Chapter 12: The Chariot
"To the King!
Gailien's feet thud against the ground, Dwarves surrounding every side of her as they run over the rubble bridge and into the battle against the orcs. The Dwarven army separate, allowing their King to lead the way through. Thorin cries out a Dwarvish war chant and the Dwarves begin to rally.
Her running comes to a halt as she meets her first enemy, an ordinary Orc. It raises its sword, bringing it straight down on her but she blocks it with the both of hers crossed over her head. It becomes a dominance for the upper hand and though she lacks the strength, she doesn't lack the stamina.
She twists her blades, ducking her head and rolling to the Orc's side as his sword cuts into the ground where she stood. Thrusting her left arm back, she cuts through his leg sending him squealing to his knees before she rises to her own feet, killing him with a knife into his back.
"One down, the rest to go," she mutters to herself.
The Orc is replaced in less than a second only this time, the creature hooks her with the hilt of his sword in her back. Gailien grunts loudly, falling face-first into the ground, her cheek implanting itself into the dirt. She spits out the gross substance, swinging her legs around to pull herself up and out of the way of another attack.
She blocks another attack, sending one it's way and they go back and forth for a few seconds, trying to find a decent opening when out of nowhere, the Orc lets out an animalistic cry and falls to the ground dead. Gailien's mouth drops open as Fili stands behind the fallen Orc with his sword held high.
"Excuse me," she states loudly. "That was my Orc."
"Yeah, and I killed it," he shrugs, moving onto a new enemy as Gailien also starts parrying one. They both manage to kill them off and turn back to each other, the battle raging on around them. Fili raises a finger to his face, gesturing to something invisible. "You've got a little…."
Gailien glares, harshly wiping her face with her sleeve to get rid of the dirt. "Yeah, yeah. You've got something too." She leans closer as though to inspect it. "Oh, sorry, my bad. It's just your face." Fili gives her an exasperated expression, tilting his head to the side as if to say 'really?'.
"Are you two actually having a conversation right now?!" Kili cries, his own enemy pushing him back near the pair. Gailien takes a few steps forward, thrusting her sword into the side of the distracted Orc. "Thanks," he breathes.
"See, that's how you should respond when someone helps you," Fili calls out, already occupied with another. "Learn your manners woman."
"Me?" she gasps, taking a break to slide underneath an oversized Orc, slicing through its...area. "Do I need remind you which of us cannot drink without spilling half of it down their face?"
"It's half the fun!" Kili answers, walking backwards past her, killing his own enemy. "And don't lie, I saw you spill your drink all over yourself back at Rivendell."
"Only after Dwalin knocked into me," she counters, breathing heavily as the battle continues. "That hardly has to do with manners. Us Elves are refined and courteous." Gailien double-takes the brothers who pause fighting to give her incredulous looks. She snorts, smirking broadly. "Yeah, you're probably right."
There are so many enemies. More than there are Dwarves and she begins to wonder if they even have any chance of winning this battle. They are handling their own enemies well enough but with every one they kill, it is replaced by two more. Her injured side begins to hurt again, but it is nowhere near the state of inhibiting her abilities.
There are a few looks sent her way from the Dwarves of the Iron Hills, but they see her cutting down Orcs and don't say anything. Though their muscles might begin to ache, their dedication to their kin is stronger than any muscle.
"Stupid-" slice "-scum buckets! Why don't you just go back to whatever hole you have crawled from!"
Her rant of battle rage is cut off as a passing Orc slams his foot into her side. The air is knocked out of her and she lands hard on her back. Her mouth opens as silent cries try to leave her throat as her previous injury explodes with pain more intense than when she first got it. Rolling onto her stomach then her hands and knees, she holds her fingers to the spot under the chainmail but even through it, she can already feel wetness. Her fingers are covered in the bright blood and she quickly looks around.
This isn't it. This isn't where she dies. It isn't bleeding enough to kill her anyway.
Another Orc appears in front of her, already about to bring her death with a quick blow. Gailien's weapons rise fruitlessly in front of her but even she knows that her defence would be sliced through. Like a knife through a grape.
But to her miraculous fortune, the Orc becomes distracted by another Dwarf who uses a battle-axe to cut through his side. Gailien scrambles to her feet, holding her side. "Thanks, Bof," she breathes out, recognising his hat anywhere.
"Just watch yourself, lassie," he calls back, already facing a new foe. Gailien nods to herself, trying to return to battle but a hand takes a firm grasp on her arm. Her head turns to meet Fili's concerned gaze.
"You all good?"
"Yeah, of course," she replies, putting on a tough smile. Fili looks her over in scrutiny but nods, nonetheless. "Don't worry about me, keep an eye on yourself."
"You wanted me to stay with you," he counters, their backs facing each other as they face new foes.
"So I can see you, not for you to worry about me." She kicks an oncoming Orc, cutting along its stomach as it stumbles. "I'm the older one, it's supposed to be the other way around."
"Yet it's not," Fili grunts out, slicing through another enemy, the blood splattering through the air. "Besides, if you compare Elf to Dwarf years, you're like what? A few years older, if that."
Gailien rolls forward, stabbing two Orcs in the foot with each of her blades. She pulls them back before bringing both into the one on her left who promptly falls to the ground. Her blades meet the second Orc's but she kicks upwards, her boot meeting the hilt of his sword and though the creature doesn't drop it, the blade twists unevenly and she uses her hands to finally toss it to the side. One of her blades goes through his neck, the other through his stomach.
She takes a moment to breathe, her swords dropping by her side as she turns back to Fili in thought. "I don't think you can really compare them," she points out, stepping to the side nonchalantly as a Dwarf pushes an Orc back with his battle-axe with unstoppable aggression. "They are immortal after all."
Fili is busy fighting off two Orcs as Gailien catches her breath. He finally knocks them both down, turning back to Gailien with a tired expression. "As much as I like talking with you, I think Kili may be right about the whole having a conversation in a battle thing."
"What?" she taunts, bringing herself back into the fight. "Can't multitask?"
"Won't lie, it's not my best skill,"
"Well then" she grins. "I won't distract you. Carry on."
Fili gives her a gesture of thanks and the pair go back to focusing solely on the fighting. Every moment she can, she glances around and makes sure that she can see the brothers and as many other company members as possible. It worries her that she has not seen anything to do with this battle beside the short vision she had of herself. And she hates to admit it, but it will be a miracle if all of them survive.
Gailien steps backwards, looking for her next enemy but her back bumps into another person. Kili and Gailien twirl around at the same time, the weapons bared. Her shoulders and weapons drop as she sees the young prince who does similar.
"Have you seen Thorin?" she asks, looking around. She has not seen him since they first came out, but she knows he's still around, handling himself.
"I saw him with Dain," he calls back.
With a quick glance to Fili to make sure she can still see him, Gailien fights her way around, trying to find him. What she will do when she does, she has no idea. Maybe just keep an eye on him as she does with the brothers but his skill as a warrior precedes over hers by ten-fold. If anybody needs watching over at the moment, it is her – and she knows that. But would it be horrible of her to let him watch her die? But at the same time, she does not yet know how it comes to happen and she could be changing it with realising.
She glances down to the ground again. It's not here.
"Gailien!"
Her heads snaps over her shoulder and coming towards her is an armoured wagon, being led by six large ram-like creatures with curled horns. Thorin is in front, mounted on his own. She must have been distracted for looking for Thorin longer than she thought because the brothers are on the wagon, along with Dwalin and Balin. With wide and unsure eyes, she holds her arm out to the side as the wagon is pulled alongside her and Fili bends over the edge, grasping her and pulling her up. Her legs sweep high in the air, flipping into the back of the wagon.
"Where are we going?!" she cries out, sheathing her swords and instead nocking an arrow into her bow.
"To Azog," Fili answers. "To Ravenhill."
Gailien only widens her eyes further, having to hold the bow and arrow in one hand as the other grasps the sides of the cart which jumps and turns under Balin's rough lead. They ride past the immediate battle, heading towards the reinforcement Orcs that are not yet engaged with the Dwarves. Kili's sword runs against the stone wheel, sending sparks as he prepares himself as the six of them ride alone into the midst of the enemy, Fili's held pointed up along his body.
Her hand leaves the cart, back to her arrow and pulls it taut to her cheek, readying her aim.
Thorin rides in first, the ram's horns obliterating anything that stands in its way, and Thorin's sword slaughters anything else that comes near. Gailien fires her first arrow at the Orcs by his side, the red feathers protruding from their skin like a tag of her victory.
Dwalin's arms go round in circles at the mechanical crossbow, large bolts being shot faster than her own and begin to clear a path as they follow Thorin into the enemy. The ram-creatures send Orcs flying into the air, others having their legs cut off by the large metal blades coming out from the wheels. She doesn't have any time to think – but if she did, she surely would be panicking. Behind them is a trail of destruction, Balin cackling with victory.
Gailien puts her bow away once more, unsheathing her blades instead. Though the problem is, is that they are short and narrow in make, compared to Fili and Kili's proper swords. It is a balance of leaning over the edge, killing as many as she can as they speed through the Orcs as well as keeping herself still in the cart and away from their spears and swords.
In the distance, on Ravenhill where Azog leads his troops, a longhorn signals. The cart drifts, sending her torso slamming into the side. A low groan escapes her throat, her side burning but once again – it brings only pain, not death.
"Watch out!"
Coming towards them are a number of trolls, perhaps six or so. Balin leads them straight towards the group of trolls but the cart rolls along a small hill and as they near the creatures, the cart is flung through the air. The metal spikes protruding from the wheels, slices the heads off of each troll, killing them all as the cart falls back to the lower ground. The Dwarves cheer and Gailien laughs in disbelief but their moment ends quickly as they ride towards another Orc group, faced with another troll. Only this one is twice as large and is covered in thick armour and has large curved blades.
"Balin!" Gailien cries in warning, her voice getting louder as she drags out his name. Balin turns the cart at the last second, the trolls' blades cutting over them and into the ground. Gailien is thrown about from the hasty turn, thrown off her feet. Her elbow then side plants into the wooden floor of the cart as she begins to roll backwards but a tight hand wraps around her ankle.
"Hold on!"
The cart jumps over another side of a ledge and Fili falls to his backside, leaning backwards as he grips Gailien's ankle who is flung over the edge. She looks to her left, seeing the spinning wheel inches from her faces. They land on an iced-over stream, the momentum and ice sending the cart drifting. Gailien's eyes widen as a large rocky wall comes closer and closer to her head and with the help of Fili, barely pulls herself back into the cart before the side hits the wall, the entire cart rocking harshly.
Dwalin calls for more ammo, which Kili is already supplying.
"Thanks for that," Gailien breathes out, switching back to her bow. Fili gives her a quick tip of his head. "How you doing Kee?" she calls out, not being able to really get a good look at him herself.
"Uh, alright I think!" he yells back with a little uncertainty, but he manages to gives her a weak smile as they catch eyes over Dwalin. Though as she smiles back at him, it drops as the large troll they managed to evade catches up with them. Kili sees her expression, his head snapping over his shoulder and they watch as the creature jumps over a ledge.
It crashes onto the iced river, breaking it almost effortlessly. It continues towards them, its legs breaking the ice as it runs through the water. "Take it down!" Dwalin commands. Gailien loads her bow, aiming high at its face. The red feather pokes out of its skin but it is almost as though her arrows are a simply a splinter as the troll does nothing more than wince slightly, moving even closer to them. Kili also has a bow, much like her own and aims to shoot. "Shoot its jambags!" Dwalin cries.
"Its what?!" Gailien exclaims, loading another arrow.
Kili lets his arrow fly, turning back to Dwalin. "It doesn't have any jambags," he cries. Gailien still doesn't know what jambags are but she shoots again anyways. As she pulls another arrow out, Fili cries out in warning, the troll's hand reaching towards them. Gailien's arrow flies into his hand, Kili's also but hits somewhere on his face.
The troll groans, slowing down and it uses its weaponed fists to smash through the ice in front of them. Gailien shoots another arrow but it seems to do nothing but add a dash of red.
"Hang on lads! I'm coming!"
Another troll comes from the side and Gailien switches her aim but drops it again before she can shoot. On the back of the troll, sitting in a makeshift control area is Bofur. He holds tightly onto two long ropes, hooked onto the troll's face. He's riding a damn troll.
Bofur's troll distracts the one chasing after them, getting into a fistfight and leaving the Dwarves and Gailien to continue on without it on their tail.
"Bofur you beauty!" Fili cheers, thrusting his hand into the air as the others cheer just as loud. Gailien also cheers, hooting and holding her bow high.
"Never thought I would see that," she says through a broad smile to Fili behind her. "I think I've got a new favourite Dwarf!"
Fili rolls his eyes, holding tightly onto the edge as they smack into the side again. "You said you don't have favourites!"
They enter another area of the battle, Orcs on both sides of the frozen stream but in front of them, another troll with a large wooden bridge on its shoulders, lined with more Orcs. Dwalin uses the mechanical bow but its armour is tough, sending the arrows flying off. Feeling that bounce of the arrows, the troll turns around and Gailien and Kili begin trying to shoot at it as well, aiming for skin. Dwalin cries out but Gailien doesn't try and take note on what he's saying, only on the troll now just meters in front of them.
Finally, one of their arrows makes a mortal mark in its throat and with a short animalistic squeal, it falls backwards. Balin leads the cart over the troll onto the other side where the ice begins once more and another round of cheers rings loudly.
"Wargs!" Kili warns.
Gailien prepares her arrow, aiming at the first of two coming directly for them but the warg jumps just as she releases the arrow and it misses by a few inches. It is a race against time to reload but the warg reaches their cart before she can shoot again. It takes one of the ram-creatures by the neck, pulling it clean off their cart and the second warg takes another, only being hit in its shoulder with her arrow.
"Behind us!" Gailien warns, seeing a warg and its Orc rider coming up behind them. Wargs come at them from either side but Gailien shoots to the ones behind them as Dwalin takes the ones in front. She manages to get a few hits, but they either only slow them down or are replaced within seconds by another. The cart jolts around as they ride over fallen wargs, crashing into the rocky sides again. Two wargs catch up to the cart, running along its side. Fili leans over the edge, swiping at it with his sword as Kili does the same. Not having the time to put her bow away, Gailien grips the edge tightly, kicking up to the warg's neck.
The two on either side are killed by another warg from the front doges Dwalin's arrows and takes another one of the animals. Gailien looks at the cart then to the ram-creatures. They're going slow, too slow.
"There's more coming!" Kili warns the group as another pack of wargs come towards them from behind.
Dwalin turns to his brother. "We're pulling too much weight, we won't make it."
"Cut the tracers (I have no idea what they are called and couldn't find an answer)," Balin answers. "Ride them to Ravenhill."
The way he says it catches Gailien's attention. Does he not plan to come with them? Dwalin also reads between the lines, giving his brother a solemn look. "No, Balin."
Balin gives his younger brother a tight smile. "My goat riding days are over." Dwalin reaches up, giving his brother's forearm a tight squeeze. "Durin be with you brother."
Gailien looks up at Balin, giving him a smile that she hopes doesn't come across as sad before jumping up onto the front of the cart. There are only three 'goats' left. Fili is likely the lightest next to her, so she follows behind him as he balances on the narrow wooden shaft that holds them together. Her arms rise to her sides, her bow and blades sheathed. Another warg and rider come up by their side and Gailien takes out one of her blades, reaching out and taking a large swipe at it. She hits the rider but the warg continues running forward out of her reach. Fili balances on the very end, killing the warg who joins its bloody rider on the ground.
Fili jumps down onto one of the goats at the front, and Gailien jumps on behind him, taking a tight grip as she has never ridden anything quite like it before. With a heavy hand, he swings his sword down by their side, cutting through the chain that keeps them to the cart. Now free, they ride forward and Gailien watches over her shoulder as Kili and Dwalin follow suit, leaving Balin in an empty chariot to face the pack of wargs on their tail.
"Fili!" she calls loudly into his ear to be heard over the noise of battle and wind. Fili looks over his shoulder to her for a moment in acknowledgement. "I haven't had the chance to tell you, but I don't think I'd be here without you!"
"You have great timing for conversations don't you, Karr'a?" he calls back with a cheeky smile.
"Part of the package," she retorts. "But thank you. For everything." She squeezes his middle, earning a squeeze from one of his hands back. She to their side, seeing Kili's attention taken by something above them. She traces his sight up, finding Thorin on one of the upper ledges, riding his goat. "That bastard just missed that entire thing," she huffs.
"Onwards!" he orders, directing them to Ravenhill.
"Lead on!" Dwalin answers back and they turn up a rocky hill.
... I'm drawing this fight out haha.