Chapter 8

"The Journey Begins"

The rays of morning sun peeked through the leaves of the hanging tree as Thorin and company mounted their ponies to begin their ride back from Valtek to the Shire. Which wasn't a long ride at all considering one could see the edge of it from the watch tower at the entrance of the city. The dwarf prince felt a sense of loss as they drew closer to the hobbit burglar's home; a feeling that he realized could only be satisfied by the woman with hair white as starlight.

Once the ponies were placed with the others, the company went to the door and before Dwalin could ring the bell it opened to reveal a smiling Torshar, "Well, good morning! Breakfast, as well as the other dwarves of your company, are waiting in the dining room!" she explained and widened the entrance so they could step through.

Needless to say that the warrior in Thorin told him to be extremely angry that she was there but his princely side was glad to see her once more. As he entered the home and locked gazes with the starlight headed maiden and stopped in the entryway until she closed the door. Taking the opportunity, he gently grasped her arm, "What are you doing here?" he asked, keeping his anger in check.

Her crystalline eyes looked up to his sapphire ones as she answered, "I am going to help you on your journey. Gandalf informed me that you need to find safe roads across Middle-Earth to get you to the Mountain. I am the most traveled person you know and can guide you. Please, Thorin…" gingerly she took his hand his hand in hers, "I wish to stay with my best friend in his time of need and share his pain as well as joy." She smiles, "Like when we danced last night at the celebration. Your face was glowing with the lights of joy, happiness, and contentment. I want to stay by your side through all of it, no matter what."

The prince was astonished by her kind words of undying loyalty and pulled her in for an embrace, "Your words are kind, Torshar, and I thank you for your unwavering loyalty but I wish you would reconsider. Please… I have lost so many people I care about… I do not want to add you to that list…" Thorin whispered and held her close.

She returned the embrace, "You cannot ask me to stay behind and worry about you the entire time that you are gone… Besides I already signed the contract…"

This made Thorin reel back in horror, "You did what?!"

"When I arrived, I spoke to Balin who gave me a contract upon my request. Believe me, he is just as adamant about this as you are! But I cannot just wait around for word of your success or death! I will not allow you to die on this quest!" she explained and tears began to pool in her eyes, "You were the only one who offered true comfort when I believed my family was dead… I value you over anyone including myself…"

Before she could continue, Balin appeared, "Thorin, come get some breakfast, lad." The prince, reluctantly, obeyed and followed the old dwarf into the hall and out of earshot of Torshar who shed a couple of tears as she whispered, "Because I love you…"

After the meal was eaten and the dishes were washed, the company of fifteen mounted their steeds and headed off to Bree. Thorin and Torshar had not spoken since their conversation in the hobbit's entryway and the versifier refused to look in his general direction as she rode beside him as his guide. The tension between them was obvious as they rode with; at least, a couple of feet between them and it began to worry Gandalf slightly as they turned onto the Great East Road.

A few more moments passed when suddenly a voice was heard calling after them, "Wait! Wait!" the company halted as their hobbit host ran up with a long piece of parchment fluttered in his hand, "I signed it!" he stated triumphantly and handed it up to Balin who began to inspect it.

Torshar and Thorin had stopped their ponies and turned, Thorin to his right and Torshar to her left, to observe the goings on behind them, "Well, everything appears to be in order! Welcome, Master Baggins, to the company of Thorin Oakenshield!"

Reluctantly, the prince ordered, "Give 'im a pony." And began to set off again with Torshar close behind.

"No, no that won't be necessary! I'm sure I can keep up on foot. I've had my share of walking holidays, even made it as far as Frogmorton once. AH!" his cry of terror made Torshar turn again to Fili and Kili had picked up the hobbit by his jacket and deposited him on a pony she had named Myrtle.

Many hours of riding later, the company stopped on a cliffside with a few big boulders to rest under of against. Bombur had cooked a stew of deer meat that Torshar had killed earlier in the day and some wild vegetables that Bifur had found off the side of the road. It was extremely delicious as far the versifier was concerned as she sat atop one of the boulders on look-out with her bow notched; just in case.

Night slowly crept in as the majority of the men began to settle down for a good night's rest while a few like Gandalf, Fili, and Kili stayed up to smoke a little. Thorin had sat down at the base of Torshar's rock and laid his head back to rest for a moment but wound up falling asleep. Watching from above, the bow woman smiled but looked back up quickly when she heard an unknown sound that closely resembled an animal dying. Bilbo, who had gotten up because he couldn't sleep and was feeding Myrtle an apple, became a little terrified as he heard it too and turned towards Fili and Kili. "What was that?"

"Orcs…" the brunette brother said quietly.

"Orcs?!" Bilbo voiced worried as he moved closer to the fire very quickly. Thorin had heard the word and jerked awake but was quickly calmed by a tender hand on his shoulder, which he knew belonged to Torshar.

"Throat-cutters… There'll be dozens of them out there." Fili said.

"They attack in the wee hours, when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet, no screams. Just lots of blood." Kili stated gravely and smirked with his brother when Bilbo turned around to face the cliffside in worry.

Thorin stood slowly but angrily, "You think that's funny? You think a night raid by Orcs is a joke?" he scolded his two nephews.

"We didn't mean anything by it…" the archer defended weakly and averted his uncle's piercing gaze.

"No you didn't… You know nothing of the world…!" the prince stated as he walked away from the camp to stand on the edge of the cliff with his hands behind his back, looking out over the horizon.

Balin, who had heard the conversation came over, "Don't mind him, lads. Thorin has more cause than most, to hate Orcs. After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient dwarf kingdom of Moria. But our enemy had got there first… Moria had been taken by legions of Orcs led by the most vile of all their race; Azog the Defiler. The giant Gundabad Orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began… By beheading the king… Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief. He went missing… Taken prisoner or killed… We did not know. We were leaderless… Defeat and death were upon us. That is when… I saw him." He paused in his story and gazed with a smile, at Thorin who still had not moved from the cliff, "A young dwarf prince, facing down the pale Orc. His armor rent, wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield… Azog the Defiler learned that day that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken. Our forces rallied, and drove the Orcs back. And our enemy had been defeated. But there was no feast, nor song that night… For our dead, were beyond the count of grief. We few, had survived… And I thought to myself then, 'There is one who I could follow… There is one, I could call king'…" when Balin had finished he finally noticed that Torshar had climbed down from her perch and was standing behind Thorin with her head on his shoulder and her arms around his waist.

Standing together like this made Thorin question this journey and they hadn't even begun! He wondered if he could call this whole thing off and go live in Valtek so he could be close to Torshar but something in the back of his mind told him that he needed to reclaim the mountain for Durin's folk.

"What do you need, tell me…" she whispered because she knew the memories must have been traumatic for him, losing his grandfather so horribly. The warrior prince gently removed her arms and turned towards her with a tired smile as he gently rested a hand on her cheek for a moment then walked back towards the fire.

"And the pale Orc? What happened to him?" Bilbo wondered aloud.

"He slunk back into the hole from whence he came. That filth died of his wounds long ago." Thorin grumbled as he passed the hobbit and walked behind the rocks as Torshar climbed back up top to resume her watch.