Alive - Fili Durin

32 || Dangerous

At Bard's house, Fili had placed Kili on Bard's bed. Kili, now in a much worse state, cried out in pain between his labored breaths. The poison from the Orc's arrow flowed furiously through him. Fili rubbed his brother's head to comfort him best he could while Oin and Bofur desperately tried to figure out what to do.

"Can you not do something?" Fili looked at them intensely while he tried to hold down Kili's thrashing body.

"I need herbs, something to bring down his fever," Oin answered while working to clean the wound.

Bard emerged from his kitchen with several small jars as he laid them on the table. "We have nightshade, feverfew..."

"They're no use to me. Do you have any Kingsfoil?"

"No, it's a weed. We feed it to the pigs."

Bofur suddenly perked up. "Pigs...Weed? Right." He turned to Kili. "Don't move." With that, he rushed out of the house.

o o o o o o o o o o o o

Back in Erebor, the dwarves talked among themselves while Leo admired the detailed carvings on the stone walls. She ran her hands over them trying to make out the tales, Balin had told her the stories of the dwarven royals were carved into these walls as to hold their history forever. She could make out the pictures of the dwarves, the various animals, and the buildings; however the words in dwarven that actually told the story she could not understand.

Bilbo waddled over to Leo and scanned the wall with her for a moment, not saying a word. Leo eventually glanced at him to his hands locked behind his back and his lips pursed while he bounced on his feet - he was scared.

"Is it time?" She turned to him.

Still staring at the wall, he nodded. He closed his eyes and sighed before turned to face her as well. "This is what I came for...I had to go down eventually."

"I would ask you if you were scared, but that's a stupid question."

He smiled. "I'll be ok. A bold claim, I know...but that's all I can...that's what I hope. We knew this would be dangerous."

"Who knew our lives would ever be dangerous...go get that stone."

Nodding, he pulled her into a hug. Leo wrapped her arms tightly around her neck as her eyes began to burn with tears. "I love you, Bilbo. Please be careful. Please don't step on the dragon."

"I love you too, Leo. I'll be back." He pulled away and jogged to Balin who stood by a staircase as the two disappeared behind the wall.

An hour passed by since Bilbo had been sent into the dragon's lair, Balin had returned as the dwarves sat around worrying. None of them worried like Leo. She sat further away from the others with her knees tucked to her chest as she stared at the ground. Thorin watched her for a few minutes before sighing and rising to his feet, slowly walking over to Leo. She looked up at him when he got a bit closer.

"Are you alright?" He kneeled down to her and sighed to see tears streaming down her face.

"I've realized I am alone now."

"Alone? We are all here with you."

"Not like that. We left Fili behind us and Bilbo went ahead of us. My two worlds have split apart and I am in the middle...alone."

"You will see them both again. I promise. But in the meantime..." he motioned his head down the hall.  "I want to show you something."

Leo stood up and wiped her eyes, taking Thorin's arm he had extended out for her. The two slowly walked down the long stone hall filled with more carvings. Leo scanned over them all as Thorin explained them to her. Eventually, he stopped them to one section of the wall. The picture showed a young dwarf boy with a crown in his hand. She released his arm to move closer and run her fingers over the intricate carving. 

"Is this you?"

He nodded and smiled. "I had stolen my father's crown and decided it would be amusing to run away with it claiming I was king. So, for some reason, they deemed that grand enough to include in my carving."

Leo grinned as she scanned over the picture. The child was easy to identify as Thorin since it seemed even as a child he had a distinct nose and stoic gaze. Leo walked along the wall as she watched Thorin grow through stone, he read the dwarvish text to her they went while teaching her a few words as well. Eventually, the carvings ended completely. The long hallway was left with a blank wall.

"The last carving marked the day Erebor fell. I hope to put Fili and Kili's story here one day."

"You have to finish yours. The quest has to be put here as well! The journey to Erebor. That is a big part of your story...and Fili and Kili's."

Thorin smiled kindly at her. "I suppose so. This quest has indeed been carving worthy. However, if we do that...it will be the first time in dwarven history another race will be included in our story."

"Really?"

He nodded and locked his arms behind his back while he admired the blank stone. "I think that would be a good thing for us...Fili said something at Beorn's that shifted my stubborn ways a bit...he said something along the lines of, the retaking of Erebor will be the turn of a new era." He looked up at the wall to see light shining on it from a small crack in the wall behind him. Leo stood in the path of the light against the blank wall, causing a grand shadow to cast itself on the wall. Thorin smiled to see the silhouette of the hobbit girl outlined on the wall, the continuation of the story of Durin. "A new era, indeed." He held out his hand to her. "Come, we'll go outside and get some fresh air. It is a bit dusty in here."

Thorin and Leo walked outside to see the other dwarves had the same idea and sat staring at the stars. Leo stood by Thorin and stared at them as well, the worry about Bilbo slowly rising in her chest again.

Suddenly, the mountain rumbled beneath their feet before halting again. Leo panicked a bit. "What was that?"

Balin rose slowly and turned to them with a look of concern. "That, lass, was a dragon."

Leo's heart sank as she began to breathe heavily and stammer. "He woke the dragon...Thorin it's going to kill him." 

o o o o o o o o o o o o

Bard's home shook at the great force of the dragon in Erebor, his roof shedding debris into the dining room. The children in the kitchen looked at their father with concern. The sound a Kili's pain added to the fear in the room.

Fili approached him. "You should leave us. Take your children and get out of here."

"And go where? There is nowhere to go."

Tilda stared at him. "Are we going to die, Da?"

Bard tried to smile reassuredly. "No, darling."

"The dragon, it's going to kill us."