Disclaimer: The Hobbit does not belong to me, but to Professor Tolkien, Peter Jackson, and his Company.

Gem of His Heart

"Drifa!" Thorin yelled. He scrambled to her through the downpour, his feet sliding in the mud. "Are you hurt?" Although she had left him in the past, he could not leave her here in eminent danger from the mud and the storm.

"Nay," she answered shakily. "At least I do not believe so." She placed her hand in Thorin's battle-scarred grasp. He tugged her to her feet and turned to see his own pony following hers up the mountain with mud flinging out behind them.

The guards realized that Thorin wasn't with them. Two of them turned back just as the rumbling got louder. In horror, Thorin watched as the hillside began to collapse around them.

Chapter 6

"Get to safety!" Thorin bellowed to the guards ahead of him. He snatched Drifa by the hand and dragged her to a large rock formation nearby. "Crawl up there," he ordered, grasping her foot and giving her a leg up.

Drifa scrambled up to safety, wincing as the sharp rock cut into her hands. She turned to reach for Thorin, but could only watch in horror as a liquefied flow of mud, trees, and rocks washed the dwarf king, the guards, and the guards' ponies down the hillside. "No!" she screamed, lunging forward and nearly falling off the rock herself. "Thorin!" She kept her eyes on the speck that was the dwarf king until she could see him no more.

A sob escaped her throat. Thorin may have broken her heart into millions of little pieces, but she never wanted it to come to this. Never. "Thorin!" she screamed once again, her voice breaking on a sob.

Fili, dressed only in his trousers, tugged on Sigrid's hand until she fell onto their bed with him.

She shrieked playfully. "Fili! It is not time for bed, love."

"No, no it is not," he grinned cheekily. "I have something else in mind." Fili's blue eyes darkened as he leaned forward to capture his new wife's lips in a tender kiss which soon became more heated as she tangled her fingers in his thick blonde hair.

"Fili," she whispered breathlessly as she laid back and tugged his body over hers.

Resting on his elbows, the dwarf prince placed heated kisses down Sigrid's jawline before venturing lower to suckle at her pulse point.

A pounding on the door startled the newlyweds from their obsession with one another. "Ignore it," Fili growled as the pounding grew louder.

"What if it's important?" Sigrid gasped as Fili found a particularly sensitive place behind her ear.

"Nothing is as important as you," Fili sighed against his wife's silky skin.

"Fili, you clod! Open the door! This is important!" Kili's voice filtered through the heavy oak door.

Fili groaned. "He is not going to go away is he?" he murmured woefully against the heated skin of Sigrid's shoulder.

"No, I do not think so," she sighed, stroking her fingers through her husband's blonde hair. "Go answer it, love." Sigrid slid from Fili's grasp and slid her dressing gown over hear nearly naked body, tying the sash tightly in the front of the royal blue gown.

Fili grunted before he shoved off the side of the bed and stomped in frustration to the door before snatching it open. "What is it, Kili?" He was taken off-guard by the worried expression on his younger brother's face.

"It is Uncle, Dain, and Queen Nal. They have not returned from their tour of the countryside. We are having yet another storm. They should have been back long before now. Dusk is falling."

Fili frowned as Sigrid came to his side and wrapped her hands around his forearm. Worry wound its claws into the pit of his stomach. "They took guards with them," he pointed out although the thought did nothing to assuage his worry.

"But they should have returned, Fili. Balin says you are needed in the Main Hall. We need to organize search parties." Kili looked beseechingly at his brother.

"Aye," Fili told him, whirling quickly back towards the bedroom. "I need to find a shirt and I will join you." He grabbed the first one he put his hands on and shrugged it over his head.

"You will find him, Fili," Sigrid said softly. "Your uncle is a strong, determined man. He will be all right."

"We can only hope," Fili sighed, worry swimming in his blue gaze.

"I will dress and get to the kitchens. Thorin and his companions will need a warm stew ready for their return."

"Thank you, Sigrid," Fili smiled, pulling his wife in for a quick kiss. "I love you."

"And I love you," she answered. "Please, Fili, be careful."

"Always," he told her quietly before slipping out to join Kili and Balin in the Main Hall.

Drifa could see Dain, Nal, and the two remaining guards at the top of the hill. She waved frantically at them. "I am fine!" she shouted. "Go for help!"

Dain waved to signal that he heard her. The ponies turned and headed back toward the mountain. Drifa shivered as she watched them go. She was wet, cold, and alone. The wind whistled over the muddy valley and she was soaked clear through and wearing a layer of mud. She turned back to look down the hill and strained her eyes to see any sign of Thorin or the unlucky guardsmen, but she could not see anything.

The rain trickled to a stop, but the sky remained gray and overcast. Drifa cast her eyes on the mud surrounding her and spied a long stick. Reaching out, she managed to grasp it with her fingertips. Getting it out of the mud was much trickier. It took several minutes and she had worked up a sweat before she managed to work it free.

Drifa pushed her blonde hair back from her face and studied the terrain down below her. Was there any chance that Thorin could still be alive? Could anyone have survived a landslide like this one? "Thorin?" she screamed, her cry echoing through the valley. She listened, her brow crinkling when she thought she heard a feeble cry. "Hello?" she called again, straining forward to listen for any sign of life.

There it was; she heard it again from somewhere down below her. Whether it was Thorin or one of the guards, she could not tell. She only knew that the person was probably injured and needed her help. "I'm coming," she shouted. "Just hang on!"

Biting her lower lip, Drifa studied the situation around her. How was she going to get through the mud? Would it suck her beneath its sticky surface like quicksand? She'd seen quicksand once, back when she and Thorin had been together. They had snuck out for a day in the forest and had discovered a deer caught in the stuff. The poor animal had cried pitifully, and Thorin had used his rope to rescue it. Drifa sighed. She had nothing except the stick, her muddy cloak, and the clothes on her back. She wouldn't be of much help to anyone, but she had to try.

Thorin groaned from his place beneath the rocky overhang. His head throbbed painfully, and when he put his hand his temple, it came away bloody. He was pretty sure he had some broken ribs; it was painful to take deep breaths. His leg also ached fearfully and a sharp pain sprinted up his body every time he tried to move it. Thorin was almost certain his leg was broken. He was in a right state. It was too dangerous for anyone to get down here to rescue him.

He never thought he'd die like this. He had always assumed he would be cut down in battle, most likely reclaiming Erebor. Now, he would die at the bottom of a mudslide and leave Fili to rule Erebor. He trusted his heir; Fili would make a wise and fair king for their people. Thorin had hoped to have more time to get things settled and perhaps help Fili build more confidence in himself before he became king. No matter, the young dwarf had a new wife and a younger brother by his side to help him rule.

Thorin shook his head. What was he thinking? Never had he given up so easily before. He shifted around, searching for something to use as a crutch. It was then that he heard it. Someone was shouting his name. Drifa. "I'm here!" he shouted, waiting until her heard her call his name again. "Drifa, I'm here!" he screamed once more.

Then fear overtook him. He did not want her risking herself to save him. Feelings he thought long gone blossomed inside of him – fear for her safety, longing for her to find happiness, the desire to hold her tightly in his arms and kiss her senseless one last time. Where had that last one come from? Thorin was pretty sure he was delirious from the pain.

Thorin reached for a nearby stick and nearly screamed at the pain that ricocheted through his ribs and leg. Blackness hovered at the edges of his vision for a moment, but he had to try to help himself. He moved once more, and this time the blackness won and Thorin mercifully sank into the realm of unconsciousness.

To Be Continued…