Adventures Of The Warriors And The Dead

Chapter 32 Bofur

Alex

~~~

"Why have you joined me?" Grace asks briskly as I walk up beside her. She's standing near the entrance of Dale. Her eyes scan the lines of bodies that lay peacefully in the streets. Many weep by their loved ones while other walk along the streets anxiously looking.

"Did you see them?"

A pause before another woman answers the whispered question.

"I did."

"The children off the barricade who didn't last the night."

Grace bristles before turning around and striding from Dale. I follow after her unable to watch any longer.

"Grace!" I call. A million sorrows echo in her eyes but she isn't crying.

"We have a job to do Alex. We have to find anymore bodies left and make sure all the orcs are dead," Grace states coldly.

"Speak to me Grace. We are friends and we have been partners for decades," I murmur and grab her arm.

"I have nothing to say," she lies.

"Grace I am broken up about all the death especially Legolas's and we weren't even soulmates. You have to have something to express," I deadpan and Grace exhales sharply.

"The only thing I have to express is-" she stops and clenches her hands. "Is my need to complete this job so I can depart onto my next task."

"Next task?"

Grace takes longer strides to stay ahead of me as we head on the path to Ravenhill. A sick feeling twists in my stomach at the thought of returning to that place.

"I am going North to find the Dunedein," Grace supplies as she carefully and quickly looks over orc bodies. Every so often she shoots an arrow into ones neck. Her speed makes my presence obsolete.

"You cannot leave," I argue. "Allie needs you now...I need you." Grace doesn't reply to me and instead keeps walking.

Our path leads us onto a frozen river. A rather large war beast is half sunk into a hole in the ice. Floating on the top is a certain floppy eared hat.

"No," I hiss and surge forward to snatch the hat from the water. My eyes look into the water to find the body of Bofur dangling from a chain attached to one of the war beasts eyes. I grab the chain and pull him up. "Bofur." He's cold and motionless.

"Another lost," Grace concludes sourly.

"How do we tell Bifur and Bombur?" I mutter and wrap my arms around myself. I've never felt this much sorrow in my whole life.

"We will cross that bridge when it comes to it. For now we have to leave him and finish our job."

Frowning I tuck Bofur's hat into his cold hands and close his unfocused eyes before standing again.

The rest of the trip to Ravenhill is uneventful.

~~~

Atop Ravenhill it's deathly cold and eery.

Blood is on the ice everywhere we step and bodies of orcs and goblins litter the ground.

A lump forms in my throat as Grace goes towards the stone stairs that lead up to where it happened. She swiftly climbs then and comes to where Fili was killed.

His blood is still on the ground.

"Do you remember when-" my breath hitches and I swallow thickly. "When they first walked in our lives?"