Into the Fire: Book 2

2

"This way! Quickly!" Gandalf called to the group.

I could hear the dwarves running behind me. I was closer to the front. Close to Bilbo and Thorin. Thorin glanced back at me every so often, making sure I was near him. After the twelfth time I yelled at him to just look ahead and keep running. I was fine and I didn't need him to keep distracting me. The sun was at its highest point in the sky and it's heat was beating down on us. I felt the sweat drip down the back of my exposed neck and tried to focus on anything but the heat stroke-like pain in my stomach. The scenery changed rapidly, from hard rocky terrain to soft grassy fields, to sand beside a small creek. It felt, to me, like we had travelled through all the seasons. Autumn, Spring, and Summer so far. The scenery changed again and we were now running on mulch that covered some of the rocks on the path towards the last stretch.

Before I could stop myself I tripped over a rock just as we got in view of the house. I went tumbling down, twisting my left ankle as I did so. I yelled out in pain, earning the attention of Thorin at the front. I tried to get back up but the pain on my ankle was too much for me to handle and I fell down again. Tears formed in my eyes and I clenched them shut, willing the pain to subside. Thorin had sprinted back towards me alongside Bilbo who had also heard my cry of pain. Thorin knelt beside and picked me up, not even bothering to see if what was wrong.

"Bilbo go!" Thorin told him sternly.

My brother shook his head and stayed put. While I appreciated his intention, he needed to keep going. The beast came tearing through the woods towards us and Thorin looked at Bilbo. I gave him a pleading stare, hoping he would stop arguing.

"If you value your life, go now!" He said harshly.

Bilbo gave me one last look before sprinting towards the door. Thorin ran after him, making sure he stayed at the back of the pack so he could keep an eye on everyone. When we reached the entrance to the cottage's garden there was a pile-up at the door. The dwarves were running into the big wooden entrance but none were flipping the latch.

"Open the door!" Gandalf screamed at the dwarves who continued to push violently without success.

"It's locked!" I yelled at them, "Undo the fucking lock!"

The beast was getting closer and I tightened my arms around Thorin's neck. We were in another impossible situation. Our "wizard-luck" would only last so fast. We had to help ourselves a bit too.

"Quickly!" Thorin shouted, pushing through the group and lifting the latch.

The company fell inside, similar to the way to tumbled inside Bag End all those moons ago, and swiftly turned to shut the door. The beast had its head wedges in the door and it would not shut. It roared and bit down on air as the dwarves used all their strength to finally push it closed.

"What was that?" Ori asked Gandalf, turning around shaking.

"That was our host." Gandalf replied to the young dwarf.

Thorin turned towards Gandalf and his grip on my body tightened as the wizard continued, "His name is Beorn, he's a skin-changer. Sometimes he's a huge black bear, and sometimes he's a great strong man. The bear is unpredictable, but the man can be reasoned with. It should be noted, he is not overly fond of dwarves."

Ori had his ear pressed up against the door and was listening intently to the skin changer whose growling had grown quieter.

"He's leaving," Ori said, turning around and looking at Gandalf.

"Come away from there! It's not natural, none of it," Dori told him, pulling him from the door and turning to Gandalf, "It's obvious, he's under some dark spell."