Trapped (Thranduil FanFiction)

Chapter 17

After a good half hour of running I caught up with my new and unlikely friends. Thorin and the rest of his company were resting at the edge of the river. Worry was clear on their faces, they looked tiered and hopeless. My eyes drifted to Kilii, he was lying on the ground and he wore a clear expression of pain. I wanted to help him, I felt compelled to do so, but I was not trained in medicine hence I was useless. I approached them quietly so I wouldn't startle them. As I made my way towards them a twig snapped under my feet. All of the dwarves looked in my direction but I was still concealed by the dense woods.

"Who goes there?" Thorin asked.

I stepped into the clearing and his face seemed to relax. "I come in peace I swear." A smile crossed my lips as I saw him come over me and hug me tight.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be doing whatever it is you do with Thranduil?" At the mention of Thranduil my smile fell, Thorin noticed and squeezed my hand. "What happened?"

My heart felt heavy and letting Thranduil into my mind once more was something painful. "He found out it was me who helped you escape." I faught hard so my voice wouldn't crack; I wanted them to see me as someone strong and that they could rely on, not a weak elven fool.

"I'm sorry." Bilbo said due to Thorin's loss for words.

"Its not your fault, I did this to myself. I wanted to help you and I still do, that's the reason I'm here." I forced my voice to sound as determined and clear as it could be, but Thorin saw in my eyes I was scared. I'd lived in Mirkwood for so long now, one day I was in the King's good graces and now he wanted me gone.

"You don't owe us anything Caladhiel, in fact I think you should go back." Thorin's voice seemed final, but I was determined to stay.

"I didn't help you out for nothing! I've been exiled and I can't go back now, I lost everything too you know? When my home was raided by orcs no one was there to help us. My family was slaughtered and I was forced to adapt elsewhere, I know you know how that is, but you can still claim what's rightfully yours and I want to help...my father would want that." This time I didn't want to cry, determination was flowing through my veins and when I saw the rest of Thorin's company smile I knew I wasn't going anywhere.

"Thorin I think we can let her stay." Bilbo said as he shot me a smile.

Thorin took in a deep breath and smiled. "Very well, you can stay with us."

I wrapped my arms around him. "Thank you!" I excalimed.

Thorin smiled at me again but then whirled around and looked at his company. "How are we crossing the lake lads? We need to get to Laketown by tomorrow night at most, we musn't waste any time." His comanding voice was just as scary as Thranduil's but his company didn't fear him.

"We can talk about that in the morning." One of them said. He had blond hair and a striking similarity to Kili.

After that we all settled on the ground and I made my best to sleep. But Thranduil invaded my every thought and I kept replaying our fight in my head, tears rolled silently down my face and my heart ached because it was the first night I didn't have him by my side.

                                                                                *

The burning sun woke me up and I soon realised the dwarfs were all packed up and ready to go, I stood up reluctantly when an arrow landed close to my foot. All of us turned around and scanned the woods but saw no one. Then another arrow fired.

"Show yourself!" Fili shouted as he stepped over to where I was standing.

The bushes started to rustle, the suspense was killing me, I could hear footsteps approaching us and I could only hope it wouldn't be something dangerous. Then out of the woods came a man. He was tall, his face was a little dirty, he wore a fur coat and a fisher mans shirt and pants, his hair was a little long; it fell just above the shoulders and it was as brown as the earth. As soon as he saw us he began to laugh.