I have to say, I just love you all so much in this short amount of time that I decided to stay up and get another chapter out for you. Azruphel runs into some more trouble. Seems to follow her doesn't it? Enjoy!
I added a little to this chapter, so those who read it already, I hope it's a little better. I would like to thank ToryIsConfusedDotCom fof the very inspiring constructive message she gave me that caused me to reread this and realize that yes- I was lacking and yes- it could be better. So I hope this is a little more of what you were looking for. Like I said I don't want to disappoint a fan.
Hopefully the next one will be out sometime this week.
The sled maneuvered around, through dips and dives, around trees and boulders. Preferring to stay in her lightened form, Azuphel tightly clung to the grooves in the wood, her fingers curling perfectly into a particularly deep rut. Her sunshine curls swung wildly behind her, tangling in on itself, as she tried to sneak a peek every now and again as to their destination.
Miles ago they had taken notice of a familiar power, one which got stronger as they approached. Gandalf was not far away. She was excited, not seeing her other old friend in quite some time. Though the circumstances were hardly joyous, it was always nice to see a friendly face.
"Hold on, my dear! Rough patch ahead!" Radagast yelled, his voice booming loudly before being carried off with the wind. Azruphel nodded quickly (though she doubted he noticed) and adjusted her grip on the sled. Soon her body gyrated violently as the sled dipped down and up again, swinging her small frame back and forth as the rabbits grew ever closer to Gandalf the Grey.
As they neared she could hear voices- a slight panic arising and the sound of metal being unsheathed. Before she could comprehend of what the sound could mean she felt weightless, the rabbits taking a rather large leap and tossing the sled several feet above the ground before landing with a hard crash.
Her hands lost grip of their hold, her body bouncing off Radagast before she tumbled in the underbrush. She could feel the thorns of the bramble scratch the surface of her exposed skin and tangle even more in her hair before she landed on her side, right on a large rock which was covered by the foliage. As she regained her sense of being and began picking through the brush, she could vaguely hear a familiar voice telling their company to drop their weapons, and then the cheerful call of "Radagast! Radagast the Brown!" was heard.
"G-Gandalf! So wonderful to see you! You erm… you didn't seem to see my company flying about, did you?" the Brown Wizard asked, looking around the sled, trying to find the bright fae amongst all the foliage.
"Your company?" Gandalf asked with a raised brow, "No. I believe you arrived by yourself, old friend." Radagast shook his head, mumbling wildly as he continued his search. Azruphel watched the exchange for a while, trying to pick stray thorn out of her curls before changing size and answering the wizards distress.
"I'm over here, Radagast." She said, causing a assembly of eyes to look in her direction.
"Why, that can't be Azruphel, can it?" Gandalf asked, looking the small figure up and down, trying to be certain he wasn't mistaken. Azruphel grinned, giving her head a quick shake to get the mess of hair out of her face she walked over, arms outstretched. The pair embraced, Gandalf laughing quietly as he looked down at the girl.
"It's been many seasons since I last saw you, my dear." He said, backing away from the embrace to look at her fully.
"Far too long. Leave it to a wizard to keep folk waiting." She said, plopping down on the footrest of the sled. She watched Gandalf's eyes crinkle at the sides, showing he understood the joke, before promptly taking up conversation with Radagast, who was in normal form, acting like no other person in Middle Earth. They walked off quickly by themselves, and she was suddenly all too aware of the piercing, weary glares from the company Gandalf currently kept.
She swept her gaze around the group, assessing them as they did her. Dwarves mostly, and a particularly fearful looking hobbit (for a fleeting moment she hoped he wasn't there unwillingly), stared back at her. She quirked a brow and gave a stretch, waiting for the wizards to be done so she could continue on with her reunion.
It felt like hours before anything happened, and though the faery had a dwindling span in her mind for keeping attention- she was not looking forward to being in another brawl so soon after the unfortunate spider incident.
Unfortunatly, luck was not always on her side.
A scream was heard, followed by a question of wolves. "That is no wolf," Gandalf said, looking around the empty trees, as if the answer lie there, "Wargs!"
"Orcs!" Another shout came before the two wizards joined the group again. She stood up, looking around, drawing in her magic from her core, trying to prepare for the oncoming dilemma.
Gandalf rounded up, glaring at one of the Dwarves as he spoke; "Who else did you tell of your quest?" He yelled.
"No one!" The dwarf yelled back, his eyes full of anger, and his deep, roaring voice carrying over the tops of the trees. Listening to the handsome dwarf yell, Azruphel vaguely wondered, that if the orcs did not yet know of their exact location, they did at that moment.
"Who?" The Grey Wizard yelled again, his steel gaze never faltering from the smaller man before him.
"No one I swear it!" He yelled again, soon brandishing his sward, before stealing a glance her way.
"We are being hunted," Gandalf said, slightly quieter this time, "we must hurry. "
"We'll never make it, the ponies took off!" Another dwarf-younger- said, his face full of fright at what fate lay before them.
"I'll draw them off, " Radagast said, "Azruphel, stay with the dwarves in case of trouble."
Gandalf shook his head, "These are Gundabad wargs, they will outrun you!"
Radagast scoffed and smiled, "These are Rhosgobel rabbits… I'd like to see them try." And in moments Azruphel was shoved off the sled, once again on the ground, her temper fairing and her ego bruised.
Soon the entire group took off, staying close together as they watched Radagast and his rabbits flying through the plains, cleverly keeping pace ahead of the wargs that were right on his tail. Once far enough away Gandalf ushered them ahead, the large group following the tall man as best they could with their short appendages. The longs blades of grass just long enough to brush the kneecaps of most of the company helped keep their actions silent, the wind playing on their side as it blew the opposite way the Brown Wizard drove the pack. For a moment, Azruphel thought it may just be a clean get away. Their luck didn't seem to run out until they hid behind a particularly large boulder, quite flat on the top. A warg and its rider had strayed from the pack, catching scent of the group of dwarves silently panting from running, each heavily built dwarf trying their best not to exhale too loudly, no matter how much their bodies screamed at them. Watching them the faery was grateful she wasn't blessed with broad shoulders and a body that was compacted with hard, hefty muscle. All was silent as one of the dwarves gave orders to another to shoot the rider down.
The young dark haired dwarf gave his superior wide eyes, and it was clear to Azruphel that like her this young man had never seen a battle. Thankful she wasn't the only one who was silently shaking with fear she watched as he mentally shook himself into the moment and pulled an arrow from his back, taking a deep breath before stepping away from the rock and aiming.
In Azruphels eyes everything after happened in slow motion as she too mentally prepared herself for all possible outcomes of what would transpire before her. She heard the arrow cut the air as it whipped from the bow, and the squelch as it sunk into the flesh of one of the beasts above their heads. It was quickly followed by a twin and then a thump as the warg fell.
The rider rolled off, landing at the feet of the company. With a charge they went after it, hacking and slashing at the rotting, grey, scar covered skin was ripped and tore apart. Flesh ripped from the bone, hanging in flaps as the blood covered the grey and the gurgled cry fell dead on the monsters lips.
That one screech was heard by the others , bringing the group of wargs heading straight towards them. "Quickly! This way!" Gandalf commanded, and the group followed. Trailing behind, Az closed her eyes, summoning her magic from deep within her center. She could faintly notice her hands starting to glow an iridescent blue as she pushed forward, hoping Gandalf would lead them all to safety before she suffocated herself with the fear of actually being caught in a battle.
Up ahead she could see the tall grey wizard ushering small dwarves (and a hobbit) into an opening in a large rock. The wargs were quickly closing in, and as she neared she noticed the one with a bow staying back, shooting all he could down. She passed him, halting just before the loud one, who was yelling for the younger one to fall back.
"Kili! Come back!" He yelled, looking desperately at the younger dwarf as a group of wargs lurched closer. In a split second she remembered the terrified look he had given his leader in the few moments before shooting the Warg. With a glance behind her she sped off toward the archer hands still shaking in fear, her feet lightly lifting off the ground as her clear wings came out from her back. Once she was close enough she took hold of the dwarf and pulled him back by the collar. His body lurched as he looked at her incredulously.
"Kili, go back. Now." She said, pushing him harshly, making sure to wretch the bow from his hands so he had no choice but to run. Looking at her in confusion she shouted one last time for him to move before he went, leaving her behind him.
Once she was sure he left she tuned into the bodies crowding around her. Once this was finished, now that all the dwarves were back together, she could find Radagast and they would figure out what to do about the darkness. All she needed to do was breath.
A rush of water seemed to fill her pours, fueling her magic further as her body drank hungrily in satisfaction. She could sense the warg to her right getting weak quickly, its body beginning to shut down and its legs losing balance, she was just about to throw a punch when her body was jerked to the side, back twisting and landing on the ground as her face came into a pile of scratchy black hair.
The loud dwarf was on top of her, quickly regaining his footing before grabbing her and hoisting her over his shoulder and taking off. She could see the orcs getting farther away, the power within her fully charged and ready to be let out, getting uncomfortably full as she was bounced about on the broad shoulder of the unnamed dwarf. Suddenly he stopped, righted her, the swiftly pushed her backward, into the opening the others in the company went down as well.
She landed on her back end, a loud thump being heard as she hit the ground and rolled over, groaning at the collision before standing up and shaking herself off. Seconds later another thump was heard as the remaining dwarf came down as well.
All were quiet as they listened, hearing a horn in the background before a swell of arrows were let loose, one hitting an orc that must have been particularly close to their hiding spot, for its dead body rolled in the hold, landing at their feet.
"Elves." Someone said, and she wasn't sure, but she thought she heard a surge of distain in the voice. She ignored the rest of the conversation, only perking up when she heard a sudden string of angry yelling… directed right towards her.
"What did you think you were doing? You almost got yourself killed. Hunted by orcs and now given a charge! And one with no sense might I add-" As the dwarf prince went on, now turning his attention and yelling at the Grey Wizard, Azruphel fumed.
She could feel her body start to shake, hardly noticeable in the dark cavern they were dropped into.
"I believe I was the one who was given you as a charge, not the other way around, my lord. And I would have been perfectly fine had you not rattled my concentration! For a race who is known so keenly for being so gentlemanly toward their women, you sure know how to prove them wrong! I may be a woman, but I know how to fight. You may have seen as such had you gotten your head out from your undercarriage for a moment." Her eyes blazed with a fury, her pent up magic getting the best of her, wanting to free itself from her body. Without even noticing it her hand started to come up.
Thorin rounded in on her, eyes glaring dangerously as he looked down on her. "You listen here gir-" He was cut off suddenly by a wave of panic, his body suddenly seeming to close in on itself, his skin drying rapidly and wrinkling, caving in on the bones it covered. His eyes felt dry; and his mouth as though he had just swallowed a handful of dirt.
"Azruphel, control yourself!" A booming voice shouted as Gandalf slammed his staff in the ground, emitting a bright, blinding light, effectively slamming the young faery into the wall, once again breaking her concentration. Her head slammed against the hard rock of the cave, vision going blurry for a moment as she tried to regain her footing.
The company was quiet, eyes wide and wondering at the display they just beheld. Unsure what they should do as they watched their leader and king regain himself. Skin pulsing back to life, as though a river suddenly rushed throughout his body. His breathing heavy he first looked at the girl ahead of him trying to regain some of herself, and then he promptly turned to the Grey Wizard.
"What in Mahal's name happened? What magic did you land us into, Gandalf?" He demanded, his voice hardly the deep, throaty tone of a well brought up ruler.
"This, Master Dwarf, is no sorcery of wizards. Though perhaps in the future, you should remember the saying; 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.' Azruphel may be a damsel, but she is not in distress. And should you catch her fighting an orc, you should learn well to stay away. Water magic is nothing to get caught into- as I'm sure you have found out first hand."