Chapter 13
They were all floating down the river. Mariah still had ahold of her sister's barrel and Kili's. Her eyes hardly left Kili. He tried so hard to hide the pain he was in, but deep down she knew he was hurting.
"Anything behind us?" Thorin called out, leading the company.
"Not that I can see." Balin replied back.
"I think we've out run the Orcs." Bofur added.
"Not for long." Thorin's voice was deep. "We've lost the current."
"We almost held drowned!" Dwalin shouted.
Thorin ignored Dwalin and commanded everyone. "Make for shore!"
They all finally reached shore. Mariah's legs felt like Jell-O as she got stood up after getting out of the barrel. She wobbled over to Kili and helped him sit down on a nearby rock.
"On your feet." Thorin commanded to Kili.
"Kili is wounded, Uncle. His leg needs binding." Fili insisted as he helped his brother's leg.
Mariah looked over at Thorin with a frown set on her face. Kili was not going anywhere.
"There is an Orc pack at our tail." Thorin looked over to me. "We keep moving."
"How are we going to move quickly when Kili is bleeding out?" Mariah asked with a hint of attitude in her voice.
Thorin rolled his eyes and looked over at Kili. It took him a moment before he finally spoke. "Bind his leg, quickly. You have two minutes."
Suddenly a man, a human, stood behind Ori, who was dumping water out of his boots. The human had his bow and arrow ready to shoot. Kili went to throw a stone at him, but the man shot it out of his hand with an arrow.
"Do it again and you're dead." The human male said as he pointed another arrow at us.
"Excuse me, but um…are you from Lake town? That barge over there, it wouldn't be available for hire by any chance?" Balin asked politely.
The man started to walk towards the barge and the company followed him.
"What makes you think I would help you?" The mysterious man asked.
"Those boots have seen better days, as has that coat." Balin answered with a small smirk.
The man started to put our barrels into the barge as Balin still spoke to him.
"No doubt you have some hungry mouths to feed? How many kids?"
"A boy and two girls." The man answered with a sigh, not really wanting to be in this conversation.
"And your wife, I imagine, she's a beauty?"
"Aye, she was."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" Balin was interrupted by an impatient Dwalin.
"Oh come on. Enough with the niceties."
"What's your hurry?" The human asked when he was done putting all of our barrels into the barge.
"What's it to you?" Dwalin said, not answering his question.
"I would like to know who you are and what you are doing in these lands." The male answered.
"We are simple merchants from the Blue Mountains, journeying to see our kin in Iron Hills." Balin answered the human male's question.
"Simple merchants you say?" He looked over to Mariah and Alexis. "Those women do not look like merchants." He stood straight up and faced his body towards us. "Why are two human females out with a group of dwarves and a hobbit?"
"They kidnapped us." Alexis answered and Mariah punched her arm.
"No, they didn't." Mariah said, correcting Alexis's words. "We just wanted a journey and they offered it to us."
"Forced." Alexis coughed.
"You wanted to come!" Mariah said back to her sister.
"I'm sorry; I didn't think that giant fucking spiders were going to try to eat us!" Alexis spat back.
The two sisters glared at one another before Fili stood in between the two, breaking up their argument.
"We need food, supplies, and weapons. Can you help us?" Thorin pleaded.
"I know where these barrels came from." The man said as he put his hand on a beaten up barrel, picking at the wood. "I don't know what business you had with the elves, but I don't think it ended well. No one enters Lake town but by lead of the master. All his wealth comes from trade with the Woodland Realm. He would see you in irons before risking the wrath of King Thranduil."
"It's okay, Mr. Fabulous is cool with me." Alexis spoke up.
"Oh please, you kissed him and his son's ass. That's all." Her sister chipped in.
Ignoring the two arguing sisters, Balin spoke to the human.
"I'll wager there are ways to enter that town unseen."
"Aye, but for that you would need a smuggler."
"For which we would pay double." Balin said with a huge grin on his face.
The human looked over at Balin with interest. Of course money would interest someone into smuggling dwarves, a hobbit, and two humans.
A/N: Another chapter down! :)