The Warrior and The King

7. Live to Be The Hero

The day wore on and the tide of battle ebbed and flowed. At times the Dwarves and Elves seemed to hold the upper hand, at others it seemed the orcs would triumph. The goblins and orcs far outnumbered the Dwarves and their allies, they were not disciplined fighters but they used their advantage in numbers to devastating effect. When a division of Gundabad orcs attacked Dain's right flank, Thorin called his troops to counterattack. At first they made some headway, but then stalled when the orcs made a stand. As he rushed to engage them one of the orcs dealt Thorin a blow that took him to his knees. He grasped the blade of his sword with his free hand and threw the orc back, then finished him with a stroke of his sword. Suddenly he had a sense of another attacker close behind, a look at the ground showed a huge shadow looming over him. Thorin turned quickly, bringing his sword up just as the orc's head landed on his left side. He looked up as the orc's body dropped to the ground to see Kaylea Wolf standing there, her bloody sword at the end of a stroke. A smile leapt to his lips. "My lady!" He cried.

"You must learn to mind your surroundings, my lord," she said, with a wry smile. Then vaulted over the orc's body to engage the next wave. Her wolf leaped to attack a huge pale orc, Thorin saw he was again wearing his magical armor. The orc's mace bounced off the wolf's body as the animal sunk his teeth into the orcs throat. With her were Elrohir and a company of Rangers, together they fought with the Dwarves to turn back the orc tide. Thorin rushed to fight at her side, but they soon became separated in the heat of battle.

Many hours later, after the Eagles had arrived and the battle had been won, Kaylea and Elrohir were helping to clear the battlefield, dispatching any of the enemy they found alive and giving aid to the wounded. As they were working to free a horse who had been trapped under a fallen troll Dwalin appeared over a rise on the field, just in time to see Kaylea push the troll's leg off the horse. She did it so casually, like pushing a cup off a table, but the leg of a troll weighed hundreds of pounds. He hesitated for a moment, not sure of what he had just witnessed, but swallowing his misgivings ran straight to her.

"My lady," he began "Thorin has been grievously wounded. It is beyond our skill to heal, but maybe not beyond yours or the Elves." He looked over at Elrohir.

"Take me to him," Kaylea said. She whistled for her horse, who came trotting up, Hector with him. She and Elrohir followed the Dwarf to where Thorin lay, unconscious against an overturned wagon. There was a deep gash high up on his leg, someone had put a tourniquet on it, but he had obviously lost a great deal of blood. There was also a nasty looking wound in his side. Kaylea felt a sharp sinking feeling in her chest, heard the swift intake of breath from Elrohir and he stepped forward and knelt beside the king to probe the wound in his leg. She turned quickly to Dwalin.

"We will do what we can," she said. "Find a stretcher to take him to your Houses of Healing." Dwalin nodded and motioned for the other Dwarves to follow him, though Fili said he would stay with his uncle. He had already lost his brother this day, he did not want to lose Thorin as well. When the other Dwarves were gone Kaylea hit her throat mike.

"Pilot, knock Fili out," she watched the Dwarf slump over. She reached into her saddle bag and removed the field surgery unit. She set it on the ground and hit the switch.

"What are you doing?" Elrohir asked, his eyes widening.

"I am going to save him, if I can" Kaylea said. "I think Thorin Oakenshield should live to be the hero of his own story." She looked up at Elrohir to see if he would challenge her.

Elrohir shrugged. "I agree, there are none among the Elves who want to see Dain Ironfoot on the throne of Erebor," his voice grew serious. "But I don't have Lord Blackwolf to answer to."

Kaylea looked sideways at him, but made no reply. The surgery unit was up on its spidery arms now, poking at Thorin's wound. "Pilot, make sure those stretcher-bearers wander around until we are ready for them."