The dwarves, hobbit and elleth paddled with their hands as the river pulled their barrels along; elves rushed along passages in the Woodland Realm. They emerged into the sunlight, and Thorin saw a waterfall right in front of them. "Hold on!" The dwarves, Bilbo, Maethel and the barrels plunged through the rapids, then floated swiftly down the raging river. Legolas, followed by other elves, emerges from a gateway and saw them floating away. He then noticed his sister was among them.
"Holo in-annon!" He ordered to his elves. (Shut the gate!) An elf with him blowed on a horn; as the dwarves rounded a corner in the river, they saw a guardpost built above the river. The heavily armoured elves standing guard there hear the horn and come to attention; one of them pulled a lever, causing a heavy metal sluice gate to block the river. The dwarves in their barrels come to a stop at the gate, unable to float further. Maethel cursed to herself and she looked at Thorin. "No!" He shouted in annoyance and anger.
The barrels piled into each other; the elven guards drew their swords, but one is suddenly shot in the back with a black arrow. Several growling orcs swarm over the guardpost, killing the elves. Multitudes of orcs run in from the bushes, with Bolg. "Watch out! Those are orcs!" Bofur gasped at the elves who hadn't noticed. "Gorid! Zib! Goridug!" Bolg ordered. (Slay them all!) The orcs began throwing themselves at the dwarves in their barrels; Bilbo managed to kill one with Sting, and Dwalin elbowed another in the face. Kili looked up and sees the lever the elven guard had pulled earlier. He managed to get out of his barrel and ran up the stairs toward the lever. Unarmed, he ducks as an orc swung at him. "Kili!" Dwalin shouted.
Dwalin, who had managed to grab a sword from one of the elves or orcs, threw it to Kili, who then fought his way to the top of the stairs. As Kili fought an orc, another one leaps up from behind him, raising its spear to stab him. Maethel threw a short dagger and killed the orc, allowing Kili to fight his own opponent and kill it. Bolg, noticing Kili, pulled his bow and arrows from his back. As Kili reaches for the lever, Bolg fires an arrow, which hit Kili in the calf. Kili stopped short, panting. "Kili!" His brother shouted. Kili groaned in pain and strained to pull the lever, but fell over onto his back. Bolg strung another arrow. Thorin looked shocked unsure of what to do. "Kili." He shouted. An orc leaped over to kill Kili, but an arrow suddenly flew into its head. Kili looked over and saw Tauriel running through the bushes. She shot another orc, then killed others with her knife. "Gor'-ash! Gor golginul! " (Kill her! Kill the She-Elf!)
Several orcs rushed at Tauriel; Legolas and other elves appeared from the bushes and shot them down. As Tauriel, Legolas, and the other elves fought the orcs, Kili managed to grab the lever and pulled it, opening the sluice letting the dwarves in their barrels through. He then fell on his back again in pain. The dwarves in barrels fell down another waterfall and floated down the river. Bolg saw them. "Khozdayin obguryash! Abgurid!" Bolg shouted to his orcs as he stuck his sword in the air. (After them!) "Kili!" Fili shouted. Kili managed to slide himself off the ledge and into his empty barrel below. As he landed in it, the shaft of the arrow in his leg breaks off on the edge of the barrel. Tauriel distractedly looked over at him and was attacked by an orc, but fortunately she managed to kill the orc. The remaining dwarves, Maethel and Bilbo plunged over the waterfall and continued floating down the rushing river, as Bolg and his orcs followed the river on land.
The dwarves tried to paddle and steer with their hands, but to no avail; the river was running too wild. As they came to a narrow part of the river, orcs on either side begin shooting arrows at them. Meanwhile, back at the guardpost, Tauriel continued fighting orcs. Legolas leaped to the top of the guard post as well. In the river, an orc leaped at Thorin in his barrel, but he managed to kill it with a sword he grabbed earlier. Tauriel, Legolas, and the other elves ran after the orcs chasing the dwarves, shooting them. An orc jumped from an overhanging tree branch toward Balin, but Maethel threw her sword and pinned the orc to the tree; as the orc dropped its weapon, Thorin caught it while floating beneath him, and he threw back to Bombur, who threw it to Nori, who threw it to Fili, who killed an orc with it. An orc leaped onto Dwalin's barrel, only for Dwalin to headbutt it off and steal its axe. The dwarves saw a low-hanging tree branch stretched across the river in front of them, with several orcs on it. "Cut the log!" Maethel shouted as they got closer.
As he floated under it, Thorin hit it with his sword, then Bofur hit it with his weapon, and Dwalin, right behind him, hit the branch with his axe, breaking it and causing the orcs on it to fall into the river. Bilbo managed to climb atop a floating barrel. "Bombur!" Dwalin shouted. He threw his axe to Bombur, who killed an orc that had just jumped onto his barrel. The Orc's spear ended up pinning it to an overhanging tree branch; the other end of the spear caught onto Bombur's barrel and catapults it through the air and onto the riverbank, where the barrel rolled and trampled multitudes of orcs. The barrel flipped through the air to the other side of the river, where it trampled more orcs. Eventually, the barrel came to a stop, and orcs surround it; however, Bombur kicked out the bottom, then stuck his arms holding axes through the sides. He then started spinning rapidly with the axes extended, mowing down all the orcs around him. He then ran towards the river, he tossed his axe to one of the floating dwarves, then gracefully pencil jumped into an empty barrel.
Meanwhile, Legolas, Tauriel, and the other elves have caught up to the dwarves and orcs, and they fought the orcs. At one point, Legolas leaped over the river and landed with a foot on the heads of two dwarves, from this vantage point, he shot orcs on either riverbank. He aimed carefully, and managed to skewer two orcs through the head with one arrow. An arrow, aimed for Thorin, shot straight past him and skimmed across Maethel's cheek, leaving a deep gash, which poured with blood. She withered in pain as she continued to paddle her way down the river. Her brother looked over at her and noticed her cut.
Legolas continued fighting orcs, using the heads of floating dwarves as stepping stones to get across the river. While he is preoccupied fighting an orc, another orc runs up behind him and raises its sword to kill him; Thorin, from his barrel in the river, threw his sword and managed to kill the orc behind Legolas.
Legolas and Thorin looked at each other with some sort of understanding; Legolas stopped pursuing them as the dwarves continued floating down the river. It seemed like all the orcs are dead. However, as Legolas watched the dwarves and his sister float away, an orc drew its bow and aimed at him; it shot, but its arrow was suddenly deflected in the air by Tauriel's own arrow. As Legolas spun around in surprise, Tauriel attacked the orc and forced it to its knees. Just before she can decapitate it with her knife, Legolas stopped her. "Tauriel! Dartho! Ú-no hono. Ho hebo cuin." He said as he continued to watch his sister and the dwarves go out of view. (Tauriel! Wait! This one we keep alive.) He then headed back toward the Woodland Realm. Tauriel watched the dwarves and her best friend floating away, being chased by orcs, and looked conflicted as to whether or not she should follow them or Legolas.
"Ban khozdai-go! Sha-mogi obguryash!" (After them! Cut them off!)
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his exception
FanfictionThorin Oakenshield hated elves. But she was something different. She was his only exception. 'I feel somewhat sad... that his hate for dwarves overpowered his love for his own daughter... me.'
