Listen while you read: "Barton Hollow" The Civil Wars or type in youtube and add /watch?v=XFlRxMJPM_0

Chapter 12

Through Kili's eyes

The outpost lit up faster than I expected. I guess it should, doused with the pitch we applied, but I just didn't think it would be an inferno so quickly…

I raced down the guardhouse steps, gathering my bow behind me, knowing that our stunned enemy wouldn't need much fending off after the shock they'd just absorbed.

A second blast sounded to my right, pushing back a few bodies of the petty-dwarves and making the more able-bodied ones afraid to approach the gate to escape.

It worked perfectly; Uncle Thorin was a genius. The blasts corralled our enemy deeper inside of the fort while it baked like an oven.

The air was heavy around me and too warm for comfort so my lungs began to heave a little. I was trying to make my way to our retreat position: the new pit which Nur had used about half an hour ago.

I shot a look at the front gate while the double doors swung into themselves, seeing Fili, Thorin, and Dul through the crack.

"Durin's halls." I moaned to myself. "Run!" I couldn't waste time worrying over whether they looked uninjured, I needed to get out of this blaze!

I caught sight of a few petty-dwarves making their way to the back of the inn—the last spot they knew had been open under the fence—and hummed in a little satisfaction. We'd plugged that hole, cutting off the only other exit they knew aside from the gate, and that had been locked from the outside with a great beam if all had gone according to plan.

The oppressors of the loyal traders would roast in this furnace, feeling in their last moments the same hopelessness they'd inflicted on Dul and his companions.

I did not even bother to pause before the pit; I hurled my body in, rolled on the floor of the bottom, and launched myself out the other side all in a single burst of energy. It would have been an impressive display if anyone had seen it, but I would have to satisfy myself with the fulfilment of escape.

My relief was short-lived because my post was now to wait at the pit to make sure the other outpost dwarves made it through. I was nervous, so close to the flaming wall, and my fear began to peak as I noticed that only four of the five bodies made their way through, huffing and coughing as they sped past me and eager to get away from the flames. There were supposed to be five! Where was Smiddag?

I bounced on my heels anxiously. I hated fire.

And it did not help matters much that I had attempted to overcome that fear in the woods when Fili had entered a burning house. It was terror of losing him against phobia of flame then, but now I was alone.

Now I waited in anguish, knowing that Smiddag had not emerged because he probably needed help.

My vision was fuzzy and I felt myself sinking into a strange numbness, dropping to my backside with a hand behind me to steady the fall.

Had I lost my footing? No, my legs just stopped working. My body was refusing to let me get closer to the fire in an effort to save me—and then my hearing dulled. All I could hear was the deep thumping of my heart pushing blood through my ears.

I rose again on weak legs to crawl under the blazing wall and re-enter the outpost.

All was madness.

The chaos of bodies running past each other, some even daring to climb the walls while they burned, was startling.

I shook my head and remembered my goal—Smiddag was supposed to be standing next to a stack of hay—kindling—under the guard tower when Thorin had left him. Would he be there now?

But I only needed to step forward a bit to find my answer.

Smiddag and another dwarf lay upon each other in a heap, only feet away from the pit where I stood. If I judged things correctly, Smiddag had been on his way to freedom when he'd encountered a foe sent to stop them. And he'd paid for the passage of the other four dwarves with his life.

I murmured a blessing concerning his ancestors and shuffled my way back to the dirt opening, ready to be rid of this awful place.

But I couldn't leave it at that—I should hide the opening after I duck into it… I found myself dragging the dead bodies of the dwarves at my feet, tugging at them while I descended to the bottom of the hole. I intended to cover my exit with their bodies. None of those petty-dwarves deserved such an easy escape.

I began to duck under the planks of the wall when a flaming board fell in front of me.

If my adrenaline had been running before then it was overwhelming now, because I couldn't move and I couldn't think.

I sat there staring at the tongues of fire licking out at me and cutting off my outside escape route, the bodies of the fallen dwarves trapping me from the rear. Horror filled up my chest until I drowned in it.

"Kili, come on!" A hand appeared out of nowhere.

Who is Kili? You don't mean me, do you? I'm a rock.

"Kili, look at me!" The voice commanded.

It sounded familiar, who was that? Fili. Its name is. Why is Fili shouting at a rock, what am I to him?

"Come! Before the whole wall comes down on you!"

But I was stone and stones did not move. Stones like to sit where they are and take in the cool air. Why was it so hot here?

I felt hands enclose me and scoot me under something. Was someone intending to put me in his pocket? Maybe they'll use me as a skipping stone, I thought hopefully, I like water.

"Your leg is on fire." Fili grumbled, patting the flames off of my coat.

Coat? Do rocks wear coats?

Another rock slammed me hard in the face, causing my head to spin back and my eyes to open wide. Ow. Wait… I have a head. I wasn't a rock, I was a dwarf.

"Kili!" Thorin's bellow came from my right.

I turned my head to face him and realized I was sitting on the ground with Thorin kneeling before me and Fili pulling off one of my boots.

"Why are you taking my boot off?" I said, still in a trance. And then I rubbed my jaw. "Did you hit me?"

Thorin squinted at me, assessing me, and sighed heavily while clapping a hand on my shoulder. Fili did not answer me either, but I would learn later that it wouldn't have made a difference if they had because I was in shock.

They lifted me off the ground, either of my arms around their necks and I limped forward between them. Part of me wanted to glance back at the orange glow behind me, but when I tried to move my head to do it, Thorin reached out with his hand and turned it back, forcing me to look forward again.

My foot hurt. Fili was carrying my boot with the hand that wasn't around my waist.

We walked like that, my disorientation wearing off after a while. Setting me on a rock next to some trees—there were so many trees here, it was a wonder we could pass through side by side—Thorin and Fili began speaking in hushed tones.

I took the moment to examine my foot, which throbbed and ached though I didn't know why, and found that I'd apparently twisted it. I put a little pressure on it and was surprised to note that it didn't hurt badly; at least, it wouldn't stop me from navigating this maze of trees. I was done letting Thorin and Fili drag me through like a drunken idiot.

It was dark now, and the moons rays would have been light enough to see by if they were able to penetrate the thick overhead brush of the trees above us. There were a few spots highlighted by the evening glow, but with the fire so far behind us we were submerged in blackness.

I poked at Fili's shoulder and held out a hand to receive the boot, and he would have made some argument with me, but I stopped him with a shake of my head and said, "We can't catch up with Nur if you're carrying me."

Fili sighed and relented the footwear, sneering at the smile I flashed him in victory. I decided that maybe Nur's influence over him wasn't such a terrible thing and might even be a little fun.

"With no way to count their numbers hiding in the forest surrounding the trade post," Thorin concluded his conversation with Fili, "We have to assume that the escaped traders ahead of us have taken the brunt of an assault if one has happened."

"But we've found nothing in our path so far that says they've been attacked." Fili said, clinging to hope.

Thorin eyed him grimly. "We can have faith that our enemy may have scattered in seeing their leader brought down, but the tradesmen escaped long before we made our move and it is likely the petty-dwarves tailed them for a distance before overtaking them."