The Aid of Elves

When Phoenix finally joined them, they were all waiting for her to reach them and they were ready to go into the cave. When she found them, Thorin looked at her with concern, but it was Balin who voiced his thoughts.

"Are you alright Lass?" He asked her.

"I'm fine." Phoenix told him and Thorin and Balin noticed the look of disbelief Gandalf held when he heard her response, but they decided not to question it.

"Ori and Bifur take care of the ponies." Thorin ordered, and once they had gone, Phoenix joined the others as they all went inside the troll cave.

"Ugh, what is that stench?" Dwalin asked his voice layered with disgust.

"It's a troll hole Master Dwarf, what did you expect?" Gandalf asked.

"By my beard, looks at all this gold!" Gloin shouted.

Phoenix watched as some of the dwarves started to gather as much gold as they could, whilst Thorin and Gandalf looked at the weapons that had been left in the cave. As Thorin picked up a sword, Phoenix saw the making from where she stood by the cave entrance, she recognised it as being a sword from her father's kin, a finer sword had never been made and even Gandalf saw this.

"Elvish." Gandalf told him and as he watched Thorin about to put it back, he decided to stop him. "You couldn't ask for a finer blade." He told him.

Thorin seemed to relent and he looked back at his company before he held a fleeting glance with Phoenix as she walked out of the cave and into the much fresher air.

"Come on, this stench is eye watering." Thorin told them as he too ran out of the cave. Gandalf was the last to leave but he came out carrying two swords, one for himself and one short one which he handed to a very unsuspecting Bilbo.

Suddenly there was a sound of something coming towards them and they all huddled together, except for Gandalf and Phoenix, who had decided to sit herself on a fallen tree, and they were given a surprise when a haggard man rode up to them on a wooden sled pulled by rabbits.

Gandalf smiled at seeing the wizard who Phoenix vaguely recognised as Radagast the Brown, and he greeted him like old friends, before an air of seriousness came over them and the two wizards left to talk in private though Phoenix heard every word. As the wizards spoke, Phoenix looked at the swords that she carried, like the one Thorin had found, they were Elvish made, but they were dual swords, crafted to fight as one weapon. She was busy thinking of her swords so she did not hear much of what was around her. Meanwhile, Thorin had been glancing over at her every few minutes as he paced waiting for the wizards to finish their conversation, when Balin joined him.

"Lad, will you stop staring at her." Balin told him.

"I'm not staring." Thorin told him.

"Aye Laddie, you are." Balin told him. "She is a beautiful lass, but you know that nothing could come of it."

"That is where I believe you are wrong Balin." Thorin told him. "But she wouldn't have me; there are plenty of men able to have her." Thorin replied, only now had he come to accept that he loved Phoenix more than he should, but no more than he wanted to. Balin sighed at his king as he watched how he looked towards the female hybrid, and he saw the emotions in his eyes, it was the same way that he had seen Thorin's father look at his mother, the way his own father had looked at his own mother before her death. It was the look of true adoration and love, but he did not comment to Thorin about it. In fact he did not have time to as there was a deep howl drawing closer to them which had everyone freezing in their tracks.

"What was that?" Bilbo asked as he looked up.

"Wargs." Fili told him, putting a hand to one of his swords in readiness.

Suddenly there was a howl, and then they saw Ori and Bifur run over, their faces one of guilt and worry.

"We have no ponies, they've bolted." Ori told them, before he let out a pained yell and they saw a warg grab him in its jaw and shake him around like a child's doll.

"Ori!" Dori shouted, readying his sword to strike the beast down, but Phoenix was quicker and she embedded an arrow between its eyes, making it let go of Ori.

"Phoenix, look out!" Bilbo shouted Phoenix managed to both turn and duck at the same time as another warg flew straight past where her head had been seconds ago.

As she righted herself, she watched as Kili stuck an arrow into the warg, before Dwalin and Thorin finished it off.

When the warg was dead, Phoenix ran to Ori who was withering around on the floor in pain and the other dwarves seemed to be in some sort of trance, frozen to the spot. Phoenix did not pay any attention, before she suddenly used one of her daggers to cut away Ori's clothes that were around the wound and she checked it as Gandalf sat beside her.

"It's beyond my skills." She told him.

"What do you suggest?" Gandalf asked.

"We take him to my father." She told him as she got up and gave a whistle that seemed to awaken Thorin who looked at them.

"No, I refuse to seek help from those woodland sprites." Thorin told them and this made Phoenix too angry for their liking.

"If you do not let me take him, then he will die!" She suddenly shouted at him and this seemed to silence Thorin. Then as Carnahan galloped over, she grabbed the horse's reigns, steadying him. "Help me lift him." Phoenix told everyone, and she watched as Kili, Dwalin and Gandalf lifted Ori up and Phoenix got Carnahan to lie down so that they could sit him in the saddle and she let Carnahan stand up before she looked at Gandalf as she slid her cloak over Ori.

"Do you know where to take them?" She asked.

"Yes." Gandalf told she and he helped her to climb onto her horse's back, behind the saddle and he handed her the reigns.

"Phoenix, you can't ride out on your own." Radagast told her. "They will spot you instantly."

"Do you have a suggestion Radagast, because we really don't have time to debate this?" She told him, keeping an arm tight around Ori to keep him against her.

"I do, let me ride out and draw them off." He told her.

"These are Gundabad Wargs, they will outrun you!" Gandalf told him.

"These as Rhosgobel rabbits," Radagast told him. "I'd like to see them try."

Everyone looked between the two wizards, before the matter seemed settled and they watched as Radagast ran off with the rabbits and they watched him lead the wargs and orc pack away, before Phoenix looked at Gandalf.

"Ride fast and ride hard, no looking back." He told her.

Phoenix nodded before she leant forward towards Carnahan. "Norlim, Nodern."

Suddenly Carnahan was running, going through the cover of the trees and bursting out into the open ground and then he really hit his stride. Phoenix kept hold of the reigns, allowing the horse to take the lead as they made their way across the moors, through long grass, over rocks, the horse showed no signs of stopping. Carnahan moved in ways that would have made everyone around them stare in awe, they managed to get into the trails that led towards the one place that she knew could save the dwarf in her arms.

"Garbo Ori, lastaan nín glim. Baw anno nean ni dúath, dartha din in Ori, nin innas beria tye."

Phoenix pleaded with the young dwarf as Carnahan pushed himself faster at hearing his rider's pleas to the dwarf.

Suddenly there was a sound of snarling, and Carnahan reared up as a Warg ran out from behind a large stone, but instead he brought his hooves down on top of its head, pinning it to the ground.

"Carnahan, go!" Phoenix commanded and Carnahan took off running, the warg, wounded but still giving chase. He forced himself to move, his legs hitting the ground hard as he ran, he only knew that he needed to keep his rider safe, as well as get the dwarf help, and he was too old to be worried about some lost warg. Soon he outran the warg that was chasing them and the warg ran off to join its pack, but still Carnahan did not slow his speed. They reached the gates of the Elvish city in almost no time at all, and they raced past the guards at the gate. She heard the calls of the elves she passed, and when she got to the steps that led up to her home, she found an elf she knew well – Lindir.

"Lindir, nara hÎr Elrond, tÎn iell sit a han men gar naug i ach." She told him as she jumped from her horse as Carnahan stopped to rest and she helped Ori down.

Lindir sent two guards off and they soon came back with Lord Elrond.

"Nín iell!" Lord Elrond's voice rang out as he reached them. "Man carima hen?" He asked as he allowed some healers to take Ori away and he looked at his daughter.

"Wargs." She told him and she watched Carnahan be taken to the stables as she and Elrond made their way up the steps, well she hopped.

"Nalyë harn eithro." Elrond observed.

Phoenix sighed. "I haru anaië alenvinyanta." She told him.

"Innas tye lavdâf an enni an hentaed?" Elrond asked his voice soft and caring towards his daughter.

In the end, Phoenix relented and Elrond brought her to her bedroom that she shared with her sister, Arwen, and Phoenix sat on the edge of her bed as Elrond kneeled before her and he examined Phoenix's ankle which had become swollen and sore with all the movement that she had done.

"You should not be walking on this." He told her.

"You know that I cannot sit still." She told him. "Ada, nothing will make me sit still, not even this."

Elrond sighed as he started to heal her ankle. "That I know very well." When he was finished he stood and helped Phoenix to her feet. "You should change, Arwen will be in shortly from her ride and it would be nice for the pair of you to see each other again." He looked towards the window. "I will deal with this orc pack; they have already crossed our lands."

Phoenix nodded. "I will stay here ada; I have come to miss my younger sister."

Elrond nodded and he left Phoenix to go and get ready before he went to get ready to hunt some orc, and he looked at the window to his daughter's room and saw Phoenix watching him go, she had already dressed in a red dress and her dark hair hung down her back. He was happy to have his daughter back in Rivendell, but right now, he had to hunt some orc, so off he rode with his men.

When he was gone, Phoenix remained by the window, and she didn't notice the door opening and nor did she noticed Arwen walking into the room, only when she heard the door shut did she turn around and she saw the beauty of her own sister stood before her.

"Nín mell neth." Phoenix told her.

"Phoenix...Nalyë sí." Arwen told her and she ran over into her older sister's waiting arms.

"Of course I'm here." She told her. "I came with a wounded dwarf, and ada insisted to check my own wound."

"You were wounded?" Arwen asked as they left the room and walked together.

"I was, but I am fine now." She promised her sister as they sat on a stone bench in a courtyard to wait for Elrond's return. "Now tell me, what have I missed?"

"Not a lot." Arwen confessed. "Our brothers are surveying the elves in Mirkwood, working with Thranduil." She saw the dark look in her sister's eyes. "Forgive me; I know that you dislike him."

"It is a bit beyond dislike." Phoenix smiled. "But do not fret little sister."

Arwen smiled at her and she looked at the flowers that had grown around the bench. "Did you hear about our mother?"

Phoenix nodded. "I heard that she took the boat to Valinor...forgive me if I tell you that I did not grieve for her...And then I contemplated joining her."

Arwen seemed surprised to hear that, but she let it go, after all if it was going to make Phoenix happy, she wasn't about to stop her.

Meanwhile, back in the moors, Thorin and his company were on a never ending run, trying to keep clear of the orcs and wargs that were eagerly hunting them. They had done well so far, but they knew that they could not keep this up much longer. Dwarves were not meant to be long distance runners. At that moment, they were all hiding behind a large rock, and they all tensed at hearing the growls that could only come from a warg, and they heard the scraping of its claws on top of the boulder that they were hiding behind. Thorin glanced at his youngest nephew who had already notched an arrow ready to be fired, and he watched as he moved away from the cover of the boulder. When he was in view, Thorin heard the snarling of the warg, before the whimpers as Kili hit it with the arrow, but not where it would be able to kill the beast. As the warg dropped to the floor dead, the orc riding it suddenly lunged up but was struck back down by Dwalin's axe. Yet its cries were loud enough to alert the rest of the pack that was after the group.

"Run." Gandalf told them as they heard the other orcs closing in.

"Run!" Thorin shouted and they were all running, with Gandalf leading the group; however they did not get far before they were suddenly surrounded by wargs and orcs.

"We're surrounded!" Dori shouted.

"Where's Gandalf?" Bofur shouted up and everyone looked around for the wizard only to find that he had vanished.

"He's abandoned us!" Dwalin shouted and all of the dwarves closed ranks with each other, pulling out their weapons, ready to fight the incoming orcs and wargs.

"This way you fools!"

They all looked over and saw that Gandalf was behind a rock and Thorin soon took charge, cutting down a warg.

"Go!" He shouted as he jumped onto the rock and found a hidden passage behind it. "Quickly!" He ordered and dwarf after dwarf slid down it after Gandalf and Bilbo, looking back he found that Kili was still fighting. "Kili!" He shouted and he watched his nephew turn and run towards them, jumping down the hole and Thorin followed him.

When they reached the bottom, they heard the sound of a horn and Thorin recognised it as an Elvish horn, maybe Phoenix had brought aid, but he did not hear her voice. That was the only thing that worried him, and he feared that she had not made it to the safety of her people.

"There's a trail back here, what do we do?" Dwalin shouted and this brought Thorin back to the present.

"Follow it of course!" Balin shouted and all of the company filed down the narrow passage, coming out into the view of a land that Thorin had preferred that they had avoided.

Translations

Norlim, Nodern : Ride fast, ride hard

Garbo Ori, lastaan nín glim. Baw anno nean ni dúath, dartha din in Ori, nin innas beria tye :

Hold on Ori, listen to my voice. Do not give in to the darkness, stay with me Ori, I will protect you.

Lindir, nara hÎr Elrond, tÎn iell sit a han men gar naug i ach : Lindir, tell Lord Elrond, his daughter is here and that we have a dwarf who is wounded

Nín iell : My daughter!

Man carima hen : What done this?

Nalyë harn eithro : You are wounded also

I haru anaië alenvinyanta : The wound has been well healed

Innas tye lavdâf an enni an hentaed : Will you grant permission for me to examine it

Nín mell neth : My dear sister

Nalyë sí : You're here