"Why didn't you send any of the soldiers after them?"

"With all due respect, your majesty, it would have been impossible. Not only were all who chose to stay and fight injured, but with the horses had also been badly frightened. It took us nearly half an hour to calm them enough to ride."

Rán watched as Bard paced behind his desk, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose while he cursed under his breath. Glancing towards the fireplace, he saw a trio of dwarves: Though he had never met them before, he knew the pair with silver-streaked jet-black hair were Thorin Oakenshield and his sister, Dís. The third was Dwalin, who looked far more intimidating now than he had when they had first met. Then, stealing a look to his left, he saw Warren sitting in the chair beside him; Will stood by the east-facing window, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared out at the horizon.

"How long do you think it'll take you t' catch up to the raiders?"

"It is hard to say, my lord. At the very least, a week. Because the raiders use wargs as their mounts, they are able to travel much faster than they could if carried by a horse." Rán let out a soft hiss as Richard stitched up a gash on his forearm. "A saving grace, however, is that they will need to stop more often to allow the wargs time to feed—especially when their wargs are as large as they are."

"And how big is that? Surely not bigger than Gundabad wargs?"

His brows furrowed slightly at Thorin's inquiry. "I'm afraid I have never seen a Gundabad warg, your majesty," he replied, "but these wargs are the size of a large horse."

Dis let out a soft gasp, her eyes widening. Thorin stiffened and his gaze hardened. "I can send word to my cousin, Dain," he stated. Though his voice was calm, he spoke his words just a touch too fast, betraying the worry and anger he felt. "Have him send some of his forces southwards to see if they can intercept the raiders."

"That would be a good idea. Rán did say they were heading due east," said Bard. "With those war goats of theirs, they would be able to make good time."

"Sendin' a raven t' the Iron Hill is a good idea, aye, but we have t' remember that the raiders might not be goin' due east anymore," Warren reminded them. "They'll know that we'll be sendin' forces after them soon enough. They're goin' t' try t' make their trail as confusing to follow as possible…which means we'll need t' send those forces out sooner rather than later."

Bard looked at Rán, but before he could ask, the ranger said, "My rangers are already preparing to leave. They merely wait for my command."

"I'm goin' with you," Dwalin declared, his voice firm enough that Rán knew he wouldn't be persuaded otherwise. Thorin glanced at him and gave him a small nod of approval; judging by the look in his eyes, the king wanted to go as well, but knew his duty was to remain in Erebor.

"I understand that you and your rangers are somewhat familiar with these raiders, Captain," Dis then said. "Do you have any ideas of where they may be going? Or why they would have taken Ori and Mistress Braddock in addition to Fili?"

He let out another soft hiss as Richard slipped the needle through his skin one last time. "We have reason to believe they may come from the southwestern shores of the Sea of Rhûn," he began. "Three months ago, we confiscated weapons and other such supplies from a warg I had brought down on a scouting mission. The blade is one that was once used by Dorwinion's calvary, but has faded from use. However, it had been somewhat recently repaired by a dwarven smith they are holding captive."

Thorin's brow rose. "And how do you know they're holding a dwarven smith captive?"

"There was dwarvish runes on the blade," Rán answered. "As I cannot read them, we had Master Ori transcribe them for us. The message stated that the smith was being held captive among thieves and that they were by the sea. I know it is not the most reliable of information, but it at least gives us a heading."

Dis and Thorin nodded slowly in understanding.

He looked down at his arm as Richard carefully covered the wound with a thin line of honey before beginning to bandage it. "Speaking of Master Ori, I am afraid I don't know why he was taken. Perhaps the raiders did not know which dwarf was the prince or perhaps they thought they could get another smith." He lightly shook his head, sighing.

"And Mistress Braddock?" Thorin questioned.

Warren and Bard exchanged grim looks, but it was Will who spoke. "There's a git by the name o' Mannus Stover who's workin' with the raiders," he explained, turning around to face the others. "He's obsessed with my sister, despite bein' old enough t' be her da'. No doubt he wants t' force her into marriage." He looked over at Rán; the look in his eyes told the ranger that he, too, would be coming with them to hunt down the raiders.

Bard sighed. "You were informed of the explosion a few weeks back, yes?" He glanced over to see Thorin nod. "It was his inn that exploded. He had faked his death in order to run away and join with the raiders. We have reasons t' believe he's the one who's been letting the rangers know about the caravans that have been comin' and goin'."

Thorin's brows knitted deeply together at this information, though it was Dis who spoke. "We need to bring that man back—alive—to Dale so that he can be properly tried and punished."

"I cannot guarantee that he will be returned alive, your majesty," Rán replied, his voice a bit quieter. "There will surely be some sort of altercation once we find them and I cannot promise that he will remain uninjured enough to make the journey back."

Lovisa let out a quiet sigh as she searched through Dale's armory for a bow that would be up to her standards. There were small hunting bows meant to deal a great deal of damage from a short distance away as well as medium-sized recurved bows that were good for hitting targets both near and far. The majority of the bows, however, were longbows which, while they were excellent for shooting things in the distance, were utterly horrid for use on horseback.

Especially for a half-dwarven woman who wasn't even five and a half feet tall.

'When I get back from this, I'll have to have my bow repaired,' she thought, shaking her head.

Finally settling on a recurve bow, she pulled it down from the rack and went to the corner of the room, where she grabbed a quiver full with arrows, as well as two more bundles of arrows from a barrel. Then, turn she paused and looked around. Some of the rangers were also in the armory, gathering supplies for the journey; others, she knew, were in the market, fetching edible supplies while the rest were back at the inn, readying the horses.

She wasn't sure how many people would be going with them, but she hoped that there wouldn't be too many volunteers. A group of ten was already almost too many for a mission that required speed. Even just a few more could, possibly, slow them down too much.

Turning, she reached back and grabbed a third bundle of arrows from the barrel. 'You can never have too many arrows,' she thought, tucking them under her arm before making her way out of the armory. She headed back towards the Tankard, her brow rising slightly when she noticed how few people seemed to be out and about.

'Streets are fairly empty…everyone must be at the inns and taverns, trying to catch any gossip about what happened.' She breathed a soft sigh. 'The Tankard was packed when I left, so I can only imagine how many more people have managed to squeeze in by now.'

Feeling a yawn coming on, she did her best to hold it back, but failed. She rubbed her face in frustration; she hadn't gotten any rest since the attack less than twelve hours ago. The panic and dismay she had felt all morning was beginning to wear off, leaving her feeling tired and slow. She did her best to fight the feeling, though, and told herself she would make sure to have some lemon tea before they left.

The thought of lemon tea, however, made her think of Baylee and how scared she must be right now. Especially with Mannus being so close at hand…Her stomach churned with guilt, though she knew that she wasn't at fault for what had happened. No one could have anticipated they would be attacked so close to the city, nor could anyone have predicted that there would be so many raiders. It was a miracle none of the travelers had been killed—some were badly injured, yes, but everyone had survived.

But she also felt anger. Anger towards the man that had, no doubt, helped to arrange the attack. She had always found Mannus to be little more than an annoying louse, but now she found him an absolutely detestable wretch. Faking his death after disowning his whole family was one thing, but killing people in the process and then arranging an attack on innocent merchants…?

Her eyes began to sting with tears of frustration, but she quickly blinked them away before they could fully form. She couldn't allow herself to break down—especially not in the middle of the street.

'If there are any Valar that are listening, please don't let him ruin her,' she thought, rubbing her face once more. She then lightly smacked both her cheeks, the stinging sensation enough to wake her a bit. 'I'll have to ask Galiene to add in a shot of whiskey with that tea…'

Soon enough, she was walking through the brick archway leading into the courtyard of the Full Tankard. Eleven horses and four ponies were lined up near the stable; the rest of the rangers were working quickly to fill the saddlebags of the horses with the supplies they would need for the journey. At the end, though, the four ponies were being tended to by four dwarves. She had briefly seen them earlier when she and a handful of other travels sought temporary refuge in the Tankard. Despite not knowing their names, she was able to pick out who was who thanks to what she had heard from Baylee, Ori, and Fili.

It was clear to her that, of the four, Dwalin was the leader. He looked formidable, standing taller than the other three and being well-muscled. She wondered if the tattoos on his scalp were symbols of his rank among his people or done in memory of some battle.

With his broad shoulders and wide stance, Bifur looked very much like the hunter he had once been. His white-streaked black hair made her think of a badger and she tilted her head ever so slightly; he was more handsome than she had imagined.

As for Bofur, she could tell almost immediately why Baylee found him so handsome: The creases in the corners of his eyes and along the sides of his nose denoted a person who found a lot joy in life. At the moment, however, it was clear he could find none.

Then there was the redhead with his hair fashioned into three separate mounds: Nori. From what she could see, he appeared to be the most wary and keen-eyed of the four. His gaze barely remained on one spot for long, constantly glancing around, observing as much of the goings-on around him as he could.

He was the first one to spot her, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly as he glanced her over before he smacked Dwalin's arm to get his attention. She pretended to not notice them looking as, not wanting to deal with the crowd of customers that would be in the common room, she made her way towards the kitchen door.

Ordinarily upon entering the kitchen of the Full Tankard, she knew she would have seen Galiene and Demelza hurrying about as they whipped up orders of lunch while a helper or two would be working on bread making and dish washing. Today, however, Galiene was by her lonesome, stirring the contents of a large soup pot. She turned, looking over as Lovisa entered with her brows knitted together in a mixture of confusion and concern. In spite of this, she did her best to muster up a smile.

"Back already?" she asked. "That was a quick trip t' the armory."

'I didn't need much,' she signed, making sure to move her hands a bit slower than normal. Galiene was a bit rusty when it came to Iglishmêk and she didn't want to have to repeat anything at the moment. 'Just a bow and some arrows.' Skimming over the kitchen, she noticed the lack of prepared food. 'I take it people would rather drink and gossip than eat?'

Galiene nodded. "Aye…Demelza an' Adela are up front, doin' their best t' curb any fantastical gossip before it has the chance t' slip out o' the Tankard." Sighing, she shook her head. "Just in case, though, I'm makin' a large batch o' soup. If anything, Warren an' Adela will be able t' stomach some broth soon."

'Warren and Will are back from the meeting, then?' She went over to the mug shelf and, standing on tiptoe, grabbed one of the medium-sized mugs.

"Aye. Will's readyin' himself t' go with you lot." She glanced over in time to see a look of concerned surprise come to Lovisa's features. "Don't look so surprised—you an' I both know that Will wasn't about t' let you all go without him. Especially since Warren can't." Sighing, she tapped the wooden spoon on the edge of the pot before setting it down in favor of grabbing a cloth.

Lovisa watched as the cook used the cloth to fetch the teakettle from the fire for her. 'I can't say I'm entirely surprised, to be honest. If Mannus is involved, then Will is going to want to enact some revenge on the bastard.'

"Exactly." She brought the kettle over and, while Lovisa went to pick out a tea, she filled the mug with steaming water. "I can't believe that git stooped so low. Working with raiders o' all people?" Shaking her head, she breathed a heavy sigh and returned the kettle to its hook.

'I can.' Lovisa's expression was grave. 'When word got out that Baylee had two desirable lads with their eyes on her, Mannus grew desperate. There's no way he was going to let either of them have her. Not when, in his eyes, he's the perfect match for her. So, what does he do? Enlists help to ensure that he gets her away from those suitors and into a situation where she'll have no choice but to turn to him for safety.' She used a spoon to measure out some tea into a strainer before twisting it shut and plopping it into the mug.

Her lip curling in disgust, Galiene leaned back against the counter, her arms crossing over her chest. "And, as an added bonus, the raiders also get a crown prince they can ransom an' a craftsman they can throw into slavery."

Nodding, Lovisa put the lid back onto the cannister. 'We'll get them back, though, and we'll make Mannus and those raiders pay for what they've done.'

Ten minutes later, she was walking back outside, her mug of tea in hand. She took a drink as she made her way over to her horse, the flavors of lemon and raspberries filling her mouth. Koli snorted as she approached and, lowering his head, lightly nuzzled her; in return, she made a soft clicking sound with her tongue and kissed the top of his snout before moving to his backside.

With one hand, she undid the buckles of her saddlebag and flicked the flap back to keep it out of the way. Reaching inside the bag, she made quick work of rearranging its contents, both so that it was more organized and to give her a better estimate of how much room was left. Upon finding there was room to spare, she drew the three extra bundles of arrows from her overstuffed quiver and carefully tucked them away in the bag.

'Now I'm starting to wish I had brought my crossbow,' she thought, taking another drink of her tea. 'But it's too bulky for anything but big game hunting. And it's a pain in the rump to aim and reload when on horseback…' Shaking her head, she sighed.

"I see you took the armory's supply of arrows." Her brow rose and she looked up to find Will coming towards her, his horse's saddlebags draped over his shoulder. He had packed them inside the inn, wanting to shove as many supplies as he could into the bags without needing to make multiple trips. Though he attempted to give her a smile, there was far too much worry and anger on his features to make it successful.

She went over to the youngest Braddock and gave him a tight, one-armed hug. Carefully placing her tea on the middle of Koli's saddle, she then signed, 'Long time no see, lad. I wish this reunion were happening under better circumstances.'

"As do I," he mumbled, sliding the saddlebags from his shoulder to the ground. Leaning over slightly, he returned Lovisa's hug with both arms and, for a few moments, the pair stood there in silence. Then, with a sigh, he drew back and set his hands on her shoulders so that he could look her over; she hadn't changed much—if at all—since he had last seen her three years ago. But, like Rán had been upon his arrival, she was covered in a mixture of dirt and dried blood. "Those gits didn't hurt you, did they?"

She shook her head. 'A few cuts and bruises, but nothing serious,' she assured him. 'How are you and your father holding up?'

"Da's handlin' this better than me," he admitted. "He wishes he could come with us, but since he's still recoverin' from his arm, there's no way any o' us is going t' let him come along."

Nodding in understanding, she reached up and grabbed her tea again. 'I can only imagine how horrible that makes him feel.'

"Aye…But I promised him I'd make sure Mannus pays for this an' he knows I don't break my promises." A joyless smile came to his lips and he picked up his saddlebags. "You best go see him before we leave, by the way. Otherwise, you won't hear the end o' it when we come back."

Chuckling, she nodded in agreement. 'A good idea,' she signed. 'The last thing I would want is one of your father's scoldings.'

Will managed a small laugh as she patted his shoulder and started to head back for the kitchen. Meanwhile, he went over to the horse he would be using for the journey, a gelding named Gevie. He had ridden this same horse when he escorted the merchants to and from Dorwinion some months ago, so he knew the beast had a good temperament and endurance.

"Ready for another long ride, boy?" he murmured, setting the saddlebags over his flank. "It's not goin' t' be easy…In fact, it's probably goin' t' be one o' the toughest things the two o' us have been through in recent years." He started to secure the bags to the saddle, breathing a quiet sigh; his mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions.

Just a few hours ago, he and the others had been getting ready to welcome Baylee, Ori, and Fili back to the Tankard with a nice, hearty breakfast and warm baths. But instead of a joyous reunion, they got Lovisa and the three rangers bursting into the Tankard, covered in dirt and dried blood—or, in Rán's case, fresh blood, as his injury was still bleeding. Between him, Fifika, and Lovisa, they were able to get the full story of the attack.

He swallowed hard and tightly squeezed his eyes shut as tears threatened to well up. Tears wouldn't be of any help right now—they would only be a hinderance. He could cry later, when he reunited with his sister.

A moment passed and he opened his eyes. On the other side of Gevie, he saw Bofur slipping a small bag into Topaz's saddlebag. After an initial curse-filled outburst upon hearing the news, the dwarf had been eerily quiet. The look in his eyes, however, told Will that his silence was probably for the best: It was pure rage.

It was then Rán came out from the inn; Ashailyn was on his heels, wearing a look of concern as she followed her brother. From the looks of it, the siblings were having a heated conversation, but what they were saying, Will couldn't tell. Something told him it had to do with Rán's injuries, however, as, in addition to the slash on his arm, the captain also had bruised ribs and a bit of a limp.

'I don't think he would stay behind even if Bard ordered him to,' he thought, rounding Gevie's backside so he could secure the saddlebag on that side as well. 'I know I wouldn't.'

"We will be leaving in a quarter of an hour," Rán announced when he was closer. "Make sure you have everything you think you will need; there is no such thing as being over-prepared at a time like this."

An impatient sigh left Will's mouth as he ran a hand over his hair. He had already said his goodbyes to everyone and it had been far from easy. It had been made all the harder, knowing he was leaving Adela behind while she was pregnant. As her fiancé, he should be taking care of her…

'But I also need to get my sister back,' he thought, rubbing his face. 'Da', auntie, and uncle will take care of her. They'll make sure she fine. Anyway, with luck, we shouldn't be gone too long.' From between his fingers, he glanced up at the sky. 'I just hope our luck hasn't run out…'

A/N: Hello everyone~! Happy winter season!Thank you for your continued patience with slow chapter uploads and also thank you for all the lovely comments you send in [insert 3 heart emojis here] This chapter was a bit rough to write, because to be perfectly honest, I just wanted to get to chapter 37 so I could write Baylee, Fili, and Ori being belligerent prisoners 😂