~ Part Sixteen ~
"We have no time. We must leave." Tauriel said as she came back inside. "Get him up." Ellía instructed Bofur and Fili. "I'm fine! I can walk." Kili grumbled as he shoved their hands off of him. Ellía rolled her eyes at him and went to help Bard's children get ready to leave. "Come on, fast as you can." she encouraged Tilda as she helped the small girl slip into her coat. "We're not leaving without our father." Bain said firmly.
"If you stay here, your sisters will die. Is that what your father would want?" Ellía asked him lowly. Bain sighed and shook his head before helping his sisters grab some necessities and hurry down to their boats. "Quickly, now!" Ellía urged everyone as she made sure all the children and dwarves were out of the house before following. She helped Kili climb into the boat before taking Fili's outstretched hand and boarding last.
Bofur sat at the back with a long pole to help push the boat along the canal while Fili sat across from him with another pole to help steer. The group had just pushed away from the dock when the dragon flew over them. "Ahh!" Tilda yelled and gripped onto Ellía's hand tightly and buried her face in her sister's shoulder. Ellía had no words of comfort for the small child, but squeezed her hand gently and continued to hold it.
Ellía looked up in the sky and saw the beast's chest begin to glow like smoldering embers. "And so it begins..." She whispered and her eyes locked with Fili's, both trying to hide their fear. "Look out!" Bofur yelled just as a larger boat crashed into the side of their small dinghy. The elf practically growled when she saw it was the Master and Alfrid trying to escape the city with all of their hoarded treasure.
Their boat started to dip to the side as the Master's boat shoved past them and continued down the canal. "Move it! Move it!" one the guards yelled as they continued. "Stay still! Don't rock it!" Oin called to the panicked children. Ellía could see in Tauriel's eyes, as the older she-elf watched the men go by, that she despised the corrupt humans just as much as she does. The group took cover under a raised building as the dragon flew past, burning everything in sight.
Once the coast was clear, Tauriel motioned for Bofur and Fili to push the out into the open. "Da!" They heard Bain yell and looked where he was pointing. Up on the bell tower stood Bard armed only with a bow and arrow. "Da!!!" The girls cried as the dragon flew past the man and he loosed an arrow. "He hit it! He hit the dragon!" Kili yelled. "No." Tauriel said sadly. "He did! He hit his mark! I saw!" Kili argued. "His arrows cannot pierce its hide. I fear nothing will." She told him.
"The black arrow..." Ellía whispered. Bain heard her and his eyes widened as if he remembered something. The boy sprung up and launched himself out of the boat, landing on a dock. "Bain, come back here!" Sigrid shouted. "Bain!!" Fili yelled at the boy, but he was sprinting off into the chaos. Sigrid stood to go after him but Tauriel grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back down. "Leave him. We cannot go back." She told everyone. As mush as Ellía's heart broke watching the girls cry for their brother, she knew Tauriel was right.
"We're close! Faster!" Tauriel shouted over the screams, but a loud shriek tore through the air, drowning all other noise out. Everyone looked to the sky and saw the dragon desperately flapping its wings and climbing higher and higher into the smoky sky. It lout out one last gargled roar before its smoldering chest dies out and the beast tumbled down to earth."Bard did it! That crazy bastard did it!" Oin shouted as the dragon crashed into the water below, right on top of the Master. Tauriel quieted the rowdy dwarves down and forced them all to focus once again. They still needed to make it out of the burning city.
~~~~~
The sun had risen, but it could not be seen through the smoke. The survivors of Lake-Town were starting to gather on the shore and start fires. It was pure mayhem. Those who were able, were pulling the injured from the water and bringing them to the fire to warm up and to be treated. Others were beginning to collect the dead so the families could identify their loved ones.
Among the chaos, Ellía walked through the crowds with a death grip on Tilda's small hand while Tauriel kept an arm around Sigrid's shoulders as they looked for their father and brother. "Da!" Sigrid yelled, but there was no answer. The elves shared a knowing look, but said nothing, not wanting to put the girls through any more pain until it was necessary.
"Tauriel." A voice said. The women turned to see Kili. The older elf guided Sigrid to Ellía as the two walked off to the side, away from prying ears. 'How could I have missed it before...' Ellía wondered as she observed the two. "Kili! Ellía! We're leaving!" Fili called as he, Bofur, and Oin pushed a boat into the water. "But we cannot leave the girls here, alone!" Ellía exclaimed. Fili was about to say something else, but stopped when Tauriel said, "Nya coón, Legolas."
Ellía turned around quickly to see Legolas staring down Kili. 'Something else I should have noticed...' she thought as she looked at Legolas's slight jealousy shining in his eyes. "Cav cín auta, casar." Legolas said lowly before continuing in common tongue, "You are needed elsewhere." Ellía attention was snapped away from the tense interaction when she remembered the children she had promised to protect. She looked at them as the clung to her, trying to keep warm under her cloak.
"Ellía, now!" Bofur called as the boat started to drift from the shore. She saw Kili hesitantly turn and leave Tauriel staring after him. Her heart was torn. She felt her necklace warm against her chest, reminding her of her duty, but she had also made a promise to Bard. "Go. We will see them to their family." Legolas said, appearing next to her. "You will." She asked surprised. Legolas simply nodded and held out his hand to Tilda. The small girl looked up at Ellía to see what she should do, to which the elf gave her a smile and a encouraging nod. "He is a prince. Much better company than me." She quipped as Tilda took his hand and Sigrid let go of her torso.
"Thank you, Ellía." Sigrid told her with a small smile. "Will we ever see you again?" Tilda asked as Legolas sat her atop his white horse. "You will. I promise." she said sweetly before turning and running into the shallow water and climbing into the boat. Ellía moved to sit down next to a uncharacteristically quiet Kili. She turned her head slightly to look at his sad expression, but he looked up and caught her. "What? Do you disapprove as well?" he snapped, catching the others attention.
Her eyes widened as she looked at him. "Do you truly think that is something that bothers me? After all the time we have spent together?" Ellía asked him quietly. The other dwarves turned away, pretending not to listen. Kili sighed and hung his head. "No, I do not. Forgive me, El." He said sadly. The elf just shook her head and took one of his larger hands in hers. "I know I may still be quite young in elf years, even dwarf years, but I have seen enough love in those sixty years to be able to recognize it. And the way you two look at one another... That is love Kili. Whether she finds her way back to you or not. Count that as a blessing. Some go their entire life time without ever truly finding it." She whispered to him.
Kili turned his head quickly, to hide a single tear that rolled down his cheek. He wiped it away with his free hand and looked back at the she-elf. "Thank you, El. I never thought I would be so lucky as to ever gain another friend as true as Fili." He whispered back with a watery smile and patted there intertwined hands. Ellía's smile grew at his words and leaned her forehead against his. "And I never thought I would encounter such an annoying dwarf." she whispered with a cheeky smile. "Hey!" Kili laughed and lightly slapped her on the back head.
Fili couldn't help but smile as he watched the two interact. They behaved as if they had been friends since they were children. The oldest brother looked away quickly when he saw Ellía look up at him. "Don't worry, Fili. I find you slightly less annoying than your brother." she laughed, causing the two other dwarves to chuckle and Fili to just shake his head as his smile grew. The group continued to tease one another and have a few laughs as they made their way across the lake, but they became more serious the closer they got to the Lonely Mountain.
Once they reached the shore, the group quickly unloaded and gathered the few things that they had managed to grab. After making sure everyone was ready to start the climb, Fili began to lead the way up to the mountain. After the long night they had just had, the last thing Ellía wanted to be doing was hiking up a mountain side, but it's not like she could ask the dwarves if they could make camp for the night. She could feel excitement and anxiety flowing from them. They had waited years to reclaim their homeland and it had finally happened. She could not find it in herself to ask them to wait one more night.
After the better part of three hours, they arrived at the entrance of Erebor. It wasn't until they saw the rubble from the smashed gate did the thought occur to them: What if the others didn't survive Smaug. Everyone looked at each other before hurrying inside. "Hello! Bombur? Bofur? Anybody?!" Bofur called out for his brothers and the others. "Come on!" Oin called and lead the way through the old winding staircases.
"Wait!" A voice echoed. "It's Bilbo!" Ellía said happily and turned around to see the hobbit running towards them. "He's alive!" Kili exclaimed surprised. "Stop! Stop! Stop!" he shouted out of breath and rested his hands on his knees and sucked in some deep breaths. "You need to leave. We all need to leave." Bilbo urged once he straightened up. Ellía furrowed her brows as she looked at the halfling. "We only just got here." Bofur said confused. "I tried to talking to him, but he won't listen." Bilbo explained.
"What do you mean, laddie?" Oin asked him. "Thorin! Thorin. He's been down there for days. He doesn't sleep. He barley eats. He's not been himself at all." Bilbo said hushed. "Dragon sickness..." Ellía whispered out, too quiet for anyone to hear as she remembered what her father and Gandalf had talked about back in Rivendell. "A strain of madness runs in that family." Her father had said. She was about to ask where the others were but she saw Fili peak around Bilbo and a weird look appear on his face.
"No, Fili-" Ellía began, but the prince had already brushed past them and was hurrying down the steps and towards a doorway where a soft golden glow was pouring through. "Fili! Stop!" Bilbo called and chased after him. Ellía quickly followed, along with the other three. The doorway opened to a long staircase that lead them into a vast cavern filled with unimaginable amounts of gold. "By the Valar..." Ellía whispered as they came to a stop by Fili.
Below them, standing in the gold, was Thorin. "Gold. Gold beyond measure. Beyond sorrow and grief. Behold the great treasure hoard of Thror." Thorin said, before hurling something towards them. Fili reached up and caught a large ruby in his hands. "Welcome, my sister-sons, to the Kingdom of Erebor." He said with a grin that made a shiver run down Ellía's spine.