The King's Pet ON HOLD

Returning a Favor

"Kili!" I heard multiple dwarves cry from behind me.

Kili attempted to pull the lever, but was unable to in his weakened state. Another orc took this opportunity to try to lung at him. I quickly cut the orc down and turned towards kili.

The sound of arrows comes from all around us and orcs began to fall, elven arrows clearly sticking out of them. I threw all of my weight against the lever causing the gate below us to open.

As the barrels began to flow through I grabbed Kili by the neck of his shirt and pull him into the river with me. I flung him back into his barrel before swimming to mine. I held on tightly as I transformed back into a human - my teeth and claws dulling and soft skin covered in clothing replaced long fur. Once the transformation was completed I climbex back into my barrel with a heavy sigh.

I lookdd back towards kili. His face was contorted with pain and it seemed the shaft of the arrow had broken as he got into his barrel. His dwarven brotheren were speaking to him with evident concern in their voice. None of them paid any attention to me.

It became clear that some of the orcs were still tracking us as we sped down the river. As the river narrowed, they begin to shoot at us but to no avail. The dwarves and I began the fight them off, them with their stolen weapons and me with my teeth and claws.

The elves joined the fight as we traveled down the river. One of the dwarves - who I assumed was the leader - managed to kill an orc before it could reach the son of king thranduil. When the elf realized the dwarf had saved him, he nodded and stopped perusing us. It seems all the orcs had been killed.

With the danger out of the way for now, my mind returned to kili. I tried to paddle towards his barrel but the rough waters made it slow going. Once I reached him I saw how pale he had become.

"Thank you" he said simply, to which I nodded.

"I was simply returning a favor."

Maybe freedom wasn't as good as I had originally thought.