Chapter Nine is here.
From the last chapter, they are all still lost in Mirkwood forest, Lily and Thorin having no knowledge of where their comrades are at. But they will soon find out of what has happened
I will be adding a few more things in here to make the story interesting and it will depend on how it will turn out and how it is plot.
So here we go, my hatchlings
Chapter Nine: The Wood Elves and The Plan to Escape
Thorin adjusted his grip on Lily, who had fallen fast asleep an hour ago after he had found her lost and scared in Mirkwood. Now the main task is to reunite with the other dwarves and continue on to the Lonely Mountain.
He looks down at Lily, which she had her head resting against his shoulder, still asleep and she was breathing softly. He seemed to smile a bit, but not as much and then continued on with his task, adjusting his grip on Lily and continued to walk
They had to reunite with the dwarves.
Thoirn kept walking until he saw it was slowly turning into night time, so he had to stop so that he can rest. He looks down at Lily, who was still asleep. She was emotionally worn out from the breakdown earlier and he couldn't blame her for that. Mirkwood was known to be cursed and many of people perished in these woods.
Lily had no idea where she was at, but the place was so white and cloudy, she couldn't see anything beyond the clouds. "H-Hello?" She called out.
No answer.
She kept looking around, hoping to find something that will help her find out where she is-
"...help..."
She looks around. "Who's there?" She asked.
"...help...me..." It was a scratchy voice, but she could tell it was a dragon. But she doesn't know the dragon's name. "What is your name?" She called out. But she received the same message from before.
"...help...me...please..."
"Please, tell me how I can help!?" She shouted out to the voice. She could barely see a tail in the clouds when it circled around her. "Scale...Sauron...Scale...Evil...stop..."
"Sauron? The Dark Lord? Did he do something to you?" She asked again.
"...stop...help...please..."
She saw the shadow disappearing. "W-Wait! What is he doing to you!?" She asked, trying to reach out to the dragon when she held her hand out to it. She could barely see the snout in the clouds that fogged it's appearance and she tried to reach out to the dragon in need. "...stop...scale...stop...Sauron...The Darkness...it's spreading..."
"The Darkness!? What Darkness!? What is the dark lord doing to you!?" She asked, feeling her heart break out for the dragon that is in pain in whatever the dark lord is doing to the dragon. "...save...us..."
The dragon disappeared when more clouds rolled in, then she saw the evil eye of the dark lord.
"You will not stop me from controlling the lands, Alpha. I know what you will do and it will not work against my army. You will die in the fire and no one will come and help you."
Lily nearly jolted awake from the voice, but her vision a bit fuzzy and still stung from all of the crying she did. And she seemed to be in a warm embrace and she can feel heat surrounding her and she can see a red-orange glow by her. She then realized that the source was a camp fire. She looks up slightly and yet tiredly at Thorin, who was also asleep. He was laying on his side as they were in a small cave that he had found in the cursed forest.
His coat was around her and he also had an arm around her. That made her blush somewhat a bit and yet she scooted closer to the dwarf prince until her forehead was resting against his chest.
She could feel the rhythm of his heart beat, which it beat strong and that made her blush even more. She yawned silently before closing her eyes. She felt the arm tighten around her slightly and she merely scooted closer to him. She could have sworn that she had heard him say something about protecting her until she fell asleep.
Of course it was later until she heard a twig snapped and she jolted awake, looking around. It still night time as the fire was worn out, only glowing for the moment with a small fire within the burnt wood. She heard the twig snapped again and heard a little crunching sound from the dead leaves. She looks at Thorin, who was still asleep.
"Thorin. Thorin." She shook his shoulder and he jolted awake. "Wh-Wha-"
"There's something out there." Lily said, looking outside of the cave and that made Thorin sat up, grabbing his sword and tried to listen, but can only hear the crickets go off in the night. "...Lily, are you sure-"
"Thorin, I know I heard something. Please, you have to believe me." Lily said again. Thorin looks around once more, gripping his sword, taking a look around. Lily also looks around, gripping her sword as well and she saw something out of the darkness and saw it was slowly creeping up behind Thorin and she stilled even more. She unsheathed her sword. "Thorin, behind you!" She threw her sword, which it made a direct hit against something and it screeched.
It was the biggest spider Lily has ever seen as it started to curl up it's leg, twitching until it's body stopped completely. Thorin and Lily looks at the dead body of the spider before Thorin pulled Lily's sword out of it's abdomen, wiping the blood off of the sword before handing it to Lily. "...you have good aim."
"...it was out of panic..."
Thorin got his sword out when he heard more hisses. "It didn't came alone." He said, Lily's back pressed against his when more spiders showed up, hissing and screeching at them. Lily's sword shook a bit in her grasp, but she kept glaring at the spiders that surrounded them. "...Lily...can you sense any dragons around you?" Thorin whispered.
"No, I can't-"
An arrow shot out of nowhere, hitting a spider through it's head and it screeched before dying. Lily looks at the source to see Wood Elves, two of them starting to kill the spiders. Lily looks at Thorin worriedly because she could see his eyes narrowed at them. Soon, all of the spiders were dead, but they were surrounded by the Wood Elves, pointing their weapons at them.
"Drop your weapons."
Lily looks over at Thorin, silently asking him what to do and he sighs. He drops his weapon and Lily looks at him shocked, but he gave her a look that said 'do as they say' and she sighs before dropping her sword to the ground.
Lily was with Thorin when the guards took them to the Wood Elf King, Thranduil. Lily could already can tell that Thorin does NOT like him-no, HATES him with all of his might because she could see it in his glare. The King was merely sitting at his throne until they were presented in front of him. He could already know Thorin, but he had never seen Lily before.
"Some may imagine that a noble quest is at hand. A quest to reclaim the homeland...and slay a dragon." Lily nearly jerked at her cuffs when he said 'slay' she was going to convince the dragon to leave Erebor, not to kill it...well...that is if she can do it.
"I myself suspect a more prosaic motive," Thranduil said, circling the two while looking at them, "Attempted burglary. Or something of that ilk." Then Thranduil stops when he saw a certain look at the Dwarf King and smirked somewhat, but didn't show it. "...you know a way in." Thorin just kept glaring at the Wood Elf King, not saying a word to him. Lily didn't know if she should be impressed...or scared.
"You seek that which would...bestow upon you the right to rule. The King's jewel, the Arkenstone."
Lily looks over at Thorin, who looks away in somewhat a sad thought that he was right, but he still wouldn't say anything. "It is precious to you beyond measures. I understand that." Thranduil smirked and Lily didn't like his smirk, her pupils starting to turn slit at the king. "There are gems in the mountain that I too desire. White gems...of pure starlight."
Lily kept glaring at him, her pupils still slit with anger and looks slightly at Thorin, who was now staring at him. "I offer you my help." Lily then saw Thorin smirked a bit sadly.
"I am listening."
Lily gave Thorin 'are you serious!?' look at him and he gave her a look that made her look away once more, but she secretly rolled her eyes.
"I will let you go...if you but return what is mine." Thranduil said, looking at the Erebor King and Lily looks back at Thorin, shifting her hands that were cuffed together with special wood that were made by the wood elf guards. Lily saw Thorin thinking for a moment when he turned away. "A favor for a favor..." Thorin sighed and Thranduil nodded. "You have my word. One King to another."
That made Thorin stopped and Lily looks over at him.
"...I would not trust Thranduil...the Great king to honor his word...should be the end of all days be upon us!" Thorin points at the Wood Elf King. "You! Who lack all honor! I have seen how you treat your friends! We came to you once, starving, homeless...seeking your help! But you turned your back! You turned away from the suffering of my people and the inferno that destroyed us! IMRID AMRAD URSUL! (A/N: Translate: Die a death of flames)
That is when Thranduil got in front of Thorin, glaring at him. "Do NOT talk to me of dragon fire! I know it's wrath and ruin." Lily seemed to tense when she saw some of Thranduil's face changed and she wanted to do the alpha call, but something else was telling her not to. "I have faced the great serpents of the North." His face soon turned to normal, not looking like half of his face was burnt by fire, backing away from Thorin.
"I have warned your grandfather of what his greed would summon, but he would not listen." He starts to climb up the steps to his throne, still glaring. "You are just like him."
"At least that he didn't turn away from his people in need!" Lily shouted, her pupils slit and she was about to go at him, but the guards grabbed her by the arms and Thorin. Thranduil glared at Lily. "Do you know that it is not wise to stand against the king? But you are just a girl."
"...I am no ordinary girl, I am Lilian Baggins, Grandaughter of Kamon Draconiso Haverlon and Alpha of the dragons! You are no king to me if you disrespect of the other kinds!" She yelled in dragon tongue and she knows that he tensed a bit of the ancient tongue language that hasn't been heard for many of years, but anyone could understand it. Thorin could understand little of the tongue of the ancient race, but he can hear what Lily is saying.
"Thorin and his kind ask for your help when the fire drake destroyed Dale and taken their home and what did you do!? You turned away from them, denying their help! What would have happened if Smaug destroyed YOUR kingdom in flames!? You would be in the same position as Thorin when he saw it all happen! You are no King, you are nothing but a coward! Thorin has more respect as a king than you would ever be! At least he doesn't turned down any help from his people and others that had pass by Dale and Erebor! At least he stands for his honor and by his grandfather side, even when he was corrupted! At least he fights for his kind against the pale orc, Azog! At least he does things to help his people, but YOU did not help him!"
"ENOUGH!"
Lily glared at him, done speaking in dragon tongue but her pupils remained slit at him. "What do you know about ruling? There are no more dragons in existence."
"...then you have no idea what I am capable of...because I have an army of dragons waiting for my command to come, including Vordoom, my Bewilderbeast, my second in command of the army, the Ice Dragon of the legends! And there are more of them waiting for me to make the call!" She yelled.
Thranduil glared at her and she glared right back.
"...take them to the dungeon. I am done with them." He gritted through his teeth and they were both started to be dragged away. "And stay here if you will...and rot. A hundred years is a mere blink in a life of an Elf. I'm patient. I can wait..."
Lily and Thorin were thrown in the same cell together and the wood elf guard locked them up before walking away. The dwarves saw Lily and Thorin, Balin walking up to his cell door and looks over at Thorin. "Did he offer you a deal?"
"He did..." Thorin replied, "And I told him to go..." Lily heard him say something in Dwarf tongue and by the look on Balin's face, it wasn't a very nice thing. "To him and all of his kin!" Lily looks at Balin.
"Well...there's that, then...the deal...was our only hope..." Balin murmured and she looks over at Thorin, who sat down on the tiny bed that was in the cell. "Not our only hope..." He then noticed how Lily was staring at him and he looks at her. "...Thorin, I-"
"Was it true what you said in there? What you said to him in dragon tongue?" He asked, looking at her and talked in a quiet tone so that they were the only one that can hear. "Oh...umm...yes...yes it was." She said, looking down and blushing somewhat as he starts to walk up to her slowly. "...and you did it all in dragon tongue at him?" He asked and she nodded once more.
"...I know he wouldn't take me seriously if I spoke in normal tongue...I just wanted to stand up for you because...he...he had no right of talking you down like that, or to your grandfather." She said, not not looking at him in the eye, but then she felt his hand on her cheek and she looks up at him. He chuckled somewhat. "Sometimes...I do not know if it was out of stubbornness...or stupidity...but what you did back there..." He brushed the bangs away from her eyes, which he thinks that they shined like jewels to him. He then cupped her cheek, stroking it gently with his thumb
"...you have my respect."
He then closed his eyes and kissed her.
Lily blushed a very dark red, tension locking her entire body up because she have never experience a kiss before and this was her first one because no one would ever look at her that way. But the tension soon disappeared when she started to close her eyes as well and started to kiss back. She placed one of her hands on his chest while he kept kissing her, wrapping one arm around her waist while the other was still cupping her cheek, some strands of hair in between his fingers.
She shivered a bit when she felt him licking her lips and she pulled him closer in the kiss, letting him inside of her while wrapping her arms around his shoulders. She wanted to be with him.
She wants him to be hers.
And she could tell that he wanted the same for her. They wanted to continue their activity until they noticed that they were still locked in a cell and as hard as it was, they had to pull away from each other and they were both silently gasping for air. Lily was still blushing, trying to catch her breath of what happened and she looks at him.
He smiled a bit at her before resting his forehead against hers and she smiled as well, intertwining her fingers with his. He sits down on the floor, guiding Lily down as well and let her rest against him. Her head rested against his shoulder while he wrapped one arm around her. "...Thorin...what will we do?" She asked and Thorin squeezed her hand gently. "We'll figure something...somehow..."
They don't know if they were sitting their for hours, the dwarves trapped in cells. Lily was nearly half asleep, still resting her head against Thorin's shoulder while he kept trying to figure out what they should do.
"...I wager that the sun is on the rise." She could hear Bofur's voice through the cells. "It must be nearly dawn." He said, sighing. Ori looks at the cell as well before sighing as well. "We're never going to reach the mountain, are we?" He asked, knowing that all hope is lost.
"Not stuck in here, you're not."
Lily looks over at the source and saw her father, Bilbo and he had the keys in his grasp. "Dad? How did you get pass the guards?" She asked-
"Shh, there are guards nearby." He said when the dwarves started to cheer when they saw him. When he unlocked Lily and Thorin's cell, Lily hugged him tightly and he smiled, hugging her just as tight. "It's alright, Lily...everything is going to be fine." Lily pulled away, letting him unlock all of the cells that the dwarves were trapped in.
"Up the stairs."
"You first."
"Not down there. Follow me!" Bilbo whispered, leading them downstairs
They all started to follow Bilbo when he leads them down to the cellar and Lily tensed when she saw the guards. "It's alright...they're asleep..." Bilbo said and Lily could smell their breath and it reeked of wine.
"This way." Bilbo whispered, leading the dwarves, passing the guards that were asleep from the effects of the wine they have drunk.
"This is the cellar!" Kili whispered.
"I thought you knew the way out!" Bofur whispered.
"Trust me, I know what I'm doing!" Bilbo whispered until he leads them all to empty barrels. "Everyone, climb into the barrels, quickly." Bilbo said and Lily looks at him, including the other dwarves. Dwalin walks up to Bilbo "Are you mad!? They'll find us!" He whispered and Bilbo gestured him to listen. "No, no, no! They won't! I promise you, please! PLEASE, you must trust me!" Bilbo whispered, pleading to the dwarves to listen to him.
They still won't go with Bilbo's plans and he looks over at Thorin, silently begging for Thorin's help and he looks at the dwarves. "Do as he says."
They all started to go with Bilbo's plan, each of them climbing into the barrels one by one, only leaving with Lily and Bilbo out as Bilbo went over to the lever. "What do we do now?" Bofur asked.
"Hold your breath."
"Hold your breath? What do you mean-"
Bofur didn't have time to finish when Bilbo pulled the lever and the dwarves went all down into a river, riding the barrels and Lily smiled at her father, then something got to her. "Dad?"
"Yeah?"
"...how do we get out?"
He then realized that there was no empty barrels for them. He really didn't think things through with this plan and he can hear the guards coming. Lily and Bilbo started to stomp on the ramp in panic, trying to follow the dwarves and the voices were getting louder. They backed away until...
...they felt themselves sliding down while standing up.
"Dad?"
"I know..."
They both fell in the water and the ramp closed by the time the guards got to the cellar. Lily gasped when she reached the surface and Bilbo did as well, while he was grabbed by his shirt from one of the dwarves. "Well done, Master Baggins." Thorin said and Bilbo waved at him, saying it was nothing while he still tried to catch his breath.
Lily was swimming behind them until she felt something rose behind her and she tensed. She turned around to see a large water dragon, which she knew it was called a Scauldron, a Tidal dragon as it was glaring down at her, roaring and when it was about to attack her, it stopped and started to sniff her, cooing in curiosity and question.
"...Dragoness Alpha?"
"Umm...yes?"
The dragon's pupils were wide, roaring softly at her, then it started to nuzzle her cheek, purring happily. "I deeply apologize of my behavior. I thought that you were one of the Woodland elves. What are you doing here all the way in Woodland Realm?" The water dragon asked, tilting it's head. "We were captured by the elves because we are on our way to Erebor to help Thorin reclaim the Lonely Mountain."
"I know a town that is not far from Erebor, called Lake Town. I can take you to the river that runs to the lake, but that is far that I can take you because Laketown people does not take kindly to dragons. My name is Cataracta and it would be an honor of assisting you."Cataracta said, bowing his head to her and she nods. "Thank you."
He lowered his neck for her and she managed to climb on and hold on while he swim right after the dwarves. "Hold on!" Thorin shouted when he saw a waterfall ahead of them and Lily held on tighter to the water dragon, which he narrowed his eyes while roaring as the others fell down from the water fall. Cataracta spread his wings, still in his juvenile stage which he could keep steady while falling through water falls. Lily gasped when he resurfaced above the water and she held on.
Lily could tell that Bilbo was struggling to hold onto the barrel and Gloin was trying to make sure that he held on, but he was slipping and Bilbo slipped away from Gloin's hand.
"BILBO!"
"Cataracta, get my father!" She said out of panic and he roared, diving down underwater and Lily grabbed his hand and Bilbo saw her when the water dragon resurfaced. Bilbo coughed, holding onto the dragon and his daughter. "You okay, dad!?"
He nods, coughing and he stilled a bit when he saw the dragon looking at him. Cataracta just roared softly at him before focusing on swimming, staying with the dwarves.
Lily then perked her head up when she heard a horn was blown from behind them. "What was that?"
"They're sealing the gates!"
Lily stilled when she saw two guards going over to a lever and closed the gates that helps with the flow of the river. "NO!" They were trapped underneath the bridge, Lily looking over to the river where the guard pulled the lever. "We have to reach the lever."
She then stilled when she saw one guard killed with an arrow through the chest from behind and she could smell bad blood. "No..." She saw Orcs.
They were attacking.
"Kili! Get to the lever!" Lily said and Kili go out of the barrel and tried reaching over to the lever, killing the orcs along the way. "Cataracta, make sure they don't get to Kili!" Lily commanded and the Scauldron roared, scooping up water into his cauldron-like stomach before lurching his head back and blasted hot, steaming water at the orcs. The ones that got hit were screeching in pain, the steam and the hot water melting their skins.
Kili got to the lever and pulled, releasing the gates once again-
An arrow shot him through his leg and he yelled out in pain, falling down. "NO! KILI!" Lily shouted, getting off the Scauldron to reach to Kili. She got to him, helping him pull out the arrow out of his leg and he shouted more in pain. Lily then saw an orc coming to them and she reached an abandoned sword and held it close, having one arm around Kili-
An arrow shot through the orc's neck, killing it.
Lily and Kili looks over at the source to see Taruiel, one of the Woodland Guards and Lily looks over at Kili, who had that spark in his eye and she smiled a bit before helping him stand up and he managed to jump down into his barrel and he winced in pain. She then saw the other Woodland Guard Elf, also wielding an bow and arrow like Taruiel.
He then saw Lily and they both stared at each other before she saw an Orc charging at her. It was about to attack her until it was blasted by hot steaming water. She looks over at Cataracta, who roared at her and she nods, going over the wall of the bridge and jumped off, landing on the Scauldron's back and neck and the dragon dove down into the water, roaring.
"...Dragon alpha..." Legolas whispered to himself before going with Taruiel to get to the dwarves, killing orcs in the process. Lily then saw Bolg, second in command of Azog, chasing them on the sides of the river, roaring at them in orc tongue. Lily grabbed a weapon from a dead orc that one of the dwarves killed and she threw it at one of the orcs, hitting it on the side of it's head before it fell into the river, dead.
"Cut it through!" She saw a bunch of orcs on a log that was above the river and the dwarves were cutting below it while they passed. With a whip of his tail, Cataracta slammed the log, breaking it with brute force and killing a few orcs in the process from his massive tail. Lily saw a shadow above his head and saw Bombur in a barrel, but he was rolling down the hills, running over the orcs and kept jumping from one side of the river to the other.
"...I don't know if I should be amused or impressed by this." Lily said and the dragon nodded, watching the barrel in process. (A/N: Me and my dad were laughing during this scene where Bombur kept rolling and rolling in his barrel)
Lily then saw how Bombur stopped on the side, orcs surrounding him, but he got on his feet, wielding two weapons in his hands and attacking the orcs while being protected by the barrel he was in until the orcs that surrounded him were dead and his barrel was no longer in pieces. He ran to the side and jumped inside of an empty barrel, tossing the weapons to Thorin and Dwalin and Lily smiled at him. "Well done, Bombur!" She shouted and Bombur waved at her.
Lily then saw how Legolas jumped on the barrels that were occupied by Dori and Dwalin, using their head to balance himself while he shoots at the orcs, but the two were not amused of being used as foot stools by the wood elf until Legolas jumped off to the side, still killing the orcs with his skills and Lily had a flat look. "...okay, now he just showing off..." Lily growled a bit and the Scauldron scoffed.
Lily then noticed how one orc was behind Legolas and before Lily commanded the water dragon to attack it, Thorin threw his weapon and it hits the orc square in the face, killing it and they got far enough before Legolas could get to them and Lily smiled. "We're out of the Woodland Realm!" She shouted.
"We have to reach shore and find out where we are!" Thorin shouted to the others.
"Cataracta said that there is a small town in a middle of a lake called LakeTown! It is just North from Dale and Erebor!" Lily shouted when they reached to calmer waters and they all got out of the barrels, Lily petting the water dragon as thanks and the Scauldron was nuzzling her, purring. "Thank you for helping us, Cataracta. Stay safe and you can reach the Dragon Sanctuary South from here. Go to a dragon named Vordoom, he is the second in command of the Sanctuary and he will provide you shelter and safety."
"Thank you, Alpha. And I too, wish you luck on your quest and hope it will become successful for you and your newfound lover, Thorin Oakenshield." He said and that made Lily blushed. The dragon smiled, licking her cheek before diving down and flow into the air, going to the Sanctuary that she directed him to.
"What did he say?" Thorin asked, walking over to him.
"He...said that he wished us luck on our quest and...he called you my...newfound lover." She blushed hard again and Thorin seemed to chuckle a bit and squeezed her shoulder. "We'll talk about that later, we need to reach to LakeTown before-"
He saw her stilled, her pupils slit when she saw a bowman behind Ori, who was emptying his shoe that was filled with water. He then saw the bowman and Dwalin stood between him and the Bowman and he shot at Dwalin, which he blocked it with a stick he held. Kili was about to throw something at him, but the Bowman was a step ahead of him, shooting the item out of his hand with an arrow.
"Do it again, and you're dead." He warned, aiming at them.
Lily looks around and then had an idea, knowing that he must be from Laketown. "E-Excuse me...but you're from Laketown?" She asked and that made the bowman lower his guard, but not as much.
"That, umm, that barge over there..." She points over to his boat. "...it wouldn't be available for hire, by any chance?" She asked, taking out a small bag and tossed it to him and he looks inside of the small bag, seeing a few golden coins inside. He looks over at them and then sighed.
"...follow me."
Lily smiled as they got over to the boat. "We need food, supplies and weapons...can you help us?" Thorin asked and Bard, the Bowman, sighed, showing them a contract. "No one enters LakeTown by the leaves of the Master." He said and Lily thinks for a moment, then smiled a bit, looking over at Balin. "I'll wager there are ways to enter the town unseen." He said and Bard nods.
"Aye, but for that, you'll need a smuggler."
"For which we will pay double."
Lily nods, getting out another small bag of coins and tossed it to him. "...fine, in the Barrels...quickly." He said and they got inside of the Barells." Then he swims away from the docks, steering all of the dwarves to LakeTown.
Well, this took me a long time to write all of this, but here is the chapter that I have promised to you all! But Yay! Thorin and Lily finally kissed, even when the place they kissed at wasn't really romantic, but yay! They finally showed their feelings to each other!
Next chapter, they reach to LakeTown and and they are close to Erebor! But Durin's day is upon them, can they reached to the Mountain in time? Or will it be too late?
Until then,
BlackDragon157