That's Another Story For Later

This is War

The opposing army started to get smashed. Thorin, Fili, Kili and I started to slash the Orcs around us, not letting any touch one another. We pushed them back, driving into the enemy. Anger and hatred that was all pent up, was released upon the monsters. Soon the company was separated, fighting alongside brother and comrade alike. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nori, Ori and Bofur tossing an axe between one another. I would have laughed if not for the situation we were in.

"Iridian!" Kili shouted. I ducked, and a choked sound came from behind. "You cannot lose focus for even a moment!" He said, and we continued fighting. The four of us had formed a circle, backs close to one another. I called out to my fiancé, telling him I had heard him. We spun around in opposite directions, killing three orcs. The four of us danced around each other, killing anything that dared get close. I was getting sick to my stomach from the kills, and stench of blood. The previous burns and cuts were being reopened, and I felt blood dripping down my body.

Fili had lion like loyalty and prowess in his eyes, Kili bearing a lupine vengeance. Thorin held his gaze as a strong king, and I could only hope that I had a fearless determined line for a face, one that a dwarven princess would. As Thorin blocked an attack, Fili went in and killed it from the side. A troll on two legs, with an orc riding it staggered past, and toward the others in the battle field. As I watched, an orc landed a blow on my arm.

It was not as crowded, and not as chaotic as I had feared. While it most certainly was, I had imagined worse. It was more pockets of crowded battles, with bits of no man's land in between. But I was fighting with my family, so somehow it made everything less terrifying. It didn't make it any less horrifying. The sight of people falling, people I could have called comrades, now drop for the last time. The screams were louder, much more terrifying. They echoed in my mind, piercing my ears. The stench of blood was so strong, I could taste it. It was sickening. I stepped on bodies more than once.

"Thank you brother!" Bofur said as he jumped on two shields, getting onto the blind troll, and was laughing as he controlled the creature. I grabbed my bow, and started to shoot enemies from afar. "Cover me!" I shouted to Kili. He nodded as I ran forward to collect arrows. As I came back only half of what I had shot, reaching for my dual blades, I felt two arrows strike me. One in my shoulder blade, the other in my calf.

"Iridian!" Kili shouted. I broke off the shafts down to a small nub I could pull out, and swallowed the pain. I continued fighting, despite the burning. I ignored it, and Kili looked at me, before fighting again, clearly trying to protect me. Fili bashed in an orc, and I saw another one come up behind him. I shouted in warning, and chucked a dagger. Fili picked up, and tossed it back.

Not long after, we were mildly separated from Thorin. We saw him through the throng. The orcs were ugly, and I cut them down. While they were monsters, I was still killing. I'd never given thought about what it will do to my conscious. "Dain!" He shouted. I ducked under an orc swing, stabbing it through the jaw with an uppercut. Blood sprayed into the leather, and I held down the want to throw up.

"Thorin!" The lord answered. "Hold on! I'm coming." More orcs fell around all of us, the lord getting closer. "Hey cousin, what took you so long?!" For a moment, I saw them hug, before throwing a dagger, and pulling it out again. "There's too many of these buggars, Thorin. I hope you've got a plan." Thorin's eyes flashed, and I knew what he was thinking.

"Aye- We're going to take out their leader." I wanted to get to Thorin, but a throng of creatures swarmed us, growling. I raised the blades, and whirled them around, confusing the things before effectively killing them. I glanced back to see Fili and Kili looked at me in awe.

"Come on, guys. You can't be that surprised." I teased, wiping off the blood. My arms felt like lead. I'd never done this much fighting, and the ache from previous injuries only added to offense.