The Battle of the Five Armies

Chapter Two

My face throbbed and I winced. Opening my right eye I looked around. I was in a white tent with a small table, two chairs, and the bed I was currently in.

Reaching up to my face with my right hand I felt a bandage covering the left side of my face. My left arm twitched and I gasped as my broken wrist got jostled.

An elf walked into the tent and I stared at it as it walked around, not even noticing that I was awake. "Where's Dwalin?" The elf jumped as I spoke.

"I do not know. Let me go and get the healer that has been looking after you." With that he left quickly.

"Ah, Alex, lass. Yer finally awake." Oin walked in and patted my uninjured shoulder.

"Why can't I see?" I asked in a raspy voice.

Oin started to unravel the bandages on my face. "Ya have quite the wound across your face, lass." All of the bandages came off, but it felt as though my eye was hammered shut.

Bofur walked into the tent and looked at me sadly. "Hello."

I was about to respond when Oin started wiping off my face with a cloth and water. "Ow!" I exclaimed, jerking backwards. Oin just kept working on the wound. "Hello Bofur. How is the company? And Bilbo. Where is he?"

Bofur took off his hat and sat down in a chair. "The Company is doing pretty well. Well, except Dwalin. He's locked himself in a room. Only lets Balin in occasionally."

I shift slightly. "I need to see him." I mutter and try to pull myself up.

"Nope. Stay down, lass." Oin pushes me back down against the bed. I open my mouth to protest but he sets to work on my face again and I groan in pain and frustration.

"Ah, forgot to answer your other question. Bilbo is pretty good. He's gonna head back to The Shire once you're healed. Was hopin ya could go with 'im." Bofur spilled out the last two sentences quickly.

Oin hit an extra sore spot on my eye and I gasped. My left eye opened and I saw through a milky haze. "Not sure how soon I'll be moving."

"As long as you take it easy and don't walk too much, ya should be able to go in three days." Oin said casually as he finished cleaning my eye.

Bofur grinned sadly as he looked at me. "I'd best be off. Bombur might need help cooking." With that he hopped up and left quickly.

Oin started muttering to himself and I listened closely. "Wrist doing good. Yes, yes, yes. Finger...stopped bleeding. Stomach..." He prodded my stomach and I gasped. "still healing, and causing pain at touch." Narrowing my eyes painfully I glared slightly at Oin. "Just doing my job, lass." He said apologetically.

"Please go." I whispered as tears pricked my eyes.

"Lass..." He said hesitantly.

I shook my head. "No. I need to think." He stood unhappily and left, throwing a last glance at me over his shoulder.

As soon as he left I pulled out a little charm. It was shaped like Erebor. Opening it with one hand proved difficult, but I managed to do so eventually. A tear rolled down my cheek as I saw small drawings of Fili, Kili, and Thorin.

"Alex." A gruff voice sounded from the front of the tent and I fumbled with the charm.

"Nothing this is nothing." I mumbled, trying to put it away. Dwalin walked over and gently took it from my hands. He opened it and stared at the pictures sadly. "Heard you locked yourself in your room." I murmured softly.

"Yes. I had." Dwalin whispered. He handed the charm back and I tucked it into one of my pockets. "Get some rest." He brushed his calloused hand over the uninjured side of my face gently.

Another tear rolled down my face. "Uncle Dwalin, I miss them." He sat down heavily and sighed.

"I do too Alex." I closed my eye and let myself fall into a restless sleep.

"You're a failure!" Thorin's voice shouted in my ear. I whipped around but couldn't find him through the dense mist.

"Where are you? Uncle!" I yelled desperately.

"You just watched me die. Did nothing." Fili's voice echoed in my ears and I screamed.

"No, no, no! Please come back!" I yelled in terror as Thorin and Fili's angry voices yelled at me.

"Liar!" Thorin yelled.

"Monster!" Fili added.

A new voice swirled in. "You couldn't have tried harder? You just gave up!" Kili screeched in my mind and I lay on the ground in a ball.

"Stop! STOP PLEASE!" The voices got louder and louder as I sobbed until everything went quiet. Looking up I was in a bright meadow. "Wh-where?"

Three figures were sitting not too far away, and I recognized them immediately. Thorin, Fili, and Kili. It all had to be a dream. The battle, the journey, all of the death couldn't be real. Running towards them I stopped as I got within two feet of them.

"Why are you here?" Thorin asked without turning around.

Looking at him in shock I struggled to find words. "I-I..."

He stood up and turned to me. He looked years younger, how he was when I was only five. "You are still living. Don't dwell on those who are dead." He put his hand on my shoulder and I felt a tug in my gut. Everything started spinning and I fell to the ground, the bright sunshine of the meadow fading to a pitch blackness.