Thanks guys for the review! As a couple of you pointed out I did not post the translation to the Khuzdul phrase Kíli threw at Bolg and that is my apologises, I thought I already had it in that note but I didn't so here is the Khuzdul translation:

Imrid amrad ursul - Thorin uses this in the Desolation of Smaug and tells it to Elrond and in an interview Richard Armitage said the literal translation was something about burning in fire so basically it means burn in hell.

Guest (1): Yep, Kíli is safe...for now. He's still very wounded but we won't be picking up with them until next chapter, I'm afraid. Thanks for reviewing.

Guest (2): I'm glad I could provide some intensity and again I'm sorry I didn't translate the phrase last chapter. I hope this helps. Thanks for reviewing!

Chapter 17

As they crossed the plains south towards the Misty Mountains, Bofur prayed that the lads hadn't been stupid enough to actually cross over Dimrill Dale. The horrors of those mines were well known by the dwarves. Bofur even remembered telling them as horror stories to both Fíli and Kíli when they were younger when they came to visit his shop. The boys were reckless and sometimes daft at the best of times, but they weren't stupid enough to go through that horrible place.

They trotted on, and Nori suddenly spotted something along the mountains. At first he thought his eyes were deceiving him but after a closer look, he came to a stop, surprise and hope flooding through him.

"Is that what I think it is?" he asked.

Bifur and Bofur turned to see what Nori was staring at and when their eyes landed on it, they came to a standstill, Bofur's face lighting up. Before them was a passage through the mountains, one that was definitely not Dimrill Dale with three ponies grazing in the grass around it.

"Well I'll be," Bofur muttered.

"Those are their ponies alright, or I'm an Elf's uncle."

"You couldn't possibly be an Elf's uncle. You're far too short and much more honorable than that lot."

Bofur and Nori laughed as they led Bifur over to the ponies. When they reached the path, they dismounted and began to pet them.

"I wonder why they left their ponies here," Nori muttered as he petted Daisy's mane.

"Path was probably too dangerous. Maybe we should leave ours here as well. I'm sure Beorn will find them and take care of them for us until we come back this way."

"Don't be stupid. If we are to ever catch up with them we are going to need all the speed we can get and we're not exactly as young neither as them nor as fast. You've seen how fast Bilbo can be when he's being chased!"

"We don't know how treacherous the path could be!"

"And we don't know how far ahead of us the lads are!"

"They can't be that far ahead. Knowing those two troublemakers they probably spend half the day asleep. They're not exactly the first risers."

"But Bolg is after them, remember? They're gonna quicken their pace so that the Orcs don't catch up with them."

As the two bickered and bantered, Bifur removed his supplies from his pony and began to follow the path. The moment he disappeared from view, Bofur said, "Thorin put me in charge of bringing the boys back, so that means I'm in charge of this journey so what I says goes and I say that we leave the ponies."

"You couldn't lead a dragon to gold."

"And you think you can do better?"

"I know I could."

Bofur began to laugh.

"What are you laughing about?"

"The idea of you leading something. You couldn't lead a dragon to gold either because you would have stolen the gold by then and the dragon would have caught you and you'd be nothing more than a pile of dust!"

As Bofur continued laughing, Nori jumped at him and soon the two dwarves began to wrestle on the ground. Their tustle only lasted a few moments before they realized something was missing.

"Hang on a moment, where's Bifur?" Bofur asked as looked around.

Nori and Bofur stood up and spun around, looking for their missing member until they realized that his packs were gone from his pony.

"When did he do that?" Nori asked.

Neither of them said anything as they hurriedly grabbed their gear and ran after their companion. Eventually they caught up to him and continued onward through the mountains.

The sun was high in the sky and the mountains were peaceful as they travelled. Why couldn't their trip through the High Pass be like this instead of the thunder battle they had to witness?

As the sun began to disappear they found a cavern to take shelter in. Bifur had disappeared again for reasons unknown to the other two.

They sat around the fire eating the concoction Bofur had created. As Nori took a sip of the watery soup, he grimaced and groan.

"What?" Bofur asked.

"I thought you said you could cook."

"I can cook."

"I don't know what you consider cooking but this isn't cooking. This is worse than Dori!"

"It's not that bad," Bofur said as he took a spoonful. He regretted his words, however, the moment it hit his tongue. As he spat it out, he replied, "Alright, that's bloody awful."

"Guess we're going hungry tonight."

As he said that Bifur returned with three conies on twine. Bofur and Nori watched him in confusion, wondering how the dwarf had known that they were going to need food and how in the world he managed to find three conies in the mountains.

TBC...

Ok these three are hard to write but I enjoy them so much because sometimes I just laugh at what they end up doing. These are the guys where they just take control in my head and I go with it. But yes, this story needed some light-hearted moments and these are the ones to bring it. Ok, enough with that babbling, your preview:

Fíli was supposed to be protecting Bilbo and his brother and so far he had done a terrible job. If he wasn't on this journey, Bolg wouldn't be chasing them; Kíli wouldn't have been tortured. How could Kíli think none of this was his fault? He needed to protect his brother but… how?

That next day when they stopped to eat, Fíli approached the spot where Bilbo and Kíli sat. As he drew near, he could feel the darkness creeping over him. He took a deep breath and began to ignore it as he said, "I have something I would like to say."

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