The Dragon (Book Five in the Aerlinniel's Secret Series)

Chapter 11: I'm Going to Save Him

Tauriel POV

"We're losing him!"

I look at Kili, then at Legolas, who is waiting for me at the door.

"Tauriel." Legolas says and then walks out of the door.

After standing there for another moment I look away and begin to head out the door to follow Legolas. But right as I reach the door, Kili moans in pain, and I turn to look at him.

Hearing a noise, I grabs my knives, there is a Dwarf running up with something in his hand.

"Athelas." I whisper, "Athelas..."

"What are you doing...?" The Dwarf asks me.

"I'm going to save him."

I start to wash and tear apart the Athelas in a tub of water held by a young girl.

"Hold him down." I tell them and approach them with the bowl.

Examining Kili's wound, I see how black and festered it is and I look away in worry. I then close my eyes and begin chanting in Elvish while kneading the soaked Athelas in my hand, then press it to Kili's wound.

"Menno o nin na hon i eliad annen annin, hon leitho o ngurth. (May the blessing that was given to me be sent from me to him, may he be released from death.)"

Kili screams and thrashes in pain, but I keep chanting.

~~~

As I bind Kili's leg, he opens his eyes and whispers, "Tauriel."

"Lie still." I tell him.

"You cannot be her. She is far away. Sh- She is far, far away from me, and she walks in starlight in another world. It was just a dream." Kili slowly raises his hand and entwines his fingers with mine. "Do you think she could have loved me?"

Yes. I think to myself. She could have.

Bilbo POV

We have emerged out of a tunnel. There is a stone bridge over a chasm.

Thorin raises his hand and quiets us, "Shh. Shh."

"Quiet." Dori whispers. "We've given him the slip."

"No, he's too cunning for that." Dwalin disagrees.

"So where to now?" I ask them.

"The western guardroom. There may be a way out."

"It's too high. There's no chance that way." Balin says.

"It's our only chance. We have to try." Thorin tells him.

We quietly start to cross the bridge. Suddenly, a coin falls to the floor right in front of me and it echoes loudly. The Dwarves and Elves all look at me, I frantically check my jacket to see if a coin had been stuck in a fold. Hearing another coin fall, I look up and see Smaug above us. Luckily he hasn't seen us. Thorin motions for us to keep moving.

"Stay close."

We all stop abruptly when we see that the guardroom is full of rotted corpses.

"That's it, then. There's no way out." Dwalin says.

It seems like something has blocked the exit, trapping the dwarves in the past in the room to die.

"The last of our kin. They must have come here, hoping beyond hope. We could try to reach the Mines. We might last a few days." Balin sadly tells us.