Dawn (A Hobbit Fanfic)

Chapter 28 - Don't worry, I am a graceful Elf.

My quiver was running low and so was the army of Elves and Dwarves. The men were nowhere in sight, neither were my father or Gandalf, and I could only hope Legolas was safe at home.
I had caught a few more blows and was half-blinded by a trickle of blood that ran into my eye. I was growing tired of my labour intensive fighting style. The jumping around all over the place was very exhausting.
One good thing was that my hair was still looking good, I think. It was still waving around and getting in my face.

Until it wasn't. I was fighting a particularly big orc who had the sense to disarm me and knock me to the ground before I could reach for plan B. I crawled backwards as much as possible until I backed against the bodies of two dead Elves who were slumped over each other. The top one was missing his head and the bottom one had a final look of despair frozen on his face and a gaping hole in the back of his head. They were holding hands in a final goodbye and were laying in a pool of their own blood.
While the Orc was moving his sword in for the kill, I spied an abandoned sword just out of reach. If I could just grab it.

A Dwarf that was deeply locked in battle with an Orc that was as, if not more fearsome than my own adversary flew by and kicked the sword another meter or so out of reach.
I focussed on the Orc in front of me again. I was going to die at his hands and there was nothing I could do about it. He knew, and gave me time to let it sink in, but no room to reach for any other weapon that I might have on me.
This was the end. Might as well accept it. I looked at the Orc and let my angry expression relax and fell back against my dead allies. I had no one to hold on to as I died. I would fall alone.
One thing about Orcs is they always drag out their executions. I felt the tip of the Orcish blade against my throat. He swung it aside and drew a little blood prematurely. I closed my eyes and braced for the finishing blow, but it never came.

"You bugger!"
I opened my eyes and saw the Orc falling to his knees and slumping sideways, revealing Dain.
He held out his hand. "You alright there, you pointy-eared princess?"
"Aside from the mental scarring and physical injuries, you mean? I'm good."
I took his hand and pulled myself up. I grabbed my sword from where it lay a couple meters away.
"Thank you, for saving my life," I thanked Dain as I engaged an Orc close to him while he held three others at bay. I made quick work of it and blocked an oncoming blow, stabbing it's dealer in the stomach with my freshly unsheathed dagger.
"You seemed about ready to give up," Dain grunted while giving one of the Orcs a punch in the face.
"It wasn't that obvious was it?" I said while decapitating two Orcs with one swing. The sword I had gotten might not have been mine. "What were we fighting about again?" I added as I pressed my back against Dain's and killed another Orc.
"I don't remember, I just hope it's over before we are."
"On that we agree."

The battle drove us apart again. The Orcs drove me further in the direction of the mountain. Even though I managed to pick a few of them off, my quiver was empty now and I was fighting with two daggers as they could be swung quicker than swords. Plus, the daggers were Elvish and cut up Orc nicely.
I was in more danger now because I had to get closer to my enemies in order to slay them. The Dwarves were nearly spent. Most of the Elves had fallen back to Dale, there were still some of them here, but they were few and far between.

"Fall back! Fall back to the mountain!!"
Both Elves and Dwarves carried out my order. Our numbers were thinning even as we retreated. It looked like we hadn't made a dent in the Orcish army.
"Where do these fucking fucks keep coming from?!" I yelled in frustration. My bleeding all over the place had stopped but I wasn't feeling any better for wear.
Another blast of a horn cut through the air like a hot knife through butter. The Orcs regrouped. The air was foul with the stench of blood and death.
Dain and the few remaining Dwarves set up a desperate last resort shield wall against the moat that blocked off Erebor. He didn't have enough men left to form an effective one. I ordered the Elves to stand behind them and shoot the Orcs with the few arrows that they had left.
The Orcs suddenly stopped as they gloated over us. Wicked sneers as if they were envisioning the ways in which they were going to kill us.
I envisioned it too. It didn't give me a wicked sneer. More of a terrified expression.
There was no way we were going to live through this.