Solaris woke when she heard footsteps outside the cell door. Tauriel looked in and studied the pair. In her hands was a pail of water and some cloth.
"Why did you fight Thranduil?" she asked "He was your only way out of here" she opened the door quickly and placed the items inside the cell.
"He is going to keep me prisoner one way or another" Solaris whispered "And I would rather spend it here with my friends than out there faking my loyalty to him"
Tauriel watched her younger cousin carefully. "Why are you running with dwarves anyway?"
"That is but our own business" Solaris replied closing her eyes.
"I'm trying to help you Solaris" Tauriel said.
"I shall call when I need your help" Solaris said and Tauriel walked away.
"Who is that elf?" Fili asked.
"Her name is Tauriel and she is my cousin. Her family was killed and Thranduil took her in as his ward" Solaris said.
They watched as she walked over to Kili's cell and they started talking. After a minute Tauriel sat down on one of the steps. "She is kind" she assured Fili who was watching his brother closely. "She and I have just never seen eye to eye"
Fili used the cloth and water to wipe the blood away from Solaris's face. After a while Tauriel left and the company were left in silence.
"I'll wager the sun is on the rise, must be nearly dawn" Bofur said.
"We're never gonna reach the mountain are we?" Ori asked sadly.
"Not stuck in here your not" a little voice whispered and there was the gangle of keys.
"Bilbo!" Balin called.
"What?" Kili called from his cell.
"Solaris" Fili said shaking the elf's shoulder "Bilbo is here"
She smiled and got to her feet slowly; she was mostly healed and was just sore.
"Shush, there are guards nearby" Bilbo said letting Thorin out first.
He let them all out one by one and Kili rushed over to Solaris and Fili and pulled them into his arms.
"The three amigos reunited" he said. "Are you alright?" he asked pulling back and framing Solaris's face with his hands.
"Yes" she nodded.
"Shush" Bilbo said again "Down this way, follow me"
They crept down to the brewery where there were barrels of wine piled up high and two guards were asleep, snoring peacefully.
"This way" Bilbo beckoned them forwards. "Come on"
"I don't believe it we're in the cellars" Kili said.
"You were supposed to be leading us out. Not further in" Bofur said to Bilbo.
"I know what I'm doing this way" Bilbo said.
They went into the part of the cellars where the barrels were sent away for loading.
"Get into the barrels, quickly" Bilbo said.
"Have you lost your mind, they'll find us?" Dwalin said angrily.
"They won't I promise you" Bilbo said.
Solaris's eyes scanned the room, she believed she'd worked out what Bilbo was trying to do. "He's right" she said. "Hurry up all of you, get inside"
They all looked and mumbled to each other. "Thorin" Solaris said.
"Do as they say" he ordered.
Once the dwarves were all in a barrel each Solaris looked at Bilbo. "You must go" she said. "Thranduil is less likely to kill me as he is you"
"I'll take my chances" Bilbo said.
With a growl at his stubbornness Solaris climbed into the nearest barrel.
"What do we do now?" Bofur asked.
"Hold your breath" Bilbo replied.
Bilbo then pushed a lever which tipped the floor and sent the barrels rolling. They all cried out as they plunged into an underground river.
"Where is Bilbo?" Balin asked.
There was then another splash and Bilbo appeared beside them.
"Well done Master Baggins" Thorin said.
"Come here" Solaris said pulling him into her barrel beside her.
They travelled down the river and Thorin suddenly shouted "Hold on"
Solaris gripped the barrel and Bilbo gripped onto her as they went over a waterfall and landed with a splash. A horn suddenly shouted.
"What was that?" Thorin asked.
"They're shutting the gate" Solaris said. "We have to move now!"
But it was too late as one of the guards pulled a lever and the gate shut on them.
"No!" Thorin yelled.
Solaris scanned for what to do when suddenly one of the guards took an arrow into the chest. An orc jumped out the tree line and grunted.
"Could this get any worse?" she growled.
Orcs came from every direction killing the guards and some jumped onto the dwarves in their barrels. They fought them off the best they could but Bilbo was the only one who had a blade.
"No Kili!" Fili suddenly shouted.
Solaris looked up and saw that the young dwarf had left his barrel and was going for the lever. They were now able to pick up some of the orcs blades and Dwalin threw one to Kili. Solaris watched the young dwarf as he made his way towards the lever when he suddenly stopped.
"Kili!" Fili shouted.
Solaris looked and saw that he's taken an arrow to the knee. Her eyes scanned the area and saw that it had come from the lead orc. She knew that it would not be an ordinary arrow.
"Not good" she said pulling herself from her barrel. As she was in one of the barrels underneath the bridge it took her a few seconds longer than it should of to scramble out. By the time she was free Legolas and Tauriel had shown up. As she made her way towards the dwarf arrows flew from Tauriel's bow, killing orcs that went near Kili.
"Lay still" Solaris said jumping to his side and looking at the arrow. She pushed his shoulder down but he kept sitting up to watch Tauriel.
"You can gaze upon her beauty some other time" Solaris said angrily. She stood and pulled the lever. She then picked Kili up and jumped into an empty barrel before it went under the gate. The end of the arrow snapped as she pulled him into the barrel.
"Is he alright?" Fili shouted.
"He is alive" Solaris replied.
The Elves and the Orcs followed the company as they travelled down the rapids. Orcs flew at them and they were cut down and plunged into the water. At one point Legolas started using the dwarves as stepping blocks to get from one side of the river to the other.
"Stay with me Kili" Solaris whispered to the dwarf.
They went over another waterfall and the Elves gave up the chase.
Gradually the trees got thicker on either side of the river and the water soothed down into a gentle flow.
"Anything behind us?" Thorin asked.
"Not that I can see" Balin replied.
"I think we've outrun the orcs" Bofur said.
"Not for long, we've lost the current" Thorin replied.
Solaris saw a bank and started to paddle herself and Kili towards it. "Make for the shore" Thorin shouted to the others.
They all stumbled from their barrels one by one up onto the rocks. Kili was able to go a little way before he dropped to his knee.
Solaris walked over to him and pushed him to the floor. The head of the arrow was still in there so she ripped some of her jacket and shoved it into Kili's mouth.
"Wait" he mumbled and she pushed her fingers into the wound and pulled out the arrowhead. Kili growled at her and then pressed the piece of cloth to it.
"Its nothing, I'm fine" he told Bofur who had been watching.
"Kili's wounded" Fili said coming over "His leg needs binding"
"There's an orc pack on our tail, we keep moving" Thorin said.
"To where?" Balin asked.
"To the mountain, we're so close" Bilbo said.
"A lake lies between us and that mountain" Balin said. "We have no way to cross it"
"So then we go around"
"The orcs will run us down as sure as daylight. We've no weapons to defend ourselves" Dwalin said.
"Bind his leg quickly" Thorin said looking at Solaris and Fili "You have two minutes"
"Can't you try healing him?" Fili asked Solaris.
"No, I need her to be strong" Thorin snapped "The last thing we need is two weakened members"
Instead Solaris did her best to wrap some garb around it. "It needs proper cleaning besides Fili" she said "And for that I need time, which we do not have"
Then from behind them a figure with a bow and arrow appeared. Dwalin went to hit it with a log but an arrow split the log in his hands. Kili lifted a stone but that too was sent spinning by an arrow.
"Do that again and you're dead" the archer said.
"Please, we mean no harm" Solaris said raising her hands into the air.
"Excuse me but your from Lake-Town if I'm not mistaken" Balin said. "That barge over there, it wouldn't be available for hire by any chance"
The dwarves followed the man, whose name was Bard, to his barge where there were all the barrels they'd come down the river in.
"What makes you think I would help you" Bard asked.
"Those boots have seen better days, as has that coat. No doubt you have some hungry mouths to feed. How many bairns?" Balin asked
"A boy and two girls" Bard answered.
"And your wife, I imagine she's a beauty"
"Aye, she was" Bard said with his back to them.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"
"Oh come on come on, enough of the niceties" Dwalin said.
"What's your hurry?" Bard asked looking at him.
"What's it to you?" Dwalin asked in return.
"I would like to know who you are and what you are doing in these lands"
"We are simple merchants from the blue Mountains, journeying to see our kin in the iron hills" Balin said.
"And what about the elf, where does she fit into this picture?" Bard asked looking at Solaris.
"Aye, she is my ward" Balin said. "Found her when she was a wee babe"
Bard looked at Solaris suspiciously and then back at Balin.
"Simple merchants you say?" he said rolling another barrel onto the barge.
"We need food, supplies, weapons. Can you help us?" Thorin said stepping forward.
"I know where these barrels came from" Bard said.
"What of it?" Thorin asked.
"I don't know what business you had with the elves but I don't think it ended well" he said. "Tell me Miss, did they kidnap you. You can be honest" he said looking at Solaris.
"No My Lord" she said "I choose to travel with them. I have no business with the Elves in these parts"
Bard nodded "No one enters lake town but by the leave of the Master. All his wealth comes from trade with the Woodland Realm. He would see you in irons before risking the wrath of King Thranduil"
"Offer him more" Thorin whispered to Balin.
"I'll wager there are ways to enter that town unseen"
"Aye, but for that you would need a smuggler"
"For which we would pay, double" Balin said.
Anything 'The Hobbit' or 'The Lord of the Rings' related belongs to J.R.R Tolkien and Tauriel belongs to Peter Jackson.
I'm so proud of the title of this chapter. I'm normally rubbish at titles but this one just came to me and I thought it was rather good lol. So Bard's arrived, three cheers for the Bard man! He is awesome and Luke Evans is so lovely! And Kili, I need say no more.
Love Mayday xx