Homeward Bound Part One: An Unexpected Journey

Chapter Thirty-One

Radagast's friend, as it turned out, was an enormous Man by the name of Beorn.

An enormous Man who happened to, on occasion, change into a bear.

Radagast failed to mention this fact until after they'd found themselves chased by said bear and subsequently been forced to lock themselves in said bear's house to escape him.

"Wait," Bilba said, rounding on the wizard once they were all inside and their heart rates had resumed beating relatively normally, "are you saying we just locked him out of his OWN HOUSE? No wonder he was chasing us! I'm sure he's going to be just thrilled when he changes back!"

Radagast huffed and stammered but, before he could say anything, Thorin grabbed her arm and pulled her away.

"You enjoy irritating wizards don't you?"

"Of course not," Bilba shot at him, "they're naturally irritating on their own!" She glared at him, her ire redirected. "This is YOUR fault! I told you that you attract things that want to eat us! You should have let me stay on the other side of the bridge!"

Thorin glowered. "And let you get eaten by Azog?"

"I stabbed your boyfriend in the stomach!" Bilba reminded him, aggravated. "I don't think he's going to be eating anything any time soon!"

Near her Nori snorted and quickly covered his mouth while Dwalin suddenly found an important reason to look somewhere else.

Bilba glowered at the lot of them. Her budding headache had flared to life, a tight throbbing in both temples. She had already been tired. Running from their host and breaking into his house had just about finished her. Her entire body felt heavy and she wanted nothing more than to sink to the floor and sleep for a week.

Finding Fili in the crowd she sent him a pleading look. He moved to her side immediately and she wrapped her arms around one of his arms and buried her face in his shoulder.

"Fili," she murmured, "I'm tired and the wizard and your uncle won't stop trying to kill us."

"How am I trying to kill us?" Thorin's voice muttered from behind her.

"Silence!" Bilba snapped. She sagged, forcing Fili to wrap an arm around her waist to support her.

"I'm going to go to sleep now," she said. "Can you make sure the reckless idiots don't get us all eaten before I wake up?"

She could feel Fili's chest shaking from barely suppressed laughter.

"I give you my word," he said, his voice properly grave. "As an heir to the line of Durin."

Bilba patted his chest in thanks and pushed herself upright. All Fili really needed to do was give Thorin something to brood about; it'd keep him occupied for hours.

It was possible she said that out loud judging by the sudden group coughing fit, and Thorin's annoyed muttering, but she didn't care. She'd spotted a very nice bed of straw a few feet away and she headed toward it, stopping only long enough to single out Balin and a few of the other, more injured dwarves.

"You lot," she ordered, "sleep also."

She waved vaguely at the floor and then happily collapsed on the straw.

Sleep took her before she'd fully lain down.

The dream started immediately after.

She stood in the midst of a great battle. Around her people of all races were locked in a titanic struggle against a seeming endless horde of goblins and orcs. Screams of pain rippled through the air and the smell of blood and steel stung her nostrils.