A Ruby's Shine (Thorin Oakenshield X OC)

32. Spotting The Lonely Mountain

I was jostled for a second as the eagle place a clawed foot down before taking off again, circling to find a better place to land and let me off. I watched the other eagles circle and carefully land, lower their bodies to let dwarves, Gandalf, and Bilbo off.

"Thorin! Thorin." I heard Gandalf calling below as I looked over with worry, seeing Thorin has not moved and Gandalf was just getting off his eagle, running to Thorin's side.

Damn dwarf, you better be alive, or else I am going to be mad. I gripped on tight with my legs once more as the eagle twisted towards the rock, coming in for a landing. He landed and lowered his neck to let me off. I threw my legs over, holding onto his neck as I hissed in pain at my foot being set on solid ground. While I cannot feel my ankle's pain, there are uncomfortable needle like feelings and burning around the area.

I leaned most of my weight onto my good foot, looking up at the eagle as he straight, one giant gold eye studying me, like it was sizing me up. I stiffened at that, wondering what the eagle was looking for.

"Remember these words, animal talker, in the most dire of times. Some aspects of a battle are hard fought, emotions are the same. But, only good emotions, pure and from the heart, can break the toughest of walls, even if these emotions are what we wish not to feel. You hold more potential than even you know." The said, making me eyes widened as he bowed his head a touch in respect before spreading his large wings and taking off, blasting me a bit off balance with the force of his wings.

I watched him fly out to circle with the other eagles, knowing he could no longer hear me as I spoke, more to myself.

"Thank you, wize eagle, for your advice. I will keep it close and remember those words in the most dire of times." I muttered, watching him flying around before turning my attention to the upper point of the flat spire. I quickly tightened Thorin's shield thrown over my shoulder and walked, slowly, in that direction. I would love to run, but my ankle feels like something dipped in lava or a forge's flames.

It isn't pretty.

So, I moved carefully, slowly, Fairfin climbing out of the pocket of my coat and up onto my shoulder, shaking his feathers to clean the last of the charcoal off of his feathers before preening them. I wasn't completely bothered, this cloak is dark and everything else is already dirty.

I looked at Gandalf as I got closer, watching him check Thorin for a pulse. Thorin, who looked awful. Eyes closed, limbs laid out awkwardly and skin so pale you would think he is already dead. I bit my lip in worry as I reached their side, finally, I collapsed down onto the rock, biting my tongue pretty badly to prevent yelping or whimpering at the pain my ankle surged up my leg.

I looked at Gandalf and my worry rose even more as I saw the near panic on Gandalf's face before he placed his hand over Thorin's face, hovering it there as he closed his eyes and concentrated, whispering some spell so lightly I couldn't hear anything more than a faint whisper.

Gandalf opened his eyes and removed his hand, both of us waiting. Nothing happened for a long, long moment, making me very worried that we were too late and Thorin is dead. Then, Thorin's blue eyes fluttered open as he gasped in air. I didn't even realise till he did so that he wasn't breathing before.

I breathed out a sigh of relief, chuckling weakly as I collapsed back on the rocks, Fairfin hopping off my shoulder before I could knock him off. He didn't make a sound though, so I guessed that he saw I was in some pretty bad shape at the moment.

"The halfling? And R...Philomena?" Thorin asked quietly, weakly, his strength still returning. I relaxed my head against the rocks, not even caring at how uncomfortable this is. To me, right now, the rocks digging into my back feel like a soft fluffy bed, mostly because them poking my back distracted me from the other pains of my body.