Chapter 14 Elves far south

A few hours latter they heard hoof-beats coming up behind them, The Brothers readied their weapons and faced the noise. Two horses with Blond wood elves astride came over the ridge from their north. Relived, the Dwarfs hailed them as friends.

The elves introduced themselves " Good afternoon friend Dwarves, we are Celeblas and Lalf, may we inquire as to what brings you to the forest road ?"

" Bofur, at your service" and "Bombur at your service" The brothers bowed in turn. Bofur continued, " We are dwarves of Erebor on a trek to Rivendell for trade and choose the south road for passage."

" Well met friend dwarf, may we rest with you a spell?" Lalf, asked

"Certainly," replied Bombur, " It's close to noon and we were getting ready to take a break anyway, you can join us."

" Gladly, we wanted to ask if you had seen or heard anything strange on the road" Celeblas stated lightly dismounting his steed. " My brother and I are part of King Thranduil's Guard and had been tracking reports of Orcs thru the south woods. We only ventured this far south because we have been checking for orcs at the boarder. Have you seen any evidence in your travels."

"No, but we saw evidence of spiders and have been cautioned several times to be wary" Bofur squeezed his matlock a little tighter, taking a warning from the elves very seriously.

They talked for a bit than went their separate ways , the Elves headed back north , as the Dwarves trekked deeper into the woods to the west. The atmosphere grew a little heavier as they went deeper on the forest road as the woods closed in tighter to the path. Bombur opened up a little to his brother about some of the night mares he had had before they left and they talked for a bit. Bofur playing consular to his brother for the next hour. They weren't too sure how late it was when they stopped for camp, but they both felt uneasy and there wasn't going to be a significantly safe spot that night. They made camp in a clearing under a large tree, that night they were roused by noises in the dark but didn't see anything. They slept lightly the rest of the night . The next day they rushed breakfast and got on the move again they had another hundred miles to go to cross the rest of the forest and they felt uneasy here, and for good reason.

It had been an Orc scout that had awoken than a few nights ago, quite by accident. The scout had returned with two more Orcs in tow , and were trailing the dwarves towards an area better suited for ambush. As day passed on and the dwarves walked deeper into the woods , they made conversation to pass the time. Bombur had wanted to take an inventory of what weapons they brought with them again, and they stopped for a moment to shift a few items in there backs for easier reach, Bombur took the two hatchets they used for clearing the trail and placed them on the outside of the pack, Bofur, moved his Mattock , the light crossbow , a few bolts to a spot easier to reach. They kept walking. Soon they came to an out cropping of rock that narrowed the trail. There was a sheer cliff on one side and thick briars on the other. The path twisted thru this but they couldn't see where it ended because it was lost after 30 feet. At this point they heard another branch snap to there left , something was close by, decided to make a run for it, they began to move quickly thru the woods. 200lb packs now jangling, heads down trying to navigate the narrow root covered path, they hear it. A sound of snapping branches not far back, the orcs wanted them to move forward into the narrow passage making them easier to catch. they had only made it 20 feet into the narrow passage when the first orc came up behind them. Followed by two more orcs on foot. They ran faster , Bombur in the lead, a moment latter he looked back realizing Bofur was no longer next to him as he had sprinted off, Turning he saw 30 or more feet behind an orc close on his brothers heels.

Knowing what he needed to do, In one swift movement Bombur ditched his pack and grabbed the Hatchet , he slammed his feet into the rock cliff wall, coiled up and Sprung like a cat, the 20 feet left between his advancing brother and himself, twisting in the air he landed his feet square on the orcs chest, forcing the air out of the beast and forcing it into the ground hard. He than drove the hatchet into it's temple. This only knocked the wind the out of thick skulled monster and stunned it for a few minutes. But the maneuver bought them precious seconds towards readying themselves for a fight and hopefully an escape route. Bofur ditched his pack and garbed a weapon to fight with, the two brothers back to back against the next two orcs. The orcs in pair choose a rapid decedent towards Bombur who was still standing on the other unconscious scouts chest. He had just retrieved his hatchet from the orcs temple, and was making the decision of where to place it next between the other rapidly advancing two. Bofurs Ax cartwheeled past him landing square in the first orcs chest dropping him dead in an instant with his chest cleaved in two.

Bombur took this opportunity to land his hatchet in the other Orcs jugular, bisecting the artery , grabbing his dagger he finished the scout by slitting his throat. They didn't waste any time getting their packs back on and sprinting out of the gully and to higher ground. Leaving the first orc unconscious and out of their minds.

Bombur and Bofur decided after twenty miles of jogging that they were safe enough to make camp. Also because by than they were both exhausted , having been on high alert and not of seeing another orc the rest of the day. After setting a fire and gathering some available root vegetables and snaring another rabbit they set a stew to cook and discussed the days events. They decided at this point that it was a is just a scattered tribe. What they didn't know was that those scouts had ties to Suaron followers who had started rebuilding his armies. The injured orcs had already regained consciousness and was heading back to Dol Guldur.