Autumn watched as the elves and dwarves fought bravely. Meanwhile, she was forced to run back to Dale because of another approaching army.
"My children! Where are my children?" Bard immediately asked the fleeing townspeople.
"I saw them," one woman said, "They were down in the old market."
"The market?!" Autumn asked, "Where are they now? Tilda! Sigrid!"
Percy ran up at the head of a company of the Laketown soldiers.
"Bard, Autumn," he said out of breath, "Orcs are storming over the causeway!"
"I'll get the bowmen to the eastern parapet," Autumn said, "Hold them off for as long as I can!"
"No!" Bard immediately said.
"Bard, I am an assassin," Autumn said, "I can fend for myself."
"But the children need you," Bard said, "I need you. I do not think I could live without you and neither will the children."
Autumn smiled a little and put a hand on his cheek.
"The children need a father as much as they need a mother," she spoke softly, "Do not worry about me. I will come back to you, I promise."
She kissed him one last time, making sure it lasted in case it was to be their last. She gave one last longing look at him before turning away.
"Archers," Autumn commanded, "This way!"
She led them up to one of the high stone wall that was not yet broken.
"Archers," Autumn yelled so they could hear, "Prepare to fire!"
Everyone loaded their bows and pointed them at the orc army.
"Fire!"
The arrows were released and killed the orcs it hit, some just wounding them. They continued to shoot, arrow after arrow, but they were running low and the orcs were gaining.
"Fall back!" Autumn yelled as she loaded her last arrow, "Fall back!"
They ran back, deeper into the town. She noticed a few orcs approaching some children and she ran towards them, slashing at the orcs. She pushed the children away when she looked up and noticed the ceiling close to collapsing. It came falling down on her and everything went dark.
Faedra walked through the dark corridors slowly. Her mind was again deep in thought. She looked up when she heard Dwalin's gruff voice. Looking to her right, she walked towards where Dwalin and Thorin were speaking to one another.
"Did you not hear me?!" Dwalin asked sternly, "Dain is surrounded! They're being slaughtered, Thorin."
"Many die in war. Life is cheap," Thorin said calmly, "But a treasure such as this cannot be counted in lives lost. It is worth all the blood we can spend!"
"You sit here in these vast halls, with a crown upon your head," Dwalin said, "And yet you are lesser now than you have ever been."
"Do not speak to me as if I was some lowly dwarf lord…" Thorin said, showing he has become mentally affected, "As-As if I were still...Thorin...Oakenshield..."I AM YOUR KING!"
Thorin roared and pulled out his sword; however, he is so unbalanced that he almost falls over.
"You were always my king," Dwalin said sadly, "You used to know that once. You cannot see what you have become."
"Go! Get out...before I kill you," Thorin said angrily, but calmly.
After looking at each other for a while Dwalin turned and leaves, tears dotting his eyes. He walked past Faedra gruffly, as she stared up at Thorin. Thorin, however, was so entranced in his own thoughts that he did not even see her when she walked up the steps to his throne.
"What do you want?!" Thorin asked rudely.
"You have changed, Thorin Oakenshield," Faedra stated bluntly, "You would never try and kill one of your own, yet you just tried."
"You have no right to speak to me," Thorin spat.
"I have every right," Faedra snapped back, "You may be the king of Erebor, but you are NOT my king!"
"If you are in the halls of Erebor," Thorin was now yelling, "Then I am your king."
"You are not worthy of being king!" Faedra yelled back, "You sit on a throne with a crown upon your head behind a wall of stone, calling yourself a king but you are far from any king I know. No king makes others fight his battles for him."
Thorin grabbed his sword, but this time he was steadier, and swung it high in the air. Faedra quickly deflected it by lifting a dagger she spun out from behind her back.
"What do you know about being a leader?" Thorin yelled, "Nothing! You call yourself the leader of the assassins when you do not even know where half of your people are!"
"I know more about being a leader than you ever will," Faedra yelled again, "A leader is someone who stays loyal to the ones loyal to them, who is willing to sacrifice themselves for other lives, and who never runs in fear from a battle."
Faedra put away her dagger after Thorin lowered his sword.
"You use to know that once," Faedra said, more calmly, "And now…"
She looked into Thorin's eyes.
"All I see is a growing darkness inside you," she spoke in whisper, but loud enough so Thorin could hear.
"Get out of my sight!" Thorin said in a low, angry voice.
Without another word, she turned on her heels and left. She walked past all the dwarves who gave her confused looks.
"Where are you going?" Bofur asked.
"It is time," Faedra said, walking up the steps to reach the ledge of Erebor.
"Time for what exactly?" he asked again.
"For me to be the leader I was meant to be," she said.
"No Faedra don't," Tara pleaded, "You will die."
"Then I will die with honor," she said, smiling at her little sister.
She looked at all the dwarves who had worried faces.
"You have all been so kind to me," Faedra said, "I have watched you grow throughout this journey, watch your loyalty and love for one another become so strong that none could ever break it. Thorin will come to his sense, you will see. In the meantime, I want you all to stay here and wait."
"But we want to fight," Kili said, "We never back down from a fight, it is not in our blood."
"Kili," Faedra said softly, laying a hand under his chin, "Right now is a time to learn patience. I promise that something good will come out of it, something always comes out good with a little bit of patience."
"But it seems I have been patient for too long," Kili said.
"Your patience never runs out," Faedra said and kissed his forehead, "Watch over one another. When you come to fight, meet me at the bottom of Ravenhill."
"Why there?" Fili asked.
"You will know when you are there," Faedra said and jumped over the wall, landing on Daeroch.
She rode through the battle, slashing any orc that walked in her path.
"May the Valar protect you," Tara whispered as she watched her sister's figure disappear in the sea of orcs.