hand and walked the same road as the woman. They got to a plain with some tents. She noticed that one was bigger than the rest. "What is this?" She asked as she walked closer. They heard some voices. "Gandalf?" Brine exclaimed as she opened the tent door. Inside, Gandalf was talking with Bardo and. "Bilbo! How do you manage to escape from Thorin?"
"Well, I am a hobbit." He smiled nervously as he put his hands in his back. Brine knew he was hiding something.
"What do you have here?" She tried to look at his back but the hobbit was avoiding it. Zirb was asking Brine to stop but she was very stubborn to let it go. Brine regret it the moment she realized what was Bilbo hiding. "The Arkenstone..." Memories came to her mind. "Thorin was looking for this!" She exclaimed. Bilbo tried to explain himself but Brine did not stop talking. "He called me and Filli thief, thinking that we were the ones hiding it. He even put Zirb in the dungeons."
"Brine, stop!" Zirb exclaimed.
"No!" She was putting Bilbo against a corner. "We suffered his rage... And you were the one that has it!"
"What is all this noise?" A funny voice asked. Everyone in the room turned to King Thraundill, who was followed by his son Legolas. "It is a pity that you only have your mother's face." He said when he found out that it was Brine who was yelling. "You could have inherited her manners at least." Brine felt range inside of her.
"Brine!" Legolas greeted her and ran to take her hands, but Thraundill stopped him.
"Behave yourself." He hissed. Legolas moved his eyes from Brine to his father and back again to Brine before exiting the tent without saying anything else.
"Your men, will they fight on our side?" Bardo, who was in the tent since the beginning, asked. Thranduil nodded slowly. "Thank you."
"Fight?!" Brine asked aggressively. "You cannot fight them!" She turned to Gandalf. "You promised to help them to get back to Erebor! Why are you betraying Thorin? Why are you doing this to the Company?!"
"I'm not going to let you speak to me like that. You are just a child who doesn't understand the meaning of this." Gandalf talked high enough that made Brine felt even smaller than she was.
"We-we... We are not betraying Thorin." Bilbo said as he walked between Gandalf and Brine. "He is sick, Brine. You know it. He put the love of his life in the dungeons. And all because of this." He said as he showed Brine the Arkenstone. "We want to save him from his own."
"Making him fight against a whole army?! He is a dwarf. He is going to fight till his last breath!" Brine exclaimed exasperated. Zirb tried to calm her down. "I need to take some air." She said as she exited the tent.
Brine was trying to calm herself down, but it was useless. Although what Bilbo had said, she could not help but feel like a traitor. Brine sat down on a rock as she sighed. What if Fili found out that she was not stopping Thraundill and the rest to fight Thorin?
"It is strange, huh?" Brine turned around. Legolas was there. He seemed better than a moment before. "Seeing this old city with people hiding everywhere."
"Yeah..." Brine said with a plain tone. Legolas sat down next to her.
"I've missed you. A lot." He confessed without looking at her. Brine could see a pinch of red in his cheeks.
"I'm glad you are fine." Brine answered politely. She did not want to make him believe other things that she did not mean. "What are you doing here?"
"Fighting..." Legolas did not look at her.
"Against who?" Brine asked although she knew the answer very well.
"Against those who you call friends." Legolas stopped waiting for Brine answer. It never came. "Why are you still here? You have time to go. This is not a safe place for you."
"Oh, but is there any?" Brine knew it was not. Her home back in the Blue Mountains was not a safe place. Once she got there, she would marry a complete stranger. Neither was Erebor as the war was waiting outside.
"Yes, there is one." Brine turned to him. "Come with me." Brine smiled sadly. "I mean it. You are more alike to an elf than to a dwarf."
"Legolas..." Brine sighed and tried to hold his hand, but stopped. "I can't..." Brine could not think about living in the same place as Thraundill.
"Why not?" He sounded pissed off.
"Because," Brine thought about telling him the truth. About the man that was waiting for her.
"It is because of him, right?" Legolas asked and Brine's head stopped thinking. "It is because of Fili. You love him." Brine looked at the void thinking.
"Yes..." She whispered although she was answering more to herself. "I love him." She was trying to understand her feelings for the first time. "Oh my... I love him!" She exclaimed as she stood up. "I should not be here... My place is with him." Brine started running back to Erebor. She needed to see him. She was sure that if she told him about her feelings, he would go with her. He would refuse to fight for her. Brine heard as Legolas called her, but she did not stop. She was focused on her target.
Brine entered in the mountain, calling for Fili. All she got as an answer was the echo of her voice. Brine started running through the halls, trying to find him.
"Fili?!" She cried once and more.
His room was empty as Kili. Brine thought that he might be in the library but she did not even find Balin there. She was getting a bit tired and exasperated. Suddenly, a voice yelled somewhere, as it was fighting with someone. Brine could follow it and found herself in a gallery. She looked over a wooden rail and found everyone there, with their armours on. It was Thorin who was speaking to the dwarfs.
"This is our war!" He said as he rose his sword. "Today, they'll learn that Erebor is our home!" And with that, he headed to the main door with the Company following him.
Brine spotted Fili with his axe. She called him with all herself, but it was useless. He could not hear her. Brine followed her heart once more and ran to the outside. She needed to speak with Fili.
The outside was nothing as Brine could ever imagine. A lot of dwarfs were fighting against men, elves and-
"Orcs?!" It was what scared Brine most. She knew that the orcs wanted Thorin's death. Brine felt as her heartache. For a moment, she doubted what to do. It was not a battle as before. It was a big one and she was not a warrior. On the other hand, she knew how to manage an arc and even a sword. All she needed is to find the proper armour and weapons. Her feet started running down the hill to the centre of the battle. Brine could not process what was happening, but she found herself taking a helmet from a dead dwarf. The arc and the sword were under the body of a man. The rest of the armour was from an orc.
A dwarf yelling stopped in front of her. He was on top of a big grey pig and his armour showed he was an important dwarf. His red beard was what let Brine recognized him. It was Dain. His axe was up and ready to fall on her head when she stopped.
"King Dain! I'm one of Thorin's soldier!" Brine shouted. "My name is Pip!" Dain seemed to think about it.
"You should not be wearing that armour." He said as he let down his axe. "You look like an orc." He was turning around when Brine stopped him.
"Please, sir. Tell me where is my King?" Brine knew that Fili would be with Thorin. As a prince, he would defend his King over all the things.
"He has gone to the top of the mountain." Dain pointed to a peak where an orc was controlling some flags. "Once he destroy that thing, the war will be us." Brine thanked Dain as she ran to the mountain.
The top of the mountain was snowed and silent. Brine could not even hear the noise of the war that was some meters above. She looked for the spot where the orc was controlling the battle, but it was empty. She thought that Thorin might have taken control over it. Her feet made her wander around a big plain, looking for the dwarf that she loved. A scared voice caught her attention.
"I'm not sure we should be here." It was Bilbo's voice. Brine felt the tension in her body as she thought that he was there with Thranduil and Bardo. When she found them, Thorin turned to her with his sword up.
"It is me!" Brine said as she took off her helmet.
"What are you doing here?" Thorin whispered. Something was different in his eyes. "How do you manage to get here?" He took her face in his hands.
"I need to talk with Fili." Brine said not sure if he would accept it.
"Are you okay?" Bilbo asked joining Thorin.
"Of course I am." Brine smiled at Thorin. "I've learnt from the best dwarf." She showed her sword and arc. "I really need to speak to him." Thorin moved from them and looked at the plain. "What are you doing here?"
"Fighting for my friends," Bilbo answered with a smile and Brine understood that he had made his choice.
"I really need to see Fili, where is he?'
"You have to wait," Bilbo said as he looked over a wall to a ruined tower. "He is with Kili exploring that place. It is strange this silence, don't you think?" Brine and Thorin joined him.
"Haven't you defeated the orcs from here?" Brine asked.
"We did not find them," Thorin answered. At that moment, Fili's figure appeared on top of the tower. Brine ran to the plain with a smile on her face. The smile faded when she saw Fili's scared expression.
"First, I'll kill this one. The young brother will follow then. This way you'll see the Durin's line coming to an end." Brine saw as a sword came out from Fili's chest. His body fell from the tower to where Brine was standing. She knelt slowly, not believing what she was seeing. Her hands looking for his face. Tears began to fall from her eyes. She was not able to make a sound. Fili's eyes fixed on hers, trying to touch her face for the last time. His hand fell midway and Brine knew that he was forever gone.
