Ch. 37: Ambush

Kylie and Kili both received their weapons at the tent. The elf apologized robotically for treating them coldly and said that they could show themselves to the edge of camp. By this time, it was so late (or early – however you want to look at it) that most people were fast asleep in their tents. Even the two youngest company members were feeling exhausted.

"So what happened in there?" asked Kylie.

Kili shrugged. "It went well enough, I suppose. I gave Bard one of the coin bags for reimbursement for their kindness. He accepted and asked why I was doing this. I said we were neighbors and ought to act like it. He will come again tomorrow to the gate unarmed so Thorin himself would negotiate. I told him Thorin still might not listen, and he said we would have to speak from there." He sighed. "Next time, remind me of something really important please."

"What is that?"

"Remind me to make Fili come down and do this. I just… I had to act so well behaved in there…" he said as they passed the edge of the camp.

Kylie laughed. "Oh I bet that was a struggle."

"I want nothing more than to transfer Dwalin's sleeping mat from the halls to the top of the treasury.".

"He would skin you alive!"

"Only if I were caught! And you must remember, Dwalin is a very heavy sleeper."

"Really? I never noticed."

"He responds very well to vocal warnings, but we could parade him around the entirety of Erebor and he would not notice."

"You don't think that's something we should try... do you?"

Kili gave her a mischievous smirk.

Kylie laughed softly. Then she noticed something. Three shadows were approaching them quickly, weapons drawn. Both Kylie quickly notched her bow, but Kili motioned for her to stop.

"Wait," said Kili quickly. "They're not orcs! It's… oh no…."

"What?"

"Uncle."

Kylie paled. There was no good reason for the King Under the Mountain to be, well, not under his mountain. Especially ready for battle. It scared Kylie so badly that she actually considered shooting briefly. She hadn't forgotten his earlier threat so quickly. "What went wrong?" she whispered. She was beginning to be able to make out two more figures following the dwarf king: Fili and Balin. They, especially Fili, were following Thorin very quickly. It did not look too good.

"Thorin?" called Kili when they were within earshot.

"What are you doing outside the mountain?" he snapped.

Kylie and Kili stuttered, both trying to think of something realistic.

"Uncle, is this the time?" asked an urgent voice. Fili grasped his uncle's shoulder. Balin, at this point, had also caught up with the group. If they were caught… if Thorin knew exactly what was going on… this was not the way Kylie predicted any of them would act.

Thorin glared at his older nephew but nodded. "Come, we must return to the mountain. Now. The orcs will soon be upon us…."

"Orcs?" gasped Kili and Kylie at the same time.

Thorin nodded, exasperated.

"Thorin spot them from a distance. They're on the far side of the mountain!" said Fili.

"The far side?" asked Kili. "They would have to travel all the way around."

"That matters not right now, laddie. We must go!" insisted Balin. Then his expression changed. Very suddenly. He was not paying any attention to the arguing dwarves and human. He was staring beyond. "We are too late."

Kylie followed his gaze. Not too far away, several orcs approached. She could not make out their numbers in the dark, but she could see the pale skin of one glowing in the moonlight.

"Bolg," growled Thorin, cursing the orc's name. "Kili, Kylie. Shoot them."

The two archers both notched arrows and fired. Two arrows found a mark, two orcs cried out, and the rest flew forward.

Chaos erupted. Kili and Kylie both shot quickly, felling many orcs before they even reached the small group. Soon the orcs were just too close. Kylie quickly put away her bow and drew her sword. She blocked and parried and did everything right, but she could only just defend herself. What she lacked in strength she was able to make up for speed and agility. Still, Balin doubtlessly saved her life numerous times.

Thorin launched himself into battle with Bolg the moment the pale orc was within striking distance. The dwarf king attacked viciously, almost forcing the pale orc to take a defensive stand. But it was too good to last. Every few seconds the tide of the battle changed. It was more consistently in Thorin's favor when Fili joined in the fight with his uncle, but it was still impossible to say who would win. No matter what though, Kylie could not keep up, nor could she find a good target on the orc.

Besides, the orcs were rushing her, pushing her back slowly. In order to stay alive, Kylie had to jump and duck and backpedal more than she had in her entire life. She was quickly becoming fatigued, and it became nothing short of miraculous that she was still alive. Kylie managed to impale one of the orcs still attacking her before she noticed how little energy she had left. She could only hope that she was distracting the orcs enough that they wouldn't cause any problems to Thorin's fight with Bolg. Trying to keep a brave face, she raised her sword and glared at the last orc in front of her.

"KILI!" she heard Fili scream.

She turned in the direction of the cry, but saw nothing. Where were the dwarves? Where'd they go? With the moment's distraction, she heard a sudden clink and felt her sword flying from her hand. The orc snarled and placed its dark jagged blade close to her throat.

The air was cold and Kylie felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. They were not alone. Only just willing to do so, she turned slowly around and stared down the pathway. On the close side of the mountain, something approached. It was cloaked in black and rode a black horse. Kylie couldn't see its face, and her heart filled with a numbing sense of dread. Kylie could only breathe as she watched the Nazgǔl stare back.

It was then she understood. All the uneasiness she had experienced, those times when she had seen something lurking in the shadows… it was here. It had been following her. Thorin had said the orcs had to travel all the way around the mountain… it was to distract the others.

To get her alone.

Before she could even register what was happening, the wraith rode forward, hand outstretched. There was no time to think. Disregarding the orc and his sword, Kylie ran. She ran towards her sword and picked it up in just enough time to block the orc's blow. But at that point, she knew it was not going kill her. She held on to her weapon tightly and stabbed the orc quickly.

But not in time. She cried out as she felt something cold grab the back of her outfit. In a pit of terror, she whirled her sword backwards. The blunt end of the sword hit metal, but the creature did not make a sound as it dropped her. It was trying to be quiet. It simply galloped on, turning its horse next chance it could to prepare for another run.

But that was more than enough time for Kylie. She took out her bow, notched, pulled back, and fired.

It was a bad shot. She was under control of herself and everything; it was just a horrible shot. It missed the wraith.

But hit the steed.

The horse cried out loudly as an arrow entered deep into its front. It reeled up and fell, throwing its rider off. The young human dropped to the ground as the Nazgǔl cried its horrible, high pitched scream as it dropped to the earth. She vividly remembered her nightmares, and the voices that had threatened to keep her in her own personal hell three years ago. She cried out, trying to get rid of them. Astonishingly, it worked. She did recover.

But the wraith was above her, and it was angry. Kylie turned to unsheathe her sword only to be disarmed seconds later. Before she could think, it cut her leg. Agony filled her whole body and she collapsed screaming. A sudden kick to the head and her body was paralyzed. She was barely aware of herself being lifted from the ground.

"Kylie!"

She heard people calling her name. In her groggy state, she couldn't recognize the voice, but she heard somebody calling for her. Somebody who cared. She couldn't let it end like this. Kylie knew that if this thing took her, she'd be dead. Or worse. She couldn't do that to anyone… especially not herself. So she did the only thing she could. She took the small dagger strapped to her hip and, quicker than life itself, placed it in the wraith's chest.

Two screams mingled in the air. As her weapon made contact, Kylie's arm was filled with a cold pain. However, the Nazgǔl shrieked even louder as it dropped the young woman to the ground. The two cries were mingled by the hissing of Kylie's dagger evaporating. The intense pain that racked her body made her pass out for five minutes.

Or it seemed like five minutes. It could have been ten for all she knew.

The first thing Kylie noticed when she came to was how cold she was. It felt as though an ice train had run over her arm and her head. Her wounded leg throbbed as well, and the warm pain clashed oddly with the cold all around her. But it was still bleeding. She tried to reach down and apply pressure, but her arm would not move. Her right arm, the one she had used to stab the wraith, was completely numb. She groaned and just laid her head back. It still ached badly and she wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and let sleep take her.

No Kylie. Not yet.

She snapped into attention. What was that voice? Her head rang for a whole minute, and then it stopped.

She looked over at the black sheet on the ground. She had momentarily forgotten why she was lying there in pain, but then she remembered.

And like another icy train, she knew exactly what had almost happened.

"Give up girl," said a fell voice. "Do you think we know not who you are?"

Hands shaking, Kylie raised her bow. "Get away from me!" she hissed through clenched teeth.

The Black Riders all laughed. "I think not. Instead, you shall tell us of the feeble plans created by those you deem 'wise', and we shall not bear you to Mordor."

They had tried to have her before. Now, eighty years earlier, they were trying to have her again.

Sobbing, Kylie tried to back herself away from the wraith's remains. This was what Gandalf had tried to warn her about, although she doubted he knew the specifics. He had tried to warn her that evil would search for her. Once again, she'd succeeded in gaining their attention.

Tears ran down her face.

She had to get away. She felt so exposed in this spot… if there were any more… they couldn't get her… they couldn't! Gandalf's words, from the future and the present, floated around her head.

"He saw himself fall in your mind! If you were he, would you not want to know how this came about so it may be prevented?"

"They have doubtlessly heard of us through other sources and know you hold information to the one thing they desire most!"

"Kylie!"

That voice was not in her head. Despite the pain, she turned her head slightly. Two shapes quickly approached her. Weapons drawn, Balin and Thorin ran in her direction.

"Kylie!" Balin quickly approached her and helped her sit up. "Come on lass, let's have a look." Gently, the dwarf examined her head. Kylie winced visibly when he touched her.

"Thorin, we need to take her back to Oin, quickly."

Kylie shifted her gaze towards the dwarf king, who almost seemed to not realize any part of the exchange. Instead, he was staring intently at the black cloth that once held a demonic creature. He bent down towards the shroud.

"Don't touch it!" whispered Kylie urgently.

Thorin ignored her and picked up something. It took Kylie a second to recognize the small metal object in the dwarf's hands, but as her vision cleared she recognized the hilt of her dagger.

"What is this devilry?" he asked softly.

"Thorin! We should leave quickly," said Balin urgently.

The dwarf king nodded and pocketed the dagger. "Can you stand?" he asked, inkling his head slightly in Kylie's direction.

"Maybe," she said softly. Using Balin's help, she put her weight on her good leg.

"Lass, you need to let Thorin help you," said Balin gently.

"What?" Kylie looked down her right arm to see Thorin trying to grip her hand to help pull her out. But her hand was still not responding. But even scarier….

"I can't feel it." She had no idea that Thorin was touching her until she looked down. Even then she could barely feel anything.

Thorin's eyes turned to her in alarm. "Your hand is as cold as death."

Kylie felt all of the blood drain from her face. She was in trouble. She knew it….

"Come, quickly," said Balin supporting her. "We must get back to the lads. Kili was injured badly as well."

"Kili…."

Not putting his sword away, Thorin led the small group back the direction they had come from. It really surprised Kylie. It was such a short distance away; she was only yards from where she began. A mere few yards were the distance between near capture.

Suddenly, a pained cry rang through the air. Thorin let out a loud dwarvish battle cry and raced forward. Kylie could feel Balin panic by her and did her best to keep up when he picked up speed. When the two got around a rock, even Kylie's already foggy mind began to spin at the sight before her. Thorin had clearly rushed forward in attack only to be stopped by, of all people, Fili. The younger dwarf was quickly trying to talk sense into his uncle. Behind the two dwarves, Kili lay on the ground. His face was contorted in pain and blood soaked his shirt. Kylie couldn't tell exactly what had happened, but she could see a red headed elf wrapping his arm.

It was Tauriel.

And Legolas was here, bow notched and ready to attack if necessary. Even Bard had come out. In front of them both, staring sternly at Thorin Oakenshield, was Gandalf. His sword was drawn and he too looked very much on edge.

"His arm uncle…" said Fili quickly.

"Could be treated just as well within Erebor!"

"Only if you wished for him to lose use of his most skilled weapon!" snapped Gandalf. "If you could not see beyond the gold in your treasury, you would see that Tauriel only wishes to help!"

Thorin looked beyond, but so did Gandalf. The Grey Wizard looked towards Kylie, his face darkening as he approached the young girl. "Kylie, what happened?" he said gently.

She burst into tears, unable to control her fear or anything else. "Gandalf I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry…."

The wizard put a hand on her shoulder. He must have felt her frozen shoulder, because he pulled it away quickly and stared. "It was a Nazgǔl, was it not?" When Kylie nodded, Gandalf quickly left to the direction where they had come from.

Legolas approached Kylie slowly, taking a knee and examining her hand. "Tauriel, you have skill with athelas, do you not?"

"Your kind will not touch any of my company!" Thorin's voice growled viciously, practically pushing Legolas away. Kylie groaned and leaned heavily against Balin, who was only just able to use his natural dwarf-bulk to keep her standing. Thorin's vicious voice brought back memories of the six fell voices that she had nearly forgotten until the wraith's attack.

Ignore them! Urged the gentle voice from before.

"They will need to!" Gandalf was practically running back. "Kylie needs treatment that is beyond Oin's capabilities."

Remain calm, and do not allow yourself to succumb.

"Thorin, if pride is to be your downfall, do not let it ruin your company!"

Thorin's shoulders relaxed slightly, but he still stood his ground. "I will not leave any of my company alone with the elves."

"I would expect nothing less of you," said Gandalf quickly.

Stay awake, Kylie. She groaned as she felt a familiar voice whispered in her head. But she could not oblige. She could hear her friends' voices around her, urging her to stay with them, but she just could not. Kylie felt her eyes roll back in her head as she finally recognized the smooth voice that had been encouraging her.

Aragorn.

A/N: Hey all, still alive! I can't tell you how many forms this chapter took, or how many times I've re-written it! But I think like how it turned out, and I think it'll work with the direction the rest of the story is going to go. And of course, I finally have a direction for the story so that's nice too! :)