Raging Fire

Chapter 15 'Dragonsickness'

As soon as Fíli had jumped into the boat, he knew that he would see Enelya again soon. Call it a vision, call it hope, but somehow he just knew. Altáriël, Bofur and Kíli were splashing each other with water. He knew he should be happy that his brother and best friend were together, but he only felt jealous. The others had stopped rowing their boat and they were now floating in the middle of the river. Altáriël splashed some water on him, and laughed. This was the happiest he had seen her. And he joined them. There were no thoughts about the dragonsickness, about Enelya, this was an action of relief.
Bofur had started rowing again, it was maybe three o'clock in the afternoon. And Altáriël was enjoying a bit of sun, it was cold, but still her optimism made them feel warm. Kíli was gazing over her body, the form of her legs, her mid and higher. She had never taken his shirt off, and it made him feel even better, but if they would get a room in Erebor, he would make sure she would take it off. They reached shore, and got out of the boat. They would have to walk at least a few hours to reach the mountain. He didn't feel the pain in his leg anymore, Enelya's spell really had done a good job, or it were the constant touches and kisses Altáriël and he shared. The lovers had been making Fíli and Bofur sick with their constant love. Fíli was grabbing the last of the provisions Altáriël had decided to bring, and then they were walking. Over hill and then the next. The dwarves didn't think about how Altáriël was about to see the town she grew up in again. But the girl did, she was excited to see her village again, even more now Smaug was dead. She walked a bit ahead of the dwarves, she was the only one that actually knew the way to Erebor. She really felt happy. She and Kíli had found each other, Fíli and she were best friends, Legolas had forgiven her for her 'betrayal' and he and Enelya were travelling together. She did found it sad for her best friend though. She knew how Fíli felt about Enelya, and she hoped that the elf would give him at least a chance. But all of her happy thoughts disappeared when she looked upon the ruins of Dale. She still knew every street, every house, all the people that lived on her neighbourhood. The brunette didn't think that actually seeing the ruins would have such an impact on her. She stopped walking. The towns hall was still intact, as were the most houses at the edge of the village. The three other dwarves caught up with her, and looked at the city as well. "We could go there for a sec, maybe visit your old place?" If that makes you feel better?" Bofur asked her. The dwarves were a bit inexperienced on women that had lost their hometown to the fire of a dragon, but they would manage. Altáriël nodded, and walked towards the town she loved so much. "Thank you guys, it really means a lot to me." And it really did, Altáriël Alcarin never showed people that she could actually be a softie.

"Legolas! Where are we going?" Enelya asked. They had been riding for hours. She wasn't sure what was wrong, but the prince had been ignoring her, his muscles were tense and he was staring ahead. "We are going to Gundabad. Are you really that dumb? We have followed Bolg. And we saw an army of orcs wearing the mark of Gundabad. Which is a kingdom that's supposed to be abandoned." He answered harshly, but he immediately apologized. He knew exactly why he was this grumpy. He had seen the way the dwarf and Enelya had looked at each other. He had felt jealousy for the first time, and he did not like it. Enelya looked at him, but could only see his back because they were still travelling on the back of the horse. "Legolas, perhaps we should rest for a moment. It may not be necessary for us. But I think Ice needs a breather." Legolas paused for a moment. His Enelya wasn't the same Enelya as in Lothlórien, she had taken over a bit of the dwarves' vocabulary, she looked confident in everything she did. He didn't know if he liked those small changes in her, he longed for Altáriël, but still didn't want to let Enelya's grip loosen around his mid. "Ice? You've given the horse a name?" He asked her, this was the part of Enelya he loved so much. "Yes, I think 'she' deserves a name Legolas. And since she is as white as a fresh layer of snow covering a frozen lake, I wanted to name her Ice. I wanted to call her Snowflake first, but that sounded like she belonged to a four-year-old. And I am not four. Maybe mentally though." Enelya explained. Legolas smiled and decided to give 'Ice' a rest, even though he knew that they had to check Gundabad out. But he somehow couldn't say no to her. He thought of the time he first saw her. She had come to Mirkwood with Altáriël after the reclaiming of Moria. They had instantly took a liking to each other, they were lost in the woods and he had saved them. Taking them back to his father's realm. Altáriël didn't trust him at first, she had made some remark about that he might be a paedophile. But the younger girl trusted him immediately after he told them his name. She had tried to talk some sense into her older friend. And he liked her for her use of words, they would tell you more than just a story, the words that left her lips were full of emotion. You knew from listening to her how she felt, what she wanted. It was like a soft melody to him every time she spoke. She was very different from Altáriël, from whose voice you could only hear happiness and sarcasm, something mysterious, which he liked as well. They were travelling alongside the Grey Mountains. When they saw a pack of orcs walking the same direction they were headed. Legolas looked at the small army. It was a small one, maybe 200, 300 Orcs? "Can we kill them? We can take them Legolas!" Enelya pleaded her companion. This was definitely not his Enelya. She would avoid most conflicts, and she was too proud to attack someone that was ignoring her. She must've gotten this new behaviour from her dwarf friends. But it was a small army indeed, and they could take them without getting a scratch. He steered Ice towards the orcs. And the party began. Enelya stole the first kill. She had cut lose one of her poison pouches from her belt. This one had some sort of powder in it. The girl ignited the rope where the pouch had been attached to her belt with, and threw it in the middle of the orc pack. It exploded and already took out 30 of her foes. Legolas was shocked of the girl's cleverness and tactics. He knew for certain that Altáriël had taught her this approach. The orcs became aware from their new attackers when the tiny bomb had exploded. And they attacked the pair, with their swords high up in the air. All Enelya had to do was slice at their chest and mid. Which were left unprotected by them, holding up their weapons so high to reach the elves on the back of Ice. In no time they had killed almost all of their enemies. Enelya had left the back of the horse and was fighting three orcs at the same time. One she stabbed between his ribs, but the orc did something unexpected. He grabbed hold of her sword and pulled it further through his chest. The sudden movement caused Enelya grip her sword tighter to get it back, and in her new occupation, she forgot about the other two foes. At the exact same moment Legolas noticed her struggle and threw his blade through the head of one orc and the other orc cut her side. The pain made Enelya cry out. She fell to her knees as the orc with her blade in his chest died. Her other attacker was killed off quickly by the elven prince. Enelya wasn't as strong as Altáriël, and fainted right away, leaving Legolas to kill the last 20 or so orcs that were left over.