The Warrior Queen. The Warrior and The King - Book II

5. Galadriel

Early the next morning when it was time to set out Thorin could not raise Kaylea. She had laid down when they stopped and passed into the deep sleep she had warned him of. He checked her wound, it was open and draining a white fluid but it continued to look very ugly. The edges were black and it had black tendrils spreading from it. Thorin was just debating how he was going to get her on her horse when Hector came running into the campsite. He nosed at Kaylea, seeing she was unresponsive he looked pointedly at Thorin. Thorin met the wolf's eyes, trying to prepare himself. An image of warg-mounted orcs filled his mind, a distance off on the crest of one of the brown hills behind them.

Thorin's heart sank, how could he fight them off by himself? He would have Hector's help, but would that be enough? He could not communicate with the wolf as well as Kaylea did. There could be no doubt the wargs had their scent and were hot on the trail. He looked at the wolf, trying to think of the best way to prepare a defense. Another image came into his mind, a long, flat-sided metal weapon with a stock on one end and a sighting spyglass on the top. Thorin looked at the long scabbard under Kaylea's saddle, then back to Hector.

Hector snorted at him and started to trot off up the nearest hill, he looked back to see if Thorin was following. Since he had no better ideas Thorin reached into the scabbard and drew forth Kaylea's metal weapon. It was heavier than he expected, he put it on his shoulder and followed Hector. As they reached the top of the hill, the wolf lay down and crawled forward on his belly, Thorin mimicked him getting down on his hands and knees. From the top of the hill they could see quite a way south. Thorin could see the wargs plainly, a group of six on top of a hill almost directly south maybe half a league away, another two down on the trail he and Kaylea had travelled last night. They seemed to be paused in their hunt, maybe deciding if they wanted to go on in the light. Thorin lay down, holding Kaylea's weapon to his shoulder, as he had seen her do. The weapon reminded him very much of a crossbow, as soon as he put his fingers on the trigger he felt the weapon vibrate slightly. Looking through the glass again he could see the orcs as close as if they were standing before him. The glass had a sort of red cross in it, he braced himself on his elbows and lined it up with the orcs chest and felt for the release. He squeezed it and heard a soft sigh, the orc fell back off his mount, hit in the shoulder. Thorin moved the glass to the warg, aligned the cross differently and fired another shot. The warg dropped, shot in the head. Thorin quickly moved the glass from one orc and warg to the next, dropping them where they stood. When he adjusted his aim to find the two that had been at the bottom of the hill they were both running back toward Mordor, so he shot them both in the back. He then sat up on his knees and looked at the weapon in his hands. This weapon, whatever it was, could change the way wars were fought forever. Is this how they were fought in Kaylea's land? He saw now it had little doors on it, he flipped one open and a flat metal case slid partway out, he pulled it out and looked in it, it was filled with tiny metal cylinders. Thorin inspected them carefully, so this was the secret. Shaking his head to clear it he got to his feet, he slid the case back in the weapon and closed it up. He did not have time to waste pondering these mysteries. He had to get on the trail again, hopefully they could reach the Anduin today.

When he got back to the campsite Thorin put Kaylea's weapon away and saddled the horses. It took him a moment to figure out how to get Kaylea on her horse, she was surprisingly heavy and her horse very tall, but he could put her over his shoulder and slide her face down over her saddle. Hector helped him by standing on the opposite side of the horse and pulling her over by her sleeve. It took them two more days to reach the river where they turned to follow its course, Thorin leading Kaylea's warhorse with his mare. Thorin and Hector developed a system for getting Kaylea on and off her big horse, every time they stopped Thorin would lay her down and check her wound. It pained him to keep inserting a knife in it to keep it open which he had to do at least once a day, but he told himself she could not feel it. Her wound continued to look uglier, the black tendrils growing longer. Once he had checked her wound Thorin would lay Kaylea's head in his lap and put his hand on her chest to feel her breathing. He was too worried now to bother looking for food, he just ate her cram and hoped he would get to the Lady of Lorien in time.