The Last of the Guardians Part 1 - A Hobbit Fan Fiction

Chapter 18

***Hey!!! I'm back again! While I was gone I wrote two chapters for you all so I could update as soon as I got back! (I will be posting Chapter 19 tomorrow) I hope you enjoy them! Again, this chapter is in flashback mode. Happy reading!***

They had been walking around in the shade of the forest for well over an hour before Thorin managed to break the silence. 

"Fili," Thorin said suddenly. The dwarf jumped when his uncle spoke. Up until that point the only sound had been that of the forest and its four-legged inhabitants, and that of the wind as it sent the trees into their daily whisperings. "We need to talk." 

Fili said nothing. He just kept walking, throwing his gaze left and right in his search for their lost companion. Thorin took this as encouragement to speak. At least his nephew had not told him he did not want to talk. 

"How do you feel about Nema?" Thorin asked, following Fili through the forest. "Be honest with me." 

The younger dwarf clenched his fists at the sound of her name. "I feel nothing about her," he said slowly, trying hard to keep his voice free of emotion. 

Thorin sighed and placed a hand on Fili's shoulder, forcing him to stop walking and to turn around to face him. "You can trust me. You know that." 

"I know, uncle," Fili looked up into the branches of the trees and thought carefully about Thorin's question, but he could find no answers written on the green leaves above his head. "The truth is, I don't know how I feel about Nemaiza." Fili's shoulders drooped in defeat. 

Thorin tilted his head to the side and watched his eldest nephew. "Do you lo-" 

"No! I do not love her!" Fili butted in, shaking Thorin's hand off his shoulder and stepping back. "I...I don't. I can't." 

Thorin's eyes widened. "I will take that as a no?" He teased, but he knew that his nephew was lying. He could see it in the young dwarf's eyes. Fili nodded, and he seemed to calm down a little. "But you seem different, Fili. What happened to the happy, carefree dwarf I used to know?" 

Filil groaned and sat down on a tree stump, resting his head in his hands. "When we first met Nemaiza, I knew there was something wrong about her. I just couldn't work out what it was. She just made me feel...uneasy. I didn't want her on this quest. You know that bird beast that attacked us at Nemaiza's house?" 

Thorin nodded. He now knew that the bird had been Nema, and that she had not been attacking them at all. 

"It went for me again," Fili went on, "the same night we got caught by the trolls. It dived at me so I shot at it with Kili's bow. The first time I missed, but other second time...the arrow met its mark. Kiki came back then so I was unable to go and find the bird's body. But the next thing I know, the same arrow was sticking out of Nemaiza!" 

Thorin's mouth fell open as he understood what Fili was saying. "So it was you who shot Nema!" He exclaimed. 

"Yes! But I didn't shoot at her! I shot the bird!" Fili said quickly. "I never meant to hurt her." 

"I know you didn't. You were only defending yourself." Thorin shook his head. "Carry on." 

Fili blinked. He had expected his uncle to be angry with him, for Fili knew how fond Thorin was of Nema. Perhaps the dwarf knew more than he was letting on. "Well, you know when we were dining with the elves at Rivendell and I left? I went wandering around to clear my head, and I came to this balcony. I wanted to be alone for a while. I wanted space to think. I didn't know how it could have been possible for me to hit a bird only to have the same arrow end up in Nemaiza. Anyway, I decided that I should at least apologise to her. I was about to return to you all when I heard her scream." Fili went on the describe what he had witnessed between Nemaiza and Lord Elrond and how, after the elf had left, Nemaiza had changed into the form of a bird and flown off into the night. 

All the time Fili was talking, Thorin was listening, taking in his words and thinking about them carefully. So far, Fili had told him nothing that he had not already been told by Nema. But he remained silent, wanting to hear his nephew's side of the story. 

"It was then that I took the necklace. I took it while we were dancing," Fili said, "I didn't know what it was doing for her but I thought if I took is she would be weaker, easier to kill." He paused and looked up at his uncle, who was leaning on his axe and watching him closely. Fili tried to figure out whether or not his words were making him angry. 

But still, Thorin showed no emotion, he was not angry at all. If Fili had known who and what Nema was he would not have treated her so. But he hadn't known, and Thorin could not fault him on that. 

"I only wanted to protect our company from her. I believed Nemaiza to be evil, but now she is gone I am not so sure. She has been absent for a mere few hours and already I feel as though I...I feel as though I miss her." Fili sighed. He didn't know how he felt about Nemaiza anymore. It was not all that long ago that he had wanted to kill her. But now? Her death was the last thing he wanted. 

"You are sure that you had nothing to do with her disappearance?" Thorin asked. "Maybe you said something to her last night that may have upset her?" 

"You mean besides threatening to kill her? No, I haven't spoken to her since we left Rivendell." Fili shook his head. 

Thorin placed his hand on Fili's shoulder again. "Then don't blame yourself. Come on," he said, turning south. "She's not out here. We will look that way." 

Fili stood and followed his uncle, this time walking by his side rather than a few steps ahead.  

"Now, I think it's time I told you a little more about our friend Nema," Thorin began. "I am sure she would have told you herself, given the chance." As they walked, Thorin explained to Fili about the Guardians. He told him everything that he had learned from Nema, and left nothing out.

Meanwhile, back at the camp, Kili's was getting restless. 

"They should be back by now!" He exclaimed for the seventh time that morning as he paced back and forth in front of Bilbo. 

"I'm sure they will be with us shortly," said Bilbo. He too, hoped that Thorin and his company would come back soon. The hobbit was running out of replies to Kili's repeated statements. 

"Maybe I should go look for them," Kili thought aloud.  

Bilbo leapt up. "No! They've all gone in opposite directions, so you'll never find them all. You will lose yourself looking for them." 

Kili nodded. "Be that as it may, I cannot sit by and do nothing. I want to help find Nema." 

"You would help her more if you just stayed put. That's what Thorin told us to do." 

The dwarf side heavily and sat beside the dead fire. "You are right, mister Boggins. I will do more harm than good if I go off wandering around now." 

Bilbo sat down opposite him and rolled his eyes. "It's Baggins. Not Boggins." 

Kili grinned. "Right you are, mister Boggins." 

They sat in silence for a while longer, waiting patiently for any news from their friends.  

The sun crawled slowly across the sky, and when midday came, Kili began pacing again. He never was one for sitting still. 

"You don't suppose she's decided to abandon us, do you master Boggins?" 

"Baggins," Bilbo corrected him, "and no, she wouldn't have left without telling us." He wasn't entirely sure that was true, but Nema had been nothing but kind to them, so surely she wouldn't just leave? 

"I've never met anyone so kind as her," Kili told him, then he chuckled. "Well, perhaps I'm exaggerating, but you've seen how good she is with Bifur? Most wouldn't give him the time of day but she does. Nema cares about him. She cares about all of us." Kili smiled as he thought about her. "She's like a sister to me. She wouldn't just leave." Kili looked over at Bilbo. "You alright, mister Boggins?"  

Bilbo shushed him and stood, listening carefully. He had just heard something, and because Kili had been talking, he had been unsure of what it was. Then the sound came again, and Kili immediately drew his sword. 

It was the unmistakable low growl of a warg. A warg that was much too close for comfort.