Nearly two miles away north and west of Carn Dum, Ix stood in a small valley of sparse evergreens and heard the rumble of thunder in the distance. He looked up from the trail that he followed and saw a white cloud rising far away over the eastern hills. He felt his heart beat a little faster and bared his teeth to the wind, but the valley was sheltered here where the peaks were lower and less likely to fall. Even so, he knew that the warm weather after a cold spell was a danger that might send more than one loose slab rushing down from above.
Beside him, the youngest of their hunting party, a lad of sixteen, had gone pale at the sight. Many seasons ago, before Ix had taken over the hunt, a whole party of men had been lost to an avalanche; more than a dozen strong hunters gone. It had been a sore loss to the tribe, but it was also a part of life in these lands. Some would live and some would die, but still they must have meat.
"Come," Ix said to the boy. "This trail is fresh. Tonight you will speak to Orn and Anam; they will tell you what to do if you are caught in a snow-fall and how to look out for them so that, perhaps, you will not be caught."
The boy nodded, and they moved on, turning their backs to the settling cloud of snow.
.
Inside the troll's cavern, all had been cast into darkness. Kili lay on his face, clinging to the floor and gasping for breath; he struggled in his mind to comprehend what had happened. Only moments ago, he had been laughing and contemplating a prank on his brother. Now, his brother was gone.
Five minutes before, if he had been standing upon the gentle slope across the valley from their cave, Kili would have seen the peace and calm of the mountains, the pale blue sky and a blanket of snow upon the peaks. He would have felt the warmth of the sun on his face and, perhaps, seen a bird flying high overhead. And then, without warning, the hidden fractures in the snowcap had gaped wide and a thick slab separated itself from the main mantle. It fell, picking up speed and debris, washing over broken boulders and dead trees as it raced down the hill. If he had been outside the cave instead of in it, Kili would have seen the loose powder roll up into the air like a cloud or the spray of an ocean wave.
The snow had poured over the roof of the ice cave, smashing into the pillar that had once been a troll. It shot past the cliff like water shooting from an upturned chute before crashing down into the valley below. For a moment, the huge monolith stood, defiantly withstanding the force of the avalanche, but finally it broke and was sent toppling over the side of the cliff, and that was the end of the old sentinel.
Not all of the avalanche had poured over the cliff, however. Much of it was caught on the cave, its weight bearing down on the damaged roof. A week ago, the troll's home would have withstood the force; the ice was thick and strong and had lasted for many long years. Loose snow would have poured through the holes, falling into the cave below, but when night fell, the old troll would have shoveled out his home and gone about his business again without worry.
But the ice was no longer strong. The roof was cracked and weakened by the battle that had destroyed the previous dweller of the cave. When the ground began to tremble, Fili's steps had faltered and he had looked up, remembering the groaning of complaining ice that he had heard the night of that battle. He heard his brother's shout but had little need for the warning. He had already turned and begun to run. The pearl was forgotten and his only thought was to get through the mouth of the cavern and to safety. Even as the sky turned white and the snow began to pour down upon his head, he had been running toward his brother.
And then the roof had cracked. Huge blocks of ice came hurtling down around him. They struck the fallen drifts of snow with explosive force. The last sight that Kili had had of his brother – his last sight of anything before the avalanche blocked out the sun – had been Fili, running hard towards him, leaping for the cavern mouth before he disappeared under the snow. Kili threw himself away from the mouth of the cavern to avoid being caught up in the storm.
Now, the terror was over and all was silent. Kili's ears still echoed with the sound of thunder and, somewhere in the back of his mind, he felt sure that he had also heard a scream. It had not been his own. It could not have been Fili. Was it Betta? Where was she in all this chaos?
Kili shook his head. It did not matter. All that mattered was finding his brother. There was yet a chance that Fili was alive, perhaps free, or perhaps trapped under the snow. The cavern was pitch black, but he rose up on his knees and shouted into the darkness.
"Fili!"
His voice was hollow in his ears, muffled by the snow and the explosion that had deafened him. It felt as if he were trapped under water, unable to see or hear.
"Fili!" He shouted again, and louder, hoping that the deafness was not permanent. How could he hope to find his brother if he could not hear his answering cries?
Unable to see without a light, Kili drew from his memory the direction in which he had run and the way he must now be facing. Like his brother, like any dwarf, he did not need the sun to guide him underground. He knew from the muffled sounds which way was the wall of snow, and he turned around and began to crawl back toward the mouth of the cavern, guessing at which place was the last that he had seen his brother.
He crawled, feeling blindly over the cold floor. His left hand crunched down on something soft and he felt the damp spreading through the knees of his trousers. Snow! A little farther along, his knuckles struck the soft, wet wall.
Kili rose up on his knees, feeling with his hands the hill of snow as it sloped upwards. Much of it had been pushed in and down from above, filling the cavern, and he guessed that they had lost at least fifteen feet of ground to this hill. If Fili had made it past the mouth of the cavern, could he have outrun this cascade as well? If Kili did not find his brother soon, if he were trapped under all that weight of snow, he would suffocate in minutes.
As Kili knelt, despairing and not knowing where to begin the impossible search, he heard a sound to his left. Whether it was his brother or the settling of the snow, he did not care; he moved towards it. Many fallen boulders of ice blocked his path and, unable to see them, he stumbled and fell many times, falling on his face. But rising again and ignoring the snow that clung to his beard and clothes, he went on.
"Fili! Brother, where are you!?" Kili shouted and then he stood still, listening. A few yards away, he heard the sound again, louder now, like the burrowing of a mouse in a wall. He stumbled forward and fell to his knees. "I am here, Fili! Hold on!" he shouted into the snow, hoping that his brother could hear him.
He began to dig, clawing into the wall with his hands. He had no shovel and no time to go in search of one. "Fili, where are you! I cannot see. I cannot hear you!" he called and was answered by a muffled voice. He could not make out his brother's words, but he knew now at least that he was alive.
Digging desperately now and knowing that every second was precious, Kili shoved aside the snow. It fell into his coat and hood, numbed his hands and froze against his cheeks, but still he fought to free his brother. "I am coming, Fili. I am coming," he gasped. His brother's voice was nearer now, but it was growing faint as Fili lost strength and the little air that he had managed to trap with him was used up. When the avalanche had dropped the snow, it would have been as soft and fluid as water, but as soon as the slide was over, it settled and hardened, packed down by its own weight.
So focused was he on the rescue that Kili did not notice that the cavern around him had grown lighter. He only realized it when he found that he could see his hands and arms against the whiteness of the snow. He looked up and saw Betta approaching with a torch in her hand. She limped a little on her bad ankle and stared up at the new wall in astonishment and confusion.
"What happened…?" she asked. To her eyes, it seemed as if the whole world outside their cavern had been crushed. The thirty-foot mouth of the cavern was completely blocked up and in the dim torchlight the snow seemed almost like another wall of stone, gray instead of black.
"Here! Bring it here!" Kili demanded.
Betta stared at him but did as he asked, bringing him the torch and holding out the light, but he did not take it from her hand. He continued to fight against the snow. Before, every handful that he had pulled away from the wall had weakened the integrity of the whole thing. Almost as much as he dug out had slid back in again from above, but with the light he could see where the weak points were, and he would know when he found his brother.
It took a moment for Betta to comprehend what had happened. She remembered that Fili had said he was going to the mouth of the ice cave to look for the pearl, but where was that cave now? She had heard the thunder and felt the shaking of the ground, but she had never lived in or around any mountains. Even when her family dwelt in Lossarnach, near to Ered Nimrais, the snow in those hills was high up and far away. She had never seen the damage that could be done when the snow-covered hills rose up to shake off their cold mantles.
"Fili? Where is he?" She stared at the shallow cave that Kili had dug out of the white wall.
"Here, I think… I hope… Fili!" Kili cupped his hands and shouted.
A muffled voice answered him very close now, and Kili thrust his arms both into the snow. He pulled out a huge, hard-packed boulder, and behind it was Fili's familiar black glove thrust out of the wall; his fingers moved slowly as he struggled to force his way out of the block of cold and ice that had buried him.
Without thinking, Kili grasped his brother's hand and pulled, but he only succeeded in freeing Fili's glove. His body was still stuck tight. Betta turned to set down her torch so that her hands would be free to help with the digging, but Kili caught her arm and pulled the light back.
"No, here!" he ordered. "Hold the light here."
"I will help," she said.
"Hold the light!"
She held the torch in her shaking hands while he continued to dig with renewed strength; and, indeed, he was digging faster with his two hands than four hands could have done. He forced huge armloads of snow away from his brother's body, following his arm until he found Fili's blue hood and then brushing aside the snow beneath it to uncover his brother's face.
"Fili?"
Fili spit the snow from his mouth and sucked in a ragged breath. "Kili," he gasped. His eyes were closed and caked with snow. His lips were blue and his teeth chattered when he spoke. "Please… I am so cold…"
"Not for long, brother," Kili said. "I am here. Stay with me."
Betta stood, watching helplessly as Kili cleared the snow from his brother's neck and shoulders. He threw his cloak over Fili's face to protect him from the snow that continued to slide down upon them from above, but its hold was loosening. While he worked, Kili spoke to his brother in the dwarf tongue, urging answers from his frozen lips, and Fili answered. His voice weak and stammering so that even Betta who did not know the language could tell that his replies were incoherent and confused.
Finally enough snow had been cleared that Kili took hold of his brother under the arms and pulled. Putting all his weight into it, he dragged Fili free. They fell back, sliding down the hill and across the cavern floor while, behind them, the snow fell down again and buried the hole that Kili had dug. Betta stumbled down to the foot of the hill after them, but Kili waved her away.
"Back to the cave," he ordered her. He was kneeling beside his brother, checking his body for broken bones. "Get the fire burning high. I will bring him."
She hesitated but it was beyond her knowledge to know how to heal this illness, and not knowing what else to do, she obeyed his command and started back toward the cave. Finding no injury that would prevent him from being moved, Kili hefted his brother onto his shoulders and followed quickly after her.
Betta arrived first and moved the screen aside, then she hurried into the cave and knelt beside the fire pit to add wood and kindling to the embers. She blew on them and coaxed flames from the dry wood the way that she had often see the dwarves light a quick fire. The wood caught and had just begun to burn when Kili arrived with his brother.
He carried Fili into the cave, and lay him along the back wall as gently as a mother would lay her babe down to rest. When his brother was comfortable, Kili went back to reset the screen, leaning it wide so that the cave would heat gradually. He knew from hearing the healers talk that if he warmed his brother too hot and too fast, it would kill him as surely as the cold.
While Betta tended to the fire, Kili tended his brother, taking of his wet boots and coat. He could feel the heat of the flames on his back. "That is enough wood," he said. "Heat a mug of water, but not too hot. He'll warm faster from the inside."
Betta filled their mug and set it by the fire to warm. The blood was returning to Fili's pale face, but he had begun to shiver violently. Muttering curses to himself, Kili removed the rest of his brother's clothes, stripping him naked; it was better than leaving him to lie wrapped in cold, wet cloth. Their only remaining blanket lay nearby and he used it to cover his brother's body. With the wet clothing removed, Fili's shivering had slowed, but now it seemed that his weak limbs were wracked with short, jerking movement. His eyes were closed and he seemed insensible to even his brother's voice.
"No," Kili muttered. "Wake up!" he shouted, shaking his brother until his eyes opened again. "You will not go to sleep. Say it! You will not go to sleep!"
Fili answered him in broken dwarf speech, and his head lolled back on his neck, but he kept his eyes open. He reached up with his hand but fell back again before he could touch his brother's face.
The water was warm, and Betta handed the mug to Kili who lifted up Fili's head again and eased the liquid into his mouth. "Drink, brother," he murmured. "It will warm you. Please."
Betta looked around the cave, but their supplies were few. She unfastened her own cloak and spread it over Fili on top of the other blanket. His tremors had slowed, and his breathing was steady. The warm water was doing its work well, but when she touched his bare ankle, she knew that his skin was still too cold.
Fili finished the water and lay back, his eyes beginning to close again. Kili cursed and began to take off his own wet clothes. The fire sizzled as snow from his hood fell into it. "I will share my heat with him," he told Betta. "You must keep the fire burning, and warm more water. He'll need food, too. The snow fell before we could break our fast…"
"Of course." She took the mug and filled it again, setting it to warm, then she turned to her pack to get out the meat to cook. She stopped, her hands frozen over the open bag. She looked back at Kili with fear in her eyes. "There is no food," she told him. "I ate the last that we had here. Fili said there was more in the cave outside…"
Kili stared at her, and for a moment all hope left him. He knelt half-naked in the cold next to his naked and shivering brother. How long could they last without food, and their wood was burning to ash before his very eyes? And then he remembered. He had cut a mountain of meat from the frozen hill in the troll's front porch, and there was more meat, though far less wholesome fare, somewhere in the middle of the cavern hoard. Chance had led him to stack the better stuff within the cavern, could chance also have saved it from the spreading snow?
"I carried some meat in before the snow fell," he told her. "It is near the top of the cavern along the western wall. Are you able to find it? I cannot leave him…"
"I will go," Betta said. She lit a torch from the fire and stood up.
"It may have been buried by the snowfall…" Kili said.
Betta stared at him for a moment before her gaze fell to Fili's face. "Then I will dig it out," she said. "And hope that there is wood there, too. One will be of little use without the other, and without them both, we may be forced to learn which is faster, to die of cold or of hunger."
She turned to go, but hesitated at the mouth of the cave and looked back. "He will be alright, won't he?" she asked in an unsteady voice.
Kili looked down at his brother. Fili's eyes were still open, but they stared glassy and unseeing. He did not know how much his brother heard or saw.
"I do not know," Kili admitted, and the words caught in his throat. He did not know if he had rescued his brother quickly enough, if he were warming Fili slowly enough, if his brother would ever recover from the terrible cold. They had all been struggling for so long that even the strength of the dwarves was beginning to fail, and all hope of escaping into the south was gone.
"I don't know if he will be alright," Kili murmured, "but he will live."
Betta looked at him and nodded, understanding all too well the meaning of his words. "He will be disappointed when he wakes," she said. "It seems that we will not be leaving these caves anytime soon." And then she left to go in search of the food.
Kili stared after her in dismay. How could she think of her quest while Fili lay near to death?
"No, she is only in shock," Kili murmured, holding his brother close. "She is worried for you," he told Fili, "but there is no need. You will be well. Please, be well, Fili."
Hello all my lovely new followers! Please, leave a review, say hello, introduce yourself :) I'd love to know what you think of this never-ending tale. Poor Fili, buried under the snow. I'm such a mean author to beat up on him, but there really was no other way - Michelle, you are too clever and you've seen straight through my sinister plot ;)
Hope you're all having a lovely weekend, and that it's been better than mine. The winter cabin fever is kicking in. -30 windchill with over 30mph winds. Ugh! I cannot wait for spring :)
-Paint