SEVEN DEVILS, fili durin

CHAPTER TWELVE

"Calm yourself."

Sleep came as a blessing to the company for the next couple of days as they lingered around their temporary camp, finally allowing themselves a chance to rest with their destination so close in sight and their pursuers seemingly so far behind them, and it was because of that they were allowed just a few mere moments to simply relax. Nymeria would be lying if she said she wasn't content or secretly ecstatic with such a break, her chaos still winding around her immortal corpse to breathe new life in her, and as the days passed by her so slowly, she finally began to properly heal completely.

Colour flushing back into her cheeks, the once raw wounds that had ripped at her skin like awful art stitching together until she was unblemished and ethereal like she always had been, her hair becoming fuller, her whole being simply shining that much brighter as her magic made its home inside her once more and tried it's best to complete what had been ruined, filling her with its disastrous embrace that only protected her while laying waste to those around her...A blessing, and simultaneously, a curse disguised by what was once good.

And thankfully, it seemed that the others were in good spirits too considering their Kings rather grand mood since the sighting of Erebor, as rare as it might of been. In fact, she was sure that Gandalf had never spoked so much in his long life considering she hadn't seen him without that pipe between his wrinkled lips since they'd first set up camp to sleep, blowing smoke and forming shapes to the dwarves amusement as they chuckled and cheered him on, and then later on whispering and listening to stories of ghosts and humours on the nights when the wind blew just a little colder and the skies a little darker around the fire as it glowed and warmed them.

She even sometimes joined them, curling up at her hobbits side and joining in on their conversations, but mainly focusing on keeping Bilbo warm as the occasional shiver struck his small body, either from the cold breeze that fluttered on by or more probable, the horror from the terrifying stories of bloodthirsty orcs, hungry hounds the sizes of trees, or some other vile myth that had been spread from mouth to mouth for centuries now, simple legends spun by woe and immortalized by fear.

If the company wanted a real horror story, one that was true and disgusting and vile...then she supposed she could of told them her own.

But things weren't all as peaceful as she wished they were...because she'd found out rather quickly that the dwarves well and truly had absolutely no shame when it came to their...well, when it came to almost anything involving them and their bodies. The burping and the farting and the crude jokes she was sure she could handle, and Nymeria could definitely give them all a run for their money when it came to cursing and swearing...but what she was struggling with was their bloody naked arses running past her when they'd throw themselves in the small river hidden in a thicket of bushes just where she lay her head at night.

Admittedly, she was sure she was going to see some nakedness on their journey, after all, there were alot of male dwarves and she knew it would be completely accidental on her part...but she was pretty sure she could draw them all from mere memory alone with how often she'd seen them. And her poor hobbit was just as scandalised when he'd witnessed it, complaining into the late hours of the night as he fell asleep beside her, still muttering and wrinkling his nose even in his unconscious as she chuckled.

However, eventually they were forced from their camp when Nymeria had awoken to her chaos singing in her ears like a terrible warning one night...and she'd known that their time was over as she woke the company, who themselves were soon able to hear the haunting howls in the distance, made to pack up their things and begin their journey once more as the days passed, having no choice but to follow Gandalf to get them out of the thick cluster of land that felt more like a thriving forest...and the faè was definitely thankful for their small break those mere weeks ago, because that was the last time she'd been able to feel her feet.