"Where is Bilbo?" I questioned, my voice escaping harsher than I had meant it to in my state of panic, I had not wanted it to sound like an accusation, but it came out that way without my consent. Kili laced his fingers with mine in an effort to calm me from my anxious state, I gave his palm a gentle squeeze in gratitude. I must have realised I had not seen the Hobbit for far too long a time.
"He took his chance and he left!" Thorin assumed, proudly squaring his shoulders.
"No," I argued. I knew Bilbo had wanted to leave, but I was certain I had seen him in the caverns with us at some point. "My cousin would never do that." I did not know whom I was trying to convince; Thorin, or myself.
Thorin huffed, "Child, he was willing to leave last night without even saying goodbye to his own kin! How can you be so certain he would not desert us now?"
"We were in trouble," I countered, "He wouldn't have left us to deal with it without him."
Dwalin and a couple if others nodded in agreement, which relieved me greatly, I was not all that sure he had not returned to Rivendell as were his plans. Kili had neither agreed nor disagreed, which made me slightly uneasy; did he really think as little of Bilbo as Thorin did? I shrugged away the thought, as long as I believed in Bilbo that was all that mattered for now.
"We have to go back for him," For all we knew the Hobbit was lost in the caves or being tortured by Orcs and yet out here Thorin was treating him like a traitor. "He is my family and he is loyal, you'll see." I pleaded.
Kili shook his head and I felt a deep wave of disloyalty surge through me. I thought he understood the bond I had with my cousin. He looked hurt as he digested my expression of betrayal, his eyes tightened minutely. "I cannot let you go back in there with those creatures," He explained. "You do realise what they were planning to do to you, do you not? I am not risking you for anyone." My face softened slightly, at least he was only disagreeing with me for my own safety.
"And I am not risking my men," Thorin barked, "Not for a pretend burglar."
"Just what has my cousin done to deserve your treatment of him?" I burst, the question had been brewing within me for some time now and I could not hold my venom from spilling, "And what did I ever do when we first met that offended you so much as for you to hate me?"
Thorin scowled, "The Hobbit is too fond of his creature comforts and handkerchiefs, and he does not care for our kind nor our home. He is a burden which we cannot afford." I thought he would leave it there, but he continued. "You are stubborn and reckless. You think you know more than you possibly could and you do not act as a woman should."
I stayed silent, I could not exactly argue the points against me; I was stubborn as any Dwarf; my suggestion to go after Bilbo after what we had just escaped perhaps proved my recklessness; and I was in no way as lady-like as I would have liked to pretend.
"You are rude and arrogant and you would be better suited to have waited until adulthood to be wandering into the Wild." Thorin pushed on.
"If it were not for her, I would not be here, Uncle." Kili pressed, his lips in a hard line. "Without her we might never have read the map, or if we did it may have been too late." I could have kissed the youngest Dwarf there and then for sticking up for me. So far no one had bothered to interrupt Thorin and his ravings. Perhaps he was trying to make it up to me for agreeing with Thorin when I suggested to go back for Bilbo, it was working.
Thorin shrugged, "She would not have needed to defend you if you had been concentrating on looking after your own head and not hers!" He made no comment on the map, clearly he knew that his nephew was correct, at least on that one point.
"Uncle, she has been of use to us and you cannot deny it." Kili said pointedly. My stomach flipped to hear Kili praising me so, I had not thought he would believe me necessary on this mission; I had thought I was merely another companion to joke with to him, not someone who could help them.
"Look, I will not pretend that I am the greatest addition to the company that you could ever have, but I am what you have been given and you can despise me all you like, but you have to admit it could have been worse."
"Yes," Thorin agreed, "There could have been two of you." He snapped, "Or two of the Hobbit." He smirked.
"Curse the Halfling, we cannot leave him." Gloin decided, finally interceding in the confrontation. I could not help feeling that I had lost somehow.
"Where did you last see him?" Gandalf put out to the group.
Bifur grunted, actually speaking the Common Tongue for the first time since I had met him. "I think I saw him slip away when they first collared us." I wished he had stuck to speaking only in Khuzdul. They were not words I wanted to hear.
"What happened exactly? Tell me!" Gandalf inquired with feverent intensity.
Thorin answered in his usual gravelly growl. "I'll tell you what happened. Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it! He's thought of nothing but his soft bed and his warm hearth since first he stepped out of his door. We will not be seeing our hobbit again, he is long gone."
"No, he isn't." A voice declared.
I turned around, nearly falling if it were not for Kili's steadying hand. Behind me, appearing as though from thin air, was my cousin and I had never been more delighted to see him in my entire life, though I should have thought him to be looking a little less smug with himself.
"Here is your burglar!" He boomed, a wide grin glued to his face.
I ran forward and flung my arms around him in a warm embrace. "If you ever do that to me again, I'll kill you." I warned, though I could not quite stay angry enough at my cousin. He was my family after all.
I looked around to the other Dwarves, all but Thorin seemed relieved and happy to have the Hobbit back in their midst once more. The youngest brothers clapped him on the back with welcoming beams upon both their faces. I had forgotten how alike they were up until that moment. If not for their hair colours and Kili's distinct lack of beard, they could have been identical.
Gandalf pushed me away from the Hobbit slightly, "Bilbo Baggins. I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life." He greeted the Halfling warmly.
Kili grinned down at me, "Bilbo, we'd given you up!" He said to the Halfling. Though he spoke with genuine joy to the Hobbit, I felt as though his happiness was more due to the fact that I was now ecstatic to have my cousin back, I figured that Kili would only be cheerful so long as his friends were.
"How on earth did you get past the goblins?" Fili asked, stealing the question from the mouths of everyone else in the Company.
Bilbo let out a nervous giggle, something he very rarely did unless put on the spot whereas he did not want to divulge something for fear of being in trouble. It had been years since I had last seen him like this, and then he had broken his mother's favourite teapot. He slipped something shinning into his waistcoat pocket. It was something small, but from the way he kept poking his finger back inside as though to make sure the object was still there, it must have been of great importance to him.
"Oh, what does it matter? He's back." Gandalf dismissed, saving the Hobbit from whatever explanation he was clearly about to make up. However, I could see Gandalf's eyes were trained on the pocket that Bilbo kept patting intermittently.
"It matters. I want to know. Why did you come back?" The Dwarf leader interrogated in his most derisive of tones.
The Hobbit shifted uncomfortably, "Look, I know you doubt me. I know...I know you always have. And you're right, I often think of Bag End. I miss my books, and my arm chair, and my garden. See, that's where I belong. That's home. And that's why I came back, because...you don't have one. A home. It was taken from you, but I will help you take it back if I can."
I sidled up along a baffled Thorin, "I told you he would be loyal," I smirked.
"You are ever arrogant and infuriating, you are aware are you not?" He shot back without even bothering to glance my way, but he still kept his words as quiet as I had so as not to interrupt the Dwarves in their celebrating Bilbo's return. For that, I was grateful to the Dwarf-king. "But I do not hate you," He added, causing me to widen my eyes in surprise, for that had been the last thing I had expected him to say.
Before I could make any response he was striding to the centre of the crowd, his authority seeping through once again. How could he not hate me when all he ever did was insult me? Dwarves are terribly confusing, though I do not think they would interest me so much were they not. It was Thorin's dismissal of my abilities that made me want to accompany the group, I wanted to prove myself to them, though I do not really know why.
"Well, now that we are all assembled, it would be wise to move on." Thorin instructed.
"But we've just got out of there," Kili complained. I gave him a gentle pat on the back in sympathy.
I re-joined the party, "He's actually right," This time it was Thorin's turn to have his eyebrows shoot upward in surprise and his mouth hang open, and I made a real effort to pretend I did not notice. "Come sundown these lands will be crawling with more Orcs than trees and I for one intend to have half this forest between us and them by such a time." I was somewhat confused as to why I was trying to help Thorin, it probably sounded as though I were trying to take charge and that is the last thing I would want.
Gandalf smiled approvingly, "They are correct, we must press on." He advised.
And press on we did, though at a much more leisurely pace than we had been traversing the caves, but we seemed to be covering good ground. Through the trees, I could no longer see the mountains, though at my height that did not necessarily mean we were in the clear yet. Was it my imagination or could I already hear a pursuit? Surely not, the sun was still high above us, and the Goblins would not brave the light yet, would they?
I threw away such ideas. They would only slow me down and get me worried. Of course, I was concerned that the Goblins would soon be on their way, but it was better to be aware rather than afraid. Awareness meant that you were ready for whatever happened, fear meant that you could be petrified and unable to act should anything go wrong. Fear cost lives, awareness saved them. No one spoke, but the silence was not uncomfortable; it was the kind of silence that falls like a blanket when everyone in a group concentrates on what they have to do. In this case, that was moving forward, whilst being on the lookout for anything and anyone approaching us.
The sun slunk away and was replaced by a moonless sky, but we kept on; it was likely that we would not slumber this night until we were all sure that we were clear of any stray Orcs. Out of the darkness came a fierce and piercing howl.
"Wargs," Kili breathed from beside me.
I shuddered. "Not good,"
Kili smirked momentarily, "Not good." He agreed.
More howling followed, louder than before; closer. We came upon a large clearing in what appeared to be the middle of the forest, with no cover, there was only one thing to do.
"Up the trees quick!" Gandalf barked the order as he latched onto a branch.
Thorin grunted, "Out of the frying pan,"
"And into the fire." Gandalf finished for him.
A hand flew down in front of me. Fili had already flown into a tree and was attempting to bring me up too. I took his hand with a grateful 'thanks' as he heaved me onto the branch beside him. He held onto my waist and urged me onto the branch above him. As soon as I was up there, the blond brother reached for Kili, who jumped into the tree with the ease of a cat. Show off.
I scanned the other trees around the clearing, all the Dwarves were in the cover of branches, and even Bilbo had just disappeared into a tree when the first of the Wargs appeared. A Warg, I discovered, was a dog-like creature, easily as large as any wolf I had ever seen, but with teeth as long as my fingers and matted fur. These did not look like creatures who could be reasoned with, nor were they beasts that could be tamed by kindly treatment.
Wargs poured into the clearing thick and fast, in waves of yammering and howling. I could not hear anything else, but I could tell that the Wargs were waiting for something, they made a semi-circle around an opening; this all looked to me far more organised than I would have ever imagined such animals could possibly be. I was astounded and a little impressed at their unity. After the last of them filed into place an eerie silence fell over them. I decided I was right, they were definitely waiting for something.
An eternity passed in this quiet, or so it would seem, before something actually happened. It was not a happy event that followed. A Goblin burst into the clearing. The wolves made no movement. So that was what they waited for, a meeting with the foulest beasts in the realm.
Then something brilliant happened. A pine cone flew from a tree, not just any old pine cone; this one glowed with a blue flame. It landed on the fur of one of the closest Wargs. Suspiciously, the cone had fallen from the same tree that a particular wizard happened to be occupying. More fell and more Wargs caught alight, the flames burned brightly; blue, yellow, pink, green, purple and red.
The beasts below were running and yowling with pain and anguish, they had expected our presence about as much as we had expected theirs. I felt somewhat pitiful for them, they had not actually done anything to us, though if they had had the chance they probably would have ripped us all to shreds by this point.
The only downside to this plan of Gandalf's was that the Wargs did not stay still; as they writhed and tried to flee their own pain, they inadvertently hit and brushed against trees and bushes. The trees quickly caught fire, the bark burning away in haste. The flames climbed the bark, their tongues grazing the lowest branches.
I forced myself to climb higher, dragging the brothers up behind me, an instinctual part of me told me that we needed to get as high as possible. Our troubles only increased as more Orcs began to find our clearing, joyful in both the Wargs pain and our misfortune.
They sang in a broken, guttural fashion: "Bake and toast 'em, fry and roast 'em! / 'til beards blaze and eyes glaze!" It was a terribly disconcerting sound to behold, even worse than my own singing and definitely hideous compared with Elvish voices. The words alone were horrible in themselves and I felt very strongly about being roasted and toasted, it was not my ideal plan for the night. The Goblins repeated the chorus over and over, until I was sure I would remember it for the rest of my life.
The tree next to ours was wavering dangerously under the weight of Thorin and Bilbo, its roots and trunk heavily charred and broken by the tendrils of blue fire that crawled higher each moment. Suddenly it dipped, crashing into the tree that I occupied with the young brothers. I fell to the ground with a bump. But I was not the only one. Thorin, too, had been jolted from his tree, but unlike me he had hit his head hard on the earth. The unconscious leader groaned.
A stray Warg had stopped his yowling as soon as he spotted its next meal and began his prowl. It lowered itself into a stalking pose, creeping toward us with its teeth bared and a snarl in its lips. The growling that it emitted attracted the attention of the Orcs, whom ceased their singing, delightedly shifting their scrutiny to me, a smallish woman, and Thorin, an unconscious and helpless Dwarf.
I swiftly drew my blade from my boot, gripping it tightly. I hoped that something would interfere, I knew I stood no chance defending Thorin and myself alone against so many Orcs and Wargs.
The Warg kept coming, it's snarling becoming faster and even more deadly. Without the twitch of a muscle it sprang using all four paws as it launched into me, knocking me from my stance. I slashed deeply into its leg as we both tumbled to the ground. It snapped viciously at my face and I was only just able to move away in time to keep the full length of my nose. The beast swiped at me with a clumsy paw that I batted away with my sword as easily as I would swat a fly. I could see the gash I had made in its back leg was causing it some trouble, but before I could put it out of its misery, an arrow flew straight though its hide and wedged itself into the creatures heart.
I glanced above me to see that Kili had his bow extended. I nodded gratefully as I returned my attention to the Goblins now surrounding me. As I felled and slew opponents in front of me, others were falling, their bodies littered with arrows. I knew I was not fighting alone and yet, no one had climbed down to help me. I knew Kili would feel that it would mean taking his eyes off me to climb down and leaving me undefended for a few moments and that might just have been enough to end me. As grateful as I was to have him protect me from above, I would have much preferred him to be by my side.
Another round of Orcs fell at my feet as my blade cut them down as easily as a knife through butter, screaming rose around me from the foul creatures, all of them pointing above me. I dared not look away from them in fear of this being some sort of rouse to get me to defer my attention so as they might slit my throat. Still Wargs and Goblins alike howled at some unknown occurrence. I chanced a peek behind me to see how Thorin was doing; surely he should be conscious by now. He was not there; he had completely disappeared.
I soon figured out just what this phenomenon was. Great scaly talons wrapped around my middle and pulled me upwards. My first instinct would have been to slash them and return to the ground; and I would have were it not for seeing Thorin. A great, humongous Eagle held the Dwarven leader gently in its claws; a concerned, yet relieved looking Bilbo riding on its back.
Below, the vicious beasts were yammering and promising revenge upon us all and cursing the majestic Eagles whom had saved us from our grisly fate. Other Eagles flew close by, but I could not as yet see who rode which. It seemed as though only Thorin and I had been granted the privilege of being carried whilst all others afforded the luxury of flying upon the feathered backs of the creatures.
Without a warning I was released, falling through the air with great speed. Before I could worry about that too much, my back collided with a soft yet pricklybed of sorts. Looking around I could see that it was a nest, a giant Eagle nest. I supposed it had to be so large to accommodate such immensely sized birds. Thankfully, I was not alone; Ori, Gloin, Bofur and Balin had proceeded me in their descent, though they had been given the gift of alighting their Eagles in landing rather than in flight as I had done. I tried not to grumble, which became difficult when the bird that had carried me landed beside me to allow Fili and Kili to climb down.
Thorin was dropped next, though he had not landed nearly as luckily as I had done. The Dwarf leader hung on the opposite side by a twig over the nest edge, teetering dangerously, his tangled cloak the only thing keeping him from a terrible fall. I dared not so much as peek over the edge to see how many leagues we were from the ground, though something told me giant birds would not likely roost as low down as their tiny kin. He had already flown down from one tree, being ejected from another could be fatal for the still unconscious Dwarf King.
The cloak creaked from the strain; squeaking in exertion before, finally, the threads loosened their ties and the garment began to tear, the weave parting inch by inch. I could not watch, but I was too far away to do anything useful and the rip was nearing the edge; coming closer and closer to its final string. I badly wished I could step in and be the hero, but sadly this was not my time to do so; I was paralysed and even if I had been closer, I would have been too frightened to do anything useful at all.
All too soon the last thread gave way to the attacking twig, cleaved in two by both the sharp stick and Thorin's weight. Defeated. He fell. Not too far though. In the panic of realising there was nothing I could do to save the leader, I had failed to notice that there was someone who could: Bilbo.
The Hobbit had lunged from his landing spot, a few yards away, and just in the nick of time, caught Thorin by the arm before he descended more than a foot. Dwarves (I was too dazed to take note of which ones, but I would bet my life that Fili and Kili were among them) rushed to heave their leader from the unknown abyss. They propped him in a sitting position where the nest met the tree.
The Dwarf King's eyes fluttered briefly, yet refused to open.
"Thorin! Thorin." Gandalf called, once Bilbo had managed to safely pull the Dwarf into the nest.
With no reply other than the smallest of groans, the wizard began to do what wizards to best: he cast a spell. For what seemed an eternity the wizard chanted and sang in the language of Elves, a healing song alike to the one he had sung for my arm, yet this one was different; darker and more complex. It was a song of revival, more so than making better, it spoke of a thousand nights and shadows, but also of the bringing of light and hope. Gandalf was forcefully bringing back to us the Dwarf that Bilbo had saved.
Thorin's eyes burst open at last and he took a few deep, gasping breaths to steady himself. He looked about himself, wildly searching for some unknown thing. "The Halfling?" He demanded suddenly.
Gandalf chuckled, "It's alright. Bilbo is here, he's quite safe."
That did not appear to lighten the scowl that drew in the Dwarf's eyebrows and turned down the corners of his lips into a disdainful frown. "You!" He threw accusingly at Bilbo, pointing a chubby finger at the Hobbit. "What were you doing? You nearly got yourself killed! Did I not say that you would be a burden? That you would not survive in the wild, and you had no place amongst us."
For the second time in the space of an hour, I wanted to punch this Dwarven leader; my cousin had just saved Thorin's life and now he was criticising him once more. The only thing to stop me this time, was the fact that the Dwarf was still speaking, though now his entire countenance had altered.
"I have never been so wrong, in all my life." He finished with what would possibly have been the warmest smile I had ever seen Thorin give to anyone, especially Bilbo. He took the kindness further by offering the Hobbit a hug, obviously the Hobbit accepted. "I'm sorry I doubted you."
"No," Bilbo frowned, "I...I would have doubted me too. I'm not a hero, nor a warrior. Not even a burglar." For once the Hobbit seemed shy of praise, when once it had been all he had desired from the Dwarf leader.
One by one, the Eagles flew the nest, their wings taking to the air with an ease and grace that should not belong to such large creatures. Gandalf chuckled at our confused and indignant faces. "They will not take us to the mountain; they do not meddle in the affairs of us lesser beings." He explained.
Thorin had been staring at something behind me for the past few minutes, his attention fixed in its entirety. I turned my head slightly and gasped. I could see it; the Lonely Mountain. Or at least, I had guessed it to be the Lonely Mountain. A solitary peak in an ocean of wasteland and forest. Its tip shone from the snowy summit. The whole thing cast a shadow that seemed to go on until the end of the world itself.
I tugged on Kili's arm and turned him to face what would surely be the best thing he had seen in a very long time. I watched his face as it lit up with the joy of a thousand happy memories, his eyes crinkled at the edges and his smile could have broken a million hearts right then and there. It was more beautiful for me to behold than the mountain, or anything for that matter, could ever have been.
"Is that what I think it is?" Bilbo questioned, drawing the attention of all the others.
Each Dwarf turned their head, their expressions going from discomfort to exultation in seconds. There was nowhere else in the entire world that these Dwarves would ever want to be so badly and to be this close was clearly more than they had expected.
"Erebor!" Gandalf clarified, confirming my suspicions. "The Lonely Mountain. The last of the Great Dwarf Kingdoms of Middle-earth."
Thorin broke free from his trance long enough to agree, "Our home." He mumbled.
Kili pushed me to stand in front of him, both hands folding themselves around my own. "Yes," He breathed, resting his head atop mine, "Our home."
I knew not whether he was referring to his home with his kin or giving me a true home with him. I did not care, he wanted to go home so badly; something that I knew I should feel about the Shire, but I did not. The Shire had never been a place I could call home really; I had family there, yes, but no friends. People rarely want to be friends with a half-breed. Even some of my family were not that pleasant to me. Maybe I could visit them in the mountain once they had taken it back? Surely Thorin would not mind, after all I was trying to help them get it back in the first place. The mountain was bound to be busier and more interesting than the farmlands of the Shire.
Emerging from the distance a small, dark winged little bird beat its wings. It passed us steadily and flew onward, to the mountain top.
"A raven!" Oin crowed, "The birds are returning to the mountain." I had happened to get a fairly good look at the tiny creature, and was fairly certain that it was definitely not a raven. For a start, it was not even black; merely a very dark brown, with a lighter underbelly. Also, it was far too small to be a raven, at least I thought it was.
"That, my dear Oin," Gandalf tittered, "Is a thrush."
The Dwarf shook his head, muttering that he knew that and at least he spotted it.
Thorin clapped his crestfallen friend on the back, "Well, we'll take it as a sign, a good omen." He asserted, lifting Oin's spirits greatly. At least it could be said that the Dwarf leader was good to his own people.
"You're right." Bilbo agreed cheerily, "I do believe the worst is behind us."
My cousin was trying to lighten the mood and give us hope, but I had a sneaking suspicion that the worst lay ahead and not behind. Even with Kili's warmth at my back and his hands in mine, I could not help but feel uneasy about the rest of the journey.
Thank you to anyone still reading this. Updates should come quicker over the next few weeks.
Reviews would be greatly appreciated.
The song for this chapter is Little Bird by Ed Sheeran.