Chapter 25

The three continued to follow the trail left by the orc pack, and soon determined that the orcs were making their way to Lake-town.

This discovery pushed them to move faster as the orcs would likely reach the outskirts of the town by midday the next day and wait until cover of night to strike.

They pushed as far as they could into the night until it became apparent that Annelise would not be able to make it any further, as she was still recovering from her injuries. Tauriel quickly looked over the girl's healing wounds and changed the bandages before allowing her to rest.

She was awoken just before sunrise the next morning by Legolas resting his hand on her shoulder and calling her name softly.

"We must make haste if we are to reach Lake-town in time," he said assisting her to her feet and handing her the pack he had returned to her the day before.

After a quick light breakfast, the three took off running again.

By the time they reached the town, night had already fallen and they pushed themselves to intercept the orc pack before they found wherever the dwarves were for the night.

Annelise ran faster when she was able to make out the shape of orcs crawling across the rooftops of buildings.

"Be ready," Legolas threw over his shoulder as they entered the town, drawing back the arrow he had strung slightly.

Annelise and Tauriel both pulled out their blades and Annelise gripped the handles tightly in worry and anticipation of what they might find once they caught up with the orcs.

Suddenly the sound of a young girl's scream pierced the night. Legolas changed directions, running across a bridge toward a house that Annelise could see was surrounded by orcs.

Seeing the stairway up to the door blocked by orcs, Legolas pulled himself up and made his way to a hole Annelise could see in the roof, taking down orcs in his way.

Tauriel moved to face the orcs on the stairway, Annelise behind her taking out the orcs that tried to sneak up on the elleth.

Once they made it to the door, Annelise watched Tauriel pause for a moment to assess the situation before springing into action, Annelise jumping in right after her.

She was vaguely aware of Legolas dropping in from the hole in the ceiling near the back door, but she was preoccupied with trying to keep the orcs away from the three children that were in the house.

More orcs dropped through the ceiling or came in through the doors, and Annelise heard the sound of pained yelling and turned to see Kili lying on a bed with an orc pulling on his leg.

"Kili!," Annelise yelled, Tauriel turning and throwing a knife at the orc holding on to the dwarf.

After spotting her cousin, Annelise looked around trying to see who else was there while also keeping an eye on the orcs around her.

She noticed Fili and Oin standing near her, trying to keep the orcs away from the two young girls with the help of their brother. She quickly realised that her cousin did not have any weapons and moved to his side as quickly as she could in the small space.

"Fili!"

"Annelise, I've never been more glad to see anyone in my life," he said, smiling largely despite their current situation.

"Here," she said handing one of her blades to each of the dwarves and drawing her bow. Even if she couldn't shoot the orcs at such close range, she knew she could at least block any attacks from the few remaining orcs while the others finished them off.

This theory was proven correct when Annelise watched Tauriel kill the last orc with assistance from Kili, who then fell to the ground screaming in pain at the movement.

Legolas moved out the door to finish off the final orcs near them, and heard the call for retreat from their leader.

"You killed them all," the young boy said, looking in awe at the two women still standing in his destroyed home.

"There are others," Legolas said, walking back into the house for a moment.

"Tauriel, come," he spoke motioning to her to following him and nodding at Annelise, knowing she would want to stay to help her companions.

Annelise watched Tauriel hesitate as she looked down at the dwarves at her feet trying to help Kili.

"We're losing him," Oin said looking up at Annelise, who was standing next to the elleth.

"No," Annelise whispered, going down onto her knees next to her cousin.

"Do you not have any kingsfoil?," she asked the old dwarf desperately.

"Bofur left to find some before the attack," Fili said solemnly. "He has not returned."

"Tauriel," Legolas said once more, leaving so the orcs would not get away.

Tauriel hesitated again for just a moment before moving to the door to watch Legolas follow after the orcs. She made to follow him, but another cry of pain from Kili stopped her again.

She turned to look back at the dwarf and then Annelise saw her suddenly tense, reaching for a weapon and turning back to the door. At this movement Annelise shot up from the floor, grabbing her blades that her cousin and Oin had set down next to her.

She slowed down when she saw Tauriel relax and reach toward whoever was in front of her. Once Annelise was at the woman's side, she saw that it was Bofur and let out a sigh of relief at the sight of the small green plant in the elleth's hands.

"Athelas….," both women breathed out at the same time.

"What are you doing?," Bofur asked the elf, confused by look that had crossed her face as she stared at the small plant.

Tauriel looked at Annelise for a moment, before looking down at the dwarf in front of her and speaking.

"I'm going to save him."

The emotion behind the female elf's voice confused Annelise, not understanding why the woman seemed so invested in saving her cousin's life. As it was, she was not going to question it for now, not if it meant that Kili's life would be spared.

They rushed into the house and cleaned the orc's bodies out of the kitchen and set up the table once more.

Once this was done, Annelise began crushing some of the athelas into a paste as Tauriel had instructed and handed the mixture to the elleth.

Annelise then helped the three dwarves put Kili on top of the table as he had began thrashing around in pain uncontrollably.

"Hold him down," Tauriel instructed, before inspecting the wound in his leg.

She grabbed a few of the uncrushed athelas leaves and began rubbing them around in her hands with some of the paste, while chanting in Elvish.

She then pressed the paste in the wound and continued speaking, causing Kili to cry out in pain once more and begin thrashing harder.

The older girl, calling out to her sister as well, moved to assist the others in holding down the dwarf. Annelise moved over toward Tauriel and tried to hold her cousin's injured leg as still as possible, so the elleth could concentrate.

As Tauriel continued chanting, Annelise noticed that her cousin's movements began to still and looked towards his face. She saw the other dwarves staring at the elf in awe and the look on her cousin's face was unlike any she had seen on it before. She turned to the woman beside her and saw the look mirrored back in her eyes as she looked down at the dwarf.

She then realized exactly why the female elf had been so insistent on following them and saving him.

'They care for each other?,' she thought in surprise, wondering when they had even had an opportunity to meet, though she knew it must have been while the dwarves were imprisoned.

Tauriel continued chanting for a moment and Kili's motion completely stopped as he fell into a peaceful sleep.

The elleth nodded at the others around her, signalling that they could let go of the dwarf.

Annelise moved to grab some bandages to wrap her cousin's wound and Tauriel took them from her with a soft "Thank you."

She then went to stand next to Oin and Fili, watching the elf work.

"I've heard tell of the wonders of Elvish medicine," Oin spoke in awe as she joined them. "That was a privilege to witness."

Annelise looked over at the weak sound of Kili's voice.

"Tauriel."

Annelise knew it was too soft for the others to hear, but led them away from the two nonetheless.

Bain, Sigrid and Tilda, as she had learned were the three children's names, were busy trying to set their home back to rights and Annelise and the others began helping them. As they helped clean, she began speaking with her cousin.

"Fili, where are the others?"

"They left early this morning in order to reach the mountain before sunset. It is Durin's Day."

"And they left you here defenseless?"

"Uncle believed it would be best for Kili to stay here and heal. He did not want him slowing their progress," he spoke bitterly. "Oin and I elected to stay with him and Bofur overslept."

This last part caused the two to smirk at each other in amusement.

"Do you think they made it?," she then asked.

"I do," Fili said sadly, confusing Annelise with his tone. "We have been hearing loud sounds and feeling shakes coming from the mountain. I can only assume that means they made it in."

Annelise then realised what had caused her cousin to sound so distraught. Only one thing in that mountain could cause sounds and rumbles to be felt so far from it.

"Smaug."

Fili nodded his head solemnly at her comment, and a shot of fear stabbed through her stomach.

"Addâd…," Annelise whispered under her breath, worry for her father and the others consuming her for a few moments. They continued working in silence until Annelise asked another question.

"How did you end up here?"

"Bilbo came just as the sun was beginning to rise and freed us from our cells. He then led us into the cellars of the palace and we escaped in barrels that were being sent downriver. The elves discovered we were escaping and tried to stop us on the river, but then we were attacked by orcs."

"That's when Kili was injured," he said, turning to look at his brother who had fallen back to sleep. "An orc shot him while he was trying to pull a lever that would open the gate and allow us to keep moving down the river."

"Eventually we got past the elves and orcs and came to a point in the river where the current was no longer strong enough to keep us moving, so we swam to the bank. That is where we met the children's father," he continued, nodding his head to the three children in front of them.

"His name is Bard. He is the bargeman that was waiting for the barrels to bring them back to Lake-town. We managed to secure passage with him across the lake and hid here until cover of night, when we tried to break into the armory to get weapons and leave."

"We were caught, but the Master of the town welcomed us after learning of our quest. He gave the others weapons and supplies for the journey and saw them off this morning. But he turned us away when we asked for help when Kili collapsed. That's how we ended up back here."

"Well you certainly have had an adventure since I last saw you. But where is Bard now?," Annelise asked.

"As soon as we heard the sounds coming from the mountain, he left with his son for a bit. Bain returned soon after and said that some guards had confronted him. I can only assume he was arrested."

"I see," Annelise said, looking at the children working together around her and moved to help the youngest girl. Tilda was trying to lift a large bench on her own and was struggling, so Annelise moved to grab one end to ease the weight. They quickly had it back on its legs and Tilda smiled up at the woman in thanks.

"Are you an elf?," she asked curiously, wondering about the woman who had shown up to rescue them with the other two elves.

"No I'm a Man, just like you," Annelise smiled sweetly, bending down to be closer to the small girl's level. "However, I was raised by dwarves. You met my father, Thorin, earlier. And those two over there are my cousins." At this she pointed in Fili and Kili's directions and the girl looked at her in awe.

"Wow," was all the girl was able to say though before the entire house shook and a loud sound filled the air. Annelise could hear sounds coming from outside, as people were awoken by the shaking and began panicking.

Annelise looked up at Tauriel, eyes wide with fear, knowing that it could only mean one thing.

Smaug was coming.