Chapter 21. Run

His shoulder slammed into the rocky wall as he sped round the corner. Sweat drenched his brow, as the adrenaline raced through his body. An arrow ricocheted off the wall a few inches next to his head. He could hear the screams and laughter of the orcs that were following him.

Kyni pushed himself off of the wall and went speeding on along the passage, hoping beyond hope that this was the way to the exit.

He did not know how many turns he had made since leaving the main chamber. His mind was still reeling from all that had happened. He'd killed his own father, his own flesh and blood. Killed him to save his own life, and more over the life of Thorin Stonehelm, his Lord. But Smaug had never planned to keep his promise, Kyni saw that now. It had always been his intention to make Kyni suffer as much as possible. And now he was stuck in another twisted game for the dragon's own amusement.

"Run, little rabbit, run!" cackled a voice from somewhere behind Kyni. It echoed all around him and he thought it could've belonged to Grukk, yet he was not willing to find out.

He ran on, as the occasional arrow came whizzing past him. He was panting now, as he felt himself begin to fatigue. Nevertheless, he ploughed on, for the fear of what would happen if he were to be caught again was greater than his weariness.

Kyni took a left fork along a tunnel, lit with the eerie green light that he had begun to despise. Did this tunnel look familiar? He was not sure. His mind had begun to play tricks on him. He flinched sideways when a shadow cast by the light rippled across the wall.

The tumult of the orcs seemed to have become quieter and Kyni risked a glance behind him. He could no longer see any dark shapes following him, save for those shadows that danced upon the surface of the cave.

It was then that he noticed an alcove amongst the rocks. He knew that he would have to wander for days in this godforsaken cave before he found an exit; his best hope was to hide and eventually follow an orc who knew the path. He quickly hid himself, squeezing his way into the shelf in the wall. He was not overly comfortable, but he kept telling himself that it would be more pleasant than what awaited him if he were dragged in front of Smaug again.

Soon the hammering of feet upon the ground could be heard again, sending jolts of pain up Kyni's spine. Then they came thundering past, shrieking for their prey, who had somehow managed to elude them.

Kyni heard Grukk shout. "You lot, go that way. I'll take the middle and the rest of you can go right. Do not let him escape, or on your head be it!"

They scurried off, and Kyni knew he had to choose one group to follow. After a few seconds of internally debating, Kyni decided his best chance lay in following Grukk's company, as he seemed to distrust his fellow orcs to complete the job, and would therefore most likely head straight to the exit and guard it.

So Kyni wriggled his way out of the nook and stealthily followed after Grukk. This was a time when Kyni was thankful for his life in Dale. Dwarves from Erebor were notorious for their inability to creep by silently. However, being brought up amongst Men and the occasional Elf had made Kyni much more agile than his kinsmen from the mountain. And so he kept to the shadows, avoiding the pools of light, always keeping an eye on the groups of orcs ahead of him. From what he could see in the semi-darkness, there were at least four orcs running for the cave's mouth. Kyni lost sight of them a few times, but the racket which they made whilst running made it palpable about which route they were taking: the chink of their rusted armour, the heavy footsteps of their boots and, above all else, the incessant sound that issued from their mouths.

Kyni continued to tail them, as they led him through the maze of connecting tunnels. The complexity of the mountain would have caused any non-Orcish being to go insane if he were lost on his own within. Orcs were well-known for several things: their evil and treacherous ways, their ability to see clearly in almost complete darkness, and their sense of direction. No Orc ever got lost inside their caves, as they dwelt so often in dark places and had to rely on their memory in order to navigate their perpetual and complex homes.

The sound of clanking was suddenly heard from behind Kyni. He panicked. He could see nowhere to hide, nowhere to go to avoid detection. As the footsteps got louder and louder, Kyni weighed up his options. He could either stop and lose his guides in order to hide, or he could hope that the Orc would stop before it reached him. Or perhaps he could quickly and silently take down the Orc and then continue his stalking. He listened out intently, trying his best to determine whether it was a singular Orc or more. He saw Grukk and his companions disappear around a corner and knew that that would be a perfect ambush point. He made his choice.

Arriving at the corner, he took cover behind the wall, pushing his body up against it in order to reduce the chance of being spotted first. He waited, listening as the footsteps of Grukk's ensemble grew reticent, and the footfalls of the unknown pack became louder and louder.

It reached the corner and Kyni pounced before it had time to register him. He lunged, tackling the Orc to the ground. Before it had time to cry out, Kyni slid his down and wrenched its crude blade from its sheath and planted it firmly into the throat of the beast. It let out a little gurgle, tensing under Kyni, before slumping against the ground and passing into the afterlife.

Whipping around, Kyni quickly scanned for any other Orcs. Luckily, the now deceased Orc had been alone. With that, Kyni scuttled off, holding the knife so the blade was behind him, ready for any other creature that dared to attack him.

He spent a while straining his ears as he walked, hoping that he might hear the sound of clanking or shrieking coming from in front of him. Eventually he heard the echoing, shrill cry of an Orc and quickly stalked after it.

He turned another corner and that was when he saw the exit, in front of which stood three Orcs and Grukk, awaiting Kyni.

"Ah there you are!" exclaimed Grukk, grinning again and drawing his own blade. "We were beginning to worry you'd left without saying goodbye."

"I'll kill you for what you've done to me," growled Kyni, taking a step forwards.

"With what?" laughed Grukk. "your hands? Come come, Kyni. We all have blades and you merely have your fists, as big as they are."

Kyni clenched his hand around the knife. Clearly Grukk had not spotted it yet and this gave Kyni a slight advantage.

"Hokulk," said Grukk, nodding at one of his fellows. "Why don't you bring me the Dwarf's head?"

Hokulk shrieked with pleasure and sprang forwards. He sprinted towards Kyni, his blade raised. Kyni coolly stood still, waiting until Hokulk got closer. Then he quickly lunged forwards, driving the point of his knife deep inside the belly of the attacking Orc. He ripped it out, span, and hurled the blade towards the three remaining creatures. It perfectly struck the Orc standing to the right of Grukk between the eyes, who keeled backwards and lay dead upon the floor.

Grukk merely looked down at the body, bemused. "I see you did have a blade. No matter; you no longer do. Snaglak, with me. No running ahead now - you don't want to end up like Hokulk."

Kyni stooped and picked up Hokulk's fallen blade and brandished it in the direction of Grukk.

"Ah," said Grukk, slowly moving towards Kyni with Snaglak. "No matter, two against one is still a large advantage, wouldn't you agree?"

Kyni had to admit that. His survival was not looking likely. He debated turning and fleeing back down the tunnels, but knew he would get lost through all the winds and turns and would never find the exit again. So he stood his ground, and waited for Grukk to make the first move.

But he never made a move. Kyni heard a scuffle from behind him and instinctively ducked to the side. An arrow went flying over his head, skimming through his hair, and lodge itself within the chest of Snaglak, who crumpled.

"You idiots!" steamed Grukk, throwing his arms above his head. "We had him, we could've taken him, we-"

But Kyni had sprung forwards, his blade aiming straight for Grukk's heart. Grukk's blade came down, ready to parry, but at the last second, Kyni feinted and instead sliced Grukk's arm, causing him to curse and drop his sword. And then Kyni was past him, running for the mouth of the cave. That was when the thought hit him: how was he going to get down? If he attempted to shuffle back along the ledge, he would be pierced by several arrows. If he jumped, he would certainly be leaping to his doom. No sooner had this thought entered his mind than another voice seemed to speak to him, and it simply said:

Jump.

And so he did. He leapt out of the jaws of the beast, and soared through the sky like a bird... before plummeting downwards.