The three then returned to where Bard and the rest of the men were regrouping.

"Any man who wants to give their last, follow me!" Agarwaen heard Bard call before the crowd began to move forward, the sound of war cries filling the air.

"Right back to battle it is, then." She muttered to herself, turning around to run back the way she'd come. They were met down several streets by more orcs, and charged fearlessly into the ranks, hacking and slashing at everything that growled.

She'd just taken down a number of them, when an unexpected force from behind sent her stumbling forward. She whipped her head around to see an elven soldier, quickly advancing on her with his sword aimed at her. Thinking fast, she turned and blocked the oncoming swing.

"I'm on your side!" She shouted in confusion, sparing quick glances around them to look for any more orcs.

"You were never on our side!" The voice of Saeron yelled back, and Agarwaen's eyes widened. "Perhaps that beating wasn't enough for you!" He swung again in fury, and she blocked in turn. She did not want to kill him, even if he did beat her to a pulp. If she'd learned anything on this quest, it was that revenge, grudges, or hatred was never a good idea. She did not want to have to spill the blood of her ally. Especially since that would only serve to prove she was a murderer.

"Saeron, listen to me! I do not want to hurt you! We are allies in this war!" She had to fight to keep up with all of his swings and jabs, but didn't want to make a move against him until she had no other choice.

"I will not allow the murderer of my brother to live for one more day!"

"I won't anyway! I've promised Thranduil that I will go willingly to my execution after the battle!"

"That's not enough! I will have revenge for my brother's blood!"

"I would never intentionally spill the blood of an ally. I will not fight you." She kept blocking and stepping away, praying that he would come to recognize his madness and stop this. "I will not make the same mistake twice."

"Then you will die!" His attacks became even more violent, and as much as Agarwaen tried to watch her footwork and keep an eye on her surroundings, he eventually was able to pin her against a wall. Just before he could run her through, she kicked him back, and tried to run, but he regained his balance just in time to tackle her to the ground. He was just about to drive his sword into her, just below the breastplate, when someone else rammed into him from the side and knocked him over. A flash of grey swept by and Agarwaen heard a loud 'thunk' before she finally caught her breath and sat up to look at what exactly had happened.

Bilbo was just getting up off Saeron, and Gandalf held his staff angrily.

"Why was he trying to kill you?" Bilbo asked.

"He's the one who beat me in Mirkwood, Bilbo." She replied as she stood.

"Beat you?" Gandalf exclaimed.

"A story for another time." She said as she listened for nearby orcs.

"Why didn't you just kill him to save yourself?" Bilbo asked.

"Because then I would be no better than the orcs. He's blinded by grief. Just as Thorin is blinded by dragon sickness. Killing him would only prove me a murderer, and when Thranduil takes my head, I would rather not give him the satisfaction of reason behind it." She started toward the far end of the street. "Now come on, we have a city to defend!"

They ended up fighting on the northern borders of the city, Agarwaen surprised she'd even survived this long. Orc after orc she sliced down mercilessly, covered in grime, blood, and sweat. The cut on her face had started to bleed again, the blood from that mixing with several other cuts. Luckily, she managed to keep the blood out of her eyes, but it still slowly dripped down the rest of her, and iron became a constant taste in her mouth.

To many of the men who'd taken notice of her, she seemed unstoppable, leading charges, repeatedly taking on multiple enemies at once, and always stalking out alive. She fought with both elven speed and dwarven strength, making her deadly in more ways than one. Her blade shone almost purple as the blue glow mixed with the coating of blood, and her hair was streaked with red, black, and brown. Her eyes held such fire, and her face such determination, that even Bilbo had to admit he was rather frightened by her now.

"Gandalf!" The hobbit yelled as they finished off the orcs in that section of the city. Agarwaen ran in the direction of his voice, worried that he was in danger. When she got there however, he was simply pointing north, toward Ravenhill. Movement on the cliffs made her look closer, only to see Thorin, Dwalin, Fili, and Kili riding battle rams up to where Azog's signalling flags were.

"It's Thorin!" The hobbit yelled.

"And Fili, Kili, and Dwalin." Gandalf confirmed. "He's taking his best warriors."

"To do what?"

"To cut the head off the snake." Agarwaen turned to Gandalf.

"If his strongest warriors are what he's looking for, then that's where I belong." She said firmly, preparing to make for the nearest exit out of the city. Gandalf grabbed her arm.

"I do not think he wishes to see you." He said.

"You think I care? Ravenhill is likely heavily guarded and not to mention, that's where Azog is. I will never forgive myself if they never come back from there. And I'm already going to die whether we win this or not, anyway. I'd rather not give Thranduil the pleasure if possible." Gandalf gave her a look before letting her go.

"Farewell, Mithrandir. Sorry I can't take you home, Bilbo." She bowed to them both with a smile before taking off down the streets of Dale. She stopped when she reached an empty street, only it wasn't exactly empty.

The ground was barely visible through the bodies of women and children that hadn't made it to safety in time. A mother laid with a baby in her arms, both dead with blood staining the snow around them. Agarwaen had to steady herself against a wall, overwhelmed with grief for those she didn't even know. These children had their entire lives ahead of them, and it was so cruelly snatched away right before their own mothers eyes. She looked around a little more, trying to step over the bodies and continue on her path, when her gaze fell upon a familiar face.

Fresh blood still poured from the child's neck, face contorted and frozen in fear. His black feathery hair clung to his face with sweat. It was the child she'd rescued earlier. The child she'd tried to rescue. She clenched her jaw and looked to the sky, cursing Azog and his entire race. She looked down at the product of the massacre once more before trudging on, pushing away the grief and blame she laid upon herself. She had to get to the dwarves, and she couldn't let the common outcome of war get to her.

She ran along the northern border, eventually finding a gap in the city wall that she could climb out of. As soon as her feet hit the ground, she sprinted, adrenaline still pumping through her veins. The way was clear for a while, and then came the uphill part. She stopped for a second to cough, her lungs burning and her head spinning. But a single orc jumping down from a ledge above her forced her into action as she ran him through. Then it was as if Iluvatar himself had given strength to her breath, and she pressed on, climbing the crumbling stairs that led to the ruin.

Finally reaching the top, she bolted through several levels of the old fortress, killing several orcs as she went, never slowing once. Something inside her told her that she had to get there in time, that she had to help, else there would be great grief that night.

When she finally began coming upon already dead orcs, she knew she was close, only prompting her to go faster.

"I think Azog has fled!" The sound of Kili's voice made her smile as she reached the top, searching through the mist for the dwarves.

"Kili!" She just barely managed to call through her panting.

"Agarwaen?" Dwalin's voice asked questioningly. She stumbled through the mist, coming to a halt when the four came into sight. Thorin looked at her, his mouth slightly agape. The color of his eyes made Agarwaen smile. They were blue again. Just like they were before they even reached the mountain.

"What are you doing here?" Thorin asked as grins spread across Fili and Kili's faces.

"I figured you could use an extra sword." She smiled nervously as the dwarf slowly approached her.

"I'm so sorry." He looked up at her with regret written all over his face. He knew that trying to tell her that it wasn't him would be pointless. He knew it was he that hurt her. He that almost killed her. "I...I don't deserve to fight alongside you."

"Maybe you don't. But I wasn't lying when I said that my loyalty lies with Erebor and its king." She knelt down on one knee and held out her sword. "And that will never change. I will fight to the death with you, if you'll have me."

"I accept." Thorin smiled, astounded that even after everything he said, she still came to his aid. She stood up and grinned back down at him.

"My sword is yours to command, my king." Thorin looked back to where the other three stood, all happy to see Thorin welcome Agarwaen back.

"Fili, take your brother and Agarwaen to scout out the towers. Keep low and out of sight. If you see something, report back. Do not engage, do you understand?"

"We have company." Dwalin said as the screeching of goblins echoed through the air. "Goblin mercenaries."

"There's no more than a hundred. I can stay here." Agarwaen said.

"No. We'll take care of them." Thorin replied. "Go!" The brothers ran off but Thorin grabbed Agarwaen's arm.

"Be careful. Please." He said lowly.

"I won't let anything happen to them. I promise." She responded as he let her go and she ran after the brothers. The three then crossed the frozen waterfall, crouched low and moving as quietly as they could. Entering through the base of the towers, they heard something fall, and Kili looked ready to attack. Agarwaen put a hand on his shoulder.

"Did you not hear your uncle? We're not to engage." She hissed in his ear as she looked around. "Stay down here, I'll see what that was." She said.

"I'll go with you. If there's a bunch of them up there, I'd rather you not be alone." Fili said, earning a nod from Agarwaen.

"Stay out of trouble, Kili." She whispered before starting up the stairs, Fili close behind her. Everything was silent, and old dusty clutter littered the floor. It didn't seem like anything was there, at least not until orange firelight filled the hallway in front of them.

"Come on." Agarwaen grabbed Fili's hand, about to run down another hall, but more torchlight bounced off the walls that way too. They could now hear the marching of armored orcs, and tried to retreat back the way they came, but it was too late. They were surrounded on all sides.

"To the death." The elf whispered, drawing her sword.

"To the death." Fili replied. They came first from the tunnel to their left, and the two attacked with fury, taking down at least ten of them before more flooded in from the middle tunnel. Now pressed back to back, Fili and Agarwaen held them off for as long as they could, but then came Azog. She ducked the first swing of the sword that was in place of his right hand, but wasn't prepared for the blow from the mace he held in his left. It slammed her against the wall to her left, causing her to drop her sword, and Fili finally turned around to come face to face with the pale orc. Agarwaen tried to scramble to her feet to try and protect Fili, but was knocked back down, about to be run through by another orc.

"Shakrop." Azog ordered the orc above her as he grabbed Fili by the neck and other orcs took his swords. "Alag golgi mad nar Oakenskel." He said, and the orc that was about to kill her then seized her, forcing her to her feet with her hands behind her back. She struggled to free herself, kicking the knees of the orc behind her which caused him to release his hold. She fell forward and a club rammed into her face, making her fall limp to the ground, barely staying conscious.

"Stop!" Fili's cry sounded muffled as her ears rang. The hall spun around her, her vision blurred as well. She vaguely felt herself lifted up again as her head lolled to the side.

Fili fought Azog's grip even though his feet dangled above the ground. He couldn't let them kill her. Azog threw him down to the ground, angry that the prince would dare struggle against his hold, and kicked him before picking him up again.

"Lab gor gha." The orc sneered in the dwarf's face before dragging him on the ground behind him as the orc holding Agarwaen followed.

Shakrop- wait

Alag golgi mad nar Oakenskel- The she-elf is important to Oakenshield

lab gor gha- Your death is nigh