Chapter 21
Our time in Mirkwood seems to go by quickly, for me at least, I can imagine the dwarves being bored out of their minds down in the dungeons. I know they are itching to get out and for us to get on our way to Erebor, especially Thorin. It seems the closer we get to the mountain, the more desperate he wants to get there. I do not know if I should worry about this or not, whether his desperation is due to the gold or just the thought of finally reclaiming his home. I always brush the former notion away, knowing that this is something he needs to do for his people.
For the past week or so, I have split my time from being with Thorin and the dwarves and spending time with Tauriel to catching up on lost time with Legolas. After our first day back together, I knew all the worries I had before of him forgiving me and still able to love me were uncalled for. It feels as though we have not been separated at all. We spend a lot of time in the training area, often sparring each other and challenging the other in archery. Apart from that, we take walks together in the gardens or just sit and talk. I made sure not to reveal too much about my scars when asked, not ready to tell him everything at this moment in time as I don't want to worry him with it.
As for Bilbo, he has been coming and going from my room, going where, I do not know, nor do I wish to know. All I know is that he thinks he is close to finding a way out for the dwarves and it should not be too long before they can make their escape.
During one of my visits with Thorin, I told him that if Bilbo manages to get them out and I am not there, for them to leave and I will meet them either in Lake Town or at the mountain. He was not too pleased to hear this, obviously not wanting to leave me behind, but he saw my logic in this. We were running out of time as it was, and for them to wait for one of my visits – also risking me being in more trouble with my father for helping them escape – he knew that when the opportunity arose, they would have to take it. It would be a few days into the second week of their imprisonment when such a time arrived.
Thorin has lost count on the amount of time they have been left to rot in the dungeons. It could have been days, weeks or even months since they had freedom and he wouldn't know. Though, he prayed it wasn't months, they only had that much time left before they could open the door in time. Their only hope now lies within the hobbit, someone who weeks back, Thorin would never have let such a responsibility fall upon. He sure did surprise him.
"I'll wager the sun's on the rise. It must be nearly dawn." Bofur suddenly speaks up, breaking the silence.
"We're never going to reach the mountain, are we?"
Ori's voice sounds so defeated, it makes Thorin's heart sink. To hear such a tone in him of all the dwarves is something no one hardly hears. Although shy, he is usually a happy dwarf. Throin sighs as he looks down.
Bilbo suddenly appears, holding up the ring of keys.
"Not stuck in here, you're not!"
At the hobbits voice, Thorin's head snaps up, his eyes going wide as he sees Bilbo standing by the cell door, jingling a set of keys in his hand. He jumps up and rushes to the door as he hears Balin call out his name, followed by the excited shouts of the others.
"Shhh! There are guards nearby!" Bilbo scolds them.
Once Thorin's door is open, the dwarf steps out as Bilbo begins freeing the others. Thorin saddened to see Caladwen is not with him. Looking up the stairs, he hopes they can find her on their way out and bring her with them.
Once everyone is free, they all begin making their way to the stairs.
"The stairs. You first. Ori!" Dwalin says as he begins ushering the others.
"Not that way, down here. Follow me." Bilbo interrupts, walking down.
The dwarves follow, Thorin giving one last look to the stairs, his thoughts on Caladwen. The company sneak through the halls and eventually find themselves in a wine cellar. They go quiet as they see some elves sound asleep around a table, several empty bottles of wine in front of them. Bilbo leads the dwarves further in.
"This way."
"I don't believe it; we're in the cellars!"
"You were supposed to be leading us out, not further in!" Kili and Bofur hiss at the hobbit.
"I know what I'm doing!" Bilbo hisses back, starting to get frustrated. "This way."
They sneak down to where several barrels are stacked sideways down the middle of the room. All the barrels have one end open.
"Everyone, climb into the barrels, quickly!"
Dwalin stalks up to the hobbit. "Are you mad?! They'll find us!"
"No, no, they won't, I promise you. Please, please, you MUST trust me!"
The dwarves mill around, as they try to decide. Bilbo looks up to Thorin, begging him to help him out here. As Thorin looks to the hobbit, he can see in his eyes that he does actually know what he's doing, and knowing that this could be their only chance to get out of Mirkwood, he has to trust him.
Thorin turns to the dwarves and orders; "Do as he says!"
They look to Thorin for a second before beginning to get themselves settled in the barrels. Bilbo gives a grateful look and nod to Thorin, causing him to nod back as he joins the dwarves. Each of the dwarves climbs into a barrel, all of them helping one another into the barrels on top. Bilbo walks along, counting to make sure all the dwarves have been accounted for.
Bofur sticks his head out to look to Bilbo. "What do we do now?"
All the dwarves stick their heads out of their barrels and watch Bilbo as he walks toward a lever in the ground.
"Hold your breath."
"Hold my breath? What do you mean?"
In answer, Bilbo pulls a lever, and the part of the floor that the barrels were on tilts downward into an opening; the barrels roll out the opening and fall several feet into a river that runs beneath the Woodland Realm. The dwarves yell as they fall, and the barrels make loud thumping noises as they hit the water. The elves sleeping around the table stir and begin to wake up. Bilbo triumphantly looks around, then realizes that he forgot to get out himself, and that the trap door has closed.
Having no idea what is happening in the cellars, I am taking a rare walk with Tauriel through the halls. With her having more duties to attend to during the day, I have not been able to spend as much time with her as I would have liked while I've been home.
I listen as she talks about her duties over the past few days, having to go back out to the forest to make sure there are no more spiders lurking about. She then tells me more about her fears about the coming darkness she can sense.
"It does not surprise me that father does nothing." I reply to her once she's finished speaking. "Father only cares about his halls, never thinking of others."
Tauriel nods. "I asked him a few days ago, what would happen if the spiders had spread to other lands, he said they were not his concern."
I just sigh. "He may think they are not his concern, but they are when he is the one to drive those foul creatures to them, to harm innocents there that have nothing to do with this. We should be doing all we can to protect them, not put them in danger."
"I agree. If only we can make him see that, make him think the way you do."
"Hmm. I fear he will never see such ways. In almost two centuries, he has not changed like I had hoped."
She goes quiet as we continue our walk. Hearing hurried footsteps ahead, we look up to see two guards in full armour run towards us.
"Lady Caladwen, Captain Tauriel, the dwarves are gone!"
My heart leaps at this, Bilbo managed to get them out! Tauriel and I follow the guards to the dungeons where there are nine more guards by the open cells, which are now empty.
"Where is the keeper of the keys?" Turiel barks.
In the cellar, Bilbo frantically runs back and forth and stomps on the ground, trying to make the floor tip again. Panicking at the shouts coming down the stairs, he backs up a little and soon slides back as the ramp tips.
I run down towards the cellar, the only other way to get out, silently complimenting the hobbit on a brilliant plan. Tauriel and the guards run after me.
"Tolo hi!" Tauriel calls out.
Just as we get to the cellar, the floor closes up again and I have to grin. They are free!
Bilbo falls into the river, yelling. He surfaces and grabs onto Nori's barrel, said dwarf helping him to keep hold of the barrel. Thorin and the company, still in their barrels, have been waiting for him.
"Well done, Master Baggins." Thorin congratulates, feeling relieved he has trusted him.
Bilbo, half drowned, waves his hand in thanks and manages to splutter out a word.
"Go."
"Come on, let's go."
The dwarves paddle with their hands as the river pulls their barrels along; elves rush along passages in the Woodland Realm.
Glancing up, Thorin's heart soars as he spots Caladwen running along with him. Making eye contact with her, he sees her grinning at him before he loses her again.
As they emerge into the sunlight, and Thorin sees a waterfall right in front of them.
"Hold on!"
The dwarves, Bilbo, and the barrels plunge through the rapids, then float swiftly down the raging river. Legolas, followed by another elf, emerges from a gateway, and sees them floating away.
"Holo in-annon!" Legolas orders the elf with him.
After finding my way outside with Tauriel, we are running through the trees and bushes, making our way towards the river. I stop as I hear a horn blow from behind. Instantly recognising it, my heart drops as I remember the guardpost further ahead.
"Oh no. . ."
Picking up my pace, I catch back up with Tauriel as we run on.
Hearing the horn, Thorin looks ahead as they come around a corner and see a guardpost built above the river. It is guarded by heavily armoured elves, who, after hearing the horn, come to attention. Spotting the dwarves, one of them runs up to the lever and pulls on it, causing a heavy metal sluice gate to close, blocking the river. In their barrels, the company come to a stop at the gate, unable to float on further.
"No!" Thorin calls out, grabbing hold of the bars and trying to force them open.
As the barrels pile into each other, the elven guards draw their swords, ready to fight them. When, suddenly, one of them is shot from behind with a black arrow. Several growling orcs swarm over the guardpost, killing the elves. Many orcs, at least over fifty, run in from the bushes, lead by Bolg, the spawn of Azog.
"Watch out! Those are orcs!" Bofur calls out.
"Gorid! Zib! Goridug!"
The orcs begin throwing themselves at the dwarves in their barrels; Bilbo manages to kill one with Sting, and Dwalin elbows another in the face. Kili looks up and sees the lever the elven guard had pulled earlier. He manages to get out of his barrel and runs up the stairs toward the lever. Unarmed, he ducks as an orc swings at him.
"Kili!"
Quickly looking back, he sees Dwalin, who had managed to grab a sword from one of the elves or orcs, throws it to Kili, who then fights his way to the top of the stairs. As Kili fights an orc, another one leaps up from behind him, raising its spear to stab him. Fili throws a short sword or dagger and kills the orc, allowing Kili to fight his own opponent and kill it. Bolg, noticing Kili, pulls his bow and arrows from his back. As Kili reaches for the lever, Bolg fires an arrow, which hits Kili in the calf. Kili stops short, panting.
"KILI!" Fili screams for his brother.
Kili groans in pain and strains to pull the lever, but falls over onto his back. Bolg strings another arrow. Thorin looks shocked, terror filling his whole being as he hears the pain in his youngest nephews voice.
"Kili. . ." he breathes.
An orc leaps over to kill Kili, but an arrow suddenly flies into its head. Kili looks over and sees Caladwen and Tauriel running through the bushes.
As we are running through the bushes, I suddenly freeze as I hear a voice, a voice that I had not heard in six decades. . .Bolg. The one orc I had feared more than Azog.
"Caladwen, what is it?" Tauriel asks as she turns to me.
Noticing I am trembling, I shake it off before running on. "Quick! They are in danger!"
Hearing this she runs after me. Running on, I stagger once at hearing Fili screaming Kili's name. Not liking the fear and heartache in the tone, I pick up my pace, Tauriel taking off her bow and notching an arrow. I break the bushes in time to see her arrow hit an orc that was advancing on Kili. Bolg turns and sees us, meeting eye contact with him, I hear him growl louder. Tauriel and I begin to kill the orcs.
"Kill her! Kill the She-Elf! Kill the slave!"
Several orcs rush at the both of us; but don't manage to get far as Legolas and other elves appear from the bushes and shoot them down. I smile as I see Legolas, before turning my attention to Kili.
"Tauriel! Escal nin!"
She nods. "Gwao hi!"
She takes on the orcs as I kill one heading for me, before making my way to Kili as he manages to grab the lever and pull it, allowing the sluice gate to open, letting the dwarves float on through.
"KilI!" I call out as I reach him.
"C-Caladwen." He gasps out in a pained breath.
"I am here. Come on, let us get you in a barrel."
"After them!" Bolg orders, having seen the dwarves make their escape.
I help Kili slide to the edge of the guardpost and see an empty barrel below.
"Kili!" Fili calls out.
Kili then slips off the edge, landing in the barrel with a pained yell as the shaft of the arrows breaks off on the edge of the barrel.
"Caladwen! Come on!" Fili shouts up at me, holding onto the rocks beside him to stop floating on.
Looking at all the orcs, I turn back to Fili and shake my head. "Go! I will find you, I promise!"
Fili looks to me and lets go, reaching up for me as he goes. I lean down and give his hand a reassuring squeeze as he floats by.
Standing, I pull out my bow and shoot as many of the orcs as I can before they get close enough to where I have to pull my knives out. Hearing a growl from behind, I swing my blades around and kill the orcs coming at me. Tauriel and Legolas soon join me on the guardpost as we take out the orcs.
Taking out the orcs there, I turn and leap off the guardpost, shooting at the orcs that are chasing the barrels. Leoglas and Tauriel jump off behind me, followed by other elves.
"Do not shoot the dwarves or the hobbit!" I order the elves as we run on.
In the river, an orc leaps at Thorin in his barrel, but he manages to kill it with a sword he grabbed earlier. An orc jumps from an overhanging tree branch toward Balin, but Thorin throws his sword and pins the orc to the tree; as the orc drops its weapon, Thorin catches it while floating beneath him, and he throws back to Bombur, who throws it to Nori, who throws it to Fili, who kills an orc with it. An orc leaps onto Dwalin barrel, only for Dwalin to headbutt it off and steal its axe. The dwarves see a low-hanging tree branch stretched across the river in front of them, with several orcs on it.
"Cut the log!" Thorin/s voice calls out.
As he floats under it, Thorin hits it with his sword, then Bofur hits it with his weapon, and Dwalin, right behind him, hits the branch with his axe, breaking it and causing the orcs on it to fall into the river. Bilbo manages to climb atop a floating barrel.
"Bombur!"
Dwalin throws his axe to Bombur, who kills an orc that had just jumped onto his barrel. The Orc's spear ends up pinning it to an overhanging tree branch; the other end of the spear catches onto Bombur's barrel and catapults it through the air and onto the riverbank, where the barrel rolls and tramples multitudes of orcs. The barrel flips through the air to the other side of the river, where it tramples more orcs. Eventually, the barrel comes to a stop, and orcs surround it; however, Bombur kicks out the bottom, then sticks his arms holding axes through the sides. He then starts spinning rapidly with the axes extended, mowing down all the orcs around him. He then runs toward the river, tosses his axe to one of the floating dwarves, then gracefully jumps into an empty barrel.
Seeing this, I shake my head with a fond smile. That dwarf had surprised me time and time again on this journey. Having finally caught up with the barrels, I continue fighting the orcs as I run along side them. Looking to the river, I have to hold back a laugh as I see Legolas shoot the orcs, a foot and Dwalin and Dori's head. Oh, I know I am going to hear from Dwalin about this later.
Legolas continues fighting orcs, using the heads of floating dwarves as stepping stones to get across the river. He jumps on one, using it to slide down a small incline and fights off the orcs before stepping back on the dwarves to my side. While he is preoccupied fighting an orc, another orc runs up behind him and raises its sword to kill him.
"Legolas!" I yell out, not able to get to him as I am occupied with two orcs.
Killing them, I look up in time to see Thorin, from his barrel in the river, throw his sword, managing to kill the orc behind Legolas. Running up to my brothers side, I look down in time to meet Thorin's gaze just before he goes around the corner and out of sight.
"You are not going after them?" I ask as I look up to him.
He says nothing as we continue to watch the dwarves float by. Just as he is about to answer, two arrows fly by us and I turn to see Tauriel disarming an orc, forcing it to its knees. Just before she can decapitate it with her knife, Legolas stops her.
"Tauriel! Dartho! Ú-no hono. Ho hebo cuin."
Looking back to the river, I see Bolg and his remaining orcs continue chasing the dwarves.
"Ban khozdai-go! Sha-mogi obguryash!"
Legolas stares after the dwarves for a second, then turns and heads back toward the Woodland Realm. Tauriel also watches the dwarves floating away, being chased by orcs.
As I watch them disappear, I feel conflicted as to whether or not I should follow them or Legolas. If I follow the dwarves, I will soon be with Thorin again. Follow Legolas, I can receive some information from the orc we have captured, but also be at risk of being kept prisoner again by my father.
Feeling a hand on my shoulder, I look up to see Legolas looking at me, a sympathetic look in his eyes.
"Tolo, Caladwen."
Looking back to the river once more, I turn and follow Legolas back to the Woodland Realm, helping Tauriel to bring our prisoner with us.
Translations;
Tolo hi! - Come now!
Holo in-annon! - Shut the gate!
Gorid! Zib! Goridug! - Slay them all!
Tauriel! Escal nin! - Tauriel! Cover me!
Gwao hi! - Go now!
Tauriel! Dartho! Ú-no hono. Ho hebo cuin. - Tauriel! Wait! This one we keep alive.
Ban khozdai-go! Sha-mogi obguryash! - After them! Cut them off!
Tolo, Caladwen – Come, Caladwen