The Fifteenth Member

The Great Escape

Attara's Pov

Legolas, Tauriel, and I quickly ran towards the gate of the elven realm. As we entered the forest she explained that their cells had been found empty and wine barrels were missing from the cellars, meaning they were escaping through the river. A group of elven guards came with us as well. 

"Don't hurt them. Just let them go, please." I pleaded as we approached the raging waters of the river.

We emerged from the tree line just in time to see the dwarves fall down a waterfall in their barrels. I gasped, but relaxed slightly when I saw them safely in their barrels on the other side of the waterfall. I could see the dwarves approaching the gate and Legolas yelled at one of his men who blew a great horn. Hearing this, the elves on the gate pulled a lever trapping the dwarves. 

"No! Legolas please! They have to reach the mountain by Durin's Day!" I pleaded as I saw the elven guards draw their swords. 

Suddenly, one of the guards fell, a black shafted arrow sticking out of his back. A large group of orcs suddenly overran the guard post and began fighting the elves. 

We charged the orcs, killing as many as we could. I saw Bilbo manage to kill one with his sword, but the dwarves were unarmed and basically defenseless. I focused on killing as many of the orcs as I could in order to keep my friends safe. I let arrows fly as another group of orcs approached, but as they drew neared I resorted to my sword. 

"Kili!" I heard Dwalin yell, causing my to turn towards my friends.

He was climbing the steps to the lever, fighting off orcs with what seemed to be a stolen orc sword. As I watched Fili threw a dagger at an orc that was preparing to stab Kili with a spear, and Kili quickly finished it off. I flew as fast as I could and landed next to him, fighting alongside him to reach the lever. Kili had just reached the lever and I was fighting an orc that tried to sneak up behind him when I heard a grunt of pain from behind me. 

As I finished off the orc and turned, I saw Kili kneeling next to the lever - an orc arrow sticking out of his calf. 

"Kili!" Fili shouted before I could even react. I watched as Kili tried to stand and pull the lever, but he simply fell back. 

"Kili" Thorin breathed, looking up at his nephew in shock. 

An orc leaped up attempting to kill Kili while he was down, but I killed him quickly. Several more orcs leapt at me, but I fought back. I could see more elves emerging from the woods to help fight off the orcs. 

"Kili, just hold on!" I yelled over my shoulder as I took down yet another orc. I heard the creak of the lever being pulled, and turned to see Kili falling back to the ground. Once I killed the last orc I rushed to Kili's side.

As the dwarves barrels began to move downstream again I could hear them calling out. "Kili!" Fili called yet again, distress clear in his voice. 

"Just hold on" I told him. I scooped him up as gently as possibly and took off in the directions of the other dwarves. Once we reached them I tried to put him into his barrel as carefully as possible, but the shaft of the arrow broke causing his to hiss in pain. 

As we continued down the river, we fought off as many of the orcs as possible. Bilbo had sting , I had my weapons, and some of the dwarves had managed to get weapons from the fallen orcs. The elves ran alongside the river and fought off many of the orcs as well. I met Legolas's eyes as we continued to fight, but his face held a betrayed expression. As we neared the edge of the elvish lands, the elves disappeared into the woods and what was left of the orc pack disappeared as well. 

Once the fighting had ended only one thing was on my mind, Kili.