The Dragon's Curse

Bard the Bowman

- Previously -

"I'm fine. It's nothing" He insisted as he winced through his pain and let Fili take a look.

"Wait, where's Artemis?" Bilbo shivered as everyone turned round looking for her concerned as Thorin felt his breath catch in his lungs. Water! She feared water! Running back to the edge he searched the water in sign of her, how could he be so stupid as to let her go when they were travelling down the currents. Noticing a glimmer of red Thorin dove head first into the water ignoring the protests of his companions.

- Current -

Luckily since the current had left them he easily found Artemis at the bottom slowly drifting away as he grabbed hold of her waist and kicked off the bottom towards the surface. Gasping for breath he panicked feeling her limp in his arms, cold, blue and soaking. Another splash echoed as he tried to bring her back to the shore but succeeded with Dwalin's help as they laid her bank.

Thorin crawled over to her; he ignored the looks he gained as his fingers traced along her face and down to her pale coloured lips. He felt helpless unsure of what to do as he glanced up for guidance to see the others just as clueless as he was. In one hand he held her hand tightly in any sign of her squeezing back as a small sneeze made him jump only to breathe out a sigh of relief. Sofus, barely visible bounced in her direction and nuzzled her neck. He noticed the little dragon was shivering, soaking himself as he continues to sneeze as though he was catching a cold.

"Please" Thorin constantly whispered as he swore he saw her eyes flutter slightly. They did before she quickly turned on her side and coughed up the water she swallowed. Everyone cheered slightly as she closed her eyes shaking violently as Thorin saw and frowned as he immediately drew concerned as he drew her towards him and rubbed her back as she remained huddled into his chest.

"I'm sorry" She whispered barely noticeable by the others as he dipped his head down towards her with a soft smile.

"Your safe now" He cooed as he held her tighter constantly rubbing her body in order to get her warm as she shook. He often wondered if it was due to the fear of the water and her experience of nearly drowning or whether she was cold though he didn't care. He refused to let her go in either way as he rocked her gently back and forth, hoping it would calm her down either way.

"We've got an Orc pack on our tail. We keep moving" Dwalin snapped as many looked at him with a sigh. Fili was currently assisting Kili binding his wounded leg as the arrow remained inside. Artemis could smell the poison on his blood as she winced, however she knew at this current moment in time she was in no condition to be doing extreme wonders of healing as she sneezed a small ball of fire in her palm before quickly extinguishing it.

"A lake lies between us and that mountain. We have no way to cross it." Balin huffed evident that their quest was on the brink of failure. Thorin chuckled within himself as Artemis noticed the small laughter in his chest as she glanced up at him. He had been so eager and desperate to claim his homeland back at the start of this journey however at this current moment in time he didn't care. He only cared for the women who remained shivering in his arms.

"So we go round it" Bilbo offered.

"The Orcs would run us down. Sure as daylight and we have no weapons to defend ourselves." Dwalin snapped back as he seemed to grow slightly grumpier with each day of the journey or Artemis wondered if it was directed mainly at her. Seeing him turn and give her a sharp dangerous glare she knew Dwalin never trusted her and she knew he would never ever hesitate to kill her. Though it was never a comforting thought to have she knew it was true.