Into the Fire: Book 2

11

"Oh. I've had enough of this lippy lake-man. I say we through him other the side and be done with him," Dwalin said, clearly annoyed with the man's inability to be affected by the dwarves harsh words.

"Oh, Bard. His name's Bard," Bilbo rolled his eyes causing the dwarf to look over at him.

"How do you know?"

"Uh, we asked him."

I nodded along, agreeing with my brother. There was no reason for the dwarves to be rude to yet another person trying to help us.

"I don't care what he calls himself. I don't like him," Dwalin told us, folding his arms and shooting daggers at Bard with his eyes.

"You do not have to like him, you simply have to pay him," Balin spoke up, counting the coins in front of him, "Come on now lads and las, turn out your pockets."

I grumbled along with the dwarves, frustrated to be losing any money. I handed Balin my sack of 30 coins I won from Bombur not three nights earlier. The rest of the dwarves followed, reluctantly handing over their coins to Balin.

"How do we know he won't betray us?" I heard Dwalin whisper to Thorin.

"We don't."

For a moment, the only sounds we could hear were the sloshing of waves against the side of the wooden barge, and the clinking of coins as Balin separated them into piles. I looked over at the white-haired dwarf and noticed he was looking at the piles with concern.

"There's um, just a wee problem. We are 10 coins short."

The group looked to Gloin who sat with his arms folded. Obviously he had not paid his full share as was apparent from the guilty look he had plastered on his face.

"Gloin, come on, give us what you have," Thorin told him, his tone holding more softness than I was expecting.

"Don't look to me. I have been bled dry by this venture!" The dwarf started, "What have I seen for my investment? Naught but misery and grief and-"

I had stopped listening to him, my concern now resting on Thorin who was looking beyond the dwarf. I followed his gaze and my breath caught in my throat. The red-headed dwarf had noticed the group of us weren't paying attention anymore and stood up. He turned around, frustrated we were ignoring him, but he too was blown away by the sight before us. The Lonely Mountain. He took out a small bag of coins and shakily handed it to Balin.

"Take it. Take all of it."

I looked around and noticed each dwarf had tears in their eyes and a smile on their face. The mountain was huge, taller than I had imagined and closer than ever. The tip of it was covered in snow but the bottom remained untouched. While it did look abandoned, I knew something foul lived inside. Beside me, Bilbo cleared his throat and nodded his head in Bard's direction. The bargeman was walking our way with a look of worry clouding his face.

"The money, quick, give it to me," Bard said, his hand outstretched.

"We will pay you when we get our provisions, but not before," Thorin said sternly, his eyes on Balin, instructing him to keep the money.

"If you value your freedom you'll do as I say," Bard whispered before glancing at the waters in front of us, "There are guards ahead."

Thorin held his ground, refusing to be moved by the man's words. I placed my hand on his arm and pulled him so he was looking at me.

"You have come all this way, don't give all of that up because of your pride."

He looked away from me and towards the mountains. While we were closer than ever before, there was still a long way to go before reaching the Erebor.