The reason why I've posted this chapter early is because I have internet again for another two weeks as I'm going on a holiday to a place where there's no internet. I hope you all like this chapter anyway, and please let me know on what you think. And thanks again for all those new followers!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything concerning Middle Earth that honour belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien. I only own my OC, Eliza.
"Thieves! Fire! Murder!" shouted a man bursting into the clearing on a sleigh pulled by, wait rabbits? Cute, fluffy looking rabbits that were as high as Eliza's chest. The man himself just looked plain weird. He was shorter than Gandalf but not as short as the dwarves, he also had what looked like bird poop on his face.
Eliza leaned towards Fili and whispered, "This guy has worse hygiene problems than the whole lot of you, and that's saying something." Fili gave a smile in response.
"Radagast! Radagast the Brown," sighed Gandalf letting down his guard. The rest of the company soon did the same realizing that Radagast was no threat, not that he looked threating or anything of that sort.
"What on earth are you doing here?" Gandalf asked.
"I was looking for you, Gandalf. Something's wrong. Something's terribly wrong." replied the obviously distressed wizard.
"Yes?"
Radagast opened his mouth as if to speak, but he then shut it. He stood there gaping, looking like a fish out of water. "Oh, just give me a minute. Um, oh, I had a thought, and now I've lost it. It was, it was right there, on the tip of my tongue." He replied exasperated. He reopened his mouth to make a point of it.
"Oh wait, it's not a thought at all; it's a silly old stick insect!" he says when Gandalf pulls a stick insect from Radagast's mouth.
"Ew, now that's just gross," Eliza said gaged up her nose in disgust. She had never been an insect person, but putting an insect in your mouth? Eliza shuddered at the thought. The other dwarves and Bilbo appeared to agree with her as well, for they all looked away at the wizard with the same face expressions.
Gandalf soon led Radagast away so as to speak with the wizard privately, for whatever reason the brown wizard was here for. The rest of the company just stood about the small clearing talking in small groups.
"So, what did you guys think of my amazing swordsmanship skills against the trolls?" Eliza asked Fili and Kili in a mock boastful voice.
"I was mainly trying to not have my head chopped off by that knife you were swinging around like a mad woman," Kili replied with a smirk.
"Hey! I wasn't that bad!" she shot back , "At least I didn't kill myself. Imagine dying from accidental suicide," she added as an afterthought.
"With you learning how to wield a sword, it's highly possible," Fili said. Eliza glared at both of them, her scowl soon replaced with a smile and a small chuckle.
A howl close by made Eliza jump all laughter gone. She started to glance around herself with worry, she was nervous aroiund dogs, and that included wolves. She stopped liking dogs, ever since her neighbours' greyhound sunk its' teeth into her little eight year old leg. "Is that a wolf's howl?" she whispered only to be repeated by Bilbo
"Was that a wolf? Are there-are there wolves out there?" he asked looking on edge.
"Wolves? No, that is not a wolf," Bofur said the only one to reply to him. The others all had their weapons in hand looking for any sign of the beast. Eliza had her bow out, though with her experience with the weapon, it would be absolutely no use to even attempt shooting. It amazed her how quickly the mood had changed drastically from peaceful to tense.
Eliza's sharp eyes soon catch sight of a wolf-like creature from behind a nearby bush. "What's that?" she shouted pointing to the beast. The creature soon makes itself known as it leaped into the midst of the Company. Hearing Eliza's shout, Thorin quickly turned and killed the beast.
Another of the wolf-like creatures immediately appeared and attacked from the other side of the clearing. With Kili's quick reflexes, he had managed to shot it within the time it took Eliza to blink, managing to make the beast stumble. Dwalin was the one to finish it off with one blow of his axe.
"Warg Scouts! Which means an Orc pack is not far behind." Shouted Thorin.
"Wargs? Are they called Wargs?" asked Eliza going slightly off topic.
"Orc pack?" added a confused Bilbo.
The company were all looking somewhat nervous now, with all their weapons loaded. Even Gandalf looked worried, and that's definitely saying something- she had never seen Gandalf looking anywhere close to worried.
"Who did you tell about your quest, beyond your kin?" The grey wizard asked Thorin.
"No one," Thorin replied glancing over at Eliza. She was the only other stranger besides Bilbo they had told of the quest. But he knew, like the rest of them, that she hadn't left the company at all during their travels.
"Who did you tell?" Gandalf repeated becoming a tad angry, but he was most likely nervous like the rest of them.
"No one, I swear. What in Durin's name is going on?" asked Thorin.
"You are being hunted." Stated Gandalf bluntly. No beating around the bush there.
"We have to get out of here," stated Dwalin.
"Just what we were all thinking right now," added Eliza. They had to go now, not waste time talking. Run now, talk later.
"We can't! We have no ponies; they bolted." Exclaimed Ori in full out panic mode. Great, first trolls, now this.
"I'll draw them off," Suggested Radagast. Speaking for the first time since the Wargs had made themselves known.
"These are Gundabad Wargs; they will outrun you," Explained Gandalf as if he was talking to a child. There was a thin line between brave and foolish, but this wizard was just crazy.
"These are Rhosgobel Rabbits; I'd like to see them try," replied Radagast sounding even more mad than Eliza had assumed him to be. Couldn't he understand that rabbits weren't the fastest of creatures?
"I believe that we have no choice," Gandalf sighed. He looked a bit annoyed, but Eliza guessed it was because he was the one who couldn't think of any better idea.
Without a moment's hesitation, the Radagast mounted his sleigh and took off bursting out of the forest and onto the plain. The dwarves quickly gathered the last of their supplies and readied themselves at the edge of the forest for the run.
"Um, does anyone realise that we are risking our lives with this wizard and a bunch of rabbits?" Eliza spoke up to the dwarves. No one bothered to answer her, the company were waiting for Gandalf's signal to start running.
"How far will we be running then?" Eliza mumbled to no one in particular. She hated long distance running, she was good at sprinting, but endurance? No way.
"As long as we need to," said, surprisingly, Thorin from behind her. Turning to look at him her green eyes locked with his piercing blue ones. He looked stressed and worn out with the news of an Orc pack not far from them, and Eliza knew at that moment that he felt responsible for the company.
"Oh," was all she mumbled in return.
"Come on!" shouted Gandalf starting to lead them onto the rocky plain. Eliza spotted Radagast far into the distance, with Wargs and Orcs on his tail.
The company all moved forward, faster than Eliza expected they would, and she found herself near the back with Bilbo. The poor hobbit's cheeks were red from running, and he was panting heavily, much like Eliza was.
Every now and then they would have to hide behind some massive boulders, as Radagast and the Orcs passed by. Eliza was somewhat thankful for the short stops, so she could at least have the chance to catch her breath.
"Stay together," Said Gandalf from the front of the line.
And so, that was how Eliza found herself passing by a plain that resembled a lot like the New Zealand countryside. Run, stop, catch your breath, keep running, stop, get a stitch, and stop again.
At one point, one of the orc scouts and his warg separated themselves from the rest of the pack and jumped onto the rock the company were hiding under, sniffing for their scent.
Eliza closed her eyes at that point and rested her head against the bolder, her sides were heaving, and sweat was trailing down the sides of her face. Her mind was clouded and all she wanted to do was go to sleep.
She then felt Kili's arm, which had been against her, move suddenly. She cracked her eyes open in time to see Kili shoot the warg above them making it and the scout fall down from the rock and land right in front of the group, shrieking and squealing while doing so.
Dwalin and Thorin both finished the foul things off. Unfortunately all the noise had gained the other orcs' attention. It had made them realise where the company were hiding.
"Move. Run!" shouted Gandalf. Eliza groaned at the thought of taking another step, but she forced herself to keep on running. Her tired feet started to stumble over small stones, she felt Fili grab her arm to help her back up. It felt like they had been running for miles after that, according to Eliza anyway, until she spotted another orc.
"Oh no," she muttered.
"There they are!" shouted Gloin spotting two other wargs catching up at the left.
"This way! Quickly!" shouted Gandalf running even faster if it were possible.
"I think I'm going as fast as I can," she puffed out. Her statement falling onto deaf ears.
"There's more coming!" shouted Kili a few minutes later. The Orcs had surrounded them from all sides.
"We're going to die. By gigantic dogs no less," Eliza whispered to herself. She was getting scared now that they had stopped running. The danger of the situation had just hit her.
"Kili! Shoot them!" shouted Thorin desperately. Immediately after Thorins order Kili started to shot the wargs, but even at the speed he was going it wasn't enough.
Eliza wanted desperately to help, but the only time she had ever picked up a bow was at a summer camp, and she had only hit the target five times out of fifteen shots. She was practically hopeless.
"We're surrounded!" shouted Fili.
"Where is Gandalf?" Kili yelled over his shoulder. Eliza had been in such a panic that she hadn't notice the grey wizard leave them. She started to quickly glance around the wizard to see that he was nowhere in sight.
"He has abandoned us!" Dwalin accused.
"He wouldn't do that. Would he?" she asked. She felt someone grab her arm and pull her behind the circle of dwarves with their weapons drawn. She later found out that it had been Dwalin.
"Hold your ground!" shouted Thorin in a commanding voice. This was it, they were going to be dog food in a matter of seconds. She scrunched her eyes shut, not wanting to see the face of her attacker.
"This way, you fools!" shouted the unmistakable voice of Gandalf. Eliza could have cried out with relief at the sight of the wizard standing up in a hole, not minding the fact that he had called her a fool.
"Come on, move! Quickly, all of you! Go!" urged Thorin. He stood at the front of the hole keeping an eye out for any wargs that came to close. Eliza fell down the hole after Bilbo too relieved to care that Bofur had once again fallen on top of her.
"Kili! Run!" yelled Thorin from above. A few minutes later both Thorin and Kili joined the company in the cave.
"There you go lass," said Bofur helping her up from atop of Bilbo. The cave they were in was small, the company having just enough room to move about in. The walls were of sandy rock, the same colour as all of the boulders up on the plain. There was also a narrow pathway to the right that led away from the cave mouth.
Eliza was surprised to see that none of the dwarves looked tired, it kinda made her embarrassed how unfit she was. Her light brown hair had fallen out of the braid she put in earlier and was now damp with sweat.
A horn could be heard above them, followed by shouts and howling from the wargs. An orc body tumbled unexpectedly into the hole where the company was. Eliza and Bofur had to quickly move out of the way, so that they wouldn't get knocked off their feet again.
The orc appeared to be dead as it hadn't moved since it had fallen, though also because it had a long arrow protruding from his head. Thorin plucked out the arrow to examine it, but with one look he threw it away with disgust. "Elves," he spat out.
"I cannot see where the pathway leads," spoke up Dwalin, "Do we follow it or not?"
"It's either follow it or stay here with this rotting orc," Eliza replied.
"I think that would be wise," Gandalf added. That was all the dwarves needed to hear, because the all started to make their way down the narrow pathway, all in a single line. Eliza followed Ori in the middle of the group, and to her luck in front of Bombur.
The pathway turned out to be two tall cliffs close together, so close that Eliza was able to hold onto both sides for support. If she fell over now and knocked Ori over, it would be a domino effect.
Her once near new boots, now looked like she had owned them for years, not for a few weeks. Her green tunic now looked greeny-brown from all the dirt and rain. And her pants? Well, you could say that they had definitely seen better days.
The confining path ended and revealed a valley with beautiful buildings, and a sparkling waterfall in the distance. The air felt soothing and somewhat magical. The sight took Eliza's breath away, though if the dwarves weren't grumbling in the background, she would have enjoyed it a lot better.
"The Valley of Imraldis. In the Common Tongue, it's known by another name," Gandalf's voice was clear, even above the dwarves loud muttering.
"Rivendell," Bilbo sighed from beside Eliza in a contented sort of way. Eliza decided that if Bilbo was happy to be here then so was she, maybe now she could get her peaceful sleep.