Where She Went

To Save Them

It was much easier for Talia to convince Thorin to let her alone than she thought it would be. If telling him the excruciating details of her so-called suffering from the symptoms of monthly cycles would give her alone time...well, she actually felt like an idiot for not thinking of doing it sooner!

Talia had made her way up to the battlements with a long rope hanging over her shoulders. She looked down to see that the bridge that led to the entrance to the front gate had been destroyed. She hadn't heard the crash of stone on stone over Thorin's yelling...as well as her own.

The Terran secured the rope on top and cast it out so she could have something to climb down to the bottom. "You should be inside, out of the wind." a voice said.

Talia jumped at the sound and gave a laugh of relief to see it was only Bofur. "I needed fresh air...and I'm also just dealing with...well...female issues." she explained.

Bofur raised his eyebrows and gave Talia a sad look. "The Elves have put their archers into position." he told her. Talia looked out and nodded at the hatted Dwarf. "The battle will be over by tomorrow's Eve..." he continued. "...though I doubt we will live to see it." Talia felt a sting in her eye. No. She wouldn't let her friends die. Not like this. Not if she could do anything about it.

Talia was nearly tempted to tell him her plan in hopes to ease him...but then again, her plan was pretty insane...like all her past plans, and she figured telling Bofur would do more harm than good to his blood pressure. Bofur gave her a knowing look.

"No one could blame a soul for wishing themselves elsewhere." he said. Talia frowned, knowing very well what he was hinting at. Bofur walked a little closer to her. "Must be near midnight. Bombur's got the next watch. It'll take a bit to wake him." Bofur told her, and with that, he made his way down the battlements. Talia suppressed the urge to cry.

"Bofur." The hatted Dwarf turned around to face her. She gave him the best smile she could. "I'll see you in the morning, ok?" she said firmly. Bofur only gave her a sad smile, and the young woman could see his eyes glistening with tears.

"Goodbye, Talia."

The young woman rubbed her eyes, refusing to let any tears fall. She had cried enough since they arrived at the mountain, and to be honest with herself, she was getting tired of it. Six months ago, she would've scolded herself for acting the way she had over a man! Now...she was still kind of scolding herself.

Yet she couldn't help it...she seriously couldn't believe that love really could do that to a person! She couldn't believe that love could actually send one blushing madly at one moment and breaking down sobbing at the next. Talia wished it would stop, but she guessed in order for that to happen, she would have to fall out of love...and she wasn't exactly sure if she wanted that. Despite everything that happened between her and Thorin, she still loved him. Which was why she was about to risk everything.

Talia looked down and her breath hitched in her throat...she still hadn't gotten over her fear of heights. Think of Thorin. Think of Fili, and Kili, and Bofur, and Balin, and Dwalin, and all of them. The young woman took a deep breath, swallowed her nerves, and stepped over the edge.

She felt like the climb down would never end. There were multiple times when she tripped, and when she had to suppress quite a few shrieks of fright. When she finally reached the bottom, Talia took out the ring and slipped it onto her finger. She then jumped across the broken stone that was still sitting in the moat, and began running towards Dale.

It didn't take her long to find the people she was looking for. The tent that no doubt belonged to King Thranduil was practically the only structure that was in one full piece. As Talia was sneaking around, she could hear a familiar deep voice arguing with the Elf king.