"The dwarves are escaping!"

At the call, Tauriel and I flashed each other wide, somewhat idiotic smiles. Our plan had worked! Kili- and the rest of the dwarves, of course- were going to make it out!

But before I knew it, Thalion was rushing up to us. His knives were out, stained with black blood. "Orcs" he simply said, and disappeared to go back into the fight.

My heart froze. Kili...

Whipping out my silver daggers, I ran to the river. Sure enough, there were orcs swarming everywhere. I saw Legolas firing arrow after arrow, and Ithilwen doing the same a bit farther off. Tauriel quickly joined in, and soon, the sky was filled with the trio's arrows, each one finding its mark. I had never thought of them as a trio before, but in a way, they could be. They had to be the most skilled archers in all of Middle-Earth...

I quickly released my thoughts. I had much more important things to do.

Several of the orcs I was able to kill before they even had a chance to fight back. I glanced at the river, watching the barrels that carried the dwarves float down. However, I noticed something that made me freeze for a second- The gate was closed. Their passage was blocked.

A sharp pain suddenly shot across my arm, and I let out a small hiss. Mentally scolding myself for getting distracted, I killed the orc that had cut me with one movement.

After killing the rest of the orcs around me, I couldn't help but shift my gaze back to the dwarves. Kili had climbed out of his barrel, and was currently trying to get to the lever that would open the gates.

And that's when I saw it.

Time slowed down as the dark arrow flew through the air, embedding itself in Kili's leg. He cried out in pain, falling to the ground.

"KILI!" I screamed, trying to run to him, but something held me back. I felt myself being dragged away, ignoring my struggles.

Turning around, expecting to see an orc, I jumped back when I stared into the silver-blue eyes of Ithilwen staring back at me.

"We need to get to Rivendell. Now." She said.

"But the dwarves-"

"They're going to escape. Trust me." Ithilwen told me, stopping my protest.

"I thought you hated-"

"Look, do you want to save Kili or not?" She snapped, interrupting me once again.

Save Kili... Those two words gave me knew hope, and I started to run after Ithilwen.

"How are we going to get to Rivendell so quickly?" I asked, dreading the answer.

At this, an all-too-familiar gleam appeared in her eyes. I heard a slight whooshing noise, and a blur of golden-brown feathers landed on the ground.

A griffin.