A Place to Belong

Chapter 5: Wizards

The dwarves and Bilbo were fading from view in the densely wooded forest, they ran at full sprint, prepared for the worst but hoping for much less. Braerka had all but fallen behind, her wounds getting the better of her. She ran as fast as she could, for as long as she could, but soon found herself gasping for air, her broken ribs causing her so much agony she couldn't breathe. She slowed to a stop and listened as the drum of their pace faded into the distance.

Ensuring she was alone she reach once again for the Soul Reaver, she breathed her life essence onto it and it glowed absorbing the energy from her. She squeezed it tightly in her fist allowing her body to absorb the waves of blue as they focused on her injuries. She felt herself become refreshed, the throbbing subsided and she could breathe easily again. Tucking the gem under her shirt she prayed that this time it would keep the ache at bay for good.

Looking up and around her she saw only the varied greens and browns of the leaves and trees, she had been left behind. She had expected it though; she was no-one of importance to them why should they wait?

"Aww well, they can't have gone too far" she said aloud for no-one to hear, beginning into a brisk jog. She followed the deep footprints they had left in their wake.

Running in their general direction she stopped on hearing an unfamiliar voice cry out loudly, flocks of birds jumped from their nests and others were surely hiding.

"THIEVES! FIRE! MURDER!" she heard, then all went silent, the voice was old and of a man. She hurried her pace worried for the others; the woods were less than safe when things went quiet.

Carrying on at a faster paced jog she soon found them holed up in a ditch near the forest edge. They were spread out, chatting quietly to one another, and relaxed; whatever the threat had been they had dealt with it.

She slowed to a normal walking pace and cautiously entered their ring.

"So you decided to join us then?!" spat Thorin, he seemed angry, what had brought about the sudden disfavour in her. She wondered for a second, he could be testing her to see if she was of any worth to his group and so far she guessed she wasn't summing up to be much other than a nuisance.

"Didn't want to get in the way of your massive ego!" she replied smartly, the comment received a few chuckles but Thorin for one was not amused. 'He really has changed' she thought.

She remembered a time when he would have laughed openly at such things but now he saw no humour only offence. 'Time can do terrible things to the strongest of us' she finished. Seeing this wasn't going to win her a good reputation she decided to withdraw her comment.

"Look...Thorin... what I meant was you guys could've handled it without me, and you did by the looks of it! Besides I needed to acquaint my injuries to the burn of running" she told him with a smile, it was barely returned as she saw his lips move to form a smile but resorted to their natural position.

Seconds later Oin was coming up to her again, this time with a small phial of a dark green liquid; he handed it to her. She stared at him blankly; did he expect her to drink it? She considered the bottle with guarded eyes not wanting to discern the contents though its purpose was most likely to dampen the pain. She looked at him with baffled eyes, she didn't want to drink it and she didn't really need it either.

"Take it, it will dull the pain!" he ordered. She again pondered the bottle, its green contents seemed to be alive and moving of its own accord. She really didn't want to take it. She looked up when someone laughed, to see both Fili and Kili side by side, looming behind their uncle and watching in bliss. Thorin chuckled deeply before turning back to Balin whom he had been in deep conversation with.