A Ruby's Shine (Thorin Oakenshield X OC)

59. River Barrel Battle

I nodded to Fili as he looked worriedly at Kili's pale face before he let go of the edge of the stairs as I let go of Kili's barrel, all three of us sent rushing down the river after the others, luckily hitting some faster currents to quickly catch back up with the company. I cough and spat out more water as my barrel ran over another small water dip and caused my face to get splashed with frigid water.

I am going to be lucky if I don't end up with a cold from all this.

I quickly loaded an arrow, now that I am closer to the others I am able to get in range of orcs tailing our group along the rocks on the edge of the river. This is yet again one of those times I am so glad I was trained by elves in the use of a bow, because if I wasn't, I wouldn't be able to shoot in a moving, constantly tossing and turning barrel with enemies jumping and moving around as well.

I aimed at an orc coming up behind an elf who was currently pushing an orc into the river, quickly shooting and taking out that target. I quickly pulled out another arrow, turning before seeing the results to shoot another orc who had higher ground to possibly jump onto our barrels in the river, the orc crying out in shock as it tumbled into the river, some of the dwarves yelling in shock as the body shift and tipped their barrels before the current continued to pull them along.

I quickly ducked into the barrel, hearing the water rushing by as two distinct thunk sounds of arrows hitting my barrel could be heard. I quickly stood up in the barrel, blindly reaching around and grabbing those arrows, yanking them free and adding them to my quiver before turning, which made my heart leap in my throat at the fact that I can't see where my barrel is going.

I shot one of the orcs that tried to shoot me but turning back around, my breathing too fact for my liking. I cannot let my irrational fear of barrels and water take over my judgement, the dwarves need me to be clear minded, to help in keeping the orcs off our barrels.

Speaking of which.

I pulled free another arrow so quickly I nearly fumbled for it as I quickly loaded the arrow, hardly even aiming before I shot. The orc cried out, the force of the arrow just enough to prevent Ori from getting an orc sword to the chest, the orc's sword instead sticking in Ori's barrel, making the young dwarf yelp.

He looked back at me in shock.

"That's twice!" He called.

"Let's not make it three times, alright?!" I shouted back, turning and aiming my bow at another orc about to tackle an elf, killing it as Ori yanked the blade free and threw it back to Fili behind him. I quickly shifted my weight to push my barrel away as Fili proceed to use the sword to slash at an orc and toss him back into the river, nearly hitting my barrel. I ignored it, not getting mad or anything like I might normally, understanding that this is a battle and one must be aware of their surroundings, even if they are surrounded by allies.

Accidents can happen, best to be aware to avoid them. I soon lost track of the others, occasionally my barrel would hit another in the rushing currents of the river, my bow seemed to never be put down as I shot arrow after arrow at the orc's tailing us, their horrid cries shriek out and talk in black speech I could not follow with the amount of water in my ears. I was soaked to the bone and there were plenty of points where my barrel temporarily went under water in the currents, sometimes another dwarf dragged it up so I could gasp in air.

Somehow, I didn't loose an arrow from my quiver in all this mess, except for actually shooting at orcs, then I purposefully lost an arrow to either save our asses or the life on an elf.

I leaned over the barrel, coughing up water as the last dip under filled my nostrils with water. I am glad this is fresh water and not salt water, or else it would burn more. But that doesn't mean it doesn't burn. My hair grew heavier and heavier as it soaked up enough water to fill a bucket and I was very, very tempted to pull one of the obsidian knives from my sleeves and quickly cut off the whole thing. I feel like someone tied iron bars to the back of my skull, and it's limiting my movement.