"To fight evil; you must first understand the dark."
From the blood of Dragons, a child shall rise,
Born of fire and fear, her fate sealed with lies.
For she is the chosen, the one who will bring
A reign of darkness, a world with its dark king.
...
The barrels bobbed along the placid, tree-lined forest river. The current had died down not long back, resulting in the Company using their hands to paddle themselves along. They were exhausted from the struggle to maneuver themselves to shore by any means necessary.
Thorin scanned the shoreline.
"Anything behind us?"
Balin replied, "Not that I can see."
"I think we've outrun the Orcs!" Bofur chimed in optimistically as he emerged from his barrel, Spitting a stream of water.
"Not for long, we've lost the current!" Dwalin cautioned, "And Bombur's half-drowned."
And so, they began to paddle themselves to the shoreline. Anaynah's muscles ached. Sore she was already, but adding the ashroot and the fact she was tackled, she was surprised she hadn't broken a rib.
Finally, they reached the rocky edge of the river where they all protruded out from the barrels.
Anaynahs knees quivered as she walked, feeling weak and unsteady. She tried to hold strong, for she did not need the Company thinking she was going to be a burden.
She looked up to see Kili grunt and fall to his knees, blood seeping from a wound on his thigh. He clutched it in agony while trying to soak the blood with a rag. Anaynah quickly rushed to his side, a few of the Dwarves too around and looking at him concerned.
"I'm fine - it's nothing," Kili insisted. though Fili, Bofur and Anaynah exchanged worried looks.
"On your feet!" Thorin's voice ordered as he walked along the rock.
Fili voiced his concern, "Kili's wounded - his leg needs binding,"
"There's an Orc pack on our tail - we keep moving."
"To where?" Balin asked.
"To the mountain, we're so close!" Bilbo replied.
"A lake lies between us and that Mountain and we've no way to cross it," Balin answered grimly.
"So, then we go round," Bilbo suggested.
"The Orcs will run us down sure as daylight," Dwalin added the grim reality, "We've no weapons to defend ourselves."
"Bind his leg - quickly," Thorin caved, "You have two minutes."
The Ranger stood by his side as Fili bound his brother's leg with a piece of cloth. Anaynah squirmed at the sight. She couldn't stand to see him in such pain
Unknown to them they were being watched. Soon the company felt the pressure. Ori, in the process of emptying water from his boots, looked up to see a tall, dark-haired man standing in the clearing, an arrow fitted to a bow in his hand, ready to fire at his will.
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Dwalin, reaching for a large branch, raised it above his shoulder, ready to throw, but Bard swiftly sent an arrow flying, embedding itself into the branch. Kili instinctively reached for a sharp rock, but Bard's arrow sent it skidding out of reach.
