The Last of the Guardians Part 2 - A Hobbit Fan Fiction

Chapter 1 - The Bear

Moonlight glistened on snow white feathers, rustling in the breeze. The wings trembled slightly, shaking away the stiffness before unfolding and stretching to their full span. There they stayed for a time, feeling the wind through every downy feather. The tips flicked this way and that, and the wings folded in once more. The lady's head was tilted to the side, her pointed ears listening to the night. A faint howl reached her, and her eyes snapped towards the ridge behind them. The young Guardian watched the silhouetted ridge, motionless as the gentle wind teased her feathers.

The honey-haired dwarf, leaning against an immense boulder with a long pipe between his lips, averted his eyes when she turned to look back at him, and his mouth twitched at the corners. The moment did not last long, however, for just as Fili began to believe her own smile was for him a gust of wind buffeted his body and sent his hair swirling around his head. Sîor landed beside Nema, and as his wings brushed against hers, both Guardians shivered faintly. He touched his hand to hers lightly and whispered something in her ear, prompting her smile to broaden.

Turning, she announced to Thorin, "Bilbo is returning."

The dwarf looked up from the key he had been turning over in his hands for the past hour. "About time too," he grunted, standing up and tucking the key back under his tunic. The hobbit appeared shortly after, a little out of breath and with wide eyes, but otherwise unharmed.

"The orcs are closer than they were yesterday," Bilbo panted, having run most of the way back. "They must have picked up our scent again but that's not the half of it. There is something else-"

"We should continue on now while we are ahead," Thorin cut him off, speaking to his dwarven brothers. "Gather what you have left and we will go. The moon's light will be enough to light our way."

"No, wait!" Bilbo protested. "I have not finished! There is something else out there!"

But no one was listening. The company of dwarves were too busy packing up and grumbling amongst themselves to hear him, and the two Guardians were whispering to one another in a foreign tongue. Only Gandalf paid him any heed. "Quiet!" the old wizard hushed the dwarves. When they were silent, he asked of Bilbo, "What is it you saw?"

"I - I am unsure. It was huge - bigger than a warg."

"What form did it take?" Gandalf pressed him. "A bear?"

Bilbo thought for a moment, frowning. "Well...yes. But how did you-?"

The wizard had already turned away to disappear between the boulders and into the forest, leaving the dwarves no choice but to follow or be left behind. The Guardians separated then, Sîor taking to the air and Nema skipping after the company. She skipped through the forest too, the tips of her wings fluttering in their desire to stretch out, but Nema kept them against her back, lest they catch on low-hanging branches.

The tall, tattooed and balding dwarf allowed himself a chuckle as he watched her springing over the forest floor like a winged rabbit. "Why don't you get up there and fly? he suggested, jerking his thumb towards the patches of sky visible through the tree canopy. "The wargs are far behind us for now, and if we run into trouble we can call for you. Go and fly, lass."

Though the urge to fly was strong for her, it was no longer painful, as it had been before her Change. It would not hurt her to resist. "I thank you for your concern, Master Dwalin," Nema smiled at the dwarf. "But it is good to have a little self discipline when it comes to flying. All things in moderation, that is what Sior says."

"You look up to him, don't you?" Dwalin noted.

Nema nodded happily. "It is nice to spend time with one of my own, to speak in mine own tongue for a change."

Dwalin laughed again. "I am glad, but don't let Fili hear you say that!" He realised too late that he may have given away more than he'd meant to.

The Guardian's smile faded a little and her jumps became more infrequent. "Fili? Why? Would he be insulted?" She was clearly confused. Dwalin sighed, relieved. It was better she be confused than enlightened.

"No, no. Forget I said anything, lass."

Nema let the matter pass and jumped off down the trail. Dwalin's white-haired brother appeared at his shoulder. "Don't you worry, brother. I doubt our Guardian noticed," he said.

"You think?"

"Aye. Nema is one of the most intelligent creatures I have known, but I fear her youth fails her this time. She has yet to notice just how much Fili's thoughts have changed in regards to her."

They were still in the forest when the sun rose the next day, and it was not until well passed midday that the trees began to grow more sparsely around them. Hungry, weary, and longing for a drop of water they walked on and on, following Gandalf as he led them to what he referred to as 'a safe place to rest for the night.' The company had not yet reached that place when they heard the howls of a warg pack close behind them. Sîor ducked below the treetops to land before the dwarves. "Run," he hissed, then led the way at a pace too fast for them to possibly match.

Though she could have easily out-run the dwarves, Nema kept to the rear of the group, making certain not a single one got left behind. They broke out of the forest and Sîor lept into the air once more to fly behind and protect their backs as they fled across a wide stretch of grass towards a large house surrounded by a strong wall and its own small forest. It had to be the place of safety Gandalf had spoken of.

When they were almost to the wall, Bilbo glanced back over his shoulder, and immediately wished he had not. It was not wargs they were running from, but a large, black bear that loped out of the forest and charged after them. Saliva flew from it's mouth, where sat a score of strong, sharp teeth. Bilbo sucked in a breath to warn the others, but as he turned back he found he had been running off course. The dwarves were ten feet to his left, and if he was not careful Bilbo would run straight passed the house.

The bear singled him out and ran faster, causing Bilbo to yelp with fear as he tried to correct his path. A small mound of earth caught his foot and he fell to the ground. Rolling over he saw the bear closing the gap between them. It's large, demonic eyes pierced through him, and instilled fear in the depths of his heart. Though the fear had not claimed him in his entirety yet. Bilbo turned and pushed himself to his feet, and felt a whoosh of air at his back as Sîor flew at the bear. Distracted by a new prey, the bear veered away from Bilbo and tried to snatch the Guardian from the air, with little success.

The hobbit felt hands grip his arms, and then he was in the air, soaring towards the wall's gate the dwarves had disappeared through not a moment before. But Nema did not carry him through the gate, but over the wall to drop him outside the door of the house. Gandalf ushered him inside and slammed shut the door.

Through a window, they saw the two Guardians circling above the house, high enough to be mistaken for birds by any who knew them not. The bear had disappeared.

"Bless my beard!" exclaimed Bofur, removing his floppy hat and wiping the sweat from his brow. "What was that?"

"That, Master Dwarf, was our host," Gandalf replied, to a chorus of outraged cries.

"Sometimes," Thorin grunted, "I wonder whether you are for us or against us, Gandalf."

In Bilbo's home in Bag End, Gandalf was a giant. Here, he was all but dwarfed by the over-sized furniture. The chair in the corner, carved from oak, would have sat two if not three of the dwarves. The wooden tankards looked as though they could hold enough mead to knock out even Dwalin for several days, and the bed, tucked away at the back of the room would have held three full-grown wargs with ease. The house doubled up as a barn, with rushes and straw strewn across the floor, and open stalls for goats and cattle.

It was in these stalls that the dwarves rested, among the goats where their host would not easily spot them if he returned. Outside, the Guardians had perched in one of the trees, hiding from the eyes of the enemy, who stood at the edge of the larger forest. Nema watched Azog pacing between the trees, and saw him step foot outside their boundaries. Almost immediately, the great bear appeared on a low rise and growled menacingly at him. The wargs growled back, though the bear was twice the size they were. Azog backed into the forest again.

"They will not attack tonight," Sîor said, his voice as soft as the whispering of the tree in which they sat. "Rest now. I will keep the watch tonight."

Nema nodded, and nestled against his chest. Come the morning they would set off for Mirkwood, and she knew she would need all her wits about her if they were to make it to the other side alive.