Chapter 16 - Barrel Riders
Trying to get Thranduil to release Thorin and the rest of the dwarves was a hassle. I couldn't tell you how long it took to try and change his mind. It was long enough for my ribs to heal and my patience to wear thin. Thankfully there was one bonus to being stuck here, and that was Legolas. No matter what we talked about he listened to everything without any prejudices. It was a godsent.
Today I was to go down and visit Thorin and the dwarves, like I always did since my ribs healed; when instead of Legolas escorting me, it was an auburn-haired female elf. I had learned from Legolas, that her name was Tauriel, and she was captain of the guard. The two of us had slowly become friends as well. Tauriel was a smart and beautiful elf. She always made it a mission to update me on the progress of my brothers search.
However, this day wouldn't go as planned, for when we reached the dungeons the cells were empty. My heart races in my chest as I think about how they had left me behind. Tauriel strides up to the empty cells and addresses the other elven guards.
"Where is the keeper of the keys?" Tauriel requests as she moves ahead of me.
I stare at Thorin's empty cell and start to fill my anger raise. As Tauriel and I rush towards the cellar a group of elves join us. Just as we get to the cellar, I notice a spot on the floor close and Tauriel pauses.
"Go notify Lord Legolas." Tauriel orders her elves. She watches for a moment before she turns to go down a secret path. I go to follow her but she stops me. "You must stay here. Legolas would kill me if any harms came to you."
"I can take care of myself." I reply angrily as I motion for her to keep going. She nods and I follow her through the halls until we come out into the light on a path near a roaring river.
After a few minutes of following them I hear elf horn sound from behind us and I furrow my brow. A part of me hoped the dwarves could get away, but then the other part of me was furious that they were going to leave me behind. As we near them I hear the familiar sounds of orcs and my blood starts to boil. Was Azog here? If he was, I was going to show him the extent of my rage.
"Kili!" I Hear Fili cry out in panic and I start to push myself faster to reach them. I notice Tauriel doing the same.
An orc leaps over to kill Kili, but an arrow suddenly flies into its head. Kili looks over and sees Tauriel running through the bushes. She shoots another orc, then kills others with her knife.
"Gor'-ash! Gor golginul!" (Kill her! Kill the She-Elf!) I hear an Orc order and I turn to see a pale-ish orc with parts of his body filled with metal and I clench my jaw as I reach down and calling earth making the vines reach up and attack Orcs that try to overwhelm Tauriel.
An Orc rushes me and before I can do anything, Legolas and other elves appear from the bushes and shoot them down. As Tauriel, Legolas, and the other elves fight the orcs, Kili manages to grab the lever and pull it, opening the sluice gate and letting the dwarves in their barrels through. He then falls on his back again in pain. The dwarves in barrels fall down another waterfall and float down the river.
"Khozdayin obguryash! Abgurid!" (After them!) The lead Orc calls and I watch as the dwarves start to move down the river.
"Kili!" Fili calls to his brother and I watch as Kili manages to slide himself off the ledge and into his empty barrel below. As he lands in it, the shaft of the arrow in his leg breaks off on the edge of the barrel. The remaining dwarves and Bilbo plunge over the waterfall and continue floating down the rushing river, as the orcs follow the river on land.
The dwarves try to paddle and steer with their hands, but to no avail; the river is running too wild. As they come to a narrow part of the river, orcs on either side begin shooting arrows at them. I watch them for a moment before I rush forward and lifting one arm, I call forth a dragon made of water and watch as it lifts into the air and lets out a loud roar. I send it forward to attack the orcs who threaten my friends.
With a wave of my hand it devours all it comes into contact with shoving the orcs deep down under the water's surface. At first the Dwarves are scared; but after realizing it means them no harm, they start fighting alongside it.
Tauriel, Legolas, the other elves, and I run after the orcs chasing the dwarves. An orc jumps from an overhanging tree branch toward Balin, but Thorin throws his sword and pins the orc to the tree; as the orc drops its weapon, Thorin catches it while floating beneath him, and he throws back to Bombur, who throws it to Nori, who throws it to Fili, who kills an orc with it. An orc leaps onto Dwalin's barrel, only for Dwalin to headbutt it off and steal its axe. The dwarves see a low-hanging tree branch stretched across the river in front of them, with several orcs on it.
"Cut the log!" Thorin calls out and as he floats under it, Thorin hits it with his sword, then Bofur hits it with his weapon, and Dwalin, right behind him, hits the branch with his axe, breaking it and causing the orcs on it to fall into the river. Bilbo manages to climb atop a floating barrel.
Seeing Bilbo struggle to hold on I send a little magic his way to help him stay afloat so his grip could remain on the stray barrel.
"Bombur!" Dwalin calls as he throws his axe to Bombur, who kills an orc that had just jumped onto his barrel. The Orc's spear ends up pinning it to an overhanging tree branch; the other end of the spear catches onto Bombur's barrel and catapults it through the air and onto the riverbank, where the barrel rolls and tramples multitudes of orcs. The barrel flips through the air to the other side of the river, where it tramples more orcs.
Eventually, the barrel comes to a stop, and orcs surround it; however, Bombur kicks out the bottom, then sticks his arms holding axes through the sides. He then starts spinning rapidly with the axes extended, mowing down all the orcs around him. He then runs toward the river, tosses his axe to one of the floating dwarves, then gracefully jumps into an empty barrel.
Meanwhile, Legolas, Tauriel, the other elves, and I have caught up to the dwarves and orcs, and they fight the orcs while I try to help the dwarves out by sending the dragon down to try to soften their barrel ride.
At one point, Legolas leaps over the river and lands with a foot on the heads of two dwarves, from this vantage point, he shoots orcs on either riverbank. He aims carefully, and manages to skewer two orcs through the head with one arrow. Legolas continues fighting orcs, using the heads of floating dwarves as stepping stones to get across the river.
I shake my head as I think about how annoyed Dwalin would be later when he recalled this event. Then in the process of my though I am left wide open as an orc grabs me from behind his grip holding tightly to the back of my neck. I let out a cry of pain and I could swear I heard Thorin cry out in anger.
"Our master wants you." He growls into my ear and I feel a shudder of fear wash over me.
"Your master can go fuck himself!" I yell back.
I glance toward where the dwarves had been a second before and I notice that they were out of sight. I smirk to myself as I call fire and reaching up grab the orcs hand. My eyes fill with fire as I send it out to cover the orcs body burning him to a crisp. His dying screams filling the air. When he is dead, I turn and using air push myself faster so that I could catch up with the dwarves and Legolas.
When I reach him, I notice he is preoccupied fighting an orc, another orc runs up behind him and raises its sword to kill him. I go to cry out to him when Thorin, from his barrel in the river, throws his sword and manages to kill the orc behind Legolas. Legolas and Thorin look at each other with some sort of understanding; Legolas stops pursuing them as the dwarves continue floating down the river. It seems like all the orcs are dead.
Legolas's eyes find mine and I offer him an apologetic look as I run forward and reaching the river's edge dive into it. A rush of cold water surrounds me as I push myself to the surface. Using my powers, I surge through the water to catch up with the dwarves in their barrels. Reaching them I reach out and grabbing a barrel look to see who was inside.
"Hold on tight lass," Dwalin says and I nod as I grip tightly to the side of the barrel my body suddenly becoming very heavy after the use of my powers.
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