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7: I Need Lessons

7: I Need Lessons

Thorin popped up and I almost leapt back.

How the fuck did one word wake up a snoring man?

"Throat cutters. There'll be dozens of them out there," Fili said.

I turned to look at him from his position next to the fire. Fili and I had talked twice, and he seemed nice but he was way less relaxed than Kili.

"They crawl in the wee small hours of night. Quick. No sounds. Just lots of blood," Kili said and Fili began to chuckle from the fire.

I rolled my eyes playfully and swatted his arm as Thorin stood up. Bilbo came into view.

"You think a night raid by Orcs is a joke?" Thorin said gruffly in his velvet voice.

Kili immediately looked down," We didn't mean anything by it."

Wow that was a really fast reaction.

"No you didn't," Thorin said as he walked away, "You know nothing of the world."

Were Orcs that bad he had to treat Kili like that?

"It's okay laddie. Thorin has more cause than most to hate Orcs," Balin said to Bilbo.

Bilbo looked at Balin and I felt like we were both going to get an explanation. Everyone was asleep besides the seven of us; Gandalf was awake too.

"Why?" I asked.

Kili went to sit next to Fili and Dwalin and I stood side by side, with our arms crossed.

"After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient dwarf kingdom of Moria, but the enemy had got there first. Moria had been taken by legions of Orcs, led by the most vile of all their race: Azog the Defiler. The giant," He said something in a different language, "had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin," I looked at Kili as Bilbo looked at Thorin, "He began, by beheading the King."

"Jesus shit," I ran my hands through my wavy hair, "I'm so sorry, continue."

"Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief. He went missing, taken prisoner or killed. We did not know. We were leaderless; defeat and death were upon us. That is when I saw him. A young dwarf prince, facing down the pale Orc. He stood alone, against this terrible foe. His armor wrent, wielding nothing but a broken branch as a shield. Azog the Defiler learned that day, the Line of Durin would not be so easily broken, "I smiled at the last sentence. Balin continued, "Our forces rallied and drove the Orcs back. Our enemy had been defeated. But there was no feast nor song that night for our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few had survived, and I thought to myself then, there is one I could follow. There is one I could call King."

Balin ended the story and Thorin turned around. I stared at him with his newfound awe, then sadness. Both his grandfather and dad were gone, and many of his other friends were killed in battle. The other dwarves were awake now, and starting at Thorin. Although, Thorin seemed a little bit uncomfortable.

"But the pale Orc, what happened to him?" Bilbo asked while hugging his knees.

Thorin walked back to his sleeping spot and said, "He slunk back into the hole whence he came. That filth died of his wounds long ago."

Whence? Wasn't that Old English talk?

Balin and Gandalf looked at each other. Thorin rested his head on the rock looking up at the sky, and Fili and Kili were staring at the fire. All the dwarves had gone back into their sleep and Dwalin and I were left standing.