If you just skipped forward to the most recent chapter, please go back one, as I have done a double update today (to make up for not posting last week)
Chapter Twenty Two
"I wish I could tell you. About how much she missed you. About how long she waited for you to come and get her. No daughter should ever be away from her father."
His whole world shifted and everything that he'd been seeing over the past few months seemed to mesh together into one solid conclusion: He had a daughter. But his Bella missed him? It just didn't make any sense. Wouldn't she have stayed? Or come back to him if she'd known. He'd given up so long ago on his One ever wanting him that this wasn't working. And now his daughter was right in front of him. She came all this way, so unprepared, and flourished. Oh his king was going to get his mattock right upside his head if he said one more disparaging word against his beautiful pebble.
And they didn't even have time to really think or get answers about it because their luck was about as good as a rabbits in an eagles sight, non existent.
All he could think as they were tumbling down the shoot, to yet another unknown fate was how he could protect her. He couldn't seem to navigate his body so that he could shield her from the sharp rocks that they were all banging into on the way down.
When they finally landed, he was almost frantic, there were goblins coming from every which direction, and he couldn't find her. Did they already have her? Did she go over the edge? He couldn't just find out that he had a child; by Mahal, she couldn't be any more than 50! A child; and he'd already lost track of her. He did notice that some of the others, were shielding an area, and he hoped against hope that they were shielding her. It was bad enough what goblins would do to them, but what they did to woman was so much worse. At least with the rest of the females in the company, they wouldn't be able to tell the difference, but Iris stood out among them.
He took out goblin after goblin, trying to keep both her and the rest of the company safe (well mostly her) but it was a fools errand, they were very quickly overrun and weapons taken. He still fought though, like a madman as they were lead to what could only be their doom and as the Great Goblin was singing his horrific song, a wave of relief washed over him as someone whispered in his ear, "She got away."
Next Chapter: Smeagol