CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The beast is our host
She wasn't as hesitant about letting Bilbo go up to spy on the Orc pack that was pursuing them, having heard his tale about him defending himself against a particularly nasty goblin. But she still argued extensively with Gandalf about letting him go on to the rocky outcrop alone, with who knows what dreadful beasts out there,
"I believe that he has found his courage Farren, there is no need to worry," he soothed her, ten minutes after Bilbo had climbed rather shakily and dangerously up a steep hill to perch on higher ground to watch where the pack was,
"I believe that too, however I doubt his skills with a sword," she said anxiously, her own sword clutched in her sweaty palms, "You saw him, he can hardly hold the thing,"
"That is why he has you," Thorin put in quietly and Gandalf raised a triumphant eyebrow at her, causing her shoulders to square and her arms to fold across her chest.
"Bilbo!" she heard a whispered shout and she roused from her highly uncomfortable spot on a moss covered log, rubbing her eyes from sleep and crawling towards the ghostly pale Hobbit. He was shaking slightly, his mouth opening and closing aimlessly like he had seen something truly terrifying,
"How close is the pack?" Dwalin asked hurriedly and Bilbo instantly looked up,
"Too close," he replied wearily, "A couple of leagues, no more, but that is not the worst of it,"
"Have the Warg's picked up our scent?" Dwalin asked again, diligently as if any answer that Bilbo gave would set him off into a fit of rage,
"No, not yet but they will," Bilbo paused and looked over his shoulder, "We have another problem,"
Farren slapped her hand to her forehead,
"Did they see you?" she asked hysterically, although still whispering and when he failed to answer straight away, she let out a small moan, "Oh, they saw you! Are they coming here?"
"No, that's not it," he said with furrowed brows and a puzzled expression,
"What did I tell you?" Gandalf told Farren and the rest of the Company with a smug grin, "Quiet as a mouse, excellent burglar material," and even Farren managed a shaky laugh, patting Bilbo appreciatively on the shoulder,
"Will you listen – will you just listen?" he sounded exasperated and he turned away from Farren irritated that even she wouldn't hear him out, "I'm saying that there is something else out there,"
The mood changed immediately; Farren narrowing her eyes at Gandalf, the wizard himself glancing around quickly and very worriedly, and the dwarves all looked mildly uneasy, each drawing their weapons,
"What form did it take?" Gandalf demanded, "Like a bear?"
"Ye-yes," Bilbo's forehead crinkled in curiosity, "Yes, but bigger, much bigger,"
"You knew about this beast?" Farren asked angrily but also interestedly, not arming herself like the others,
"I say we double back," Gandalf stood and walked several steps away from the group, causing the rest to stand either in fright, anger or irritation,
"And be run down by a pack of Orc's?" Thorin growled, his eyes raging,
"There is a house, not far from here, where we might take refuge," Gandalf replied nervously, still looking around him into the night,
"Whose house? A friend or a foe?" the dwarf king retaliated, striding up next to Gandalf,
"Neither; he will help us, or he will kill us," he said, causing a wave of nervous muttering behind him, issuing from the dwarves and the Hobbit,
"What choice do we have?" Farren asked with a sigh, still clutching Bilbo's shoulder in an iron grip that grew tighter as a stomach churning roar echoed through the trees, from behind the Company,
"None," Gandalf replied before leaping off the rocky outcrop and shouting for the others to follow him. Farren broke out into a sprint, too fast for Bilbo to keep up with and he stumbled every few feet, tripping on an unexpected log or thorn bush. She called out to him as his pace slowed, their hands falling apart and Bilbo falling face first into a pile of leaves.
"Come on!" she heard Gandalf bellow far ahead and she hoisted the Hobbit from the mucky ground, on to her back, unintentionally looking back the way they had come.
Farren screamed as a pair of giant orange eyes grew ever closer, the black shape that they belonged to was slicing through bracken and streams, leaping with thunderous paws over fallen trees.
She too began her smooth path through the forest with Bilbo on her back; jumping gracefully like a deer over streams and through puddles, doging trees like they were people in a busy market, drawing out a straight line ahead of her and spotting Bofur's retreating back through the thinning trees.
There…there was the house that Gandalf had described, at the end of the vast field that lay in front of her. The field that her friends were gesturing wildly for her to cross, all shouting her name and for her to hurry up; and she did. Her breath came out in short, hoarse pants, her chest heaving and her lungs bursting but her legs still carried on, directing her towards where the dwarves were piled high against a closed gate, all trying to wrench it open,
"Aperio," she swiped her hand in a downwards motion and the wooden gate snapped agape, as if it had been pushed by a very strong wind.
"Farren! Quickly now my girl!" Gandalf bellowed, his hand wrapping around her outstretched fingers and pulling her from the jaws of the perpetrating beast.
She lay on the ground for several silent minutes, her arm over her eyes and her heart thumping.
She had not felt adrenalin like that for many months, and she missed it; she missed the feeling of danger on just being able to touch the ends of her hair as she swept through the trees, cutting down enemies and surviving on river water and ale for days on end.
"What – what was that?" she asked in-between violent intakes of breath,
"That… is our host," Gandalf replied drearily and Farren emitted a low grunt, causing Bilbo to chuckle quietly, still holding his sword, now named Sting.