Essence's eyes drooped down, her shoulder scraping against the side of the rocky cliff. Her head and limbs felt heavy, and as the sun slowly began to set after noon, she was hit with a more intense wave of tiredness than she had ever experienced. At that moment, it had been nearly thirty five hours since she had last slept, and her slumber before that had been barely a few hours in itself. Exhaustion tugged at her bones and her skin, pulling her down. Gandalf, who was walking behind her, had to assist her on several occasions after she nearly tripped over her own feet. Forever courteous to her, he had only smiled respectfully as she met his eyes through tired eyelids. She resented the fact that Thorin had wanted to travel the entire way down the cliff before making camp. Essence had never needed a lot of sleep; no more than six hours of sleep a night to restore her healing capacity, but she needed it regularly.
The other dwarves were showing symptoms of exhaustion as well—a small eyed dwarf whose name might have been Dori or Ori, she couldn't remember, was lagging near the end of the group, whom Gandalf kept ushering forward. They were all quite tired, and near the front, it looked like Thorin was, too. She had no idea how he had powered through this long, although she supposed it had something to do with his obstinate bigheadedness.
"My Lady?" a voice to the side of her brought her back from near unconsciousness. It was the blonde dwarf, Fili, and his brother, Kili. She stared at them, from Fili's large nose to Kili's lack of beard, and wondered if they had been standing next to her the entire time, or if she had just then noticed them.
"Hello," she said, and mentally hit herself as her voice came out in a tired slur. "Hello," she said again, clearing her mind enough to talk to the two dwarves. There were puffy bags under each of their eyes, and on the dark haired dwarf, she saw extremely dark circles. She absentmindedly questioned if she could heal exhaustion, but then realized it would only succeed if she herself was not so fatigued. She hated seeing the people around her in pain that she could do nothing about.
"We wanted to see how you were holding up," said Fili. His movements were heavy and slow, but his words were cheerful. Essence wondered if it was because of the youth of their energy that the two were still in relatively good moods, and she straightened her spine, trying to look more awake than she was. She would not be outdone by the youngest of the company.
"I'm quite tired," she said in response, causing a smile on Fili's face and a smirk on Kili's. "Though I can't imagine why."
"I am most definitely in agreement," said Fili, the smile dropping from his face. "I do wish uncle Thorin would stop." Essence looked inquisitively at him just as Kili glanced over.
"You're related to him?"
"Yes, we're his nephews," Kili said, and she could feel the weight of his voice by the way he spoke. Fili nodded slowly, and Essence looked ahead of her. Somehow, everything began moving slowly, and her head turned at the pace of a snail towards the young dwarves. She looked at the pair curiously. They moved slowly too, Fili smiling at her with his blue eyes. She saw her reflection in them, and suddenly she was turning into a pinpoint, then his eyes turned green and brown and black, and his face began to melt away. She saw white smoke and a tall black figure making its way toward her.
"Essence," it whispered, and she tried to move but her feet were trapped in the ground. "Keep moving. Get up. Get up!" Then, just as quickly as she had started, she was thrown back into the present. Fili and Kili were looking at her uneasily, and she realized the company had stopped.
"Why are we stopping?" she asked, looking to Gandalf who had been behind her, only to discover that he was not.
"You stopped moving, my Lady, and Gandalf suggested we stop." Fili looked concerned at her condition.
"He's trying to convince uncle Thorin to make camp right away." Essence took a deep breath and relaxed, realizing she was already leaning against the rocky wall. The steps had grown steeper down the mountain, now being nearer to a foot or so in height. She blinked rapidly, hoping it would wake her up, but she still felt terrible.
"I apologize for stopping," she said slowly and after some pause, and Fili nodded at her.
"It is nothing to apologize for, my Lady. We all need to stop nonetheless."
"Please," Essence said, "There is no need to call me 'my Lady.' Essence will do just fine."
"Yes, Fili, stop calling her Lady." Essence looked over at the cheeky youngest dwarf who was smirking at Fili. He met her eyes and the smirk fell slowly from his face. Before she could tell him she meant nothing chastising by her stare, Fili cut in.
"When you stopped, Essence," he said, trying the name out on his tongue. "You were saying something and… sort of staring into my eyes."
"Well, master dwarf, have full confidence I was not professing my absolute love for you in my wearied state," she said, and the two dwarves laughed, though Kili not as much as his brother, for his eyes were still on the woman healer. "What was I saying?"
"Do you not remember?" exclaimed Fili, and she shook her head slowly, the movement causing pain to her skull. "You were saying something about your Lord, and healing, and I believe something about the "depth of thine slumber", although I have no idea what that means." Essence's eyes widened ever so slightly before returning to normal, but it was just long enough for the dwarves in front of her to notice. "Are you alright, my Lady?" She frowned as they reverted back to what they previously called her.
"Yes, it's of no importance," she smiled, and the dwarves nodded slowly. It was of importance, sadly for her; she recognized the words from an old writing, used chiefly for bringing the dead back to life, a forbidden power. She knew not why she had begun to mutter the words, especially in her dream-like state, but put no more thought to it as Gandalf made his way back to the end of the line of dwarves.
"Fili, Kili, Ori, Bifur, and Lady Essence," he said, nodding his head at them.
"Please, do not call me Lady," she urged the wizard with a small smile on her face, which he returned.
"My Lady, I will call you by the title you deserve," he said, "And others would best do so as well." She frowned at him, but she spoke not against his statement. "We are to stop as soon as we reach a small cluster of woods barely forty paces from here," Gandalf said, pointing ahead. "We will make camp there for the night and finish these wretched stairs come morning."
"But there's so much left of the day," responded Kili, and Essence turned to stare at him. "Shall we not try to make it to the forest by nightfall?"
"Kili," said Gandalf fondly. "You are quite determined, yet so very foolish at inappropriate times such as these. We all need the rest—you most of all." Fili snickered at his brother who flushed as Gandalf turned away. He kept his eyes to the ground as they continued walking, and refused to look at Essence although she knew he felt her gaze on him. The immaturity of dwarves, she thought, and went back to stumbling along the path.
Fili and she kept up friendly conversation about the weather and the trail and how happy they were to be able to sleep. Essence laughed at this, and after Gandalf's comment, Fili only referred to her as "Lady Essence" or "my Lady"—it annoyed her to no end. She had rarely ever been in such respectable company she was beginning to find it uncomfortable. She wondered if it was something terrible that she had rarely been so respected in all her years of living—should she have been used to this? The young healer pondered her expectance of titles as she wandered the path, moving no more than the dwarf in front of her.
Finally, they reached the small collection of woods Gandalf had mentioned. It took a lot longer than forty paces for the exhausted company, as their steps were more like short shuffles and stumbles down the rocks. It was larger than Gandalf had made it sound, and Thorin led them deep into it, shielded enough from outside visitors. The orc pack that had been hunting them, they knew, would not catch up to them for many days, if not weeks. The Eagles had taken them very, very far out of harm's way, yet Thorin was still careful. She admired his caution, albeit its neurotic qualities.
Essence found Gandalf standing at the edge of an extremely small clearing, smoking a pipe of all things. She paused beside him, feeling a lot smaller than she had standing with the dwarves.
"That is quite harmful," she said, and Gandalf looked down at her, surprised. "For your body, that is. The smoke clogs your air passage." Gandalf stared at her, raised his eyebrows and looked forward once more.
"I am not dead thus far," he said, settling the pipe between his teeth. "It's especially calming, you'll find."
"I may be needing some before I leave this company," she said, and Gandalf laughed softly, blowing out a smoke ring. She watched as it grew larger, then thickened. It began to take the form of a simple, smooth ring, and she began to see elvish letters engraved on the inside. "One ring to rule them all, one ring to…" she read hastily before Gandalf blew the smoke ring out of proportion and into the wind. As if sensing the words, a strong and cold breeze blew through the camp the dwarves had begun to lay down, and Essence shivered, although it was not completely from the wind.
She knew those words and from whom they came from: One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them. One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. The one ring of Sauron was scarcely remembered by simple townsfolk and people, but she had been around just long enough to know the tragic and horrible story of the one ring.
"Gandalf," she said slowly, looking at him. "What is on your mind?"
"Many things, my Lady," he said, puffing out more smoke. "But none that should concern you." His smoke turned into the flames of a fire and he blew it away once more. "You'd best claim your place before there is nothing left." She smiled graciously at Gandalf, unable to get the image of the ring or its words out of her mind. For some reason, she felt as if the ring was suddenly near her, but she pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind. The ring's days were over, and had been for nearly three thousand years.
"My Lady," nodded a dwarf as she passed, and she turned to see the grey haired dwarf she had spoken to earlier standing next to a half asleep small eyed dwarf.
"Hello, master dwarf," she said, smiling at him. He smiled back at her kindly, and she walked forward a little more. She could not imagine how all the dwarves were going to fit into such a small clearing, but she paid little mind to that as she searched for a place to sleep. No doubt Thorin would want her near the edge of the clearing, and she searched for a spot as the tired dwarves stumbled around the crude camp. Someone had already begun a fire, taking wood from the trees around them and rubbing them together. Dwarves had laid out their clothes and belongings in the places they were to sleep, some already passing into a deep slumber. Essence, nearly tipping over as she walked, wished for such sleep, but believed it wise to receive word from Thorin first.
"My Lady?" she circled around to hear her name and laid eyes on Kili, Fili standing behind him, setting both their things down. The brunette's eyes were dark and tired, and she could scarcely imagine what hers were like.
"Yes?" she said, smiling politely at him. He looked at the ground before looking back up at her.
"If you need a place to sleep," he said, and Fili looked up at him inquisitively. There is always room on my bedroll." Kili fought down a smile as he stared into Essence's annoyed eyes—Fili was the first to laugh, causing Kili to begin laughing as well, whilst Essence crossed her arms and glowered at them. Kili nearly fell to the ground as he looked back up at her displeased face, while Essence tried to obscure a smile.
"You know," she said slowly, and the brothers turned to look at her. "I might just take you up on that offer." Fili's eyes widened and there was a moment of silence before Kili let out a high pitched giggle that sent them both into fits of laughter. Their sleepy states were driving them mad. Essence smiled at the pair of boys before turning around to see Thorin staring at her from across the camp. The smile fell from her face and she made her way over to him as he averted his gaze.
"My Lord," she said quietly and bowed her head to him. He looked up at her, and she was still pleased to see she was quite a bit taller than him. The king's gaze did not waver from her eyes as he spoke.
"My Lady." His voice was short and clipped, forcing Essence immediately to feel inadequate. She stared into his blue eyes as she shuddered, and saw a twinge of satisfaction in them. This is what he wants, she thought, tilting her head. He enjoys interrogation. She rose to her full height, straitening her shoulders and staring him down. She would not be so disrespected as he had spoken to her. "What do you need?"
"I came to tell you where I will be sleeping," she said, and his eyes narrowed at her. "Do not worry for your company, for I will be near the edge of the wood." He nodded slowly and she moved to turn.
"Wait," he said, his voice low and soft. She turned to him, the bloody wounds on his face still present. She wished to reach a hand forward and heal them for him, but she knew he would not allow her to. He stared deep into her eyes as he spoke. "I would like to know that my company is safe under your presence." His gaze was harsh. "I do not want any disturbances, and no curses from the Valar." Her heart beat faster in her chest as he spoke. "Is that clear?"
"Of course," she nodded, and turned quickly on her heel and left. The nerve of the dwarf king, as if she had any control over the Valar. If he had an issue with them, he could take it up with Mandos himself. She smiled at the thought of how a fight between Mandos and Thorin would turn out—most likely with the latter, dead.
When she arrived back where Fili and Kili were a moment later, they had their things fully assembled, their bedrolls and packs out. The two were lying on their backs, their spots perfectly under a tree so they were fully shaded from the rays of the sun. She walked to their feet where she paused for a moment, and Fili opened his eyes.
"My Lady?" he said, sitting up, and she smiled, which he returned. "You are welcome to share our bed for a night." Fili scooted over, shoving his brother with him. "Make room for the Lady. Essence, you can sleep right here." Her legs near collapsing, she nearly fell upon the skinny section of bedroll the dwarf had offered her, and she lied on her back, mirroring the other two. Her feet stuck out onto the grass because she was too tall, but she didn't complain. Fili turned to her with a grin. "Are you alright, my Lady?"
"Yes, this is perfect, thank you," she said, and closed her eyes. If only the unpleasant stench of dirty dwarf were not so strong, she might have had a less dreadful sleep. She turned on her side and snuggled into her coat, allowing sleep to almost immediately take over her body.
A/N: Sort of longer wait than recently, but school is back and keeping me busy. Hope you enjoyed this, and the next chapter is written and about to receive some very stern editing. I know this wasn't an action packed chapter, but most of the next few chapters will be more emotional building.
Please review, I absolutely love your feedback! It helps with my story and with my mood as well