King Under the Mountain
(Author's note- I read many of the F/T fics on this site, and now it's my turn to contribute. ;))
After the battle of the five armies, Tauriel wandered the desolate battlefield. The stench of dead orc and the smell of burning flesh assaulted her senses. Her body ached from the battle, and she felt weary to her very bones. But she kept on. She was searching with only a hope that she would find him.
"Kili!" She called, "Kili can you hear me?" She called out his name over and over again, the sound of her voice getting lost in the destruction of the battlefield. The sun was setting behind the Lonely Mountain and the shadows were growing long. It was getting cold. The fall had turned to winter, and she could feel the sky wanting to snow again. Still she kept walking, "Kili!" He hadn't been with the dwarf warriors who had returned from battle, and she had to find him. She would search all night if she had to. "Kili!" She passed by fallen horses and their lifeless riders. With each step her hope dwindled.
Fires still burned here and there. The trees that had been lit by Smaug's flames still smoldered, covering the desolated earth with gray smoke. Hopelessness crept into her heart, and she chocked down a sob that rose to her throat. "Kili..." She strained her powerful elf ears to hear any type of response. Finally she heard a soft whisper that was barely audible in the stillness.
It was a whisper, and only a whisper, but she followed the sound of it. "Far over the misty mountains cold...to dungeons deep and caverns old..."
Tauriel followed the voice and found him, and chocked back her shock and despair at the sight. He was laying beside his brother in the muck, a bolder from the mountain rock slide pinning both of his legs under its heavy mass. The orcs had started an avalanche of boulders to fend off the climbing armies, and Kili's legs were crushed under a boulder over six feet tall and ten feet wide.
She knelt beside him, brushing his blood-matted hair away from his face, "Kili, I found you. It's alright, I'm here. I can save you."
Kili's eyes stared up into the sky and his face was ashen white, "My brother...help Fili..."
Tauriel glanced over her shoulder at the lifeless form of the eldest brother. Fili's eyes were staring at the sky, unblinking and unaware. He had passed on. "I can't help him, Kili," She whispered, "Can you feel your legs?" Her fear was that he had broken his back.
Kili coughed, and red specks erupted from his lips.
Tauriel wiped his mouth, a moment of bewilderment seizing her. It was then she inspected his torso and removed his hand that was covering a gash in his left side. He was bleeding internally. He only had an hour at the most until he drowned in his own blood. "I have to get you to the elven healers," She muttered, "Its your only hope."
Kili let out a harsh laugh, "Silly elf," He muttered, "I'm going to die out here...the line of Durin is ended."
Tauriel took his hand in her own, feeling the coldness of his skin against her own. She could feel death creeping up and into him like a relentless wave of an unforgiving sea. "I've saved you before," She whispered, "I can save you once more."
Kili shook his head, "I'm sorry, Tauriel. I'm so sorry..." A tear streaked down and into his dark hair, and he coughed once more, "I'm sorry, but I don't think you can this time."
TBC
Will he live? Will he die? Let's find out.
