~ Part Twenty-One ~
It had taken Ellía no time to find Kili and Tauriel. The two were battling a large orc that she guessed to be the one named Bolg, one of Azog's generals. She had arrived just in time to see Tauriel knocked to the ground and Kili jump on his back. Bolg tore the dwarf from his back with ease and threw him to the ground harshly. The orc raised the pointed end of his mallet above his head, preparing to stab Kili.
Ellía felt a burning rage take over as she launched herself forward and stabbing one of her blades in Bolg's thighs and slashing one of his arms, making him drop his weapon and stumble backwards. "Tauriel, get Kili out of here!!" Ellía ordered as she did not waste second before attacking the orc. "We're not leaving you here to fight him alone!" Kili retorted as he dragged himself to his feet and picked up his sword.
"I've already failed your brother! I will not fail you or Thorin! Now, leave!" she screamed as she blocked a hit from Bolg. "You cannot win against him." Tauriel said firmly and lunged forward, slashing the orc a few times with her daggers before retreating. "I know that. But I can keep him busy long enough for you to get Kili away from him." Ellía grumbled to her as he fended off Bolg once more and the orc stumbled back.
Tauriel looked at her with wide eyes. "You don't mean to make it out of this fight." The older elf said lowly. "I mean to make it long enough to fulfill my purpose." Ellía responded but was knocked down by the huge orc. Tauriel jumped in and helped her fight him backwards and towards the edge of the cliff. Kili joined and managed to land a few blows on the orc as he shouted, "You keep saying that! What is your purpose?!". As Bolg's focus was on the dwarf prince, Ellía saw an opening and rammed her shoulder into the orc's chest, making him lose his footing and fall to the ground. "To save the sons of Durin!" she yelled at him as she turned to face him with frustrated tears pricking her eyes.
Just as Kili was about to speak, they all heard a loud roar. Ellía whipped her head around to see Thorin and Azog charging towards one another. "No..." She breathed out as the two warriors began what Ellía knew would be a fight to the death. "Uncle!!" Kili shouted and broke off in a sprint. "Kili! No!!" Ellía shouted but was silenced by a slash to her leg. She cried out and crumpled to the ground as Tauriel fought Bolg off.
It took the young elf a second, but she pulled herself to her feet and twirled her blades in her hands before rejoining the fight. Ellía could tell Tauriel's focus was not entirely on the fight and was worried about Kili. "Go help them. He is tiring." Ellía called to Tauriel. "No, I cannot leave a royal to fight alone. I'm the captain-" The Mirkwood elf began to argue but Ellía cut her off saying, "I don't give a damn. Now, go!". The older she-elf hesitated for a moment before giving her a small nod and hurrying off to go help Kili.
Bolg let out something that sounded like a laugh and growled in orcish "Stupid elf." before attacking Ellía with powerful blows. The fight continued on and Ellía could feel her muscles beginning to ache and her actions become slow. After blocking a particularly strong blow, Ellía's body gave in and she feel to her knees.
Bolg grinned down at her and raised his mallet above his head, just as he had done to Kili earlier."Díhen-nin, Valar." she whispered as she looked up at the orc, accepting what was to come. Just as the orc began to bring his mallet down, and arrow lodged itself into Bolg's neck, halting his actions. Ellía's eyes widened but did not hesitate as she gripped her blades and lunged forward. She crossed her swords and drove them through Bolg's throat, effectively beheading him.
Blood spattered onto her face as his body fell to the ground and the mallet rolled off the cliff. She spat out the blood the had gotten in her mouth as she turned around to see who had saved her. The elf's eyes landed on Legolas, who was standing on an old watch tower, looking back at her. Ellía gave the prince a low bow as she sucked in a few breaths. Legolas returned her gesture before disappearing.
Ellía began to feel just how battered and exhausted her body was as she stood there and looked out in the misty distance. "I failed. No matter if Thorin and Kili survive... I failed." she whispered out and sunk to her knees as fresh tears formed in her eyes. Her hands began to shake as she ran them through her tangled hair. "I'm so sorry." she cried rested her head in her hands as she sobbed quietly.
It started out as warm, but the necklace slowly became hot as fire against her skin. "What the hell?" Ellía said as she quickly pulled the necklace out from her tunic to keep it from burning her. She stared at the shining gem that was set in a delicate silver pendant. "Wait a minute..." she breathed and wiped away her tears. "I can draw power from Valinor. I-I could do what Ada once did... maybe." she thought out loud as the gem grew brighter as if it were confirming her idea.
Ellía quickly grabbed her blades, sheathing them, and raced up the steps. She ran through the abandoned stone courtyard and glanced over at the frozen lake and saw Thorin deliver the killing blow to Azog with Kili and Dwalin by his side as Tauriel finished off the last orc soldier. She felt some relief as she saw that Thorin and Kili were alive. Now, she could put everything she had left into this. "Tauriel!! Tul-lintië!" Ellía yelled as she began climbing the steep steps that led to where she had left Fili and Galadriel.
Tauriel looked up and saw where she was headed and chased after her. This caught the dwarves attention and they realized where the two she elves were running off to. "Fili..." Kili said as tears filled his eyes, realizing his brother had to be gone by now. Thorin placed a comforting hand on the young dwarf's shoulder as he had to fight back his own tears. "Let us go retrieve Fili." Thorin said mournfully and began to lead the way as Dwalin, Kili, and a recently appeared Bilbo, followed.
Ellía rushed out of the stone hallway and went to Fili's side once more, but this time the prince was gone. Galadriel was nowhere to be seen but an Elanor was placed on his chest. "H-how?" Tauriel whispered as her hand ghosted over the flower. "My Haruní stayed with him until he passed." Ellía said as she looked down at Fili's still face. "The Lady of Light? Why would she be here? Or leave this?" Tauriel said in shock. The young elf picked up the flower and a small smile appeared on her face. "Because she knew what I was going to do." Ellía whispered.
Tauriel watched as Ellía suddenly crumpled the flower in her hand and began to rub it in her hands like they had done with the athelas. "Wait... Elanor was used to enhance the high-elves rituals for- No. Ellía, no!" Tauriel said as she realized the young high-elf's plans. Ellía ignored her as she moved to sit where she could rest Fili's head in her lap. "You are too young! High-elves are not allowed to perform this ritual until they are at least 300 years old! And even then, it hasn't been done to this extent since the last Age." The older elf said desperately as she watched Ellía gently place some of the mashed petals on Fili's cold forehead.
"Ellía, it might not even work with a dwarf!" Tauriel tried again but to no avail. Once Ellía was satisfied with the even spread of petals on Fili, she smeared the remainder on her palms and a bit on the dwarf's lips.
"Tauriel, please keep them back. This won't work unless I can fully focus." Ellía said calmly, even though she was anything but calm on the inside. "Please, Lady Ellía! Think this through!" Tauriel pleaded. "I have. This is what I must do. It is what the Valar have asked of me." Ellía said softly as she pulled her necklace off and placed the pendant on Fili's lips.
The two elves heard the dwarves approaching and Ellía looked at the older elf, begging for her help. Tauriel studied her face and could see there was no changing her mind, especially if it involved the will of the Valar, and sighed. The Mirkwood elf lowered her head and brought her hand to her heart before spinning around and disappearing down the hall, leaving Ellía alone with Fili's body. "Please let this work." she breathed, looking up at the sky incase it was her last time.
She could hear Tauriel trying to keep the dwarves from approaching and knew she didn't have much time. Ellía whispered
a quick prayer before placing both of her pointer and ring fingers on each of Fili's temples as she began to recite the ancient words her father had once used to save her mother.
~~~~~
"Let me through, Tauriel! Let me go to my brother!" Kili shouted as tears threatened to spill. "You cannot disturb her! If she loses focus then there is no chance of his return and we will lose her in the process!" The she-elf hissed at the dwarves and they instantly stilled. "What do you mean? Fili is dead. As much as it pains me to say it, he could not have survived that. No matter how much elvish healing magic Ellía performs." Thorin said sadly and Kili choked back a sob.
"Thorin!? Kili! Fili!!" A new voice called and it was followed my a group of footsteps. They turned to see the Balin and Bofur appear from the staircase, followed by Gandalf. "Oh, thank Mahal! You're all alive! We th- W-where is Fili?" Bofur trailed off as he looked at the group in front of him. "He's gone... And Tauriel won't let me go to him!!" Kili shouted as hot tears streaked down his cheeks.
"It can't be...He's the best warrior among us, next to Thorin and Dwalin." Balin said in disbelief. "Aye, he was. The pale bastard snuck up on him with a whole troop... He didn't have a chance." Dwalin spoke up. "But, the Valar... They wanted all three to survive. That was Ellía's-" Gandalf began to wonder out loud but went quiet as Tauriel locked eyes with him.
"Is she performing the Mahta-o Foa?" Gandalf demanded urgently as the dots connected in his mind. The she-elf nodded solemnly and said, "I could not stop her. She asked me to keep them back until she was done." Gandalf lowered his head and let out a sad sigh. "Screw this!" Kili yelled and shoved past the distracted elf and hurried up the steps. "Kili, stop!" Gandalf shouted as he and the others chased after him.
~~~~~
As Ellía felt herself begin to tap into the immense power of Valinor, she could hear the faint sounds of people shouting and approaching her, but she kept her eyes closed and began to chant louder and enter a sort of trance. Someone's hand landed on her shoulder, but they pulled away within a second.
"Do not touch her!" Gandalf shouted as dragged Kili away by the collar of his tunic. "We cannot interrupt her or there will be dire consequences." he told them firmly as his eyes remained glued on the young she-elf who was beginning to have a soft golden glow appear from her hands. "What in the blazes is going on!" Thorin demanded as he came to stand next to Gandalf.
"My heir, my sister's son, my nephew, is dead. There is nothing that can be done. She is clearly bleeding and exhausted. Do not let her waste energy on giving us false hope." Thorin said more softly as he looked down at Fili's pale face. Kili came and stood next to his uncle and tried to wipe away his tears. "Oh, but there is a way. Surely, Balin has heard of the Trading of Breath?" Gandalf said lowly.
This made the oldest Dwarf's head snap towards the young elf as his eyes widened. "She cannot be doing such a ritual! Ellía is no more than a wee babe! A high-elf, yes, but a child! I thought it could not be done until at least 400 years? And it's never been documented if it has worked on a dwarf before!" Balin exclaimed as he turned his gaze to the stoic wizard how was staring at the pendant resting on Fili's lips.
Gandalf nodded slowly and said, "You are correct, Master Balin, but it would seem our young elf has had help from her kin." The other dwarves moved to stand on either sides of Kili and Gandalf as they watched as the crushed petals on Fili's forehead began to give off the same soft glow as Ellía's hands and the pendant began to shine even brighter.
"What exactly is the Trading of Breath?" Bofur asked quietly. As Gandalf was about to explain, Ellía said one last chant before leaning down with her eyes still closed, and barley touched her lips to the blinding pendant. Everyone held their breath as she pulled away and slowly blinked trying to regain her vision as the pendant's and petal poultice's glow faded.
"Nin hiríl?" Gandalf asked softly and took a tentative step forward. Ellía looked down at her hands and wiped the mix of poultice and blood off on her tunic before looking up at the wizard. "Aiya, mellon." Ellía said lightly as a smile appeared on her face, but her eyes remained slightly clouded. Thorin stepped forward and knelt down next to Ellía who remained sitting on the ground with Fili's head in her lap.
The dwarf king gave her a sad smile and whispered, "Thank you for trying to heal him, Ellía, but Fili is... gone." Ellía turned her dazed eyes to his and and brought a hand to his cheek. "I was not healing him, I was bringing him back." she said softly. "What do you mean?" Kili sniffled as he knelt next to Thorin and took one his brother's cold hands in his.
As if on cue, the once stilled heart of the golden-haired prince began to beat once more and he gasped for a breath. Thorin and Kili sprung back but Ellía only looked down and smiled at the prince. "She did it..." Balin said amazed as he moved forward with Dwalin, Bilbo, and Bofur.
Fili blinked his eyes rapidly and sucked in air and stuttered out, "I-I thought I told you to go after Kili? W-what-". "It's alright, Fili. You're back." Ellía said quietly as she helped him sit up. Kili wasted no time and flung himself at his brother and wrapped him in his arms as he shamelessly cried. Thorin, still in shock, pulled the back of Fili's tunic up and saw that only a light scar remained from his fatal wound.
"H-how?" Thorin breathed as he looked at the elf with tears in his eyes. "It was my purpose." She told him with a smile and rose to her feet. "I'll explain it another time." she added and backed away to give the dwarves space to be reunited. Gandalf moved to her side quickly and whispered, "How long do you have?". Ellía blinked away her tears and whispered back, "A minute or so. I'd rather it not happen in front of them... Not while they're all happy again."
Gandalf only nodded and motioned for Tauriel to follow them as he put an arm around Ellía's shoulder and guided them down the steps quietly. "I wish you would not have done that, my lady. It has drained you entirely." Gandalf said lowly as they hurried into the open. "I knew what the consequences would be, mellon. Maybe the Valar will let me reunite with my mother, since I completed my task." she said wistfully as her fingers began to tingle and her head buzzed as if bees were trapped inside.
"You may survive this. You are a high grey elf. Kin to Galadriel and Celeborn. The future bearer of Vilya. You are stronger than you know." Tauriel said as she helped Gandalf lower Ellía to the ground with her back resting against a crumbling stone railing. The young elf smiled at the both and weakly said, "I'm all for looking on the bright side of things, but I know as well as anyone that I was lucky to even make it through the ritual, better yet to perform it successfully."
Gandalf kneeled down next to her and lifted the pendant up from her neck and said, "Lady Galadriel would not have given you the means to do this if she did not think you could survive." Ellía looked down at the pendant and took it in her palms gently. "I could not have done it without her. Will you please tell Haruni and Ada-" she began to say but her breath was hitched as a searing pain erupted in her lungs. She gasped out and pushed her back into the railing. "It's beginning." Gandalf hissed and grabbed Ellía by her shoulders.
"Ellía! Tauriel!" Kili called out causing Gandalf to tear his gaze away from the writhing she-elf and see the dwarves and Bilbo heading towards them. "She does not want them to see this." Tauriel said as she looked down at Ellía who had clamped her eyes shut, forcing tears out as she struggled for air. "You must fight, Ellía!" Gandalf said as he helped her lay down on the ground.
No sound came from Ellía as she snapped her eyes open and looked up at her old friend with pain in her eyes as her face grew red from her struggle to breath. "Is she alright-" Fili asked as he appeared over Gandalf's shoulder but stopped when he saw the elf who had saved him in anguish. "What's wrong! Gandalf, what's happening to her?!" he shouted and dropped down next to her.
Within a second Thorin and Kili joined him as the others stood behind them, feeling helpless. "She is paying the price..." Gandalf said sadly as he allowed the elf to keep her death grip on his hands. "T-the price for saving me? What? W-why would she do this!" Fili asked desperately as wiped tears from her cheeks.
"She's dying! Help her!" Thorin ordered the wizard. "I can do nothing. She knew what would happen if she followed the path the Valar had laid before her." Gandalf explained as he continued to watch the poor elf. "Her purpose? Is that what you're talking about?" Kili asked as he pried one of her hands from Gandalf and allowed her to grip his.
"Yes, it is. The Valar-" Gandalf began but stopped when he felt Ellía's grip loosen. "No, No! El!" Kili cried out. Fili whispered, "You can't do this, Ellía. You can't..." as his own tears feel from his cheeks and landed on hers. "Is-is she?..." Bilbo forced out, not wanting to actually finish his question.
Gandalf hovered his hand above her lips and felt the slightest bit of an exhale and his heart skipped a beat, "Impossible." he muttered and moved his hand to her neck and felt for her pulse. It was very shallow, but it was there. "Will she make it?" Fili broke the silence. "I- I am not sure. An elf her age has never even attempted such a use of power. This is uncharted territory. But I believe she has chance." Gandalf answered carefully.
"We must get her somewhere warm, quickly." Gandalf ordered. Fili moved to pick her up but Thorin stopped him. "She did not almost die just for you to keel over again." His uncle said and moved him aside. Thorin and Dwalin gently lifted the elf up and began following the group back down the mountain and towards Dale, where the battle had ended in defeat for the Orcs.
TO BE CONTINUED...
~ Elvish Translations ~
Díhen-nin, Valar - Forgive me, Valar
Tul-lintië! - Come quickly!
Elanor bloom - a golden, star-shaped flower that grew in Lothlórien.
Mahta-o Foa - Trading of Breath
Nin hiríl? - My lady?
Aiya, mellon - Hello, friend