[ArwenBaggins]

Arinn held in a gasp when he climbed to the higher point of ground and noticed the charred ground. There was a deep black hole in the forest floor, where the dragon had unleashed his firey fury. 'We can only hope Eric made it out,' Arinn thought grimly to himself shaking his head.

The dogs started to bark madly and rapidly. They ran off together farther down the forest path, baying wildly and sniffing the ground as they went. "Come on!" Arinn ordered, motioning that the group followed the dogs.

Smaug had been here, and it was obvious. The tops of trees were gone, and random burn marks spotted the flora like a disease. Out of the corner of his eye, Arinn noticed a clump of underbrush that had a large space missing in the front, so he grabbed Rhysdan's arm and told him to stop. "It looks like someone crawled in-or out- of there."

Without waiting for an answer, Arinn got down on his knees in the mud and looked through the brush into the dark hole. Nothing. Standing with a sigh, Arinn dusted off the seat of his pants (with a few giggle from Elanor) and continued walking. It was several more minutes before Arinn noticed something a bit unusual.

'It can't be! Is it?' On the far edge of the path, just before it slopped down a hill, Arinn thought he saw a small lone figure moving slowly over the hill. With a burst of energy that he hadn't seen in ten years, Arinn took off quickly toward the shadowy figure ahead of them.

His wishes had been granted. As he neared, he noticed a small boy without a jacket and muddy boots. "Eric!" he yelled, careless to anything now. He had found his son. Although he was already tireing, his ran faster to reunite with Eric.

Scooping the boy up into his arms, Arinn couldn't help but let a few tears of joy run down his face. Other than a few small cuts and bruises, the boy was well. "Rhysdan! It's Eric!" he called to the group that was rapidly approaching. He cradled the boy like a small child, but quickly put his down so he could be greeted by the others.

After many hugs and kisses, along with a few stern looks (even though it was hard to keep a straight face), they were on their way back to the Millwind farm. "We should gather some provisions and then..." Arinn stopped for a minute. Did he really want to leave Dale? Of course not, but he had too... for his family. "leave with the rest of the farmers. For the safety of us all." He looked directly at Eric then, to whom he had sacrificed his jacket.

As they continued back along the forest path, the air about them was a little lighter. Eric was explaining his horrific experience for the first of many times, and Arinn was smiling for one of the first times in a day. Eric had been found.