Chapter 25
Fight
Before that day I would have said that there were very few things that were more scaring than being chased by goblins through dark tunnels with hardly any light to go on. I learned that day that there were in fact some things that were worse. Having a full-grown warg jump at you knowing that monster has every intention of literally biting your head off is a prime example. But strangely enough that was not what got to me most. The most frightening thing perhaps was to have an enemy that was threatening and mocking us, while I had absolutely no idea what he was even saying. When the Great Goblin had been insulting us, he had done so in a language we could all understand and in a way that had not been as threatening as Azog's orcish rumbling. The Great Goblin we could pay in kind, spar with words as it were. With Azog I could only stand there and listen as the Defiler threatened to do Mahal knows what to us.
But at least his actions spoke volumes. There was no need to translate the command he gave to that awful drooling overgrown dog of his, because it was all too clear what he wanted. The warg jumped from its place on a rock, making a beeline for us. And just as I started to believe that I was done for, something knocked me to the ground, out of the warg's path…
Kate
'Ow!' For a moment Kate was not sure how she came to be on the ground. The wind was knocked out of her as she landed on the hard and stony forest floor, but the physical discomfort was the very least of her concerns. She knew that the warg had been making for her and it was only because of this timely intervention that she was still alive.
A white blur shot past her, growling as it went, the growl changing to a howl of pain as a sword seemed to come out of nowhere, cutting through the beast's fur, creating a bleeding wound.
The next moment she was helped to her feet and she found herself face to face with Thorin Oakenshield. 'Are you well?' he asked.
The realisation dawned on Kate that he had to be the one who had knocked her out of the way. Battle reflexes, she supposed, since she was not sure she could have pulled off such a feat in what little time they'd had.
She gave a curt nod. 'I'm unharmed.' Not entirely true, but at least that answer would stop that dwarf from fussing.
Thorin gave a nod of his own to let her know that he had heard her. 'I want you to run,' he told her. 'The orcs are occupied now. If you're quick, they will not miss you until it's too late.'
If Kate was really honest she would have to admit that she had wanted run away from this mess ever since it had begun and obeying the king should not have been a problem for her at all. But something was off with this command, enough to give her pause. It was only when she repeated the order in her head that she realised what it was. 'Wait, what about you?' She had already half turned away from him, but this made her turn back. 'It's you they're after, not me.' All right, they were after her, Kate knew. But they were only after her because Azog believed that getting Kate would be a way for him to get Thorin. On her own she was not important.
And she was one hundred percent certain that Thorin was aware of this himself. He was sending her away because he knew that the orcs probably would not bother going after her when they had their intended target within reach.
Bugger that dwarf and his heroic tendencies! Kate thought angrily. He had given her an insight in the workings of his mind up in that tree. He would rather die than let any harm come to the company he had under his wings. He would not now abandon them, not in their hour of need. Bugger that dwarf and his loyalty! If he wasn't careful then someday that loyalty was going to get him killed. That someday now of course could just happen to coincide with today, what with the way things were looking now.
Because really, she was a part of said company. She had signed the contract. Could she really run while her companions, her friends, were fighting for their lives? Well, it's not as if you're that much good on a battlefield, common sense reminded her. You'd probably do best if you stayed out of their way and save them the worry.
But common sense could go to hell for all she cared. Kate Andrews had thrown in her lot with these dwarves and she seriously doubted that there was something in that contract that allowed the signer to back out when things got dangerous. Besides, she wasn't entirely sure she would ever be able to look at her own face in the mirror ever again if she took off now, running like the average coward.
No matter that she was scared out of her depth by the mere thought of getting caught up in a real fight again, she could just not run either. Thorin's attitude must be catching. Now I know for sure I've spent too much time around him. Same stubbornness, check. Same loyalty issues, check. All that was left now was the stupid brooding he seemed to be able to keep up for hours at a time and the list would be complete.
'I'm not going anywhere,' she told Thorin before he even got the chance to reply.
'You will be in danger,' the dwarf king told her, unleashing his best army commander look on her.
Kate ignored it. She had become quite good at that. 'What kind of a person leaves their friends behind to do battle with their enemies alone?' That was of course a rhetorical question. Her mind was made up. Frightened though she may be, she was not going to back out and hang back this time. For once she was going to do the right thing, whatever that was supposed to mean. And since when had she ever listened to Thorin's commands anyway?
At least Thorin had the good sense to recognise a lost cause when he saw one. 'I'm honoured to have you at my side.'
Really, she wanted to ask what on earth that was supposed to mean, but admittedly this was neither the time nor the place for such a conversation. Azog had turned his warg and was coming at them again, but at least this time they were more or less prepared. Kate's sword came into contact with flesh that looked remarkably like the Defiler's leg. She was just starting to feel remotely pleased with her own performance – Dwalin would definitely be proud of her – when the wind was knocked out of her again.
Next thing she knew she was flying, but before she even had the chance to wonder how that had happened, her back came into contact with something solid, feeling remarkably like a tree stump. The landing made her gasp for air all over again. The world looked blurry and Kate felt altogether dizzy. If this was some kind of cartoon she was positive there would be half of the Milky Way pictured circling around her head. The world seemed to have exploded, leaving her with a headache of legendary proportions.
Yes, and now is not the time to pass out, girl. It was only the realisation that she was still on a battlefield that helped her to push past the pain and dizziness and made her focus. She had obviously been promoted to the number two on Azog's hit list – apparently even literally so – and passing out would do her chances of survival no good at all. And she had come to the conclusion that she wanted to live. Dying was not something she intended to do anytime soon.
Kate could not say how much time had passed since she had been tossed across the forest like a rag doll, but everything had changed. When she got to her feet again Thorin was on the ground, not moving and there was one particularly nasty orc standing near him, blade in hand. It didn't take a genius to establish that he was not there to ask Thorin's professional opinion on the quality of said sword.
It was like seeing the movie play out right before her eyes. It was completely the same, minus the nearby cliff, but otherwise identical. In hindsight she might reflect that she could have hoped that Bilbo would intervene here in movie-style, but in the chaos of the battle that was not the first thing to enter her mind. All she could see was her friend lying there, unable to defend himself, with everyone who could be of use too far off to be of any use. None of them would get there in time.
It didn't stop her from trying, though. She was still not sure when she had actually decided that she did care for the grumpy dwarf king – she was actually quite sure that deciding had nothing to do with it whatsoever – but the fact remained that she did now. And they had decided to be friends – at least that had been a conscious decision – and friends did not let each other down. She owed it to Thorin to at least try.
'Oi!' she shouted in an attempt to get Azog's attention. 'Leave him alone!' The chances of him listening to that were non-existent, but at least this command made her feel as if she was doing something. And maybe, just maybe, this would distract the executioner long enough for someone to stop this from happening.
In that respect it had the desired effect. Azog turned his mount to look at her, that evil smirk still on his ugly face. His executioner had half turned as well, favouring her with a look that was so much like his master's that it would have sent the shivers down Kate's spine, if she had given herself the time to feel fear, that was. For now the worry for her friend forced every concern to the back of her mind. Never mind that there was still a battle raging on around her, never mind that at least half of the trees was on fire. Thorin's attitude must indeed be catching. He now had her forget about everything that would normally have scared her half to death.
Azog grumbled something again, none of which she could of course understand, but she didn't need to understand the words to recognise the tone. The Defiler was gloating. He knew he had won and he took great pleasure rubbing her nose in her inability to stop him from committing a murder.
'You bastard!' she shouted, the anger boiling over. The effect was not that impressive because of her panting. But she was confident he would get the message anyway. 'Take on someone your own size, big bully!' Hardly the stuff that would end up in songs, but it would have to make do. She wasn't doing this to end up in song after all.
Azog probably could not care less about the fact that she called him a big bully – he would have heard worse insults in his life – but the bastard one hit home. She had soon learned that it was not a common insult around here and it always meant that one was taking one's parentage into question. It wasn't just a way of saying you thoroughly disliked said person. Normally she tried to keep check of her own word choice, but right now it had just slipped out. It had not even been intentional.
But the fact remained that she could not have chosen a better insult. Azog's head swivelled in her direction and he bared his teeth at her, a gesture that was in some ways far more dangerous than anything else he had done so far. There was such a threat in something so small and had she allowed herself to feel anything at all, she would probably have turned on her heels and raced away in the opposite direction.
But her friend's life was at stake here. As unlikely as it had seemed when she had set out on this journey, that was what he had become. And that orc with the sword was still standing there, looking singularly unimpressed with her insults, and he was the one she would need to distract if this hare-brained scheme was to be successful.
As it turned out, it wasn't necessary to distract this one. In the chaos she had forgotten all about Bilbo. To be quite honest, she had not really seen him at all since this whole ordeal had begun, but she had thought he had been up in some tree or other and had at least the good sense to stay there while the rest of them were fighting. It would seem however that Bilbo listened to his common sense just as much as she tended to do, in other words, not at all.
The hobbit now used his full force to knock Azog's chosen executioner out of the way. The orc stumbled, tripped over some tree root and fell face-first to the forest floor, knocking himself out against the rock his head collided with. That was a stroke of luck, which they definitely deserved, or so Kate told herself. They had seen precious little of it so far, so really it was only fair that they should have some good fortune in the end.
Not that they were out of the woods yet, even literally so in this case. There was still this problem of Azog being around that needed to be addressed. For one moment he had been as surprised as Kate was, but then he let out a roar that made Kate want to run for the hills without as much as a second thought. He growled something at her, which the journalist could not understand, even though it would probably be safe to assume that it wasn't a casual remark about the weather.
Her hands clenched around the sword. She now found herself between Thorin and Azog, Bilbo somewhere next to her. They were all that the dwarf king had now. And the two of us are hardly the stuff royal guards are made of. The thought wriggled its way into her head, making her hands feel sweaty and her heart pound in her ears as if she had just ran the marathon instead of just a short distance.
'Thanks,' she whispered at Bilbo. For doing what I could not.
'Well, you said that I was meant to be here,' came the reply, although the hobbit did sound a bit shaky. Hardly a surprise in Kate's opinion. He had seen as much battle as the advisor, which was to say none at all before they had entered Goblin-town. This was as new to him as it was to her and it was showing too. The burglar clutched his sword as if his very life depended on it, which was not that far off the mark if only he knew how to wield it. And Kate knew his skills in that department were sorely lacking, as were her own. Prime example of a royal guard indeed.
'Yes, I know what I said,' she snapped at the halfling, a bit more irritable than she had intended because of the fear that was gripping her throat, making it difficult to think straight. 'But let's try to get out of here alive first, shall we?'
And that might be a difficult enough task anyway, because there was no doubt that the Defiler was a good deal stronger and better trained than either of them. Kate speculated how long it would take Azog to kill them both and a small voice in the back of her head wondered if it would hurt terribly much. That was doing her not much good either. The last place to get a full-blown panic attack was in the bloody middle of a battlefield.
And Thorin's depending on you, she reminded herself. The two of you are all he's got now, so you better get a grip on yourself, Catherine Andrews, or he will pay the price for that. It was that, having someone depending on her, that kept her grounded, prevented her from doing a runner. They had agreed on being friends and friends did not run away and left the other at some monster's mercy.
Azog barked something, presumably an order for them to get the hell out of his path.
But Kate remembered what Thorin had told Azog. You will not have her, he had said. And Kate now realised that the sentiment was mutual, as was the determination. 'You will not have him,' she growled. 'Not while I live and breathe.'
Too late she realised that this could and would be seen as a challenge, one that Azog was fully prepared to meet. He bared his teeth again. His warg mimicked the movement, the saliva still dripping from its jaws. There was something infinitely threatening about this and in that moment Kate was one hundred percent sure that she was indeed going to die. No one could reasonably hold out against this Pale Orc. Even Thorin had been injured by him and he was one of the best fighters Kate had ever encountered. What chance stood a hobbit and a woman if even the most experienced warrior failed?
But running was no longer an option. The journalist doubted that it had ever even been one. Running away had ceased to be an option when she had accepted Thorin's offer of friendship, no matter how unlikely or unorthodox the friendship. And quite frankly she was done with the hiding anyway. She had been telling herself for far too long that she was not a part of this, that she did not care for these dwarves, all out of fear that she would hurt herself when the moment came to leave. But she did care for them and she was a part of this. She had been ever since she had signed that contract. She might as well admit it. The way things were looking now going home was never going to happen anyway.
There came some kind of command from the Defiler's mouth, doubtlessly a kill order spoken to the group of orcs that had assembled behind Azog, but they never got a chance to act on it. There was some kind of mighty roar coming from their left and next thing Kate knew there were dwarves charging what appeared to be Azog's elite troop. Speaking about a rescue in the nick of time.
Kate was torn between joining in – something must be seriously wrong with her brain if she was even as much as considering fighting out of her own free will – and staying with Thorin. Bilbo had already made his choice, charging into the fray with much more enthusiasm than Kate had ever believed him capable of. The hobbit clearly had found his courage and Kate envied him for it. She herself was still far more afraid than anything else. Inside she was trembling. No, she definitely wasn't feeling very brave right now.
That might have been the reason she opted on staying with Thorin. And, so she reasoned, there were still far more orcs out and about than she liked and leaving the barely conscious king right in the middle of a battlefield seemed like a very stupid thing to. The battle seemed to have moved a bit away from them, but Kate did not feel inclined to leave her spot. Cowardly or not, she was going to stay.
Thorin wasn't unconscious, although Kate wouldn't want to say that he was completely compos mentis. He had his eyes half closed and had difficulty breathing, but his fists kept clenching and unclenching, one of those tell-tale signs that he was still fighting. It was a good sign, Kate supposed. It was also a sign that Thorin was still as stubborn as he had ever been. He was still trying to fight in spite of being all but passed out.
'How is he?' She was startled when she heard Dwalin's voice behind her, although she tried not to show it.
'Alive,' Kate replied. And that was probably the best that could be said of Thorin's current condition.
'We need to get him out of here,' the warrior decided.
Kate was in no mood to argue. 'How?' It was pretty obvious that the dwarf king could not walk on his own right now and she was hardly built to carry anyone, let alone a full-grown dwarf with all his heavy armour on. She doubted she could even drag him as much as a centimetre from his place now. Dwalin was much better suited for that job.
And the warrior at least seemed aware of that. He was already bending over to lift Thorin up when an on storming orc prevented him from doing what he needed to do. It forced Dwalin to turn around and take on his attacker, trying to get it as far away from his king as possible.
'Get him out of here,' he barked at Kate. 'Do it now!'
He had turned his back on her, fighting three orcs at the same time, before she had even the chance to ask how on earth she was supposed to be doing that.
Thorin
The world had become altogether hazy and blurry since he had been respectively hit by Azog's mace, been bitten and chewed on like a bone by the Defiler's warg and then been tossed across the glade as if he weighed nothing at all. There was pain everywhere and he could feel the unconsciousness tugging at the edges of his mind, but if he would give in to it, there was every chance of him never waking up again, he knew that. And Thorin Oakenshield was not ready to die already. There was a quest that needed him and companions to look after. He could not leave them. He was their leader.
He tried to move, grab his sword, get to his feet, but his body made a point of ignoring the orders he gave it. All he managed was to clench and unclench his hands into fists and that was hardly going to stop Azog from putting an end to him. He needed to do something, anything.
His hearing seemed to have suffered from the blow as well, or else it was just the dizziness that prevented him from hearing straight. He blamed it on the last. A few moments – or hours, it was difficult to make it out with all the chaos around him – he had been almost sure that he had heard the advisor shout insult at Azog, but he soon dismissed it as a product of his imagination. Kate had been injured herself when he last looked, but she would be no longer important to Azog. Now that the Defiler had his remaining hand on the prize he had been hunting for so long, she did no longer matter. Kate had only been a means to an end to him. He would not bother with her anymore.
The same could not be said for the hobbit, who had knocked Azog's chosen executioner out of the way just as he was about to strike. Thorin could not even begin to fathom why the burglar would do such a thing. He must have some sort of death wish Thorin hadn't known about, because there was no reasonable explanation for this behaviour. The king had expected the halfling to run as fast as his short legs and hairy feet could carry him, straight back to his comfortable hobbit-hole, as far away from the danger as he could get. Mr Baggins had made it more than clear that he had no ambition to be here on this quest and if Thorin were to die, that would probably mean that he could return home, because without Thorin this company would indeed be leaderless. And he seriously doubted the possibility of the others accepting Gandalf's leadership.
He strained his ears when there were voices nearby, but he could not make out what they were saying. What he did hear was that one of the voices belonged to Mr Baggins. Now that was not really a surprise, since he had saved Thorin just a few short seconds ago. His companion however took him by surprise. Thorin knew that voice. It belonged to the company advisor.
'You will not have him.' The tone was as determined as he had ever heard it, even as there was a slight tremor to it, indicating that its owner was more than a little nervous. 'Not while I live and breathe.'
And what was she even doing here? He had told her to run, a command that Kate had obviously ignored. Was she suicidal as well? What had brought her back here? Was she completely unaware of the fact that she might just die?
He fought harder to hang on to his consciousness. Passing out would do none of them any favours, but oh Mahal, did he hate to feel so useless, so powerless! Thorin had gotten himself injured on numerous occasions – he had lost count long ago – but never as bad as this and he hated the feeling of not being able to lift a finger, knowing that his companions were out there, fighting for their lives. And he had been reduced to a burden, a liability, everything he had once accused Kate and Mr Baggins of being. And it were exactly those two persons standing with him, defending him despite their obvious inability to do so. The world had turned upside down, as Kate would phrase it.
'Run,' he ordered her, but he could hardly hear his own voice over all the noise of the battle. Kate would never even hear him. She was too far off.
And the world was already blacking out around the edges. He had trouble keeping his eyes open, making the world seem like a blur of shapes and colours to him. And it would only be a matter of time now before he could no longer fight it and fall into unconsciousness. Fighting didn't seem to be of any use, just like it had been no use fighting against Kate's knowledge. It was a fight he was doomed to lose right from the start, before that battle had even begun.
He regained some of his awareness when he felt someone pulling at his arms, trying to drag him away, with trying being the operative word. But injured or not, Thorin was not about to let himself be dragged off to Mahal knows where by Azog's vile soldiers. He started struggling again, trying to be as heavy and as uncooperative as he could possibly be. He may not be able to put up a real fight, but he wasn't coming quietly either.
'Will you stop it, you royal imbecile?' A voice penetrated his mind. 'I'm trying to help you here! The least you can do is help me as much as you can.'
In Thorin's confused state of mind it took him several seconds to identify the voice. 'Kate?' Surely she could not be doing this? He knew she was stubborn, but he also knew that battle frightened her beyond anything. And he was by now quite convinced that she did have some sense of self-preservation. By all rights she should be halfway back to the Shire by now. Why was she still here? And, more importantly, why was she trying to drag him away?
'Congratulations, your observational skills are as good as they ever were.' The reply was sarcastic, but Thorin was not fooled. He had heard her bravado before, had become quite familiar with it. It was Kate's way of dealing with situations she thought she could not face head on. Her humour, irony or anger was just a mask she chose to hide behind. It was her way of not showing the world her fear, but Thorin strongly suspected that it was also meant to not admit to herself how frightened she was.
'What are you doing here?' In his head it had been a well-formulated question, but the words coming out of his mouth sounded slurred, even to his own ears. He sounded like your average town drunkard, for Mahal's sake.
But the advisor had apparently understood what he had been saying. 'How about getting you out of here?' she shot back. 'Dwalin's orders.'
She pulled his arms again and Thorin could not bite back a groan as the pain wrecked his body as a result. He knew it was bad, but this pulling at his arms made him feel just how bad things actually were. It was pure agony, the likes of which he had never felt before. His skill on the battlefield had always prevented him from ending up in such a state. But against Azog he had been as helpless as a new-born babe. And if he already lost against Azog, then what chance did Kate stand?
'You should leave me.' The words had been meant as a thought only, but they came out of his mouth before he could think about it twice. But he meant them. It was his responsibility as a leader to save as many lives as possible and commanding Kate to stay with him would be sacrificing her life. Thorin knew he would die here, much as he fought against it, and it would be no good to anyone to ask Kate, or anyone else for that matter, to die with him. At least Kate had a life to go back to, friends and family waiting for her. She least of all should risk her life for a quest that had never been hers to begin with.
She either hadn't heard him or pretended not to hear him. Thorin wouldn't rule out either of those two. The advisor was incredibly stubborn when she wanted to and once she had an idea in her head, not all the orcs in the world could get it out again. And as much as Thorin would love to live and complete the quest he had begun, he would never want to complete it if it meant that his companions would have to give up their life for him.
Kate was panting. Thorin could hardly see her, but he could hear her pretty well. 'You should… cut back… on calories,' she hissed. 'You know, lose… some weight.'
In any other situation Thorin would have been insulted. He was definitely not fat and the advisor suggesting that he was, that injured his pride. Among his own people no one would ever have dreamed of uttering such a thing, but of course Kate was blissfully unaware of just about every rule of dwarvish society and her own didn't seem to value propriety and rules very much if her behaviour was anything to go on.
But none of that really mattered now. Because he may be injured, concussed and confused, but he hadn't lost his wits along with his ability to move of his own volition. He could hear the battle was still raging on. Anytime now some orc could see Kate moving. Or, even worse, Azog could see her. And that would surely mean both their ends.
'Leave me,' he ordered again, as loud as he could.
Kate's dismissive huff was somewhat less impressive than it could have been. She was still out of breath, trying to move him away. And Thorin could not deny that he had indeed moved somewhat, although it could not be very far at all. 'Dream on,' was the only reply he got out of her as she renewed her efforts.
The dwarf weighed his chances of persuading her to see his point and found them slim to none. This woman was far too stubborn for her own good. And in this kind of situations, that headstrong attitude might just get her killed.
And he could not for the life of him understand why she would be willing to take such a risk. He had been less than nice to her for most of the journey and how they had ended up as friends was yet something of a mystery to him. But he also knew that Men were not as loyal in their friendships as dwarves were. And as a result of that he had expected Kate to run when he told her to. Instead she had opted on staying with him, even when she was almost scared out of her wits. That kind of loyalty was a dwarvish trait, not a human one. And he could simply not wrap his head around it.
Unfortunately his fear about the orcs coming for them came true hardly a minute later. Thorin had been trying to be as cooperative as he could be, but he still felt like a dead weight. He still had trouble breathing, although having something to focus on did help in keeping the darkness as the edges of his vision at bay, and he groaned in pain from time to time. All this pulling at his arms hurt more than he was willing to admit, but he was not a child anymore. He could not and would not give in to his urge to scream every time the advisor unknowingly and unwillingly made things worse.
And then she suddenly let go off him. He was about to ask what she was doing, but then the answer presented itself. 'Get. Away. From. Him.' The words seemed to come from between clenched teeth and Thorin wondered if he was the only one who heard the tremor in the advisor's voice.
The other person, the one she had spoken to, merely laughed, or maybe cackled was the word. 'Get out of the way, girl.' Whoever this was, he was not within Thorin's line of sight, but it would be a fair guess to say that this was an orc.
The dwarf king forced his eyes further open, willing himself to sit up and see something beyond the moving shapes and colours. His hands found a tree trunk behind him and he pulled himself up against it. He hated how much effort it took him and how much pain such a simple action caused. By the time he had managed to sit up he was sweating, panting and biting back screams of agony. But he was the king and he would not be seen crying like a baby.
He sought out Kate, finding her a good few steps away from him, trying and failing to get her sword out of its scabbard. But for some reason it was stuck and she couldn't seem to be able to get it out. The orc that was facing her thought this very funny for some reason. He didn't jump at the opportunity this was, instead standing there, laughing, mocking the advisor.
'No need for you to die,' the orc pointed out, his eyes taking in Kate's body as if it was something edible. 'Just get out of the way and we can end this.'
Kate gave up on her efforts to unsheathe her sword, backing away. Thorin could only see her back, but he had come to know her quite well over the last few weeks. There were these small signs giving away exactly how she felt about this: the hands balled into fists and the rigid posture were dead giveaways.
'Leave him alone,' she growled again. She knelt down, her eyes never leaving the goblin. At first Thorin wondered what on earth she was up to, but when she got up again she held his oaken shield in her hands. Maybe that backing away had not been in fear. Maybe it had been intentional and in that case it could just be that this woman knew what she was doing. And the steady voice when she spoke again just seemed to confirm that. 'When's the last time you've seen a dentist?'
A what? Fortunately the orc also seemed to have no idea what the advisor was talking about. He had gradually come closer, sword drawn, but Kate's question seemed to stop him dead in his tracks. There was a puzzled expression on his face.
But not for long. 'Because your teeth look perfectly rotten from where I am standing.' Thorin could see her hands gripping the shield tighter, even though she was holding it all wrong. This was not the way one wielded a shield. Had Dwalin not managed to teach her at all? 'So let me relieve you of that terrible burden.'
As it turned out, Kate had no intention of using the shield as a shield. She swung it like a club, right into the orc's face. The orc in question had not anticipated such an action. He too had probably assumed that the advisor would hide behind it, not use it as a weapon. And now he paid the price for underestimating her. Kate's first swing smashed out several of his teeth, making the foul creature howl. Whether it was in anger or in anguish, Thorin did not know. And it hardly mattered. Kate swung the shield again, a little higher this time and it hit the orc on the temple while he was still howling, effectively putting an end to the dreadful noise.
Kate staggered back, seemingly as surprised by her own actions as Thorin was. She all but dropped the shield, staring at the unmoving form of the orc in what appeared to be absolute horror. Thorin recalled that she had a similar reaction after the fight in the caves. It strengthened his opinion that his new friend was not a warrior. She could and would fight tooth and nail when her life depended on it, and apparently the lives of her friends as well, but afterwards she appeared to regret her actions.
Thorin tried to get up again, hating the fact that he could do nothing with every fibre of his being. He was reminded of why he had not moved until then when the pain returned as he moved, causing him to let out some kind of muffled cry that he found himself incapable of biting back before it was too late.
At least this gained him Kate's attention. She swivelled around and sent him her usual disapproving glare. 'Sit down, you hairy idiot. You're not supposed to be moving at all. Óin is going to have my head for this anyway. Better not to make it any worse.' And there it was again, the humour, a shield that seemed to serve her better than the one she was clutching as if her very life depended on it.
And Thorin found that talking helped him focus, helped to keep his dizziness under control. He was already breathing more easily since he had worked himself into this sitting position; his armour didn't weigh down so heavily on his chest, even if it did feel restricting. 'Should you not be a bit more concerned that one of those orcs might do the job before Óin can even get to you?' he inquired.
The angry scowl on her face told him that she did not think this funny or reassuring. True, the fight had moved away from them somewhat. If Thorin really strained his eyes he could see Azog on the other side of the glade. Balin and Dwalin had somehow managed to drive the Defiler back to some burning tree, putting the Pale Orc in danger of catching fire and burning to death, a scenario of which Thorin heartedly approved. Azog's mount was nowhere to be seen and Thorin thought it a safe assumption to say that that beast had died.
Or maybe not. There was a low growling coming from their left, making both king and advisor swivel their head in the direction of the noise. And it also became very clear where Azog's mount had gotten to. Its rider may be on the other end of the clearing, but the warg itself was not. It had approached them while both of them had been too preoccupied with the orc Kate had now knocked out and there was no time to run, even if Thorin had been able to walk and they had actually a place to run to, which they hadn't. And Thorin strongly doubted the possibility of the advisor knocking out a full-grown warg with his shield.
Kate staggered back, bringing her next to Thorin. She looked torn between wanting to shout and wanting to run, or do both, but she held her ground and kept quiet, keeping the shield in front of her.
'Nice doggy,' she said, sounding altogether terrified. 'Now be a good boy and go.'
What in Mahal's name did she think she was doing? Was she honestly convinced that this would help her in her goal to keep the beast far away from them? Was she really that naïve or was this too just a way of dealing with her fear?
And then the warg was gone. If Thorin had blinked he would have missed out on it entirely. Something fell down from the sky and grabbed the warg in large talons before taking off again, leaving the dwarf and the woman stare at the spot where the beast had stood.
For a moment his confused brain refused to understand it, but then Kate whispered 'The eagles' and he remembered, remembered Kate telling him that the eagles would come to their aid. She had no idea at the time when that would happen, but it would appear that now was the time. And now that he realised what was happening he felt the relief wash over him. Mahal be praised, they had been saved.
The eagles came swooping into the clearing in great numbers, picking up wargs and orcs left, right and centre. Where they took them, Thorin did not know and neither did he care. For now it was just enough that they were gone. Everything else could wait until a later moment, a moment when he was not in pain, not concussed and preferably had a few good meals and some sleep as well. It was only now that he was injured that he realised how weary he was. He could not even remember the last time when he had really slept well. But Thorin was a king. He of all people should know that he could not give in to the demands of his body while his company was still in some form of danger. But it had become very hard all of a sudden to keep his eyes open. The exhaustion, the injuries and the knowledge that the worst was over made short work of what Kate called the adrenaline, the thing that had kept them all running while they were still in danger.
He hardly even noticed it when the ground disappeared from under him.
From Kate's notes: I knocked out an orc with a shield, I called a warg a "nice doggy" and I shouted at Azog the very big and very ugly Defiler that he was a bastard. I am starting to fear for my sanity. What on earth do I even think I'm doing?
Well, I hope this lived up to expectations. For me it was great fun to write and I hope you loved reading it. And I'm saying it again, thanks for the guest reviews! I appreciate each and every one of them.
Once again, reviews will be very much appreciated. I'd love to hear what you thought about this one.