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I made my way over to a wooden bench in a corner of Bard's house. I began to slide my boots off and dump the water out. I tried to wring the excess water from my loose clothing. Kili hobbled his way over and draped a blanket over my shoulders. "Sit. Now. You need to rest that leg," I said. He rolled his eyes. "I mean it."
He sighed and gave into my demand. He sat himself down next to me, propping his leg on a table that was in front of the bench. "Fine, fine. You win," he groaned.
He began to unravel the binding on his leg. The wound had become much more infected. The veins surrounding the wound had now turned a dark blue and purple. The blood that gushed out almost looked black. My mouth dropped, "You can't keep moving on this, not until we find an antidote."
Before he could say anything, one of Bard's daughters raced up to me with a pile of clothes. "Here you are, miss!" She handed me the clothes. "They were our mother's. They should fit alright, might be a tad big," she chuckled.
"Thank you, that's very kind." I smiled.
"You can change in our room." She pointed to a small room in the corner of the house, adjacent to the door.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"I'm Tilda and that is my sister Sigrid," she said pointing to the older girl. "And that's Bain," she said, now pointing to the young boy.
"It's lovely to meet you all." I lifted myself and made my way to the room to change.
I peeled off the drenched clothes and attempted to slightly dry myself. I pulled on a pair of tan trousers, a dark blue tunic and a pair of fairly new brown boots. I pulled my hair back with some twine and piled my wet clothes together. As soon as I exited the room, Sigrid took my clothes from me to dispose.
I sat back down next to Kili. "Cute girls," I mumbled.
"Meeting someone like you probably doesn't happen a lot," he added.
"How do you mean?"
"Well, a strong, beautiful girl that's following around a pack of dwarves that comes out of their sewers. Fighting beasts and going on quests." He paused and looked at me, giving me a nudge. "They look up to you."
"I suppose," I said smiling to myself.
Bard began to pass out clothes to the rest of the dwarves. "They may not fit best, but they will keep you warm."
Thorin stood next to Balin, drying himself. His gaze shifted from his clothes to something outside the window. "The Dwarvish Wind-Lance!" He exclaimed.
"You look like you've seen a ghost," Bilbo said, also staring out the window.
"He has. The last time we saw such a weapon the city was on fire. It was a day the dragon came," Balin explained. "The day that Smaug destroyed Dale. Girion, the lord of the city, rallied his bowmen to fire upon the beast. But a dragon's hide is tough, tougher than the strongest armor. Only a Black Arrow fired from a wind-lance could have pierced the dragon's hide. And few of those arrows were ever made. The store was running low when Girion made his last stand."
