I Bow To No One

Chapter 22: Lake Town

*Artrain's P.O.V*

It felt like an eternity of being on that boat. Thorin and I had sat there in a comfortable silence, listening to the quiet conversations around us. At that moment Bard had walked up to the company holding a hand out. "The money, give it to me." He grumbled. The boat was stopped at a little dock. "We will give you your money after you get us into the town." Thorin growled, standing up to face the man. "Master dwarf, if you wish to get into the town alive I suggest you do as I say." Bard replied. Thorin hesitated for a moment before nodding at Balin, who handed the pouch of money over. "Thank you. Artrain, is it? You can take the form of a wolf correct?" Bard asked, directing his attention toward me. I nodded in response. "Good. Get them into the barrels and when I tell you, shift into your wolf form. Act like a dog. Now I have to go do something." Bard said before walking off the boat and going to talk to a man. "Alright you heard him lads, Into the barrels." I sighed, biting back a scream as I stood up. "How do we know he's not going to betray us?" Ori asked, looking at me. "We don't, Now come on, in you go." I sighed, watching the dwarves climb into the barrels and helping them as needed. Then I watched as Bard passed the money we had given to him to another man on the dock. "He's selling us out!" I heard one of the dwarves yell, resulting in me kicking their barrel and telling them to be quiet. At that moment Bard had returned with barrels of fish, my eyes widened as I realized what he was going to do. "I suggest you hold your noses!" Bard said with a smirk as he began pouring the fish onto the dwarves, earning groans of disgust from them. I began to laugh but quickly stopped as pain surged through me. "Oi! Its not polite to laugh!" I heard Dwalin yell. "Oh on the contrary Dwalin, this is far to funny not to." I said with a forced grin, earning a quizzical look from Bard.

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We left the dock and were headed toward Lake Town. The boat was once again silent accept for the occasional grumble from one of the dwarves or Bilbo. "So tell me, what is a shape shifter doing with a group of dwarves and a Hobbit?" Bard asked, glancing at me. "We crossed paths when their journey was still young, their cause interested me." I responded. "Doesn't seem to be working out well for you. You look like you've been torn apart more than the entire company combined." he stated, causing me to raise an eyebrow. "I knew what I was getting into." I said simply. "Did you? Because you seem to be in pretty bad shape, despite the brave face you put on. Its obvious that every move you make creates an unbearable amount of pain, and its only getting worse." He said. I wasn't sure what to say at first. He wasn't wrong, the pain was slowly becoming worse and I had an unsettling feeling that I knew why. "I'm fine." I replied smoothly. I didn't need the company worried about me. "It's clear to see that this journey will be the death of you. And not because of a dragon." Bard said quieter before adding "Shift forms, We're close to the Town. as for the rest of you, keep quiet.". I stared at him for a moment before doing as he had told me. After a moment we stopped in front of the gate to Lake Town. "papers ple- Oh hello Bard." The Gatekeeper greeted. Bard and the man exchanged recent news and then he moved to open the gates. "Hold it!" A nasally voice said before he got the chance. An unctuous man stepped out of the little shack with two guards behind him. he had an evil grin on his face. "Alfrid..." Bard half snarled. "Hello Bard. That's quite a load of fish you've got there." The man sneered, striding onto the boat. "But you see, this paper here says you're supposed to be bringing in 13 empty barrels only... They're not empty are they Bard?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "The town could use all the food it can get. I just thought I would help." Bard replied smoothly. "Oh I'm sure. Dump it into the river." Alfrid said, directing the last part to the guards. Time seemed to slow down as the guards stepped forward, grabbing one of the barrels and beginning to dump it. My body tensed and my eyes darted to Bard, who seemed to panic slightly. "Food is scarce these days Alfrid. People are hungry." Bard said. "Not my problem." Alfrid growled in response. "And when the town figures out that you're dumping perfectly good food, and the Riots start, tell me will it be your problem then?" Bard asked. This seemed to get through. "Stop!" Alfrid barked reluctantly. I let out a breath of relief as the guards put the barrels back down. "You win this time Bard, but we're onto you. And remember! We know where you live!" Alfrid yelled. "Oh its a small town Alfrid! everyone knows where everyone lives!" Bard replied with a smirk.