Chapter XXVI: Surprise Alliances
Mortemo and the orcs watched from behind a large boulder as the dwarves were taken away into Thranduil's heavily guarded palace. Beside the wizard, Azog stood in silent rage.
"Was this part of your plan, wizard? To hand over the dwarves to the elves!" The pale orc proclaimed angrily.
Mortemo glared up at him, for Azog was significantly taller than he was.
"Keeping the dwarves in one place is better than losing them in the middle of Mirkwood! And as far as I remember, YOU didn't have any better idea," he argued back in his raspy voice.
"Don't push your luck - you follow my orders!" Azog growled as he pointed his club at the wizard threateningly.
Suddenly there was a loud howl in the air. Azog did not bother raising his weapon - he knew that distinct call. Sure enough, a pack of orcs came riding through the trees on their wargs towards them. The beasts stopped in front of Azog and parted in the middle to allow their leader who was riding on the largest warg to pass through. The head orc jumped off his warg and advanced towards the pale orc and his subjects.
"Ashdautas Vrasubatlat," the orc said roughly.
Azog did not say anything but he gave his son a significant look of both greeting and annoyance for disturbing him on his hunt.
"He is calling for you to come," Bolg spoke in a menacing voice (he had inherited that intimidating trait from his father).
Azog growled softly - he hated having to stop progressing on his plan to kill Thorin Oakenshield, but there was nothing he could do about it. The pale orc gave a single grunt to his son before turning to face Mortemo.
"Wizard, you will come with me," he ordered Mortemo who snarled in disapproval.
"No, I am going to stay and get that witch. You can't stop me," he argued stubbornly.
"But I can - As I have told you before, do not forget who is in charge here. You SHALL do as I say."
With that, Azog signaled to one of his orc subjects who grinned cruelly at the wizard as he brought his hand up to the hilt of his sword. Upon realizing he was obviously outnumbered, Mortemo's eyes flashed in anger. But the wizard was quick to disguise his fury into a twisted smile that stretched out into all the wrong places. Mortemo gave a mocking bow to Azog, bending down so low that his nose almost touched the ground.
"Your wish is in my command,Azog the Defiler," he said sarcastically before following the other orcs out of the forest.
Azog too kicked his warg to carry him to Dol Guldur. As the pale orc passed his son he leant forward and spoke in a low voice so that only Bolg could hear what he was saying.
"Tell me, Bolg - are you still thirsty for dwarf blood?"
Thorin sat with his back leaning against the bars of his cell. He knew these elven structures were impossible to break down with bare physical force. The other dwarves excluding Balin seemed yet to accept their helpless situation. Dwalin especially would not stop cursing and banging his body on the door, hoping it would miraculously fall apart.
"Do not bother, brother," Balin spoke with a sigh, "These are elven doors - we can do nothing except wait for Thranduil's orders."
"No...Not quite." Thorin whispered to himself.
He had been both surprised and hopeful to find that Bilbo had somehow managed to avoid being captured. Thorin prayed silently that the hobbit would find them soon before it was too late to save his men and Sophie. The dwarf King could not stop worrying about the young witch - only Mahal knew what Thranduil wanted to do with her. It pained him greatly that he could not watch over her. It had been over six hours since they had been separated from each other and Thorin could not help himself from agonizingly counting the seconds as they ticked by fruitlessly.
A few hours before, the she-elf called Tauriel had come down to check on the dwarves. Thorin had tried hard to find out where Sophie was but the elf gave nothing away, only telling him that the young witch was "unhurt". Tauriel lingered in front of Kili's cell longer than the dwarf King felt to be just a formal check-up. Thorin had also heard his little nephew tell the elf something about the stars "shining brightly", and he had to kick himself to stop groaning too loudly. The company was in enough trouble as it was, and Kili developing feelings over the very elf holding him a prisoner would only complicate matters in the future. Kili had always had what Dis called a "soft spot" for the fair race of elves - His first weapon of choice was a bow and arrow (an elfish weapon) for Mahal's sake!
After Tauriel had left, Thorin had looked at his nephew with raised eyebrows. The young dwarf had merely shrugged at his uncle's disapproving stare with a small grin. Sometimes Thorin questioned his nephew's ability to judge whether certain actions were appropriate in situations such as this. He practically wore his heart on his sleeve.
"It is hopeless - we are doomed," the dwarf King heard Oin say suddenly in a thick voice as if he would start crying any minute soon.
"No, not like this you're not."
Thorin's head snapped up at the voice that had just spoken. It was Bilbo! The hobbit had miraculously appeared just outside his cell as if...well, as it he had been invisible.
"You are full of surprises, Master Baggins," Thorin told the hobbit who smiled at the praise.
The other dwarves were also excited to see their burglar and everyone began speaking loudly at once.
"Well, would you look at that?"
"Did you find the keys, Bilbo?"
"You disappeared when the elves came...we all thought the spiders got you. How on earth did you manage to escape?"
"Could you please keep the volume down, everyone? The elves are right above us you know," Bilbo said with slight exasperation.
The room immediately fell silent at the hobbit's words, although the excitement still buzzed around in the air. Bilbo pulled out the bundle of keys that he had smuggled from underneath his vest. There was a sharp 'clink!' sound as the metal bolts of the lock on Thorin's cell fell apart, and the door opened. The dwarf King stepped out and scanned the area for any passing elven guards. Fortunately there were none in sight, and Bilbo managed to free the rest of the dwarves without too much hassle. Thorin gave one final scan up the long stairway before facing Bilbo.
"I'm going to go find her," he told the hobbit, who knew exactly who Thorin was talking about.
Bilbo wanted to stop the dwarf King from taking such a dangerous risk. But he also knew Thorin cared too much about Sophie to even consider leaving her behind. Bilbo gave Thorin a small nod as he eyed the stairway.
"I'm going to take everyone down to the cellar, I have a plan. The cellar is just to the right from here, so don't be late," he said jokingly in order to hide his nervousness.
The dwarf King did not waste any time in sneaking up the stairway and turning left. Bilbo waited until Thorin was completely out of sight before leading the rest of the company down the steps to the right side of the room.
Thorin kept his back completely against the wall as he crept as quietly as he could around Thranduil's palace, searching for the room Sophie was locked up in. There were a few close moments where the dwarf King was almost spotted by patrolling elven guards, but so far he had been lucky (although he was not sure how long it was going to last). Thorin continued down the hallway, cursing under his breath as he mentally counted the tens of rooms in the single area.
"She's not here," a calm voice spoke behind Thorin, and the dwarf King whipped around in surprise.
Tauriel stood with her arms folded, her face completely expressionless. Thorin stood guarded, ready to fight back should he need to. But he was surprised to find the she-elf was making no effort in pulling out her weapon. In fact, she did not appear to want to fight at all, although she seemed weary of approaching the dwarf King. After a moment, Thorin sighed and lowered his fists. Upon observing his actions, Tauriel gave a satisfied nod before taking another step forward closer to the dwarf King.
"Sophie is on the next floor up from this one. She is currently being held captive in the isolated cell, which is the second room on the left of the corridor. There will be no guards when you enter - I've called them off," the she-elf spoke in a very matter-of-fact voice.
Thorin listened in complete surprise and confusion. Why was the captain of the elven guards helping him?
"How can I trust you?" He asked, although suspicion was not really what Thorin was feeling.
Tauriel elegantly ignored the dwarf King's shocked expression and continued to speak.
"Here is the key to her cell. I've also brought down her wand and the phial of Animadur."
With that, the she-elf handed Thorin the small parcel wrapped in a white silk cloth. Still confused, Thorin took the bundle wordlessly. There was a moment of silence as Thorin and Tauriel stared at each other, both trying to figure out what the other one was thinking.
"Why, why are you helping us?" The dwarf King asked, having finally found his voice.
"Perhaps I have gained some new insight that sometimes you must fight for what you believe in. I believe that you and your company have been mistreated in many ways, and I want to help you," Tauriel answered with a shrug.
There was a sense of honesty and genuine care in Tauriel's voice as she told Thorin this, and the dwarf King knew at that moment that he could trust her. He gave the she-elf a nod of respect to show his acceptance of her help.
"Thank you. I am in your debt, Tauriel," Thorin said humbly.
"There will be no debt if you are caught...go quickly! I will try to distract the guards for as long as I can," the she-elf said briskly before walking away and disappearing around the corner.
Thorin quickened his steps up the flight of stairs in the direction Tauriel had indicated for him to follow. Sure enough, at the top of the stairway there was a long corridor that greeted the dwarf King, with many rooms on either side of its walls. As quietly as he could, Thorin pushed open the second door on the left side of the room.
The place was dimly lit with only a few candles lighting up the short path leading to the cell located at the far end of the room. The dwarf King did not stop himself from racing over to the barred cell. His eyes searched the enclosed area, and he could feel his heart beating at the small figure crouched with her head down on the tiny mattress. Sophie lifted up her head as Thorin walked over and her tear-stained face broke out into a smile when she saw her savior.
"Thorin! You found me," the young witch spoke in a relieved voice as Thorin pushed the key Tauriel had given him into the lock.
The dwarf King pulled the door open as soon as the key turned in the key hole. Sophie couldn't control the overwhelming emotion she felt inside and she ran into Thorin's open arms. It was the first real contact the two figures had ever made with each other (excluding their sleep routine outside in the forest of Mirkwood). The dwarf King gave Sophie a tight hug and breathed in her familiar scent. It was crazy to think that he could miss her so much in such a short span of time.
"Let's get out of here, my lady," he said as he took the young witch's hand.
Together, they quietly made their way down to the cellar where Bilbo and the rest of the company was waiting.
"Ashdautas Vrasubatlat" – "Someday I will kill you" (Orcish greeting)