Chapter 2. Fili and Kili.

They had been never truly understood before, the horrors of the battles endured by their uncle,Balin, Dwalin and the other old warriors they knew. Neither Fili nor Kili had ever been a part of such a huge , bloody battle like the one they were fighting in right now. They had been seperated from the Company hours ago and since the only seen the cruel, disgusting faces of the orcs and their growling wargs, the pale, vicious fighting faces of the elves , the tired visages of the men from Lake Town and unknown dwarves who came from the Iron Hills. It was a real nightmare they were in right now, somewhere on the fields outside the gates of Erebor , surrounded by enemies that wanted to see them dead and allies who paid them scant attention. Fili was happy that at least he still had Kili close by ,so he could keep an eye on his little brother. He was fighting like a true son of Durin and Fili was sure that if Thorin could see them now, he would be proud.

So far neither of the brothers had gotten any serious injuries, but the battle was far from over and they knew that anything could still happen, but they had no time to worry about it. Fili shoved a orc who came too close to him back a few steps and then drove his sword straght through the ugly bastard's chest. For a brief second he could take a breather and look around to see what happened around him at the moment. He could see bodies of all the races covering the ground , see blood spilt everywhere and hear the cries of the dying and the wounded. Then Kili shouted something to him and he had no more time for thinking. A bunch of huge orcs – must be of the same kind as the evil leader of this army- Azog and his ugly son Bolg- had discovered the two brothers and came against them from all directions. They were dressed in armor covering their torsos and much of their legs and arms, but Fili could still see some vulnerable points on them, there he or Kili could strike them. The next moments became a blur of ducking and rolling to avoid swords and daggers and axes all over and he slashed and hacked at them as best he could . Then , somewhere, he heard his uncle shout :- Azog ! And automatically his eyes searched for his king, his uncle, the only father figure he could really remember.

A little bit further down the field a large area had been cleared up in the mass of the armies fighting each other, and he could see two figures circling each other in the middle of that space. One was a huge, pale orc – undoubtedly Thorin's nemesis, and he looked rather terrifying from where Fili stood. The shorter figure in an Erebor armor , weilding a familiar blade, with that golden crown on the head- it was Thorin, who else would dare to face down Azog once more ? The blond prince looked in desperation after someone who could come to Thorin's aid- preferably someone like Dwalin- but none seemed to be near the two old enemies facing each other, perhaps for the last time. Then , once again, Fili was distracted, this time by a shout in pain from Kili. He turned around faster than ever and started running back to his little brother , shoving enemies and allies out of the way with little regard to his own or other's safety. All he knew was that he had to get to his brother and then they had to try and help Thorin.

While Fili had been fighing for his life and discovering the meeting between their uncle and Azog, Kili had been standing on a rock , firing every last arrow he had brought with him to the fight , and his aim was good as ever and he had felled dozens of orcs who tried to get to him or his brother. In his spare moments he had noticed Fili turning away to stare at something further down the slope and at the same time had fired away his last arrow, hitting one big ugly thing in its head, who had planned on taking Fili's head off, while the golden prince was distracted. Then Kili had drawn his sword and jumped down from the cliff, into the fury of the raging battle below, and he cut down enemies everythere he turned , while still keeping an eye out for his brother. The dark heired prince fought as bravely as anyone of his line had ever done and those who witnessed it were in awe of the surprising strange and power that seemed to flow from his skinny young frame and arms who vielded that blade like few others his age would be able to do.

Kili fought himself closer and closer to Fili and helped a few eleves to bring down one of Azog's leutanants on the way, an overgrown , lumpy freek with horn like teeth grinning in rage as they cut him to pieces. Then suddenly everything changed, when he was just a few metres away from his brother, seperated only three orcs, two elves and three dwarves. A burning pain exploded in his right shoulder and he yelled out in pain and stumbled , not really understanding at first what had happened. But he felt with his left hand on his shoulder and sensed that a enemy had stabbed him with a knife , and already he had a strange feeling of dizziness and confusion, just like he had felt after being struck in the leg by that poisoned arrow not so long ago. " Crap, that is not good ", was all he could think, before forcing himself to focus on bringing down the orc that had wounded him and then tried to reach his brother, who had heard his yelling and now was fighting his way back to his side. Eventually he cut down the last enemy standing between them and then Fili was at last by his side again.

- You okay, little brother ? He asked and taking a quick peek on Kili's shoulder, who was bleeding freeily, but so far it was not life threatning . - It hurts like hell , but I will be alright, the younger prince promised and looked at his brother with calming brown eyes. Fili frowned and looked unconviced, but then he remembered their uncle and that desperate situation. -We will have to deal with that later , Kee , right now we need to get to uncle , who is fighting Azog again. Kili's eyes widened and he nodded shortly and they started making their way down the sloping ground , cutting down enemies left and right , while catching several minor injuries before they were closing in on the fight between Thorin and his great enemy. The scene that met their eyes was shocking and dreadful and they started running to help their beloved uncle . Thorin had put up a good fight – Azog had lost his warg and had a nasty gut wound that they would not like to see close up , and he limped angrily towards the fallen form of Thorin, who had been pierced by at least three spears to his back , stomach and right leg. Kili's sharp eyes could also see the arrows protruding from his uncle's back and the blood running down his pale white face from that horrible head wound between his dark locks. - No ! Fili shouted in terror and flung himself in between their motionless uncle and the threatning form of Azog, who stepped back slightly in surprise, allowing Kili to run up to his uncle and lean over him. - Thorin ? Can you hear me ? Please, say something , uncle , are you still with us ? Please, you can't leave us,we and all of Erebor will need you more than ever after this nightmare is over, Kili begged and tried to stop his uncle's wounds from bleeding more.

His uncle opened his blue eys and managed somehow to focus on the anxious, scared face of his youngest nephew and he smiled vagulu .- Kili... You are alive , I thought... He coughed and blood stained his pale lips , to the horror of the young prince.- Hush uncle, we'll take care of you, just hold on. I just need to help Fili avenge you. We'll be right back , he promised and tears shone in his dark eyes. Thorin tried to protest but had to helplessly watch his nephew dart back to stand by his brother's side and take on the enemy that had done so much damage already to their family. For a while they managed to fight the beastly orc and they gave him more wounds than anyone had in a long time, but then he swung his club in his normal hand and struck Fili hard in the chest and stomach , making him fly high above the ground, before landing with a heavy thud on the bloody ground and he screamed in pain. Kili went even paler , but rage overtook him , a cold, white fury inherited by the line of Durin woke in him and he attacked the shocked orc more vicously than ever. Not caring about the times Azog's blade sliced him or stabbed him in his sides , sholder and legs , he finally pulled an unexpected move-he threw himself up in the air from a rock he had climbed and his bloodied sword cut the air and struck its target... At the same time as Kili landed again, on his knees, weakening from a heavier and heavier blood loss, he saw Azog's white head fall to the ground and the still stunned look on his face, and then the giant body fell to the ground. All around him it went completely silent when those who had witnessed the battle saw the leader of the orcs die like that .

That was nothing Kili could think about right then, all he could think about was getting to his uncle and brother who somehow had fallen close to each other. But then he was almost there a strange howl in black speech could be heard behind him and then he felt a arrow pierce his chest , and he was certain that it was poisoned. He screamed, for this new pain was more unbearable than anything else he had felt so far , and then he felt his legs give out and he fell to the ground and struggled to breathe, while a huge figure loomed above him, looking strangely familiar. But then he heard his brother's furious yelled and from out of nowhere he threw himself against this new foe , blades clashing against each other , growls, curses and shouts sounding every now and then. Then he heard Fili scream again, but this time his brother's voice sounded like he was choking and when he turned his flickering eyes to the scene his heart broken when he saw the arrow in his brother's chest, and judging by the blood he was currently coughing up it had hit his lung. And then the nigtmarish scene grew even worse as the huge orc- the son of Azog- sent his warg upon the defensless Fili and Kili had never heard a worse sound than the scream his brother omitted when he leg was caught in the beast's foul mouth and he was flung around like a broken toy. Then Kili had to witness the loss of his brother's leg and watch his brother being dragged over to his own side and Fili was such a mess, hardly recognizable anymore. Then Bolg bent down over them, grinning a horrible smile and said in a broken form of westron :- I kill you now. So end Durin's line. That meant that he knew whom they were now . But just when everything looked the bleakest ever something attacked Bolg from behind, something invisible. That meant that it could only be little Bilbo Baggins, that brave, odd hobbit who had done so much for them and Thorin before he took that blasted Arkenstone. But Kili was fading now , just like his uncle a few metres away , and his brother by his side , and the last thing he felt was Fili taking him into his arms and the tears falling into his hair, then everything went dark...

The king and his nephews had been easier than most of the Company to locate and brave and not to badly hurt dwarves carried them so carefully as possible on stretchers to the camp where healers waited in various tents. Of course Oín was the first healer to care for his king and princes, but he saw straight away that he needed every possible help he could get, even if it meant asking the elven healers for aid. Of three Thorin was deemed the most critical and for some reason that cold, arrogant elven king himself took over the care for his old foe , something that shocked everybody. Óin worked by his side for some hours, than he ran off to the next tent to see how the princes were doing. It was just as bad with them and as the hours passed neither showed signs of waking up or improving. The poison in Kili's blood was spreading rapidly and nothing seemed to stop it this time, not even kingsfoil. And as the day of the battle passed and turned into night, then the next day, when Thorin finally woke up to ask for news of his boys and the others, they all had to realize that before the day was over both the princes would leave this world.

Kili died without having woken once, due to the nasty poison on the arrow who had hit him the day before . He was followed by his brother within two hours, but for some reason Fili had woken for a short while before his passing and the news of his brother's death had broken him. The fact that he himself was dying and would probably soon be followed by his uncle as well just made him sadder and his last words to Balin and Dwalin who stood there was :- Tell uncle that I am sorry for letting him down. I let my brother down and now he's gone. Tell Thorin that no father could have been better to us than he was and I love him so much , and I am so proud to be his nephew . Tell ma that I am sorry for not being able to protect Kili and bringing him home again. I am sorry, my friends. Then he simply closed his eyes again and his spirit left his body . When Thorin was informed of this before his own passing he wept and his heart was broken for the two boys he had loved more than anything and had helped raising and considered his own sons. But he spoke with the others as much as that was possible and got Bilbo Baggins's forgiveness, before the last Durin followed his heirs to the Halls of Waiting and left the remaining Company and survivors in a state of grief that was rather unprecedented .

TBC...