Chapter 28: Free

Thorin looked at the forest around him. He was free, he was in pain.

It seemed that only death could pay for life. The dwarf did not know just whose death had paid for his freedom, but he knew that it had not come for free.

His gaze traveled to Fin, who had covered herself from head to toe.

"Vengeance is sweet," Fin said, as she offered Thorin her hand. "But Alec knows his runes."

Thorin shuddered. The woman was young. Might be a witch. Might have even deserved to have a slave rune put on her. He did not know just how many people she had killed, how many crops she had failed.

And yet, that, which Alec had done to her, had been monstrous.

"We have to find the dragon," Fin continued so, as if she was not concerned by her own pain. "Any children by him would be gods."

Thorin thought the woman mad, but did nothing but turn around.

He was done, he was free.