One That Got Away

Chapter 22

The snow only thickened as the taxi took them deeper into the city. People were rushing inside, hiding from the oncoming storm, but the storm that was Thorin Oakenshield was much more dangerous. The air inside the cab crackled with energy and no one spoke. Kili looked like he was having a panic attack and Thorin looked like he could punch through several walls if he was provoked. Pythia looked half as stormy and Andy had stayed at the house with the Twins, letting David go with them. The cab landed and Thorin shoved out, Kili on his heels. David payed as Pythia slammed her door and ran after the Durin's down the block.

Kili reached the corner first and skidded to a halt, slipping on some ice and gaping in horror. Thorin was next and didn't stop, taking in the scene and charging down the small street, and crashing through the front door. When Pythia rounded the corner she let out a pained cry and tried to run after him.

"No, don't, Pythia!" Kili said grabbing onto her. "Just stay back." David nearly slipped on the same patch of ice as Kili, but stabilized and froze staring. The house was on fire.

"We have to go in there," David said but Kili grabbed his arm.

"Thorin's gone in for them, if someone else charges in there there will be less air and more dead bodies," Kili said firmly. "Uncle knows how to deal with fire. Let him do this." The three stood and watched as amber flames licked up the sides of the old house, three souls still trapped inside. Kili wished he believed his own words half as much as the Rymtec's did.

When Thorin burst through the front door, he inhaled ash and nearly choked, but pushed through the empty house.

"Mara!" he coughed out and then called again louder. "FILI!" A glance told him they weren't in the dining room, kitchen or living room, all covered in fire and smoke. That only left the bedrooms. He stumbled up the stairs, panting and trying not to breathe in the smoke. The doors were all flung open and several were broken or riddled with holes. He pushed down to Mara's room and his heart clenched. Sitting amidst broken glass and a pool of blood was his nephew, still as death and pale as the snow outside. The fire was casting macabre shadows on his skin, his head in Mara's lap as she sat, her leg at an odd angle. "Mara," he says and she looks up, tears leaving ple tracks on her soot covered her face.

"Help," she coughed out, and Thorin crosses the room in two strides, lifting Fili into his arms and letting Mara pull herself up on his shoulder.

"We need to move quickly," he said over the roar of the fire and they started from the room. It was slow and even as Thorin covered his nephew's mouth, he knew that if they didn't get out soon, the smoke would be too much. Mara slipped in the hall and fell with a shout as fire erupted in her old room, the stars on the ceiling turning black. Her leg was oozing blood and it looked twisted and tortured. Thorin bent to help her but she pulled away.

"Just go, get him out of here," she said shaking in pain. Thorin adjusted Fili and pulled her up with his now free arm.

"I am never leaving you again," he swore, eyes grim and she shook. Somehow, the two managed to get down the stairs, Thorin carrying Fili and supporting most of Mara's weight. Mara grabbed into the wall and pushed Thorin to the door.

"Out, I'm right behind you," she gasped and he looked at her in pain. "Go!" she commanded, eyes sparkling with more than just firelight, and Thorin dashed from the house. Kili cried out and ran to him, taking his bleeding brother from his uncle, who charged back into the house as the rook gave an awful sound. There was the sound of timbers cracking and an awful roar of fire and the house collapsed.

"Mara!" David shouted in anguish, but just before the front door was consumed in flame, Thorin charged out, Mara in his arms. He gasped for air, the cold winter snow soothing the steam burns on his face.

"Fili!" Mara said in horror and Thorin set her gently on the ground where she started scrabbling at her neck. Thorin kneeled beside his nephew and took his hand, Kili holding the other, with his big brother's head in his lap. Fili's eyes were open and he had a small smile on his face, but the blood flowed from the wound in his stomach.

"Uncle...my king," he said softly.

"The ambulance is coming," Kili said, fighting tears.

"We all know...I won't make it...this is foretold," Fili said and squeezed his eyes shut. He clenched his Uncle's hand and opened his eyes, full of grim purpose. "Uncle. I don't care what comes next, even if you have five sons and two daughters or a dozen princes, I don't care. Make Kili your heir."

"You are my heir," Thorin said softly pushed the hair back from Fili's forehead. He shook his head.

"Not for very much longer...please...Uncle...will you....will you do this for me...Kili deserves to be king...he wants so much...to be...like you....swear it...please..." His eyes slid shut and his hands relaxed falling into the snow, covered in his blood.

"FILI!" Kili said in a strangled voice, screaming dismay into the blizzard around them.

"Move," hissed a furious voice, and Thorin was pushed away from his nephew. He stared as Mara pressed something small and shimmering into the wound. Kili lets out a small sob, full of hope and fear and relief, and looked at Fili hopefully. Mara began to chant in a soft language, and thorin felt chills run down his spine that had nothing to do with the snow. Her eyes were solid gold and her words were like vines, twisting through the air. Some words he understood, some he recognized as Elvish, and others he couldn't name if his life depended on it. But her hands did not shimmer with the healing magic of a Fairy, and Fili lay still in the snow, until Mara suddenly spat something harsh that seemed to make the very Earth shake and there was a flash of light.

For a moment Thorin couldn't see. He couldn't hear, he couldn't even register that he was lying on the ground. He blinked and the white light faded from his eyes, leaving only the semidarkness of the night lit by fire and snow. Then he heard the sound of sirens in the distance, and the shouts of confusion and fear all around him. He blinked and looked around and Pythia is cradling Mara in her arms, holding onto her as if she was her lifeline to the world and David was waving as a huge red vehicle dropped down to the ground. Fili was shaking and shouting pain, but he is very much alive. Kili was holding onto his hand and trying to soothe him. Thorin looked at Mara and her eyes were on him, filled with tears, face smudged with ash and soot.

Her eyes held an apology, one Thorin never would have asked her for. He smiled faintly and she closed her eyes, a look of calm washing over her, and slumped in her mother's arms. Thorin felt something in his chest scream in agony, but ignored it, turning attention to Fili, who is bleeding again. He pressed his hands over the wound.

"You'll be fine. You're going to be alright, I swear it," Thorin mumbled and FIli just gazed up at him in fear. Then there were strangers, lifting him up and pressing a mask on his face and David had to hold him back and Kili demanded to go with him to the hospital and Mara was loaded in as well and David gets another cab and then they're flying, flying again to this place they've taken his heir and his One. Thorin sat in a daze, unsure of what would come next, but knowing for certain, that he could never and will never regret Mara.