It seemed hopeless, the ranks reduced to less than a third. "Fall back! Fall back to the mountain!" Dain shouted, and the dwarfs hurried back, rushing quickly to form ranks at the edge of the moat between the plain and the wall of the mountain. Olivia was surprised she was still breathing, though she held a calm exterior, the sword singing in her hands as she held it before her, facing down the line of orcs and trolls.
The orc horn sounded as the trolls came to the front of the line, and they began to march towards the dwarves, Oliva gripping her weapon tighter. "Come on, Thorin..." She muttered. As if he had heard her, a warmer sounding horn sounded from behind her, upon the wall, followed by the clanging of a large bell and the shattering of stone.
Behind her, the company of dwarves parted, the thirteen dwarves of whom she had become so fond rushing between them, Thorin taking the point. "To the king!" Dain shouted.
"To the king!" Olivia shouted with him a second time, relief and pride washing over her, rushing forwards as Thorin shouted out a battle cry.
"D'ubakkur!"
The trolls were downed by arrows before they even reached the group, the rank crashing into the wave of orcs with great battle cries. They split the first wave cleanly in two, Fili and Kili pushing to fight near Liv in the crowd.
"Olivia!" Kili shouted.
"Kili!" She grinned as she cut the head from an orc, nodding in greeting to the brothers. "Fili!"
"You're alive!" Fili was overjoyed to see her.
"You can't get rid of me that easily!" She thrust her sword through the chest of an orc.
Thorin's voice from somewhere behind her drew her attention. "Dain!"
"Thorin!" She heard the dwarf reply. "Hold on! I'm coming!" She felt some relief to see the two guarding one another's backs. "Hey, cousin! What took you so long?" Risking another glance, she saw the two hug one another. "You wouldn't happen to know an Olivia by any chance? Tall, blonde? Real spitfire?"
"Olivia?" She heard a panic in Thorin's voice. "She's still here?"
"Aye, she's been fighting with us since the first charge."
"Over here!" She shouted, and Thorin found her quickly in the crowd, Olivia nodding to him before the battle drew her gaze from him again. She slowly began to push her way towards the king.
"There's too many of these buggers Thorin!" Dain brought Thorin's attention back to him. "I hope you've got a plan."
"Aye." Olivia reached Thorin as he spoke.
"Whatever harebrained plan you have in mind, I want in." She told him.
"Olivia..."
"I'm not letting you go alone!" She argued, cutting down an orc. "Not this time. Last time was too close."
Thorin conceded, nodding to her. "Fine. We're going to take out their leader." He rushed forwards, mounting one of the mountain-goat steeds of the dwarves.
"Azog..." Dain muttered.
"I'm going to kill that piece of filth," Thorin growled, offering a hand to Olivia. She looked skeptical, afraid her weight would be too much, but Thorin urged her on. "They're strong creatures. They can take the weight." With that she allowed herself to be pulled on behind him, sword drawn to defend him as they rode.
Fili, Kili, and Dwalin rode with them on goats of their own, weaving between the orcs, headed to Ravenhill. This was it. Every choice she had ever made led here, now. Either she would succeed... or she would die.
***
They destroyed the guards easily as they mounted the hill, reaching the top of a tall icy waterfall. Olivia tried not to look down when they neared the edge, gripping tightly onto Thorin so she would be sure she did not fall.
They easily killed the few orcs that remained, but the hill appeared then deserted, though Olivia knew the truth. The silence was eerie, snow and cloud swirling around them, stifling their vision.
"Where is he?" Kili asked from beside Olivia. "It looks empty." Thorin and Dwalin looked around in suspicion. "I think Azog has fled!"
"No," Olivia quickly replied.
"I don't think so," Thorin replied. He turned back to the group. "Fili, take your brother. Scout out the towers..."
Olivia cut him off. "No! Thorin, no." He turned to look at her. "Think. That is what he wants. If he can split us up, he can take us out, one by one..."
"We have company," Dwalin cut her off, goblins racing over the top of the hill above, drawing all of their attention for a moment. "Goblin mercenaries. No more than a hundred."
"Thorin, please," She begged, Thorin looking back at her. "Please trust me."
The desperation in her eyes made him give in. He sighed. "Alright. We stick together." Olivia breathed out a sigh of relief as Thorin changed his orders. "Form ranks! Be ready."
They braced themselves, weapons drawn, facing down the goblin mercenaries. 'Maybe fate is finally on my side.' The human woman held her sword high. With the dwarves by her side, she was sure she could do anything.
The goblins were easy to fight, compared to the battle below. They were smaller, weaker, and had not been nearly as well trained. The five warriors stood together, not separating far as they fought, each quickly offing a fifth of the Goblins.
"Where is that orc filth?" Dwalin asked as they caught their breaths, looking around in the mist for the pale orc.
Unbeknownst to them, he watched from one of the towers, increasingly frustrated that they were not splitting up like he had hoped. He needed a new plan. He couldn't take on all five of them at once.
Suddenly, from thin air, Bilbo appeared, out of breath from running. "Thorin."
"Bilbo!" Thorin was overjoyed to see the halfling alive and well.
"You have to leave here, now," Bilbo didn't have time for pleasantries. "Azog has another army attacking from the north. This watchtower will be completely surrounded, there'll be no way out."
"We are so close!" Kili insisted.
Dwalin agreed, pushing forwards. "That orc scum is in there! I say we push on!"
"No!" Thorin held Dwalin back. "That's what he wants." He looked to Olivia. "You were right. He wants to draw us in. This is a trap..."
Azog's group of fighters had reached them finally, hoping to take them off guard, leaping from the mist and shadows upon the warriors. "Bilbo! Hide!" Olivia insisted, pulling him back and away, closing ranks with Thorin, Fili, Kili, and Dwalin
These were the strongest fighters in Azog's army, the pale orc leading the charge, heading straight for Thorin. There were so many of them. Too many. Olivia, Fili, and Kili were separated from Thorin and Dwalin, being pushed down the steps away from the others. "He's trying to split us up!" Fili shouted.
Olivia's heart rose into her throat as Thorin fell away from her view, being pushed out onto the ice by Azog, Dwalin forced in place. "No!" She was panicking, trying to steady her breathing. She couldn't find Bilbo either.
These orcs were well trained, some were much larger than Olivia, and all had swords that were well made, and sharp. She screamed in effort, pushing one back, Fili and Kili slowly being separated from her as well, now two stories lower than she, back to back. Bolg's army arrived soon as well, swamping them further, pulling the warriors away from one another.
She tried to keep an eye on them and try to find Thorin, but she struggled to even keep herself alive, let alone watch out for the others. A feminine voice made her nearly sigh in relief. "Kili!"
"Tauriel!" The dwarf prince shouted back, and over her shoulder she could see that she had joined the brothers, helping them fight.
Now she just had to get to Thorin. Thorin. She couldn't even see him. 'I can't fail! Not now!' She felt the tears on her warm face in the cold air, like streaks of ice against the fiery heat of her skin, hot from the effort. "It is a part of you," Her eyes widened as a new, yet familiar voice echoed in her head.
"Mom!?" Her voice broke, shaking.
"The sword is an extension of me, it is an extension of you. Trust it. It will know what to do."
She took a steadying breath, closing her eyes. Peace flooded her body, the sound of the battle fading to a dull roar. Faintly, she heard Fili and Kili calling her name, warmth flooding through her.
From the outside, she was quite a sight. Eyes closed, hair billowing around her in the wind. Her sword had alit with a silver light, and she danced gracefully, destroying the pack around her with ease, not once opening her eyes.
As she decapitated the last enemy, she let out a breath, eyes fluttering open. 'What was that?' She had no time to wonder. "Thorin..." She rushed forwards, out onto the ice, through the fog, searching for him. First she saw the shattered ice, heartrate quickening again, till her eyes fell on the king, a little battered, but unharmed.
Suddenly, he let out a cry, blade going through his foot from beneath the ice. His eyes widened as the pale orc burst from the freezing water, pulling back his arm to jab through Thorin.
And all at once, Olivia was before him, the blade that had been meant for him jutting through her.
She took in a shaky gasp of air, silver eyes locking onto his, wide with fear. It was like she couldn't feel pain as the blade pulled out from her, dropping to her knees. Thorin thought quickly, stabbing past her through the throat of Azog, taking advantage of the orcs surprise. The creature dropped dead.
Thorin dropped his sword, falling to his knees to catch Olivia as she fell forwards, forehead pressing against his shoulder. He cradled the back of her head for a moment before laying her down over his lap, now soaked with her blood. He cradled her face with his hand. She smiled up at him, blood staining her mouth.
"Thorin..." She murmured, hand weakly reaching up to cup his face. She sighed shakily, looking at him with unspeakable love in her eyes. "I forgive you, you know?" She was sure she was dying. "You weren't yourself... It is so good to see your eyes again... I'm glad I got to see them once more..." Her hand dropped from his face.
"No," He cut her off, voice hoarse with tears. They dripped down his nose as he smiled painfully at her. "You will see them again, many times. Every day, if you wish." She smiled lazily, movement over his shoulder pulling her vision.
She smiled brighter, though still weak. "Fili, Kili. You're... alive..." Words were getting harder now, vision spotty. "Now I can rest..." her eyes fluttered shut.
"Don't you dare!" Thorin demanded, clinging to her tightly. "No! Keep your eyes open, kibil kheled. Keep them open, look at me." With effort, her eyes opened again, fighting to keep them open. "That's it..." he shakily smiled. "Just... just look at me, okay?" She weakly reached towards his hand, and he moved to grasp her hand tightly, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. "You can't leave me now, you hear?" He murmured lowly to her. "You have followed me this far, you can't leave me now. I won't let you." His voice broke.
The eagles had come, the battle was being won, but to the group on the frozen river, none of that mattered. Time stood still . "What did you call me?" Olivia's voice was weak as it broke the silence.
"What?"
"What did you call me? You said something, in Khuzdul... You said it before, in Laketown, when you said I had 'helped you.'" The tightness of her grip on his hand was weakening, and he was growing worried.
Fili, Kili, and Dwalin all stood around as well, worried for her, but not wanting to get to close. Bilbo, too, had appeared from nowhere, keeping his distance but looking worriedly at his rapidly paling friend.
"kibil kheled?" He repeated the words, and she nodded. "It means 'silver glass...'" He paused, eyes crinkling as he smiled, tears sneaking from the corners of his eyes. "For your eyes shine like silver and diamonds... and you are fairer to me than any treasure."
Tears fell from her own eyes, from both pain and joy, squeezing his hand weakly with her own as she smiled. "Thorin..." Her eyes fluttered shut, and she was lost to the world.