Returning Home: A Hobbit Fanfiction

Chapter 46 - The Painful Truth

~~ Celia ~~

For a moment, everything was silent, only the rapidly disappearing sound of Smaug's beating wings echoing in the large hall. Then everyone seemed to come back to life, and the air was filled with groans of pain and anxious calls as they all began to check on each other.

Celia sat up with a moan, arms going to her back to pull her quiver off. It was comfortable enough to wear on the run, but being thrown onto it had not done her back any favors. 

Discarding it on the floor, she rubbed her bruised back for a minute before turning her attention to her leg. She didn't think it was broken, perhaps thanks to the fabled sturdiness of dwarven bodies, but it was definitely injured, as she could feel the blood dripping down her leg.

But the whole reason for her wound in the first place was still there, leaving her trapped on the floor with a large chunk of broken wall on her leg. Lurching forward, she tried to roll it off her, but was forced to give it up when it barely moved, and even that only seemed to dig it further into her leg. She tried again, straining to push it off, but had to stop again, her chest heaving as sweat trickled down her forehead.

There had to be a way to get it off her. Panting heavily, she leaned forward again, this time noticing that the rock was leaning against another piece of rubble next to her leg. In all probability, that was most likely the only reason her leg had not been crushed by the rock. If she could get some sort of lever, she might even be able to use it to wedge the rock high enough for her to get free.

"Celia!"

"Aah!" She lashed out at the unexpected sound, whacking Kíli in the knee with an elbow as he crouched beside her. "Don't scare me like that!" she whined, rubbing her now sore elbow.

"Sorry. How'd this happen?" he asked, examining her leg with concern. 

"I dove left to avoid him when his claw smashed into the wall," she explained, noticing that he favored his own right leg as he cleared some of the rubble away from around her and knelt down. "A piece of the rubble - ouch! - a piece of the rubble landed on me, and it's too big for me to move."

"I don't believe that I can move this on my own, either," Kíli agreed. "Hang on. I think everyone else is all right for the most part, let me see if I can get someone to help." Pushing himself to his feet, he limped over to the railing. "Dwalin? Dori? Are either of you close by? We need some help over here!"

"Kíli! You're all right!" came the shout back from Dori. "What's wrong?"

"Celia's trapped under a piece of rubble, and it's too big for either of us to move it safely."

"All right, lad, I'll see if I can get over there. Might take me a minute, that cursed dragon's left holes in the floor, may he never fly again. Your uncle's outside with Balin and Dwalin, checking on the wall."

Kíli came back to Celia, stretching out his right leg beside her and pulling up the other. "Dori's coming. He should be strong enough to move it, although I'm surprised he's willing to leave Nori and Ori alone."

Celia nodded, shifting her position and wincing when it sent a spark of pain through her leg. "What happened to your leg? And are the others all right? What about Bilbo? Did you see him?"

Kíli held up a hand. "Woah, there, I can only answer one question at a time. I think the others are all unharmed for the most part, although Bombur's been separated from the others by a collapsed wall. Bífur and Glóin are digging him out now. I saw Bilbo on the rampart with Uncle a couple minutes ago, and they both seemed fine. Everyone's a bit singed by dragon fire, and a few of us will need bandages, I'll wager, but other than that, I think you're the worst off, and that's just because you're stuck under this rock."