"Oh, what's that stench?" Nori cried.

The company had found the cave, and within feet a foul smell had met their noses. It was a rotting, awful stench that smelled very much like death. Many of them gagged and covered their noses; Kili tried to breathe through his mouth since his were keeping Estel from falling to the ground.

"It's a troll hoard," Gandalf said and entered the mouth of the cave. "Be careful what you touch."

Kili had set Estel on a high rock and took his quiver and bow from his brother. "Bilbo," he called to the hobbit. "Stay with Miss Estel." He gave a small smile to the dwarrowdam. "I'll be right back."

"There's no need to be formal with me, Mister Kili," she said softly, so quiet that only Kili could hear.

The dwarf grinned. "Then you might as well drop the 'Mister'."

She laughed quietly, though it hurt her chest, with a nod of her head. "Alright."

Estel watched him go with his brother just as the hobbit arrived by her side. Bilbo looked relieved at the fact that he wouldn't have to enter and retch at the pungence of the cave. They were the only two who stayed behind and the hobbit tried to be casual around the girl; he stuck his hands in his pockets, but pulled them out and held them behind his back, only to keep one in his pocket and the other holding the brim of his coat.

"Um, I-I... Miss Estel, I..." Bilbo stuttered. Estel looked at him with a perfect eyebrow raised, and she noticed how nervous and bashful the hobbit was. "I... I must thank you again for what you did-"

Estel smiled shyly, and looked at her hands. "Mister Baggins, there is no need to thank me. I only tried to do what was right."

"At the cost of your own life, yes," he looked away with guilt. "I will never forget what you did for me... And please, Bilbo is just fine."

"Then you can call me Estel," she smiled reiterating what she had told Kili. "No need for all the formalities."

Bilbo smiled and looked at his large feet, a red staining his ears which were mostly hidden in his golden mop of curls. The two sat and waited quietly for the company until Estel mustered up a small amount of courage to break the silence.

"Tell me, Bilbo," she said quietly as she watched Ori and Nori appear from the cave. "How did you come about this quest?"

Bilbo turned to her, brows disappearing under his bangs. He pursued his lips and scratched his chin.

"Well, they... they just showed up on my doorstep, really. I suppose when they had left in the morning-I was really apprehensive about this whole..." Bilbo waved his hand around, trying to find the word. "...get-up. Yet something... something made me leave Bag End. It was just a pull and now look at me."

He laughed to himself and shook his head, as if still trying to believe that this was all happening. "I'm here with dwarves and a wizard and no way of knowing what's to come. Goodness, I shouldn't even be here."

Estel listened to him and offered him a smile. "I am sure you are meant to be here. Everything happens for a reason."

Bilbo sighed and tried to look cheerful, but his worry seeped through the cracks.

"And you," Bilbo changed the subject. "We found you, or should I say Kili, on the riverbank. How did that happen?"

Estel frowned and looked at the dirt under her nails. She didn't really mind her fingers because she was a traveller; there was always dirt under her nails whether she liked it or not.

"Do you remember yesterday morning? What I said?" She asked him.

By this point, most of the dwarves had exited the cave, many with new weapons or with more gold to add weight to their pouches. Some had sat on the earth floor, waiting for Gandalf and Thorin to leave, or some stood idly by the rocks, acting as if they weren't listening to the exchange between the dwarrowdam and hobbit. Kili stood beside Fili a few feet away examining his bow and listening quietly.

Bilbo nodded. "Orcs attacked your caravan."

"Yes, yes they did," Estel said as she looked up to the sky.

It was a clear blue and she thought it very pretty. She missed skies like these, skies so blue that anyone could get lost in them. There were times when she was just a child that she could lie on the green hills and stare up at the blue world, the clouds taking shape of the things she liked.

"It was dusk when it had happened," she said softly. "They just came and spared no one. My dear uncle told me to run to the ravine below where a river rushed and jump. He told me to leave him behind. I couldn't bear to leave him. And then... then he came. An Orc so vile and twisted, the darkness in his eyes could've taken my soul..."

Estel blinked hard, breathed in the air and let it out through her mouth. Gandalf and Thorin emerged from the cave quietly, seeing everyone had stopped doing whatever it was they were doing and looking at the young girl.

"They killed him," Estel said. "They killed my uncle right in front of me. Then one of the Orcs had shot an arrow, and down I went into the ravine. I don't remember anything other than that, and then I woke up by a warm fire and voices... your voices."

The silence grew thick and Estel closed her eyes, reaching up to fiddle with the necklace around her neck. In distressing times, she'd reach for it, letting her fingers graze the markings of the intricate metal.

Bilbo was about to say something, but Gandalf had interrupted him and crossed the distance.

"Bilbo," Gandalf called.

The hobbit turned around and was pulled away gently by his elbow to the edge of the cave. Talk and activities were resumed among the dwarves as Gandalf presented Bilbo a sword. Estel sighed to herself, wiping her eyes on her sleeve and looking out to the forest.

Her heart ached. She felt lonely and was drowning in sadness and grief. It wasn't until she told Bilbo what had brought her to them that Estel had really understood what happened to her. Her uncle was dead, her caravan was dead, the people she lived with for years were dead. She no longer had a family, and she was barely hanging onto her thread of life.

"Are you alright?" Estel faced Kili, who stood a foot away from her. He had a look of worry and approached her carefully.

She tried to give him a smile. "I'll be fine."

Kili frowned, looking into her eyes and seeing the sadness. He put his hand on her shoulder in a comforting way. "You do not have to hide your pain," he told her quietly.

"Kili, please don't worr-"

"I have to," he said, and he gave her a crooked smile. "You're my responsibility, after all."

Before she could reply, there came a thundering from beyond, and it rushed closer. All the dwarves looked out to the forest, drawing swords and becoming alert.

"Something's coming!" Thorin shouted.

"Stay together!" Gandalf called. "Hurry now. Arm yourselves."

Kili drew an arrow from his quiver and latched it onto his bow, stepping in front of Estel who had been swept off the rock by Fili, and she held to his back. The dwarves armed themselves, waiting to attack just as a flurry of brown robes and a sled of rabbits had rushed to the company.

"Thieves! Fire! Murder!" cried a curious man.

Gandalf had let out a long sigh and visibly relaxed, letting the dwarves know that this was no threat.

"Radagast! Radagast the Brown," Gandalf came forth to the wizard. "What on earth are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you, Gandalf," the brown wizard scurried off his sled. "Something's wrong. Something's terribly wrong."

From behind, Kili lowered his bow and spoke from the corner of his mouth. "Are those... rabbits?"

Fili grinned and looked back to see Estel staring in awe, and then answered the dark haired dwarf. "I believe so, brother."

Estel couldn't tear her eyes away from the large, furry creatures. In all her years, she had never seen a rabbit so big. "How peculiar..." she said softly.

Kili looked back and was relieved to see her eyes have a twinkle instead of the sadness from moments before. He turned his head back to watch the two wizards; the company watched them closely as they conversed, and most were disgusted or flustered when Gandalf had pulled a stick insect from Radagast's mouth. The brown spoke wizard of darkness brewing in the Greenwood and his travels to Dol Guldur. The wizards walked some feet away to speak privately, far enough for the company to not hear the discussion.

Estel rested her head on Fili's shoulder and sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. The fatigue was starting to cloud her mind; the night's events and the pain emitting from every muscle was taking its toll on her body.

"Are you alright, Miss Estel?" Fili asked, looking at her from the corner of his eye.

She yawned in between her words. "I'm tired is all."

"You haven't had something to eat for some time," Kili frowned.

"I'll be fine," she sighed, eyes still closed. "No need… to worry."

A howl suddenly pierced the air, and everyone's heads darted around. Estel's eyes flew open, and she wasn't very tired anymore. If anything, she was more alert; her heart pounded and her eyes darted around fearfully. She had heard that howl before.

"Was that a wolf?" Bilbo asked worriedly, holding his small sword tightly in his hands. "Are there-are there wolves out there?"

"Wolves? No, that is not a wolf," Bofur said.

"Something worse," Estel said as she cowered. Fili could feel the small woman shake from fear against him, and tightened his hold on her knees.

A growl came from behind them, and Estel and the two brothers turned to see a Warg behind a crag. It bounded and leaped towards the midst of the dwarves, getting close enough to knock Dori down. Thorin, with a mighty flourish of his Orcist, struck the head of the Warg, killing it instantly. Another Warg, however, came running in from another direction to attack. Estel watched with horror as it came bounding towards Thorin; her eyes caught Kili lifting up his bow and letting his arrow go to hit the Warg in the shoulder. For a moment it was brought down, only it got back up to attack. Within seconds, came Dwalin, who ran his weapon through the gruesome creature to kill it.

"Warg-Scouts," Thorin spat. "Which means an Orc pack is not far behind."

Bilbo frowned. "Orc pack?"

Gandalf grimaced and turned to Thorin with a deep, angry frown set on his wrinkled face. "Who did you tell about your quest, beyond your kin?"

"No one," said Thorin.

"Who did you tell?" Gandalf scolded the dwarf.

"No one, I swear," Thorin answered back with honesty. "What in Durin's name is going on?"

With a deep sigh, Gandalf said, "You are being hunted."

Estel tightened her hold around Fili's neck; all that played through her mind was when her caravan had been attacked. They were going to be slaughtered just as they were.

"We have to get out of here," Dwalin said, holding his sword to his side.

"We can't!" Ori cried from the top of the rocks. "We have no ponies. They bolted!"

A surge of panic ran through the company; with no means of escape, they all knew that there was no hope for all of them surviving. They were all going to die. The thought was distressing and Estel was on the verge of tears from how frightened she was. She looked at Kili and Fili through her glossy eyes, and she saw that they, too, were afraid. They tried very hard not to show it, but she could see it in their eyes.

"I'll draw them off," Radagast spoke up.

Gandalf shot the brown wizard a bewildered look. "These are Gundabad Wargs; they will outrun you."

"These are Rhosgobel Rabbits!" Radagast argued, and with a mischievous grin, he added, "I'd like to see them try."

The dwarves exchanged looks, unsure if whether or not the brown wizard was truly mad. Gandalf had sighed and shook his head.

"Be safe, my friend," the gray wizard said, and with that, Radagast snapped his reins as he and his rabbits disappeared into the forest.

The dwarves unsheathed their weapons and held them to their sides. It occurred to Estel what was going to happen: they were all going to make a run for it. She started to breathe heavier and she shook her head, realizing that they wouldn't be able to escape with her being carried as dead weight. She loosened her arms around Fili's neck and tried to slide off his back.

"Estel, what are you doing?" Fili looked at her as if she had gone mad. Kili looked at her with a mix of confusion and frustration as she tried to stand on the ground, only she leaned heavily onto Fili's back.

"I can't let you carry me," she said. "Go on without me. Please, go now."

"I refuse to leave you behind," Kili told her with a defiant look.

"Kili, please…" she said sadly. "I am too weak, and I will only slow all of you down. Now I beg of you, go now while you still can."

"I will not leave you behind!" Kili growled, making most of the dwarves turn towards him. "We put you under our care, you have been my responsibility, and by Mahal, if you utter one more word about staying behind, Estel, I will strike you with an arrow."

Estel gaped, taken aback by Kili's abruptness. She shut her mouth and swallowed the lump in her throat, before she nodded and was about to hold onto Fili's back until another voice had joined in.

"Fili, lad, I doubt you can hold her for long," the voice belonging to Dwalin reprimanded. "Give her to me."

Estel frowned. "Mister Dwalin -"

"He's strong, but he wouldn't last," Dwalin huffed. "I'll hold ye'. It'd be better if you weren't dragging an heir down."

She tried not to let the last few words sink in, but they managed to wedge themselves into her head. It hurt, but the dwarf was right. Fili seemed to have strength in his arms, not his back. She would more than likely weigh him down.

Estel nodded, flashing a glance at the two brothers with soft yet cautious faces. Dwalin tightened one of his hands around the girl's left knee as she held onto his back, holding his axe in the other hand. Kili's features softened as he took one more look at her. He tried to give her a reassuring smile, one of apology and one to let her know that they would make it out of this mess.

Thorin and Gandalf lead the company as they ran through the woods and out onto the plains, just as Radagast had bounded across the land in the distance with Wargs hot on his trail. They stopped behind a rock and watched before Radagast and the Wargs were lost in the distance. Gandalf called to the dwarves and hobbit and they ran across the rocky plain. Gandalf kept a close eye on each dwarf as well the brown wizard across the plain. The company ran and ran, legs burning with each step for the dwarves, but fear kept them running. Estel held tight to Dwalin's back with Kili running only a few steps ahead. She prayed to Mahal that she wouldn't hinder Dwalin's strength should they come to an impending fight.

The Wargs were not too far from the company as they ran, and they veered into the direction of some tall rocks, taking cover behind them. Gandalf had told them to stay together, watching the Wargs and their Orc riders run after Radagast and his rabbits.

"Move!" Thorin shouted, and they all took off again.

They continued running as the Wargs continued to chase after the brown wizard's sled, and Thorin had stopped abruptly for the dwarves to take shelter behind the rocks. Ori, however, had continued running until Thorin caught him by the arm and pulled him back before he could be spotted.

"Come on! Quick!" Gandalf said, and took the lead as they had started to run again.

Kili looked back at his brother, then to Dwalin and Estel, heart beating as he hoped that they would keep up. Estel's added weight was slowing Dwalin down a small amount, but the dwarf seemed to be faring well. Kili turned back to see his uncle look up at Gandalf.

"Where are you leading us?" Thorin demanded.

Gandalf did not answer and kept leading the company across the plains. Gandalf stopped running once he saw one of the Warg scouts stop and pause to sniff the air. The dwarves pressed themselves against a rock, and Estel covered her mouth to keep from breathing heavily as the scout and Warg walked to the top of the rock. Tears pricked her eyes and she watched Thorin and Kili with wide eyes.

The older dwarf looked at his nephew and nodded; Kili took a deep, steady breath, readying an arrow. Kili pulled the arrow back and stepped out from the shelter of the rock and shot his at his target. It hit the Warg's flank, and it and the orc rider fell with screeches. They fell near the dwarves, and the company advanced on them to end their screams. The noises of pain and screeching and howling echoed in Estel's ears, and she buried her face in her shoulder to keep from looking.

The sounds of the orc and Warg rang over the expanse of the plains, and it seemed as if time had stopped as well as the rushing of blood and heartbeats. The company had not anticipated the scouts and Wargs to stop pursuing Radagast and his rabbits. The Wargs' howls carried over the wind and to the dwarves, alerting them that they would soon be upon them.

"Move! Run!" Gandalf yelled, urging the dwarves to run.

The dwarves, the wizard, and the hobbit ran through the grassy plains to escape the Wargs. They breathed heavily, and their fear drove them to not stop and drop to the ground. Estel hadn't realized that tears spilled down her cheeks until a sudden gust of wind blew against her, chilling her face. As they ran, Wargs had started to come in from all sides.

"There they are!" Gloin shouted.

"This way! Quickly!" Gandalf said

They had run for a while longer, and all hope seemed to have been lost as the company stopped in the middle of a clearing where Wargs had surrounded them. Each dwarf held his weapon firm in his hands. Estel released Dwalin's neck and dropped to the ground near Fili and Kili, the old dwarf rushing in with his axe.

With them surrounded, only one thought crossed Estel's mind: they were going to die. Wargs snapped and snarled at the company, and the dwarves tried their best to fend them off.

"There's more coming!" Kili said as he looked around frantically.

"Kili! Shoot them!" Thorin ordered his nephew, and the young dwarf complied and let arrows loose into the heads of Orcs and Wargs.

Estel watched helplessly as the dwarves tried defend themselves. The howls and screams of orcs killed by Kili's arrows rang into the air and strangled her ears. She was on the edge of passing out from the excitement and anxiety, and she tried to keep her eyes open.

"We're surrounded!" Kili cried, shooting another arrow. "Where is Gandalf?"

They looked around desperately until Dwalin yelled, "He has abandoned us!"

Estel stood up on shaky legs, close to Fili and Kili who were still keeping the Wargs and Orcs at bay. She looked around, seeing the dwarves gather near each other and holding their ground just as Thorin had ordered. Kili continued to shoot his arrows, Gloin and Thorin slashed at the Wargs, and she saw Dwalin slam his hammer into a Warg's head. From some feet away, she saw Ori shoot a small rock from his slingshot at an Orc, who was left unfazed. The Orc simply grinned menacingly, coming to advance on Ori only to stop when he had caught sight of Estel. It had seemed that the breath had been knocked out of the dwarrowdam, and it was if she was watching her uncle being run through again.

The Orc loudly screeched something unintelligent, and pointed a gnarled finger towards Estel. The dwarves followed his gaze and watched Estel with confused expressions. Thorin gazed darkly from the Orc to the dwarrowdam, knowing that their sudden interest in her would cause trouble. Estel took a few, weak steps back and fell onto the ground, heart hammering in her chest, as one of Wargs and its rider came bounding towards her. An arrow came flying through the air and brought the Warg down, and Estel was suddenly lifted up off the ground. She met Kili's eyes and she thanked Mahal that he was there.

"They want me," Estel said as tears flowed down her face. "You should've left me behind."

"I won't let them get to you," he said, and shot another arrow. "I'll keep you safe."

After a few moments, Gandalf had reappeared from a crack in one of the rocks. The dwarves had turned to him with a mix of shock and relief.

"This way, you fools!" The wizard shouted, waving towards them to where he stood.

"Come on, move!" Thorin called. "Quickly, all of you! Go, go, go!"

The dwarves had left their positions, and as the Wargs neared, the dwarves and Bilbo dropped down the crack one by one. Fili and Kili still stood side by side with Estel close behind, shielding her from the enemy.

"Fili, go!" Kili yelled to his brother, taking an arrow from his quiver. "Take Estel and go!"

Fili nodded, trusting his younger brother, before sheathing his sword and sweeping Estel off the ground. She looked up between Fili and Kili, shaking her head and pushing against the blond dwarf's chest.

"Kili-"

The darker haired brother silenced her with the grim look on his face and looked her in the eyes. "Don't worry about me, I will follow you both!"

Fili took off across the plain with Estel in his arms before she could call out to Kili. Her heart pounded as she watched the dwarf shoot his arrows, overwhelmed with stress and worry before her weak heart couldn't take the pressure of it all. She fainted in Fili's arms just as he slid down the crack and into the cave below. From above, Thorin swung the Orcist to kill a warg, and he yelled for his nephew to run.

Kili let another arrow sing through the air just as Thorin bellowed, "Kili! Run!"

The dwarf watched the Warg fall to the ground and he took off with Thorin towards the rocks. They both jumped into the crack, sliding down the earth last just as the last few Orcs and Wargs reached the entrance. Kili braced himself, grazing his forehead against a loose rock and a terrible sting made him grit his teeth. He fell onto his knees right next to Nori, who helped him up. He circled around the cave, looking for his brother and the young dwarrowdam. He approached his brother-and Oin who was kneeling beside the girl- who crouched over an unconscious Estel.

"What happened?" Kili said quickly. "Is she alright?"

"She's fine," Oin reassured the dwarf. "The lass only fainted. Must have been the excitement."

Kili shut his eyes for a moment and breathed in a sigh of relief. Horns suddenly began blowing outside the cave and then came screams of Orcs and Wargs; the company listened with tense muscles. Without warning, an Orc fell into the cave and the dwarves moved out of the way, dead. Thorin grimaced, walking towards the fallen Orc and pulling an arrow out from its neck; he examined it before throwing it to the ground.

"Elves," he muttered.

The dwarves recollected themselves, checking to see if they were all alright and if they had their belongings. Bilbo frowned, seeing that he had lost one of the buttons to his coat. Kili tried not to move his forehead too much; the cut was wiped clean by Oin and a strange, burning salve was applied. It was only to keep infection away, and it would take some time to heal. It would most likely scar, too.

Kili knelt down and took Estel up in his arms, who slept peacefully. Fili rose up along his brother.

"You don't have to carry her," the blond dwarf said

Kili shrugged. "I want to. She'll need a familiar face when she wakes up."

But it was more than that, Kili had realized. Kili was afraid; he didn't know why, but he knew it was after the Orc had tried to pursue the girl in his arms. He was afraid to see Estel in danger; if it were one of the dwarves, he wouldn't be afraid because he knew they could mind their own. Yet seeing the fear in her blue eyes had left a mark in Kili's mind, and the young dwarf swore to himself that he would never let a look like that ever flash in her eyes again.

Dwalin had walked away from the group, peering down a pathway at the end of the cave.

"I cannot see where the pathway leads," the bald dwarf said. "Do we follow it or no?"

Bofur straightened his hat, and with an optimistic kick in his step, walked towards the path.

"Follow it, of course!"