Daughter of The Darkness

Chapter 40

The streets of Lake Town where quiet besides from the occasional drunkard staggering home from the pub. Elfreda was a dark shadow as she slowly waltzed through the back ally ways and along the edges of buildings. She liked not being able to be seen, she found it relaxing and her grey dress easily let her slip into the evening night.

Elfreda gazed up to the sky. It was cloudless and clear, the stars twinkling softly in the dark blue night. On the top of one of the buildings, a large crossbow was mounted pointing towards Erebor.

"A Wind-Lance," she murmured. Seeing the ancient bow reminded her of the vast creature that awaited her friends inside that mountain; but it also reminded her of what Thrain had said no one must enter that mountain.

The words echoed like a soft wind through her mind. Two obstacles, both huge tasks, awaited them if they found their way inside. The dragon Smaug. To solve that problem was to find the Black Arrow and the hole in the beast's chest.

But also there was the Dragons Sickness. Elfreda could not even think about what would happen to Thorin if the gold tempted him into madness; what it would do to the rest of the company if he fell into the abyss of addiction to it.

At the same time, Thorin was also gazing out at the wind lance. Balin was explaining to Bilbo the story of how Girion fired arrow after arrow but had missed.

"You say it like you were there," said Bard.

"All the dwarves know that tale," humphed Thorin, he was not about to tell this barge man who he was. Thorin was fed up. He wanted to be out o here as soon as possible, his home was just within his reach.
"Then you'll know that Girion struck the beast, loosening a scale on his chest," mentioned Bain. Dwalin chuckled, laughing it off as a "fairy tale".

Although Bilbo was listening, he was staring out of the small window towards the wind lance. As he gazed, he spotted a figure climbing their way up the tower like a monkey. The person was extremely nimble, they scaled the building effortlessly. "Who is that?" asked Bard. Bilbo jumped. He turned his head to find everyone crowed around the same window. With eighteen people trying to get a glimpse out of the window, it became very cramped and everyone was pushing and shoving.

"Stop," said Bilbo. No one heard him. "Stop, please!" he shouted. Everyone went quiet and looked at him. "Who has the best eyes here?" he asked. There was some muttering but eventually Kili and Bard stepped forward as both were keen archers. They pushed their way out of the crowd and went outside onto the landing of the house.

Inside his cluttered home, the Master of Lake Town was disturbed from his sleep. From his place at his desk, there was a scratching sound making its way up the exterior of the building. Intrigued, he stood and followed the noise up the stairs to the highest point he could. The sound continued, whatever it was, it was not interested in the house itself. Sticking his head out of the window, he looked upwards but spotted nothing. "Hello?" he called. There was no reply. Whatever was going on, whoever they were, they were sat on the roof, a place unreachable for the Master.

Elfreda sat on the roof of the highest building in Lake Town, next to the Wind Lance. After she inspected its condition and found it in complete working order, Elfreda took a break on the roof with a piece of cheese from a stand on the market. She had also acquired a pair of decent cotton trousers that were good enough to climb in. It was quite blustery high up over the lake, and Elfreda could hear a faint voice coming from somewhere. "I demand to know who is on my roof!" it yelled, causing Elfreda to drop the rest of her cheese. She peered out over the edge of the roof to spot a head sticking out of the window. Elfreda recognised the head immediately and she quickly hid back with the Wind Lance. "Oh no," she thought "It just had to be didn't it,"

"Oh my," muttered Bard and rushed inside, quickly followed by Kili who also recognised who it was. Everyone stared as he gallivanted in. "I know who it is, and your not going to like it," he said. Thorin stood from his chair and looked at him. "Its Elfreda, Thorin, and the Master has spotted her."

"You took our money. Where are the weapons?" asked Thorin. Bard nodded and left the house again to the boat beneath his house and pulled up a parcel wrapped in wet cloth from the water. He quickly returned back up to the house.

"Master of Lake Town, you're still in power are you?" mocked Elfreda. She had been sat in the opposite window for a while, internally laughing at the Master shouting commands to the roof where no one was. He jumped and smacked his grimy head on the top of the window. Elfreda grinned slyly.

"Eugh. You're still alive then." the Master grumbled. "I thought I exiled you in my first days as ruler,"

"Yeah, forgot about that one," Elfreda grinned, playing with a dagger that had been hidden by her boots. "Of course I'm alive, it's not hard to survive in the wild when you've done it for hundreds of years,"