Author's Note: Thanks for reading so far, all of you. I'm getting close to finishing this up now, and I have a number of different ideas for how to go about doing that. I might write one more chapter after this, but I might also write quite a short follow-up chapter with an epilogue set a wee bit in the future - I don't know which would work best. If anyone has any opinions either way, let me know. I don't want this story to get overly long and convoluted, but I do want to tie everything up together as well! :)
Kili felt the point of a sword dig into his bare back even as he marched down the corridor. They'd been taken from their cell again without warning, and this time their escorts were giving nothing away – he had no idea where they were going, or for what purpose.
He had no doubt there would be trouble at the end of it, but part of him was just glad to get out of the cell. Outside the cell, there might be possibilities of escape. There might be possibilities to fight back, or to be rescued – if such a thing was even possible. Kili wasn't holding out much hope for his dwarven friends being able to get through the Erebor gates, but he still had friends from Laketown. Maybe some of them would retaliate against the orcs and free him and his uncle.
He gritted his teeth as the collar dug into his neck, and focused his mind on the elf with red hair and green eyes who never strayed far from his thoughts. He had to get out, and get back to her. He couldn't leave her on her own here in a strange land full of dwarves and men – she'd left behind her entire home to be with him.
He wasn't going to be parted from her after they'd just found happiness together. And if Rose, or Azog, or anyone else in the world thought they would come between him and Tauriel, they would find out just how deep Kili's anger could run.
"Where do you think we are now, uncle?" Kili grunted out the Khuzdul words as well as his neck collar would allow. He had the impression that they'd descended a floor or two, but without following the stairs it was hard to judge. The layout of this strange new city was still a mystery to him.
"They are taking us to the forge, Kili. I am sure of it. But do not ask me why."
Kili looked around, trying to get his bearings, but he'd never been to the forge before. It didn't seem to be any closer to the way out, at any rate. He tried to stay alert, memorising each corner they passed on the winding corridors in case he might have to return this way in a hurry, but after another sharp turn to the right, he found himself blinking. He thought he could see a yellow light at the end of the passageway – a light they were making straight for.
"Look Kili, I was right!"
The young dwarf noticed the heat immediately, before they'd even entered the forge. A pleasingly metallic smell filled the air and the glowing light shimmered along the walls as they neared the old forge room – sending Kili instantly on his guard. Who was in here, and why were they being brought to this old workshop? Surely Rose had no interest in traditional dwarven metallurgy.
As they were pushed through the large, open doorway, he saw her, waiting for them. She was wearing her dark hair up this time, gathered around her head in tight braids and pinned at the back, as if in some parody of his own family's hairstyles. Kili felt the anger rising in his veins, and took a deep breath, willing himself to stay calm and alert – he could see the pale orc was there with her – lurking in the shadows at the far end of the room, playing with some piece of machinery.
Kili and his uncle were led to within a few metres of her, and then shoved to the floor. To his surprise, Kili felt the iron collar being removed from his neck. The simple joy of being able to move his head freely was an unexpected relief, but as he saw the pale orc pacing across the room towards them again, he felt a growing unease.
"Well woman, what do you want with us now? His uncle's voice was bitter.
Rose looked at them both in silence, studying Thorin's sculpted torso with a thin smile playing on her lips, and took a deep breath.
"I want you to know, Thorin, that it was fun. Being with you, and everything. But like all things, our time together must come to an end." She raised an eyebrow at him jovially. "I can't very easily rule over your kingdom if you're still here now, can I?"
Kili heard his uncle sneer. "Rule my kingdom? I was going to make you my queen! You told me you would give me a child. I would have given you anything you wanted, woman – all you had to do was ask!"
The woman stroked her stomach tenderly, and smiled up at Thorin. "You know, I might well be having a child – but it's rather unlikely you'll be the father." The pale orc strode up behind her and put his massive, hooked hand around her neck, and the woman laughed merrily. "Someone else got there first – with a better offer than you could ever make."
Kili saw his uncle's mouth sag in disbelief, as he stared in disgust at the woman.
"With an orc alliance I do not need a husband, Oakenshield. I will rule this city by myself, under Azog's protection. And I will take what I want for myself." She cast a stern black eye on both Kili and his uncle. "And I will hear no moralistic lectures from the likes of you! You who would sell your own kin into marriages of conveniences, all to serve your own selfish interests. At least I have the decency to make the decisions for myself by myself."
Kili laughed bitterly – he couldn't help it. "Yes, you're a true icon, Rose. Tell that to all the Laketown people as you threaten their children, or sell them as slaves. You know what you are, just the same as we do. Another power-crazed liar, who's whored her way into stealing a crown she's in no way fit to wear." He stared at her in anger. "Enjoy it while it lasts, Rose. People like you never live long to enjoy the spoils."
The woman said nothing, but twisted her head slowly round to meet the pale orc's blank, pitiless face, and raised her eyebrow mockingly.
"It is you who will not live long, dwarf scum." The white beast's voice was dry and rasping, and it sent a shiver down Kili's spine just to hear it. "It is time for you and your uncle to die."
Rose turned back to them and clapped her hands in mock glee. "That's right, Kili! I shall certainly be outliving you at least – because – well, welcome to your execution!" She grinned nastily, seeing Kili and Thorin share an uneasy glance at her feet. "We wanted to find a fitting way for you both to die, but it wasn't easy. What with you being the last scion of the Line of Durin, and all that mythology stuff. You're old gold dwarf royalty!" Rose nodded her head at them, in mock salute. "It doesn't get more posh than that. So it wouldn't be becoming for a pleb like me to have you executed just any old way..."
Kili heard his uncle growl. "Get to the point, woman."
The woman beckoned them closer with her little finger. "Come with me."
And Kili suddenly felt a pair of arms on his shoulders, pulling him up and dragging him across on his legs – as he struggled to keep upright – the full length of the room, towards the shadowy machinery by the far wall.
And as he approached closer to the space, he realised it wasn't dark after all – there was light coming from the floor. A tremendous, shimmering golden glow streamed up from a pool under the surrounding tiled walkway. The room was far warmer on this side – there must have been a furnace under the pool to keep the contents flowing so smoothly. For Kili recognised it to be liquid gold – in a larger quantity than he'd ever imagined. It was a beautiful sight, and Kili stared at it with a horrible fascination, the first trickle of fear starting to break lose within him.
He turned to his uncle, incredulous. "She can't mean...?"
But his uncle said nothing, staring at the iridescent yellow liquid with a frown. "Kili," he began, "we need weapons – anything you can find."
Kili heard the note of fear in his uncle's voice, and was silent. His hazel eyes darted around in the shadows, desperately seeking something that could serve their purpose. His hands might be cuffed – but he could still be dangerous, given the right tool.
The woman stopped, and gestured to a high platform, almost hidden in the corner of the room. There was a wide, wooden set of steps leading upto the top, and Kili could just about make out a large hook dangling from the ceiling, hanging beside the high platform edge.
"My friends, welcome to the end." Rose stopped, making sure she had the two dwarves' full attentions before continuing. "My associate has decided, that in order to preserve the memory of his final defeat of your dynasty, and the ruin and destruction of your Line of Durin, you are to die in a state of... preservation. In a bath of molten gold, to be precise. A fitting end, some might say, for a pair of dwarven royals like yourselves."
Kili looked down at the bubbling metal, appalled, and felt a wave of nausea in his stomach. He looked to the top of the platform, wondering how much time they had – and how many avenues still remained to escape this demented plan. Possibly some of the steps, or rungs on the wooden banister on the staircase could be loose, and would serve as a weapon – but how could that help them once they were up there?
The pale orc stepped towards them, grinning cruelly. "I will lower you into your family gold, Oakenshield – you and your nephew together. And after you have both been covered, I will hang you up to dry. What better decoration for Erebor's front gates?" The beast tilted its head back, and laughed – a curiously hoarse, wheezing sound, that seemed to Kili more reminiscent of pain than enjoyment.
The two orcs behind him dug the sword square into his back again. "Up the stairs – one at a time. Slowly. The young one goes first – then the old one."
Kili tried to turn and meet his uncle's eyes, but he was already being hurried towards the platform. This couldn't be right. They needed more time to think – to plan for some strategy to get out of this – but there was no time, and Kili found he couldn't think. Not of anything else apart from the gold, and how hot it felt even from here. He saw the first step already before him at his feet, and the sword at his back dug deeply into his spine until he stepped onto it.
The orc was following him up the stairs – so how was he going to be able to break off some weapon to use against it? He tried to catch his uncle's eye again, hoping Thorin might have come up with a plan, but his face was struck from behind by the monstrously strong hand.
"Keep your eyes ahead of you, on the steps. Keep going."
And before he could catch his thoughts, Kili found himself at the top, being marshalled onto a hideously flimsy platform, high above the golden pool. It wobbled under his weight as he stood there, and he wondered dimly how it would bear up under his captor's size. He tried to struggle loose but the orc held him in place, and reached to grab for the large hook, overhanging the pool by the side of the platform.
Without a word, Kili's arms were raised roughly above his head, and his cuffed wrists were placed over the curved end of the hook, before the orc let go of the device so it swung back into place. Kili felt a sudden panic as his legs were dragged over and off the platform, and he was trapped there, helpless and suspended.
I can't get any weapons now – I can't even move! I can't get off this hook!
He ventured a look down at his boots, and saw the molten gold shimmering below, the waves of heat already warming his face – and his uncle being marshalled up the steps as he had been moments before.
"Thorin!" Kili shouted to his uncle, hoping he could think of something right now. Kili didn't want to die here, like this. He stared at the golden pit below in horror, and felt unbearably close to fainting. But what was the point of trying to stay alert now? He was going to die, and the animal instinct in him to flee was becoming all-consuming.
As his uncle was forced onto the platform, Kili saw the large orc guard grab for the hook again, and when he leant closer Kili tried desperately to kick at him – to try to somehow overpower the orc and send him over the edge. But it was no use. The muscular brute merely laughed and threw his uncle's hands over the hook beside Kili's.
The pair of them were swung off the platform, draped in mid air – held uncomfortably by their wrists – with nothing to separate them from the burning gold but fifteen metres of warm, baking air.
Kili watched, struggling to breathe in the scorching fumes, as Azog strode over to a set of controls on the left-hand wall of the room.
"It is time to die, Oakenshield." Azog pulled the lever down, and Kili felt his heart drop as the hook started to slowly sink towards the pool. "The moment I have waited decades for has come at last."
Kili heard his uncle's voice, begging. "Spare my nephew, Azog! Spare Kili! I will do anything you ask of me if you let him live!"
In answer, Azog wrenched the lever clean off the control box. Kili stared in disbelief, and felt his chest constrict in despair. Now there was no way to stop the machinery. He closed his eyes, willing it to be over quickly.
"No Oakenshield, you both die together. I have waited an age to watch this. Your deaths will be... delicious to me..."
Kili heard his uncle groan at the sight of the broken control box, and he turned his own eyes away from the heartbreaking sight, closing them tight against the evil all around. They had dropped a metre so far – only another nineteen or so to go, before Azog won for good. He could already feel the sweat breaking out on his forehead.
"Thorin! Kili!"
Kili snapped his eyes open in an instant, searching for the source of the cry. He knew that voice... He knew that dwarf!
As he returned to the moment, still holding his breath, he saw Fili standing in the main doorway, taking in the scene with a look of astonishment, as right behind him Bilbo, Tauriel , and another elven warrior all came piling through the door, their weapons drawn.
"Kili?" He heard her call out to him, across the room – his flame-haired elf – and he smiled to behold her beauty once more.
"Help us!" he cried. "Quickly! They want to lower us into the metal!" He saw her step forward, locking eyes with him across the room, and in a second she was running to him – running straight across the room, right across the path of the pale orc who stood watching the small incoming party with malefic interest.
"So here comes the second heir of Oakenshield – just in time. I will string you up with the two of them so you will die together." The beast waved his hand in command to the guards waiting by the golden pool. And with a bellow of scornful laughter, they spun round to face Tauriel with their swords as she sped towards Kili and Thorin.
Kili tried to warn her, but she'd already seen them – and so had her blond elven friend. From the doorway, Kili saw an arrow fly from a long, silver bow with a precision he would have struggled to match. It found its target within seconds. Striking straight through the larger orc's eye, it brought the lumbering beast down to the ground, tripping up his companion and allowing Tauriel to jump clear.
"Tauriel, look out!" The little hobbit was chasing behind her, running for the platform as fast as his legs would take him, his sword outstretched as if he knew how to use it. Kili wondered how long him and his uncle had left – they'd dropped five metres already now, and the warming updrafts were starting to sear his skin.
He looked to his brother, standing shoulder to shoulder with Tauriel's blond companion as Azog approached them in the far corner of the room, and tried to see where the woman had gone to in all of this – she had disappeared into the shadows behind the tall columns, hidden from view.
"How can I get you down? How do I stop it?" Tauriel was shouting up at them, panic all over her face, lit up from below by the yellow glow shining up from the ghoulish pool.
His uncle spoke. "You can't stop it – the lever is broken. You'll need to pull us to the side, before the chain descends all the way. But do it quickly!"
The elf made to start up the staircase, and Kili felt his uncle jerk on the hook. "No, there's no time for that! Stay on the ground level. You'll need to rein us in from the side!"
Tauriel looked around wildly. Their downward trajectory lay at least three metres away from the tiled edge of the floor – well beyond her arm span. "But how? I can't reach that far to get you both!"
The hobbit passed the orc lying winded on the floor, and stabbed him in the throat with his full bodyweight. The sword was thrust so deep into the creature's neck that Bilbo just left it embedded there while the creature spluttered and died, hastening to the elf's side by the golden pool.
"There – look!" Bilbo pointed to the curled end of the wooden banister, trailing down from the edge of the staircase at head-level. "Break it off, Tauriel! You can reel them in with that!"
The elf turned, and eyed the wooden banister doubtfully.
"Yes, that's it, Tauriel! Cut it with your sword – go on!" Thorin tried to encourage her, seeing her doubt. "Swing it as if it was an axe!"
Kili saw her meet his eyes one last time and take a deep breath – and then she raised her elven blade high above her head, bringing it down deftly in a tight arc towards the wooden beam. The timber broke relatively cleanly, and the two of them fell upon it at once, twisting and pulling with all their strength to get the banister loose from the rest of the staircase before Thorin and Kili passed them by.
With a crash, they wrested it free, and Tauriel gripped the end of it unsteadily, trying to angle the curved end upwards towards the large hook above Kili's head.
For the moment, they were just out of range, but Tauriel could see the angle would improve as they descended further. Stiffening up and finding a comfortable stance, she stretched her lever upwards and across, waiting for just the right moment to snare her quarry. Kili hoped fervently that she wouldn't miss – there would be no second chance here – his feet were barely five metres above the gold now. If she missed them as they passed at floor level, there would be no way to haul them clear in time.
"Steady now, lass." He heard his uncle, speaking soothingly to the elf as she frowned in heavy concentration. "Steady... stay steady... and now! Go for it!"
At his command, she twisted her crook and managed to catch hold of the large metallic hook, and with a cry of exertion, she began to pull back on the banister. The hobbit had his arms around her, holding her steady in case she lost her balance on the smooth tiles, and helped her reel the two dwarves onto the firm surface of the floor.
Kili's feet were already below floor-level when they were bundled over, and he had to raise himself over the edge with some difficulty, struggling beside his uncle. He rolled himself onto the solid ground and shut his eyes momentarily, feeling his uncle lying safe beside him. They'd made it. He'd never been more relieved of anything in his life.
The hobbit rushed towards them both, manoeuvring the hook under their wrists and discarding it to the ground . It dropped onto the tiles with a solid thud, the chain piling up in a heap as the pulley system still tried to lower itself into the gold.
Free at last, Kili staggered forward and was caught fast by Tauriel, sobbing as he felt her arms encircling him, pulling his body towards her, and away from the pool. He couldn't hold her back – his wrists were still cuffed with the restraints – but his mouth found hers and he kissed her frantically, losing himself in her warm embrace with a desperate longing.
"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" She broke away to scan him up and down, concern clouding her bright green eyes. "They didn't do anything to you, Kili?"
He shook his head, feeling another wave of dizziness as he did so. "No, I'm fine. Thanks to you." He let her hold him tight beside herself, his cheek against her cheek, and looked around the room, checking on his family.
Thorin was being helped to his feet by Bilbo – the two of them were embracing closely and Kili was satisfied his uncle was unharmed. He turned back to the chamber, seeking out his brother, but could find only the blond elf, duelling with Azog in the far corner.
"Where's Fili?" He still couldn't see his older brother – or the woman – and he edged round uneasily. He reached without thought for the sword he usually wore on his belt, and cursed as his cuffed hands drew nothing. He was in no position to fight right now, even if he could find a suitable weapon.
"Look, there he is!" Tauriel pointed to the floor by the control box, where the fallen dwarf lay sprawled in a heap. He was moving slowly, as if injured, but Azog's attention was for now focused on the blond elf. She turned back to Kili, her face anguished.
"I must help them!"
"Go to them, Tauriel – they need you." Kili was loathe to let her go from him so soon, but their only chance was to face the hulking pale orc together. He motioned to his uncle and the hobbit."We need to get these cuffs off before we can help."
Tauriel nodded uncertainly, and started running towards Legolas, eager to rejoin the fray before either of her friends were hurt.
Kili sighed as he watched her go. He saw Fili was back on his feet again, and shook his head angrily, feeling useless. The two people he loved most in the whole world were left facing Azog alone, and all he could do was sit and watch.
"Bilbo? Do you think you could use Sting to break the chains on these cuffs? It's made of elvish steel, isn't it? It should be stronger than this iron!"
The hobbit nodded appraisingly. "I'll try, Kili. Let me just... retrieve it."
Kili sank to his knees, feeling dizzy again, and watched as the hobbit hurried back to the fallen orcs. Further away, Tauriel was drawing her bow in the direction of the pale orc, and her arrow flew true to its target, catching Azog in the neck and earning her a howl of rage for her troubles.
The pale orc turned round to face her, surprised by the new challenger at his back, and Legolas took a swipe from the front, slashing at the orc's belly with his sword. Kili saw the blood spurt out from across the room, but the orc surged forward and punched Legolas with his intact hand. The force was strong enough to send the elf tumbling backwards, falling into a metallic oven by the side of the wall and plunging him head over heels to the ground.
Kili was on his feet again, his heart in his mouth as he watched Tauriel brandish her sword against the huge, monstrous orc, standing her ground as Azog turned his attention back to her.
Cursing, he leapt to his feet, about to speed to her defence in whatever way he could – but his brother got there first. Running into a supportive position on Tauriels's left flank, he raised his sword in warning at the orc. If only the blond elf would get up, Kili thought – they'd have Azog wounded and surrounded. But the elf lay motionless by the oven, and Kili wondered whether he'd knocked his head off the wall.
"Bilbo, hurry up!" He heard his uncle beside him, as impatient to join the fight as he was, and saw the hobbit scurrying over with the sword at last. He ran to them, and turned at once to Thorin.
"What do I do?" He asked simply.
"Break the chain between the cuffs! The iron will break if you force the sword through the link." Thorin had his eye on the two fallen orcs. "We'll take their swords, and fight with Fili."
Kili nodded, wordlessly pleading that the hobbit was quick in freeing them both. He didn't know what Tauriel and Fili's odds were against Azog, but his instincts were screaming at him to help them.
And as if hearing his frantic thoughts from across the length of the room, the evil-eyed pale orc suddenly looked him right in the eye – as if looking right into his very soul – and smiled demonically. Kili flinched, feeling the orc's gaze like acid on his face, his mouth starting to form a syllable cry even as he watched on in vain from the distance.
But even as his scream froze in the air, he watched Azog take a leap forward with a staggering speed, straight into the path of his flame-haired lover. She raised her sword to block the blow, but he swept her feet out from under her and she fell hard to the floor. Azog stood poised with his hooked arm raised above her, ready to strike her across the face with the blade – but as he made to land it he was stabbed in the side by Fili.
Kili felt relieved – for all of a second – until the hideous pale orc turned on his brother and this time brought the hooked hand down right upon him. Kili heard his cry of pain echo through the room, and felt stunned. Azog had his brother now – his curved hook had caught Fili through the shoulder on his sword arm, and when the pale orc raised his arm victoriously, Fili was lifted off the ground, impaled on the end of the hook like a slab of meat.
Tauriel tried valiantly to rise to her feet, reaching for the bow on her back, but the orc kicked her hard in the chest and strode forward, with Fili caught on the end of his hook – still gripping his sword defiantly but completely unable to raise it in defence. He flinched with each step as he was carried along by his wounded shoulder.
The orc strode purposefully towards Kili and his uncle, leaving Tauriel behind on the floor, crying out for her lover. Her bow lay halfway across the room, well out of her reach.
"Bilbo, hurry up!" Thorin bellowed, his eyes stuck fast to Azog.
The hobbit didn't look up from his work. "It's nearly there!"
"Hurry!"
Kili saw the metal link stretching under the width of the elvish blade, but the pale orc was rapidly closing the distance between them. He looked around, desperate for something to use as a weapon in his cuffed hands, but all he could see was the wooden banister, lying discarded next to the pulley hook. The swords of the dead orc guards lay out of reach – Azog was already striding past them.
The yellow glow of the pool illuminated his ragged, pallid skin with an otherworldly horror, and Kili felt rooted to the spot, wondering what Azog's first move was to be now. His brother flinched with every step, but his grey-blue eyes gripped Kili's as he approached, and he waved the sword slightly. Kili nodded to Thorin, hoping Fili would understand.
The great white orc grinned at them, revealing rows of grey, pointed teeth behind his peeling lips.
"Which one of your nephews do you wish to die first, Oakenshield?" His black, beady eyes turned on Kili hungrily. "The younger one?" He lifted his arm higher, raising Fili into the air and eliciting a pained groan from the wounded dwarf. "Or the golden one?"
Thorin stiffened, and stared at Azog evenly. Kili watched as Bilbo finally managed to pop the link between his uncle's cuffs – although Azog obviously couldn't see past the hobbit to realise yet.
The huge orc took a step closer to the golden pool, his bulk towering over the three small figures on the floor.
"If you will not choose, Oakenshield, then I will do it for you!" The orc curled his lip in a leer of pure hatred, and tensed his hooked arm. Kili could see the beast was readying to throw his brother into the pool, and he tensed himself in readiness, about to spring on their signal.
Fili knew what Azog was going to do, and let his sword arm swing backwards, picking up momentum, and in the split second before Azog hurled him towards the fiery gold, he swung his arm back sharply to release the weapon towards their uncle.
And Thorin was ready for it.
He caught it by the handle in mid air, and before Azog could even react, Thorin was slashing at the great orc's neck, spilling his blood over the floor. The orc sank to his knees on cue, dropping Fili from his hooked hand mid-arc.
The blond dwarf fell to the floor and rolled towards the edge of the pit, but Kili threw himself on top of him, pinning his brother to the tiled surface before he could fall.
He scrambled to his feet as quickly as he could, trying not to hurt Fili as he struggled with his cuffed hands to rise to his knees. There was a vengeful, angry wheeze coming from the great orc, and Kili watched in fascination as his uncle stood up, holding his nephew's sword outstretched before the fiend's pitiless black eyes.
Bilbo hurried out of the way, making straight for Fili's side, and Thorin raised the sword in the air.
"There will be no memorial to you, Azog. You have failed. And my family – will only grow stronger!"
Thorin sliced the sword across the pale orc's neck in a single swing, severing the large head from the shoulders in one massive swoop.
Kili watched it drop to the floor in a red shower, and roll off the precipice, in to the liquid gold just five metres below.
Thorin dropped the sword and swayed slightly, seemingly dazed, before leaping over to Kili's side.
"Fili, are you alright?"
Kili turned to his brother, lying on the floor with his injured shoulder to the ground. He slid his arms under Fili's chest and helped him sit up on the tiles. His brother's blue eyes were half shut, but he gave a half smile for his uncle.
"I'm fine, Thorin. It was all just part of the plan."
Kili saw the blood pooling through Fili's shirt, and shivered. He looked back to the room, searching for his elf, and saw her getting to her feet unsteadily. She met his gaze, and he saw her face fill with relief as she saw him smile at her.
Thorin viewed his nephew's wound appraisingly, and turned to the hobbit. "Bilbo, do you have anything to use as a tourniquet? We need to stem the bleeding on his arm right away!"
Bilbo considered. "Here, use my jacket, Thorin." The hobbit made to take his jacket off, but froze midway. "Uh, Thorin...?"
Kili followed the hobbit's gaze past his brother's blond braids and into the shadows beyond. Back towards the large entranceway, in the far corner of the room.
Rose was standing by a large, metal wheel, watching them with a scowl. As she realised they'd become aware of her presence she straightened herself, and trained her face back into the cold smile they'd grown so used to seeing. She raised her eyebrows at Kili, seeing his stony gaze.
"Well, my friends. Well fought. It seems my associate underestimated you." She shrugged, not taking her hands off the wheel. "Not that it matters – in a few moments you'll be dead anyway. All I have to do is turn this wheel..." She glared over at Tauriel, staring across the room at her bow, "and the floor area you're sitting on will retract." She grinned. "It's not liquid gold under there – just a good old fashioned fire – but I think the end result will be close enough."
The elf's voice was icy. "Not if I put an arrow through your face you won't."
The dark-eyed woman smiled back at her. "Try it and see. You'll never reach your weapon in time – whereas I'll be out of the door before your friends have even started to burn"
Tauriel stared across at Kili, and he saw the question on her face. He knew she would go for it – what other option did they have now? She would try for her bow, and she would fail, and they would all of them die, just like the pale orc had promised.
Too late did he notice the floor tiles stretching around the golden pool. He could see now for what it was – an extendable floor – like he'd seen back in the Blue Mountains. The fire under the crucibles had to be serviced somehow. And the floor would rise as soon as Rose started turning the wheel, and tip them all into whatever was under there.
And it was hot enough to melt gold.
Kili gripped his brother tightly, hearing his laboured breathing suddenly stop as the pair of them stared at Rose.
He heard his uncle exhale sharply, understanding their predicament just as well as Kili did.
And beside his uncle, his jacket half-way off, the hobbit's face was incredulous.
"Is she... does she...?"
The woman nodded. "Goodbye, Thorin – for the last time. I hope you burn in –"
The woman's throat exploded into redness, as an arrow caught her in the middle of her jugular.
She dropped to her knees, her hands forgetting all about the service wheel as they clawed in vain at her leaking throat.
And from the corner behind her, a silver bow came clattering to the floor, and Kili noticed a skinny figure in a dripping white dress sloping out of the shadows. In his arms, he felt his brother whisper in surprise..
"Sigrid?" Fili tried to sit up further, his shoulder suddenly forgotten. A smile played about his lips. "Sigrid, is that you?"
The young woman stepped forwards, her grey-blue eyes wide with shock as she stared from the dying queen towards their party from across the silent room, searching for something. Her tawny hair hung long and dark about her face, dripping water onto the floor.
"Fili!"
She came tearing across the chamber towards them, and Kili wondered what she'd been doing in the forge room – and how a fisherman's daughter came to learn to shoot an elven bow so well.
The spell broken, Tauriel laughed and stood smiled gratefully at the oncoming girl. Sigrid took her hand, and the pair of them half limped, half bounded over towards the waiting dwarves.
Kili helped his brother sit up fully, mindful of his damaged shoulder, and waited for the two ladies to reach them. He released Fili into Sigrid's outstretched arms as she flung herself down to embrace him, and she buried her face in his with a sob.
The younger dwarf felt his elf's hands on his shoulder, and he reached up for her with his cuffed hands.
"Kili, are you alright?" She knelt by his side, and took his face in her hands. "I won't ever leave your side again, I swear to you, amralime."
Kili closed his eyes as he felt Tauriel kiss him. Her lips were warm and tender, and her body was soft and comforting, and he let her presence drain the hurt and fear he still felt coursing through his veins.
And when they finally broke away from each other, he saw his uncle smiling at them both, sitting there arm-in-arm with the hobbit.
Thorin nodded towards to the doorway. "My lady, we should attend to your friend – I fear the pale orc may have done him some damage, and I wish to thank him when he awakens. I am grateful to an elf such as him for... for fighting with us." He smiled at her sheepishly. "Just like I need to thank you, Tauriel."
The elf-maid smiled. "Believe me, Thorin – I would fight the gods themselves for your nephew."
Thorin raised an eyebrow. "I believe you would, my lady."
Fili turned to his uncle, his left arm gripping Sigrid tightly. "Thorin, there's still the fighting in Dale – we must help Bard and the others. The Laketown people need us."
Thorin considered. "Not you, Fili. You will sit this one out with Sigrid and Bilbo. Why don't you assist Tauriel's friend?" The dwarf king stood up, and gestured to Kili and Tauriel. "Are you ready to finish this?"
Kili nodded. As long as Tauriel was coming too, he would go anywhere. "Just cut these cuffs and give me a sword, and I will kill every orc I see standing."
Thorin nodded, and looked to the elf-maid, cradling his youngest nephew. He knew he didn't have to ask – she'd proved her loyalty to Kili beyond doubt – but he wanted her to know he was sincere about his gratitude.
"And you, my lady? Will you fight for Erebor?"
Tauriel looked at the dwarf-king appraisingly. "I will fight for Kili, always. But if Erebor will accept me, and let me honour that love – then it truly is something worth defending. And then I will fight with you for Erebor until my last breath."
The dwarf-king smiled. "Then Erebor welcomes you with open arms, Tauriel." He turned his blue eyes to the doorway leading back to the main gates and frowned. "Come, let's finish this battle and free our people."