Heart Like Yours

Chapter 14: hurt

Thorin had finally decided to use the barrels as they spend more than a week still locked up.

The orcs, however, were not planned on. Their trail was believed to have been gone days ago, back at the bear's house. But not, apparently. And so when one fell in the water, it was easy to snatch their weapon from their body before they could sink, and Elanor was given plenty of choices in weapons. So she grabbed the bow and arrow, and enough arrows to take down at least a handful of Orcs.  

"Thorin, no!" Elanor heard Fili cry. And she whipped around to see said dwarf climbing out of his barrel towards the lever the elves had died to keep you from leaving. He was going to open the gates. But he obviously did not see the orc's draw their attention to him. 

Elanor didn't know what came over her, but she pushed herself from the side of the barrel, towards the solid rock of the bridge, and then heaved herself just over the side. Jostling him had been an accident, but one that she later came to not regret. Especially since it caused the arrow meant for him to embed itself into her thigh. The pain was burning as the arrow seemed to course through her veins, and she cried out, trying desperately to shield herself from the pain, but it didn't work. The arrow was cursed, Elanor could tell right from the moment it hit you. "Elanor!" Kili cried.

"Pull the lever!" Elanor ground out, her eyes squeezed shut. And she heard the grinding of the metal as the lever was pulled, before the sound of Thorin knocking an arrow out of the way with his makeshift sword from a fallen orc. Elanor had to pull it out.

Elanor opened her eyes just in time to see that she was not alone. Elves had followed, namely two. The red-head that had spent too much time outside of Kili's cell. And the blonde that had spoken to Elanor outside of hers, once.

"Elanor, we need to go!" The barrels were starting to float away. Elanor tore her eyes away from the elf, crying out yet again as she pulled the arrow from her side. Setting it on the ledge, Elanor climbed overtop it and calculated the distance it took to land in her barrel, and the effort she'd need. Both her and Kili jumped.

The wound worsened. While both Fili and Kili worried over it, the others believed they had to move on fast. Elanor didn't mind she had gone on this adventure to help them, not slow them down. She could barely walk in Lake Town. Her leg would crumple under each step, and she could still feel her blood burning under her skin.

...

Days had passed since the Company and Elanor had escaped Mirkwood via the barrels. The first few days had been tough due to the orcs. Elanor had been shot in the leg and each day it got worse.

"Lucky charm?" Elanor asked Kili as they settled down to camp for the night.

Kili's thumb stopped—but no twitch or tick or nod of the head. Elanor realised the question may have been intrusive, so she pulled her blanket around her shoulders and concentrated on Fili's sibilant tempo.

"A promise to my mother," Kili finally said. He raised the object wanly—a small black stone—and added an unconvincing shrug. Thorin grabbed Kili's hand, taking the small black stone and holding it up, as though presenting it. By a dim flick of firelight, Elanor saw a rune etched on the surface. She leaned forward, overcome with curiosity.

Thorin considered the stone, staring with the same expression as Kili's thumb—with the same expression as the rooted, implacable stones of the Elf Road—with the expression of Orcrist, sword of ancient wars and derring-do, buried among the detritus of a troll cave.

"We're safe on the road," Thorin said, returning the stone to Kili and closing his eyes. "Get some rest."

Kili swiftly pocketed his stone and fidgeted, shifting each limb yet remaining, in the end, as he was. Elanor lay down on her back, while Fili, having at some point paused, resumed sharpening his knives. And the hushed, uninterrupted conversation around the campfire continued unabated.

"How's your leg?" Kili whispered to Elanor as they lay down to fall asleep. Elanor turned around to face Kili, "It still hurts, but it'll be fine soon" Elanor then turned away to sleep. Kili knew she wasn't good. Everybody did.