Into the Fire: Book 2

15

I sat with my elbow on me knee and my chin in my hand. If Thorin wanted me to go with him, he would have to carry me out himself. The minutes passed and I watched as the group collected their things in a pile by the door. Bard's son kept trying to get them to stop but they would have none of it. I refused to help at all and instead went back to looking at my feet as they dangled below me. Before long, a pair of large brown boots stomped their way into view.

"Let's go," Thorin said, putting his hand out.

I let out an annoyed huff and turned away from him. He groaned in frustration.

"Y/n, amrâlimê, I don't have time for this," He placed his fingers on the bridge of his nose.

"Then leave without me."

He sighed again and knelt down, taking my hands and turning my head to face him, "You know I can't do that."

"Why not? You didn't bother to ask my opinion, so why should I go with you?"

"Because I need you," He whispered softly.

I finally looked up at him, his eyes looked tired as if he hadn't slept in months.

"Please don't leave me to do this on my own," His voice cracked.

He held my gaze and my heart started beating faster. Before I knew what I was doing, I placed my hands on the side of his face and brought his lips to mine. He hesitated for a moment, and only for a moment, before bringing one hand to the back of my neck and one to my waist, deepening the kiss. He pushed his lips harder against mine, holding me tight as if he was afraid I would run away. I pulled away, taking deep breathes to get the air back in my lungs. Thorin was breathing heavily too and he placed his forehead on mine, our noses touching. 

"Does that mean you'll come?" He chuckled.

"Well, I guess so. Will you stop being as ass?"

"I guess so."

I smiled at his comment, clearly copying me. He placed a small kiss on my nose before taking a step back and walking towards the rest of the group. I could feel the blood rush to my cheeks. I looked around and noticed Bilbo was staring at me, his mouth wide open. He quickly walked over to me.

"You. You guys," He looked speechless, "I thought you weren't coming."

"Guess my mind changed."

He rolled his eyes, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the door, "Well let's go. We don't have time to waste."

I let him pull me, turning around for only a moment to watch the smile fall from Tilda's face as I left without a goodbye. A small pang of sadness hit my heart but I didn't try and go back. Bilbo brought me outside and we stood against the door, doing out best to avoid being seen as we waited for the dwarves. After a few minutes, all the dwarves had joined Bilbo and I out front.

"So what's the plan?" I whispered, looking at Dwalin.

"We are breaking into the armoury," He responded with a giddy smile.

I looked over a Bilbo and shrugged, "At least it will be good burglar practice."

He nodded back, putting a hand over his mouth to stop from laughing. Beside me, Bofur let out a small chuckle.

"Come on, this way. And stay quiet!" Thorin whispered. 

We did as we were told, keeping in the shadows until night had fallen and the town had gone dark. Thorin and Dwalin led the way to the armoury, keeping out of the way of any guards. 

"Sh! Keep it down! There," Dwalin whispered, pointing towards a tall building, "We'll use the window up top."

We watched quietly as two guards passed before I spoke up.

"Dwalin, buddy," I whispered back, placing a hand on his shoulder, "I don't know if you realize this but, the the window "up top"... is up top."

He just turned to look at me and smirked.

"As soon as we have the weapons, we make straight for the mountain. Go, go, go!" Thorin whisper-shouted.

"You seven, form a pyramid." Dwalin instructed.

The dwarves he pointed at proceeded to create a pyramid allowing Nori to jump on top of them and swiftly into the window. I watched in amazement before turning back to Dwalin who was looking at me with a smile.

"Your turn."

I let out a nervous laugh, glancing at Thorin to see if he had anything to say. He gave me an encouraging smile and a nod towards the window. I gulped, taking a deep breath before breaking into a run and sprinting up the dwarf pile. I landed smoothly in the room above and quickly cleared out of the way of the window. Bilbo came next, followed by the two princelings, the rest of the dwarves, then finally Thorin at the end. He placed a hand on Dwalin's shoulder in gratitude before gesturing for the group to huddle close. 

"Everyone grab as much as you can carry. We will need as many weapons as possible," Thorin told us, handing weapons to different dwarves. 

I picked up a sword, a shield, and an axe; getting help from Bofur who stacked the weapons in my arms. I looked over at Bilbo who was holding four or five swords in his arms. He met my stare and gave me a nod, letting me know he was alright. I glanced back at some of the other dwarves. Most were carrying heavy two-handed weapons like great-swords and large battle-axes. One dwarf that caught my attention was Kili. He had four swords in his arms already and seemed to be favouring his wounded leg. Thorin added another sword to his pile before stepping back and judging him.

"You all right?" He asked the young brunette dwarf.

"I can manage. Let's just get out of here," The dwarf responded, letting Thorin add yet another weapon to his arms.

Kili took a step down the stairs and I was forced to watch in what felt like slow motion as he made a poor step with his wounded leg and went tumbling down the stairs, taking with him all the weapons in his arms. They landed around him with a loud crash. We all paused, waiting for the inevitable. After a second, we could hear the cries of guards outside. My stomach dropped and my heart skipped a few beats in fear.

"Run!" Dori cried.

I happily obliged but when I turned around I was met with the sharp end of a spear. The guard on the other end reached across and pulled me towards him bringing a knife to my neck.

"Let her go!" Thorin shouted, making his way over to me before being stopped by a guard who held a spear to his heart, "If you make one scratch on her body I will rip off your arms and shove them so far up your ass you will choke on them."

The guard holding me scoffed and proceeded to move me towards the stairs where a guilty looking Kili was being pulled to his feet.

"Uncle, I'm sorry," He whispered, trying to look behind him as the guard pulled him down the stairs.

Thorin didn't respond and instead only followed with the rest of us. The guard's grip on my arm was tight and I did all that I could not to make any sounds that would indicate I was in pain. I didn't need Thorin to start an attack and I didn't need the guard thinking I was weak and couldn't handle my own problems. Instead, I kept my moth shut and didn't pull away as I was dragged down the stairs and out of the armoury. The guards lined us up, taking any weapons we were still carrying and throwing them aside.

"The Master's going to be pleased," The tallest guard said.

I recognized his voice and was almost confident he was the same guard Bard was arguing with earlier in the day. What was his name again?

"Braga!" Another guard called from further up.

Right.

"The Master has been told we are coming, let's go."

I looked beside me at Bilbo who was white in the face. I grabbed his hand and he squeezed back before the guards shoved us roughly forwards and towards the Master of the town.