Chapter 17
Beorn
I woke up to find Stacia was not sleeping next to me. I sat up and looked around. I heard Stacia's giggle coming from the kitchen. I sighed in relief and got off the hay. Thorin was still sleeping along with everyone else. I brushed off the hay and followed the smell of food. A very tall man stood in the kitchen with Stacia, who was helping getting food on the table.
"Mommy. Your awake." Stacia said, running over and I scooped her up.
"You got a lovely daughter. She was very helpful." Beorn said.
"Thank you. Should I wake the others?" I ask.
"Yes." Stacia said, but the smell of food had them all up. Thorin came over to me and kissed my check. I sat next to Fili with Thorin. Anna sat in between Fili and Kili and Stacia sat on Thorin's lap after she was done eating. Beorn poured some milk into Fili's mug.
"So you are the one they call Oakenshield. Tell me, why is Azog the Defiler hunting you?" Beorn asked, looking at Thorin.
"You know of Azog? How?" Thorin asked.
"My people were the first to live in the mountains, before the Orcs came down from the north. The Defiler killed most of my family, but some he enslaved." Beorn said. I saw the shackles on his hands. "Not for work, you understand, but for sport. Caging skin-changers and torturing them seemed to amuse him." I took a drink of my milk that I hadn't finished yet.
"There are others like you?" Bilbo asked.
"Once, there were many." Beorn said.
"And now?" Stacia asked. Beorn gave her a sad smile.
"Now there is only one." Beorn said.
"Mom. Can I go outside till we leave?" Stacia asked.
"Just stay in the hedges and take my dog with you and come in when she tells you too, because the Orcs are still out there." Beorn said. Stacia nodded and got off Thorin's lap to go outside. I watched her go. "She reminds me of my daughter at that age. Sweet and innocent." I looked at him.
"She was enslaved like you were?" I ask.
"Killed in front of me at the same age Stacia is. Thorin. I know she's your adopted daughter, but you better guard her with your life, because Azog will show no mercy to kids." Beorn said. Thorin and I look at each other and we knew he was right.
"We will. All of us." Thorin said. The dwarves nodded. Beorn nodded.
"You need to reach the mountain before the last days of autumn?" Beorn asked.
"Before Durin's Day falls, yes." Gandalf said.
"You are running out of time." Beorn said.
"Which is why we must go through Mirkwood." Gandalf said.
"A darkness lies over the forest. Fell things creep beneath those trees. There is an alliance between the Orcs of Moria and the Necromancer in Dol Guldur. I would not venture there except in great need." Beorn said.
"We will take the Elven Road. That path is still safe." Gandalf said.
"Safe? The Wood-Elves of Mirkwood are not like their kin. They're less wise and more dangerous. But it matters not." Beorn said.
"What do you mean?" Thorin asked.
"These lands are crawling with Orcs. Their numbers are growing, and you are on foot. You will never reach the forest alive." Beorn said. Thorin looks shocked and I rested my hand on his leg. "I don't like dwarves. They're greedy and blind, blind to the lives of those they deem lesser than their own. Beorn picks up a mouse that scampered across the table. "But Orcs I hate more and that little girl said you all protected her with your lives. What do you need?"
I head outside and saw Stacia with the ponies. She was petting one that took a liking to her. I smiled. Someone joins me.
"Stacia told me that she doesn't know who her real father is. Mind telling me why?" Beorn asked. I looked at Beorn and then back at Stacia. Her father is in prison for rape. She's a product of rape, but I don't treat her like she is. She kept me alive when I carried her." I said.
"I'm sorry to hear that. You both are in good hands. The King loves you both. I can tell." Beorn said. The others come out and Stacia runs over.
"Are we leaving?" Stacia asked.
"We are." Thorin said. We put the packs on the saddles and Thorin puts Stacia on ours and climbs up behind her and I get on behind him.
"Go now, while you have the light. The hunters are not far behind." Beorn said. We rode off in the direction of Mirkwood. I knew what was to come and I didn't look forward to seeing spiders or the elves.
AN: There's the new chapter. Hope you enjoyed and thank you for the reviews. :)