This is Me → Post BOTFA fanfic

Chapter 22

ARETH'S POV
As the day wore on, the sounds of battle still echoed in my ears. I remained on my parents bed, watching the skylight, rain beginning to fall. My mind traveled to my parents on the battle field, nervousness clawing at my stomach. Where they still alive? Where they still fighting? I shivered at the thought of their blood on the rain soaked ground.

The deep rumble of thunder sounded off in the distance, adding to the sound of metal on metal, great shouts and screams of pain. As the lighting illuminated the dim room, I sat up, pulling my head into my hands. My emotions were running wild. The guilt from not being able to warn Thorin and leave adequate time for preparation, to the butterflies in my stomach from the uncertainty of the fate of my parents. The battle had been going on for a while now. Maybe it was because our forces were being slowly over powered because of inability to prepare, or Erebor's best warriors, my parents included, had fallen and orcs now dominated our army.

My emotions now taking control, I stood up, shaking my head and began pulling my boots back on again. As I strapped my weapons on over what I had pulled on hours ago, I reminded myself what my parents had said. Though they told me to stay here, it did nothing to put out my desire to try and fix what I had done. As the lightning struck again, I stared at my reflection in the mirror and took a deep breath.

I'm going to fight a battle.

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As I burst out of Erebor and onto the battle field, I am greeted by the smell of rain and the echo of weapons being clanged together. The cold precipitation falls into my body and sends shivers down my spine, prompting me to pull my sword out of its sheath and jump into the action. I run at an Orc from behind, slicing down its back before cutting off its head. The dwarf who had been fighting the Orc before looks at me in bewilderment. He knew who I was (I mean I am royalty), and he was obviously quite surprised to see me on the battle field. I smile and wink back playfully, a trait definitely taken from my father, before jumping back into the action.

Twisting and turning, I slice through many orcs with my sword, them not surviving their deadly encounter with me. After fighting with my sword for a good while, I get bored and want to see the battle from a different vantage point. An idea pops into my head and I smile cynically. Shaking the black blood of Orc off of my sword, I put it back in it's sheath before quickly scaling a large rock in the center of the battle field. "This should be fun" I think to myself as I take my bow, notching an arrow, pulling it back and letting it fly. As it sinks into the chest of an unsuspecting Orc, I string another one, aiming and firing. I take down multiple orcs, all falling from a well placed arrow to the neck or chest. As I draw back with my last arrow, a shooting pain travels up my side, crippling the motion of my left arm. I quickly swing around and release the arrow in that direction, watching as it sinks into the middle of the forehead of an Orc archer. He falls, and I quickly look down to my side, seeing an arrow embedded into my side. With a grimace, I yank it out in one quick but painful movement, and scurry off of the rock as fast as possible. "Don't put yourself in positions of vulnerability" I say aloud to myself, pressing my hand to my bleeding side, making a mental note for future battles.

While my side is bleeding heavily, it has not hit any vital organs. As I try moving my arm I grunt in pain, but I quickly get over it as an Orc rushes me with a spiked club raised above its head. I quickly pull my sword from my hip and slice directly across his stomach. I quickly jump out of the way as his large, grotesque body falls towards me. Another Orc runs at me to avenge his friends death, but with some fancy footwork I easily remove his head from his wretched shoulders. As adrenaline courses through me, the pain turns from a sharp, shooting pain to a more dull, but throbbing one, which is easier for me to bear. I continue fending off orcs with my sword, slowly making my way towards the center of the battle field.

As I continue to fight, I hear the cry of a familiar voice to my right, and after I plunge my sword into the back of an Orc and pull it out, Iwhip my head around to look and see who it is. I roll my eyes as I see who it is. Druain. He cried out as an Orc pushed its jagged trident like weapon towards him, fighting to hold it back with his battle axe. He was helplessly splayed out on his back on the ground, and he was in going to die if I didn't do anything. Rolling my eyes again, I hurl my sword through the air and it hits the Orc square in the chest. Druain looks up at me in surprise, and I smirk. "Wouldn't think that the "monster" would be the one saving your ass did you?" I ask, hurling a dagger blindly behind me at an Orc I sense sneaking up on me. It hits him right between the eyes. "Th... Thank you" Druain chokes out. I nod, "Be careful who you insult next time. Never know if you're going to need them to save you later". He stares with a blank expression as I pull my dagger out of the Orc behind me. I just wink and nod, yanking my sword out of the other orcs chest cavity before beginning to fight again.

I push my way towards the center of the battle field, cutting through orcs like a knife through a piece of bread. Black Orc blood is splattered on my hair, face and clothing, and I am 99 percent sure a bruise is forming on my right cheek from being accidental elbowed in the face by an Orc. Let's just say that was the last mistake he ever made. I continue the fight, adrenaline causing me to not yet feel the weariness of my muscles. The wound on my side aches still, but I still fight through the pain. As the clash of metal rings around me, I hear someone cry out. The deep tone rings a bell in my mind as I turn my head towards the sound. I see a large, hideous Orc throw a fighting dwarf figure to the ground. The familiar dwarf grunts in pain as he stands up, turning to face my way. Before he is struck down again, I see his face clearly. The dwarf is Thorin.

Before I can call out to him, the Orc raises his axe above his head, ready to bring it down on him. I run towards the Orc with full force, trying to knock him off of his feet, but I merely make him stumble. As he looks at me and laughs, I ready my sword. Thorin has done me so much wrong, and I know I have not been the most polite either, but that doesn't mean I am going to let Erebor live without a king. The Orc tries to bring his axe down on me, but I quickly spin out of the way and slice through his side. He growls in pain, and out of the corner of my eye I see Thorin begin to stand up, holding his head in pain. The Orc tries to get my lower legs and bring me down, but I quickly jump and hit him on the shoulder. Blood starts to drop down his arm and he now wears a wicked smile. He says something in black speech that I don't understand, but I know it isn't good by the evil smirk on his face. As he raises his axe to strike again, someone behind him grabs a hold of the axe and knees him in the back. The Orc whirls around to face a now livid Thorin.

Though he is wobbly on his feet because of the trauma to his head, he still fights with all he has left. This Orc is their leader and if he is out, so are the rest of them. Thorin fights bravely as I pick off some other smaller orcs coming to defend their leader. His strength starts to fade as he acquires more and more blows from the Orc. With a swift kick, the Orc again knocks Thorin to the ground. As he raises his axe and begins to bring it down on the head of my great-uncle, I forget everything that has happened between us. All the wrong he has done me, all the hurtful things he had said. None of those things even affect my decision as I run, stopping directly in the path of the axe.

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Hey guys! I'm so sorry for not updating for a month :/ I have been BUSY BUSY BUSY with school, horses and livestock... But I think I wrote this chapter pretty well, and comparing it to the beginning of this story I can really see how much I have improved as a writer! Since the story will soon be coming to a close, I will post the preview of my next fic, Not Broken, Just Bent, which is a Thorin/OC fic❤️ hope you all enjoy and forgive me for not being a great author lately! Hope you enjoy the little cliff hanger ;)