Alyssae had no idea where she was when she opened her eyes. The starry sky twinkled above her head and a mild drizzle came down on her face, yet she didn't became cold because of it.
As soon as she started to move, she felt a pounding pain in her shoulder. She swallowed the hurt until she sat straight and looked around. She saw a large amount of dwarves, who were lying on the ground, their thoughts far away.
Slowly the memories returned: her liberation from the cavern in which she was held by goblins, the orcs who hunted them, Bilbo who lost his life and she and Thorin, getting seriously wounded. She glanced at the dwarf, who was sitting straight, just like her. His dark eyes were aimed at her, like he wanted to catch her doing something wrong.
She remembered the last words fallen between them and the anger which came over her, as a result of which she had walked away. She clearly didn't get very far.
After a while she carefully looked at Thorin again, but his incomprehensible glance still rested upon her, which made her feel very uncomfortable. She looked around, but there was no place to hide, to escape for a moment from his condemnatory looks.
Finally she stumbled to the edge of the plateau on which they were all sitting or lying. She dropped down on the floor, with her back towards the others. She stared into the distance and saw the sky turn brighter.
What now? She knew the dwarves were willing to bring her home, but for some reason she didn't want to. She couldn't explain why. Her parents and her betrothed worried sick, but still that didn't win her over. There was a new world in front of her and she was eager to explore it. Certainly because she knew nobody would ever let her leave the community again in the coming era, afraid she would disappear again. Furthermore she had the feeling she had to take over Bilbo's role. He had given her a ring which could make her invisible. She doubted anybody knew about the jewel and she wanted to know its secrets before her father would take it from her.
Finally she wanted to help the dwarves, who were robbed oftheir homeland. Thorin could choke in his own proud, but some of his companions, like Kili and Bofur, were friendlier and she wanted them to have a place where they could live peacefully.
When the drizzle rain kept falling, the others awakened as well. Alyssae's muscles became frozen after a while and she was relieved when Thorin – although it was him – suggested to move on.
She stood up from the wet ground and felt more energetic than she could have imagined.
During their journey downwards nobody spoke about Alyssae's faith. Actually the dwarves were remarkably silent, although some complained about hunger. They were all alarmed by what had happened yesterday: all of them witnessed Thorin's near-death experience and Alyssae suspected they disputed their own cowardness. After all, two non-dwarves helped him, something which neither escaped Thorin's attention. Alyssae supposed he still rather fought alone. He probably believed he would have defeated Azog on his own...
As time passed by, the rainfall became heavier and they ultimately searched for some shelter in a barn they passed. It smelled of horse droppings, but none spoke of it. They went down on the straw and stared at the door, hoping the weather would brighten up quickly.
The waiting made the lips move more easily. Here and there some careful jokes were made. Someone shared his sorrows with one of his fellows and Dwalin and Gloin decided to face the rain to catch some wild.
'How's your wound?' Fili's voice sounded next to her.
She smiled carefully. He was a little younger than the other dwarves, just like his brother, whereby she felt a bit more comfortable. She surely was older then all of them, but the younger dwarfs were more open than their older congeners.
'I'm okay.'
If she was truthful, she had to admit the wound stung malicious, but she was already glad she could walk without losing her consciousness.
There fell a silence, which didn't arrest attention since the other dwarves were talking to each other as well.
'You are brave, Alyssae.' The compliment was careful and it seemed difficult for him to admit. She saw his cheeks turn a little red. 'Thorin will never admit it, but he -'
'Enough!'
The voice of Thorin overwhelmed all other sounds and Fili bowed his head ashamed, while he held his tongue.
Alyssae glanced questioning at the dwarf commander, but he looked grumbling in another direction.
The atmosphere changed immediately and Alyssae wondered if she could bear this cheerless assembly for more than one day. She always thought dwarves were cheerful creatures, but Thorin's mood overshadowed the hearts of everyone.
A collective, relieved sigh echoed through the small room when Dwalin and Gloin returned with each a husky deer. Even Thorin relented and showed an uncommon smile and after seeing this, even Alyssae felt remarkably better.