In a Father's Embrace

Chapter 20

Thraya woke up to distant voices. As her eyelids opened, she was met by a bright golden light and an empty room. She propped herself up on her elbow and blinked the sleep out of her eyes. The blanket slid off her shoulders and pooled in her lap. The pain in her shoulder was currently only a dull throb, but she was reluctant to move it and exacerbate it. She got up and followed the sound of the voices to the massive dining room.

A deep and unfamiliar voice was speaking. As she drew closer, she could see the extremely large man it belonged to. If she had to guess, this would be Beorn, the skin-changer who had attacked them in bear form and whose house they had so rudely invaded.

"So you are the one they call Oakenshield," he was saying. "Tell me, why is Azog the Defiler hunting you?"

"You know of Azog? How?"

"My people were the first to live in the mountains, before the Orcs came down from the north. The Defiler killed most of my family, but some he enslaved. Not for work, you understand, but for sport. Caging skin-changers and torturing them seemed to amuse him."

Thraya gasped audibly. Beorn's attention turned to where she stood in the doorway, but before he could say anything, Bilbo spoke up.

"There are others like you?" he asked.

The sorrowful look that passed quickly over Beorn's face was not unnoticed by Thraya.

"Once there were many."

"And now?" Bilbo persisted. If Thraya was closer, she would have slapped him.

"Now there's only one."

To his credit, Beorn seemed to have an unusual high tolerance for blatant foolishness.

"You need to reach the mountain before the last days of autumn," he observed.

"Before Durin's Day falls, yes," Gandalf answered.

"You are running out of time."

"Which is why we must go through Mirkwood."

Beorn appeared to disprove. "A darkness lies upon that forest. Fell things creep beneath those trees. There is an alliance between the Orcs of Moria and the Necromancer in Dol Guldur. I would not venture there, except in greatest need."

"We will take the Elven Road," Gandalf explained. "Their path is still safe."

Thraya found Thorin's gaze and gave him a questioning look. His expression had no answer, but directed her troubled feelings in Gandalf's general direction. She drew closer to him and he subtly grasped her hand.

"Safe?" Beorn scoffed. "The Wood Elves of Mirkwood are not like their kin. They're less wise and more dangerous. But it matters not."

"What do you mean?" Thorin demanded.

"These lands are crawling with Orcs," Beorn reminded him. "Their numbers are growing and you are on foot. You will never reach the forest alive." He reached down to the table and picked up the small mouse that had been bothering one of the dwarves. "I don't like dwarves," the skinchanger said somewhat ominously. Thraya found her shoulders beginning to tense. "They're greedy and blind...blind to the lives of those they deem lesser than their own."

Thraya's hand balled into a fist. Regardless of how accurate Beorn's assessment may have been in a general sense, she did not like it. Beorn's eyes met hers and she noted the flash of curiosity before he looked away.

"But orcs I hate more," he continued. "What do you need?"

0==(==========>

Beorn might be a grumpy giant bear-man, but he was actually quite generous. He supplied them all with a plethora of supplies and food, in addition to ponies that would carry them as far as the forest.

Thraya was doing her best to see to her pony's saddle straps, but the task was proving quite challenging with only one arm.

"Little elf," Beorn's deep voice cut across Thraya's concentration and she jumped slightly.

"Yes?"

"Your kind are so different from the dwarves. How did you come to be here with them?"

Thraya bit back a scoff. "My kind left me and my mother for dead. I'm only an elf by blood."

"The dwarves raised you," he commented. "Do you share their disdain for the lives of smaller creatures?"

She was completely in defensive mode. This was an attack on her family. And she would strike back, once she could figure out his rationale. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He turned and drew her attention to a squirrel perched on the edge of his roof. "What do you see, child?"

"A squirrel in search of his meal," she answered in a challenging tone. "What does that have to do with anything?"

She could have sworn she saw a hint of a smile tug at the bear-man's lips.

"A less empathetic being would see nothing more than a pest. Never forget the value of every life. There is hope for you still, little elleth."

Thraya relaxed a bit and raised an eyebrow. "Is this because I was raised by dwarves? There are empathetic and cruel persons in every race."

"This is true. But the elves have always been more connected to the lives around them. Dwarves are most connected to the work of their own hands." He was moving away from 'enemy' but still wasn't quite friendly.

"And?"

"What are you most connected to?"

She didn't even need to stop to think. "The people who love me. I would do anything for them."

"Would that be how you obtained your injury?" He was definitely smiling now. She found herself relaxing.

"Yes, though the wizard rendered my action completely pointless with his dramatic arrival mere moments later."

Beorn gave a short laugh. "Keep your heart, Thraya. There are not enough wholesome souls in this world."

"Thanks?"

He reached past her and fastened the saddle straps for her.

"Farewell, daughter of Thorin. Perhaps we shall meet again."

Daughter of Thorin, he said. He was done being judgemental. In his own way, he was trying to look out for her

"I will look forward to the day, Beorn."

I know it's short and I'm sorry!  It also took WAYY too long!  Thank you to all of you who are still hanging on to this story!  You really encourage me with all your comments!!!  I love you guys!!!

Having said that, I am very sorry to have to say that I can't promise any sort of regular updates (not that I had any to begin with, but I was trying...).  There's just so much going on in my life right now and I need to be prudent about how much pressure I can take.  You guys are all awesome and no one has been pressuring me personally, but I feel guilty when it's been a while since my last update and then I'm stressing myself out and making it harder for me to write.  

This is not to say that I am discontinuing the story.  Updates will just be sporadic.   I am hoping that without the added pressure of trying to meet some sort of deadline, I might be able to get my creativity flowing better, but we'll see.

AGAIN, THANK YOU SO MUCH to all those who are sticking with me!!  The amount of love my story is getting really does wonders for my self esteem!!  I love you lots!!!

~Dawn