Chapter 26:

And so it began. We splashed along the river, Bilbo tumbling down after us and clinging to Dori's barrel like a drowned rat.

I tossed a rope across to Kili's barrel, making sure we weren't separated. He spared me a quick grin and wound the rope around a loose piece of rope on his.

The barrels floated down the water, throwing the liquid back at us constantly. I heard the elves yelling to each other, "Close the gate!"

I swore under my breath as the watergates in front of us closed just before the barrels came to a stop in front of them. The elves converged above us -

and then, suddenly, Orcs.

Dozens of Orcs poured out of the woods, screeching and diving, and suddenly the dwarves and elves were on the same side. I saw Legolas come bursting out into the sunlight, killing an Orc with nearly everything he did. I was always pleased to watch him fight, because I had never had any reason to be worried about him. He always won, and he looked glorious doing it.

Thorin roared, "We're trapped!"

"No freaking duh!" I yelled back, wishing that I had my bow - I might have been some long-distance use in this mess.

Kili leaped out of his barrel, surprising me as he clambered up the stone bridge-thing that held the lever for releasing the gates. It arched fairly low over the river, which still pounded through the bars, crashing us against it.

An Orc threw itself at Kili, and he dodged, but he had no weapons. Fili had them all. "Kili!" I shouted, wrenching Glitterthorn from its sheath and hurling the sword at him.

He caught it deftly and turned with my throw's momentum, catching the Orc off-guard and sending his head tumbling down into the river - where it landed in my barrel. "Ew," I managed, shoving it off and into the river where it splashed and bobbed for a moment before the current sank it.

I turned my attention back up to Kili, who was working his way towards the lever. His hand was hovering over the top of it when all of my senses stood on end. "Kili, look out!" I screamed, and he turned in surprise at the sound.

Out of nowhere, an arrow streaked over our heads and slammed, full force, into Kili's left thigh. He made an odd choking noise accompanied by a grunt of pain, and collapsed against the block of stone that held the lever.

If he hadn't turned at my scream, it would have severed his spine.

I leaped up and out of my barrel, Ripplescale in my hand, cutting a path of carnage on my way to the top of the bridge. "Let me through!" I shouted, but the Orcs paid no heed.

Just then, I felt an Orc blade kiss my throat. I went perfectly still as I heard the creature hiss: "Say goodbye, dwarf-girl."

I closed my eyes and waited with bated breath for Death to come and tap on my shoulder, but I heard nothing more than a loud screech and the wump of weapons hitting flesh. I opened my eyes to find redheaded Tauriel bashing at the Orcs in front of me, fighting with a snarl on her face.

There was a tiny lapse in the battle, and she turned to look at me. "Thank you," I said quietly.

"You're welcome," she replied, and then the Orcs spun her away again. I stood, racked with indecision about whether to fight with her or go to Kili - she solved it for me by yelling, "Go to him!" While she was turned towards me, an Orc came up behind her. But before I could warn her, her fist had come up aand smashed it in the face over her shoulder.

I pounded over to Kili, throwing up a bubble of invisible shield around me as arrows flew at me. I slid to a stop by the dwarf's side, and the shield expanded to surround him, as well.

As I reached him, he threw up a hand as if to ward me off. I batted it aside and knelt next to him. "Hey, clotpole, it's me," I whispered.

"Freya," he breathed in relief, lowering his arm.

"Yeah, dumbass," I murmured, reaching down to peel the bloody fabric of his pants away from his wound.

He hissed and slapped my hands away. I stared at him in hurt and disbelief. "Kili, what -"

"Don't touch it," he growled, and for the first time I noticed that his voice was laced with pain, as if it was causing him more agony than I had thought.

"Relax," I told him, then I stood up and wrenched down on the lever. The gates opened, and the barrels continued to float foward. "Ah, shit," I muttered, watching the barrels bob along. because, of course, the current would quickly take them away. And then Kili and I would be stuck.

"Freya!" I heard Fili's voice cry, and I looked over the edge. He was clinging hard to an outcropping of rock on a bridge support, holding mine and Kili's buckets in place. "Hurry it up!"

I turned back to Kili and carefully lifted him to his feet. "We'll fix it later. Come on!"

He limped forward, leaning heavily on me, and leaped into his barrel, yelling in pain as the arrow snapped off on the edge of the barrel. I jumped after him, landing in my own barrel. "Let's go!" I shouted, and Fili released his grip.

The barrels continued on, over a small waterfall.

A huge battle ensued, the Orcs running alongside the river and fighting to overtake us. I narrowly avoided being killed by a flying sword that an elf tossed to one of the dwarves for fighting purposes.

I shouted spells, throwing everything possible at the Orcs around us. Tauriel and Legolas saved more of our necks than I honestly cared to count. The elf prince did pick a funny way of doing it, though, because he used our heads as stepping stones across the river more often than not.

Bombur's barrel was thrown by the other dwarves and an unfortunate tree stump, and began rolling down the side of the shore, mowing down all the ORcs in his path. He devastated the army on one side of the river and was catapulted over to the other side, where he accidentally broke his barrel. He thrust his arms through the sides, stealing two knives from a downed Orc, and began to demonstrate the Dwarf-Spinning-Barrel-of-Death strategy.

At long last, we reached the end of the strain of Orcs. Legolas was engaged with killing one on a rocky outcropping, and I yelled desperately to see another sneaking up behind him with the obvious intention of murdering him.

Thorin, looking as if he had no idea why he was doing what he was doing, brought his arm back and hurled a sword at the Orc. The blade impaled the Orc's spine, and it died with a strangled cry.

Legolas didn't even notice, but dispatched the Orc he was fighting with, and stood as a silhouette on the rock, watching us float downstream. Tauriel stood behind him on the boulder, staring after us with a worried gaze.

As they watched us, an Orc crept up behind her. "Tauriel!" I shouted, and she spun quickly, catching the Orc at his throat with her blade.

"Stop!" ordered Legolas. "This one we keep alive." He turned back to look after us. Tauriel looked displeased, but did nothing more than stare at the back of her prince's head with what appeared to be a mixture of pain and longing.

I raised my eyebrow. That was new.

So this chapter sucks a bit, but I inserted the angst of having Kili get shot. OH! AND DUH: IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN DoS, DON'T READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT ANYMORE SPOILERS. I'M SURE MOST OF YOU HAVE SEEN THIS AND/OR DON'T CARE, BUT JSUT A WARNING.