The Slave Caravan

To the Grey Floods

I was pissed, no I was more than pissed. How could that reckless dwarf go off on his own? He was still ill and if he got into any danger, his mother would have my neck. I mounted my pony. I looked behind me at the other five dwarves mounting their ponies. They all had their separate opinions about what Kili just pulled. My mind was rattled with many thoughts about Kili's actions. All we needed to do now was catch up to the enslavers and reclaim our kin.

"We ride until dusk," I ordered. My word was final and if any of them had a problem then they could go through me. I was pissed off and I hope everyone knew that. I kicked my ponies sides and we started off at a nice walk to a canter. I was able to travel at this velocity because we had unhooked the wagon from the pony. We had to leave it behind. That was another reason I was upset. I looked at the sun starting to peek over the hills.

    I stopped as I found a piece of bloodied cloth tied up with a bead. I dismounted my pony and collected the item. I took the bead off of the cloth. It had the Erebor symbol on it. I could tell it was from Fili because he always carved his hair beads. I looked down at the bloody strip of cloth. I felt sickened at this. Had Fili been beaten? I let out a stressful sigh. I took the item to Dwalin who was still mounted on his pony. He took the cloth and bead. He examined them quickly and then gave me a questionable look.

"It's Fili. I'm afraid something bad might have happened," I told Dwalin. He handed me back the items and shook his head.

"Kili had the right instinct. He was wrong to go off alone, but he knew something was wrong," Dwalin replied as he rubbed his hard hands against his ponies mane. I turned to the other dwarves that gathered around me. I shook my head and crossed my arms.

"No good news. We have to travel faster this time," I told the group. Gloin let out a mild sigh of distress. I handed the items to Balin who held out his hands. He looked at the items very closely.

"He's wearing slave clothes, and according to the piece of bead which has small dried blood splatters on it, I predict he got some lashings. Also, this piece of cloth is used at the hem of the shirt which means he is bleeding heavily," Balin explained to me. I was slightly amazed at how Balin got all that information from two small items. Balin shoved the two items into his pocket. I moved towards my pony. I patted her and then mounted. I closed my eyes for a few seconds to pray to Mallah that Fili wasn't badly hurt. I turned back to the group who were waiting on me. I kicked my pony and we rode off.

    We stopped not three miles off from where we last found the two items. I found Kili's pony. He had left everything else except his bow and a bag. We tied the pony to the rear D-ring of my saddle with an extra lead rope we had. It was the afternoon and we decided to let our ponies have a break. We dismounted and led our ponies down the dusty trail. We were tired and pained. We came across a resting area with some burnt wood in the middle. I looked down at the dirt to find wagon tracks and footprints.

"It was put out this morning, " Balin informed me as he tested the firewood. I walked the perimeter of the large clearing of trees. I found a footprint, it was Kili's footprint. I brushed my eyebrow with my thumb. I decided to start following Kili's footprints. They led out of the clearing and down one of the three trails. This trail led down to the North of Little Lune which also led up to the large river that traveled down to the Grey Floods. This trail was also famous for it's orcs and wargs. I closed my eyes and did another prayer. This was also where Fili and Kili's Dad died by the orc named Bolg. I turned to the five silent dwarves who looked to me to lead.

"They went down this way. Anyone who wants to turn back now, do so now. If not follow me," I said as I began to walk down the trail. A hand grabbed my shoulder and hauled me back. I turned back to find Balin.