4
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A cushioning charm was the best she could come up with as they were falling. The unease in her stomach as they fell made her want to spew her insides out. The company let out a collective groan as they landed, with Gandalf pulling her out of the pile of dwarves. She let out a shriek as the goblin king's corpse landed on the pile, half expecting the little men to be crushed by the weight and impact. She quickly banished the goblin's body and levitated the rest of the company onto their feet.
"Is everyone okay?!" she asked, doing a headcount.
"No time, my Lady. The horde is coming!" shouted Kili, pointing at the mass of creatures surging towards them.
"There's too many!" Balin growled, "We can't fight them!"
"Only daylight will save us now!" shouted Gandalf, pulling more dwarves out of the rubble, "Come on!"
"Take the lead, my Lady!" shouted the wizard. She nodded swiftly and began running towards the light. Moving boulders out from their path. She could hear Gandalf counting the dwarves as they went, running through the trees. She sighed in relief at the sight of the morning light streaming through the branches. Her relief was short lived, for she finally found her breath long enough to make out the sound of Gandalf yelling.
"Where's the hobbit!" the Istari hollered at the company.
"Curse the halfling!" grumbled Dwalin, "Now he's lost!?"
"I thought he was with Dori!" Gloin cried accusingly.
"Don't blame me!" Dori said.
"Well, where did you last see him?" asked Gandalf, drawing in on the dwarf.
"I think I saw him slip away when they first collared us." injected Nori helpfully.
Hermione sighed as arguing broke in the group and she glanced at Godric, who was breathing heavily. "Are you alright?"
The lion huffed, "It shall take more than a few goblins to slow me down. Never mind me, I smell hobbit's feet."
Hermione raised a brown and looked to where her friend was staring, she could not see Bilbo anywhere, but a sick feeling in her gut was building - something unsettling that reminded her too clearly of a thing from her past life. She could hear Thorin giving his speech about Bilbo's inadequacy, and ignored it, choosing instead to creep closer to where that feeling was the strongest. She carried on slowly, with Godric following right next to her. The closer she got, the heavier the feeling became, as though a chunk of lead had settled in the pit of her stomach.
"No, I'm right here." someone said, and from behind the tree stepped Bilbo Baggins, much to Hermione's shock. The hobbit seemed out of breath, and a tad unnerved, but for the most part unscathed. She stared with narrowed eyes at the hobbit, knowing that it was no coincidence that the moment he appeared, the darkness had faded. The dwarves began questioning him, asking how he had escaped and where he had gone. Bilbo merely chuckled nervously, moving his hands to his waist. She spied him slip something into a pocket just as Gandalf said, "Well, what does it matter? He's back."
Hermione tried catching the wizard's eye, wondering if he had seen what she had, but the wizard was avoiding her gaze pointedly, choosing instead to watch the hobbit make his rather touching speech - it was good enough to distract the dwarves from their original questions, but definitely not good enough for her.
Before she could open her mouth, the horrifying howling of wards interrupted her, and the entire company turned to where the noise had come from.
"Out of the frying pan," said Thorin.
"And into the fire." completed Gandalf, "Run. Run!"
Hermione sat, leaning on Godric, who had offered himself as a pillow. The hay in Beorn's house they used as makeshift mattresses was scratchy, and pierced through her thin clothing. Dori had very kindly offered his cloak for her to sit on, seeing her discomfort.
She had found a pebble and had begun etching runes into it, something told her there would be a great need for a guardian stone. One side bore a rune of protection, and the other, meant to be facing the body when worn, carried a rune of healing. As she dug deeper into the stone, the carvings started to glow, the light becoming brighter with each word muttered under her breath.
From the corner of her eye, she could see Kili approach with a curious look on his face, she knew he was about to ask what she was doing. Breaking her concentration now would mean she would have to begin all over again, and runic spellcasting was tricky business, especially in this instance. She was tying a small portion of her magic into the pebble, for when the runes needed to be used, they would have a source for power. If she halted now, she risked draining her magic more than necessary.
Hermione heard Godric growl in warning at the inquisitive elf, and Kili restrained himself, his eyes filling with caution at the sight of so many sharp teeth. She did not know whether it was a minute or an hour later, but finally, with a heaving breath, she ended her chant, the stone flaring brightly before dying out, looking once again like a normal pebble. A quick wave of her hand summoned several stalks of straw, which she then twined around the stone to form a long pendant. A locking charm held the stalks in place, tightening the hold on the pebble.
Dropping the pendant into her satchel, she looked at Kili, who had not yet finished observing her.
"Do I want to know what it was that you were doing?" he asked.
Hermione grinned, "I'm afraid the explanation will bore you to death, Mr Dwarf."
"Ah," said the young prince, "Then I shall settle for the short version, Miss Witch."
"A protection stone." she said simply. "For our dear friend Gandalf."
Kili snorted in disbelief, "Gandalf doesn't need protection! He's a wizard!"
Hermione smiled at the dwarf, "May I borrow your knife, Kili?"
He looked at her oddly, but complied, unsheathing his weapon and passing it to her, hilt first. Quicker than he could stop her, she sliced open her palm, making him choke on a shout.
"Are you daft? Why would you do that?" he hissed, looking around, probably worried that if the others had seen, he would be given the blame.
"Istari are not infallible, Prince Kili." she said, looking at the dwarf placidly, letting the blood drip onto the floor, "We bleed, just as dwarves, just as men, just as elves. Gandalf may be strong, but he is not perfect. My stone will help him when the need arises."
"Don't you mean if the need arises?"
She looked the dwarf straight in the eye and said nothing, choosing to heal her wound instead and rise to walk away.
Hermione stayed behind the group as they were led into the elven throne room. Some time during the chaos in the forest, Bilbo had once again disappeared, to her dismay. When the elves had come, she quickly cast a notice me not charm over herself, not having enough time to project it over the company.
As the dwarves were led away, she stepped closer to the elvenking Thranduil. She had seen a glimmer appear when the elf talked to Thorin, so quick that if she had blinked she would not have seen it, but she had, and she knew that a strong glamour was in place.
She undid her charm, alerting the remaining elves to her presence as she stood in the middle of the throne room, in her pale green robes, a serene smile on her face, looking at the elf king intently, with a mighty lion at her side. His face morphed into one of disbelief and fury.
"Who are you?! Where did you come from?!" he demanded, while his guards bared their spears at her and Godric, who growled fearsomely at the sharp blades.
She brought her fist to her chest as a sign of respect, nodding her head, "Good day, Thranduil King. I am Hermione the Green. I wish you no ill will."
"What proof do you have of this, woman? I do not know your name." the king growled impatiently.
"I am new." she said simply, "It is not in my nature to wish pain or death. I travel with the company that you have just imprisoned, under the bequest of Mithrandir."
"What use would they have of a mere human?" Thranduil asked, with a disbelieving huff.
"I do not blame you for your ignorance, King." she smiled, "I am Istari. Born anew to this world. Not much is known of me, yet. I have been dwelling in the Greenwood, healing the sickness that is spreading in the forest. I feel it in your kingdom as well. It is difficult to drown out the screaming of your trees for my help. They have been unwell for much too long."
The king's head turned sharply at her words, his bright eyes bore into her, seeming to burn into her very core, "You are a healer?" he said in a voice so quiet she almost thought she imagined it.
"It is one of my gifts." she said, looking at him knowingly, "I know what you hide under that mask, King Thranduil."
Visibly, the elf tensed and turned sharply to the remaining guards. "Out." he ordered.
Astounded, the men looked at one another, unsure whether they had understood their king.
"Leave us!" Thranduil roared, and the elves spared no moment in vacating the room, the heavy doors slamming behind them.
Hermione waited, a little anxious, for the king to speak again. He glared and glared, making her wonder for a moment whether he was like Galadriel. But the absence of the telltale pinprick of mindreading made her assume that he was just very annoyed. She stepped forward, tired of the silence, and the elvenking tensed. Seeing his unease, she paused, only to take another step when he seemed to calm. It was like approaching a wild animal, much to her amusement.
When she was close enough to the throne she motioned at Godric to heel, and bowed her head to the king, showing that she meant no harm. Step by achingly slow step she came face to face with the king - probably the closest a non-elf had gotten to him in a long time. They spent an agonizing second just staring at each other before she made the first move, bringing her hand to his face, barely even touching it, clearing the glamour away with a slow sweep.
The king held a breath as he felt the magic wash over him, revealing his true face. The skin of his left cheek had never healed from that battle, and then it was there for all to see. A mass of muscle and scar tissue, blackened by flame and darkness. Hermione gasped at the foulness of the magic. "Dragonfire."
She saw the king's eyes harden at her reaction, and it was too late. Thranduil twisted his face away from her, muttering under his breath, and the glamour was back up. Her mouth thinned into a firm line, and with all the courage she could muster, she took the elvenking's chin in her hand and dropped the glamour once more.
"I do not shy away from you because of your face, Thranduil King." she said firmly, "I shy away because the fire the beast cursed you bears with it the foulest of magic I have ever felt, bar the curse of the necromancer."
"Can you heal it?" the king asked, his voice coming out smaller than she had ever thought possible.
"It will take time." she admitted, observing the mangled flesh.
"You shall have it." he said, nodding once just at several guards came bursting in. As quick as a flash she recast his glamour, and Apparated to the foot of his throne, right next to Godric.
"Take this to the dwarves." she whispered to her friend, placing the pouch of pendants in his maw, the two of them were ignored as the king and his men spoke in hushed tones. "I wish I had the time to make more, but I fear this elf king has made plans for me. Come back to me when you can."
She cast a Disillusionment Charm on Godric and silenced him so he might slip past the elves with ease just as Thranduil turned to her. Inquiring eyes looking for her companion.
"Where has your lion gone?" he asked, eyes narrowed.
"Godric likes to roam." she replied, smiling coyly, "He'll be back."
"Your company, however, may not." the king informed her, "My guards have informed me that they have escaped. What scoundrels you travel with, Istari, to leave you behind."
Hermione might have gasped had she been surprised, but she was not. "I fear there are more things of import to my newfound friends than a woman left behind. They do not need me."
"So you shall stay?" asked the king, bright eyes gleaming.
She met his gaze knowingly, "Do you offer me a choice, King Thranduil?"
a/n: Hello, all. I've been gone for a very long time, I know, and I'm truly sorry. Life has been so hectic and I've been trying to stay on top of everything but it's getting increasingly difficult as the days pass. I'm having trouble finding the inspiration to write. I hope you have patience. How are you all? These are troubled times we live in. Keep safe everyone. Enjoy the new chapter, feel free to leave a review, or even message me if you feel like doing so. I really love hearing from all of you. xx China