Taming the Wolf (A Hobbit Fanfic)

Chapter 14

Long days have passed since the company had left the Last Homely House. The valley now miles behind. And without the help of Gandalf, they needed to trust on Balin to lead the way. Not that Frêllian didn't have faith in the memory of the dwarf, but she would rather had the wise wizard lead the way.
But alas, after her little talk with Lady Galadriel and the warning the lady of light had given her, Frêllian had wasted no time to gather the dwarves to leave at first light. But it was also when Gandalf was summoned for a meeting of some sort. He did give them some directions, but it would have been better, if he had been with them in person.
Frêllian glanced at Bilbo, seeing the hobbit struggle. Even some of the dwarves seemed to struggle climbing the hard and dangerous path. And while the young ferian was used to these kind of roads, even she had to admit, she would prefer a different one. Especially in her true form. Her jumps, she had noticed, weren't nearly as impressive as they would have been had she been in her  wolf form. And the night before, when it had been raining really bad, she had missed her clawed paws to give her some extra grip – and her warm fur mind you!
Just a couple of days, and she would be able to shift again with no problem. Just a couple of days more! To shift now, would be foolish and might inflict some damage in the process. No, for now, she would remain in her true form. Besides, it wasn't like her face was a secret to her companions, they had all seen the real her now and it seemed they were much more at ease with the ferian around.
'How long do you think we'll have to continue for today?' Bilbo suddenly asked no one in particular. 'For it looks like it might rain in a bit.'
Frêllian eyed the dark clouds that were heading their way, before shrugging.
'Who knows. I think it depends on how bad the weather will be.'
Though it didn't take them long to find out. In only half an hour, the sky had opened, soaking their cloaks in just a few minutes. Their stony path becoming slippery and even more dangerous as they continued forwards. Bilbo had even tripped, almost falling down into the chasm, if Dwalin hadn't reached for his shoulder in time.
'Thorin!' Frêllian shouted through the howling wind. 'Thorin, we must find shelter!'
At first the dwarf seemed to ignore her. But as he turned to look at the others, he finally agreed.
'Indeed, we must. Frêllian, can you scout ahead? Your agility is what we need right now.'
The ferian nodded and was about to pass Thorin, when the said dwarf pulled her back with a loud yell. A missive boulder hit the mountainside above them, causing the rocks to fall all around them. The arm of Thorin pressing her against the mountain as the rocks fell down.
She heard Balin say something, but the words were lost by the cracking thunder.
'Well bless me, the legends are true,' Bofur exclaimed as he pointed at something in the distance. 'Giants; stone giants!'
Frêllian watched as one giant threw a boulder into the air, hitting the one standing behind them in the head. Yells were heard all around her, telling each other to brace themselves and hold on.
By now, Thorin's hand had an iron grip on her shoulder as they ducked. More rocks fell down, as the ground started to shake. A loud scream came from Frêllian as she almost fell down – thank Lüna for Thorin's iron grip!- as the ground started to split, parting the group in two.
'Kíli! Grab my hand! Kí…'
Frêllian didn't dare to look behind her, as she noticed they were standing on a stone giant. It started to fight with another, bumping into the mountain. Thorin took this opportunity to jump to a different spot, onto the mountain, urging the others to follow suit.
'Dwalin!' Frêllian yelled in horror, upon noticing half of their company was still on the knee of the giant. 'Dwalin, hold on!'
Suddenly, the giant fell down, falling into the mountain, taking half their company with it and Frêllian gasped. Next to her, Thorin yelled out for his nephew, fearing him to be crushed by the impact. Leading the group, Thorin rushed over to the spot where the giant had fallen down, fearing the worst. But as they rounded the corner, the others were fine, much to their relief.
'We're all right,' Balin said as he tried to get up. 'We're alive!'
With a sign of relief, Frêllian rushed over to the only bald dwarf present, holding him in a tight embrace.
'I thought I'd lost you,' she whispered as she tried to hold back her tears.
'You're not getting rid of me that easily, lass,' he answered with a smirk, though his voice was a bit shaky.
'I'm holding you onto that one.' Then she looked around, her eyes scanning for any injured. 'Wait, where's Bilbo?'
'Where is the hobbit indeed?' Bofur asked, while looking around as well.
A muffled squeak was heard and Ori suddenly spotted the missing hobbit, hanging onto the edge of the cliff for dear life. Before Frêllian could even react, her father called out to get him and dwarves dived towards Bilbo to pull him up. Though unsuccessful.
Suddenly Thorin swung down on the cliff – earning a shocked squeak from the only female present- next to Bilbo to boost him up. There the others pulled him to safety. Taking the shaking hobbit in a tight embrace, Frêllian watched as Dwalin tried to pull up Thorin as well. But to her horror, Thorin lost his grip and began to fall.
There was a loud pained yell as a flash of white dived towards him, sharp teeth sinking into his flesh. He winched in pain as Frêllian pulled him back to safety, before releasing him. His icy glare watching as she shifted back with a winch, rubbing her shoulder for a moment. Inspecting her injured shoulder. Though it seemed no harm was done, the shoulder just being sore.
'That may not have been a smart move,' she muttered softly to herself, before looking up at the dwarf she had just saved. 'I'm sorry, Thorin. But I am stronger as a wolf and if I hadn't shifted, you would have fallen to your death.'
He remained silent, his glare never leaving her, nor faltering as he let her words sink in. She might have saved his life and for that he was grateful. But he wasn't going to let it show! For she was still a ferian, hailing from the pack that had sided with orcs. And he was too proud of a dwarf to admit his wrong!
'I thought we'd lost our burglar,' Dwalin began, trying to get the attention away from his daughter. 'It's…'
'He's been lost ever since he left home,' Thorin interrupted him, turning his eyes away from the ferian, only to glare at the hobbit for a moment. 'He should have never come. He has no place amongst us.'
Frêllian clenched her fists, wanting to say something. But the look Bilbo was sending her, stopped her. So instead, she suggested to find shelter, so she could heal Thorin's shoulder.