First off I want to thank everyone for their wonderful Reviews! I can not tell you how much they mean to me=).
Also to those who commented on Nazal thank you so much for taking the time to mention him in your reviews. I like to hear what you think of him because he kind of made himself up, I was going to make a really mean Goblin and then Nazal started whispering from the shadows lol. For those of you wanting to see Fili's emotional and physical trauma ;) here we are. I hope you enjoy the chapter. Thank you.

Also: HAPPY belated MOTHERS DAY! I am not a mother, but I have a wonderful mother so happy mothers day to all your mothers=).

~Chapter 8:"What could be worse, Then his screams?"~

Fili eyes fluttered open slowly. He glanced around before attempting to sit up.

His abdomen felt tight and bruised, a sharp pain lined his rib cage, and each breath was like daggers. He could only breathe through his mouth which brought his next question, "I can't breathe...through my nose...w-what happened?" he asked, taking breaths between every other word.

He was a little calmer now than he had been when he last awoke. Fili shifted his head, seeing Bofur sitting next to him leaned back against the wall.

Bofur sat up quickly coming forward and dropping to his knees, placing his left hand on Fili's shoulder and his right on his back "Don't move lad...you were beaten unconscious, if you have forgotten" the toymaker said wearily, then as an afterthought added in "...They broke your nose, I reset it but breathing through it may take a while."

Fili did not try to move any further yet, as his body felt like he had been run over by a herd of horses and he also felt dizzy.

The Golden haired prince took in a few more breaths before asking. "Will you...help me...stand?" His eyes moved to meet Bofur's big brown pools.

The toymaker gave a tight lip smile. "Sure lad...sure." his voice was low and uncertain.

Fili put his left arm around Bofur's neck, feeling Bofur's right arm go around his back.

"On three" Bofur said and started the count. "One…two…three" then with a heave and a groan they were standing.

"Why...do I hurt more than before?" Fili groaned, grasping his chest with his left hand, even though the movement was painful.

"Uh..." Before Bofur could answer Fili heard Dwalin interrupt, "Before you were running on adrenaline lad, your brain wasn't fully kicked in."

Fili glanced over at the warrior remembering the earlier event "how are you holding up friend?"

"Better then you I would say, you had us all worried lad." the Warrior said, holding a damp cloth to his own head.

Fili smiled at the concern then dropped his head, "I failed, they still…"

Then it was as if it hit the young Durin. He felt worry heavier than anything he had ever carried in his life. It pulled at his heart as his stomach started to turn.

"Stop it Fili! Don't even start!...You fought with everything in you! Nearly giving your life, there is nothing more you could have done!" Dwalin barked at the prince.

Fili looked to him thankful but his thoughts were interrupted then as if it was against Mahal's will for him to have even a moment outside of his guilt. Kili's scream pierced the air, causing Fili to nearly jump at the sound,

The movement was a reminder to all his battered muscles and limbs that they were being too gentle to him. They decided to protest all at once, sending his body into a spasm that caused him to let out a scream of anguish as he closed his eyes tightly and gritted his teeth. He could feel Bofur grip him tighter, holding him up which only added to his pain.

"Argh" Fili let out groan "D-down..." he tried to ask, taking in a sharp breath.

Before he knew it, Bofur had him back on the ground and leaning against the coats "Are you okay lad?"

Fili was panting, eyes closed as he kept his eyes on the ground "I...Mahal...this hurts..." The prince said between breaths, then he forced himself to look to Bofur "T-that was Kili...how many times, has he screamed?... how long...has this been going on?" he asked breathing easier than before, the pain letting up some now that he wasn't moving.

Bofur who was nearly hovering over Fili only seconds before now pushed off the ground standing, and then turned his back to Fili taking a few steps away. Fili watched Bofur, waiting for his answer. Bofur was mainly in shadow where he stood but the prince could see him remove his hat and rub his hand through his hair. Fili was starting to tense more than he had been, the silence was beginning to be painful. He needed to know about his brother, his training told him to be patient but his age made him want to yell out at Bofur to tell him now…But even with Thorin not here, he knew that is not how a heir to Erebor should act, so he bit his tongue for a second longer then he heard Balin speak and thanked Mahal for the break in the silence.

"Fili…" he heard his name, right then he knew something was really bad. He was use to Balin always referring to him as 'lad'. He then heard Balin continue on with "It is best if we don't focus on what has been heard out there, we need to see to your mending…"

Fili felt his heart sink, "Balin…" he tried to sit up again out of emotional reflex, momentary forgetting about his wounds, or just not caring about them, "How can you…" he let out a wide mouth agonized cry, wrapping his arms around his torso, nearly falling forward as he closed his eyes expecting to hit the ground. He was surprised when he felt gentle hands grip his arms then pulled him into an embrace.

"It…i-it…feels like…" before he could finish he felt himself getting sick, as his stomach heaved and he had to start concentrating on keeping it down. The pain caused him to feel feverish as his broken body protested his every move. Fili felt himself getting dizzy even with his eyes closed, then by the grace of Mahal his world went black

Bofur gently laid Fili back down against the coats "He is out again…"

"Perhaps for the best…" Balin commented.

Dwalin agreed, "If he had known how long he has been out…how long Kili has been screaming…"

Balin nodded, agreeing with Dwalin's unspoken meaning,

Gloin then added to the conversation, "Who is to say how long it has been anyway. It could have been 4 hours or a day for all we know, it seems like an eternity…"

This time Ori spoke up, "I do not mean to interrupt…but it has been 12 hours and 45 drops…"

The others looked to their young companion.

Nori who was sitting closest to him noticed his red eyes and the tears that filled them and frowned brokenheartedly for his brother.

Dori then asked what they were wondering "How do you know that? And drops, What do you mean?"

Ori tried to swallow the lump in his throat that grew with each of Kili's screams, "The rock over there…every sixty seconds a water drop falls from it and hits the rock under it…I have counted 765 drops since the first scream…" he answered then added "766 drops" as he saw another drop fall.

"Impressive…" Gloin said surprised by the young dwarf.

Balin nodded agreeing with Gloin. Ori gave a light smile at their praise but it was short lived as another scream ripped through the air causing Ori to try to cover his ears to block the sound.

Bofur who had been taking care of Fili winced at the sound as he was checking on Fili's wounds. He looked to Fili's faced to see if this one would pull him back from his slumber but to Bofur's surprise Fili seemed to have been trapped in a nightmare of his own, the golden haired prince was gritting his teeth and his eyes were closed as tight as they could.

"How is he?" Balin asked.

"Who am I to say…but he doesn't seem much different than before…" Bofur answered, as he took a rag to Fili's forehead to try to wipe the sweat away.

About 37 water drops had fallen when the screams started back…but this time it was worse than any other time before, there was scream after scream… Bofur was checking Fili's wounds again when the shrieks started, causing the toy maker to look up then to Fili, praying the prince would not wake for this, but to no surprised Bofur found tired, pained blue orbs staring back at him.

Dwalin and Balin stood and their hearts sank as the screams continued, one after another. Fili forced himself up with Bofur's help, he felt weak in the knees hearing his brothers torture as he blamed himself with each agonizing cry.

Dori heard a sob and looked to see Ori covering his ears sobbing. He hurried over to his younger brother and wrapped him up into a hug trying to comfort him if even only a little.

"They are killing him!" Gloin yelled, running to the cell door beating against it trying to escape

Dwalin turned, "It is no use! I have already tried that!"

"These cells were made to hold things stronger then Dwarfs…trolls perhaps." said Balin

Bofur kept his eyes on Fili, supporting most of the prince's weight as he helped him over to the gate. He could see Fili crumbling inside as the screams grew louder and more heart piercing.

Fili reached the edge of the cell placing one hand on the bars as he pulled away from Bofur then used the other to cradle his ribs. "I…I don't know what could be worse than this…" Fili said through a broken voice as a long, heart piercing shriek ripped through the tavern but none of the screams could hurt Fili more than what happened next… The screams stopped and there was silence.

Bofur looked to Balin and Dwalin as if they would have answers, then as Balin dropped his gaze to the ground as he sat down and Dwalin purposely looked away. The toy maker then turned his attention to Fili who was gripping the metal bars with both hands, his attention was then pulled to the voice of Dori,

"This! This is what is worse than his screams! What's worse is Him not making noise at all!" Dori started to rant, "Don't you see they killed him! They tortured the life out of him and we are next! They are…"

Before he could finish Bofur saw Gloin march over and back hand him then the fiery red head grabbed Dori by the shirt and hissed "Have you no sense!" and gave the hush sign with his free hand then pointed to Fili "The boy nearly died trying to protect him…and you are going to rip what hope he has away!"

Bofurs eyes went back to Fili fearing how much the prince had heard. He could clearly see Fili's whole body was shaking as he placed his hand on Fili's upper arm "lad?…".

Fili looked over his shoulder at Bofur, the Golden haired Durin had tears lining his eyes "Bofur…"

Bofur frowned, seeing the look in his friend's eye and embraced him, "Fili…they could have just stopped…he could still be alive."

Fili let go of the bars, accepting Bofur's attempt at comfort and hugged him saying "I…I, don't…know what to…do, without Thorin…I'm lost…" he let out a sob then a scream as he let go of Bofur, wrapping his arms around his own torso as his knees slammed into the ground.

"Fili!" Bofur was taken by surprise and knelt before him, "What is it?" he asked.

"My…my ribs…I-I feel like…they…have been, crushed" Fili answered, through gritted teeth.

Thank you all so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter=). Please review, they really inspire me to write faster and help me so much.
Thank you all so much for sticking with me it truly means a lot and I am so Thankful for all of you. Also I want to thank MercedesAsheSorrel for helping me out once again and sticking with me=) She is amazing. She also just started up a new fiction that is awesome called "My Brother's Lullaby".

Thank you all=) Have a great day and remember I am open for suggestions.