Lake-Town

Finally Balin managed to talk the man into smuggling us into Lake-Town and soon we were all loaded on his barge floating down river.

Darkness was falling and a thick fog blanketed our path, I wasn't sure how the man was even seeing through it to know where he was going.

"Watch out!" Bofur called as the man easily steered us through what looked to be ruins.

"What are you trying to do, drown us?" Thorin asked.

I rolled my eyes, this man clearly knew where he was going and what he was doing. Thorin was just having his usual trust issues.

"I was born and bred on these waters Master Dwarf. If I wanted to drown you I would not do it here."

"Oh, I've had enough of this lippy Lakeman." Dwalin mumbled. "I say we throw him over the side and be done with it."

I smirked from my seat between Kili and Fili. Dwalin wasn't the type to make friends easily, he seemed to just get annoyed with most creatures he came across.

"He has a name you know? It's Bard." I reminded him.

"How do you know?" Bofur asked.

"Um, I asked." I said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I don't care what he calls himself. I don't like him." Dwalin stated.

"We do not have to like him. We simply have to pay him." Balin spoke from his seat on the floor of the barge.

He was settled between Ori and Gloin.

"Come on now lads, turn out your pockets." He said.

The jingling of coins could be heard as everyone started digging through their pockets pulling out whatever cash we had left.

"How do we know he won't betray us?" Dwalin asked looking to Thorin.

"We don't." His king replied.

"There's um, just a wee problem." Balin mumbled as he counted the coins we'd given him. "We're 10 coins short."

Thorin sighed, crossing his arms.

"Gloin, come on. Give us what you have." He said knowing exactly who was holding out on us.

"Don't look to me!" He defended. "I have been bled dry by the venture! What have I seen for my investment? Naught but misery and grief and..."

Whatever he was going to say died on his tongue as he watched everyone rise to their feet staring into the distance.

I followed their stare. The Lonely Mountain, we were so close!

"Bless my beard." Gloin mumbled. "Take it. Take all of it."

He handed over his money pouch.

I cleared my throat as Bard came over.

"The money, quick, give it to me." Bard said reaching out his hand.

"We will pay you when we get our provisions but not before." Thorin insisted.

"If you value your freedom, you'll do as I say. There are guards ahead."

Something in his eyes told me he wasn't playing around.

We all looked on as Lake-Town came into view. Thorin sighed and nodded to Balin, who handed over every last penny we had.

"Get in the barrels and stay quiet." Bard ordered.

We all reluctantly did as we were told.

When we docked Bard, left the boat to speak with someone.

"What is he doing?" Dwalin whispered.

"Talking to some guy." I said looking through the small cork hole in my barrel. "aaand he's pointing right at us."

Well shit? Did he just sell us out? No, come on Ashryn, even though this whole journey has been one shit show after another doesn't mean there aren't still trust worthy people out there.

I peeked back out the hole in my barrel.

"Great, now they're shaking hands." I sighed.

"What?!" Thorin snapped.

"The villain." Dwalin growled. "He's selling us out."

There was a clanking noise and I could practically feel everyone stop breathing.

Suddenly we were all being pelted with dead fish as it rained down on our heads.

I groaned at the smell. I was gonna need a thousand baths after this.

We were all groaning at the stench as we sailed on. There was a thud as Bard kicked one of us.

"Quiet! We're approaching the tollgate."

"Halt! Goods inspection!" Someone called out. "Papers please!"

Our barge came to a stop.

"Oh, it's you Bard."

"Morning Percy."

"Anything to declare?"

"Nothing but that I am cold and tired, and ready for home."

I shoved some fish out of the way so I could peek out the cork hole in my barrel.

"You and me both." Percy sighed as he took Bards papers and stamped them. "There we are, all in order."

"Not so fast."

An absolute grease ball of a man popped out of nowhere and snatched the papers away from Percy. Seriously just looking at this guy gave me the willies.

"Consignment of empty barrels from the Woodland Realm." He said reading the papers he'd snatched. "Only, they're not empty, are they Bard? If I recall correctly, you're licensed as a bargeman. Not a fisherman." He grabbed a fish and pointed it in Bard's face.

"That's none of your business." Bard stated remaining remarkably calm.

Seriously everything about this weaselly little man made me wanna punch him in the face.

"Wrong." He grinned showing his nasty colored teeth. "It's the Master's business, which makes it my business."

"Oh, come on Alfrid, have a heart. People need to eat."

"These fish are illegal." He tossed the fish he held into the water. "Empty the barrels over the side."

Fuck!

"You heard him. In the canal." Someone said.

Men came out of nowhere and boarded the barge.

"The folk of this town are struggling." Bard said trying to reason with Alfrid. "Times are hard. Food is scarce."

"That's not my problem."

The men dragged the first couple barrels to the edge of the barge. I wasn't sure exactly who was inside but whoever it was better be gearing up for a fight.

"And when the people hear the Master is dumping fish back in the lake, when the rioting starts, will it be your problem then?"

The men began tipping the barrels, the first few fish sliding off the top and into the water below.

I stopped breathing. Then Alfrid raised his hand.

"Stop." He sighed.

The men stopped and righted the barrels. Thankfully whoever was in them was still covered.

"Ever the people's champion, eh Bard? Protector of the common folk. You might have their favor now bargeman but it wont last."

With that Alfrid stormed off.

"Raise the gate!" Percy called.

There was a clinking of metal as the gate was raised.

"The Master has his eye on you! You'll do well to remember! We know where you live." Alfrid said needing to get one last word in before he finally disappeared.

"It's a small town Alfrid, Everyone knows where everyone lives." Bard replied seemingly unbothered by the obvious threat.

I was finally able to breathe once we passed under the gate.

It wasn't long before we stopped and Bard started tipping us over.

We all gasped for air as we were finally freed from our fishy prisons.

Dwalin, the stubborn man he is, popped his head out of his barrel before Bard could tip him.

"Get your hands off me." He snapped.

Thorin and I popped out of our barrels at about the same time.

I blinked away the fish juice from my eyes. I've been through a lot of shit on this venture but being stuffed in a barrel surrounded by dead fish has hands down been my least favourite part!

Bifur was shaking as he slowly emerged from his barrel, a fish stuck to the axe in his head.

Bard paid a near by man, telling him he never saw us. He even gave the man the fish for nothing in return.

We stayed close to Bard as he lead us through the wooden streets of Lake-Town.

"What even is this place?" I asked.

It was nothing like anything I'd ever seen before.

"This, Ashryn is the world of men." Thorin replied, an edge to his voice.

Humans. I wasn't sure what to think of this place and it's people. I, myself, had nothing against humans, but I wasn't sure how they felt about Dwarves and Elves which put me on edge.

"Halt! Oi!" Someone yelled.

It was a guard.

"Come on, move!" Thorin ordered.

"In the name of the Master of Lake-Town I said halt!"

We ran through the town, it seemed we were in a market of some sort.

We were suddenly surrounded so of course we did what we were good at, the only thing we really knew how to do, we fought our way out, using our surroundings as weapons.

People watched on amazed, until more guards showed up, then the people resumed what they had been doing as if nothing had happened. They all seemed more than happy to have seen some of the guards put in their place.

"What's going on here?" Another guard asked.

We stayed hidden.

"Stay where you are. Nobody leaves."

Bard stepped out.

"Braga!" He addressed the guard.

"Sorry? You! What are you up to, Bard?"

"Me? Nothing. I'm looking for nothing."

One of the unconscious guards began to come to, but one of the merchant ladies knocked a flower pot on his head knocking him out once more.

I smiled up at her and she winked back at me.

"Yeah." The guard said not believing a word Bard said.

He brushed past him and more of the people in the market came to our aid. They began moving merchandise and baskets to cover the guards lying on the ground.

"Hey Braga." Bard said holding up a corset from a near by clothing booth. "Your wife would look lovely in this."

"What do you know of my wife?"

"I know her as well as any man in this town." Bard shrugged.

I choked back a laugh.

That did the trick. The guard ripped the corset out of Bards hands, threw it to the ground and stormed off with his troop behind him.

Bard sighed in relief, as did the rest of us.

We were once again on the move. As we left the market I was sure to thank the merchants for their help.

"Da!" A kid called as he came running over to Bard. "Our house. It's being watched."

"What do we do now?" I asked.

Bard thought for a moment.

"I have a plan. You're not gonna like it."