A Mercenaries Love (A Hobbit Fan Fiction)

Chapter 24- Home sweet home

Ava's Pov

It all happens so quick, I have no time to think through my actions or how my brother will react to seeing me again.

His body stiffens as he recognises my voice. The guards around us tighten in a circle, ready to protect their prince if he needs help. Ignoring the muttered words of shock from the company as they process this new information, I turn all my attention onto my brother. The brother who had trained me my whole life and helped turn me into the warrior I now am, who raised me when my father was too busy to, which was often. The brother who I loved and looked up to. The person I missed the most over the time that I have been banished. The one that let me down when I most needed him. The one who is standing in front of me right now like a ghost of my past.

His bow string quivers as he slowly releases the tension. With equally slow movements he turns around to face me. Shock evident on his face as he easily recognises my features as my hood has slipped down through the little ordeal. I lower my bow as well, sensing that he will not harm Thorin, not yet anyway.

His mouth opens as words prepare to come out but a scream for help interrupts it. My body stiffens as I recognise the voice, my eyes widening with worry as I search around for the source of the scream, Kili.

"Kili!" Both Fili and I call out at the same time, worry very evident in our tone.

My heart skips a beat as I see him pinned to the ground by a spider. I forget all about my brother as I see Kili in danger. Instincts kick in as I bring my bow back up again, fighting the urge to shoot all of my arrows into the spider at once, but I resist the urge as I need every arrow I have. I quickly sight and shoot, for a fleeting moment I worry if my aim is wrong and if I could hit Kili, but as soon as the shot has been released I know it's good. Years of practise have payed off and I rarely miss.

The arrow hits the spider right between the eyes and it falls down dead. I have already begun running by the time my second arrow pierces the next approaching spider. As I near Kili I draw my twin longswords to confront the remaining spiders. All I can think about is protecting Kili, a raw instinct I have not felt since I first met Adisa. My fear is long forgotten as I slice through a spiders head, launching myself off the ground and using that spiders back to propel myself forward, I stab my sword into the next spiders body, simultaneously twisting around to throw my other sword into the head of the last spider.

I search around me for any more spiders that dare face me but there are no more. A figure swinging down from the tree gains my attention and I instantly recognise the familiar red hair. My mind is still caught up on Kili however and my attention strays back to where it was.

I turn around to see Kili approaching me with my longsword in hand. He must have pulled it out of the spider for me. He hands it to me with a grateful look but I push it away and surprise myself by pulling Kili into a hug. I rest my face in the crook of his neck and sigh when I feel his warm arms wrap around me. My heart only just begins to calm down as I see him out of danger. I shudder at the thought of Kili getting hurt and it makes me realise that my feelings for Kili are stronger than I thought.

"Are you alright?!" I ask worriedly as I pull away and search him for any injuries.

"I'm fine!" Kili replies, tilting my face up with his finger so I am looking into his gorgeous eyes.

"I think you might be missing something" Kili smirks as he hands me my sword.

"Thank you" I say gratefully as I put it back in it's sheath.