Right, this beauty is adopted from the wonderful WriterGirl1198, but this is where my work begins :D

R&R x

Disclaimer- I don't own anything. Anything you recognize from The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings belongs to Tolkien. The original characters- Cuilwen Morwen Thranduileth, her mother Queen Tawariell, and a few assorted others belong to WriterGirl1198.

Sorry for the delay in updates, with school starting again life has been a little hectic.

Beta'd by WriterGirl1198 :)

Chapter 4

*Cuilwen's POV*

The company of Dwarves followed Thorin's orders and began to walk down toward the stacked barrels, though even the bold half-bald one was still hesitant. I climbed into the very top barrel, deciding to take pity on the larger Dwarves since my frame was slim and more lithe.

The half-bald one turned back and said to Bilbo, "Are you mad? They'll find us!"

"No, no, no, no, they won't, I promise you. Please, please, you must trust me," Bilbo pleaded with him. The halfling turned back to the others, who promptly began to whisper rather loudly. He looked to Thorin and then to me, his eyes pleading for assistance. Before I could say anything, Thorin quickly intervened.

"Do as he says."

The Dwarves were quick to obey their leader, clambering noisily into the barrels as Bilbo counted, making sure everyone had a barrel. I sucked in a deep breath as I heard guards nearing the wine cellar.

"Hush you lot! The guards are nearing," I hissed quietly. I looked to Bilbo who simply nodded at me.

Bofur stuck out his head from the barrel under mine and asked, "What do we do now?"

Thorin stuck his head out of his barrel on the other side of Bofur. "Hold your breath," he said as I looked into his steeled-blue gaze.

"Hold my breath? What do you mean, 'hold my breath?'"

Just then Bilbo used the entire weight of his body to pull down the heavy lever, tilting the floor and sending the barrels rolling. The Dwarves howled in uneasiness at the sudden change in their equilibrium. I bounced around as the barrels fell, my body feeling too small in the large space. My head hit the wooden rim as our barrels plunged into the water, our heads briefly going underwater before we quickly resurfaced. I could see all the Dwarves, but Bilbo was not to be found. My barrel with its light load was easily pulled along by the swift current, but a strong, muscled arm grabbed my barrel, stopping me from floating away. I followed the arm to its body and found Thorin to be smirking at me. The trap door opened once again depositing the sputtering Hobbit into the river, where he was rescued by Nori.

"Well done, Master Baggins," Thorin complimented him with a small, genuine smile. I had to hold in a chuckle as the shivering Hobbit grunted, brushing off Thorin's praise as he tried to get a better hold on Nori's keg. Thorin used my barrel to turn his around, and the half-bald Dwarf spun my own barrel the right way, helping me move along with the current. "Move! Come on, let's go!"

We all began trying to paddle, our armor and weapons making it difficult to lean further over the rims and drag ourselves along. I looked up, my attention turning to the paths on the banks above the river as I heard the shouts of my people sounding the alarm for escaped prisoners. Thorin noticed this as well, and his desperation to escape escalated. We rounded the last curve in the river, and I knew what was ahead of us.

"Hold on!" I shouted back to the Company, trying to give them some warning.

The current soon became more violent, and the water turned white with foam as we entered the rapids. The first waterfall tossed us down into the river that flowed into the lake of Esgaroth. My barrel spun wildly with the churning river, and instead of seeing Thorin ahead of me, his soaked shirt clinging to his sculpted back, I saw Nori's barrel headed towards mine, turning occasionally to show poor distressed Bilbo still clinging on for dear life.

A horn sounded, warning the guards ahead to shut the gate. The border guards were calling out to each other until finally a cloaked and helmeted guard pulled the lever, shutting the gate before our eyes.

"No!" Thorin cried angrily, his barrel knocking against the closed gate under the bridge.

Our barrels were all piling up against the gate when I heard the sound of swords being drawn, quickly followed by the release of an arrow from a non-Elvish bow and a pained grunt from above. The lifeless body of an Elven guard fell from the gate into the river between the last few Dwarves and was followed by the monstrous roar of an Orc. In that moment I thanked the Valar for my foresight in obtaining the Company's weapons. I heard the obvious sounds of a fight from above us, given away by the distinct clash of metal on metal. The younger brunet Dwarf reached down into his barrel and pulled out a finely-carved bow and a quiver of arrows, the only ones I had liberated from the armory. Bodies of both Elves and Orcs fell into the river from above us, and before I even knew what I was doing I had paddled my way between the Dwarves towards the river bank, pulling my hunting knives from their sheaths at my side and quickly entering the fray. I knew that unless I got that gate open, all the Dwarves would be slaughtered; I could not allow that to happen.

"CUILWEN!"

My attention was grabbed by Thorin desperately shouting my name. I turned quickly, reacting to his cry, and was quickly met with the swinging blade of an Orc whose face was disfigured beyond all hope of repair. Deftly defending my weaknesses, I knew that I had to end this quickly and with a swift jab impaled the Orc-filth on one of my knives. The large body fell, clearing my path to the lever, and without a second thought I leapt up the stairs towards the protruding metal, beheading an Orc who dared cross my path.

I was halted by a sharp pain in my right thigh, and I looked down to see the young blond Dwarf looking up at me. He had skewered an Orc who would have ambushed me from behind. His eyes fell from my face to my leg, and I followed his gaze to see the long black-feathered arrow sticking out of my thigh. In that moment I felt all the pain the arrow caused overcoming the adrenaline caused by the battle. I tried to push past the pain to reach the lever, but my leg buckled, giving out on me before I could reach my goal. I gasped as I dragged my aching body towards the lever, using the last of my strength to lunge upwards and catch it, pulling it down and opening the gate.

I rolled over the edge of the wall, expecting to feel my body hit the cold water, but I instead felt the arrow catch and snap as I fell into a barrel. I barely managed to hold in a scream at the unexpected pain as an arm pulled me to rest against a solid chest. I turned my head to see that I was sharing a barrel with the blond Dwarf who saved me earlier. The barrels dropped down another waterfall, the turbulence partially drowning out the noise of the Orcs. The barrel once again filled with water before bobbing back to the surface. I could see most of the Dwarves ahead of us. I could also see that the Orcs running along the bank would not so easily give up their prey.

The rapids picked up with the steepening of the river bed, and the arrows and spears were missing us by mere millimeters. The Orcs continued trying to cut us off, but with my bow lost in my barrel and only one of the Dwarves being an archer, we couldn't cut down any Orcs unless they were at a closer range.

Out of the corner of my eye I suddenly saw pale blond hair, and I turned in surprise to see my brother shooting down the Orcs along the river-side. With him were more Elven guards from the palace fighting the Orcs blade against blade. Thorin pinned an Orc to an overhanging tree branch with an Orcish blade taken from one of his kills. Grabbing the now-deceased Orc's falling weapon, he tossed it down the line of Dwarves before the Dwarf whose barrel I shared leaned over me, catching the pole and using it to sweep an Orc off its feet.

The Dwarves ahead of me cut another tree branch overhanging the river, and the wood supporting several Orcs falling into the water. I heard a loud thud and was shocked to see a barrel containing one of the Dwarves rolling along the bank, wiping out many Orcs that got in his way.

Turning to look ahead once more, I tried to make myself useful by using my knives to cut down any Orcs that got too close to us. I could see Legolas up ahead standing atop the heads of two Dwarves, shooting at the Orcs from the centre of the river. He then proceeded to jump from one Dwarrow head to the next as if they were stepping stones in a gentle stream. He leapt to the river bank, countering an Orc's sword with his own twin knives. My eyes widened in fear as a large Orc came up behind him, raising his blade against my brother.

"TORON!" I screamed loudly, trying to gain his attention.

Before he could react the Orc was dead by an Orcish blade. I turned towards the Company, my Elf eyes seeking out my brother's savior. I locked my gaze with Thorin's, trying from the depths of my heart to convey my thanks.

We rounded another bend in the river, and I turned back to see Legolas standing at the top of the rocky bank. His eyes met mine one final time as we silently bade each other farewell. The Orcs continued after us, but the swift waters of the river favored us for once, taking the Dwarves and myself beyond their reach.

Translations -

Toron (Elvish) - Brother