A Ruby's Shine (Thorin Oakenshield X OC)

39. Finding Safety At Last

I looked at Gandalf with wide eyes before we all took off under down the mountain. My ankle ached with every racing step I took down the steep surface, catching the hiking stick into nooks of rock at points to keep myself on my feet. Dwarves were running faster than me all around.

I wheezed as quietly as possible as we reached the base of the small mountain, racing across a wide open fields of dried autumn grass and through thin streams racing everywhere. Gandalf was holding the lead, all of us behind him and be at the back. With flat ground under foot, I pushed my hiking stick to its limits, by using it to practically push myself off of the ground and into the air for a moment. It hurt my ankle more, but it definitely gave me more speed than I had just running.

"Come on!" Gandalf yelled out from the front.

My ribs were very much protesting all this running and I felt short of breath.

And short on energy.

I didn't focus on anything else, I didn't notice Fairfin flying like an arrow around the ground, having taken off from my shoulder. I didn't notice the ground change under foot and a forest taking the place of the field we were in. My attention, what little was left at least, was focused in the animals we were racing by.

I will not lie, it set me on edge and terrified me that this so called bear wasn't something I could feel. I felt the terrified creatures around the orcs, but nothing reacted to the bear, so I had no way of knowing where that bear is or how close it is to eating us. I don't like not knowing where my enemy is, that is something I don't normally experience with my ability to sense the emotions of animals.

I have never had anyone sneak up on me, not even elves because birds can tell me they are there.

So I felt... blind. It is not a sensation I enjoyed.

I continued pushing off the ground with my hiking stick, feeling gravity let me go for a moment as my body was in the air for but a moment before gravity took over once more and pulled me back to the ground. As we started going down a slightly downhill point, I was able to cover much more distance with this method than flat even ground.

I could heard the bear roaring behind us, seeming almost like it's herding us. I wince even more as I could hear orcs and warg in the distance, orcs calling out in Black Speech and wargs howling. They are closer than I thought. Will this person's house be able to help us or will we be swarmed by orcs?

I don't know which situation is better.

A roar from the bear sounds once more, much closer this time. I looked behind me as I pushed me more off of the hiking stick, my ribs protesting so badly that I just about passed out.

A little bit longer, a little more running, come on, I can do this, just a big longer...

WE all stopped as the very, very loud roar sounded very, very close. I was breathing so loudly and my heart was pounding in my ears as I looked behind me, seeing a massive black shape up on the higher rocks.

By The Valar... that thing could eat me whole.

"This way, quickly!" Gandalf called out urgently, pulling my attention back to running instead of horrified fascination. I pushed off roughly with the hiking stick to give myself a boost back into running, every bit of my energy focused on running now, my breath seeming loud in my ears. In fact, everything seemed loud.

The things exhaustion can do to you... I don't understand it.

"Bombur, come on!" I heard Bofur shout from behind me. I couldn't even look back because I knew that if I tried focusing on anything else but running, I would falter and I don't know if my energy levels could take much more.