Chapter 5: Wizards, Orcs and Elves
The time seemed to drag on to Kili. Gandalf and the other Wizard had been talking for a while now and didn't seem ready to take to the road again. The young dwarf wondered himself when they would leave, as it wasn't really the safest place to stay for too long. He was pacing nervously, looking at the trolls turned into stone and keeping the hilt of his sword in his hand.
"Kili please, sit down" Fili asked while cutting a wooden stick with his knife. "You're making me nervous."
"We should not stay here" Kili answered, facing his brother. "Something is wrong, I have a bad feeling."
"What makes you say that brother?"
"The look in Gandalf's eyes…"
Fili turned to stare at the wizard and indeed, he had never seen Gandalf acting like that. He seemed worry and which was not a common thing for someone as powerful as him. He was holding something in his hands that Radagast had gaven him. Suddenly, the air around them seemed heavier and the wind blew stronger.
"You are right Kili, I feel it too..."
Fili stood up and put his knife back into its holder. He gave a little pat on his younger brother's shoulder, indicating that he should follow him.
"Uncle," Fili called, walking toward Thorin.
The dwarf Prince was sitting next to Dwalin; he was staring strangely at a long and thin sword he was holding.
"What troubles you, my nephews?"
"Kili and I think that we should leave this place, quickly" Fili answered, immediately taking the lead.
"I agree, but it's not on me to decide." Thorin sighed. "We have to wait until Gandalf is finished."
Kili looked around him, worried. He took his bow in his right hand to make him feel better. Fili sat next to his uncle and looked at the sword Thorin was holding.
"What is th?" The blonde dwarf asked, curious.
"I found it in the trolls' cave" Thorin gave the sword to Fili.
The blonde dwarf took it, he weighed it. The sword was long, too long for a dwarf and strange writing that Kili wasn't able to read was engraved on the blade. It was shining brightly, as if it had just been forged.
"So light…"
Fili made some moves with the sword; it whistled in the air with a beautiful sound. Despite the size of the sword, Fili was able to use it perfectly. He made a final move with his wrist before placing weapon in front of his face, his other hand along the blade.
"I've never seen a sword like this…" Fili made another movement with his hand. "It's nothing like dwarves' blades."
Fili stretched the sword out to Kili who took it. He was surprised about how light it was; he understood the reaction of his brother. This sword was amazing… he could feel it along his arm and hand.
"It has been forged by the elves" Thorin said with a hint of disgust in his voice.
The blonde dwarf immediately stepped back. Kili knew that his uncle had hated the elves since the fall of Erebor and his brother was cautious around them. However, the young dwarf never felt this way. He rarely has the opportunity to meet elves, some of them sometimes pass next to the Blues Mountains to reach the sea but they usually avoid dwarven cities as much as they can. When he was younger, he enjoyed seeing them crossing the lands from the top of the hills, they were so graceful, beautiful and tall. They were also really good bowmen and fighters; he had seen some of them fight and he could not and their moves were still engraved in his memory. They had perfect control over their bodies, which give the illusion that they were able to predict the next move of their enemy. Sometimes, he tried to reproduce those moves, but he was definitely not as good as they were.
"Gandalf told me to keep it" Thorin added. "He also found one for himself."
Suddenly, a long wolf-like howling interrupted their talk. The dwarf prince immediately took his sword from Kili's hands, on guard. The young dwarf took an arrow from his quiver and Fili drew his sword.
"Was that a wolf?" Bilbo asked Gandalf, worried. "Are there wolves out there?"
"Wolves? No, this is not a wolf," Bofur said as he placed himself in front of the hobbit to protect him.
A huge warg appeared A huge warg appeared silently behind them and jumped on one of the dwarves, ready to rip off his face. Thorin was the one that reacted the fastest, and beheaded the creature with the shining sword. Kili froze while looking at the beast, his heart started to beat faster, he knew it wasn't good to stay around, they were an easy target.
"Kili! Get your bow!" screamed his uncle.
His uncle's voice brought him back immediately to reality. He aimed his bow and shot an arrow right inside the throat of the next orc riding a warg that came. They both fell on the ground, and Dwalin finished the beast with his axe right away.
"Warg scouts, which means an Orc pack is not far behind," Thorin said.
"Orc pack?" Bilbo asked.
Kili came closer to the huge wolf-like creature. He has never seen this kind of animal before, the smell was horrible. He heard a deep and barely audible rattle coming from underneath the warg. Kili saw that the orc he shot before was still alive, despite the arrow in his chest. The young dwarf drew his knife from his handle and stabbed it in the neck with disgust. He wiped the black blood on a piece of the orc's clothes, and when he stood up, the young dwarf felt a hand on his shoulder.
"It is not over yet, Kili," Fili said. "It was a scout, others will come, keep your bow with you."
"No one, I swear." Thorin screamed, catching the attention of the brothers. "What in Durïn's name is going on?!"
"You are being hunted" Gandalf answered.
"We have to get out of here!" Dwalin
"We can't, we have no ponies, they bolted." Ori screamed from the distance, coming back from behind de hill.
"I'll draw them off!" Radagast said.
"These are Gundabad Wargs, they will outrun you."
"These are Rhosgobel rabbits, I'd like to see them try."
The plan was simple, but it needed to work perfectly. Radagast left the company on his sleigh and as soon as he disappeared in the bushes, they heard a long howl. They all started to run, following Gandalf lead.
"Stay together!" the wizard screamed.
Kili waited for his brother to rejoin him. Fili had already fought against such creatures, but that wasn't the case for Kili and he feared being separated from him and not being able to protect Kili even though he surely didn't need it. They hided behind a huge rock, waiting from the wargs to pass. Kili heard footsteps sound behind them. He and his uncle next to him raised their heads to discover that one of the orcs was atop the rock, riding a warg was standing on the rock. The huge beast was sniffing the air, searching for a trace of the dwarves. It was close, too close. With a move of his head, Thorin silently told Kili to shoot the orc before it got too close. He put an arrow on his bow as slowly as he could so as to not alarm the creatures, and when he was ready, he moved to face them and before they realized it, he shot the warg in the shoulder. The young dwarf swore and immediately shot another one in the orc's neck before he had the time to blow his horn. The huge warg fell before them, and the other dwarves killed it. They heard a long howl from the distance and Kili guessed that the rest of the orcs were coming for them. What a mistake, if only he could have At least killed the warg. His first shot was weak, he should have aimed for the orc and then killed the other creature silently. He swore again
"Run!" Thorin grabbed his shoulder and pushed Kili before him.
They started running again, the Wargs coming from all directions. If they didn't figure a way to escape, they would be surrounded. They could fight but they weren't enough to take down all those monsters by themselves. Through the bushes, Kili saw an empty place without any foes. He decided to go there to see if there was a way out, he had to take that chance. It could be their only chance.
"Brother! Where are you going?!" Fili screamed, seeing his brother running away from him.
"Maybe we can escape this way!"
However, as soon as he arrived at the top of the hill, the young dwarf saw a whole bunch bunch of Wargs coming to him. Kili immediately turned back to rejoin the others. He could hear the loud steps of the creatures crushing the floor behind him. He took an arrow from his quiver and shot it in one of the warg's heads. The huge creature Fell on the orc, killing him on the spot.
"There's more coming!" Kili yelled while running back to Thorin.
"Kili! Shoot them!"
Kili turned back again and shot another arrow, the Wargs were coming from everywhere, and he couldn't see another way to escape.
"We're surrounded!" Fili said, coming up to his brother.
Kili shot another orc. He needed to protect his friends even if the situation was hopeless. It wasn't in his nature to give up without fighting.
"Where's Gandalf?" Dori asked.
"He's abandoned us!" Dwalin answered.
"Hold your ground!" Thorin drew his sword. The orcs froze at the sight of the weapon.
One orc spit in the direction of the dwarf prince and hit The warg's stomach with his legs. Thorin cut the leg of the beast. It collapsed in front of the two brothers. Fili immediately beheaded the warg, and Kili killed the orc with an arrow in his head.
"This way you fools!" Gandalf screamed, appearing from behind a huge rock.
"Come on, move" said Thorin. "Quickly, all of you."
Thorin slew a warg who was about to attack the other dwarves. Kili continued to shoot them to protect his Escaping friends. He was a little too close to the Wargs, but it was necessary.
"Kili!"
The young dwarf rejoined his uncle and brother. He jumped into a huge hole behind the rock and Fili followed when he was sure his brother was safe. Kili had discovered the cave where he arrived. Everyone was safe. His brother arrived after him followed by his uncle. Despite the desperate situation, nobody was hurt or wounded. All of a sudden, a clear horn resonated in the cave. Arrows whistled in the air, followed By wargs screaming and horses neighing. One orc fell in the hole with an arrow in his neck. Thorin took the arrow out of the creature and looked at it.
"Elves." Thorin said throwing the arrow On the floor with disgust.
Kili looked at the sky through the hole. No sound could be heard anymore. The elves… the company must have come too close to one of their mighty cities. The young dwarf hoped in his heart that they would go in one of those cities to meet the elves during their journey, but he knew that Thorin would prefer returning to the mines of Moria and facing all the orcs that live there to than eating at the same table as the elves.
"Well done up there, Kili" Fili walked next to him, putting his sword back into his sheath.
"Don't be so nice with me, brother" He answered sadly. "If only I could have managed to kill the first warg in one shot, the others wouldn't have found our position."
"They were two, you can't shoot two arrows at the same time" The blonde dwarf gave a pat on his brother's head. "Next time we have some free time to train, you will teach me how to use a bow so this kind of situation never happens again."
"Fili! Kili!" Thorin said. "We are leaving!"
The brothers followed Gandalf and Bilbo. They walked down a very tight canyon for at least one hour, and when they finally reach the end of the tunnel, a very bright and warm ray of sunshine caressed the check of Kili. A magnificent city appeared in from of his eyes, so white that it gave the impression that it was shining. He couldn't prevent himself from smiling of joy because of the beauty of this place. At his sides, Bilbo looked as enthusiastic as he was.
"The valley of Imladris. In the common tongue, it is known by another name" Gandalf announced proudly.
"Rivendell," Bilbo added with a hint of admiration in his voice.
"The elves," Kili murmured, without realizing that he said that out loud.
Kili was amazed by the beauty of the city of Rivendell. Everything he had read about, everything he had heard about, everything he could have imagine was Not even close to the majesty of what he was seeing. They walked across a bridge. The sound of the river beneath them was like a soft melody to his ears. The young dwarf was feeling at home in this place; he felt welcome. Magnificent sculptures of elves were standing next to the end of the bridge. They looked so beautiful and mighty, Kili surprised himself envying them.
"Don't your kin hate the elves?" Bilbo asked while walking closer to Kili. "You've had that weird smile on your face since we arrived in the city."
"Indeed, dwarves don't really get along with the elves." Kili answered. "It is not my case master hobbit. No elves have never done anything wrong against me or my brother. I have no reason to hate them."
"You are way more intelligent that you look Kili son of Vili" The hobbit said with a smile.
They finally arrived in front of a long staircase leading to a wooden white house. Elves in armor were guarding the entry, and a very tall and brown haired elf came to them.
"Mithrandir," he said with a warm smile.
"Lindir," Gandalf answered.
They started speaking in elvish. The voice of the named Lindir one was melodious, as beautiful as his appearance could suggest. Kili asked himself how his uncle could hate such perfect creatures. Plus, the one that betrayed Thorin was the king Thranduil of the woodland, And not every elf was like him.
"I must speak with Lord Elrond."
"My Lord Elrond is not here" Lindir said softly.
"Not here? Where is he?" Gandalf asked.
A melodious horn sound resonated in the valley, and horse hoofs could be heard from the distance. Thorin drew his sword immediately, and the others dwarves did the same. Kili followed the movement and took Bilbo by his shoulder to bring him into the circle they formed to protect him. Even if they seemed kind and friendly, the young dwarf was still on guard, knowing that elves can also hate dwarves. The horses rode by armed elves in golden armor surrounded them immediately. One of them came closer and Got off his horse.
"Gandalf! " The elf said.
" Lord Elrond, mellonin," Gandalf answered, bowing in front of him.
A royal aura was emanating from this elf. Even Kili could tell that he was a very wise and old elf. He couldn't keep his eyes On him for too long, too impressed by his grandiosity. This Lord Elrond must have live for a long time and seen many things. Even Gandalf bowed in front of this elf, a powerful man like him.
« Strange for orcs to come so close to our border" Elrond said after hugging Gandalf. "Something or someone has drawn them near."
"Ah, that may have been us" The wizard answered.
Thorin put his sword back into his sheath and came closer to the old elf to face him. His uncle have always impressed the young dwarf. Authority and royalty were the first two words that come to mind when someone saw him, but even the dwarf prince could not emulate the lord of this city.
« Welcome Thorin, son of Thrain. » Elrond said with a warm and friendly voice.
"I do not believe we have met" The dwarf answered, cautious.
"You have your grandfather bearing, I knew Thror, when he ruled under the mountain."
"Indeed, indeed, he made no mention of you"
Elrond look at skeptically Thorin for a short time before saying something in elvish.
"What did he says?!"Gloïn asked, his axe in his hands, ready to attack.
"He is offering you food, master Gloïn."
