𝐍𝐘𝐌𝐌𝐑𝐈𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃 ━ lord of the rings

Nine: Elven Diplomacy

The skin changer let out a musical laugh at the sight of the archer as they leaped from their vantage point in the treetops, felling another of the creatures. Their blonde hair trailed behind them brilliantly as they used a corpse to shield themselves from an oncoming blow before sliding between their attackers legs and embedding an arrow in its abdomen. The elf came to a stop before Thorin, face stern and beautiful as he knocked an arrow and aimed it between the dwarven King's eyes.

"What an entrance," Nymmril breathed out, staring with wonder at the face of the woodland fae. Balin sighed at the skin changer from beside him, shaking his head gently at the comment. Out from the shadows several more elves crept, quiet as mice on the crunching leaves that littered the floor. They too all had longbows in hand, poised to shoot at any member of the company should they step out of line. At the sight of the reinforcements the dwarves growled, hefting up their weapons as if to dare the elven folk to come any closer, but Nymmril simply frowned. The shifter reached from Ori, pulling him away from the sight of an archer and nestling the dwarf between himself and his brothers. The dark-haired elf proceeded to target Nymmril instead, eyes narrowed and resolute.

The fair elf before Thorin began to speak, blue eyes mystifying the skin changer as they filled with a fiery rage: "Do not think I won't kill you, dwarf. It would be my pleasure."

Nymmril narrowed his eyes, watching darkly, and took a step towards the leader of his company, but was pulled back by a firm hand grasping his arm and pulling him close. Fili dragged the shifter down to his level.

"Where's Kili?" he whispered breathlessly. Green eyes widened as Nymmril straightened, looking out over the company. The youngest prince was nowhere to be seen. The man sent a terrified look to Fili, shaking his head, and suddenly there was a hoarse cry of fear. The dwarf's head snapped towards the direction of the noise, eyes wide.

"Kili!"

The dark-haired dwarf was on his back, weaponless and struggling as he kicked at the face of the spider who had his foot caught in its jaws. His heel made contact with one of the creature's spongy eyes and it let out a hiss, dropping him to the ground. Kili scrambled backwards as the thing scuttled slowly towards him angrily, one eye burst and dribbling down its ugly face. Nymmril surged forward, trying to break free of the ring of elves to help his companion, and was met with the cold tip of an arrow pointing at his throat. The skin-changer growled at the elf in his way, the sound a menacing rumble like thunder, but though a flicker of confused fear appeared in their eyes the elf did not move.

"Let me to him!" Nymmril demanded, feeling himself flood once more with the energy of his radag. Fili didn't take his eyes off his brother, even as an auburn haired she-elf swept down from above and cleaved the arachnid's head clean off.

"Our own will deal with the beasts," the dark elf before Nymmril said, nodding his head towards the group of dwarves, doing his best to ignore the green glare aimed towards him. The skin changer slunk over to the rest of the captives, running both hands through his flaxen hair anxiously as he watched the scene unfold helplessly.

The elf aiding Kili spun around, brandishing a knife and impaling a second spider before stringing her bow and taking down one more. She seemed to be a skilled fighter, though even she seemed at odds with the numerous opponents she found herself facing. Another of the spindly beasts crept down the trunk of a tree, stinger poised for the dwarf, who called out for one of the she-elf's weapons. But she left him defenseless, whirling around and throwing her daggers into the face of the thing even as she dealt with her own.

"You are mistaken if you think I would give you a weapon dwarf," she sneered as she sprang past him to retrieve her dagger from the fallen foe. "I would not trust you with one for a second." The dwarven prince watched after her, speechless, before he was grasped under the arms and thrown towards the rest of the company. Fili caught his stumbling brother in his arms, sighing out in relief and tucking him close-by . Nymmril watched them with a small smile, his fears and anger waning somewhat. But even the sight of the siblings was not enough to distract him from his irritation as another order was called out: "Search them!"