Courage ✔

Chapter 2

As Alyssae opened her eyes, she saw a leafy canopy above here. Inhaling deeply, she enjoyed the smell of grass and the sweet aroma of an indefinable plant. The moon shone upon her skin, which was covered in mud, dust and cuts. She moved her attention to a group of men. They were discussing loudly as if they were miles away from a goblin nest.

"We can't leave her to die," a man said.

"Neither can we take her with us."

It took a while before Alyssae understood that they were talking about her. "Can I help you?"

The voiced died away and thirteen pairs of eyes stared curiously at her. 

"Where do you come from?" one of the dwarves asked. His heavy, dark eyebrows made him look threatening.

"I was born in Chyndall," she answered. It was a quite unknown community and she doubted the dwarves had ever heard of it. Usually, dwarves did not wander around these lands and she wondered what they were doing here, but decided not to ask. 

As a response to the name of her kingdom, they huffed. Chyndall was  obviously not unknown to them.

"Is she an elf?" someone whispered. 

"She surely is. Other creatures do not live there," a dwarf with a long white beard noticed. 

Alyssae glanced nervously at the dwarves. Some seemed a little frightened; others were overwhelmed or even embittered. Most of their friendly smiles were gone now and she looked at Kíli in need of help, since he was the one saving her.

"Perhaps she can travel with us until we have left the area of the goblins?" he suggested, glancing at the grim dwarf, who had spoken to her at first. He obviously was in charge of this mission – or whatever brought them to a place like this.

"There other dangers will spy upon her, she might have been better off with the goblins. Besides; we don't have the time to escort her."

Alyssae crossed her arms indignantly. "I do not need an escort. As soon as I have a weapon, I am perfectly able to protect myself."

"Well, grab a stone and help yourself," the leader answered indifferently.

She clenched her fists angrily, but a calm hand on her shoulder made her turn around. "Don't get riled up because of a stubborn dwarf whose manners are unbelievable clumsy." An old man – Alyssae recognized him as a wizard – looked at her with a friendly smile. "Well then, I dare to state that this most pleasant company hasn't found the courtesy yet to introduce themselves?' He didn't wait for an answer, but started to introduce the dwarves. Although there was usually nothing wrong with Alyssae's memory, she could now only remember Thorin's name. He turned out to be the leader of the dwarves, who seemed to be blessed by very little tact.

"I hoped you would put your old conflict with the elves to rest since lord Elrond decided to help you."

'Such a small deed was the least he could do," was Thorin's stubborn answer.

The wizard looked him in the eye for a short time, then he turned his head to Alyssae. "My name is Gandalf the Grey, although among the elves I'm better known as Mithrandir."

Alyssae nodded. Although she heard about him, she had never met him. "My name is Alyssae."

"Welcome, welcome." Gandalf looked around. "Now, we miss just one more fellow."

Sighing, Alyssae sat down in the grass as the dwarves started to discuss again. This time not about what they wanted to do with her, but they questioned the loyalty of a hobbit. The dwarves disagreed with each other, but once again it was Thorin who predominated the conversation. and in the end, only a few dared to contradict his harsh words. It was a relief to know that Thorin was not only suspicious about her, for he distrusted their disappeared fellow as well.