"Go" I push him back slightly.
"I don't want to" he says shaking his head.
" Go Thorin I don't want them coming here," I whisper, nervous that I won't be able to hide myself from them.
I feel his hand under my lip, "Let go" he says, bending his head he pulls my lip between his biting softly. I giggle like a teenager pushing him. He plants a small kiss on my forehead before leaving. " Don't take long"
I return to the camp twenty minutes later after I had washed my face with the cold lake water. There's a slight chill in the weather. There's a fire going and the dwarves are busy drinking beer and cooking dinner.
"Where were you?" Kili asked as soon as he saw me.
"By the lake." I say smiling. "Where is my treat?"
"Here" Fili puts three giant bags of sweet crispees Infront of me. " I got five Kili already ate two"
"Sharing is caring Maur" Kili says looking at me with a silly smile.
"Here" I give him two more bags share it with everyone. I know they all like them as much as I do.
"You did a very good job with the bandage lass," I hear Oin behind me. "I think you should do it from now on"
"No thank you" I say blushing.
"Why not? You are good at it"
I feel Thorin's arm around my waist. "I think that's a brilliant idea." As he turns me towards him and puts his lips on mine for the second time today.
The dwarves all yell and cheer.
"My God Maur if we knew we could have asked him to take his shirt off sooner" Kili can't help teasing me
"Stooooopppppp" I hide my face in Thorin's chest
"Stop teasing her." Thorin says with with feigned anger and we all laugh. It's a beautiful night.
xxxxxxx
It's the second day of the move and the orcs have changed their course. They are close but not close enough as this land is protected by the beast a Skin Changer to be exact. The green grassy land is changing into a rocky one. We stand between two great rocks as Bilbo has gone ahead to spy. He seems to have blended into his new role of the burglar and honestly he's the quietest one of us all. It's so nerve wrecking to wait in these situations.
"Why don't you try talking to the night little one." I hear Gandalf behind me.
I look at him a little nervous because I had told him I was having a very hard time seeing ahead. He had told me that it was because of the spell. After our brush with Azog and the Orcs I had been asking him to lift the spell, I couldn't spend my life worried sick to the pit of my stomach for Thorin. He was not agreeing to it until last night. I have ash grey eyes, I mean that is the colour I'm born with but with strong emotions my eyes change color frequently. The dwarves have never seen my eyes change. Thorin has never seen them change, what if he doesn't like what he sees. Sometimes the things I see have a physical affect too, like pain, anger....
Gandalf nods at me, "It's ok. They know"
I go sit with my back to the rock my legs folded under me. Unless my visions are very strong I usually sit still like in a deep meditation. Gandalf went to Thorin and said something to him, a look of worry passed over Thorin's face and he came and stood close to me. The others were also around me intrigued as to what they would see. "I'm not a magician." I look at them with a low nervous laugh.
I take in a few deep breaths to clear and calm my mind, I know my irises have turned blue because of how Ori's eyes widen with surprise before I close mine. I call out to the night silently and I see a huge black bear on a rock roaring then it fades into horses, some beautiful majestic looking horses, I see a forest as the scene changes and Elves. When it begins to fade suddenly I see Kili with an arrow in his leg and someone saying it was poisoned. I can feel my body begin to tremble. Then I see Azog's face and can feel myself making sounds but can't make out what I'm saying. He plunges a long curved knife into Thorin.... Thorin falls... I can hear a shrill piercing painful cry, "Nooooooooooo"
THORIN
She seems nervous. "I lifted the spell last night. Stay close to her she will need you" I look at him questioningly. "Go on... you'll know what I'm talking about soon enough."
I see her eyes turn blue before she closes them, it's the most beautiful shade of blue I've ever seen. Her body has gone rigid, her back arching and her face upwards. I look at the wizard and he nods at me. She hasn't moved from the past ten or so minutes. I hear a whimper and my head snaps towards her, her body is shaking, light tremors, her hands turned into fists. "What's going on?" I ask the wizard my heart racing. He doesn't respond his eyes fixed on her, his brow creased. The whimpers are getting louder, her body shaking like a leaf. There's a trail of blood going down her chin, she's biting her lip so hard. "Do something. Pull her out." I scream at the wizard as I try to hold her.
"I can't, it will end when it ends." the wizard replies. And then I hear it, a painful howl that brought me to my knees. The agony of her scream has me frozen. She falls back against the rock, I shake her holding her shoulders and her eyes snap open. Deep red irises staring at me but when her gaze settles on my face they go purple. She looks at me breathing hard as her arms go around me and sobs rake out of her body. I hold her tight until her sobs subside and she puts her forehead on my chest. "I'm sorry." she whispers looking up at me and then the others.
"You don't have anything to be sorry about." I say my gaze on the wizard, I want to cut his head off.
We camped between the rocks for the night. We are deep into the beast's land and the orcs won't dare enter unless they are really desperate. She seems weak from her struggle, her energy spent. We are all sitting around the fire. She hasn't told us yet about the vision, whatever she saw has her shaken. And if anyone would dare to ask I'll pull their tongue out.
She shifts uneasily as she puts her elbows on her legs and takes in a deep breath, "I....." everyone goes totally quiet as she speaks, her voice loud enough to reach everyone. "I saw a big black bear on the rock, I think it was the Skin Changer." Her eyes fixed on the fire. I rub her back gently. "Then there were horses, long haired beautiful horses running in a pasture." There's another pause. "When the horses faded there was a forest, I guess it was Mirkwood cause it looked dark as if the forest itself is sick. I saw Elves there too." Another pause as she takes in a deep breath to steady her nerves. " I saw Killi with an arrow in his leg and someone saying it was a poisoned orc arrow." Her eyes pooling as she looks at Kili. "Then there was a battle, I don't know where but it was in the mountains" another pause her breathing is escalating again. "I saw him there"
"Who?" Bilbo asks
"Azog" her voice small. "I saw.... I saw..... " Then she started shaking her head covering her mouth with her hand trying to control her sobs. "I can't I'm sorry I can't say anymore..." Then she put her face on her knees her shoulders shaking as she cried. I put my arms around her trying to console her nerves.
"It's ok lass. You don't have to say anything else." Dwalin came and put his hand on her head, " I never wanted to hear that cry again" he had his eyes on mine. And that's when it struck me, she had cried like this when she thought I was gone... That means she saw me dying. Azog ending the line of Durin.
Xxxxxx
There was a long silence. Gandalf sighed, "There is a reason you have this gift little one." He says looking at me. "You are warned of the danger coming your way ahead of time so that you can make amends to change it. You can change the course of the future if you learn to accept and work on your powers."
I felt Thorin turn and walk up to Gandalf, his hand on the hilt of his sword, "If you ever.... Ever... Make her go through that again I will forget that you are a friend." He said through clenched teeth.
Gandalf stood up. "You are not thinking with your brain right now Thorin Oakenshield. Do you forget that I am the one who saved her and brought her to you. If she doesn't accept her gift it can end up killing her. She has powers like her mother did that can help you all, then and only then Erebor can have a King again"
"She is not supposed to protect us" Thorin barked his muscles twitching with anger, "We are supposed to protect her!!"
"Stop it! Both of you!" I say my voice rising. Thorin turns to me surprised at my sudden burst of anger. My eyes going slightly red. I take in a deep breath, "I don't need protection, I need help to learn how to use my powers. And I need both of you to walk me through that. Please..... Stop fighting "
Just then we heard a loud roar. It seemed close so close that the ground vibrated a little. The dwarves grabbed their weapons. "It's him" I say softly smiling a little. "We can't fight him and he won't harm us."
"What makes you so sure?" Kili looked at me
"I'm not sure. I just have this feeling that he won't harm us." I say softly
"There's a house not far away from here, we can take refuge there." Gandalf said a little nervous.
"Who's house? Are they friend or foe?" Thorin inquired.
"None, he will either help us or kill us" Gandalf replied.
I looked at Gandalf surprised, "You want us to go to his house?" I say pointing my thumb in no particular direction, he nods.
None of us slept that night, the roars and growls were too close to get a shut eye. The next morning at the first light we moved. Gandalf was leading us, when we heard another loud roar, this time it felt just a few feet away, "Run" Gandalf yelled without looking back and we all did. Every other second or so I felt a hand on my back nudging me forward. The third time it happened I just grabbed the hand without a word we ran. I stole a glance behind us and my feet almost froze, there was a huge black bear running towards us and the gap was closing very very quickly. We reached the door to a barn, quickly got in and closed it just as we felt a loud boom and the door vibrated. Then we heard growls and pants as the bear stayed outside for at least an hour before moving away.
We all sat on the floor of the barn. There was bees buzzing, hornets as big as my hand.
"Get some sleep all of you." Gandalf said as he took off his hat to find a spot to sleep.
We woke in the afternoon, I could hear someone chopping wood.
"It's time we introduce ourselves to our host" announced Gandalf, " Bilbo, Maureen come with me"
Thorin stayed me with his arm. "Not her."
"It's ok" I say softly
"NO" Thorin glares at Gandalf. He sighs and goes out with Bilbo. We can't hear anything, "He wants us to come out." The dwarves go out in a single file one by one until it's just me and Thorin left. He puts his hand on my back and we both come out. Beorn stares at Thorin for quite some time. I have no clue how Thorin remains calm and returns the stare. Then Beorne looks at me and nods.
We have been allowed to stay thanks to Gandalf and Beorne knew Thorin to be a heir to Erebor.
There are certain areas of the house we are not allowed to go at night, besides that we can go pretty much anywhere and do anything.
xxxxxxxxxx
The dwarves are out and about the next morning. I'm sitting outside enjoying the breeze when Thorin joins me. He sits on a stair leaning against a wooden beam sitting behind me. He holds my shoulders and leans me on his chest. I smile, "The horses" I whisper, "These are the same ones I saw" My breath is getting heavier, he holds my hand gently entwining his fingers into mine. "I have something for you." he says softly.
I look up at him, he takes a small silver ring out of his pocket. It has a something intricate carved on it in Khuzdul I guess. He puts it on my finger, I stare at it in surprise and then at him. "It's beautiful" I whisper.
"It's a promise." he says, " I will always be by your side till my last breath"
I feel tears rolling down my cheek. "I won't be leaving you that easily" He turns my face up and kisses me, a slow gentle lingering kiss.
"Thank you" I say "For this" my eyes on my finger. I feel his hand in my hair, he's braiding a small strand, he ties a small bead at the end, it's similar to the one he wears and has the same mark as my ring. I can't believe that I am wearing his mark but his brush with Azog had made me realize that life is too unpredictable to be rigid about plans.
"I had made these before we left for the quest, when I knew that you are the one I want to spend the rest of my life with." He says, " You are the most beautiful thing that has ever happened to me Ibine." He kisses my forehead softly. "Now I want you to let it all out. No thinking just tell me what you saw"
I look at him and whisper, "I saw him plunge a knife in your chest" my breathing is getting labored and my voice choking, " I saw you fall" I can't hold my sobs any longer, I put my head on his chest and cry.