In Time

Chapter Fourteen

Kili heard the sound first and grabbed Dwalin by the back of his leather vest. Dwalin spun about but before he could say anything, Kili clapped a hand over Dwalin's mouth, lifted his free hand to press his forefinger against his lips, and gestured behind them with his head.

Thorin saw all of it, sliding the Orcrist free as he did. No sooner did it clear its scabbard then the first orc arrow slit the air. The dwarves scattered into the trees, the underbrush, anywhere they could make themselves either smaller still or disappear from sight altogether.

The first orcs followed the barrage of arrows, but the dwarves were ready for them. Thorin spun about, gripping the Orcrist in two hands as he easily cleaved two orcs in half in one fell swoop. Behind him, Dwalin swung his battle axe, missed one orc, hit a tree instead, and as the orc went to run him through, a silver tipped arrow came from nowhere to impale the orc between the shoulder blades. Fili jumped into the mix, knives at the ready and he and Balin worked as a team to take out three more.

"Behind you!"

Thorin spun about at the familiar voice, and thought his eyes had to be playing tricks on him as Amara popped up from behind a huge fallen tree, fired an arrow, and hit an approaching orc dead between the eyes.

"What the—what are you doing here?"

"Get down!" She aimed right at him and he ducked as she sent another arrow slicing above his head.

Kili spun about and fired, yelling, "Amara, down!"

She dove, hit the ground, rolled and sprang to her feet beside Thorin, bow stowed away and a small sword in her hand instead. It was a sight he'd never thought he'd see, and he wasn't at all certain it was a welcome one or if it terrified him. "What the deuce are you doing?"

"Fili!" Kili's voice rang out through the woods and both Amara and Thorin whipped about to see Fili surrounded by orcs. Kili fired, Thorin charged, and Dwalin dropped almost from the sky, both axes in his hands blurs as he made quick work of dispatching the orcs.

Hoofbeats sounded and the elvish army thundered toward them. Without thinking, Thorin grabbed Amara about the waist to yank her out of the path of the horsemen. "You should not be out here!"

"I'm fine!" She broke free of him and swung up into the nearest tree. "Dori! Ori! Behind you!"

More arrows dotted the air, both elvish and orc. Metal clanged against metal as dwarf and orc battled amongst the trees and rocks and bushes. Thorin tried to keep Amara in his sight, but it was impossible, as she moved from tree to tree as if she'd been doing it all her life.

He ducked as an orc axe narrowly missed removing his head, and he came up swinging, burying his blade into an orc belly and not letting up until the blade protruded from the orc's back. He winced at the soft grind of the blade against bone when he tugged it free, but there was no time to dwell as Fili shouted. "Thorin! Behind you!"

He whipped about as the orc charged and metal met metal with enough force that the vibration hummed through Thorin's body. He tried to focus on what he was doing, and tried not to think about where Amara had gotten to or why she was even there. She was a healer, not a warrior, although he had to admit, she fought like a seasoned warrior, indeed.

The orc lunged. Thorin deftly stepped to his left, and spun about as the orc tried again. Their blades met with an angry clash, and Thorin had had enough. His side ached with the memory of his last encounter with an orc. He was tired of being hunted, tired of these wretched creatures trying to end his life, to end his line, he wanted to be done with them for once and for all.

He gripped the Orcrist in both hands and swung with all his might to sever the orc's head from his neck and sent it spinning wildly into the trees. All around him, the Company, including Master Baggins, fought their attackers and as the elvish army closed in, the orc pack thinned considerably.