No Place Like Home (Kili Fanfiction - Book 2) - SLOWLY EDITING!!

Chapter 7 - Escaping the Elves

With the ring still on my finger, I followed the path that led down to the cellar, knowing that's where the guard with the keys went. There were other Elves moving empty barrels and talking about how they needed more wine. "These empty barrels should have been sent back to Esgaroth hours ago," the guard with the keys said, coming down the stairs. "The bargeman will be waiting for them."

"Say what you like about our ill-tempered King. He has excellent taste in wine," another Elf commented, taking a sip from the bottle he held. "Come, Elros, try it."

"I have the Dwarves in my charge," he responded, holding the keys up in front of him. He lowered them back down to his side, my eyes following them.

"They're locked up. Where can they go?" The other Elf chuckled, grabbing the keys from Elros' hand and hanging them on a hook. They moved away, sitting down at a table and started drinking. I waited a few minutes to make sure they were distracted before quietly going over to the hook and grabbing the keys, careful not to let them make any sound. Once they were safely in my hand, I made my way up the stairs slowly, breaking into a run when I saw the halls were clear.

"I'll wager the sun is on the rise," I heard Bofur call out to the others as I made my way up to them. "Must be nearly dawn."

"We're never gonna reach the mountain, are we?" Ori said sadly.

"Not stuck in here, you're not," I smiled, holding the keys up and jingling them slightly. I quickly shoved the ring into my pocket as Thorin ran to the door of his cell. Going over, I started to unlock it.

"Almithara!" I heard Balin yell. This caught the attention of the other Dwarves, who started shouting my name.

"Shh! There are guards nearby!" I whisper-yelled to them as I finished unlocking Thorin's cell. He opened the door and I moved on, going over to Balin's cell. One by one, I helped the Dwarves out of their cells. Thorin whispered for them all to shut the doors, so it looked like they were still in there. After letting Nori out, I went over to Kili, unlocking his door, but refusing to look him in the eye. I was still mad about what he said to Tauriel. He opened the door and went to wrap me in a hug, but I quickly moved away, going to unlock his brother's door.

"Up the stairs," Dwalin ordered, pushing Ori to go first.

"Not that way. Down here, follow me," I told them, leading them the way I had come before. Getting back down to the cellar, my advanced hearing picked up on the sound of snores before we even turned the corner at the bottom of the stairs. The two Elves were passed out on the table. One of them jolted awake and I froze, causing Kili to bump into me. The Elf slowly lowered his head back down to the table, falling back asleep. We continued moving over to where the empty barrels were stacked.

"I don't believe it. We're in the cellars!" Kili whispered to the others, glaring slightly at me.

I glared back as Bofur spoke, "You were supposed to be leading us out, not further in!"

"I know what I'm doing!" He shushed me and moved past me. "Everyone, climb into the barrels quickly," I told them as they all stood in front of the barrels.

"Are you mad?" Dwalin asked, walking over to me. "They'll find us."

"No, they won't. I promise you. Please, you must trust me," I told them, shaking my head. The Dwarves started muttering amongst themselves and I looked up at Thorin, who looked down at me briefly.

"Do as she says," he ordered. The Dwarves obeyed, pushing each other. I paced back and forth in front of the barrels, counting to make sure everyone was in.

"What do we do now?" Bofur asked, sticking his head out. The others followed suit, staring at me.

"Hold your breath," I shrugged, pulling the lever that stood in front of me. The door that the barrels were on slowly opened up and gravity pulled the barrels, one by one until they were all gone, splashing into the water below. I smiled, happy that my plan had worked. Standing on the door, I waited for it to open up again, but nothing happened.

"Where is the Keeper of the keys?" A voice shouted, followed by footsteps on the stairs. I moved out from behind a wall of bottles, but quickly backed up, seeing that the Elves were awake. The sounds of guards got closer and my eyes widened as I backed up towards the end of the door. The door opened and I started sliding backwards, falling into the cold water. Swimming back up to the surface, I felt a hand grab onto my arm and I opened my eyes to see Nori's hair.

"Well done, Lady Almithara," Thorin said from the front of the group. I waved him off, shaking slightly as I held onto Nori's barrel. We let the current take us as it progressively got faster. "Hold on!" Thorin yelled, over the sound of a waterfall and I tightened my grip, sucking in a deep breath before going over the edge and plunging under the deep water. The current had picked up significantly and the Dwarves were bumping into each other's barrels. A horn blared in the distance and my head shot up.

"No," I muttered to myself, eyes wide. Swiveling my head around, I saw a guard move to a lever. "They're closing the gate!" I yelled to the others. The guard pulled the lever down and I heard Thorin yell out before we all started piling up at the now-closed gate. All of the guards drew their swords, ready to fight us if needed. But my thoughts on a battle were cut short when an arrow lodged itself into the back of one the Elves. He fell into the water as an Orc popped out from behind a rock. Orcs started coming out from behind rocks and trees, attacking the Elves that stood around us. An Orc dropped down in front of Fili, a sword raised, but I beat him to it, stabbing him with my own. He fell, dead, into the water as the rest continued to fight off others. The barrel that I was hanging onto dipped and I looked up to see Kili hop onto land. An Orc swung at him, but he ducked, catching a sword that Dwalin threw at him. He stabbed the Orc, kicking him into the water before continuing up the stairs and fighting off another Orc, whose head he cut off. Running over to the lever, he stopped, pain and confusion etched onto his face. An arrow was sticking out of his thigh. Fili yelled out to him as he tried to push the lever up. Kili fell to the ground, holding onto his leg. "Kili!" I yelled, lifting myself out of the water. I ran over to where he lay groaning and I got down on my knees, leaning over him. "It's okay. You're going to be okay," I told him as I held his face in my hands. His eyes were closed, his face contorted into a grimace. 

"Almi! Look out!" Kili yelled, opening his eyes. He pulled me closer to him, but soon let go. Turning my head to the right, I watched as an Orc fell off the bridge, an arrow lodged in its throat. My head whipped around to see where it had come from and I saw Tauriel running down towards the edge of the water. She shot another arrow in our direction, hitting another Orc. It kept moving towards us, so I quickly stood up, pulling my sword out. The Orc swung at me and I quickly deflected it, bringing my own weapon down on his neck, cutting his head off. Breathing heavily, I turned back to Kili, whose eyebrows were raised. I shrugged a shoulder before jumping up to reach the lever. My hands wrapped around it and it slowly lowered, opening the gate. Feeling my fingers slip, I let go, falling to the ground by Kili's feet. I watched as the barrels slowly started to disappear, moving past the now-open gate.

Moving back over to Kili, I put a hand on his cheek, "Can you stand?" He shook his head, cringing. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an empty barrel moving closer to the gate and saw that as our opportunity. Rolling Kili, he dropped over the side of the bridge and into the empty barrel, the arrow in his leg snapping. He groaned and I quickly slid off the side, landing in front of him in the barrel. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders as he grabbed onto his leg and leaned into me, breathing heavily. Our barrel went down a small waterfall and water splashed up, soaking our heads and shoulders. The Orcs followed our path, trying to attack us as we were swept downstream. I held on tightly to Kili, ducking our heads down and letting the others fight off the enemy. Looking up briefly, I noticed Legolas standing on Dwalin's head as he shot arrows at the Orcs. Seeing him so close made my heart race and I ducked my head down again, watching him. He hopped back onto land and started fighting off three Orcs at the same time. Killing two of them, he turned, facing the last one, not knowing that another was creeping up behind him. "Legolas! Behind you!" I screamed without thinking. His head shot up at the sound of my voice as an ax landed in the Orc's chest. He quickly turned to watch it fall, dead. Turning back, we stared at each other until the Dwarves and I rounded a corner, out of sight.

Author's Note:

I was thinking about it and yes, I put the disclaimer saying that I only own my character, but just to make things extra clear, I own her story/background too. Everything Almithara belongs to me. The only thing that I don't own (sadly) is The Hobbit; its characters, the story line. Does that make sense?

I OWN NOTHING BUT MY CHARACTER!!