Listen while you read: Peter Broderick "A Glacier"or type youtube and add /watch?v=UGPLyxBOo9A

Chapter 3

Through Fili's eyes

One moment was filled with darkness and in the next, the dry and rotted wood of the house was blazing. The tongues of it reached even to the second level and I saw only Karta run out the door. He threw himself in a huff on the ground beside us, his clothes blackened by smoke.

My uncle and Kili held me back from the fire, but I was drunk with adrenaline and pulled out of their grip in a moment. That exertion had worked to my advantage because it sent me flying through the front door.

Dry heat like an oven smacked against my face and I peered into the rooms which were consumed by the bright light—having gone from the darkness and sleep and being suddenly thrust into the heart of the fire, not giving my eyes time to focus.

"Nur!" I shouted above the windy thunder of the flames. "Varak! Nur!" I lifted up my hands to shield my face from the heat as my vision cleared.

I stood in the entryway, the stairs were to my left—a hallway before me and another room to my right. The end of the hall was completely consumed by orange fire and little flames danced up the stairwell, while the room on my right had sustained little damage yet, but was slowly being overtaken.

In a panic, I turned my head from side to side, calling out louder in what sounded like a scream!

"Help!" A voice called out to me, and it came from up the stairs.

Dashing to the first steps, the old planks gave way and I fell onto my back in a heap of smashed wood. I cursed the integrity of the broken house and bounded up the remaining stairs, coming to only two rooms.

The flames were less prominent here, but there was a blinding and choking smoke. I entered the doorway of one of the rooms and found Varak, who had taken shelter behind some sort of tub—and rightly so, for the fire had eaten away at the floor boards to reveal a gaping hole.

"You'll have to jump!" I shouted through cupped hands and held my arms out to reinforce my idea. A desperate shriek left his lips as the tub toppled and fell through the weakened boards and he leapt at the last moment, catching my hand and dangling below me.

He must have been heavy, but I didn't notice, not when my determination was stronger than my body. He flew past me as I yanked his arm to the sturdy level beside me.

I turned to find Kili behind me, checking the other room and coming back to help Varak.

"Where is Nur?" I demanded, halfway shouting at the house.

I couldn't hear what Kili shouted back, but I saw him shake his head and Varak passed both of us by, rolling down the stairs and anxious to be out of the burning building.

I ran to the next room, unsure of what I would find, and unprepared to see what I saw next.

There was no Nur, but my eyes widened and my heart sped up—if such a thing were possible when it already beat so quickly—when I took in the image of burnt hair on the ground. The flames were nibbling at it hungrily and it began to disappear altogether.

"Nur!" Her name ripped itself from my body like an angry monster, and when Kili tried to pull me back, I pushed at him, nearly knocking him over. But he succeeded in his attempts to subdue me and pull me right along with him down the stairs.

We skidded to the bottom and our heads must have knocked together because he was rubbing his before I stood to haul him out of there. If I couldn't save Nur, I would most certainly save Kili!

The flames tried to catch us on our way out, and we might have walked directly through fire, but I wasn't aware of it as my nerves were a heap of energy and there was no telling what kind of injuries I had sustained. The cool air welcomed us back and the group rushed at us to receive us and pull us away from the bonfire behind us.

I was breathing heavily and my mind was blank as I stood there—someone was talking to me, but I couldn't hear anything. The roar of the fire had occupied my ears for so long that now they were numb. I couldn't hear, but I could see, and I realized I was looking at Gren and Nur standing a little ways off, his hands hitting at the back of her head.

Later on, I would learn that he was clapping the flames out, but with the raw energy that flowed through me and the superhuman determination to keep her safe I had convinced myself that he was beating her.

I stomped in their direction and walloped him with as strong a blow as I could muster; my fist jarring into his jaw which made a sound like a click. With an upturned chin and eyes rolling into his head, Gren crumpled to the ground.

Nur's surprise was a gaping mouth and wide eyes. But I didn't take her expression into account, I only lunged to hold her and make sure she was not a ghost.

I wrapped my arms around her small shoulders and threw my head into her neck, squeezing her with as much might as wouldn't break her and letting it settle in my mind that she was real, that she was safe. She was paralyzed at first, but then her hands reached under my arms and pulled at me, her breaths soft and whispering.

"I couldn't find you." My voice trembled and my face wouldn't leave her neck. I found it strange that my chin should be on the skin of her neck…

"I'm fine." She whispered, eyes still wide.

I pulled back from her, hands on her shoulders, and looked into her face. "Are you hurt?"

"Not as much as Gren." She breathed and looked at the pile of his body beside us.

And that's when I noticed it—her hair had been almost completely singed off except for a few inches that reached to her ear-line. That long, luscious, waving hair which I had seen on the floor was no longer piled around her face.

I couldn't help but touch a few strands of it and she pulled away from me in embarrassment, weeping and hiding her face in her hands.

Again I pulled her to me and embraced her to protect her against the fire, against the night, and against anything that might try to take her from me. In that moment, she was mine. Her tear-streaked face sank to my chest and I rested my cheek on her head.

I'd been completely distracted from all else, but my gaze turned to the house behind me as Varak and Gulm shouldered the unconscious form of Gren. The group had already saddled the horses as the blaze became hotter and we all realized at the same moment that speed was needed as the trees surrounding the house had caught as well. We were going to be in the middle of a forest fire if we didn't retreat soon enough.

"We have to go." My smoke-burned voice crackled through. I hurried her to her pony and hoisted her up into the saddle, handing her the reins. The others had already done the same while we had been standing there, flipping the slightly conscious Gren over the seat of his steed, and Kili pulled my horse along—having equipped my pony and Nur's—while he rode over to us.

"Ride!" I told her. "I'm just behind you."

She looked at me pleadingly, as though there was something else I could do. If there was, I would have done it, but I slipped my foot into the stirrup and swung my leg over the saddle. Gripping the reigns, I squeezed them and watched her pony disappear ahead of me.

Following was not hard as the first light of day was creeping over the mountains and a light blue haze fell over everything. We suffered the darkness now more and I was comforted by the distance between us and the fire. My steed led me past the few brushes of trees and into an open field.

The land before us was grassy, but had begun to yellow with the heat of summer and the wind passed through the blades with a whistle. There were two mountain ranges, one to the left and one to the right, and we would be passing between them to reach yet another mountain. The yellow of the grass, the sickly blue of an overcast sky, and the coloring of the mountains would have been a pleasant view for anyone to see, except me.

I was thinking of how this quest had turned into a nightmare and wondering how we could possibly continue.

Thorin's outlook was not so bleak, but I never expected it to be. He would press on no matter how hard the toil and this was proven with his command to circle our ponies and check our inventories to see if they had been damaged.

We skirted the treeline of the forest, no fear of the fire as far out as we'd come, and Gren was beginning to stir on his pony after struggling to maintain his mounting. No one had been watching him and he sunk to the ground with a clumsy dismount and a loud outburst that sounded like some sort of profanity, but was difficult to make out.

Our medic had been looking over each dwarf and was now assessing Nur, so I stepped closer to put a hand on her shoulder and listen to anything he'd said.

She was unhurt, but her hair had been burned off. I already knew as much and he hadn't pointed out anything new. I was unashamed to let out a sigh of relief. There were other things I had to feel shame for, though.

"What in the name of the ancient Kings happened?" Gren's voice wretched. He glared at me and held his jaw, clicking it from side to side. He sounded like he wanted to say something else, but all fell silent over the company of dwarves who stood round us, wondering the exact same question.

"Gren," I pinched the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes. "I give you my deepest apologies, but I thought you were hurting the princess."

Nur's face lit up, understanding what had brought on so confusing an incident. The wind picked up the short hairs around her cheek and blew them into her face. She was beaming at me so much that her face could have been a lantern.

Gren was not so pleased. "Why-?" He moved himself over to her to wrap an arm around her shoulders. "Why would I strike my beloved after I saved her from the embers of that house?"

"Beloved my foot." She stomped, pushing his arm away with a shake of her shoulders and stepping back. "You saved no one—I came out on my own through a window and fell on top of you."

He placed a hand over his heart and mustered a wounded look, which would have been believable if I had not known him so well.

"I was trying to catch you."

"You could never have known I was even above you." She growled in disbelief.

Nur took in the surprised looks she was being given and turned once again to Gren, saying in a softer voice. "I have no tolerance for liars, but especially so when the lies involve me."

Gren showed no display of anger, but kept up the mask or remorse. "My love, you've had an awful fright and hardly any sleep." Once again he tried to wrap an arm around her shoulder and I felt my muscles tense up every time he came nearer to her.

I was getting closer and closer to striking him again.

She pushed his hand away and growled, "I am not your love."

"Of all the gold in the veins of the earth, your stolen kisses speak against—"

Nur struck out and slapped Gren's face. I couldn't smile, but I definitely felt a sting of satisfaction.

"To think I have not rejected you before this!" She spat in his direction. I had never seen her so worked up before and it felt wrong to see it, like this part of her should not have been provoked.

She then drew closer to Thorin and begged, "Hear me with perfect clarity, I am not Gren's lover and I have never been alone with the scoundrel—though he has tried to make you to believe otherwise. I ask you to disregard his words concerning me."

Thorin's face did not change from the stern expression he usually wore while he thought on what was to be done. "Do you also ask me to return us to the Iron Hills?"

The princess shook her head. "I know why we are here, and I could not prove my loyalty by stopping this journey's progress." She knelt before Thorin with her head hung low. "Command me to leave, if that is what you want, my King."

My fists tightened at the mention of her leaving and I prepared to voice my determination to accompany her. Thorin must have noticed because he shook his head at me.

"Princess Nur, if you understand the importance of our expedition then you understand that I cannot spare those who have come. The absence of any of these would cripple our goal."

"I can leave by myself—"

"That would not do for a lady to endure travel without an escort." Thorin boomed in a voice which she did not feel the need to argue with. "My cartographer is needed to map, my consular would not leave if I asked him to—" Thorin peeked at Varak, the ambassador, who had begun to defend his stance with some message of urgency, but Thorin spoke on. "—and my medic has duties to the rest of us while we face danger. Gren, however…" Thorin mused.

Unconsciously, the lot of us turned to Gren, who had been listening with furrowed brow and still played at shocked with the assertions.

While there was little to be known of Gren, we all knew better the reputation of Nur—and her servitude to even the lowliest of her people though she was of royal descent commanded the highest respect. Her earlier outbursts had only proven that Gren was a liar and nothing more dangerous, but I knew in my heart that he would have some part to play yet in convincing us he was not a villain.

And perhaps villain was a strong word, but my heart was involved in the matter.

"If you prove yourself to be a follower of commands, sir," Thorin outstretched his hand to Gren. "Then you may accompany us further and avoid being asked to leave."

Gren walked forward slowly and took Thorin's hand gingerly. They shook hands, when suddenly Thorin pulled him closer and in a hushed voice which we were still able to hear, said, "But I will not suffer you to speak to lady Nur for any reason. I have no qualms in sending a lone dwarven lad back."

Gren nodded despairingly and lowered his eyes to the ground.

"On your horses, all of you." Thorin shook his hands at them and mounted his pony.

The rest of them dispersed and mounted, but Gren stood a second more. Just long enough to cock his head at me and send me a look of disgust. Though I had nothing to go by, it wouldn't have surprised me if the fire in the forest had been of his design.

Next chapter comes out the following Friday- by the way, I'm looking for beta readers! If you think you're interested, please PM me! :)