Date: TA 2941
Thorin: 195 years old
Lina: 192 years old
"We're only a few hours behind them now, Lady Firehammer," a scout managed, darting into the dwarf's line of sight.
"How far from the Mountain?"
"A day at most." His news delivered, the dwarf darted back off into the ranks of the dwarven army. With the return of the last of the scouts, the march would resume. Already the soldiers were filing back into their lines and columns.
A wave of nausea swept over Lina suddenly. It was all she could do to keep what little food she'd eaten down. Her hands shook around the straps of her pack as she battled with her body. If Lina did not know any better, she would have thought herself truly ill. Yet this was unlike any illness she had experienced before. Though she knew she ought to seek out the company medic, she did not dare. Any sign of weakness on her part would end this mission with certainty.
"When was the last time you slept?"
The voice startled Lina. Her eyes flew open, lighting on Nes.
"How long have you been there?"
"Long enough to know you are feeling unwell," the assassin answered, stepping closer. She held the cup of Gandalf's mixture in her hands. Mechanically, Lina took the concoction, downing it as quickly as she could.
"When was the last time you slept?" Nes repeated. Her dark eyes flickered over her commander's body.
Lina shifted, uncomfortable under her companion's gaze. It felt as if Nes was scanning her body and soul.
"I slept yesterday," she answered defensively.
"Did you go to Thorin?"
"Yes."
"You shouldn't do that. It stresses you without reason," the assassin chided.
Lina frowned. The other woman was being uncharacteristically motherly of late. Her close attentions and unsolicited advice struck Lina as being more of Gandalf than Nes speaking.
"I must see him, I must try to reach him at least," the line breaker answered finally. She settled her pack over her shoulders, preparing to march out with the rest of the dwarves.
The confrontation with Kira left Lina shaken. Thirty-seven years had passed since the mercenary promised the linebreaker that she and her warriors would always answer the call of Lady Firehammer. Yet Lina was just now realizing that answering her call was not the same as fighting her battles. She should have known that years earlier when Kira announced her intention to become a mercenary.
Kira's warriors did well for themselves in the Misty Mountains. Merchants of all races hired the warriors to protect and guide them as they crossed the dangerous mountain passes. They fought for money, not loyalty.
The orc assaults had left Kira's army weak and angry. The orcs were too great in number to risk a full attack on the main host. Yet with each day the dwarven numbers were whittled down by fives and tens. Her remaining force of survivors numbered just over one hundred, and they were weary.
When the orcish line broke a few days earlier, the mercenaries hung back, waiting to see what the black horde left behind for them. When the scouts returned with the report that the main body of the orc army was nearly two days ahead of the dwarves, and the rear guard a day ahead, they realized something had changed.
Lina was too busy to check in on her husband. She barely slept as she sent out scouts to track the orcs as well as to bring her news of Mirkwood. As reports filtered back, the dwarven commanders began to piece together the situation. The orc army started moving the day Thorin and his companions, also once held captive by Thranduil, escaped to Laketown. Within days, the company secured supplies and transportation the remaining distance to Erebor.
As things stood now, Thorin was ruling in Erebor, Smaug slain as he attacked Laketown. By whom he was slain, Lina did not know. Reaching out to Thorin in her dreams was meant to warn him of the coming orcs. Yet he would not listen.
Glimpses and snatches of the world around Thorin were distorted at best. Betrayal, he ranted. Enemies everywhere. There was a frightening gleam in his eyes as he strode about, rage filling the air around him like fire. Nothing Lina said or did could break through to him. It was almost as if he could not hear her.
Her heart broke as she watched him. He wore old armor found in the treasury, the armor of his long dead kin. Gone was the scaled mail Lina once made with such diligence. The fur cloak he'd worn on the journey was missing. But the most piercing blow of all was the absence of his belt buckle. As it was missing when he was prisoner in Thranduil's stronghold, Lina could only assume it, like his armor was in the possession of the Elven King. Still, without any of his familiar affects, Thorin hardly seemed the same dwarf she'd come to know. His manner changed. Darkness overshadowed his face, blotting out the kind light that once had shone there.
The memory sent a chill down Lina's spine. She knew her husband was slipping into the same madness Thror once suffered. She could see it plainly. All she could hope for now was that she could reach him in time. Perhaps she could bring him back from the darkness and lust that consumed him.
Lina stumbled and would have fallen had not Nes caught her in time.
"Come with me," Nes ordered sharply. There was mithril in her voice, and Lina followed without objection.
When the pair were safely away from the main body of the army, Nes pointed to a boulder. Lina sat. Rummaging through her pack, Nes withdrew several items that Lina could not begin to identify. The items appeared to act as medical instruments as the other woman used them to examine her commander's body. After several long minutes, she nodded, as if to herself, before replacing the items in her pack.
"You need rest," she announced once she finished. "Without the stress of contacting Thorin. I know from your expression when you speak of him that he is not well. You can do nothing for him until we reach the Lonely Mountain. Until such a time, you must take what rest you can. The road ahead is difficult."
Lina blinked in surprise at the vehemence in her companion's voice. Still, she did not argue. She was tired, far too tired. For the first time in a long time, Lina allowed someone else to take control of her, to take care of her.