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apr.11.22

Blood trickled down his face; his wrists ached from the elven ropes, and his head felt like it would explode. Elf hands restrained the dwarf and the human, forcing them to their knees before the elf throne.

The dwarf took a sideways glance at the human by his side; she had been traveling with his company, and had become one of them. It pained him to see her skin all black and blue, far more fragile than his own. Blood stained the front of her torn shirt and chin, dribbling down her throat. She looked dead, with her eyes failing to stay open. Her hands were bound the same as his, and she was being held up by elven hands on her shoulders. If it weren't for them, she would collapse.

Rage ignited his veins; the dwarf wanted to kill every elf he could for what they'd done to her.

Finally, the elf king appeared, lowering himself into his throne. His bright eyes analyzed the human and the dwarf before him.

"My, my. You enter the forest by warning of orcs, and return with a dwarf and a dead body," the king remarked, his eyes watching the girl. "The dead body of a mortal human. Quite strange, indeed."

"My lord," began an elf that held the girl; her head began to droop, making the elf grab a fistful of her hair to force her head up. "They ambushed us – there were thirteen dwarfs, a halfling, and this creature." He shook her hair aggressively for a moment before stopping, still holding her hair. "We only managed to capture these two."

"That's a damned lie," the girl croaked. Blood fell from the corner of her mouth as venom soaked her weakened words.

The king stood up, crossed the distance between them, and stopped in front of the girl. "What did you say, creature?"

Her blue eyes were strong. "I said, that your pointy-eared prick, is a damned liar."

The elf holding her hair took a step back, and slammed his foot into the middle of her spine; the girl fell against the cobblestone floor.

"You slime!" the dwarf screamed; his voice boomed off the rock walls. He struggled to get near the girl, but two elves held him back.

The elf king slowly knelt down, as a pool of blood formed around the girl's head. Using what little strength she had, she forced herself up in her knees.

"Why is my warrior a liar?" the king asked cooly.

The girl turned her head to the side and spat a mass of blood onto the rock floor before turning back to the king. "We didn't ambush them. They hunted us."

The king's eyes flashed to his warrior, who averted his eyes to the floor. "Hunted you?"

"We were camped out in a meadow by the forest," the girl began. Her shoulders slumped heavily. "Your so-called warriors crept in from the trees, ambushing us. The others got away because Thorin and I held them back."

The king's eyes ran over the girl's face. "What of your bruises?"

The girl chuckled low. "Your warrior didn't like being called an elven prick; his boot tried to break my jaw after he called me a creature of hell."

The king's eyes drifted to the dwarf. "And you?"

"Your warrior's boot after I attacked him for hurting her," the dwarf answered; venom radiated from him.

"The meadow, you say."

"Which is free land," the dwarf answered. "The forest is yours. The meadow is not. We shed no blood and did no harm before your men attacked us."

The king rose from in front of the girl. His eyes bored into the warrior that had spoken first. "Untie them."

The warrior's eyes widened. "But, My Lord–"

"–Do you defy me?"

Silence sat heavy amongst them. Begrudgingly, the warrior cut the ropes that bound their wrists. The dwarf stood and helped the girl to her feet; she clung to him, unable to trust her legs to carry her.

"The dwarf and mortal leave freely," the king announced. "They are never to be harmed – not them, nor the other dwarfs or halfling in their company. Their blood gets shed, then I shall shed blood of my kin." The king turned to the dwarf. "I shall prepare provisions for you to hold you over, until you reach your company," he offered.

"Let us be. That will be enough," the dwarf answered.

The king nodded once.

Supporting the girl, the dwarf held her against him as he turned from the elven warriors. He navigated the throne room, soon finding the outdoors, and began limping in the direction the dwarves were originally heading.

"Is that pointy-eared slug going to die?" the girl asked weakly.

"If not by me the next I meet him, then by the hands of his king," the dwarf answered.

The girl chuckled. "If he lives, and we meet him again, let me help you kill him."

The dwarf chuckled with her. "Agreed."