Wunderkind (LOTR/Narnia Crossover)

Chapter 13: Friend or Foe?

Later that afternoon, I felt pain surging through my body. And I could no longer take the pain, it was too unbearable for me to handle. I eventually stumbled onto the ground, causing Tavros, Trumpkin, Peepicheek, and Trufflehunter to rush towards my side.

"Aurelia!" They exclaimed.

Upon hearing them, Fili turned around and noticed me struggling to get up. I tried to assure them that I was fine, but the pain only got worse. I placed a hand on my side, where the pain was hurting to ease the pain.

"Aurelia." Fili said as he approached me.

As soon as Fili reached me, everyone stopped and turned to see what was the issue. Thorin looked a little irritated until he saw me on the ground.

"What happened?" He asked.

I pulled away my hand, and I looked down to see my hand covered in blood. The others followed my gaze to see the blood on my hand. Fili gasped. "Aurelia, why didn't you say anything?"

"We were already lagging behind." I pointed out. "I don't want to slow you down."

"You aren't slowing us down, Aurelia. Besides your well being is important." Fili replied. "Uncle, Aurelia's wounded!"

"We make camp here." Thorin ordered. "Oin, help Aurelia out with her wound."

"Aye." Oin nodded.

Fili then helped me onto the ground as Oin approached me. It was a deep wound, but Oin was able to heal me, along with the help of Trufflehunter. I remained on my bedroll with bandages over the wound. Fili sat beside me with two bowls of stew. I slowly managed to sit up before taking the bowl from him.

"Thank you." I said with a smile.

"It's no problem, Aurelia." He replied with a warm smile.

We sat in silence eating our stew, and watching the others talk to each other. It wasn't until then that I realized that I didn't know much about Fili.

"Fili, where did you grow up?" I asked.

"In the Blue Mountains with my mother, Dis, my brother, Kili, and our uncle, Thorin." Fili explained. "The Blue Mountains are located past the Shire, which is where Bilbo is from. It's a wonderful place there. Not all but many of the dwarves from the Blue Mountains come originally from Erebor."

And from there, Fili began to tell me several stories of his childhood, while I listened to them rather intrigued. This world might be different, but the more time I spend here in Middle Earth with the company, the less foreign it seemed to be.

After a few days, my wound healed and I was able to walk. It was one early morning that Bilbo approached us with a worried look. Thorin had sent him to see how far back the orcs were from us.

"What happened?" I asked.

"How close is the pack?" Thorin asked.

"Too close, couple of leagues, no more. But that's not the worst of it." Bilbo said.

"Have the orcs picked up our scent?" Dwalin asked.

"Not yet, but they will. We have another problem." Bilbo began, but was cut off by Gandalf.

"Did they see you? They saw you?" Gandalf asked.

Bilbo shook his head. "No, that's not it."

"Good, what did I tell you? Quite as a mouse. Excellent burglar material." Gandalf commented.

Several of the dwarves agreed with Gandalf and even began to talk amongst themselves while Bilbo tried to get their attention. I rolled my eyes. Poor Bilbo.

"Listen!" Bilbo exclaimed, finally getting their attention. "I'm trying to tell you there is something else out there."

"What form did it take? Like a bear?" Gandalf asked.

Bilbo nodded. "Ye...Yes, but bigger. Much bigger."

We all looked at Gandalf in astonishment. What is this creature? I glanced at the others to see everyone else as confused as I was.

"You knew about this beast?" Bofur asked.

Gandalf merely turned away from us in response to Bofur's question.

"I say we double back." Bofur suggested.

"We'll be run down by a pack of orcs." Thorin reminded him.

"There is a house, it's not far from here, where we might take refuge." Gandalf finally spoke as he turned around.

"A house?" I repeated.

"Whose house? Are they a friend or foe?" Thorin inquired.

"Neither. He will help us or he will kill us." Gandalf warned.

I wore a hesitant look as I looked at the others. Peepicheek, Trufflehunter, Trumpkin, and Tavros wore reluctant looks.

"What choice do we have?" Thorin asked.

At that moment we heard a roar not too far from us.

"None." Gandalf replied. "We must go, now."

We hastily made our way through the forest and towards the house. We were so close to the house when the creature, which was a huge bear, much bigger than any Narnian bear burst out from the forest.

"Open the door!" Gandalf yelled.

"Quickly!" Thorin added with a frantic look.

We hastily ran towards the door and we managed to get inside, and close it just in time. Bilbo kept his sword out as he breathed heavily, staring at the closed door. That is the biggest bear I have ever seen.

"What is that?" Ori asked.

"That is our host. His name is Beorn, he's a skin-changer. Sometimes he's a huge black bear, sometimes he's a great strong man." Gandalf explained. "The bear is unpredictable, but the man can be reasoned with. However, he is not over fond of dwarves."

Well...that's wonderful. I moved away from the door towards the hay near the animals. Dori then pulled Ori away from the door, scolding him. "Get away from there! It's not natural, none of it. It's obvious, he's under some dark spell."

"Don't be a fool. He's under no enchantment but his own." Gandalf retorted. "Alright now, get some sleep all of you. You'll be safe here tonight...I hope."

Well...that's reassuring. I wore a nervous look as we prepared to sleep for the night.