“Get her out of here!” Jürgen shouted just as the goblins charged towards us.  The deafening sounds of metal upon metal filled the air and behind us, guards now spilled out from the keep, ignoring Edgard’s commands to raise the drawbridge and stay inside.  

It was a strange order, and one that made me turn to look at Edgard as behind me, Thorin wielded his axe with deadly precision, cutting down two goblins in one stroke.  Edgard unwound the chains from around his neck, breathing hard as he  looked up towards the goblins, none of whom charged him at all.  They seemed to keep their distance away from him, even though they attacked the men around him with such force that sent some of the men staggering backwards.  

Seeing how the goblins kept away from Edgard sent a feeling of dread to creep up my spine.  Something didn’t seem right, I thought as I found myself backing up against a rushing goblin, blocking the blows from his curved sword with my own.  This one was too strong for me, each blow weakening my resolve as he began to gain the advantage over me.  But before I could raise my sword to attack at the first sign of an opening, Thorin spun around and struck the goblin in the head with his axe.  

Our eyes met for a brief moment.  There was so much I wanted to say to him, but there was never a good time to do so.  And even now, he turned away from me in response to the shrieks of an approaching goblin.  

Edgard began to shout behind me in a language that was neither that of men or dwarves.  I watched the goblins’ ears almost prick in attention as they paused to listen to him.  Jürgen and Bernd turned to stare at him, horror written upon their faces.

“You’re with them?”   Jürgen’s voice wavered as the shock settled, the memory Tadd and Jerrel, and those of his wife and child coming back to me in a flash.  I saw it on Bernd’s face, too.

“Who do you think sent those goblins to attack the caravans on Old Forest Road?  Coming back from Dunland, you were all laden with more treasures than anyone could imagine,” Edgard sneered.   “But don’t blame me.  I only follow orders.”

He barked a few words to the goblins before turning around and rushing towards the keep.  The goblins strengthened their attack on us and this time, I knew I was no match for them at all for the wound on my leg began to throb, the bandage that Inge had wrapped around it loosening from around my thigh.  

Once again, I heard Jürgen shout to Bernd to get me inside the keep and away from the courtyard.  I turned to run towards the keep, but a goblin suddenly appeared in front of me, swinging a long sword in an arc across my torso.  I screamed as it sliced through my tunic, thinking only that it was the end of me.  I saw the flash of Thorin’s necklace fly in the air, landing on the cobblestones away from me as the sword left my hand as well.

But Bernd rushed towards me just in time, cutting down the goblin before he could attack me again and grabbing my hand as we ran towards the keep.  We could hear the gears raising the drawbridge in the distance and I ran as fast as my legs could take me.  Thorin picked up his dwarven sword and ran behind us, clearing the bridge just before it began to rise up.  

Deep in the town, the bells began to ring again, but this time, it was joined by the sound of two different horn sounds.  I recognized one of the horns as that of Fennhill’s soldiers, but did not recognize the other one.  

“Dwalin has brought the dwarves,” Thorin said, a faint smile gracing his face as he continued his attack on two goblins who had managed to jump over the bridge just before it shut completely.   

Bernd disappeared into the courtyard which led straight into Lialam’s residence.  The keep had been built by Lialam himself, protected by high walls even when it was already within a town with its own walls.  Before tonight I had no idea why, but now I did and a deep rage began to rise up from my belly.  

The last time Greenbanü had been raided by goblins had been seven years ago, less than three years after we lost family and friends in the caravan raid on Old Forest Road.  Yet while ten people had died and five were presumed taken away by the goblins during that night raid, including almost a third of the livestock, it was only Lialam who hadn’t suffered any losses - for his gates had been sealed shut that night.  And no one had been granted entry.

And now Bernd wanted vengeance and I could not blame him.  I would have sought Lialam out myself as well, for someone had to pay for all of those deaths, most of all Tadd and Jerrel’s.  Taking one last look at Thorin and Jürgen as they finished off the goblins, I followed Bernd through the grand hallway of Lialam’s main residence.  

Everything was quiet around us and I knew that Lialam had retreated into the deepest part of the keep.  It would have to be his study, I thought, which served more like his treasure room, for it was here that he disappeared into when he retrieved a gold coin or two to pay me for the dresses I once made for his two wives, and the many clothes I had to sew or mend.  

I looked up at the balcony overhead, towards the room where I’d seen a glimpse of him from outside.  But the doors were wide open, the room dark though I could see the sky lighting up beyond its windows as dawn approached.  

“The study is straight ahead,” I whispered to Bernd.  “He’ll be there.”

Bernd nodded, and kept going, but I grabbed his arm.   

“What do you plan to do?”  I asked.

“What do you think?” He muttered.  “I wronged you by giving you away to Lialam in marriage and I intend to right that wrong.  This is not your fight anymore.”

I stopped, pulling him to look at me as we stood in a circular alcove that led to three separate hallways.  “It is my fight, too,” I said.  

“It is not for a dwarf to pass judgment nor hand out punishment in this case,” Bernd said.  “It will not be right for you to be there when I do.”

Jürgen arrived with Thorin next to him.  The guards followed right behind them though they stopped in the great hall, awaiting their orders.  Beyond the main doors from where we’d entered, I saw the drawbridge had finally been lowered.  The rain had ceased as well.  It was nothing more than a very light drizzle now, the clouds clearing from the sky.

Jürgen nodded.  “Bernd is right, child.  You and Thorin cannot be here when we catch Lialam and Edgard and mete out their punishment.”

“Are you going to kill them?” I asked.

Bernd looked away, but Jürgen shook his head. “We are not such animals as they are, but they will answer to the people they have wronged.”

I wanted to say something but Thorin brought his hand to my arm.  “Come, Frigga.  Dwarves keep out of the business of men, just as men keep out of ours.”

“Listen to Thorin, child,” Jürgen said.  “You are a dwarf, and you belong with your own kind.”

Without waiting for me to reply, Jürgen and Bernd caught sight of Lialam and Edgard in one of the hallways and shouting orders to the guards, ran after them.  Thorin and I stepped aside as the guards passed us, spreading out through the three hallways where they were bound to capture both men eventually.  

“It’s time I take you home,” Thorin said, his voice suddenly weary, his hand still outstretched towards me.  As I took Thorin’s hand, a trickle of blood flowed from a rough gash on his tunic.   He exhaled, grimacing as I drew closer.  There was blood dripping onto the floor beneath him. 

“You’re wounded,” I said, touching his side but Thorin only shook his head, his breath ragged.  

“I will be fine,” he said, his face suddenly turning pale.  

But Thorin wasn’t fine.  He stumbled against me, crumpling to the floor just as Dwalin rushed forward, catching Thorin from behind and easing him gently to the floor.   I knelt over him, my hands shaking as I peeled away the bloodied tunic.  The gash along his side was about three inches long.  I pressed my hand gently upon it to stem the bleeding and though Thorin groaned in pain, he brought his hand over mine to keep there.

Just then, a shadow crossed before me.

“Get up,” Dwalin whispered and I looked at him, confused.  But Dwalin didn’t have to say anything more, for an imposing dwarf with thick gray hair and a long gray beard wearing a raven crown made his way towards us.    The dwarf next to him had a scar where his left eye used to be hurried towards us.  Dwarves and men stepped aside to allow them to pass.

“Get away from him, woman,” Thrain, Thorin’s father pulled me to my feet and pushed me aside as Thror, the king of the dwarves came forward and bent over his grandson.  Soon, other dwarves joined in, creating a barrier between Thorin and myself and there was no way I could return to him, no matter how badly I wanted to, nor how much he called out my name.

I suddenly felt like an outsider, belonging nowhere as I stood apart from the dwarves, and now separated from both Bernd and Jürgen.  Inside Lialam’s residence, I heard shouts and the clanging of swords.  I heard Lialam’s pleas for mercy and Edgard’s shouts of defiance before the dwarves lifted Thorin off the ground and began to move away.  

As I moved forward to join them, the dwarves closed in and there was no way I could slip between their ranks.  They moved as one through the crowd that had formed in the courtyard - men, women and children staring at them in silence, parting as they passed through.  

I followed them as closely as I could, feeling the distance between us widen with each step I took as I felt the isolation of not belonging anywhere slowly overwhelm me.  The king and his son ignored me and my face burned with shame.  

But as I followed them beyond the gates of the Greenbanü, I saw the smoke billowing in the distance and my grief left me.  

Inge! 

I ran towards the direction of her home, protected only by a makeshift fence that would have been too high for mortal men to climb over - but not for goblins.  The barn was engulfed in flames and her animals were scattered everywhere.  Ponies, pigs, and chickens scattered about as I rushed towards the barn where other people were trying to put out the flames.  Inge was nowhere in sight. Calling out her name, I ran towards her house, past the door that now hung from its hinges, creaking as I burst inside.

The goblins had torn her place apart, taking whatever they could find from her meagre home.  The pot on the hearth was gone, its contents spilled on the earthen floor, and the chair where Thorin must have sat last night as he plucked on the harp lay broken in a heap.  Most of her herbs remained untouched, however, and I wondered if its pleasant smells offended the goblins.  Or were they distracted by something else?  Maybe the presence of a human being?  

I scrambled towards the room where I’d lain for two days as she and Thorin took care of me, calling out her name and praying that I’d hear her respond.  The room was in shambles.  Blood pooled on the floor next to a dead goblin, and the chair with Thorin’s coat lay upturned against one corner.  A low moan caught my attention and as I rushed towards the overturned bed, I slipped over a patch of blood and landed on the floor with a shout.  

If there was any pain, I ignored it.  For as I looked along one side of the bed, beneath another overturned chair, I saw Inge’s wide scared eyes looking back at me.  Her breaths were shallow, her hands clutched along her side which was bleeding profusely.  Next to her was the sword that Jürgen had made for me, its edge stained with blood.  I reached for her bloodied hands as I pulled myself towards her, shouting for help as loudly as I could.   

Though the goblins had bypassed her cottage on their way into town, they attacked her on their way out.  The tracks were fresher, made just before the dawn.  Fortunately, the dwarves had arrived just in time, killing most of the goblins and scaring off the rest of them with their stolen booty.  But the dwarves did not linger long enough to locate survivors for they were there for their young prince, and no one else.

“You’ll be fine,” I whispered to Inge again and again as she lay shivering in my arms.  I brushed the damp hair from her forehead and held her close as Bernd suddenly appeared.  There was blood on his shirt sleeve that hadn’t been there before but I didn’t care anymore.  He stared at me, as if surprised to see that I had not gone with the rest of the dwarves.  But he said nothing, instead shouting orders to his men to clear the room and right the bed so we could lay Inge down upon it.  Along with an elderly woman I recognized as the midwife, we tended to her the best we could.  

As Bernd and his men fought to put out the rest of the fire in the barn, thoughts of him and Jürgen telling me that this was no longer my world flashed before my eyes.  The dwarves were my people, they said.  But Thrain himself had thrust me away from Thorin, the dwarves under his command blocking me from joining them. 

The only thing that held my world together now was Inge, but even that was falling apart as she lay shivering in my arms.  I did what I could to clean the jagged wound along her side, struggling to follow everything the midwife was saying to me as the woman’s own hands trembled too much to be effective.  

Inge was the only one I had now, and I wasn’t about to watch her slip away from me, just as everyone else I cared for, had done.  For once again, everything had changed.