I Bow To No One

Chapter 21: Dreams of Erebor

*Artrain's P.O.V*

It took a moment for me to process what I was looking at. We were on the land beside the river.  Thorin's head snapped up at the sound of my voice. "Oh thank Mahal." I heard him mutter, along with sighs of relief from the company. "Artrain oh God are you alright?" Kili said, it was then I realized that both he and Fili were by my side along with their uncle. I tried to respond but it seemed that every once of pain my body could manage seemed to hit me at once, resulting in a cry of pain. "Oin!" Thorin barked, attracting the medics attention. The dwarf quickly kneeled down beside me and quickly started working. "Artrain why would you endanger yourself like this? You were already weak." Thorin asked, taking my hand in his. "I- I was not about to let Kili get hurt.. B-be angry if you wish but I would do it again." I said meekly. "I thank you Artrain, you saved my brothers life." Fili said with a soft smile. "Y-you're the one that told me we look after our own." I mumbled, half heatedly returning his smile. "Thorin if we don't leave now we will have a pack of orcs on our tail." Dwalin said, walking up to Thorin. "She cannot travel Dwalin. Besides, we have no way of getting across the river." Oin grumbled, looking up at the warrior. "I-I'll be fine. Just wrap the wound, I can walk." I said through gritted teeth. Oin hesitated, but hastily complied. "Artrain you can't be serious!" Bilbo yelped. "No Artrain you'll hurt yourself more." Thorin said worriedly. "I-I'll be fine." I grumbled, trying to sit up and get to my feet. My body seemed to have other ideas. I cried out in pain as every muscle in my body screamed in protest. But despite that, I managed to get myself to my feet. Now standing steadily, that was another story. The world seemed to spin and for a second I thought I was going to collapse. Thorin must have noticed because he moved my arm up to rest on his shoulders and wrapped an arm carefully around my waist, letting me lean on him for the support I needed. "Alright lets try to find a-" Dwalin began but his voice trailed off. The whole company seemed to go stiff. "Wha-" I looked up to se a tall man with his bow drawn.  He had dark hair that trailed down to his shoulders and he had dark eyes that seemed to tell a story of their own. Dwalin tried to advance on the man but he quickly stopped as the bow was turned toward me. "One more step closer and she dies." The man growled. In one movement, Kili and Fili both stepped in front of me as the had done in Rivendell while Thorin moved to where I was shielded by his body. "Try it and see what happens." Kili growled, glaring at the archer. "Now now, there is no reason to be rash here." Balin suddenly said, stepping up to talk to the man.  "Who are you, and what are dwarves doing in these lands?" The man asked, looking at Balin cautiously. "My name is Balin. We are simply merchants from the blue mountains, traveling to see our kin. As you can see we are unarmed and we pose as no threat to you. That bow is truly unnecessary." Balin replied calmly. The man hesitated before lowering his weapon. The whole company seemed to let out a breath they had subconsciously been holding.

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Balin had somehow managed to convince the man, who's name we later learned was Bard, to smuggle us into lake town to gather weapons and supplies before heading toward Erebor. I sat with Thorin by my side, our backs were against the wood of the boat facing the company as they tried to scrap together the money they owed the fisherman. "I do not trust this man." Thorin  grumbled, looking hastily at Bard before looking back at me. "Oh you wouldn't trust your own head if it wasn't connected to your shoulders." I said teasingly, smiling slightly at him. "Ah but I have good reason for that. If I am to be a king I have to be able to judge who is trustworthy and who is not." Thorin replied, returning the smile. "Hmm.. Well you seem to deem the whole world as untrustworthy." I chuckled, laying my head on his shoulder. "Not entirely... I trust this entire company with my life. Including you." Thorin replied, looking down at me. "That could be a dangerous thing, trusting me, you never know what you might get yourself into." I replied. "Ah, well I suppose I'm willing to take that chance." He chuckled, taking one of my hands and intertwining our fingers. It was then, I had noticed the entire boat had fallen silent. I looked up to see a massive mountain in the distance. The dwarves all stared in awe. They had only seen the Lonely mountain one other time in the journey. Both times it had seemed to strike a flare of hope through out the company, for after the silence passed, all of them began telling stories of their long lost home. "What is it like? Erebor I mean." I asked, glancing up at Thorin. "Ah, I don't really know where to even begin." He chuckled "As a child I would roam the halls of the kingdom, no sound would go unnoticed yet it was never incredibly loud. My grandfather, Thror, was obsessed with gold. He had a room filled with treasures and diamonds as far as the eye could see. As a child, I thought it was by far the best place in all of the realm." Thorin said, smiling at the last part. "There would be a 'river' of gold that would flow down into Dale, a town of men who we traded with often. The city was like nothing you've ever seen before, some said it was almost as beautiful as Rivendell. Dwarves would travel down there to make extra money or just to see what the town had to offer..." I smiled as I listened to him continue to speak about the once powerful dwarvish Kingdom. This was the first time I had ever seen him as happy as he was. The company must have took notice of it as well because soon enough, they were all listening to what he was saying. Even Bard showed a bit of interest. I had watched as a few of their eyes traveled to the mountain as he spoke, most of their gazes showed longing and hope to have their home returned to them at last. And it was at that moment I knew... I would get them their home back or I would die trying.