Chapter 4: A Test of The Heart
As Lily and Thorin returned to the camp a few hours later, they found the rest of the dwarves waking up themselves, many of them were now enjoying their plunder that they had found in the Troll horde in the hills after the attack. Despite the lovers not walking close together, and not touching one another, all the dwarves knew what must have happened. They all exchanged knowing looks. The king had claimed her.
Just as everything had been packed, and everyone was ready to continue on with their journey, a low, menacing howl could be heard from amongst the hills.
"Is that a wolf? Are there wolves here?" Bilbo asked, looking around quite frightened.
"Wolves, no, that is no wolf!" Bofur said, in a tone of panic.
In that moment a warg sprang from between the trees into the clearing where everyone stood with their ponies. At the startling arrival of this terrifying creature, the ponies bolted away, taking all the camping supplies with them. The giant warg made a leap at Thorin, but was smote down with one mighty swing of his sword. More were heard not far behind, and they had no choice but to run on foot.
Thorin's eyes raced around the company in search of Lily, seeing her towards the back with Bilbo, he urged them on,
"Faster! This way!" He bellowed as they ran over the hills and into the open grasslands. There was nothing for cover, only scattered boulders all over the desolate landscape. Gandalf suddenly took the lead, directing the troop this way and that, seemingly with a destination in mind. Poor Bilbo was terrified and tried his best to keep up, and Lily was close to his heels. She took it upon herself to watch out for the little hobbit, as he had been kind to her.
"Run, Bilbo, as quickly as your legs may carry you!" She encourage him from behind.
The wargs were on all sides, an orc pack had found them. Soon the pack started to close in on the troop at an alarming rate. They were circled by a small patch of boulders. Quickly Thorin began to gather his group into a fighting formation,
"Stay together!" He ordered, his glance constantly being cast at Lily.
In a moment too fast to react, a warg broke free of the group, and began to make chase for young Lily, she turned and began to run towards the group of dwarves. They all yelled her name and waved for her to come their way. Thorin's heart raced, his eyes became large, and fear struck him. The warg was too close.
Lily looked behind her and saw the great beast almost upon her. In that moment she tripped over a rock sticking out of the ground and fell forward. She quickly turned over to face the impending doom.
"LILY!" She heard Thorin roaring behind her. She dared not break eye contact from the beast. She tried to crawl backwards as fast as she could, but her dress got caught on the rocks and brambles all around her. She gave out a cry of fear as the beast was all but upon her. Her eyes grew large with terror and she could hear her heart in her ears. All other sounds went silent except Thorin constantly calling her name.
The warg snarled, baring it's horrid teeth before leaping forward and biting into her leg. Lily screamed in agony, throwing her head back in pain. Suddenly the warg released her as Thorin sank his large sword into its neck.
"LILY!" He bellowed, bending down to lift his injured love. Lily looked at Thorin's features, marred with fear, he ran at a startling pace back into the circle when suddenly Gandalf reappeared and yelled,
"This way, you fools!" He then leaped down behind a rock, and disappeared.
Thorin ran for the rocks and gently let Lily slide down to Gandalf below. He then turned to his men, barking orders for them to follow. Each dwarf in turn jumped into the hole, followed lastly by Thorin. He pushed past the others and ran to Lily's side. Gandalf and Bilbo were already tending to her wound.
"It is quite deep, she will need a healer." Gandalf said, looking gravely at Thorin. The king met the wizard's eyes with fear and a deep concern.
All thoughts were broken by the sound of a horn blowing just outside their little cave. The sound of wargs and orcs being slaughtered gave the dwarves the signal to move on, quickly. Thorin lifted Lily effortlessly and the group moved through the caverns inside the cave as swiftly as they could. As they approached the light at the other end, all stopped at the opening to admire the glories of Rivendell.
Thorin turned to Gandalf with a look of disdain,
"So this was your plan all along. You were leading us here!" He said in bitter tones.
"Master dwarf, we have a map we cannot read, and an injured traveling companion we cannot heal. We had no other choice." Gandalf assured Thorin.
The journey into Rivendell took several days, as the travel was slow without supplies, and Lily had developed a fever. Gandalf and Thorin tried to nurse her as best they could, but nothing seemed to help. She was in desperate need of a healer. Thorin sat with Lily resting in his arms, fitfully moaning and sweating all through the night. His eyes met Gandalf, and a look of despair and desperation met the wizard.
"We must push on." Gandalf announced.
That night, Thorin awoke to the sound of Lily's screams. She had moved away from his lap in the night, and now lay on the cold stone path, waving her arms violently at the air. She suddenly sprang up, eyes wild, and ran towards the edge of the cliff upon which they sat. Thorin's heart leaped into his throat. He had never moved so fast in his life, running towards the edge, cutting her off and grabbing her before she plummeted to her death.
"Lily!" He yelled, struggling to control her flailing, "Lily! Stop this! It is Thorin! What is this madness?"
"SPIDERS!" Lily screamed in her trance. Thorin looked into her terrified face with pure shock.
Soon the others awoke to the commotion, including Gandalf, who leaped up and ran to their side. He waved his hand over her head, muttering an incantation, and she suddenly fell silent, and lay limp in Thorin's arms.
Thorin looked around the camp at the startled dwarves, and silently carried Lily back to their resting place. As he lay her down, he watched her fitful sleep continue. He then turned and walked to Gandalf. He turned his back to hide his words from the others,
"She sees spiders in her sleep! She tries to swat them away or crawl out from under the imaginary creatures. Her eyes are wide open, she believes she actually sees them! What other things will her mind conjure that may well lead her to give us all away, or lead her to her death? Such loss of control of one's faculties never bades well."
"She is sound! I can guarantee that. What happens to her at night is a result of a past trauma. It does not affect her rational mind when she is awake." Gandalf said sternly.
"Even so, all she need do is scream at night, and we are all done for." Thorin said, casting a glance at her sleeping form.
Even though from the outside, he seemed to be radiating with rage, the rage came from another place altogether; fear. He could not stand seeing her writhing in fear of this imaginary enemy that he could not protect her from. He was, for the first time in a long time, quite helpless.
Gandalf merely observed the dwarf king in silence. Soon it would be dawn, and they would reach Rivendell by mid-morning. It was their only hope.
As the dwarves finally made their way into Rivendell later that morning, Thorin kept Lily close to his chest as he carried her. They were met by a consul of the elf king, who greeted them warmly,
"Welcome, Gandalf! I see you have company." The elf noted, eying each of the dwarves, as well as the hobbit, and lastly Lily.
Noticing his eyes resting on Lily, Thorin held her closer to him. A look of concern crossed the elf's face, he knew she was not well. In that moment Elrond and his company arrived, causing the dwarves to encircle around Thorin and Lily, feeling threatened by such an approach. Elrond swiftly dismounted his horse, and merrily shook Gandalf's hand.
"Welcome, my old friend." He said, in a kind, warm voice.
"I thank you, lord Elrond, however, I do have a rather pressing matter at hand. One of our traveling companions is in desperate need of your care. She has been bitten by a warg."
Elrond then looked at Lily, clutched firmly in Thorin's arms,
"Indeed, so you are the cause of their coming into our lands." He said, he then addressed Thorin, "Do not fear, master dwarf, she will be in good hands here, we have very able healers."
As Elrond approached to take Lily, Thorin stepped back. He did not want to give her to an elf, after all, elves and dwarves were not on the best terms. Thorin cast a wary eye at Gandalf, who merely nodded in encouragement. Hesitantly, Thorin handed Lily over to lord Elrond, who then gently handed her to the consul. He silently disappeared up the stairs with the young lady in his arms.
Thorin regretted his actions for a moment, until lord Elrond invited them all for dinner. Gandalf then walked beside Thorin saying,
"Do not worry, master dwarf. They have the best imaginable healers here. She will be herself again in a few days." His tone was encouraging.
Thorin had to submit, they were all tired and quite hungry, so they followed the elf lord to the dining area, quite happy to rest for a while. Thorin's thoughts never left Lily, however, there were other matters to be addressed here. He would try to see her soon.