Last chapter! Yay! This was a rather short fan-fic, but I hope you enjoyed nonetheless! Do leave your thoughts, questions, comments, or concerns as a review; I'd love to see what you think.

Thanks so much for reading! :)

The discovery of being alone made me want to vomit, but I swallowed instead and glanced around, trying to figure out what part of the fortress I'd found myself in. Unfortunately, everything was unfamiliar. I didn't recognize a single speck of the place.

There was only one thing for it; I would have to be stealthy and try to find my way around the fortress.

If I was lucky, I might find Fili and Kili and set them free…

The first step out from my concealment was hard. I knew that as soon as I moved, there would be no going back… But I had to rescue them. I had to.

So I moved, and I didn't stop.

I explored the majority of the fortress, but it was deserted. I only heard a noise one time throughout the entire half-hour I crept around, and it had only been a gate opening on its rusty hinges far away. The sound had just echoed through the place was all.

Knowing, however, that where signs of life were, there might be a goblin to stalk so I could find Fili and Kili, I edged closer to where the sound had come from. When I peered around the corner, I saw a lone goblin patrolling the outside.

I smirked to myself. It probably wouldn't expect me to approach it from the inside…

Quietly, I tiptoed over to the goblin. When I was only a few feet away from it, hidden behind a stone column, I leapt out and poised my sword at its neck. It exclaimed in shock, but immediately silenced when I dug the blade deeper into its throat.

"Be quiet!" I hissed. "Look, if you tell me what I want, I'll let you go, assuming you run as far away from this fortress as possible."

The goblin snarled at me, but nodded as best as it could.

"Good. Now where are my friends?"

It glared at me, but responded nonetheless, "In the basement, in the stone dome."

"How do I get there?"

It was silent for a minute—to remind it who was in charge, I pressed my weapon ever so slightly into its skin. The goblin gasped before answering. "Behind a tapestry in the main room is a staircase. It will lead you there."

"How many goblins are there?"

"About fifty. I don't know exactly."

Hearing this, my heart fell. Fifty?! Would Fili, Kili, and I be able to tackle fifty goblins on our own? Certainly not. While they could probably do it if Uncle Thorin was around, Uncle Thorin was not around, and I was not nearly as good of a warrior as him. Still, I steeled myself, knowing there was no other choice, and said, "All right, last question. What do you goblins want them for?"

"Ransom or bait. There are two things we would accept—payment for the return of his spawn or a chance to capture Oakenshield himself."

This was not unexpected. And so, I shoved the goblin away from me and muttered, "Fine. Now go. Get out of here and do not come back."

The goblin shot me a glare that could melt stone and turned on its heels, scampering away into the darkness. I watched it recede until I could no longer identify its silhouette.

Certain that I did not have much time, I sprinted back into the fortress and located the tapestry the goblin had mentioned concealed the staircase. Once I found it, I looked down into the spiral depths and took a deep breath.

If I was going to free Fili and Kili, I would need to be brave.

The descent into the basement of the fortress would normally have been just a little unnerving, but on my own, I was paranoid.

This was a real life-or-death situation, and I'd never been prepared for anything like this in my training. Neither had Fili or Kili, I expected, but they were still much more experienced than me. Of course, leave it to bad luck so thatI was the one trying to rescue them.

Once the stairs were gone, I heard loud drums sounding from the next room.

Carefully, I edged toward the open door and glanced inside.

The door I stood in front of led to a large balcony, which overlooked a large, circular room made of stone. I figured this was the stone dome that goblin had spoken of; I squinted to get a better look at what was inside.

The first thing I saw was the large mutant goblin sitting on a large chair, overlooking the rest. He held something that resembled a pitchfork in his hand, and he looked irritated as the other goblins danced hideously, as if celebrating. The drums were beating in a strange, syncopated rhythm that didn't match up with the goblins' dance. Despite their apparent joy, however, the large mutant goblin I'd seen earlier was looking rather grim.

"Oh, will you shut up!" roared the Mutant; immediately, the noise ceased. "There is no time for celebration! What happened to the girl? Have you sent the message to Oakenshield?"

One measly goblin trudged up to the throne and bowed so low his nose might've touched the dirt floor. "We lost the girl, sire, but we have our scouts on the lookout for her now. She cannot possibly find the other two Dwarf scum here… And our messenger is on standby as you ordered previously. He is waiting for news of the female rat."

"Send him immediately!" commanded the Mutant. "Quickly, before the She-Dwarf alerts him to what has happened."

I looked around and noted that the balcony extended to where the throne-like chair was positioned. A smirk came over my face… I might be able to crawl over there and jump over the railing and onto the Mutant. That could be good.

Just as I thought this, however, something grabbed my attention.

As the fire flickered brighter than before, I saw the glint of metal. I gazed at it for a moment before realizing it was a large, iron ball, and that chains were protruding from it. I followed the chains with my eyes and was saddened to see both Fili and Kili surrounded by iron cuffs and links and chains, their expressions furious yet hopeful.

It would be tough freeing them. Maybe I should go get Uncle…

That, however, was when a few of the goblins jeered at what the Mutant said, and began cursing and throwing rocks at Fili and Kili. While most of them were wildly off their mark, one caught Kili on the face; even from afar I could see the streak of red on his cheek.

Undeniable anger consumed me, and I crouched to make my way to where the throne was positioned.

Once that was done, I listened for another split second as the Mutant Goblin screeched, "Why are you not searching for the girl?!"

"Because I'm right here, filth," I made sure to snarl as nastily as I could, and I leapt down from the balcony and sliced my sword towards him.

An unearthly shriek sounded throughout the dome as my sword cut through a good portion of his arm. Since he was incapacitated and much too stunned to attack me yet, I sprinted over to Fili and Kili and tried to cut through their chains.

When, however, it became obvious that that would do no good, Fili and Kili shouted, "It's no use, Kira—quick, get out of here! Did you get Uncle?"

"I couldn't find my way out of the fortress. Besides, I won't leave you!" I shouted. Before they could assault me with groans and scolding, I turned back to the Mutant, who was glaring at me with loathing.

"There you are!" he bellowed, his wound all but forgotten. Black blood dripped from his arm down to the ground. "Useless female! I will not even offer Oakenshield a chance to reclaim you. I will kill you instead!"

"You'll have to catch me first!" With that, I barreled toward the Mutant, not bothering to register my sudden burst of bravery. When he stooped to grab me, I rolled underneath his legs, sprung up, and thrust my sword into the back of his calf.

The Mutant shrieked, its horrid cry deafening everyone within the room. But I couldn't let myself be distracted—I had to seize my advantage while I had it. So when he toppled to his knees on the ground, I leapt up and shoved my blade into its back.

This time, only a faint gurgle exited his mouth. But even as the goblin fell upon the ground, it wasn't dead, and I made the mistake to check and see if it was.

With a tremendous roar, he swatted me aside. My back hit the edge of his throne, and I heard something pop. A whip of fire trailed up my sword-arm, and I groaned, determined not to let that Mutant hear me scream.

All the same, I wouldn't be bested now, not when I'd struck the first blow. It was severely weakened, and its minions were scrambling, trying to get swords to defend their master. Before they could assemble, I screamed in anger and ran towards the Mutant, dodging its feeble attempt to repel me and burying my sword into its skull.

The light in the Mutant's eyes instantly died.

"Useless female, huh?" I sneered. "So much for that."

I withdrew my sword to see it looked more black than silver. Despite my revulsion, however, I pointed it towards the miniature goblins and glared as scary of a death glare as I could. "Who's next?" I asked, keeping my voice low.

The goblins all shrieked and struggled to exit the fortress, seeing as I'd killed its leader, the one who was supposedly the best at fighting out of all the goblins.

Once they were gone, I gasped and lowered my weapon. The fire whip was still lashed around my good arm—I transferred my sword to my other hand and ran back to Fili and Kili, both of whom were staring at me with wide eyes and open mouths.

"Kira…" began Kili, but I didn't let him get farther than that before I interrupted him.

"You'd better stand up and stretch that chain out as far as you can, Kili."

He did what I bade him to do; once the links were taut, I sliced them with as much strength as I could muster. Luckily, this time it seemed to work, because the metal broke at contact with the sword.

Fili cleared his throat then and said, "Uh, Kira? They keys are actually around the big one's neck."

I glanced at the goblin corpse. "Oh! Okay… Hold on." I tiptoed over to the Mutant and turned my nose up at the hideous smell. I hadn't noticed it previously because I was so busy fighting, but now it was glaringly obvious and it was disgusting.

As soon as I got the keys, I sprinted back over to my friends; they were smirking slightly at the repulsion on my face.

"Don't laugh at me," I scolded. "After all, I'm the one setting you free."

With this, they sobered up. Once they were unlocked, I gestured them onward. "Here, follow me!"

Silently, we ascended the spiral staircase and left the fortress. I was quite anxious because of the quiet… But then a question entered my mind, and I decided to break that quiet.

Looking at Fili and Kili questioningly, I asked them as we began heading back towards home, "Does this mean I'm equal to you now?"

Both of them looked at me—there was a warm smile on Fili's face while Kili just chuckled and threw an arm around my shoulder. "Ah, Kira," he sighed, the kind smile that I hadn't seen for so long, that I'd so missed seeing upon his face. "You were always equal to us."

When we arrived home, it was a few hours after dawn, and Thorin was waiting for us. He was furious when we showed up, covered in dust and grime and blood. Seeing the raw marks on Fili's and Kili's wrists and noting the blood on our faces, he instantly demanded to know the entire story.

So we told him. We told him about the fortress, the goblins, how they'd ambushed us, how Fili and Kili were taken captive, how I rescued them.

Both of them were very animated when discussing how I'd leapt from the balcony to stab the Mutant—they were so energetic, Balin and Dwalin came over to hear what the hubbub was all about.

When his nephews finished, Thorin glanced at me. "Is it true, Kira?" he asked softly.

"Well… I mean, I wasn't that heroic or anything, but… yeah," I admitted sheepishly. "If I'd thought about it, I would've brought you the ear to prove it, but I forgot…"

Far from being angry like I thought, Thorin simply chuckled. "No need to prove it, Kira. I believe you. You are certainly strong and capable enough to do what has been told."

I gained a spurt of pride hearing his praise. With a somewhat justified manner, I grinned. But when Thorin put a hand on my arm, I yelped in pain. Seeing his look of shock, I explained, "Uh… I might have broken my arm during my fight."

With an exasperated sigh, Thorin turned to Balin, who was smiling at me. But when he saw Thorin's face, he nodded. "I'll go get Oin."

"Thank you," said Uncle Thorin, but then he was smiling again. "Well, I hope you three have learned your lesson about going on missions such as this. Next time you claim there's an Orc, I'll be sure to listen to you—but under no circumstance will you go inspecting another supposedly deserted fortress. Fili, Kili, your mother will have my head if that were the case…" After a moment's consideration, he winced. "Actually, she'll have my head now…"

We couldn't help but chuckle hearing that, because it was true. Auntie Dis would probably have a thing or two to say to the four of us once she got wind of the adventure.

Afterwards, Thorin walked away to go see where Oin was, leaving it as just the three of us. I glanced at them unsurely, wondering if they would stick around… I was shocked to see they were both grinning down at me with the same grins they would have given me a year ago, before everything had changed.

"Hey, Kira," said Kili after a bit of silence, "would you like to come to the treehouse later?"

I gaped at him. Kili was inviting me to his treehouse?

"The treehouse?" I repeated blankly, wondering if I'd misheard.

"Yeah."

"You mean… I'm welcome?"

Kili heard the tone of voice and nodded. "Sure, Kira. Fili and I can help you up, what with your arm and all. Right, Fili?"

Fili had a relieved smile upon his face. "Right, brother. Don't worry, Kira, we'll get you up there somehow. Maybe we can build a ladder…"

With that, we laughed and waited as Thorin and Oin arrived. As soon as Oin put my arm in a splint, I thanked him and said farewell to both him and Thorin before running after Fili and Kili so we could go look out for some more Orcs.