The Ranger ➵ Kili Durin

PART 2 : CHAPTER 6

The water was cold. Elvira sucked in a deep breath before submerging into the water, holding onto the sides of the barrel tightly. As soon as the barrel came bobbing back up to the surface, she gasped loudly, filling her lungs with oxygen. She shook the water out of her eyes quickly and watched as the trap door in the floorboards above closed again, but there was no sign of Bilbo.

All of the barrels bobbed and floated downwards a little ways, signalling that there was a current flowing. Thorin held onto the few barrels in front of him and the group managed to stop and wait in desperate anticipation for their little hobbit.

Elvira was in the back of the group, Fili holding tightly onto her barrel so she didn't get separated. Elvira didn't like water, and swimming was one of her only weaknesses. It made her nervous now that they were fighting for their freedom in something that limited her.

Soon, the ground above opened up again, the warm light shining down upon them and a falling figure plummeted into the water. Voices and calls of commands rang out above them before the door closed once more, and Bilbo flailed about in the water. Elvira reached in quickly and grabbed a hold of his jacket to help him stay afloat, which he gave a nervous smile for.

"Well done, Master Baggins," Thorin smiled and nodded. Bilbo, half-drowned, only lifted his hand quickly before choking out one word: "go".

"C'mon, let's go," Thorin said, and they all began to paddle in their barrels as quickly as they could in their situation. The river pulled their barrels along, and soon, the water got lighter and lighter, and sunlight streamed through an opening of which the barrels all plummeted out of, dropping down a small waterfall into a much larger river in the open air.

The company plunged through the rapids, everyone desperately holding on. In the glimpses above the surface, Elvira could see Elves of the Woodland Realm rushing along both sides of the banks, and soon, Thorin and the rest of the barrels were crashing into the now-closed iron gate in the water. He screamed in frustration, banging on the iron bars.

Elvira saw it before anyone else did. An Elvish warrior unsheathed his sword, but a black arrow went flying, embedding itself deep in the back of the poor elf.

Several growling orcs emerged, swarming the guardpost above the company's heads. A multitude of orcs rushed in from the bushes, slaying everything in their path. Elvira felt completely helpless without most of her knives, and all she could do was watch as Elves were slaughtered by an onslaught of orcs.

An awful growl of a command was heard, and the orcs began to throw themselves into the water on top of the barrels in an attempt to kill the dwarves in them. One dived in headfirst, right at Elvira who ducked down low inside the barrel. Bilbo reached up quickly, one hand still gripping the side of the barrel as he thrust his sword into the orc's skull, killing it before it could even hit the water.

"Thanks," she gasped, and he hummed in response. Dwalin elbowed an orc in the face, throwing its body into the water. Elvira put both of her hands on the sides of the barrel and pushed her body up above the edges. With one push, she kicked both of her legs into the air, meeting the chest of a particularly ugly orc and sending him flying backwards. With the same force, she jumped out of her barrel all together and slid onto the bank near the river.

She leapt into the air, finding herself on the shoulders of an orc. She took the orc's head in her hands and twisted it quickly, snapping its neck. She grabbed the ragged sword from its dead fingers and turned, slicing another orc in the chest. While she was doing this, however, an orc came from behind her and held onto her tightly, wrapping both arms around her neck.

She heard Dwalin shout Kili's name, and she looked up slightly to see a sword flying in the air. Kili, now on land, grabbed it and began slaying the orcs as they came at him. With each kill, he was getting closer to the lever that would open the gate, allowing them to escape the bloodbath.