Disclaimer: I do not own anything. The characters in this story are those of J.R.R Tolkien. All rights reserved. I am merely inserting a character of my own into the story. Please note that while this story will follow the lines of the movieverse, several things will be changed to suit my needs of this fanfiction. Once more, this is a fanfiction. I own nothing but Miss Aydan. I just decided to play with them a bit.

Epilogue

Death. It filled the air with it's pungent stench. Comrades and enemies alike lay dead and gone on the blood stained battle field. The dying screams could be heard from every corner of the blood bath that would be later know as the Battle of Five Armies. After Aydan died in the arms of the dark haired dwarf, Kili, things became far more complex. Gently, he closed her eyes and struck out at the Orcs and Goblins that surrounded him and his brother. In the throes of grief he, he battled over the dead mixed blood until he, like the dark haired mercenary, fell to the enemy. He laid atop of her in death as if protecting her body from the bloody warfare still continuing on. Fili and Thorin were the only remaining Durin men left and Thorin had already been mortally wounded. The side of the Men, Dwarves and Elves was dwindling in numbers and hope. All seemed lost as the Orcs and Goblins over took them with their vast numbers. It was just as Fili was struck down defending his Uncle and reaping vengeance for his brother that the war was tipped in the favor of the Men, Elves and Dwarves. From the sky came the Great Eagles and Beorn. The sight of these new allies roused hope once more in the defenders of Erebor.

After that, the battle ended quickly, though not without loss. Fili, Kili and Aydan were all found dead on the battle field when the victors went in search of survivors. The mortally wounded Thorin was holding on to life by a string, insisting upon speaking with Bilbo before he passed. It took hours to find all the injured survivors of the battle and among them, at the very end of Thorin's quickly diminishing life, was Bilbo. With his final breath, Thorin apologized to Bilbo and asked for his forgiveness and friendship. With both given, Thorin died in peace and Bilbo left the tent the King Under the Mountain had died in to weep. Thorin had truly been his friend. With that death the line of Durin was snuffed out. Many, many deaths were brought about during the great battle but that one had been heartbreaking for the little hobbit and the company of dwarves.

With great care, Thorin was buried beneath the shadow of the mountain, the Arkenstone laid upon his chest. Beside him were laid his nephews, Fili and Kili and immediately next to Kili was laid the small mercenary. Watching their friends be buried was indeed a sad day for all involved. Bilbo,was paid his share of the treasure and was on his way home soon after that, with the company of Gandalf for the long journey. They parted ways at the edge of the Shire and Bilbo was left to deal with stopping the sale of his estate all on his own. The hobbits of the shire had thought him dead for the good amount of time he'd been gone. Thus ended the story of how the dwarves quested to take back Erebor and won, how the line of Durin was taken out during battle, though they would never be forgotten and how love could bloom in the most unlikely places, as it had between the mixed blood Aydan and Kili the dwarvish prince.

FINAL A/N: So, this is the end. The epilogue is short, yes, but says everything that needs to be said. Thank you all for sticking with me through this. I appreciated all of your feedback since I originally put this fanfiction out. As much as I hate to say it (cause I loved Kili and wished he hadn't died) Aydan was meant to die from the beginning. I'd already planned it out long before I even published the first chapter. Thanks to everyone who has favorited or followed this story, to everyone who has reviewed and just read the story period. I hope you all enjoyed it. Now that the hectic holidays are over I will be slowly working on refining and editing this story while I work on other fanfictions. I haven't quite decided what my next one will be, but the wonderful response I got to this one has made me quite sure that I will definitely be writing another one for your viewing pleasure. Thank you all again and I hope you enjoyed A Mercenary's Love.

- SweetMischief