It didn't take Thorin long to compose himself. The dwarves waited patiently after Fili gave the order to wait, showing the full effect of his leadership potential. He was calm, collected, thoughtful. So for now, even under the influence of the gold, they followed.
Linshara paced in the background looking for ways to locate the Sith. She needed to deal with him soon, lest his hold on Thorin returns. She kept seeing an image in her mind, of a small rectangular path outside of the mountain, overlooking a giant statue. The Force was telling her something, but as usual, too early for her to make the connection. She needed to do something first. She needed to find Kallus Ruun.
Before she could do much, however, she felt Thorin slowly approaching. His heavy footsteps echoed the corridors. As he rounded the corner and slowly stepped inside, they could all see he'd shed his 'kingly' visage. He was dressed again in a warrior's outfit. He was one of his people again. As he noticed him, Kili quickly got to his feet.
"I will not hide," Kili began emphatically, "behind a wall of stone, while others fight OUR battles FOR us!" His tone grew in intensity as he approached Thorin. "It is not in my blood, Thorin."
Linshara carefully observed the interaction, readying herself to pull them apart with the Force if necessary. Kili was still tainted, angry.
Thorin looked down at his nephew's face, his eyes softening, "no, it is not."
Genuine surprise came from Kili at his words as Thorin continued, whispering, "we are sons of Durin." Thorin put his hand on Kili's shoulder.
There was that spark of love and devotion to Thorin in Kili's heart again. Linshara relaxed a little as she felt this. Could Thorin pull Kili out of it?
Thorin continued softly, "and Durin's folk do not flee from a fight."
Slowly, uncle and nephew smiled at each other, Thorin leaning his forehead against Kili's, a genuine sense of relief washing through both of them.
Thorin nodded to Kili, clasping his shoulder again and stepped past him, "I have no right to ask this of any of you," he began, his gaze though focused on his heir, his older nephew.
He was silently asking Fili's approval and forgiveness. Linshara looked over at her betrothed. He felt both relief and doubt at the same time. He was both angry and happy at the same time, willing and uncertain all together.
"Will you follow me, one last time?" Thorin asked, his gaze still on Fili.
Slowly, Fili nodded, still uncertain on the inside, Linshara felt, but willing to take a chance. He loved Thorin fiercely and was loyal to a fault. As Fili nodded, the rest of the dwarves slowly rose up, one by one, weapons leaned on their chests, nodding.
Thorin looked at each and every one of them, a sense of immense gratitude washing over him. As Linshara stepped next to Bofur, Thorin looked over at her.
"Will you join us, my lady Linshara? Will you join your family?" The dwarf king turned to her.
Slowly, Linshara shook her head, "my path lies separately. I must find the Sith and dispose of him, once and for all. He is somewhere close, I can feel his presence. Unless he is ended, he will influence everything again." She nodded slowly at Thorin.
"Everyone, say your goodbyes then meet me at the gate, we must rejoin our brothers out there as soon as possible, arm yourselves well." Thorin nodded, stepping over to Linshara first. "Thank you…" he said in a deep tone.
While it was very simple, the emotions beneath the surface spoke of the true depth of his gratefulness. Linshara nodded in understanding. Each of the dwarves followed. Balin hugged her gently, a tear sliding down his cheek, Bofur spoke something in Khuzdul, but she gathered it meant something along the lines of 'good luck'.
Bofur and Kili both embraced her tightly, muttering words of encouragement and requests. Finally, Fili stood in front of her, a myriad of emotions displayed on his face. She knew he was afraid for her, afraid one of them wouldn't make it, afraid neither of them would. He wanted to keep her safe and protected, yet he knew that he could not. She had her duty as did he.
He opened his mouth to speak but found no words to describe his inner whirlwind. Instead he just pulled her into his arms as tightly as he could. "Mahal and the Force keep you safe, amralime. Come back to me, please." His voice was a quiet, sorrow laden whisper.
"Only if you do the same…" a tear slid down her cheek as her composure cracked as she held him. "Fight well, lead your people well, come back with your soul intact, my love." She whispered into his ear.
Pulling apart slightly, he pressed his lips to hers fiercely, trying to convey as much of his feelings through it as he could, savoring every moment. For that moment, Linshara allowed herself to feel, echoing his actions, putting all of herself into the kiss.
Finally as air ran out and they separated, he leaned his forehead against hers. "Let us finish this." He said finally, looking into her eyes.
Linshara nodded as they pulled apart. "May the Force and Mahal protect you, Fili, son of Vili, nephew of Thorin."
As Fili walked away slowly, her heart thundered in her ears, pain and fear threatening to overwhelm her. She sank to her knees as he disappeared around the corner and breathed deeply, slowly rebuilding her mental and emotional walls. She had to push all distractions out of her mind.
Opening her eyes, she saw one of the coins lying on the floor near her. Taking a deep breath, she steeled her resolve and reached for it. It burned her mentally as she grasped it in her palm and kneeled back down. Linshara held it tight and focused her mind.
She reached outside the mountain, the coin in her hand beginning to burn physically too. She could see the battle raging outside, but the image lead her further. It passed the overlook and headed towards Dale. The skin of her hand began to split as the coin seemed to fill with electricity. Suddenly, her mind homed in on the highest point of the ruined city.
Linshara took a deep breath as pain spread through her hand up towards her chest and she leaned forward, bracing against the floor with her other hand. He was there at the very top of Dale, hidden. He wasn't happy with what has happened. He must have been distracted with something as he didn't appear to notice her mental presence.
Finally unable to take the pain further as it began stabbing at her heart, Linshara dropped the coin to the floor and opened her eyes, the image disappearing. Breathing deeply, she straightened up and flexed her severely cramped hand. As she rubbed it with her other hand, she mentally sought out the exit she'd seen. She remembered Bilbo telling her about the hidden door, the proverbial side exit they'd come through initially.
Not seeing another option, Linshara decided to try for that exit to avoid going through the heat of the battle itself. Flexing her arm a little bit more, she drew her saber and headed out of the room, flexing and flourishing her hand, eventhough it was not her main sword hand. If it came to it, it may very well become one, it needed to be flexible and warmed up. The Jedi followed her instinct as she searched for the exit. After a few minutes of searching, she found a recently barricaded rectangular hole in the side of the mountain.
Sheathing her blade, she extended her left hand, to test how she wielded the Force and focused, sending out a focused push. A stream of energy left her hand and she winced a little, but it had the desired effect as it blew the stones outward and down the mountain side. Linshara shook her hand and slowly exited, using extra effort to shield herself against the outpour of emotions of the battle below and her own desire to mentally reach out and check on Fili.
Taking a deep breath, she started down the side of the mountain. She reached the giant statue, in which steps were carved into, relatively quickly. The battle raged beside her as she used the Force to propel her run, to get her to Dale quickly. Giant creatures were heading towards the city, wearing what she could only describe as ancient, makeshift catapults. If the dwarves and the elves were scared it was nothing compared to the sheer fear the humans were emanating. As she neared the city, she realized she'd need to do some powerful acrobatics and Force boosts in order to enter the city without going through the enemy amassed at the gate.
She heard loud screeching approaching from the opposite direction suddenly. Looking up she saw something that nearly threw her for a loop.
~Giant mynocks?~ She looked at the flying creatures in wonder.
Quickly though as they approached, she realized they weren't mynocks. They were giant bats. If she managed to seize control of the mind of one, she could get it to carry her over the battle to the top of Dale. In theory.
Reaching out with her right hand, she focused on a bat nearest incoming. The creature's mind was distorted and full of anger as she made connection, her hand glowing slightly. Soon though it yielded to her invasion and came to a stop as it approached her. Linshara grabbed one of its legs with her left hand, the other touching the creature's belly briefly, imprinting a suggestion to it.
As it took off, she searched out with her mind. She could clearly see him in his full height and glory, he'd commandeered a group of orcs and goblins that had poured into the city and he'd rounded up a group of women and children and several men. With no small amount of surprise she realized she knew those presences. Several of them in any regard. Bain, Sigrid, Tilda and Bard himself.
They have captured the leader of men and brought him to the Sith to face judgement. Bain and the girls were lined up in front of the Sith, along with three other children and two women. Bard and the men lined up behind them, weapons pointed at various parts of them. Kallus paced the line of women and children, demanding surrender of the armies or he would torture and murder the women and children in front of them. Linshara briefly wondered why he hadn't just forced them into it through the Force. He must have been too distracted or tired, or even injured, that could have been a possibility.
She neared the site quickly and let go of the bat which was now released of the Force suggestion. Falling through the air she extended her saber and shifted her weight to her legs, gathering the Force within her.
~Oh Living Force, flow through me, use me as your vessel,~ she called out mentally as she slammed into the ground feet first, the rest of her body leaning over the crouch, her left hand touching the ground and emitting a circular push through the Force in every direction around her, as strong as she could muster.
Everyone fell back and to the ground in various states of injury. Slowly, Linshara looked up, then at Bard. "Run!"
Before anyone else the orcs and goblins moved. Linshara moved at the same time, executing a flurry of motion, grabbing pieces of stone and rock around her with the Force and hurling them at the enemy. The orcs and goblins stood no chance against the forceful impacts of heavy objects the Jedi hurled at them.
Hair dishevelled and breathing deeply, Linshara felt alive, the Force coursing through her. Bard was on his feet untying his children, the rest of the men doing the same to the others who'd survived her landing.
Linshara looked at Bard with no small degree of urgency, "run!" She yelled as she felt Kallus Ruun stir.
"Well, well…" Kallus slowly got to his feet, theatrically wiping his robes of dirt. He'd done some work on them. If Linshara was honest they were quite regal and impressive, even if they were black and red and entirely sinister looking. "The little Jedi bitch returns." He chuckled, seeming ignoring the scarpering humans.
Linshara felt Bard hesitate, "go, see to your people. You still have a battle to win. Go!" The Jedi gently pushed Bard through the Force. "This is my fight."
"You should listen to her, Bard of a failed bloodline. After I deal with this annoyance, I will come and find you and tear you and your family bloodvessel from bloodvessel until you beg for death and I will keep you alive long enough for several repeats." The red skinned man grinned ferally at Bard.
Still uncertain he should, Bard finally left the eerily quiet scene. Down in the lower levels of the city the battle raged, yet right around them, the quiet was deadly. The Sith was like most of his kind, arrogant and entirely too focused on her to care for anything else at the time, overly confident that he could deal with whatever comes.
"Now then little Jedi, how shall I kill you? Should I sample that delicious flesh of yours first? Hmmm…" He slowly grinned as he unsheathed his lightsaber.
That ever familiar red blade ignited, at the ready at his side. He was pulsing with the Dark Side, his mind entirely consumed with one idea. Defeating her then doing vile things to her while breaking her mind and making her join the dark side. The perfect victory, turn his enemy into an ally.
"Are you ready to be my slave, Linshara? Are you ready to submit?" He stepped towards her.
Her blade above her head and downwards, in a typical Soresu pose, knees somewhat bent, Linshara felt the Force course through her.
"This day will not end with my fall, Sith. This day is your end!" She growled at him.
"We shall see!" He chuckled and swung his blade.