Bard stared out into the battlefield, then looked back at all his men. "Any man who wants to give their last, follow me!"

The men of Lake-town yelled and ran after Bard. Noelle, Bern, Gandalf, and Bilbo followed. A pack of Orcs came charging around the corner. The two groups clashed. Gandalf stabbed an Orc with Glamdring, then tripped him with his staff. That's when Noelle noticed.

"Gandalf? What happened to your staff?" It was a minor detail, but Gandalf's staff had looked the same for the past seven years.

"Radagast gave it to me!" Gandalf yelled in the middle of the fighting. "I lost my other one!"

He lost it? Gandalf wasn't that careless! What exactly had he been doing the past couple of months?

Followed by the girls, Gandalf fought his way up to one of the towers. "We may yet survive this," he smiled breathlessly.

"Gandalf!" Bilbo shouted as Gandalf stabbed at an Orc behind Bern. He was looking at something. Noelle followed his gaze. Four little figures riding on rams were scampering up the side of the mountain that Balin had called Ravenhill. Noelle rolled her eyes. She had about had it with Middle-earth's choice of mounts. Weren't horses good enough?

Gandalf and Bern ran over to join them.

"It's Thorin!" Bilbo explained excitedly.

"And Fili, and Kili, and Dwalin!" Gandalf said. "He's taking his best warriors!"

"To do what?" Noelle frowned.

"To cut the head off the snake."

Noelle froze. She remembered her vision. Thorin dead. He couldn't beat Azog. He had already proven that. Her fingers started to shake- not from the cold. So many Lake-town people had already died because she was too afraid of the Force. Thorin wasn't going to be next. She had to stop him. Noelle's teeth chattered as her breathing grew heavy.

"You ok, Noelle?" Bern asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just cold," Noelle quickly lied.

"Gandalf!" someone shouted. Noelle recognized the voice. She turned around.

Legolas hopped off a white horse and practically ran over to Gandalf. Bilbo's eyes widened in recognition. As badly as Noelle had wanted to talk to him, she couldn't think. Her heart was still pounding.

"There is a second army!" Legolas said in a rush. "Bolg leads a force of Gundabad Orcs! They are almost upon us!"

"Bolg? Who's that?" Bern asked.

"The spawn of that foul creature, Azog," Legolas replied nodding towards Ravenhill.

Noelle felt dizzy. Another army? She noticed the red-head elf was with Legolas.

"Gundabad?" Gandalf realized. "This was their plan all along. Azog engages our forces, then Bolg sweeps in from the North."

"The North? Where is the North- exactly?" Bilbo gasped.

"Ravenhill," Gandalf answered. He turned away, looking in the direction that Thorin had gone.

"Ravenhill?" Bilbo repeated. "Thorin is up there! And Fili and Kili! They're all up there!" he exclaimed.

Taking a deep breath, Noelle finally found her voice. "We have to stop them."

Gandalf nodded. "I will find Thranduil. Bernadette, come with me." Gandalf winked at Noelle, leaving her Bilbo, and Legolas alone. The red-head girl had disappeared.

Noelle stared after Gandalf and Bern, avoiding Legolas' eyes.

"Are you alright," Legolas paused. "Noelle?"

Noelle thought about saying she was fine like she had a second ago, when she was trying to stay strong in front of her younger cousin, but she shook her head. "Thorin's going to die, if I don't stop it." She finally looked at him. He seemed confused. Noelle realized that she had never told him about her powers.

Bilbo spoke first. "Noelle can sense things before they happen. And she can move things without touching them. I think that's why Gandalf wanted her to come along."

Legolas seemed thoughtful. Finally he said, "No, I don't think it was."

Noelle quickly looked at him. Why had he said that? Legolas stared back at her, as if he meant every word he said.

Bilbo noticed the awkward silence. "We should, uh... probably catch up with Gandalf."

"Right!" Noelle said a little too loudly, snapping back to reality. "Let's go."

With Bern at his side, Gandalf was pleading with Thranduil. "The dwarves are about to be overrun! Thorin must be warned!"

"By all means, warn him! I've spent enough Elvish blood in defense of this accursed land. No more!" Thranduil stormed away.

Noelle looked at Legolas, who only stared after his father. He didn't seem to know what to say. Noelle felt herself start to go into panic mode again.

"Thorin has to be warned! I can't-"

Live with the guilt. Was what she was going to say.

All four pairs of eyes were trained on her. Gandalf, Bilbo, Bern, and Legolas.

"I'm going to warn him myself," she declared after a moment.

"I'll go too," Bilbo offered.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Gandalf raised his eyebrows. "You'll never make it!"

Noelle was surprised. She hadn't expected that from him. "Why not?"

"Because they will see you coming, and kill you!" Gandalf persisted.

"I'll be fine, Gandalf!"

"No they won't. They won't see me." Bilbo said.

Bilbo's ring.

If Gandalf suspected something, he didn't say so. All he said was, "it's out of the question."

Noelle shook her head. "For once Gandalf, I'm saying no to you."

"I will go with them," Legolas spoke up.

Gandalf looked relieved. "Good. Very good, Legolas. Bern stays with me, though."

The three of them took off, constantly fighting Orcs as they tried to leave Dale. Bilbo decided to keep the ring off for Noelle and Legolas' sake. It made sense for them to all stay together. She noticed that Legolas was fighting with Orcrist. Although it was only a sword, Noelle longed to see it in Thorin's hands, rather than Legolas's. She suddenly wondered what Thorin's reaction to Legolas would be. Would he be mad that he was helping them? She decided not to think about it now. All that mattered was keeping the dwarves alive.

"You have excellent skills," Legolas said to her as they sprinted across the plain towards Ravenhill. He looked a little embarrassed.

Although her skills weren't really that great, Noelle actually smiled for the first time in forever. She realized she hadn't done a lot of smiling on this trip, given that she usually was in a pretty good mood. "Thank you."

They stopped for a minute, letting Bilbo catch up. "How will we get up there?" Noelle asked, panting.

"Perhaps..." Legolas looked around. There was no faster route. "We will just have to climb."

Noelle nodded. "We have to hurry, though. It already took us long enough to get outside the city. I just hope-" They're still alive, she thought.

Bilbo caught up, just as a swarm of giant bats flew over their heads. Like Eagles, the bats were oversized compared to Earth's version.

"I have an idea!" said Legolas suddenly. "Just do what I do." Legolas leaped into the air, grabbing onto a bat's legs.

Noelle and Bilbo copied him. It actually wasn't as hard as it looked. They had already ridden the Eagles, so this wasn't that bad. She held on to the creature's claws as tightly as she could. It seemed to be having trouble holding her weight. Noelle peered ahead. She couldn't see Legolas anymore, but Bilbo was still behind her.

"Thorin and Dwalin!" Bilbo shouted.

Noelle looked down. Yes! There they were! Alive! They waited for the bats to get slightly closer to the ground. "Jump!" Noelle hollered. They crashed to the ground as Thorin and Dwalin ran to their sides. Thorin helped Noelle up.

"Thorin!" she gasped. "You have to get out of here! Now!"

"Why? What's wrong?" he asked, searching her face.

"Azog has another army, attacking from the North," said Bilbo. "This watchtower will be completely surrounded. There'll be no way out."

"We are so close! That Orc-scum is in there! I say we push on!" Dwalin insisted hastily.

"NO!" Noelle yelled.

Dwalin looked at her then back to Thorin. "No," Thorin replied calmly. "That's what he wants. He wants to draw us in. This is a trap," he whispered.

"Where are Fili and Kili? We saw them come up with you," Bilbo asked.

"Find them!" Thorin said to Dwalin. "Call them back."

"Thorin? You sure about this?" Dwalin hesitated.

"Do it. We live to fight another day."

Suddenly, they heard drums.