Kili freed himself and quickly reached the ground, rushing to check on Rhavaniel. She was on her feet, restringing her bow. Kili embraced her. The creaking of the bell tower above interrupted their quiet moment of comfort.
"We need to move away from here." Kili said. "We can get a good vantage point from those rooftops."
Rhavaniel nodded and wiped blood from her face with her scarf. "I have not determined if fate wanted to reward us for our act of mercy, or if I just saw the Warg that Aulë built."
"We will philosophize that later, I am sure." Kili laughed at her. "Come along."
They grabbed their packs and weapons, and climbed to a rooftop in time to spot a second small expedition of Orcs coming around the cliff side of the City.
Kili and Rhavaniel were able to eliminate half a dozen Orcs before the creatures realized the tower had not been captured as ordered, and their flanking maneuver would fail. The rest fled.
"I am out of arrows." Rhavaniel told Kili.
"I need you to stay and hide, then." Kili insisted "My people are here somewhere. I can hear them, they are so close. I will find them and circle back to you."
Rhavaniel nodded and kissed him, "Be safe."
As soon as Kili left along the rooftops, Rhavaniel looked at the damage they had done. There were many dead Orcs on the ground with arrows that could be reused. She felt defenseless and useless in hiding.
As she was debating the merits of a quick expedition to the ground to retrieve her arrow, she spotted two more Orcs approach on the cliff side. They were well-armed archers, clearly more disciplined and determined than the small group she and Kili had routed.
These Orcs were not the same tribe that they had first encountered at Burnt Ridge, the ones they had come to call the Birdclaw Tribe. These Orcs had no interest in taking prisoners - the assault on the bell tower left no room for capture or surrender. These must be the Orcs that Kili told her about, the troops of Azog the Defiler.
The Orcs climbed to her rooftop and passed so close to her hiding place, Rhavaniel could smell them. She feared they could smell her, but the wind must have been in her favor.
She did not have a choice in the matter now. Those Orcs were going to circle around to the direction she saw Kili running. She needed arrows if she was going to defend herself, let alone help Kili and the other Dwarves.
She jumped down quietly and kept low to the ground as she approached the dead Orcs. She quickly pulled out a dozen of her arrows that were still intact, and put them in her quiver.
She paused. It felt as though she were being watched, but she did not see or hear anyone approaching. She needed to get back to the rooftops and get in a higher position to track the Orc archers. She darted from the bottom of the cliff to a crumpled wall of the City. Nothing. She still felt a sense of dread, but did not detect any movement.
She judged her next move cautiously. She could take a leap on to a nearby roof, and defend herself behind an intact turret. With a quick prayer, she bolted for the building and jumped to the rooftop.
One of the Orc archers had come back. He was waiting for her for his rooftop perch, but he was expecting a Dwarf and her speed caught him by surprise. He reacted too slowly and what should have been a fatal shot only struck Rhavaniel in the foot.
She collapsed on the rooftop with a shriek of pain.
The arrow had pierced her foot. The entry mark on her boot was covered in black tar - poison. It would not kill her, but it could certainly slow her down. She broke the arrow short with her knife and pulled it the rest of the way through her foot, suppressing another scream. Her foot was already too swollen to remove her boot, so she frantically cut the boot off and bound the wound.
She jumped into the turret, and prepared her bow. She turned to look for the Orc that shot her. He was smart and cautious, circling around to approach her from behind. But Rhavaniel had already heard the crunch of gravel behind her as the Orc leaped to the other building. She was ready for him. As soon as he looked around the corner, she finished him with a shot to the head. She heaved a sigh of relief. One archer down, eleven arrows left. Still a good trade.
