An Even Fifteen (Fili x reader)

(7) Arrows, Orcs, and Elves

The sun had set hours ago, and Laketown was quiet. You stood in Bard's kitchen, feeling helpless as you watched Kili succumb to the poison in his system. You had never seen anything like this, not even in the forest where the creatures and plants were getting ill. You didn't know any plants you could use to treat the poison, and even Oin seemed at a loss. You and the other dwarves tried to keep him comfortable, but he kept tossing and turning, crying out in his fever-haze. Poor Fili wouldn't leave Kili's side. Oin had explained to you, seeing your gaze tracking the blond dwarf with puzzlement, that the two dwarves were brothers, and nephews of Thorin Oakenshield himself. It explained the shortened names they called each other, and the worry in Fili's every movement.

You had always wondered what it would be like to have a brother. Or a sibling at all, for that matter. The only companionship you had really known was that of the eccentric wizard Radagast and the creatures of Greenwood. To have such companionship and watch it fade away, powerless to stop the downward spiral-- you could not imagine it. Fili's face was taut with worry, and he had not moved from Kili's side, or even spoken, since his brother had gone unconscious. Suddenly, you felt like an intruder, watching the dwarves care for one of their own with frantic tenderness. You stepped outside and found Bard leaning on the railing in front of his door.

"Oh, I'm sorry," you said when Bard turned around, consternation on his face, "I didn't realize you were out here." You moved to go back inside, but Bard held up a hand to stop you and his face relaxed.

"It's all right," he said. "It is crowded in there, and you look like you could use some air."

You leaned on the railing next to Bard. "I hope Kili will be all right," you said, though your tone was dismal.

Bard shrugged, still staring gloomily across the water at the Lonely Mountain.

"I never did thank you for bringing me to them," you said. "So, uh, thanks."

He sighed, and opened his mouth to reply, just as the door behind us burst open. We turned to find Bofur staring at us with wide eyes. "We need something to bring his fever down."

"I have nightshade, feverfew," Bard said, striding past Bofur to search the leather satchels hanging from the wooden grate on the kitchen ceiling.

"That's no use do me. Do ya have Kingsfoil?" Oin asked.

"Kingsfoil? It's a weed. We feed it to the pigs."

"Weed? Pigs. Right." Bofur marched to Kili, pointed a finger in the injured dwarf's face and said, "Don't. Move." He then strode out the door with determination.

You gathered the Rhosgobels and herded them into Tilda's room. They were frightened by the noises Kili was making, and they were beginning to thump in fear. Once they were safely tucked behind a closed door, you went back to Oin, about to ask what you could do to help when rumbling came from beyond the town. It sounded like an earthquake.

"Da?" Sigrid said, fear lighting her eyes.

"It's coming from the mountain," Bain murmured.

Fili marched to Bard, leaving Kili for the first time since you'd entered Bard's home. "You should leave us," he said, his baritone voice rumbling. "Take your children and get out of here."

"And go where?" Bard scoffed. "There's nowhere to go."

Tilda stepped forward. "Are we going to die, Da?"

"No, darling," Bard answered, trying to hide his lie behind false confidence.

Tilda saw through her father's ruse. "The dragon, it's going to kill us."

Bard's eyes widened as he looked at his children, the realization of danger suddenly turning his face to stone-cold determination. He reached up and plucked a long, black metal arrow from the grate above the kitchen counter. "Not if I kill it first."

"A black arrow," you breathed. You had heard the tale of Girion, and his failed efforts to slay Smaug when he had first come and destroyed Dale and Erebor. How had Bard come to have the last one?

Bard looked at you in surprise. "Aye. Bain," he found his son, "come with me." They left the kitchen, the silence of terror lingering behind them.

Your gaze found its way to Fili, whose face was pale. Kili groaned, and Fili turned back to his brother. You felt useless, standing there with empty hands. "Here," you said, stepping to Sigrid and holding out your hand for the dirty bowls. "I'll wash these. You take a break." She gave you a wan smile before moving to the table, taking the tablecloth and folding it before heading out to the balcony.

Bain had just returned without his father, furious that he'd been taken prisoner by the town guard, and you were drying your last bowl when Sigrid screamed. You turned just as Sigrid bolted through the door and tried to slam it shut, only to find it propped open by a sword, then forced open by an orc. You wanted to scream, but your throat closed in panic, and you looked to the dwarves. Another orc came through a door on the other side of the house, and Oin and Fili rushed toward them, shouting their battle cries and wielding only their bare hands as weapons. Sigrid reached for a plate on the table and threw it into an orc's head. You did the same with the bowl in your hand before helping Tilda under the table, propping the benches up around her. Sigrid slipped under the table, too, and you stood your ground in front of them. Another orc lifted his crude blade with a sneer, about to plunge it into your chest when he stopped, his decaying face gone blank as he fell to the ground, an arrow lodged in his neck.

Two elves moved around the room in a blur, weapons flying. You crouched down to avoid the arrows that a blond elf fired with precision. A redheaded elf maiden used her shining daggers with ferocity. You saw Kili roll off the bed to the ground, and you crawled over to him, avoiding the fallen bodies of orcs. You held the injured dwarf down, watching in horror as Fili took a wound to his arm. The elves had killed all but two of the orcs when the rough creatures stopped, turning their heads as they listened to a guttural shout from outside. They ran to the balcony and leapt off, but not before the blond elf tripped one and killed him swiftly with a swipe of his elven blade. The elf stepped out the door, making swift work of the nearest orcs before turning back to the redheaded elf, saying only, "Tauriel." The elf maiden looked torn between following her friend and staying, her eyes lingering on Kili, who still moaned. The blond elf eventually turned and ran off, leaving her behind.

She stepped out the door for a moment. Kili writhed beneath your grip, his cries growing stronger. He panted in pain, and Fili appeared in an instant on the other side of him. "Up," Fili said, and took his brother's shoulder, as you took Kili's other side. You lifted him together, and Oin helped move him to the table. The elf maiden stepped back through the door, Bofur following close behind. Her eyes were starry as she crushed a handful of the Kingsfoil Bofur had brought. "Hold him down," she said. Sigrid, Tilda, Bain, and the other dwarves gathered around the table and held the injured dwarf still as the elf maiden began chanting in the smooth elven tongue. Your eyes fixed on Fili's face, who looked simultaneously in awe and terrified of the she-elf. You looked to her in surprise, realizing what she was doing.

She was saving Kili's life.

But why?

A/N: You got some action this week! Hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please give this chapter a vote, and you can let me know what you think with a comment or two!
--RA

P.S. I am thinking about updating twice weekly because I've written so much ahead and I'm impatient. Would you guys like it if I posted new chapters on Mondays as well as Thursdays?