Daughter of Starlight

Alternate Ending: Namaarie {Farewell}

Quick note before you read this: this was the original ending to the story before I decided to change it, but I thought it would be a waste not to share it. This chapter took me a very long time to write because I was afraid that writing an alternate ending like this would go against everything Laerornien went through in this story to get home. I'm still unsure about how true this ending is to her character, but I didn't think it would hurt to post it so you guys could read it. Thanks again for supporting this story for so long. It means the world to me. I hope you like this alternate ending :) 
(Just in case you guys don't remember, this is essentially a rewrite of Chapter 41.)

I soon caught up to Legolas and Tauriel, and together we ran for Ravenhill. We had almost reached the top of the hill when we saw countless war bats flying overhead, shrieking as they went.

Tauriel watched them go, but Legolas, always the one to improvise with the situation, grabbed onto a low flying bat and let it carry him the rest of the way.

"Show off," I muttered as Tauriel and I hurried ahead. We parted ways, each of us searching for one of the Durins.

I wandered around for awhile, calling Thorin's name, but then I came across Bilbo lying among the rubble near the tower. His eyes were closed and he wasn't moving.

"Bilbo!" I cried, running to his side and shaking him. He was unconscious, and judging the blood in his hair, I guessed he had taken a blow to the head. He was still breathing, so that was a good sign.

It was in looking up again for any sign of Thorin that I caught sight of a body at the foot of the tower, one with golden blond hair.

"No," I whispered, fearing the worst as I stood and ran to the tower. When I got there, I saw that it was Fili. He was dead.

I put a hand to my mouth as I kneeled down next to him, unable to hold back my tears. I weeped for the dwarf prince and closed his empty eyes, eyes whose irises had once looked upon me like a sister. What hurt more than the loss of my surrogate brother was the knowledge that I had gotten here too late to save him.

I wiped my tears away and shakily got to my feet, taking a deep breath. There was still time to find Kili and Thorin. Fili's death would be for nothing if I didn't try to save his brother and uncle.

I continued in my search, eventually spotting Legolas atop a hollow column of stone that may have also been some sort of tower in its day. I saw that he was shooting arrows towards the frozen river beneath him, and I was standing at a good enough height that I could see where his arrows were going.

"Thorin!" I gasped in happiness. He was alive. He was fighting off countless orcs and goblins with Legolas's additional aid, but he was alive. He needed more help, though, if was going to survive that fight.

I climbed higher on the stone ruins where I had found myself, searching for the quickest way I could get to Thorin. Out of nowhere I suddenly heard Kili and Tauriel shouting each other's names, and my eyes searched the ruins for the two of them. I was horrified to see they were unsuccessfully fighting off an orc taller than any of the others I'd seen today, with blades embedded in his flesh and a cruel and crude weapon in his hands with a deadly sharp tip.

I was closer to them. I could get to them quicker and help them.

With that thought in mind I began running to them, but it was too late. As I watched, helpless to do anything, the orc threw Tauriel off of him and grabbed Kili. It wasted no time in driving the tip of his weapon through Kili's chest.

"No!" I screamed, falling to my knees again as I watched the second Durin brother, my second surrogate brother, and one of my closest friends, fall to the ground. Soon after that, Tauriel got up and grabbed onto the orc. She pushed both the orc and herself off the edge of the building, and they fell out of sight, presumably down the mountainside.