For two more weeks, we trudged through Middle-Earth before reaching the Misty Mountains. It'd been raining for the past three days, with an even larger storm to come. Today we were about to start crossing the Misty Mountains.

The terrain was difficult, hard to climb over because of all the jagged rocks and uneven slopes. Once again it was a lot of open space and we were lucky to find a sheltered place when night fell. As we started to travel through the mountains on narrow paths, several times people almost fell and died. It got cold, too, forcing all of us huddle together to not freeze to death. It also got wet. The storm hadn't hit us yet, but there was showers that warned us of the unpleasant weather to follow. By mid-afternoon, we were all soaking wet, shivering as the damned wind blew by us. I shoved my ice-cold hands deeper into my jacket, trying to keep them from getting frostbite and falling off.

"T-Thorin, we n-need to st-start a fire or we'll all d-die of c-c-cold!" I shouted, stuttering. He looked back at me and pondered over the situation. He shook his head and kept moving. "We do not have time to stop, Miss Paige!" I sighed and trudged on, cursing the fact that he had three or so more layers on than me.

Kíli moved backwards in the line and to me. "Are you alright? Your face is white as snow!" My chapped lips formed a thin smile. "I-I'll be f-fine." I stuttered. Kíli's eyes brightened up with an idea as he reached into his bag, pulling out a spare cloak. "Here, take this." I gave him a look. "K-Kíli, that's v-very kind of you, but I'll be okay, t-thanks." He wrapped me up in it, ignoring my protests, and then moved forward with the group.

I wrapped the olive green fabric around me tighter and sighed. For someone who was shorter than me, he was a little more than a head shorter than me, the cloak fit nicely, if a bit small. The fabrics Dwarves used to make clothing was very warm and comfy. "Thanks." He smiled. "It matches your eyes." I chuckled and looked down at the fabric. It kind of did match my hazel eyes.

Because of "our" nonstrategic thinking, and by "our" I mean Thorin's, we still had to continue walking when night fell because we weren't anywhere near a place that we could provide us shelter. Which meant no rest. By what I thought was eleven at night, I felt like a zombie. Kíli nudged me when we came across a stable area. "Are you alright?"

I nodded, hiding a yawn. "Yup, I'm good. You?" He didn't bother to hide his own yawn, making me yawn again. I looked up to see the rain coming down harder. Here comes that big storm. I groaned internally, watching thunder, lightning, and wind add effects nobody appreciated. "Hold on!" Thorin called as the wind swept through us, making it hard to hold onto the ledge of the very unstable area we were suddenly crossing into.

My eyes almost popped out of my head when Bilbo fell off the ledge. Luckily Dwalin caught him just in time. "We must find shelter!" Thorin shouted, sending relief through me. "That's the best idea he's had yet!" I shouted to Kíli over the wind, who was behind me. He grinned and laughed. Or at least, I assumed. The wind was so loud I couldn't hear anything anyone said unless they shouted.

"Watch out!" Dwalin bellowed. We all looked up to see a gianormous boulder flying through the air and crashing down against the mountainside above our heads. Big and small bits of rock fell, leaving us to press ourselves tightly against the mountain. "This is no thunderstorm; it's a thunder battle! Look!" Balin called, pointing.

I looked in the direction he was pointing to see a huge figure made of rock stand up, ripping off a piece of a nearby mountain. "Well bless me, the legends are true. Giants; Stone Giants!" Bofur exclaimed. My open fell open as I watched it stomp forward. "Take cover: you'll fall!" Thorin shouted. I gripped the rock behind me tightly, Kíli next to me on one side and Dori on the other. "What's it doing?" I screamed to Kíli.

He didn't reply because the Giant threw the boulder at another Giant, behind us. I looked over to see the Giant get hit in the head by the boulder, sent backwards. I held on for dear life as rock was broken off underneath us and above us. We were standing on a third one. Our Giant's feet were broken from one to two, splitting our group in half between Kíli and Fíli.

"Kíli! Grab my hand! Kí-" Fíli shouted desperately to his little brother before the seperation grew too far to hop between the Giant's legs. The first Giant came closer and started a fist fight with ours. The rock beneath us shook and rattled, making it hard to hold on. The other group on the other leg, carrying Fíli and Thorin, got rammed into a safe area and ran off the leg before it was used again.

Then, the second Giant appeared and joined in on ganging up on our Giant. It threw a boulder at ours' head, decapitating it. Our leg swung forward and was about to be smashed into a wall of rock not far from the others. I spotted a thin ledge and shouted, "We have to jump! Ready? One...two...three!" Together, we jumped off the Giant's knee and fell into the mountainside, climbing to safe nooks and crannies just as the knee rammed into us. I protected my face as we were pressed against the mountain. The pressure made it hard to breathe and it was lucky that I was not claustrophobic, or else those few seconds would've been terrifying. But ifwe had stayed on, we would've been smushed.

When the pressure stopped, the Giant fell down the chasm below us. "No! No! Kíli!" Thorin bellowed from yards away. They ran across a narrow pathway. Thorin paused at the corner, sighing with relief when he found us, found Kíli, all in one piece.

Kíli, next to me on the ground, asked, "Are you alright?" I nodded, breathing heavily, and rested my head against the ground. "Yeah, I think I'm warmed up now." Kíli laughed and got up, helping me stand. "We're all right! We're alive!" Balin cried. I leaned against my knees, biting back a few groans. I could feel bruises forming and a few cuts stinging. Yup, I'm going to feel all this ten times worse in the morning.

Throin rushed forward and grabbed the youngest Dwarf and crushed him in a hug, Fíli taking his place when he let go. It was a nice moment, it showed a bit of Thorin's softer side, which I didn't know exsisted. He obviously cared for Kíli and it was sweet, though I was a little confused why he would show such favoritism.

Bofur looked around, suddenly exclaiming, "Where's Bilbo? Where's the Hobbit?" Ori spotted little fingers and raced to the edge. "There!" "Get him!" Dwalin shouted. He slid to the edge of the cliff and tried to grab Bilbo's arm, who slipped and caught another holding below. The Dwarves continued to try and retrieve the Hobbit, with no avail. Thorin finally swung down, holding onto the edge of the cliff next to Bilbo, and with the help of the Dwarves hauled him back up only to slip and almost fall himself.

After a few tries, Dwalin pulled Thorin back up, everyone finally safe, for now. "I thought we'd lost our burglar." Dwalin chuckled. Thorin glowered at Bilbo, spitting, "He's been lost ever since he left home. He should never have come. He has no place amongst us. Dwalin!"

I scowled at Thorin as he passed me, who stopped and glared at me. "Now what do you want?" I stared the Dwarf down, quite literally, and retorted, "I know our situation sucks right now, we're all cold and tired and wet, Thorin. But that doesn't mean you have the right to take out your misery on Bilbo. He doesn't deserve your spiteful words. So just leave him alone."

Thorin stared at me for a moment before walking away and into the mountain, where a cave lied. "It looks safe enough." Balin shrugged, sitting down. Thorin, wanting to be safe, ordered, "Search to the back; caves in mountains are seldom unoccupied." We looked around for a bit before finding nothing. No trace of anyone inhabiting the place. We were safe. I sighed with relief and sat down against the wall, catching a real break for the first time in hours. "There's nothing here." Dwalin restated what Balin said.

Gloin dropped a bunch of logs, looking to me. "Right then! Let's get a fire started." I was just about to pull my wand out, too tired to think logically, when Thorin stopped us. "No. No fires, not in this place. Get some sleep. We start at first light." I mentally groaned. First light was in three hours max. "We were to wait in the mountains until Gandalf joined us. That was the plan." Balin stated, frowning.

"Plans change. Bofur, take the first watch." Thorin replied coolly. I snuggled into Kíli's cloak, sleep almost coming immediately.

I was sleeping peacefully, recuperating, when I was rudely awoken by Thorin shouting, "Wake up. Wake up!" However, the floor below us caved in before we could do or say anything. That woke me up immediately. We fell through the floor, screaming, and down a series of chutes and into a wooden cage. I landed hard against the side of the cage, my body screaming in pain as some of the Dwarves fell on top of me.

Suddenly, a group of creepy little creatures came down the pathway and started attacking and capturing us. I should've known that the cave, our safe haven, was too good to be true. I threw a few punches and kicks, only to get scratched a few times. My bag and my weapons, all of them, got taken from me except for my wand, hidden away. We were forced through tunnels connected by rickety wooden bridges that seemed that they would break with just enough weight. A few times a bridge seemed like it would break but didn't, killing my hopes. I'd rather fall down a chasm than be a prisoner.

At one point, Fíli was being led right beside me, so I got the chance to hiss, "What are these things?" He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, and murmured, "Goblins." I wrinkled my nose, shifting against the Goblins hold on me. First Trolls, now Goblins. What next?

Finally, we were taken to what seemed to be a throne room. There sat on a huge throne was a huge, butt-ugly Goblin. "That's the Great Goblin, their king." Fíli whispered in my ear. The Goblins holding him down shoved him forward, kicking at him. I fought my restrainers, calling, "Hey! Leave him alone!" A Goblin jumped up and slapped me hard for that comment, it's long claw-like nails biting my cheeks. I growled at the Goblins, turning to face the Great Goblin.

He twirled his staff in his hand and music started playing. Oh bloody hell, it's like I'm trapped in a musical! "I feel a song coming on!" The Great Goblin announced, wearing a cold, malicious expression. My breathing became labored from fear as we drew closer to the Goblin. The music grew louder as we were stopped and clumped together a few feet away from the Great Goblin, his performance starting.

"Clap, snap, the black crack

Grip, grab, pinch, and nab

Batter and beat

Make 'em stammer and squeak!

Pound, pound, far underground

Down, down, down in Goblin Town

With a swish and smack

And a whip and a crack

Everybody talks when they're on my rack

Pound, pound, far underground

Down, down, down in Goblin Town

Hammer and tongs, get out your knockers and gongs

You won't last long on the end of my prongs

Clash, crash, crush, and smish

Bang, break, shiver, and shake

You can yammer and yelp

But there ain't no help

Pound, pound, far underground

Down, down, down in Goblin Town."

The performance was vicious, including him skewering one of his own Goblins, not that I was complaining. One less Goblin was one less problem for us. When his performace was done, he sat back down on this throne, crushing a pile of Goblins and making them squeal, getting down to business. I suddenly wished he'd keep on singing. "Catchy, isn't it? It's one of my own...compositions." he said, grinning wickedly.

I closed my eyes tightly when Balin bravely shouted, "It's not a song, it's an abomination!" I feared that his words would get either himself killed or all of us. My mother taught me that you never retaliated with brash words when you're held captive, especially if you don't have the upper hand. It wasn't a hard lesson to grasp really; it was kind of common sense. The Goblins roared in disagreement. We were lucky, however, the Great Goblin didn't seem to take it as an insult. "Abominations, mutations; that's all you're gonna find down here."

All of our weapons were dropped in front of the Great Goblin. Said Goblin, upon seeing our weapons, suddenly looked pissed. "Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom? Spies? Thieves? Assassins?" The Great Goblin demanded, taunting. "Dwarves, Your Malevolence. And a Human girl." A Goblin servant replied.

"Dwarves? And a girl?" The Great Goblin repeated, looking none too happy, though he looked amused when he spotted me in the crowd. I gulped. "We found them on the front porch." The same Goblin reported. "Well, don't just stand there; search them! Every crack, every crevice." The King ordered.

The Goblins rushed forward and I tried to back away, squirming when several pairs of hands started to pat me down. "Hey! Watch those hands or I'll break them off!" I threatened, secretly becoming very fearful. Kíli looked over at me, unmoving as he was searched, wearing an unreadable expression. Several more things were found from everybody and thrown to the floor, my wand still not included. "What are you doing in these parts? Speak!" The King demanded.

No one answered. The Great Goblin grinned with malice. "Well then, if they will not talk, we'll make them squawk! Bring out the Mangler! Bring out the Bone Breaker! Start with the girl." Kíli's hand shot out and gripped onto my forearm protectively. Thorin stepped forward. "Wait." The Great Goblin stood up from his throne, amused. "Well, well, well, look who it is. Thorin son of Thrain, son of Thror; King Under the Mountain." He mocked a bow towards our leader.

"Oh, but I'm forgetting, you don't have a mountain. And you're not a king. Which makes you nobody, really. I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head. Just the head, nothing attached. Perhaps you know of whom I speak, an old enemy of yours. A Pale Orc astride a White Warg." I saw Thorin's eyes widen. "Azog the Defiler was destroyed. He was slain in battle long ago."

The Goblin smirked. "So you think his defiling days are done, do you?" He hooted out a laugh and turned to a Goblin below him. "Send word to the Pale Orc; tell him I have found his prize." I growled and reached for my wand. Fíli looked down and saw it, shoving it back under the cloak I wore. "Don't. Wait for the opportune moment." he breathed.

"The opportune moment is now." I whispered back angrily. He shook his head. "No, trust me." I stopped struggling, knowing that he must've been right. I shot daggers at the Goblin who was writing the message down. It cackled, disappearing. My throat tightened. We were screwed.

I shifted away from the Goblins that arrived, carrying torture instruments. I stiffened, my fear becoming unbearable. Kíli squeezed my hand, trying to reassure me. It was a nice gesture, but did not help. What made matters worse was when the Great Goblin started singing again gleefully. "Bones will be shattered, necks will be wrung! You'll be beaten and battered, from racks you'll be hung. You will lie down here and never be found, down in the deep of Goblin Town."

It was interesting, however, when the little pest, the same one who reported to the Goblin King earlier, unsheathed Orcrist, it screamed like a banshee and threw it away. It clattered to the ground, the blade unsheathed just the slightest. All the Goblins saw it, screaming and howling in rage and horror. The Great Goblin bounded back to his throne, screeching, "I know that sword! It is the Goblin-Cleaver, the Biter, the blade that sliced a thousand necks. Slash them! Beat them! Kill them! Kill them all! Cut off his head!"

As he screeched, Goblins came at us. I punched several, kicking and slapping, whatever I had to. One grabbed me by my braid, and yanked me backwards, hard. I cried out, falling onto my back, the wind knocked out of me. I laid on the ground, flinching when a nasty Goblin grinned at me, up in my face.

Snarling, I kicked upwards and into its stomach, propelling it backwards and into its friends, all of them falling down like bowling pins. I stood up, only to be tackled by another Goblin. I got into a fistfight with it, punching and kicking. I started bleeding and it distracted me. It pulled out a knife and slashed at me, aiming for my throat. I moved out of the way, my chin getting nicked instead. Suddenly, an explosion of white light occured, sending us all backwards and everyone onto the ground. It grew dark, all of us unmoving.

As the light returned, I leaned up, propped on my elbows to see a familiar figure standing there in a tall, pointy hat wielding Glamdring and his staff. Gandalf. "Take up arms. Fight. Fight!" he shouted. With a new determination, I pulled out my wand, using Accio to summon my things back to me. I shoved my wand away and caught my sword, turning to the Goblins.

I strode forward and slashed and hacked at the little beasts. I ducked and beheaded a Goblin, slicing the head clean off. I swallowed hard, trying not to let the fact that I was killing things affect me. Training to kill was one thing, but actually killing was another thing entirely. As I fought, I heard the Great Goblin wail, "He wields the Foe-Hammer, the Beater, bright as daylight!" He was referring to Gandalf's sword Glamdring. What the point of that observation was, I didn't know. I just continued to retaliate.

As I parried a blow, I noticed a familiar weapon on the ground and called, "Óin!" He turned, seeing his weapon in my hands. I threw him his weapon, just in time for him to kill a few Goblins. I heard someone shout, "Nori," watching as the Goblin King was about to crush him. Panic gripped my heart, but stopped when I saw Thorin jump in, wielding Orcrist. He sent the Great Goblin wheeling backwards, falling off the bridge and into the chasm below.

I turned to a group of Goblins and started to fight them off. Fíli jumped in halfway through and fought with me side-by-side. "Are you alright?" he called at one point. "Fine. You?" I called back, ducking and rolling, popping up to kill two Goblins. He saw my move and grinned. "Well enough now that we have the upper hand!"

When the Goblins started to flee, Gandalf cried, "Follow me. Quick! Run!" I sheathed my sword and started to run, taking second to last in our line. Gandalf led us down one of the bridges, taking out Goblins as he went. I drew my bow and shot arrows when I had the chance.

"Quickly!" Gandalf called. I shot a Goblin down and put my bow away, pulling out my wand. It was time for some magic. Bifur, behind me, shouted something to me that I didn't understand. I stopped, letting him pass me, pointing to the bridge behind me, shouting, "Bombarda Maxima!" The bridge and the Goblins on it blew up in a great explosion, making the entire Company jerk around.

They looked from me to the bridge. "Did you do that?" Ori asked weakly. I nodded, suddenly spying a pack of Goblins ahead, and aimed my wand at them. The entire Company hit the ground in record time for me to cast, "Confringo!" The spell sent them all flying backwards and off of the bridge. They stood up slowly, allowing me to cast spells in other directions to keep the Goblins at bay.

"We need to keep moving!" Thorin shouted, Gandalf taking the lead again with Dwalin beside him. Dwalin saw a mass of Goblins ahead and yelled, "Post!" Together, a few Dwarves cut off a chunk of railing, holding it out like a spear. "Charge!" he bellowed. I watched, thinking that they were going to skewer them all, but just swept them off the pathway instead, falling to their deaths.

When they dropped the railing, we all got ready to go back to our own fighting styles. I pulled out two knives, ready to fight hand-to-hand combat. I slashed and killed many Goblins, sometimes flinging them out to help a fellow warrior, calling it back with Accio when they were dead.

"Cut the ropes!" Thorin ordered. I turned to see some little monsters trying to swing their way across the cavern to us. I sprinted over to the railing and cut a rope, joining some of the Dwarves. Above us, the platform held up by the ropes collasped, getting tangled up with the ropes. I looked around, trying to find Kíli. I spotted him trying to deflect arrows with his sword and was about to help him out when he grabbed a ladder and a few other Dwarves helped him push back the Goblins until they fell to their deaths.

They set the ladder down and used it as a bridge, the last party member kicking away so we couldn't be pursued that way. "Quickly!" Gandalf cried again, leading us. We came to a stop at a gap that had a hanging piece of the path. We all jumped onto it, sending it swinging back and forth. When we stopped in front of the other side, Thorin yelled, "Jump!"

Me and a few others managed to touch the ground, everyone swinging away from us. As they swung in the opposite direction, Goblins waiting on the other side joined them. As they swung our way, they killed most of the Goblins. The ones they didn't kill died when Fíli cut the ropes, sending the swinging path into the chasm. We continued running, Gandalf striking his staff across the ceiling at one point, loosening a boulder. The Dwarves pushed it, crushing majority of Goblins in our path for us.

We continued through a maze of twists and turns. When we turned one last corner, about to cross a bridge that led to an exit, I looked behind me and saw a bridge leading towards us with a few hundred Goblins scampering towards us. I blew it up while running towards the others. I sighed as we came to the exit bridge, no Goblins ahead of us. When we were halfway across, the bridge suddenly broke open and out climbed the Great Goblin. We backpedaled, trying to keep a distance. Are you fucking kidding me? More Goblins showed up from all sides as we stared at the Goblin King, our weapons at the ready. "You thought you could escape me?" He bellowed in anger.

He swung twice at Gandalf, almost making him fall over. Nori and Dori were luckily there to keep him upright, though. "What are you going to do now, Wizard?" The Great Goblin taunted. In reply, Gandalf launched forward and poke the ugly creature in the eye with his staff. "Ow, ow, ow!" It cried, falling to its knees. Then Gandalf sliced across it's fat, jiggly belly with his sword. "That'll do it." The Goblin stated. The old man finished the job by slitting the Great Goblin's throat, the body meeting the bridge with a thump.

The bridge suddenly started to shake. "Oh, shit." I uttered, breaking the sudden silence. Our part of the bridge collasped, sliding down the chasm wall. We all screamed, expecting death. I held on nonethless, watching as we bulldozed through everything and everyone until we reached the bottom, all of us buried in wood. When we all came to stop, we all sat there, stunned.

Gandalf quickly pulled himself out of the mess and stood over us, making sure we were all okay. I wriggled out of the wreckage, lying on the chasm floor, breathing deeply. "Well, that could have been worse." Bofur breathed optimistically. Of course, this was when the Goblin King's body fell on top of the wreckage, smothering the Dwarves. They all cried out, trying to get out from under the body. "You've got to be joking!" Dwalin moaned.

When everyone was out, we allowed ourselves a five second breather. Kíli looked up and paled. "Gandalf!" We all craned our necks to see what looked like thousands of Goblins climbing down the cavern walls. "There's too many! We can't fight them." Dwalin exclaimed. I shook my head. "I don't think even with my magic we could take on that many alone." Gandalf nodded and turned away. "Only one thing will save us: daylight! Come on!" We followed Gandalf, once again running.