When their feet hit the side of a long tunnel, the jarring sensation went throughout Thorin and he lost his grip on Takai. "No!" Yet, he couldn't grasp her fingers quick enough before they tumbled down with the others. Hoots, howls, and cries surrounded him as he listened and felt the others clashing into one another. The nooks and crannies making him twist and turn, forgetting which side was up.
A particular movement caught Thorin's eye and he widened them enough to see Takai push off from the ground, falling through air and grab something before curing around it. Soon there was no tunnel floor beneath him, but in an instant he landed on top of Dwalin. He managed to count the groans, which grew louder after Bombour landed on the pile.
It wasn't long before the group was surrounded by goblins, bringing the dwarves to their feet before herding them across rickety wooden bridges. They fought, oh how they fought. Punching and shoving the mountain creatures off their own bridges. The goblins just fought back, and being outnumbered, the dwarves eventually gave. Well, except for one.
"Get your filthy little paws off of me!" Takai snapped, eyes blazing with fury as she struggled. She managed a few blows before her hands were bound.
"Takai!" Thorin looked over his shoulder, looking past the goblins to see her whip her head around to face him. So this is what they see. He thought when he saw the hatred and fury that could only match his own when it came to orcs. Fear was there as well, hidden behind the understanding that passed between them.
Gritting her teeth, Takai stood straighter and walked with the mob of goblins. She took that time to look at their surroundings, torches blazed, lighting the paths in the deep mountain. She couldn't look down but she knew there was an endless darkness that the fire's light could not even touch. Goblins cheered and screamed from above and below, and a shiver rose through her. However, it wasn't long before they stopped in the center of the Goblin City, huddled together before the King upon his throne.
The Goblin King was a horrid creature, being one of the largest in the mountains. His large eyes, too big for his face, scanned the group before him. "What is this?" He asked, sliding off his throne, meandering toward the group for a closer look. "Thieves?"
"Dwarves, we found them on the front porch." One goblin spoke up before a grin split upon his face. "And her." He motioned one hand then watched as several goblins drag and shove Takai forward.
The Goblin King eyed Takai curiously; he couldn't see her face due to her lowering it. Black hair covered like a protective veil. "And what about-?" He paused when he saw the war bow made of white oak. A grin lit up his ugly features as he chuckled. "Oh, Takai, it has been too long."
Takai lifted her chin, eyes still blazing but she could do nothing with her hands bound. "Not long enough. You're still alive."
"Come to finish the job your mother couldn't?" The King grinned when he saw her twitch. "So you do remember. That's one of my favorite memories. Do you remember the screams?" He tilted his head as he circled her.
"I remember your scream when my arrow pierced your skin." Takai spoke darkly as she followed his movements with her eyes.
"Aye, I have a lovely scar from that, but I remember her screams. Telling you to run, and run, to never look back. Her screams as I bled her." The Goblin King used a finger to move a lock of hair from her face. "You have her beautiful face."
Thorin watched as Takai's once straight form began to slump, watching her shake. He lurched forward when the Goblin King whispered something and Takai fell to her knees. His movement brought the Goblin King's attention to him, and he grimaced.
"Well well, Thorin Oakensheild King Under the Mountain." The Goblin King mocked bowed, glancing at Takai when a choked sob broke free. "It's amazing what words can do to a pure soul."
Rage built itself up within Thorin, meeting the Goblin King's eyes. "What did you say to her?"
The King waved away Thorin's question. "Does not matter. What makes me curious is why you're here, especially when there's a pretty price for your head." He straightened as much as he could, grasping the staff to keep him balanced. He smiled when Thorin's hard gaze turned to one of curiousness. "A hint for the one who wants your head. A pale orc on a white warg."
"Azog is dead." Thorin snarled as he stepped forward, only to be pushed back by a heavy goblin.
"Is he now?" The Goblin King mused as he stepped to the edge of his throne, looking at a smaller goblin who sat on a swing. "Send word to Azog the Defiler that I have his King." He smiled before turning back to the group. "And search them! We don't want them fighting when we turn them in."
The horde of goblins that had captured the dwarves now lunged at them. Pulling away anything that can be used against them. The dwarves struggled but when Orcist was revealed, the goblin who pulled it, screamed. The sword was thrown to lay by Takai, and then chaos erupted.
"I know that sword!" The Goblin King retreated to his throne in fear. "The Goblin Cleaver! Biter!" He screamed then snarled when he saw Thorin fighting off the goblins, one being thrown past him, only to be pinned beside Takai. "Kill them! Kill them all! And give me his head!"
Takai had lifted her numb head, looking at the sword beside her. Fear had ridden itself too hard in her heart that when she saw Thorin about to lose his head, a warbled scream left her. Due to her father's blood, however, she threw herself over Thorin, pushing the few goblins away. She missed the goblin that held the sword which was now above her head since she was now in the way. She couldn't look at Thorin and instead buried her face in his hair. "I am sorry. I failed to protect you." She sobbed as Thorin wrapped his arms around her. The sword was coming down to fast that she knew she would lose her head even if Thorin tried to turn. Except, a blinding light exposed itself. The blinding light stunned the ones lying on the ground while the impact of the light threw some goblins from the throne.
"Take up arms!" A voice called out as the light slowly began to fade.
Thorin opened his eyes, feeling Takai shake as she lay upon him. Unlike her, his hands were unbound and he cupped her face with his calloused hands. "Takai." He whispered and saw her blue eyes. "Are you a fool?" He snapped.
"Was my father a fool?" Takai asked, feeling herself come back from her broken state and saw Thorin's gray-blue eyes soften. "Unbind me, Thorin, and your foes will fall by my hand." Takai spoke as she sat up, straddling his legs as she held out her bound hands. Her eyes blazed with fury. "But his head is mine!"
Thorin sat up, grabbing a knife as he stared into her blue eyes. "And I will give you that release." He cut the rope and it was as if he just released a wolf bound in a cage for too long.
Takai leapt off of Thorin, pulling out her sword to end the lives of the stunned goblins around him. Around her, the dwarves had rallied and began fighting back. She found the Goblin King backing away, teetering on the edge of the balcony of his throne. She pointed her sword at him when she caught his eye. "I will have your head on my wall, scum!" She screamed taking a few steps forward, but the king had backed too far and fell.
"Takai!"
Takai picked up Orcist before turning to Thorin. "Your sword, my king." She stumbled when Thorin pulled her to him.
"I may have given you that release but I need you aware and not on a blood lusting rampage." Thorin growled, one hand on his sword and the other holding her chin.
"Lets move!" Voices called out and Takai nodded, grabbing Thorin and pushing him ahead of her.
The dwarves taking off after the wizard had set chaos into motion. No longer were they just fleeing past stunned goblins, they were now fighting for their lives. Swords, axes, and knives gleamed in the torch light; even the stone tip of an arrow caught light before embedding itself into darkness. Blackened blood glistened upon the sharp edged weapons, even the giant hammer Ori used to crush the bones of their foes.
Once more the group parted into two, separated by taking different paths, but heading the same way. Takai only saw Balin, Oin and Gloin following her and Thorin and the wizard. That was all she could see due to having goblins of every size leap at them from every direction. She marveled, however, at the wrath these old warrior could unleash when cornered. However, Dwalin was the only veteran warrior with the group that held young warriors, miners, and a toy maker.
Anger swelled up in Thorin that at times he just angrily slashed instead of making a tactical move. A sense of ease had washed over him as he caught several glances of Takai. Sober from blood lust, but wrath spilled from the sword dance. He knew he shouldn't have frozen when her eyes met his, but he knew that if he did, he would have fallen. A knife had slipped from Takai's fingers, flying past his head till he heard a grunt. He turned to look, seeing a goblin crumpled with that knife embedded in between the eyes.
"It is best not to freeze in the midst of battle, my king."
Thorin whipped back around, seeing only blue eyes. "That is why you are here."
"You are lucky that I am here." Takai stated looking over her shoulder as the sounds of screams increased.
"Kiss later, you two! Move!"
Thorin didn't hesitate from Gloin's demand and turned to run after Gandalf, knowing well the few who were behind him were safe for that brief moment.
The running continued, slashing at a pale goblin that would come into their view. There was more jumping involved when Gandalf jumped back down upon a path when theirs had ended. There, the two groups joined and a sense of relief filled one another for another moment, weapons still clashing and embedding themselves into flesh. That brief moment ended just as quickly as their wooden path.
With a grunt, one of the dwarves cut the rope which brought half of that bridge swinging towards the other bride. Few managed to jump before the rest swung back to where a group of goblins waited. Those goblins took that chance to jump onto the swinging bridge. With that last forward swing, the rest jumped. Fili, being the last, almost fell when cutting the rope, but both Dwalin and Takai swung him forward.
"Nice catch, my lady." Fili gasped when his feet hit the wooden bridge. He caught her smile before running after her, grunting when Dwalin smack the back of his head. "You too, Master Dwalin."
The group was most grateful when their feet let the rickety bridge and upon a stone path. With Gandalf's staff, a boulder landed in front of them and rolled down, knocking and squishing the goblins upon that same path. However, after the boulder rolled off the path, the stone path ended and they came back upon another wooden bridge. Yet they were to be stopped when the Goblin King landed in front of them.
"Ha! You think you could leave? I own these mountains, wizard." The Goblin King spat, swinging his staff to the point where the Gray Wizard stumbled back. The King chuckled, leaning forward. "What are you going to do now?"
"Nothing." Gandalf stated simply when he gathered his composure. He saw the Goblin King stare in confusion before stepping to the side, revealing Takai holding her bow and arrow. "But she will."
"Lets just say I've been practicing my aim." Takai snarled and let the arrow fly. The King stumbled back from the force of impact, heading tilting back before falling upon his knees. As he fell forward, the arrow could be seen sticking out of his forehead before falling forward.
The impact from the fallen King sent the bridge twitching before the sound of wood snapping. Not before long, the bridge's supports completely snapped and soon collapsed, falling deeper into the depths of the mountain. Cries left the dwarves, echoing up through the cavern as the broken bridge slid down the side of the dark crevice.
A breath of relief escaped Takai when the bridge caught between the sides of the cavern. Yet, a squeak left her lips when the bridge dropped suddenly. She saw Thorin eye at her even though the groans of the dwarves sounded beneath them.
"Well, that wasn't too bad." Bofur spoke up, hoping to lighten the mood as he looked down at Dwalin and Kili.
The lighthearted sarcasm didn't last long when the body of the Goblin King landed upon them. Groans and cries extended including the snickering that left Takai.
"You've got to be joking!" Dwalin complained, his groan didn't last long when Kili shouted Gandalf's name. He didn't have to follow Kili's gaze, just had to open his eyes to see the horde of goblins running down to them. Immediately he began pulling himself out from between slabs of wood before helping Kili. "There are too many of them."
"The only thing that will stop them is daylight." Gandalf stated, helping Oin out from a pile of rubble as more dwarves passed him. "Hurry! This way!"
As the rest of the dwarves escaped the rubble, they quickly followed Gandalf as he led them out of the mountain. Even as they exited the mountain, running into the sun, the group did not stop until they were a mile down. Only then did they stop.
"It seems we gained a face but lost one. Where is Bilbo?" Gandalf looked at each dwarf. Fili and Kili spun in circles and Gandalf saw the horror rise in the woman's eyes.
"I can tell you." Thorin snapped and looked away from Takai. "Mr. Baggins had his chance and took it. All he thought about was his warm bed and hearth." He risked a glance at Takai but wish he didn't. "We will not being seeing our hobbit, he is long gone."
"He did not leave!" Takai walked up to Thorin, feeling torn. One moment she felt a sense of compassion, but then he would spew his doubts about Bilbo and then she hated him. "He fell! I saw him-." Takai choked back a sob and shoved Thorin's hand away from her. "He is lost, but he did not leave us!"
"On the contrary, I'm not lost. Well, not anymore at least." Bilbo spoke up as he stepped out from behind a tree. He watched as Thorin turned to look at him before stepping away. He saw unshed tears in Takai's eyes.
"Bilbo! We thought we lost you." Kili spoke up with relief.
"How on earth did you get away from the goblins?" Fili asked in wonder.
"How indeed." Dwalin mused as he settled himself between Thorin and Takai. More concerned that it may come to blows, whether verbal or physical, between Takai and Thorin.
"It does not matter." Takai walked up to Bilbo, her arms slipping around his shoulders. "He is safe."
"Actually, it does." Takai jerked her head up, turning to look at Thorin.
"I want to know." Thorin took a small step forward, his eyes flicking to Takai before settling upon Bilbo. If it wasn't a serious moment, he might have laughed at the height difference between the hobbit and dwarf. "Why did you come back?"
Bilbo gave Takai a calming pat on her arm, feeling the comfort she was trying to give before she stepped away. He looked at Thorin with a sigh. "Look, I know you've doubted me, you've always doubted me. Though you're right. I do miss my home, my books, and my armchair. I won't deny that's where I belong and that's why I came back. You don't." Bilbo stated, sliding from underneath Takai's arm to look at Thorin squarely, but honestly. "Where you belong, your home was taken from you and I will do what I can to help you take it back."
Thorin nodded just the barest, looking down at his feet. Silence had fallen over the group, yet, Takai and Gandalf shared a smile at Bilbo's words. Their contempt silence didn't last long when a howl sounded out.
"Takai! Please tell me those are your wolves." Thorin looked at Takai, her features grim.
"Not this time." Takai pulled out her sword as the howls neared and the thundering sound of feet hitting the ground neared as well. "Run!" She spun, pushing Bilbo in the opposite direction of the sound of wargs.
Trees offered little shelter, but it wasn't enough to save Bilbo from the first warg who broke through. With a yelp, the warg charged back, but Bilbo had pulled out his own little sword which luckily embedded itself in the forehead of the charging warg. Another squeak left when he saw another warg, but Thorin had came back to cut it down. On his other side, Takai had done the same.
"Quick! Into the trees!" Gandalf shouted, climbing into a pine tree that stood just at the edge of the cliff.
Immediately the dwarves helped one another into the trees that surrounded them. Kili and Fili both reached down to swing Takai up upon a branch above them, watching a warg barely missing her legs. Soon they were all up high in the trees, watching the wargs pace below them.
Above the growls, a dark voice rang out in a tongue so foreign but native to the darker breeds of life. The voice continued, demanding and claiming attention of all who could hear.
Takai, crouching upon a high branch, peered through the leaves. She knew the language, didn't understand it, but knew who the language belonged to. Orcs. Her eyes narrowed as she spotted the speaker, a pale orc upon a white warg.
"No." Thorin's voice held dismay as he lowered a branch to see. "Azog."
DUN DUN DUN! I must thank those who've favored and followed my story. Seeing as I have no reviews, I'm assuming I haven't lost my touch when writing. This is my first Hobbit story as I first watched the movie, then read the book. I hated the ending, thus inspiring me to write a new one, adding a new character in the process. Reviews though, would be lovely even if it is a simple "Great job!" Hope you all are enjoying the chapters and I had to remake a few scenes, such as the Thunder Battle and the Goblin Chase. My favorite parts. Once again, thank you and I hope you continue to enjoy.