Daughter of The Darkness

Chapter 46

Who was she? Was she flying? Was she falling? She did not care. Her lungs crippled against the cold force of water as she slipped deeper into the water. Surrounded by blackness, her body slipped in and out of life and her heart that thumped in her ears was slowly beginning to stop. Not that she minded, death had accepted her.

"Kasper?" Called Fili, tugging gently at the horse's reins. But the stallion refused to leave the waters edge, his eyes and pricked ears still directed towards to water- waiting. Fili pulled harder, his own calmness had long since passed. He could not bring himself to face the truth. Elfreda was lost to the water. The strong, brave, beautiful woman had fallen to the cursed beast of his ancestors.

What are you going to do girl? You're nothing but a serving wench. What have you done? You traitor! Get out of my sight. You are nothing but a curse to this land. You have no status here. Daughter of hell, Daughter of the Darkness. I have forgotten the term friend. Without you, I fear the darkness will return.

Elfreda's eyes shot open and her body kick started once more. She felt the urge to fight, to survive flowing through her veins once more. No more would she absorb the abuse of Middle Earth. She refused to stand by and let others turn the world to ruin.

Using whatever strength she had left, she propelled herself upwards, refusing to let herself drown. She was a long way down but her might kept her going. Her friends kept her going. Her refusal to let the darkness dawn kept her going despite the lack of oxygen.

Fili yelled, kicking shingle into the water. Then he collapsed onto the ground and was quickly surrounded by his fellow company. All had silver tears trickling down their solemn faces. To them, a hero and role model had passed. Te dwarves huddled in a circle to and prayed. That was until they heard a whinny from Kasper as he bolted into the open water.

Elfreda surfaced with a large intake of air. Oh how wonderful it felt to breathe! Although it was painful for the first breath. She splashed and spluttered on the water, kicking her legs to stay afloat. She was far away from any land and she tried to shout but water filled her mouth and she chocked again. Deciding it was best for her to save her breath, Elfreda began to paddle to shore. Her swimming was slow and painful, her body still recovering from lack of oxygen.
"Kasper?" she muttered, seeing a horse paddle out towards her. Relief rushed through her as her friend swam up to her allowing her to wrap her sodden arms around his thick neck, his warmth running through her hands to her soul. With a snort from Kasper, he set off again back to shore, Elfreda totally putting her trust in him. She fell unconscious again with her pal by her side.

Her limp body washed upon the shore, Kasper dragging her several hundred metres to safety. The horse rolled her onto her side, the water she had swallowed flowing out of her like a river. Elfreda coughed and vomited. Her eyes looked up at Kapser and she smiled weakly.
"Hey buddy," she whispered hoarsely "you beat your fear of water eh!" Kasper just snorted then shook his head to get rid of the water. Elfreda coughed up water again.

The pair were alone on a abandoned part of the beach. Crowds of people were not too far away but it was enough to let Elfreda recover in peace. She lay on the sand, her horse stood beside her, letting the morning sun dry her clothes, not caring about the sand tangled within her damp hair. She would help them, she just needed to rest a while. Elfreda would save the world as soon as all the lake water left her lungs.

"Where's Elfreda?" asked Bard, his three children clinging to his side as he approached the dwarves huddled on the sand. They were all damp too.
"We don't know," Bofur replied. Bard's eyes widened with shock "what do you mean?"
"She told us to flee," Tauriel explained, she was the only one with a sure head upon her shoulders "Elfreda ran into the flames and we haven't seen her since,"
Bard shuddered.
"Da, look!" called Tilda "there she is," The little girl pointed towards a body lying on the shore. Kasper was stood by her side then laid down beside her. The group of dwarves turned to look too. Elfreda raised her hand and rubbed Kasper's muzzled softly, completely unaware that she was being watched. Elfreda was alive. All the dwarves stood to look in the direction that Tilda was pointing. They all breathed a sigh of relief.
"She may be hurt," stated Oin, picking up his satchel and began to wander over. The others joined him, their pace quick but not fast enough to run.

Elfreda heard the sand moving before she saw her friends striding along the beach. She sat up too quickly and Elfreda vomited again. Now the band of people began to run. She felt firm human hands on her shoulder as she finished throwing up water. Bard supported her weight as she retched.
"Easy, easy Elfreda," calmed Bofur by her side, pressing his hand firmly on her side. Oin was pulling a needle and thread out of his bag as well as antiseptic and cloth. Elfreda had not noticed the bleed that stained her cotton tunic. She grunted and lay down. Smaug's claw must of caught her side as it pulled her underwater. Elfreda shivered; she glanced at the two young dwarves Fili and Kili, who stood looking worried and gave them a reassuring smile. Kili smiled back but the worry did not fade from his brother. Mustering her strength, Elfreda began to speak.
"Hey boys," she stuttered "well, wasn't that fun!"