Heart Of Stone

Chapter Twenty-two

Tauriel and Legolas pause, halfway up Ravenhill, as they see the Werebats massing. Tauriel looks behind her, her gaze following the bats and she spots Gundabads fighting elves and Thranduil being thrown by a werebat, landing on the ground unconscious, Gundabads closing in on him. "No..."

The werebats fly down to the main battlefields, swooping through ranks of soldiers and causing mayhem. Tauriel turns ti tell Legolas if his father but before she can Legolas leaps and grabs the leg of a passing werebat, and it carries him away. Tauriel follows him and catches sight of Kili fighting several orcs on the ruins.

"Kili..."

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Thorin manages to knock Azog down, and Azog slides down a slippery slope; before Thorin can chase after him, other orcs arrive and he is forced to fight them.

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Bilbo-still standing on the otherside of the river-throws rocks at the orcs as Dwalin continues to fight them. As Bilbo continues throwing rocks, Bolg suddenly runs out and smacks Bilbo in the head with the handle of his mace, knocking him out cold.

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As the werebat carries Legolas over a stone tower, he shoots it through the neck, killing it and forcing it to release him; he drops gracefully atop the tower.

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Azog, recovered suddenly charges at Thorin and knocks him onto the surface of the frozen river. He slides stopping beside Fawn and a torn Fang. "No..." As he looks at Fanw he sees....life in her still eye. He reaches for her. "Fawn..."

"Go in for the kill!" Azog yells to his orcs, many of which run out on to the ice to attack Thorin.
"Finish him!"

Thorin looks around rapidly as many orcs run toward him; suddenly, the orcs begin falling over with arrows stuck in them. Thorin looks up and sees Legolas is shooting the orcs attacking Thorin from the top of the tower. Thorin stands, and with his broken sword, takes on the remaining orcs.

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Tauriel, in a moment of peace after dispatching her opponent, spots Kili. Her heart soars. "KILI!"

Kili hears her, but he's too busy fighting two orcs at once to respond.

"KILI!"

"TAURIEL!"

"Kili..."

Suddenly, Bolg jumps out of a tunnel and kicks Tauriel into a rock. He then grabs her.

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Thranduil's eyes shot open and he rolled just as a Gundabad slammed a mace to the ground where Thranduil's head had been. Thranduil's body aches and as he stands his whole body trembles. The gundabad snarls and charges toward him. Thranduil bares his teeth and meets him halfway, weaponless.

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Tauriel manages to slip out from Bolg's grasp and begins attacking him with her knife; he manages to grab both her arms and twists them, causing her to shriek in pain; he then smashes his fist down on her head, felling her.

Bolg raises Tauriel up by the throat, but she manages to kick him in the knee, causing him to fall. He growls throws her body against a wall.

As she lays stunned on the ground, he raises his mace for the kill. Kili leaps from a parapet onto him. They fight, and Kili manages to slash him, but Bolg knocks him down and grabs Kili by the head, bending Kili's back over his knee.

He smiles sadistically and raises the pointed base of his mace to stab him through the chest. Tauriel shouts and jumps on Bolg from behind. "No!"

Bolg throws her down again, and she can do nothing as Bolg raises his mace and plunges it through Kili's chest. "No!" As Kili dies, he and Tauriel stare into each others eyes; both of them tearing up. Bolg drops Kili to the ground dead. He stands, smiling down at his fresh kill. He looks to Tauriel.

Tauriel's grief turns to anger, and she leaps onto Bolg as he approaches her. He growls and stumbles.

They are standing over the edge of a precipice, and Bolg tries to swing her out over the fall. She manages to hold on to him and kick off a stone, launching them both over the edge.