Of Love & War ｡ Kili Durin

15 - THUNDEROUS BATTLE

When Ygritte was a young girl, she loved the rain. Playing in it, watching it fall, the way it felt as it dampened a flower petal in her mother's garden ─ everything about it. But now, as the dreary skyoverhead heaved a downpour upon them, Ygritte wanted nothing more than to make the rain go away.

She wasn't one to complain much, but it was hard to see through it as she shuffled across the narrow ledges of slippery rock. The woman ─ being much taller than the Dwarves, the Dragonkin woman and the Hobbit that she ventured with ─ had to walk with her head down to watch where she was going so she wouldn't plummet to her death. She was sure if it wasn't for the distant flashes of lightning that gave her short moments of perfect light, that she would have fallen already, as she walked with her back pressed against wet rock.

In this moment, with dripping hair and cold flesh, she was both displeased that her father had told her to remain with the Company, while also grateful that he had stayed behind so he wouldn't have to walk along such slippery ground at his age. She could only imagine how long it would take him to walk this path in such bleak weather. Too long, she guessed.

Then, as lightning flashed overhead, a sudden thought came to her.

Ryvniss. A small smile found her face as rain splashed against her skin from the fierce winds. He can fly! If we all were to climb onto his back, we can be out of this awful storm in a matter of no time.

Before she could address Aninth about this possibility, Thorin called out for them to all hold on. Or at least she assumed that's what he said. She couldn't hear him as clear over the deafening thunder crackling in the sky overhead and the howling wind that whipped at their hair.

When Ygritte stopped as per Thorin's request, she took a moment to ensure the safety of those behind her. Counting heads, she found all the dwarves accounted for. Turning back around, she faced Bilbo who, in that moment, had stepped on risky terrain. As it collapsed beneath his weight, her heart lept into her throat. The woman watched as the Hobbit she vowed to protect with her life began to fall, his arms flailing and his panicked screams howling with the wind. She didn't hesitate to lunge forward.

"Bilbo!"

She clasped her hand around his arm and pulled, securing him against her chest and folding her arms around his chest, which heaved with panicked breaths. She held him there and breathed the same as him, letting her panic show as she pushed them both back against the wet rock.

"Are you alright?" she asked, slowing uncurling her arms from his body.

Bilbo nodded. "Thank you, Ygritte."

Her features relaxed, knowing that he was alright. "You're welcome," she said into the wind, blinking away the rain from her eyes as she met his grateful stare. "These are perilous paths Bilbo; try to avoid walking too close to the edge. It will not fair you, nor the Company, well should you fall."

"Yes," the Hobbit agreed while staring at the long fall, which he couldn't see the bottom of. His was quiet, but loud enough for her to hear him. "I dare say it wouldn't."

"We must find shelter!" Thorin shouted from up ahead.

"Look out!" Dwalin yelled.

They all turned their attention forward, seeing a massive boulder flying at them. Ygritte's eyes grew at the massive size of it, watching as it soared through the air before crashing into the rock above their heads and splintering into smaller pieces, which were still large considering its former size. Those smaller pieces began to fall down over their heads.

Everyone pressed themselves back against the rocks to shield themselves from the falling debris. Ygritte gripped onto Bilbo and used her taller body to shield his. She could feel gushes of wind rush past her with each rock that fell, and it sent her heart into a wild gallop as she feared one of them would crumble the rock beneath their feet and send them plummeting downward.