Angel On Fire

Chapter 17 - Bard, the Bowman

After a while I start to notice that the river has calmed down, and the dwarves paddle along in their barrels with their hands.

"Anything behind us?" Thorin asks and I feel my eyes start to search for him.

"Not that I can see." Balin replies.

"I think we've outrun the orcs." Bofur calls and I let out a sigh of relief.

"Not for long; we've lost the current." Thorin clarifies and I furrow my brow.

"(Name) is half drown." Dwalin calls turning to look at me.

"Make for the shore! Come on, let's go!" Thorin orders and I summon what strength I have left to use my powers to push the barrels to the riverbank. Reaching it they climb out onto a slab of rock jutting out a bit into the river.

"Come on!" Dwalin calls as he helps me out of the water and onto the bank.

When Kili is on the rocks, he falls to his knees in pain from the arrow wound in his thigh; it has been bound with cloth, but blood is seeping through. Bofur looks at him concernedly.

"I'm fine, it's nothing." Kili growls covering his wound up.

I lie on the riverbank and take deep breaths as I try to recover my strength.

"On your feet." I hear Thorin call and I let out an annoyed groan.

"Kili's wounded. His leg needs binding." Fili informs his uncle.

"There's an orc pack on our tail; we keep moving." Thorin decides.

"To where?" I ask through ragged breaths.

"To the mountain; we're so close." Bilbo offers and I roll my eyes. I was in no shape to face a dragon.

"A lake lies between us and that mountain. We have no way to cross it." Balin clarifies.

"So, then we go around." Bilbo offers but the dwarves shake their heads.

"The orcs will run us down, as sure as daylight. We have no weapons to defend ourselves." Dwalin interjects.

"Bind his leg, quickly. You have two minutes." Thorin tells Bofur.

"I am cold... and I am wet." I state staring up at the blue sky as a shiver runs through my body.

"You should have stayed with the elves." Thorin interjects and I feel my anger rise.

"That's what you wanted me to do. I mean since you were going to leave me there after we already discussed that you wouldn't." I reply angrily.

"I only wanted to keep you safe." He adds and I roll my eyes and force myself to sit up.

"Yeah right," I add making his brow furrow. "You've been looking for a place to get rid of me since we met. Don't try to justify your actions now."

Before he has a chance to argue a man sneaks up over the pile of rocks and aims an arrow at Ori. As the dwarves realize a man is there, they jump up, and Dwalin, holding a branch, leaps in front of Ori. He raises the branch and begins to charge the man, but the man shoots his arrow and it embeds itself right in the middle of the branch, between Dwalin's hands. Kili raises a rock to throw, but the man shoots the rock out of his hand too.

"Do it again, and you're dead." The man with dark hair says pulling my attention towards him. Fearing the worst, I push myself to my feet and ready myself for anything.

Balin, who is standing near the edge of the group, sees a barge floating in the river behind the man. He slowly approaches the stranger with his hands held in the air.