It Was Her

Chapter 11

The Company watched as the scene played out before them. Dain, Thorin's cousin, had arrived to assist Thorin in defending the mountain against the armies of elf and man. So caught up in their own disputes, none pay heed to Gandalf's warning until it was too late. At the top of Ravenhill, stood Azog before three large signalling devices, a sickening grin stretched across his face as his armies poured from the large holes in the nearby mountains made by the wereworms. 

Dain and his army charged at the orcs, severely outnumbered. The Elves had yet to make a move and neither had the army of Dale. The dwarves of the company were not about to let their kin fight on their own.

"I'm going over the wall! Who's coming with me?" Fili announced moving towards the rope Bilbo had climbed down earlier.

The others cheered in agreement, determined to fight alongside their kin. But Thorin would not have it.

"Stand down!" Thorin barked.

"What?" Kili asked.

"Are we to do nothing?" Tili questioned, shocked that her uncle would let his own kin fight on his own.

"I said STAND DOWN!" 

The dwarves watched defeated as Thorin slithered back into the darkened halls of Erebor as the battle raged on outside and they could do nothing.

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They did not know how long it had been since the battle had begun. But with the raging noises echoing from just beyond the wall, it was beginning to feel like hours. Tili sat next to her twin, their armour removed, staring desolately at the ground. The dwarves perked at a sound that echoed through the dark halls. The silhouette of Thorin with his sword drawn emerged from the darkness. 

Tili looked up, she was furious and she was determined to make it know to her uncle. She rose to her feet, her voice strong.

"I will not hide behind a wall of stone, while others fight our battles for us!" She shouted, walking closer to Thorin. 

As they moved closer to each other, her voice softened and tears glistened in her sapphire eyes.

"It is not in my blood, Thorin. It is not who you taught me to be." Her voice was soft and pleading.

Thorin stopped in front of her, looking down at his beloved niece with a small smile on his face. And for the first time, he saw her for the warrior she truly was.

"No, it is not. We are heirs of Durin. And Durin's folk do not flee from a fight."

Thorin placed his hand on Tili's shoulder, a kind smile on his face, one that she returned through her tears. He gently pulled her forward and pressed their foreheads together, something they had not done in a long time. He pulled away and turned to the other dwarves.

"I have no right to ask this of any of you; but will you follow me one last time?"

The company raised their weapons, ready to follow their leader and friend to whatever end.

With Thorin at the lead, the dwarves of the company charged out of the mountain, screaming their battle cries. The dwarves smashed their way through the ranks of orcs, their anger only giving them strength. Tili and her brothers fought together in a triangle, protecting one another's back as they always have. Tili fought with her two axes hurtling them into the heads of any orc that got in her way. 

"Fili, Kili, Tili! Come on!" Thorin shouted astride a large ram.

The three siblings nodded and swung up onto rams of their own and followed Thorin and Dwalin to Ravenhill, to finally put an end to Azog and his defiling days.