A/N Hello everybody! So once again a few days gap between chapters I do apologise profusely! This chapter was rather hard to write for two reasons, one of which you'll pick up on I'm sure, but the other I just didn't know how to write it. Anyway! I hope you enjoy this chapter, I'm not going to say anything else on this matter! :)
Welcome to perfectharmony22, sassygirl9811, Pucaroo, Lithuenne and OwenHarpersGirl! Glad you guys are enjoying the story! And once again thanks to all my current favouriters/followers! Love you all to death and love all the amazing reviews! Let me know what you think! :)
As much as it breaks my heart I do not own the writings or the characters of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, they are the wonderful and exclusive workings of J.R.R Tolkien
"OPEN THE GATES!" Dwalin roared into the night.
The company of dwarves charged towards the gates, hot on the heels of the two elves that carried their precious cargo. The gates swung open just as the elves arrived at the wall and they shot through the gates without slowing down. Through the driving rain Thorin could see the elves slow briefly looking wildly about to try and spot a building that might house a healer.
Thorin galloped past them and roared out over his shoulder "THIS WAY! HURRY!"
The elves spurred their horses on and followed the dwarf towards wherever he was going, the rest of his companions close behind.
Houses blurred by in a flurry from motion and rain, but despite his surroundings Elrohir only had eyes and ears for the dwarfling he had seated in front of him, a hand pressed to his chest to try and stop the bleeding, and the rest of his body to try and shelter Fíli from the elements.
Elrohir hated how they'd had to return to town to heal Fíli. He and Elladan had argued in Elvish over what to do when the dwarves had arrived.
"We can try heal him here, just remove the arrow and hopefully we can reverse the damage that's been done." Elrohir said.
"No! You know that healing serious injuries is still difficult for us, and we don't have anything we need to do it successfully! Besides with these dwarves, the rain and the loss of blood Fíli isn't going to survive if we stay here."
"What are you suggesting?" Elrohir asked his brother urgently
"We take him to Ered Luin. We find a healers building where we have access to medicinal supplies and warmth and we work there. If we don't act soon he'll no doubt suffer a fever and will likely fall to pneumonia from the cold." Elladan said swiftly scooping Fíli into his arms as Elrohir let out a piercing whistle.
The two dwarves who were leading slowed in front of a house and the one who had threatened Elrohir with his sword raced inside, bellowing at the top of his lungs.
Elrohir looked down and saw his brother by his side with his arms open. Carefully and gently Elrohir lowered Fíli to his brother, dismounted his horse and raced after his brother.
"OIN! OIN WHERE ARE YA! WE 'AVE WOUNDED!" Dwalin bellowed as he raced through the door of the Healing House. He paused the moment he charged in as there were several healers picking supplies up off the floor as they'd dropped them in fright with his yelling. He heard hurried footsteps and turned towards the sound to see Oin and two other healers on his tail.
"How many?" Oin asked as he neared Dwalin.
"Jus' one. It's Fíli Oin. He g... he got hurt." Dwalin's voice broke slightly as he spoke quietly to Oin so as not to alert anyone, specifically Dís who was most likely awake by now.
Oin's eyes widened in shock at the news and his mouth dropped open as Thorin ran in with two elves hot on his tail, one holding the golden haired dwarfling.
"Oh Mahal…" Oin whispered. He looked at the two elves briefly before motioning for them to follow him. "This way, quickly."
The elves nodded and strode after Oin, Thorin, Dwalin and Balin hurrying behind them.
Oin led them into a room that was the furthest from Dís's room. The last thing any of them wanted was for her to hear her son screaming in pain in a room next to her and for her to come bursting in making things harder than they already were.
Elladan strode forwards and placed Fíli down gently onto the table that was there. He was about to start checking Fíli to try and find out how deep the arrow had gone when the sound of a sword being drawn had him spin around, hand on his sheathed sword to meet this new foe.
"Don't even think about it." Thorin hissed at him, the tip of his sword at Elladan's throat and the sound of multiple swords being drawn echoing around the room.
Elladan cursed under his breath and looked around; Elrohir had his sword pointing at three dwarves who had him corned and their swords pointing at his throat.
Bofur, Gloin and Bifur had secured all the ponies and the two horses in the stable at the side of the Healing House before rushing in, and seeing the nod Thorin gave to Dwalin when they entered the room they could easily guess what he had planned. The moment Thorin drew his sword they cornered the other elf to stop him from trying to help his brother, although they weren't sure if this was a particularly bright idea given the situation, and the fact these elves had finished a battle not 10 minutes prior and would be full of adrenaline which could make the situation worse if they acted.
"What do you think you are doing?" Elladan asked angrily.
"It is your fault Fíli is like this, if you hadn't taken him he would have been safe and he wouldn't be lying here," Thorin nodded to Oin to start looking at Fíli before turning his attention back to the elf. "The ONLY reason you are still alive is because you brought my nephew here. Now I suggest you leave before change my mind." Thorin hissed at the elf.
"We can help him!" The elf who was cornered by Bofur, Bifur and Gloin insisted angrily.
"The only help ya can give is if ya git yer miserable hides out of Ered Luin and never return!" Dwalin spat out.
There was a stare down between the elves and dwarves before Elrohir turned to his brother.
"El," was all he said, jerking his head towards the door.
Elladan spat out an elvish curse, looked at Fíli fearfully for a brief moment and strode out of the room after his brother, barely flinching when the door was slammed shut.
"We can't leave him! Not like this!" Elladan thought angrily to his brother who had walked away from the room.
"We're not leaving him," Elrohir thought back, returning with two chairs and placing them opposite the door, sitting heavily in one. "We are going to stay here and listen to what happens. The moment they need help we are going to barge in there and take over, even if it gets us banned from here for life, I will not let him die. I just hope the wound isn't too severe."
Elrohir really, REALLY hoped the wound wasn't severe.
Thorin raced over to Fíli's side and grabbed his nephews hand with one hand, and running his free one through the soaked hair.
"How bad Oin?" Thorin asked, his voice barely above a whisper. When he received no reply he cleared his throat and asked louder, his voice cracking as he tried to talk.
Oin looked at him briefly from inspecting Fíli's chest, grabbing at a cloth from a healer who had come in to try to clean away and slow the bleeding as he talked. "Bad. The arrows deep Thorin, deeper than I would like, and already a fever is raging through his body." He knew there was no use trying to lessen the blow. "Gloin get the fire going, otherwise you'll all end up with pneumonia, Fíli included." He said over his shoulder loudly.
He looked back at Thorin with concern. "That's not the worst part I'm afraid. The location of the arrow shaft is right next to his heart, yet the entry hole is much bigger than it would normally be."
Thorin looked at Oin, fear flooding him completely; waiting for Oin to voice what he was couldn't stop thinking.
"Thorin, it means that the arrow head must be a great deal bigger than it should be and because of its size it has most likely caused some form of damage to his heart."
Thorin's knees hit the ground and there was a silence that settled over the room, the new information sinking in for the dwarves gathered.
A whimper from the table drew Oin's attention as Fíli started writhing underneath the healers hands. Thorin jumped back to his feet to try and help Oin and the other healer still his nephew.
"Stop Fíli, don't move little one." Thorin said in as gentle voice as he could muster for the time being.
Fíli's eyes cracked open and looked up towards Thorin, unable to focus.
"Unca… Hurts…" He moaned, before a scream of agony was wrenched from his lips and his body began thrashing under the hold of Thorin, Dwalin and Balin whilst the two healers tried to stop the blood that was beginning to flow quickly once more.
The other dwarves stood there watching in horror at the scene before them when the door suddenly crashed open, causing everyone to look towards the new arrival.
"Dís!"
Fréya had just left Dís's room in order to find some more blankets for Dís, herself and baby Kíli as it was getting colder due to the storm. She had spent some time holding Kíli and marvelling at the gift of new life in front of her, as she'd never seen a newborn before as her siblings were older than her, and she'd never been allowed around babies until they were a little older. She and Dís spent a lot of time talking about Kíli and how gorgeous he was. She knew Dís was glad for the company, as Thorin had left her hours ago to fetch Fíli, and when asked about their absence Fréya had made up some excuse about Thorin not bringing Fíli until Dís was well rested, but that he had asked Fréya to go be there and help Dís if she needed it.
Fréya was walking down the door when an almighty roar made her jump in fright
"OIN! OIN WHERE ARE YA! WE HAVE WOUNDED!"
"Dwalin?" Fréya whispered to herself with a frown as she hurried forwards to see who had been injured.
Fréya peered around the corner to the main waiting room and saw Dwalin and Oin talking quickly, then watched as two large beings entered the house followed by Thorin and Balin.
The moment the two strangers stepped into the Healing House Fréya felt her stomach drop and thought she was going to be sick. There, cradled in one of the taller persons arms was a dwarf with blonde hair, and an arrow pointing straight up from somewhere in his torso.
"Fíli" Fréya whispered in horror, leaning against the wall for support.
He'd been hurt, the little dwarfling she loved with all her heart had been hurt and all because she hadn't kept an eye on him. She knew she would never forgive herself, not for this.
Movement towards her spurred her into motion to move quickly back down the hallway to hide behind a dresser and watch as Oin led the group towards a room. The moment they had disappeared through the door Fréya stumbled back to Dís's room completely unaware of how pale she had become.
Fréya all but fell through the door when she opened it and collapsed against the wall after shutting the door behind her.
She looked at Dís in horror to see that Dís was busy cuddling Kíli and had yet to look at her.
"Was that Dwalin I heard? Is everything alright out there?" Dís asked still focused on her baby, making cooing noises at her arms.
When there was no reply Dís looked up to take in Fréya's pale and terrified features.
"Fréya, what's the matter?" Dís asked looking concerned. She got up, placed Kíli in his cot and moved towards her, placing a hand on Fréya's shoulders.
"Fréya? Who's out there? Who was hurt?" Dís asked firmly.
Fréya shook her head slightly, her mouth opening and closing several times unable to get any sound out.
"Fíli…" Was all Fréya managed to whisper.
Dís stood completely still, the colour draining from her face before she dashed out the door with Fréya right behind her.
Dís stood in the hallway, looking around wildly for any sign of her golden son. She noticed two men sitting outside of a room right at the end of the hall. As she drew closer an agonised scream that could only belong to a child tore through the air.
The two men looked up in horror at the door opposite them that was shut giving Dís all the answers she needed. With a sob escaping her and Fréya's lips Dís raced over to the door and shoved it open.
The sight that greeted her made her want to scream. There was Thorin, Dwalin and Balin holding down a dwarf to stop them from thrashing whilst Oin and a healer were nearby trying to do something, and there was an arrow sticking straight up from the dwarf on the table indicating the injury. A flash of gold from the opposite end of the table was all Dís saw of the dwarf's hair but it gave her the answer she needed but didn't want.
She took all this in in a split second before she had all the dwarves in the room looking at her stricken.
"Dís!"
Thorin thought his heart had stopped as he watched his sister throw herself into the room, terror written all over her face as she raced to the table.
"Fíli! My baby!" She cried as she raced to the table next to Thorin.
Thorin reached out and tried to stop his sister from seeing where the arrow had hit, but it was to no avail.
"NO! FÍLI!" Dís screamed when she saw the arrow sticking out of his chest, beginning to sob.
"Dís! He's alive! He's a fighter and won't leave us, we'll save him I promise you but please you must leave!" Thorin sobbed to his sister, pulling her away from the table whilst tears streaked down his face. He hadn't wanted her to see Fíli like this, and all the emotions and adrenaline were over powering him so much that all he wanted to do was hug his family and cry.
"Fíli…" Dís sobbed as Thorin led her to Fréya who was shaking like a leaf and crying.
"Go… Go be with Kíli, he needs you to stay strong. They both do." Thorin said, leading both dwarrowdams out of the room, unable to stop his voice from breaking as he spoke.
As Thorin shut the door on his sister who was stumbling back to her room he spotted the two elves sitting outside the room looking scared. Their reactions were strange for elves, especially when it wasn't one of their own injured, but he couldn't bring himself to think about it or care as all he wanted to do was to be with Fíli.
Thorin raced over to the table just as Oin was cutting Fíli's shirt away to reveal the entry point, and felt his stomach drop. The entry wound itself wasn't huge; it was smaller than what he had imagined. However what was most concerning were the thick black veins that surrounded the wound and trailed out like webs, as well as the blood that was oozing out slowly, the arrow head now stopping the blood from gushing out.
Thorin choked back a breath when he examined his nephew and looked to Oin in horror.
"What could cause this?" Thorin whispered
Oin looked at Thorin in concern as he picked up a knife from the table. "Restrain him" Oin said to Dwalin with a nod to Thorin.
Before Thorin could move or register what had been said Dwalins' arms wrapped around his chest the same moment Oin placed the knife to Fíli's skin near the wound. Thorin began struggling in Dwalins' arms as Fíli started screaming in pain.
"Stop it! OIN STOP!" Thorin roared still struggling.
"Gimme a hand here and hold him down!" Oin yelled at the other dwarves in the room. Once Balin, Bofur, Gloin and the other healer had Fíli pinned completely to the bed Oin drew the knife across the wound on either side causing black tainted blood to spill from the cuts Oin had made.
When Oin was satisfied the wound was big enough he dropped his blade on the table and grasped the arrow as close to Fíli as he could. "Hold him!" Oin yelled as Fíli began thrashing violently on the table again.
Once the dwarves had Fíli subdued once again he wrenched the arrow up and out, a tearing noise followed by a blood curdling scream echoing round the room.
Oin's assistant quickly stepped up with a towel and pressed it to the open wound as Oin moved to the fire and used the light to examine the arrow head. It was definitely a bigger head than what most arrows had, the tips of the arrow were curved into sharp points designed to ensure if the arrow was pulled at it would cause even more damage, especially if it hit any organs. But the stone it was made of was odd. Oin didn't recognise it at first and ran a list of stones through his mind to try and identify what it was made of when a foul smell hit him. Oin looked at the arrow carefully and gave it a good sniff before it slipped from his hands in horror. He knew what this was… it was something that the Orcs had just started using, and it created one of the worst forms of suffering and death possible.
"OIN!"
A started yell had Oin spinning on the spot and racing over to the table whilst snatching up his stethoscope. The colour had all but drained from Fíli's face, just a sheen of sweat on his pale face as his body started convulsing on the table.
"I need Kingsfoil! Now!" Oin yelled at the other healer as he placed the end of his stethoscope on Fíli's chest, the healer nodded and sprinted from the room.
"Oin! What's happening?!" Thorin asked in a panicked voice, successfully out of Dwalin's hold and back at Fíli's side, whilst Dwalin had switched to Fíli and was currently trying to stop the dwarfling from thrashing on the table in his seizure.
"It was a morgul shaft Thorin, it has only just appeared in Middle Earth. The enemy now uses it, a rock forged from evil magic that bleeds poison. The Kingsfoil should slow down the poison but there is nothing I can…"
The door slammed open and Elladan and Elrohir swept into the room and headed straight for Fíli.
"GET OUT!" Thorin roared at the elves, drawing his sword once again. "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO BE IN HERE! IT IS YOUR FAULT HE'S LIKE THIS!"
The elves ignored him and continued heading for Fíli. All the dwarves save Oin lunged forward with their swords drawn and stood their ground to block the elves from getting to the dwarfling.
"Move! You may still be naïve to curing wounds like this but we can do it. We will NOT let Fíli die because of a bunch of thick headed dwarves!" Elladan hissed.
"YOU WILL NOT TOUCH MY NEPHEW! IF YOU TAKE ONE MORE STEP I…"
"THORIN!" Oin's choking cry cut Thorin off causing everyone to look at him.
Oin was focused on Fíli's now limp form, his stethoscope still on Fíli's chest to listen to his heart. He looked up with tears in his eyes
"Fíli's heart's stopped."