CHAPTER 3- The Cold Reality

A group of 10 dwarves were sent to Norwall to bring back survivors and see the damage. After days of pacing and watching Dain's hopeless face, the group finally returned. From Erebor's doors I could see only five people on portable stretchers we had invented. One man, two women, and three children. Deca, who was standing next to me, looked at me sadly.

"Is that all or did some escape?" she asked.

I could only shake my head and hope it was the second.

Once the Norwall injured were brought into a room set up for them, Oin, a few other women, and I set to work healing them. I sat next to the younger woman. She was shaking and crying. She seemed only a little scraped up but very dirty.

"I am Dís. What is your name?" I questioned gently.

"I-I am Nessa," she said between breaths.

"It is going to be alright Nessa. You are safe now," I assured her.

"No, that is not the cause of my grief. I do not know where my husband is and my son is..." she broke off, tears flooding her eyes again.

My heart fell for the young woman and my thoughts raced to my lost ones.

"I know what it is like to lose a husband and children," I told her sadly, then after a moment, "How old was your son?"

"Naron was nearly five. Our home crumbled and he was caught under the rubble. How old was yours?"

"My Fili was 82 and my Kili was 77"

"Then you are the sister of Thorin? I have heard many stories about your sons and brother's bravery in the Battle of Five Armies. They did not die in vain," Nessa exclaimed, eyes wide.

"And Naron will not have either. Was it really a dragon?" I asked hesitantly.

"Yes," Nessa said solemnly.

All hope fell, but I still felt very determined.

"We will avenge him, Nessa. I know we will kill the dragon. We must."

Suddenly, the messenger from Norwall was brought in. He was walking, with a little help from Oin. He had recovered way faster than we thought.

Nessa quickly stood up.

"Earon!" she cried, and rushed to him.

Nessa embraced her husband and he kissed her. After a few moments, Earon held Nessa's head in his hands and saw the sadness in her eyes. His face asked the question.

"Naron-" Nessa again started but began to cry.

"No! Not my Naron! Please," Earon yelled, holding his wife close.

Tears came to my eyes but I left the room before the couple could see them. Balin was sitting outside and I ran to his arms, and let the tears flow.

The next day I knew that Oin needed my help and I couldn't avoid it anymore. Going back to help was easier than I thought. I met the other survivors quickly. The other man was called Elman. He had no family in Norwall and had just been passing though, so was very anxious to go back home to his wife and three children in a town miles away. Sadly, both of his legs were broken so he had to stay far longer than he wanted. The second, older woman was badly burned and couldn't speak but Nessa told us her name was Ayla and was a widow with one son, Cadoc, who survived. There were two other children, Maxim, a boy of ten, and Saida, a girl of five. They were not siblings, but were both orphans and mostly unhurt.

While this was going on, Dain sent messengers to people to ask to come to a meeting. At this meeting he would discuss an alliance if the dragon should attack us. The replies came quickly. Bard, the Master of Laketown, Thranduil, the King of the Wood Elves, and Gandalf the Grey agreed to come. Though it was still several days before the big meeting, I could see the strain on Dain's face as he waited. I knew what he was feeling. I was scared that either the dragon would attack before the alliance was made or the three men wouldn't agree to fight with us and we would be taken over again. All alone.

I am super sorry this is up so late! I got really busy and was procrastinating. I had this chapter typed up but I still needed to edit it. Then when I finally went to edit, I was typing in Notes and accidentally deleted both this chapter and the next one. So I had to start from scratch because I only had a backup up to Chapter 2…. So, again I'm really sorry and it may be a couple days until I post Chapter 4. Make sure to follow so you know when it's posted! Thank you for reading!