Where She Went

Out of the Woods

"Do as she says!" he commanded.

That did it for them. The Dwarves each climbed into their own barrel. Talia made sure that everyone was in before walking over to a lever. "So, what do we do now?" Bofur asked. The Terran turned around to see the entire company poking their heads out of their barrels, waiting for her next move. Talia smirked and raised her brows.

"Hold your breath." she said cheekily, and pulled the lever.

"Hold my breath? What do you me-" Bofur started, but then the barrels started moving down as the floor opened up to reveal a ramp that led into the river. Talia cringed a little as she could hear the Dwarves screaming and splashing into the water. She smiled to herself as the ramp closed. She had done it. They made it out of the cellars.

"Where is the keeper of the keys?" she heard a voice shout. Talia's moment of satisfaction was short-lived, as she now had to figure out how to get herself out of the cellars. She could hear the footsteps of the guards getting closer as she began to jump on the ground, trying to find the ramp's tipping point. Talia was backing away slowly as she heard the Elves coming into the cellars. That was when she could feel the floor opening, and she began to slide down the ramp.

The young woman screamed as she fell into the river. The water was freezing, and she could feel her muscles tensing immediately after making contact with it. Talia made her way to the surface to feel someone grab her arms. Nori then took her hands and placed them on the edge of his barrel.

"Well done, Talisa!" she could hear Thorin's voice from the front. She turned her head towards him and waved him off. "Come on, let's go!" Thorin shouted. Talia was kicking as Nori and the others paddled through the river with their hands. The Terran's eyes widened as she saw rapids ahead. "HOLD ON!" Thorin bellowed.

Talia held on to Nori's barrel as tight as she could. She could feel the force of the current that nearly made her let go. She forced herself to not let out any air as the current dragged her down. When the rapids lightened up a little, she pulled herself back up to the surface, and she could hear Nori screaming her name.

The company continued to trail down the river and they were approaching the gate. But, that was when Talia heard a horn sounding off. She looked up ahead to see that an Elf guard was approaching some lever. He was closing the gate.

The young woman could hear Thorin shouting, as he was the first to run into the gate. The rest of the company was not far behind, and soon, they were all gathered at the gate, stopped. Talia could see the guards drawing their weapons, when she suddenly saw one Elf drop down dead. There was an arrow in his back. And then Talia looked up to see an Orc growling at them.

The company began to shout and scream as the Orcs started coming at them. Talia immediately drew her dagger and stabbed any Orcs that were within her arm's reach. She pulled her dagger out of an Orc's neck when she heard Fili call out for his brother.

Talia turned around to see Kili standing right in front of the lever that opened the gate. And there was an arrow sticking out of his leg. "Oh my God." she choked. Kili. The young woman felt a sting in her eyes as he collapsed to the ground, groaning in pain. Talia's breathing increased as more Orcs seemed to appear out of nowhere.

But then she saw many of them falling down dead. Talia turned around to see the redhead, Tauriel, shooting down as many Orcs as she could, along with Thranduil's son. Then she could feel the barrels starting to move. The Terran looked to see that Kili had managed to get up and pull the lever. The current was pulling them through the gate.

"Kili!" Fili shouted once more. Talia saw that Kili managed to jump into his barrel, the arrow snapping as he landed. The young woman felt her heart pounding out of worry for her friend as they made their way out. However, she would soon become distracted with staying afloat in the rapids ahead.