Disclaimer: Everything but my OC's belongs to Tolkien, the creator of Middle-Earth.
Thora opened her eyes and raised her head from the ground. Something had woken her up and it was not the snores from the dwarves or the conversation between the Halfling and Bofur. It was something else, a scratching sound from beneath her, a loud thump thump thump noise as well. She shook her head, it couldn't be. It was impossible, she thought, until she saw Bilbo pull up his blade which shone brightly.
Goblins! She thought but that was all she managed to do before Thorin yelled for everyone to awaken. It proved to be useless for everyone woke up when the ground opened up beneath them and swallowed them whole, an eerie glow of orange created by torches was the only light they had as they fell down and down and down. They yelled and screamed as they fell and Thora just managed to grab a blanket and wrap it around herself before they all landed in a heap inside a wide wooden circle that looked like a huge bowl. Thora rolled over just in time to avoid being flattened by Bombur as he was the last to land in the circle. The complaining moans from the dwarves who were unfortunate enough to not being able to dodge him proved to her that her choice had been wise.
The first thing Ori noticed was that there was a pale, naked, slender leg across his chest. His face turned red in embarrassment before the goblins were upon them. They all tried to fight back but there were six goblins to each dwarf and human and therefore they had no choice but to follow their captors though they did not do so willingly. They did offer some resistance and pushed the goblins that grabbed a hold of them away for the ugly creatures, littered with sores and boils as they were, showed their captives no mercy as they pinched them and pushed them down the one path away from the wooden circle they had been caught in.
The pathways of wood were like a labyrinth but the goblins, who knew them well, led them at a great pace towards their goal. After having been forced to run through the dark passages, tripping and stumbling a few times, they were finally led into a huge hollow in the mountain where even more goblins were gathered. They shrieked and laughed, stamped their swords and feet onto the wooden bridges they were standing on as they pointed their bony and crooked fingers at them. The noises were intimidating and Thorin's company felt fear creep up in their hearts. Goblins always made a ruckus to instill fear in the heart of their prey.
More than once on their trip did Thora punch a goblin in the face and slap away their grabby hands for more than once did they pull on the blanket she had wrapped around herself and she would not let herself bee seen naked by these foul beasts, or the dwarves around her either. They were shoved in front of a huge goblin, the Great Goblin, the leader of the goblins in the Misty Mountains. Their weapons the goblins had gathered and before the Great Goblin they were thrown in a heap. When the leader jumped off his throne he flattened a group of his own who he used as a stool to get on his throne. Thora looked around. Her sister was standing beside Thorin though the amount of goblins nearly blocked her view of the blonde. She turned her head to the other side and noticed Kíli standing only two steps in front of her. She grabbed his arm and tugged him backwards, speaking in a hushed whisper even though there was no need, for the goblins in the cave yelled and laughed.
"Kíli!" She hissed. The dark haired dwarf turned towards her and his eyes widened at the sight of the unknown girl. He tilted his head downwards in a questioning manner.
"Thora?" He seemed uncertain for he had never seen her in a human form before. Throughout the days the two had traveled with the dwarves she had kept to her beast form. If it wasn't for her being a mirror-image of Asta with the exception of the hair and eye color, not to mention her skin being much paler than her sister's, he would never have guessed her to be the wolf. He also noticed that while it did nothing to hide her womanly figure she was more muscled than her sister. It may have been because of her being Asta's mount while in wolf-form.
"Lend me your coat." She whispered as the goblin leader swung his scepter back and forth. First then did Kíli notice that she was only wearing a blanket which she had wrapped tightly around herself. The knot was on her left side making the blanket split from her left hip and down her leg. Had they been in any other situation than being captives of goblins without their weapons and clearly outnumbered he would have made a comment with a cheeky grin, hoping to embarrass her or maybe to get a witty response in return, but he held his tongue and quickly pulled off his coat, handing it to her. She quickly and silently put it on and buttoned it up but she did not pull off the blanket. After all, he was a head shorter than her and therefore she didn't dare to remove it if they could manage to make a run for it.
Asta looked around, trying to locate her sister as well and saw her take Kíli's coat. She wanted to call out to her, ask if she was alright but a hand seized her wrist and held on so tight it almost hurt.
"Do no say a word." Thorin grit out, lips hardly moving. His eyes glanced at her before settling back on the Great Goblin and she nodded, tugging on her hand as a signal to let him know he could let go but he didn't. He slackened his grip slightly but did not let go. He glanced down at her hand and she did as well, realizing that she was trembling, terribly.
Is he offering me comfort? Does he think me frightened by these creatures or by the nightmare I just experienced before our capture? She had been dreaming of when they were children. Not everything had been a dance on roses.
"Who would be so bold to come armed into my kingdom?" The Great Goblin drew himself into his full height, his bloated chin swung from left to right as he moved and also he was full of sores and boils like his people.
"Spies?" He demanded and his voice raised an octave and became shrill. "Thieves? Assassins?!" One of the goblins answered for the dwarves were adamant on keeping their lips sealed.
"Dwarves, your malevolence."
"Dwarves?"
"We found them on the Front Porch!"
"Well don't just stand there! Search them! Every crevice!" The Great Goblin ordered. Thora had just managed to button up the last button when the goblin King gave his order and was lucky enough that the goblins only pulled a bit on her blanket, which she shoved them away for mind you, and did not rip the cloak off of her. One of the goblins grabbed Oin's ear trumpet and threw it to the ground, stomping on it. Asta saw a shadow throw themselves at the offending goblin and tackle it to the ground in a chokehold.
There were few things Thora hated, for hate is a strong word and should not be misused. The first was humans; for they threw aside everything they did not understand and treated it as something that should not have been brought into the world. The second was orcs and goblins, for their existence only caused other's misery. They were cruel creatures with black hearts but what she despised the most was disrespect towards others. To Thora's frustration, and ironically her salvation, she did not manage to strangle the goblin to death before she was pulled off and held down.
"What's this, what's this?" The Great Goblin grabbed a hold of her chin and lifted it up. He let go as if burned and then laughed, his raspy laugh echoing in the hollow. "Well, well, now this is a surprise. My people, it seems we have esteemed guests." The goblin looked at his prisoners and saw Asta as well. Her eyes unnerved him but he did not let it show.
"The cursed children of Rohan! The outcasts, the abandoned ones. Forever cast away from their own!"
"We were not cast away. We chose to leave!" Asta ran forward and made to remove the goblins holding her sister but six more jumped forward and held her back. The dwarves began to fight again for they did not like the way the Great Goblin spoke and how the women were treated. Their arms were bent back in such an angle that it forced them on their knees and Thora's naked ones gained cuts and bruises from the hard wooden platform beneath her.
"Ah, ah, but that is not what I have heard!" The Great goblin smiled wickedly at the two. "I have heard that the run-away's returned and pleaded to be allowed to go home. They were shunned and turned away, even by their own father." Asta furrowed her brows and growled.
"That is not true! Our father loved us! We ran away from our home for his sake!"
"You must be the youngest then, for I am certain that my information is correct. You must have been too young to remember but this one does, do you not?" He turned towards Thora who had gone silent. "Ah, I seem to have struck a nerve." The goblins laughed but Asta turned towards her sister.
"Thora?" She did not like the way her sister's shoulders slumped as if in defeat. It was unnerving. "Thora, please answer." She whispered but the dark haired maiden only turned her gaze away from her and Asta felt something shatter within her.
"The eldest pleaded for the two to be allowed home but was struck down by the village leader while her father only watched. Oh yes, this was a tale I loved to hear. It took many blows before she changed into a beast and ripped the poor man apart and carried the youngest away again." The goblin king laughed wickedly. Asta's eyes widened and she looked between the goblin and her sister.
"How did it feel?" The goblin king leaned down towards Thora, all the while sneering at her. "Your first kill? What about the second?" He glanced at Asta and Thora stiffened as she recalled what had happened. It was a memory she wished she wouldn't remember but the trauma had, in a lack of better words, burned it into her brain. She would never get rid of it.
"I can see you hold each other dear." He mocked. "Did she never tell you?" He walked over to Asta. "How she killed-?"
"Shut your mouth!" Thora suddenly snarled and the goblins struggled to keep her down. "I killed the chief of the village and he was my first kill, I will admit that much, but I did not kill anyone else!" The Great Goblin stared at her for now he also felt her presence to be unnerving, her yellow eyes burning with rage and promise of pain should he continue his taunting. Waving an arm he changed the subject.
"You would want to watch your tongue, girl, for you are in my kingdom now and will answer my questions. What I want to know is what you are doing in my kingdom and with a company of dwarves no less!" None of the dwarves answered but only kept their expressions blank.
"Very well, if they won't talk, we'll make them squawk!" He ordered for instruments of torment and torture to be gathered in the hollow and that they would start with the youngest. Here he pointed at a terrified Ori but Thorin intervened, pushing himself to the front and thus making his presence known. Thora thought he looked like a king then, a lone dwarf who stood up against an army of goblins alone and even though the Great Goblin mocked him he stood straight with pride although he was clenching both fists and teeth in anger that he tried hard to control but the goblin king's next words shattered that control completely.
"I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head. Just your head, nothing attached." He chuckled. "Perhaps you know of whom I speak. An old enemy of yours. A pale orc astride a white warg."
"Azog the Defiler was destroyed." Thorin hissed and this roused a smirk on the Great Goblin's face. "He was slain in battle long ago!"
"So you think his defiling days are over do you?" The Great Goblin turned from them and to an extremely tiny goblin that held a parchment in his hands. He appeared to be a goblin scribe. "Send word to the pale orc! Tell him I have found his prize!" Again the goblins began to cheer and laugh for they were expecting amusement and a wealthy payment for their prisoners. The Great Goblin turned towards his prisoners again and smirked as he reached for Thora's face. He grabbed her chin and yanked her up on her feet earning him a startled gasp and whimper.
"I do not like that sharp tongue of yours. I think I shall have it cut out from your mouth. Without it you and your sister will become nicer pets in their cage." For a moment fear overtook the young girl but her 'sharp tongue' as the goblin king had referred it as, would not be tamed by it.
"And I do not like the look in your eyes. Shall I pluck them out for you?" The goblin king laughed loudly then and grabbed her throat, lifting her up. "A sharp and clever tongue indeed." He tightened his grip and her hands flew to his wrist but they did not even manage to encircle his fat arm. Air was beginning to lack in her lungs and she gasped as she tried to wriggle her fingers between his hand and her throat.
"Let her down!" The dwarves cried out and began to struggle more than ever before but the goblin only laughed before two slender hands wrapped around his wrists. He let go of the girl as if he had been burned and howled. He stared at his arm where there were only clean skin, no boils or sores, but perfectly healthy skin which soon turned gray again.
"What did you do?" He screamed at Asta who held her gasping sister and pulled her inside the throng towards the others. "Don't you touch her!" Asta screamed back, her icy blue eyes shining in the dark cave and the Great Goblin took a wobbling step back for the unnerving eyes became terrifying. He pointed at her with his staff then and smirked to hide his fear.
"You!" His voice was shrill and it scarred their ears. "You will be first." His command carried a dark promise and it made the girl shudder in fear as she saw the instruments of torture that the goblins were bringing towards them. The dwarves paused to look at them before they again began to struggle madly. Some of them managed to land a few well-placed hits before their arms were restrained. As the goblins stamped their feet in the rhythm that their king was singing one of them grabbed a hold of the weapons the dwarves had brought with them and was inspecting them. He soon found Orcrist which he flung from himself as if he was burned while shrieking in horror. The Great Goblin shrieked also and fell back on his throne.
"I know that sword! It is the Goblin Cleaver!" The laughter turned into angry shrieks for Orcrist was a blade that they hated. They simply called it Biter but the story was the same. They hated it but they hated the ones that carried it more. Whips were pulled forth and they began beating Thorin with it for it was clear that he was the owner.
"Thorin!" His nephews yelled and Asta tried desperately to get to the dwarf lord for his face already began to turn red as the whips left marks but the goblins held them all back. A goblin suddenly flew past her and hit one of the attacking ones and they both fell off the platform and into the dark pit beneath them. She turned her head to see Thora grab one by the throat and throw him off as well. Her arms became bigger and thicker, the muscles standing out making them look more like a man's rather than a woman's. She was transforming only halfway and fur began to grow on her arms. It was by no means a beautiful sight for her eyes were no longer human and canines had grown. With these she intimidated the goblins as she snarled and growled at them. Asta found herself worrying over Thora more than the others. Having just returned from her beast form it was challenging for her to transform again. No it was outright dangerous! Her body could not handle the stress. Soon though they were all overrun again and Thorin was pulled to the ground as goblins threw themselves at him.
"Slash them! Beat them, kill them! Kill them all! Cut off his head!" Just then, when all hope seemed to be lost a great brilliant beam of white light and a shockwave sent the goblins flying backwards, their torture tools were destroyed and the already fallen dwarves and humans were pinned to the ground. When the light disappeared there was only darkness for the torches had for a second died out but was again rekindled as if by magic. There stood one lone shadow, his pointed hat stretching for the roof of the hollow mountain, his staff and sword raised high and his deep voice spoke to the disoriented company as they tried to get their bearings together.
"Take up arms. Fight." Slowly they sat up and tried to get on their feet. "FIGHT!" He yelled and stormed forward, slashing and hacking away at the goblins that held his friends and they wasted no more time in getting up. They all tossed their weapons to each other and helped the wizard.
"He has the Foehammer!" The goblin king cried out. "The Beater!" Asta tossed Thora her great sword and the woman swung it high, the light of the torches causing it to glimmer, before she started to cut down the goblins one by one. Asta grabbed her bow and the few arrows the goblins had bothered to take with them but she did not manage to use it for there was no space for her to pull the bowstring. She could only use her bow to hit and push away any attacking creatures.
"Thorin!" Fíli yelled in warning and the dwarf lord looked behind him to see the Great Goblin swing his staff at him. Thorin reflected the attack and the goblin king fell of the platform with a yell, taking many of his people with him. That was their cue. They ran and ran, cutting down goblins that got in their way as they followed Gandalf who seemed to know the way outside.
"POLE!" Dwalin yelled and together with Fíli, Kíli, Glóin and Bifur, he used one of the railings on the bridge to push the goblins that charged at them from left to right off the platforms for the mass in front of them were too many to simply cut through. Once the mass had been taken care off they dropped the pole and instead used their swords to cut down any attacking goblin for the rest of the long run.
"Thora!" Asta yelled and her sister ducked her head just in time to let an arrow fly over her and hit a goblin between its eyes. In return Thora cut another charging goblin in half as her sister readied another arrow.
"Don't lose sight of the others!" Thora yelled to her sister who nodded and her eyes shone brightly as they roamed back and forth. It was becoming tiresome for the goblins came from every direction. Some even jumped onto the dwarves below them. Some had attempted that on Thora but she had either dodged them swiftly or they were shot down by Asta who ripped her precious few arrows out of the goblins as she passed by. Likewise was it if goblins jumped on Asta. Either they were cut down before they even reached her or they were pulled off of her and thrown into the abyss beneath the bridges.
"Cut the ropes!" Thorin yelled over his shoulder as they crossed a bridge and the moment they were all over it they did as told and the goblins on it fell down into darkness with the rest. Kíli had run to the front and just managed to block two arrows with his sword. He grabbed a ladder as Asta covered him by shooting her own arrows and together with Fíli, Bifur, Bofur and Bombur they ran towards the goblins, trapping some of them in it and pushing them back and off the platforms. They had to use it as a bridge for they came across a dead end. When everyone had crossed it they pushed it off the platforms to hinder the goblins if only for a short time. The goblins were crafty though, and they had more than one way across so the company was quickly swarmed again.
"Come, this way!" Gandalf cried out again and they followed him faithfully but the goblins' numbers didn't seem to dwindle for their anger only rose higher and higher as Orcrist and Foehammer killed more of their own as they pursued the company of Thorin. Gandalf lifted his staff and a bright light momentarily blinded them before a rock fell down on their path. Immediately they began pushing it and sent it rolling down the path they were running, squashing the unfortunate goblins that were in the way. Finally they could see a little light, a white light and not the orange glow of the torches, in front of them and knew that the exit was close but as they were about to pass the last bridge the Great Goblin jumped up through it and sneered down at them.
"You thought you could escape me?" He swung his staff and Gandalf fell back but the dwarves caught him and pushed him up on his feet again. "What are you going to do now, wizard?" Gandalf scowled and jumped forward, thrusting his staff into the Great Goblin's eye. The king dropped his staff to hold his eye and thus made himself an open target. Gandalf then cut deeply across his stomach and the goblin king fell to his knees.
"That will do it." Again Gandalf swung his sword and cut the Great Goblin's throat. That was the end of the Great Goblin and so there were only the goblins left but they were now surrounded on all sides and were wondering how to get out of this mess when they heard it.
Crack
"That… does not sound right." Asta turned her head around and up, trying to locate whatever was coming at them when the ground gave up under her. It had been the platform that had groaned under their weight and had given away and plummeted to the ground. They screamed as the platform slid down the walls and they would have fallen to their death if it was not for the mountain walls that suddenly tightened around them and slowed their fall. Together with Dwalin and Kíli Thora was trapped at the bottom of the pile of wood that had once been a platform. She slowly moved herself out from under it. Asta was getting up on her feet with the help of Gandalf for she had grabbed a hold of the old wizard when the platform gave away and had fallen off with him.
"Well, that could have been worse." Bofur spoke as he looked at Gandalf with a relieved smile. Out of nowhere, with a triumphant thump, the body of the Great Goblin landed on the top of the pile, nearly crushing them all.
"Oh you have to be joking!" Dwalin growled out. Thora grit her teeth as a pained cry passed by her lips. Unlike the others she had not been wholly trapped under the pile of dwarf and wood but her ankle had been and now it was twisted in an odd angle.
"Are you alright?" Asta asked as she ran to her sister but Kíli's sudden cries made them all look up. Hundreds of goblins were crawling down the walls towards them, shrieking in anger. Dwalin was pulling Nori out from under the rubble and looked at Gandalf, exhaustion clear on his face and voice.
"There's too many! We can't fight them!" Gandalf agreed and told them to run as he helped the last few up. Dwalin grabbed a hold of Thora and threw her over his shoulder. It was clear that she would not be able to keep up on her feet on her own. They ran down the dark passages, the light from Gandalf's staff the only thing allowing them to see where they were running. The pathway seemed endless until finally, at last, they could see light from the end of it. They were saved!
