An Unexpected Journey

Chapter Thirty-Two: More Running

Thalia muttered annoyed waiting for Bilbo to return, the hills were filled with the orcs and wargs that were searching for them; she had a feeling that today there would be quite a bit of running.

Thorin looked over at Thalia, he knew that with the hunting party still searching for them and he didn’t want to risk having to deal with another fight; they had all barely made it out of the last one alive and he didn’t wish to risk Thalia in another fight.

“There’s something out there,” Cornelia muttered looking at her cousin, she felt a little on edge and she wondered what it could be; she could sense something in the distance and it was looking for them.

Thalia eyed Cornelia concerned, she knew that whatever she was sensing couldn’t be too far off; the blonde herself was still exhausted from her last display of power and couldn’t sense anything.

“What is it?” Gandalf asked stepping forward, he knew that Cornelia like Thalia didn’t trust him and he wished there was something that he could do to change that; they were more important than the other demi-gods that had arrived before them.

Cornelia closed her eyes as she tried to get a focus on what she was sensing, she huffed annoyed when she couldn’t get a lock on it knowing only that it was something big.

“Bilbo,” Dori said relieved as the hobbit reappeared, everyone looked towards him as he hurried forward; his brown eyes looked around wide as if not believing what he had just seen.

The dwarves all crowded around the hobbit and bombarded him with questions, they needed to know if the hunting pack had caught their scent; Azog wasn’t leading the attack and there was great hope he hadn’t survived his encounter with Thalia.

Gandalf quickly stepped forward to defuse the situation as Thalia’s focused remained on her cousin, she knew that something was tracking them and it wasn’t just the hunting party; there was something out there looking for them.

“We need to get moving,” Cornelia said looking at Thalia, they still needed to find Paloma and they weren’t sure where the daughter of Zeus could be; they knew she had to be somewhere on the future of their journey.

Gandalf sighed wondering what had set the dark haired woman on edge, he knew that it couldn’t just be the hunting party and Beorn that had un-nerved her.

Thorin frowned as looking over at Thalia and Cornelia, he still didn’t know much about the dark haired woman but he trusted Thalia when it came to her; if Thalia trusted Cornelia then so did he.

“I know somewhere where we can rest, but we must move quickly,” Gandalf said making Thalia groan softly to herself, she really didn’t want to put up with anymore crazy ideas from the wizard; they always seemed to lead them into more trouble.

***

Running through the forest, Thalia looked behind her as the big black bear chased after them, she would have been slightly amused that Bombur was running faster than a lot of the others if they weren’t in so much danger.

Thorin grumbled glaring at Gandalf, whenever the wizard seemed to have an idea they always seemed to end up running for their lives.

The dwarf king looked behind him at Thalia knowing that the blonde was exhausted and all this running wouldn’t be good for her injury; the howls of the wargs made the company quicken their movement knowing that they couldn’t risk stopping now.

Cornelia looked at Thalia concerned as the blonde started to slow down, she knew that this wasn’t a good sign and they certainly wouldn’t survive if they were forced to stop now.

“I can’t do this,” Thalia said knowing that she couldn’t run anymore, she already knew that she was moments from dropping again and if she did then she wouldn’t be getting back up; her energy levels still hadn’t recovered and a night’s rest certainly hadn’t made things better.

Cornelia stopped by her side knowing that the blonde was right, she was starting to look ill again and clearly shouldn’t have been doing a lot of running; only two days ago, she was in a fight with Azog and her body needed time to recover.

“We cannot stop Thalia,” Gandalf said as the company all seemed to stop running and look at the blonde, her hands rested on her knees as she tried to regain her breath; it was clear to see that she couldn’t continue on.

“Then you will continue… I will remain here with Thalia,” Cornelia snapped annoyed at the wizard, she was being to feel like he thought they were all made of tons of energy and he was clearly leading them the long way around.

Thorin’s heart lurched as he realised that this would mean he would have to leave Thalia behind, something that he wasn’t prepared to do especially not now.

The dwarf king removed several of his weapons and handed them to Dwalin, he knew his friend would be able to defend him if the need arose; his eyes trained on Thalia as the blonde struggled to regain her breath.

“You will do no such thing… I will carry her,” Thorin announced making Thalia’s blue eyes snap up to look at his face, she stared at him as Gandalf tried to protest while Cornelia glared at the wizard; he had brought Thalia to this world when she clearly wasn’t prepared.

Thalia opened her mouth to argue with Thorin as the dwarf swept her up into his arms, she struggled against him knowing she would only slow him down and he would end up getting himself killed.

However the crashing of trees behind them made her fall silent as her eyes locked on the bear, she swallowed as she saw the size of the beast making her wonder what on earth it was.

***

“Quickly inside,” Gandalf ordered hurrying the company towards the house that stood before them, the bear was closing in on them and they needed to get inside before he got one of them.

Throwing the doors open, Gandalf counted as each member of the company raced past him and into the house; he glanced at the bear before stepping inside himself and ordering the doors closed.

Thorin quickly set Thalia on her feet before moving to help the others block the door as the bear tried to break in; she swallowed as she looked at Cornelia, who shared a knowing look with her.

Anyone could see that the dwarf king had feelings for Thalia and it was a concern for Cornelia at what was being expected of them by the Gods.

“What was that?” Bilbo asked as the door was closed and the dwarves blocked it shut, they placed several pieces of furniture in the way of the door after they had got the locks in place.

Thorin breathed heavily as he looked at Gandalf for answers, he wasn’t sure what the wizard was playing at and he knew that he wanted answers now.

“That my dear Bilbo is our host,” Gandalf said calmly making Thalia and Cornelia look at one another concerned at why the wizard had brought them to this place; there was clearly something more at play than they knew about and the Gods were in on it.

It had them wonder just how prepared any of them were for the mission that had been forced on them because of a mistake that had been made by someone else.