Into the Fire: Book 2

12

We continued down the river. We were most likely in town by now however, if I stayed in this barrel any longer I may never be able to get ride of this smell. Before long I could hear the footsteps of who I could only assume was Bard followed by a loud bang. More footsteps. Bang. One after another until his footsteps where right in front of us. He kicked the side of our barrel and we fell sideways with another bang. I looked around, opening my eyes for the first time in what felt like hours and ran towards the side of the boat. I leaned over and out came bile and water. The smell of the fish and the constant rocking of the boat had done a number to my stomach. I rested my forehead on my arms and tried to take a deep breath, wiping my mouth on the side of my shirt. Someone put their hand on my shoulder and I looked up, still cautious of my bubbling stomach.

"You ok love?" Thorin asked with a weak smile.

I didn't respond but I leaned into his chest and closed my eyes, happy I could be near him again.

"All right, let's go," Bard whispered, interrupting our moment.

Thorin didn't fight him on it and instead grabbed my hand, following after the man. Bilbo jogged to keep up with me, wanting to stay by my side. Bard paused at the end of a corner, carefully peering around it. The unannounced halt caused many of the dwarves to bump into each other and erupt in a chorus of complaints.

"Quiet!" I whispered at them.

"Follow me," Bard called to us quietly, gesturing with his hand.

"What is this place?" Bilbo asked, more rhetorically than anything else.

"This, Mr. Baggins, is the world of men," Thorin responded, his grip on my hand tightening as we continued to follow Bard.

We continued through the crowed, trying to ignore the stares of the townsfolk as we passed through.

"Keep your heads down, keep moving," Bard told us in a hushed voice.

I nodded, looking down at Thorin's boots in front of me as I walked. They were covered in mud and I almost smiled when I thought back to Kili wiping his mud covered boots on the chest back home. I wondered then if I would ever make it back to see that chest.

"Halt. In the name of the Master of Lake-town I said halt. Halt! Stop them!" A guard yelled from just ahead.

Bard's head jolted up and then back at us. He nodded his head towards the town's market. The guards surrounded us but we're no match for the dwarves who were quick to attack and hide themselves along with the bodies of the unconscious guards under baskets and in between market stalls. I looked around frantically for Thorin but couldn't find him. I went to stand and look for him but was pulled back down into the body of Bofur. He held a finger to his lips, signalling for me to be quiet.

"What's going on here? Stay where you are. Nobody leaves," Said the voice of a new man.

"Braga," Came Bard's voice.

"Sorry?"

"You."

"What are you up to, Bard?"

"Me? Nothing. I'm looking for nothing."

The sound of breaking clay must have got the attention of this new man because his bootstraps rushed towards one of the stalls across from me. I could see the feather from the helmet he held under his arm and if it wasn't for Bofur's hand that clamped over my mouth, I would have let out a small gasp of fear.

"Hey, Braga. Your wife would look lovely in this," Bards voice sounded again.

The bootsteps of Braga rushed over to where Bard was standing.

"What do you know of my wife?" He asked, his words dripping with hate.

"I know her as well as any man in this town," I could almost hear the smirk in Bard's voice as he responded, toying with Braga and almost trying to get him to keep pushing.

Instead, the man stormed off and Bofur's hand left my mouth as the relief washed over us. Bard's head appeared over the stall and he waved us back so we were all together again. Thorin quickly rushed over to me, placing his hands on my cheeks and tilting my head up to look at him.

"Stop separating from me," He whispered, placing a small kiss on my nose.

I crinkled my nose and he smiled in amusement.

"Your safety isn't getting any closer if you continue to stand out in the open," Came the annoyed voice of the bargeman.

We turned a few more corners. Surely we must have been getting close to Bard's house. The town wasn't that big and what wasn't docks was ice cold water.

"Da!" A young boy said, running up to Bard.

The man grabbed the boys shoulders, noticing the worried look on his face.

"Our house, it's being watched," The boy whispered.

Bard turned around to look at Thorin.

"I'm not splitting up with her so don't even consider it," The dwarf prince told the man.

"We need to get you all into the house unseen," Bard whispered back.

"Tunnels?" Bilbo asked.

The group turned to look at him with confusion. I raised my eyebrows.

"You know, like, underground?" He continued.

"No we understand, it's just dumb. How are we going to get underground?" Dwalin asked, his voice riddled with annoyance.

"Wait, he might be onto something," Bard said, looking back towards his son, "If you guys go through the sewer pipes, you could come up through the toilet. No one would see you."

"The sewer pipes?" I grimaced.

"Do you have a better idea?"

I kept my mouth shut and looked down. Bard huffed and looked back at his son once more.

"Show them the way," He told him, placing a hand on his son's shoulder.

The kid nodded and then gestured with his head towards another long passage way. The dwarves hesitated, unsure how to feel about taking orders from a kid. I rolled my eyes and let go of Thorin's hand, smiling at the boy, and walking down the passage way. The dwarves followed, each ensuring they gave the boy their own filthy look, with the exception of Balin. 

"Stop," The boy whispered, "It's just down here."

He opened a wooden door in the docks that appeared to drop straight down and onto a metal base. I looked down wearily, then back at the kid.

"Are you are?"

He nodded, "When you get down, turn around so you are walking in the direction we came from, then make one left, two rights, and another left. I believe my father is shining a light down the toilet so you should be able to see where to come out."

"How do we know if we can trust him?"

"I don't like this plan."

"Great, we are diving in shit."

The chorus of complaints from behind me. I looked beside me at the boy. He was no older than 14 and here he was, putting his life on the line for us. I smiled at him and whispered a thank you before taking a deep breath and jumping down.

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A/N: I'm sorry this chapter took so long to get published! I just started uni so my brain is getting used to this new courseload! I promise I will get these last few chapters out as soon as I can! There is probably about 7-9 more chapters left (but if you want, I can stretch it longer if you want more Thorin x y/n interactions! (Something big is coming!!) In the meantime, thank you so much for the votes, comments, follows, and reads! I'm having a rough time adjusting to school so it's nice to see that people are enjoying my work!!