Price of Battle ➝ The Hobbit ✓

Part Twenty-Five

PART TWENTY-FIVE ~

Kili brought up his sword just as an orc lunged for his stomach with a hefty battle-axe. His sword met with the enemy's with a deafening clang! and he quickly pushed away, before drawing his blade forward once more and slicing through the orc's chest. Another came behind him, and he spun on his heel, parrying a blow toward his neck. He pushed forward with all the strength he could muster and knocked the sword from the orc's hand. Grunting in triumph, he decapitating the beast; blood spurted through the air in a crimson flash. Kili hastily wiped away the droplets that had landed on his cheek and let his sword whistle through the air once more, as he met the approaching enemies.

The orcs kept pressing on, drawing closer to the desperate warriors as they came in waves. Kili threw a dagger to an oncoming beast, and it landed neatly in the orc's chest, making it gurgle and splutter blood before collapsing to the ground. It gave a final jerk before falling motionless, and Kili hesitated as he stepped forward to retrieve the small weapon. The orcs behind seemed unfazed by their comrade's death and continued blundering forward with hefty movements. The dwarf immediately cut off the wave of opponents, collecting his dagger in the process, and allowed his strength to surge into the relentless assault he let loose as he slashed with his sword. 

The Dwarven Prince jerked his blade from the heavy body he had just impaled and caught a blow to his throat. He side-stepped another lunge and arched his sword forward with a flick of the wrist, slicing through the tough, leathery skin of another grotesque monster.

Kili struck down the final orc that had circled around him, and doubled over, panting. His heart thudded painfully against his chest as he lifted his gaze to survey the surrounding area. The battle was going seemingly well so far; there were still hundreds of orcs locked in combat with his soldiers, but they had already outnumbered the oncoming enemies. The dwarf nodded to himself, regained his fighting spirit and joined the other soldiers once again.

The rain hit later that evening, when the field was strewn with bloodied corpses, riddled with nauseating wounds and cuts. Kili continued to battle fiercely as the rain lashed down upon the weary soldiers, clouding their eyes with stinging droplets of water.

~

Fili shook his clothing, ridding it of any droplets of water that had decided to take refuge on his soaked tunic. He had removed his armour, propping it up against the dim walls, and was now clad in a thin tunic and leather pants, with a light cloak he drew out of his pack. The cave seemed to emit a chilly breeze, and he suddenly shivered as goosebumps prickled his skin. Arien was also trembling with the cold, and he immediately got to work with starting a fire.

After the blaze had sprung from dry fuel, they huddled around the flames and quickly devoured a meagre meal of bread and a thin strip of tough meat. It wasn't much, but it satisfied their hunger for that moment in time.

"I hope this rain stops soon," Fili mumbled, leaning against the shivering walls. Arien nodded, closing her eyes as she let the warmth seep into her bones. Her trembling soon died down, and she found herself drifting into the clutches of sleep.

"We'll set off in the morning," She murmured dreamily, her head tilting to one side.

Fili nodded, watching Arien fall asleep; her slumped figure rose and fell steadily, illuminated in the soft glow of the moon. Slumber had not yet come to claim him, so he moved closer to the entrance of the cave to inspect the glittering sword.

It was a longsword, seemingly of Dwarven make. It was wedged deep into the stone, and coated with a thin layer of rust, but the pattern was still distinctly clear; the blade was slightly crooked and dented, as though it had been put to good use, the hilt was swaddled in a light, tan leather, and the pommel was engraved with an intricate, spiralling pattern. It was a pleasing design, though it was clearly worn and had lost its once wickedly sharp edges.

Fili studied the sword thoughtfully, before glancing up at the sky; it was encased with a thundering blanket of clouds, rolling and churning above the swaying crown of trees. The rain continued to pummel down upon the ground below, and every now and then a deep-throated rumble would cackle through the air and branches of lightning would cascade down from the sky, trembling with anger from the Gods above. Fili strained his eyes to catch a glimpse of a burning haze somewhere in the distance as another fork of lightning hurtled towards a tree and struck it with a hefty flash.

Fili threw his hands up to shield his eyes from the blinding brilliance that suddenly erupted below him, illuminating the entire cave. Another strike of lightning had caught the flora before him, and he recoiled suddenly from the closeness of the blaze. 

Arien stirred with an inaudible mumble, but then rolled over and fell back asleep.

Fili decided it was best he got some sleep also, and ambled slowly to where his blankets were bundled. He nestled down, pulling his cloak tighter around his body, before closing his eyes and falling into a dreamless trance.