Chapter fifteen

Thorin got little sleep that night. It started shortly after he drifted to sleep. He was awakened by Kili's hacking and coughing from the other room. Quickly, he hurried in with some of Oin's medicine. It was the beginning of a very long night.

Kili moaned in pain and Thorin held him and soothed him, trying to calm him. The commotion woke Fili up and the blonde dwarf sat up in bed, glancing at his brother.

"Kili," Thorin urged, rubbing him on the back as he propped the brunette up against him, "Breathe, take a deep breath." Kili was suddenly fighting to take in air. He gasped but to no avail. He whimpered and whined.

"Kili!" Fili urged, holding his brother's hand. Tears ran down Kili's face as he desperately struggled for air.

"Nephew, you must be calm," Thorin pleaded, propping Kili into a sitting position against him, "You are going to hyperventilate. Just relax."

Kili shook his head in panic. He opened his mouth to speak but only wheezing came out. His chest spasmed as his lungs refused to cooperate. Each attempt to take in air was painful as the stitches holding his wound together threatened to break.

Finally, Kili coughed and his chest rose as he slowly drew in air. He coughed again.

"That's it, Nephew," Thorin told him, continuing to rub his back, "Do it again." Kili complied and then toppled backwards in Thorin's arms, depleted of strength. The room was silent for a long time.

"Uncle..." Fili whispered as Kili dosed off to sleep again. Thorin looked over at his oldest nephew.

"Are you feeling alright, Fili?" Thorin asked, his voice wavering slightly as he tried to compose himself.

"Yes..." Fili said, "So thirsty..."

"I know," Thorin said, giving him a little more tea. He was glad to see that he had kept down what he had earlier.

As the night wore on, Kili had three more breathing attacks and while Fili managed to keep down all that he drank, he was in constant pain. He moaned and whimpered and sobbed in bed, Thorin could do nothing but try to sooth and comfort him.

For the next few days, Fili and Kili's condition deteriorated more and more. Kili's condition developed pneumonia and Fili suffered the effects of dehydration and malnutrition while still battling the terrible stomach injury. Oin did what he could and Thorin refused to leave his nephew's sides. He began to prepare for the inevitable.

Five days later, it seemed that both young dwarves would eventually succumb to their injuries. Thorin stayed up with them as they both suffered multiple seizures from the high fevers. The king sat in a chair at the bedside of his eldest, feeling emotionally exhausted. He knew they were both suffering and at this point, he wanted it to be over for them. But he couldn't accept the idea of going on through life without them. Thorin had lost so much, especially in the last few days, and he could not and would not bear the loss of his nephews. He knew that their deaths would be his end as well as he simply had no desire to live.

But, on the morning of the tenth day of their stay in this land, the unexpected happened. As Thorin slept in his chair, Kili slowly opened his eyes and looked around. His fever had broken and he felt as if a cloud had been lifted from his body. His body was sore and weak and every breath still sent slivers of pain running through his weak and ravaged body. He lay still for a moment, staring up at the ceiling as he tried to gather his thoughts. Slowly, he moved his head to the left to see his brother's still, pale, shriveled body laying beside him. He could still feel the heat of fever radiating from Fili.

"Master Dwarf?" Kili slowly turned his head back to the right to see Asphodel standing in the doorway of their room. She hesitantly started to move forward, "Oh..." she said softly as she approached the bedside of the two bed ridden dwarves, "You look a little better! We were so certain you and your brother would..." she trailed off.

"Yes..." Kili croaked. His voice was barely a whisper, "I feel much better today, though I don't remember much. How long have I been laying here in this bed?"

"We arrived in the cabins ten days ago," Asphodel said as she knelt down to sit on the floor in front of his bedside, "You've been very feverish these last few days. My Uncle Bilbo has sent me in here a few times to check on you and your brother. You don't remember me visiting, do you?"

Kili tried to think. He really couldn't recall much since they had arrived. His mind felt foggy. All he could really remember was the pain. And he didn't really want to remember that. He shook his head sadly at her before he was interrupted by a soft moan beside him. Glancing over, he thought he saw Fili stir, "Fee…" he murmured.

Asphodel reached over and touched the blonde dwarf's forehead. Kili watched with concern. His brother's appearance scared him. Fili had lost a lot of weight, Kili could make out his cheek bones through his skin. His eyes were sunken in. His golden hair was dull and he moaned slightly as he slept.

"His fever has come down a bit since last I was here," Asphodel said, "And at least he has been keeping down what we've given him. But he's still very weak."

"He'll make it…" Kili insisted. He looked at the young hobbit with determination in his eyes, "And so will I. We'll both be alright."

"Good…" she sad, her voice wavering a bit, "Because I don't want to see anyone else die..."

Kili looked at her. He could see her big green eyes shine with tears a bit and he frowned, "I'm sorry about your parents," he said softly, taking a bit of a raggedy breath and coughing a little, "And Brenna's mother."

Asphodel seemed to study him for a moment, then lowered her head, "I've never been beyond the borders of the shire before this," she said softly, "The slave mongers came out of nowhere, I had never even seen a man before." She wouldn't lift her face and Kili felt a pang of sympathy for her. He couldn't help but feel guilty that according to what Posco had told Bilbo, the slave mongers that had captured them had come to the shire soon after he and his company had left with Bilbo. He couldn't help but wonder if that was more than a coincidence.

"We're all far from home," he said softly, reaching out to touch her hand, "Fili and I… we grew up in the blue mountains. It was peaceful there. And pleasant…" Kili hesitated for a moment as he recalled what they had left behind, "Our cabin was at the end of town. When we were dwarflings, back when Mum was still alive, we would spend all day at the pond behind our house." Kili smirked, "Sometimes we'd play pranks on some of the older dwarves. You should have been there when Fili and I painted Dwalin's axe pink!"

Asphodel giggled a little and looked over at him, "It sounds as peaceful as the shire," she said, "It is a wondrous place. I miss it. I would have never chosen to leave it. Why did you?"

Kili thought about that. He thought back to when things had begun to change, "When Mum died, things got… harder," he began, "Uncle spent more time in his forge. He was distant. He began to talk more more about Erebor. We grew up on tales of Erebor of course, but he began to obsess over it. He changed. Things weren't so pleasant anymore. Besides, we had already begun to realize that as peaceful as it was in the Blue Mountains, they could never be our home. Erebor was. And it was time to reclaim it."

But all that is lost… Kili added silently to himself. His gaze fell as he pondered what had been said. He was brought back to the present when Asphodel reached over and took his hand in both of hers.

"You'll get your home back," she said firmly, "And someday I'll be able to return to the shire. But in order for that to happen, we must work all together to survive this exile."

"Together," Kili agreed, feeling even more determined. Asphodel smiled, "I had better return to my cabin," she said, "You need your rest."

"I understand," Kili said, he was beginning to feel tired and realized they had been chatting for awhile. He returned her smile, "I've enjoyed talking to you, Milady Hobbit."

"So have I," Asphodel agreed, "I'll come check up on you later." She looked as though she was about to get up and leave, when she hesitated. She turned back and to Kili's surprise, she leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead, then quickly rose from her position on the floor and left the room.

Kili watched the doorway where she had left for a moment. He listened to the soft snores of his uncle and the occasional moan from Fili. He smiled to himself. Optimism and determination rose within him. He and his brother would survive, the company would survive. Good times would return and despite the bleak conditions, Kili felt hopeful of the future.

Welp, thats it. For those of you who have read this story before, I'd like to bring to your attention the fact that I've completely overhauled it. There were a lot of grammatical errors and typos. In addition, I changed a few things in the plot and I added these last couple of chapters to kind of wrap this story up a little. Now I'll be moving on to "In the shadow of Erebor" which is already under construction at the moment so I'd encourage you to take a peek.