- What do we do now!?
Bofur asks from his barrel.
Bilbo had led us down to the cellars with some angry comments from Bofur and Kili.
Bofur had said that Bilbo was supposed to lead us out not further in, for Bilbo to answer that he knows what he is doing. But when he told us to climb into the barrels, even I had to wonder if he really knows what he is doing.
- Are you mad? They'll find us.
Dwalin had said.
I could see in Bilbo's face that he really knew what he was doing, and having trouble to get us to trust him was making him worried. But he gave Thorin one glance and Thorin had shout-whispered.
- Do as he says!
I was the quickest to climb into one of the barrels and when I looked out from mine that was on the top, after that I had taken of my backpack and laid it at the bottom of the barrel, I can see that Balin have climbed up to the other barrel beside me.
And now that we all are in one barrel each, part from Bilbo who still stands on the ground, we look at him with questioned eyes.
- Hold your breath.
- Hold my breath? What do you mean? Waah!
Bilbo push the lever that he has been standing by, and the floor beneath us opens up and we fall down into the river that was below us.
- Waah!
It takes some seconds for me until I know if I'm upside down or not. But with some help from Dwalin, I can finally breath and keep my barrel up right.
"I hope that my drawings are not completely destroyed after this ride."
"Look up!"
From the roof comes Bilbo falling down and lands in the water beside Nori, who grabbed his jacket and pull him up from the water.
But Bilbo can't fit inside the barrel with Nori, so he has to hand on the side of the barrel.
"I hope we don't go through very bumpy river streams."
"But if my instincts are right, then we will be happy if our Hobbit is still with us when we reach the shore."
- Well done, master Baggins.
Thorin says and Bilbo waves it off, couching out water and shaking his head in an attempt to get the water out of his eyes.
- Come on. Let's go!
Thorin says before he turns around in his barrel and start to swim out of the mountain.
- Hold on!
"Huh?"
In front of my eyes I see Thorin, Balin and Dwalin disappear and I quickly realize why.
The water goes down into a waterfall and there is no other way than the waterfall to get out of here.
"Oh great."
I take a deep breath before I get the water all around me again.
Couching, I shake my head in order to get the bloody water away from my eyes.
When I look some further away in front of us, I can see a gate and I can also see that it is still open.
But just as Thorin reaches the gate, a horn signal can be heard from the Kingdom and one of the Elves that is standing as guards by the gate rushes over to a lever, very similar to the one Bilbo used before.
But none of us that is in the barrels wants this lever to be used.
But that is just what's happens.
Before I even manage to tell the guard to stop, the gate closes, and we are once again captured by the Elves.
Suddenly, a whistling sound reaches my ears. A sound that can only come from an arrow that have been shot.
I look up at the Elf who pulled the lever just in time to see the arrow burry itself deep in the guard's neck, and with a grunting noise, he falls down from the plateau.
Where he just stood is now an Orc standing with a new arrow already knocked to the bow.
- Look out!
I scream to whoever might listen.
The guard beside the fallen Elf looks in shock as the Orc pulls the arrow back, ready to shoot him.
But instead of that the Elf is the one who falls down with an arrow in its neck. It is the Orc. But of course, does he have to fall down over us.
I look back from where we just came from and I can see that Legolas and Tauriel have arrived with some of the other Elves.
But I can understand that they didn't come to help us. They came to take us back to the dungeons. They didn't expect to meet some others who also wants to capture us.
- Kili! What are you doing?
I look back to see Kili fighting against some of the Orcs. He kills one that is fighting one of the Elves, saving the Elf in the process. Then he rushes towards the lever.
Just as he reaches the top of the stairs in order to get to the lever, the same feeling that I had when we left Beorn's house comes back.
But this time I can see what will happen.
- Kili stop!
I shout just as the arrow hit Kili's leg.
- Kili!
Both Fili and I scream.
For some reason, the pain that Kili gets from being hit by the arrow flies over to me and I make a weird face. The pain is really sharp, but I know what kind of arrow Kili has been hit by.
My mother was very hard at me that I needed to learn the differences between the weapons that exist in Middle-Earth. Why I didn't understand by the time, but now when I see the arrow that is imbedded in Kili's leg, I thank mother for all those times she forced me to name all the different arrows.
The arrow that is stuck in Kili's leg is completely black, and I know that only one specific Orc race can made them. Kili have been hit by none other than a Morgul arrow. And it's only the Gundabad Orcs that can make them. I don't know how I can heal him. That was something my mother never taught me.
Kili manage to somehow crawl himself to the lever and pulls the lever down and the gate opens up and we can get away from the chaos that is happening around us.
Then he crawls to the side and falls down into his barrel again, only that he breaks the arrow and screams in pain.
As we are being guided by the water to somewhere the Orcs follows us and tries to shoot us with their arrows.
"They are really bad shooters. But I guess that is good for us right now."
One Orc leaps towards me but I take out my knife and cuts off his head.
~ Why do you...
~ Don't ask Fili. I'll tell you later. Right now, I just want to get away from this mess.
We kill Orcs from left and right as they launch themselves at us. And those who are on the riverbank gets taken down by the Elves that followed us as well.
- Cut the log!
I manage to flick my knife, so it grows to a sword just in time for me to cut the log when I pass by under it.
And my cut is the final cut for the log to break and send the Orcs that were on top go it down into the water.
Suddenly, Bombur, who have been behind me, flies out of the water and up onto the ground. I didn't saw how he managed to do that, but as Bombur stumbles down the small cliff, the barrel breaks and when he reach the end of the cliff and the barrel comes to a halt, Bombur jumps up and start to swing around with two axes that he somehow has taken from the Orcs.
Bombur manage to kill a lot of the Orcs before running to the river where he throws the axes to us and jumps very gracefully into an empty barrel.
"Where did that barrel come from? Did we have an empty barrel with us the whole time?"
I hear Dwalin and Gloin grunts in pain and annoyance behind me. And when I look to see why, I can't help but to laugh. The reason for their grunts in pain is simply because Legolas has jumped from the riverbank and onto their heads.
From there he shoots Orcs that comes to close. He jumps from one Dwarf to another which also means that he jumps on my head.
- Ouch! Hey!
Legolas looks back at me and gives me a quick smile before he jumps back up on the riverbank where he continues his fight against the Orcs.
He either shoots them with his bow and arrow, or he uses his daggers to take down the Orcs.
But when he is too focused with fighting an Orc that seems to be as great with sword as Legolas are with his bow or daggers. Another Orc sneaks up behind him with his sword raised above his head to strike him in the back.
But Thorin is much faster than the Orc and throws the axe he has been using for a long time, and the axe hits the Orc behind Legolas which kills it.
At the same time as the axe hits the Orc, Legolas finally takes down the Orc that has been keeping him busy in the meantime.
Hearing the grunting noise behind him, Legolas turn around and look at the dying Orc with the axe imbedded in its neck. He looks back at us and seems to understand who throw the axe that saved his life. He bows his head almost unnoticeable that I wonder if I really saw him do it.
Legolas is the last one I see before the water streams drives us away from Mirkwood and the Wood Elves.
