Hey everyone, this is Chapter 18 of Unexpected Allies.
I apologize for the delay, I have been busy lately with family, which prevented me from working on the story as well as personal related stuff.
To those who do know, I only ask if you don't bring it up in the reviews.
It is my birthday today.
(As of 10:52 pm on December 24h, 2020).
I decided this chapter will be my little Christmas present to all of you.
Anyway, here is chapter 18 to Unexpected Allies.
As a heads up, I originally planned for this chapter to be the longest yet but given the limited time I had to write lately.
I had to split the original chapter 18 into two parts, meaning An Unexpected Journey will have roughly 3 more chapters to go after this one.
In case I do not upload another chapter before the end of the year.
Happy holidays and a happy new year.
Chapter 18.
A majority of the folk in the dragon pit cheer at the sight of Gandalf, Jon, Robb and Theon, arriving in time to rescue the others from the clutches of the goblins of Goblin-town.
"Thank the seven!" Mace cried out in relief.
Garlan turns to his grandmother with a 'told you so' look at her.
"Told you, Gandalf would come," Garlan said to his grandmother.
Olenna rolled her eyes at Garlan's comment.
"Yes, you did, but he was still late," Olenna states back.
Tyrion overheard Olenna Tyrell and recalls what Gandalf told Thorin when they were outside 'The Green Dragon'.
"A wizard is never late, Lady Olenna. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to," Tyrion told her in his best impression of Gandalf.
Tommen and Myrcella chuckle at their uncle's impression of the wizard, as well as Bran and Arya, join in as they found Tyrion's impression of Gandalf to be quite funny.
"About bloody time," King Robert grumbled.
Despite the King's tone, he was looking forward to seeing Gandalf get the others out of Goblin-town, he hopes they get to see some of those wretched goblins slain, they bloody deserve it after he saw them whip his son, a son he is proud to have come from his seed, unlike Joffrey.
The King was relieved to know Joffrey wasn't here, he was getting sick of his whining and tantrums, it still baffles him how the little shit came from his seed.
Arya and Bran jumped out of their seats upon seeing their older brothers and wielding the elven blades they found in the troll hoard, Arya's eyes widen in awe once she saw Robb's sword Ringil, and like what Lord Elrond said about the sword, the blade glows like glittering ice.
"Ringil does glow like glittering ice!" Arya yelled out.
Bran agreed with Arya about Ringil, they knew Jon's sword glowed a blue flame from earlier but they never saw Ringil in action yet and they are looking forward to seeing Robb fight as well.
"I hope the Great-Goblin recognizes it," Bran tells her.
The brother and sister snicker at the thought of the Great-Goblin being terrified of Ringil, given its reputation and who last wielded the infamous sword.
"The Great-Scrotum-beard," Tyrion 'corrects' the two Stark children on the goblin's new name.
Before either Bran or Arya could have a chance to respond, one stern look from Lady Catelyn prevented them from speaking such language.
Edmure could be seen chuckling at his niece and nephew's misfortune, the heir of the Riverrun did have a look of amazement at the blade his eldest nephew carries.
"A fine blade, your son carries, sister. Suits his father's house," Edmure said kindly.
Catelyn smiles at her brother's words.
"That it is Edmure, and it is the sword of his ancestor," Catelyn thanks her brother while mentioning Fingolfin being House Stark's very distant ancestor.
The Blackfish agreed with Edmure for once in his life.
"Edmure is right, a fine blade your son carries," The Blackfish joins in.
Catelyn nods at her uncle's kindness.
"Thank you, uncle," Catelyn thanks him too.
Ned is smiling at the sight of his son and nephew fighting together, he came to realize he didn't get to see Robb fight yet, he wonders what his firstborn is capable of, as well as feeling pride in his son wielding the sword of their ancestor, but he cannot forget his sister's son wielding the sword of their other ancestor as well.
He hopes both of them return to Westeros, he has a lot of making amends to them both.
"You alright, Ned?" King Robert asked.
"I am fine, your grace... it is just...I am looking forward to seeing my sons come to aid the others with Gandalf," Ned slowly answered.
The King laughs before brushing it off.
"They're your boys, Ned! Your eldest is half-Tully and if he's half as skilled as the Blackfish. Those ugly fuckers won't know what hit them, and the boy did come from your seed too, Ned," King Robert tells him before snickering.
Ned smiles fondly at his friend's words, but the smile was cut short when King Robert stopped laughing and continues.
"Your bastard, on the other hand, is your bloody spitting image and if the stories of Ashara Dayne being his mother are true, then he should be half as skilled as Ser Arthur Dayne...you should know Ned, you killed the bloody fucker," King Robert adds.
The King chuckles at his words, but Ned's face turns grim, not wanting to look back on the fight between him and his six men against the three Kingsguard guarding the Tower of Joy.
Prince Oberyn and Ser Barristan did not like the King's comment about Ser Arthur Dayne, the former mainly due to being how the King spoke of Ser Arthur Dayne, and the latter is due to him knowing Jon Snow is not the son of Lord Eddard Stark.
The Red Viper, however, noticed the mysterious music playing in the background, and how no one has brought it up, so he decides to.
"Does anyone else hear the music in the background, or is it just me?" Prince Oberyn asked around.
Everyone let out sighs of relief knowing they are not the only ones to have noticed the mysterious music playing.
"I thought old age was finally coming to me," Jon Arryn admits.
Olenna silently agreed with Jon Arryn, she honestly thought she was losing her wits when she kept hearing music playing in the background, assuming one of the dwarves was playing it but was always proven wrong when she saw none of them had musical instruments on them.
"Thank the gods, I wasn't the only one who noticed it," Tyrion spoke first.
"I wanted to say something, but I didn't want to sound silly," Tommen poorly explained.
Myrcella pats her brother's back to reassure him.
King Robert chuckled at his son's words.
"I wanted to say something too, my boy, but I thought I was hearing things," King Robert humorously told Tommen.
Making the newly titled heir of the iron throne smile at his father's words.
"Thank you, father," Tommen chirped.
King Robert ruffles Tommen's head.
"Don't be afraid to speak your mind, lad. One day, you will be King and you will need to learn it now than later," King Robert told him.
Mace meanwhile thought back at the music playing and gives a soft nod.
"The music is quite good, whoever made this music is truly marvellous," Mace honestly admits.
With some of the folk in the dragon pit agreeing with the Lord of Highgarden.
"I agree, Lord Tyrell, the music is good and it helps keep things going," Tyrion admits.
Stannis turns to Melisandre.
"Why is there music playing?" Stannis bluntly asked the red priestess.
Melisandre has a confused expression.
"I do not know why, Lord Stannis," Melisandre answered.
Shireen agreed with the others and found it to be interesting.
"I like the music and like what Lord Tyrion said, it helps keep things going," Shireen tells her father.
Renly overhears his niece and joins in.
"I agree, the music does help keep things going," Renly admits.
The dwarves and Westerosi jump to their feet, fending off the goblins, while they start picking up weapons around them and would either use the closest weapon on them, or they would just pass the weapon to its respective owner.
To give Thorin & Company time to grab their weapons, Gandalf, Robb, Jon and Theon charge towards the horde of goblins who ignore the dwarves and Westerosi and run towards the four.
Gandalf took the lead and used his staff to knock out a nearby goblin that came to his left, he used Glamdring and slashed the chest of a goblin at his right, when another goblin came towards him, the wizard quickly thrusts Glamdring into the goblin's chest.
The Great Goblin points towards Gandalf's sword, trembling in fear.
"He wields The Foe-Hammer! The Beater! Bright as daylight!" The Great-Goblin yelled out.
Just as Theon uses Anguriel to cut through three goblins that were planning to attack Gandalf from behind, the first goblin had his head cut clean off, the second met its end by a slash in the chest and falling to its death and the third goblin had his chest pierced before Theon kicked the goblin out of his way.
The black glow of Anguirel made the Great-Goblin just as terrified as he was of Glamdring.
"He wields Gurthang! The blade that slain Glaurung, the Father of Dragons!" The Great-Goblin cried out.
Theon has a look of confusion on his face, but before he can correct the Great-Goblin, a goblin tried to get the jump on him.
"Theon!" Robb calls out.
The wielder of Anguirel heard his friend's call, Theon turns around and manages to catch the goblin, pinning it down before thrusting his sword into its chest.
Theon gives Robb a nod before they continue their battle against the goblins of Goblin-town.
"It is bright as daylight," Tyrion admits.
Though the self-titled halfling was impressed by the wizard's skill with a sword, it was a shame Jaime is missing out, he would have been impressed by Gandalf's skill in battle with a sword.
Prince Oberyn chuckled at how terrified the Great-Goblin was at the sight of Glamdring, though the fat goblin did have a point about the blade, it was bright as daylight when it glows.
"Shame none of my kin is in Middle-Earth would have been interesting to see them wield an elven weapon," Prince Oberyn said to himself.
Tyrion turns to the Red Viper with a look of understanding.
"I know the feeling, Prince Oberyn," Tyrion told the Red Viper.
The children cheered for Gandalf after he slew the three goblins with such skill and speed, Arya was the most impressed by the wizard's skill and wondered how could an old wizard like Gandalf fight like he was still in his youth?
"How does he fight like that?" Arya muttered.
Bran heard his sister and decides to take a guess.
"Maybe it has something to do with him being a wizard," Bran told her.
Arya agreed with her brother, for now, maybe it has something to do with Gandalf being a wizard, only for another thought to come to her about the sword Glamdring.
"Wait, isn't Glamdring another ancestral sword of ours?" Arya asks around.
Bran's eyes widen in surprise at his sister's question, forgetting Glamdring was the sword of Turgon, the King of Gondolin, who was the great-grandfather of Lord Elrond and Elros Tar-Minyatur, latter of whom is the father of Bran the Builder.
"It is, Turgon was Bran the Builder's great-great-grandfather!" Bran tells his sister.
The two siblings smile with joy upon the realization another elven sword will be added to the collection of House Stark.
Only for their moment to be short-lived by their father.
"Lord Elrond gave the sword to Gandalf, for he is Turgon's great-grandson. Therefore, Glamdring is Gandalf's sword," Ned Stark sadly told his two younger children.
Both children groan in disappointment upon hearing this, but Ned smiles fondly at their reaction.
"Besides, we already have two elven swords and a Valyrian steel greatsword. I think we have enough magical weapons in our house," Ned reassures them.
Arya and Bran nod, though both remember Stormbreaker is the reforged Dramborleg, the weapon of Tuor, the grandfather of Elrond and Elros.
"What about Húro-Falma?" Bran asked his father.
"Isn't it another ancestral weapon of ours too?" Arya joins in.
King Robert paid attention to this conversation with a cheeky grin on his face, wanting to see his best friend's answer to it.
Ned couldn't help but chuckle at his children's eagerness for the elven weapons.
"Lord Elrond bestowed the weapon to Gendry, and it will be up to Gendry on whether or not to return the weapon to your brothers or Lord Elrond," Ned told his children.
King Robert couldn't keep in any longer and burst with laughter.
"Gods be damned Ned, only you can be this modest. If it were anyone else, they would demand the weapons to be returned to them," King Robert told him.
Ned chuckles at his friend's answer.
"The weapons would belong to Lord Elrond after the Fall of Númenor, it would be his decision on what to do with them," Ned calmly replies.
Though he couldn't help but feel sad upon finishing his words, knowing a part of his family history is forever gone.
Since the discovery of Bran, the Builder originated from Númenor before coming to Westeros and knowing what became of Númenor, and what 'The Deceiver' did ancestor's kin. Ned could not but feel like he lost a part of his culture and ancestral history, perhaps Jon could tell them the history of Númenor when he returns.
"Thinking about Númenor?" Catelyn asked her husband.
"Aye," Ned told her as he gives her a nod.
"Even though my blood is more of the First Men than of Númenor. I cannot help but wish the knowledge of our Númenorean heritage was not lost to us," Ned explained to his wife.
Catelyn can see the change in Ned's eyes, she knew since the discovery of his ancestral heritage, she could tell the difference in him since then. She saw how devastated Ned was when they learned what became of Númenor, what the deceiver has done to his kin that led to Númenor's eventual downfall.
"I am sure, Jon would be willing to tell you when he returns," Catelyn assures her husband.
Hearing this made her husband smile, as Arya and Bran joined in on the conversation.
"Lord Elrond must have brought up Númenor to Jon during his time in Rivendell, father," Arya said to his father.
"Maybe, Lord Elrond could give Jon a book of Númenor's history before returning, father?" Bran tells him.
"That is true," Ned told Arya before turning to Bran.
"Even if Lord Elrond does or does not give us a book about Númenor. I will be fine with what Jon can tell us," Ned told Bran.
Catelyn smiled as Ned wraps his arms around Arya and Bran.
Yara rose a brow at the Great-Goblin calling her brother's sword 'Gurthang' and got her curious.
"Gurthang?" Yara said with confusion.
Tyrion heard her somewhat question while recalling Lord Elrond's history on Theon's sword.
"Lord Elrond did say there were two swords made by this 'Eöl, The Dark Elf' from an iron meteorite. Perhaps, that is the sword, The Great-Scrotum-beard spoke of and must have mistaken your brother's sword for Gurthang," Tyrion explains to Yara.
The only daughter of Balon Greyjoy is grateful for Tyrion's explanation to her, though she found it exhausting to try and remember everything about the history of Middle-Earth. Still, she did find it more fascinating than Westeros' history and is proud of her brother for wielding such a unique sword.
She just hopes nothing terrible happens to her little brother, the only brother she has left.
"Did he say Glaurung was 'The Father of Dragons'?" Myrcella curiously asks around.
"Apparently," Bran responds to Myrcella.
Arya and Lyanna were amazed at the brief history of Gurthang, both young girls hope they will learn more about it, given its reputation for slaying Glaurung, who is 'The Father of Dragons'.
"I wonder what happened to Gurthang?" Arya asked.
"Perhaps, we will learn what happened to it later from your brother, but it might not be for a while," Tyrion told her.
Arya smiles at Tyrion's answer, she looks forward to learning what happened to such a sword and what made it different than Anguirel.
King Robert laughed at the Great-Goblin's fear of the elven swords but knowing there is a sword out there that slew 'The Father of Dragons' did fascinate him.
"I wonder what happened to such a blade? Imagine the look on Aerys Targaryen's face if he knew such a blade killed this 'Father of Dragons'?" King Robert said before he bursts with laughter.
The flames cut to Jon Snow, who is killing goblins swiftly with his elven blade Tar-Nármacil, the ward of Lord Elrond easily evades the goblins oncoming attacks and cuts through them like a hot knife on butter.
The Great-Goblin noticed Jon's sword glowing a blue flame and looks confused at the weapon.
"That's a new one," The Great-Goblin honestly admits.
Jon finds the sword Kili gave to Margaery, quickly grabbing a hold of it and searches for Margaery, which did not take him long to find her, as she is not far from his view.
Using her bow to fire arrows towards nearby goblins, the first shot hit a nearby goblin's eye, killing it instantly, the second shot pierces through another goblin's chest, the third shot hits a goblin, who was going to pounce on a distracted Kili.
Knowing she is running low on arrows, Jon ran to her while cutting down goblins by using his sword in one hand, and her sword in the other.
"Margaery!" Jon yells out.
Hearing her name, Margaery turns around to see Jon heading her way, she smiles greatly upon seeing him as he cuts through goblins with his sword in one hand and her sword in the other.
Once they are in close distance, Jon quickly hands over her sword to her.
"My lady," Jon promptly greets her.
"Ranger," Margaery immediately responds.
Jon gives a simple nod in response before he heads back into battle, Margaery follows not far behind while slaying nearby goblins.
Robb could be seen not far from Jon and Margaery, the firstborn son of Lord Eddard Stark and Lady Catelyn Tully is wielding Ringil on one hand and his shield on the other. The soldier of Gondor charges into the larger goblin horde, using his shield to bash through them like a battery ram, and using Ringil to cut through the goblins with ease.
Many of them cried out in horror at the sight of his elven sword.
Once the Great-Goblin saw the glittering ice glow of Ringil, his eyes widen in horror, looking more terrified than he was to Orcrist as he points towards Robb with fear in his voice.
"He wields the blade of the wretched Elf-King who crippled our creator Morgoth!" The Great-Goblin yelled out.
The minions of the Great-Goblin begin to panic at the sight of Robb, who is killing their kin with Ringil, who raised his sword in the air before charging ahead of the goblin horde.
Gendry is next to be seen, grabbing his old Warhammer and handing it to Bofur, who began using it to fend off the goblins.
"Thanks," Bofur tells him.
Gendry gives a simple nod to Bofur before he starts fighting off the goblins with his hands until he caught a glimpse of Húro-Falma, quickly raising his hand towards the axe-hammer, and within a few seconds, the weapon comes to his hand.
The goblins who witnessed the weapon magically go to Gendry's hand gulp in fear at what they have just seen.
"Run!" A goblin cried out.
Showing several goblins followed suit and fled from Gendry, but this didn't stop the young man from throwing his weapon towards them.
The axe-hammer hits its target, splitting the goblins horizontally from the waist down.
Bran and Arya cheer as they see Jon fight the goblins with his elven sword Tar-Nármacil, the reforged Aranrúth, the sword of Kings of Númenor.
"Jon's amazing!" Bran cheered.
"He cut through those goblins with such haste!" Arya said with glee.
Ned couldn't help but chuckle at Bran and Arya's awe of Jon's swordsmanship.
"Lord Elrond taught him well," Ned tells his children.
Edmure remembers the history of the two elven swords that now belong to House Stark.
"Robb's sword belonged to Fingolfin, who was the High King of the Noldor? And Jon Snow's sword belonged to the Kings of Númenor?" Edmure asked.
Ned nods at his brother-in-law's question.
"You are correct, Edmure. Ringil was the sword of Fingolfin, Elrond's great-great-grandfather, and Tar-Nármacil was the sword of the Kings of Númenor," Ned answers Edmure's question.
Lysa does feel some pride in her nephew wielding a sword that was used by a King of the Noldor, but she scoffs at the sight of the bastard wielding a sword meant for Kings.
"Shouldn't the blade your bastard wields be handed over to you, Lord Stark? A fine blade of such should not be in the hands of a bastard." Lysa arrogantly asked.
"It was given to him by Lord Elrond, my distant uncle. Therefore, it is his sword, Lady Lysa," Ned sternly answered in a cold as ice tone.
"Lord Stark does have a point, Lysa," Edmure joins in.
Catelyn and the Blackfish both look at Edmure in disbelief with the Blackfish being the more obvious.
Edmure saw their looks and rose a brow.
"What? Lord Stark is right, Lord Elrond did give the sword to Jon Snow, and he is their distant uncle," Edmure explained.
"Thank you, Lord Edmure," Ned told his brother-in-law.
Edmure simply nods in response, Arya turns back to Bran to continue their conversation.
Garlan is quite amazed at his sister's skill with a bow, but he was surprised at how good she is with a sword.
"Whoever trained her, did a good job," Garlan admits.
"That, they did," Mace told his son.
The Lord of Highgarden was just happy to see his daughter alive and well, he hopes Gandalf would visit Westeros, he would like to thank the wizard for saving his two youngest children.
Olenna looks annoyed at how her granddaughter looks at the bastard son of Lord Stark, yes they all know how 'pretty' Jon Snow is, perhaps it is not too late to have Margaery be betrothed to Robb Stark, she could easily convince her oaf of a son to agree with the idea, given her son's newfound friendship with Lord Stark.
Bran and Arya were excited to see Robb fighting with Ringil, the two siblings were happy to finally see their older brother in action.
"He fights differently than Jon," Arya points out.
This went unnoticed by both Ned and the Blackfish, but the latter chose to speak first.
"It is not surprising, niece, your brothers were fostered in different lands of Middle-Earth. Robb was fostered in Gondor and Jon in Rivendell, as well as their builds, Robb is stocky and Jon is lean," The Blackfish explains to his great-niece.
Arya nods at his explanation, while Bran is just amazed at how quickly their great-uncle pointed out the difference in Robb and Jon's fighting styles.
King Robert cheered loudly upon seeing the kills his son has made.
"That's my boy!" King Robert roared with pride.
Cersei looks disgusted at the King's reaction, though Myrcella and Tommen were proud of Gendry's strength at throwing Húro-Falma.
"Gendry sure has a throwing arm," Tommen acknowledge.
"Gets it from me, Tommen," King Robert tells Tommen.
As the King poorly flexes his right arm to show his muscles, only for the fabric on his sleeve to rip, making Tommen snicker in the process, and Robert follows suit.
"See, son, I still got it!" King Robert adds.
Making Tommen and Myrcella laugh more, while Cersei is fuming at the scene before her.
Renly is grinning like a child at the sight of his nephew's strength once he saw Gendry throw Húro-Falma.
"Truly his father's son, my nephew," Renly proudly said to Robert.
The King nods at his younger brother's comment.
"Damn right, he is," King Robert tells him.
Shireen giggled at the goblins fleeing from Gendry once they saw Húro-Falma go towards her cousin.
"The goblins sure were scared of Húro-Falma," Shireen said to her father.
Stannis agreed with his daughter the goblins were scared of Húro-Falma once they saw it magically go to Gendry.
"They should be," Stannis tells her.
The flames cut to Dwalin and Tormund, the latter of whom gave his sword to Ygritte after her bow broke from Gandalf's blast, leaving the wildling with no weapon but his hands.
Dwalin spots Thorin's axe and hands the weapon to Tormund, who grabs hold of the weapon and goes on a killing spree with the axe, killing four goblins in the process.
Tormund briefly paused to admire the axe, letting out a chuckle.
"I like this," Tormund said with a child-like grin.
As he charges back into battle, Dwalin follows the wildling once he regained his dual axes.
The dwarf and wildling work together to kill more goblins to find a path out of Goblin-town.
Ygritte is seen fighting her way out of a line of goblins, wielding Tormund's sword, and gets stuck with Ori and Dori, the former of which is using Dwalin's Warhammer after Nori passed it to him, and Dori is using his sword to fight the goblins.
Before cutting to Jorah, who grabbed his sword and starts slaying goblins that come his way, he notices two other weapons and hands them to Daenerys and Balin, coincidentally the weapons he hands them are their weapons.
"Can you use this?" Jorah asked Daenerys with concern.
Daenerys doesn't answer before she grabs the sword and swiftly kills a nearby goblin, Jorah is surprised at this and turns to Balin, who let out a chuckle.
"She certainly can, lad," Balin tells Jorah before they follow Daenerys.
Loras is next to be seen, wielding Laurë on one hand and his Rohirrim shield on the other, fighting alongside Fili and Bifur, the former using his dual swords and the latter his boar spear, Loras uses his shield to bash nearby goblins, stunning the creatures long enough for Fili and Bifur to go for the kill.
Bombur spots a nearby goblin trying to attack Bifur, the dwarf reacts fast by using his belly to push the goblin away, causing the goblin to bounce right off of him and fall to its death.
The children in the dragon pit snickered at Tormund's child-like grin after wielding Thorin's axe, Arya and Lyanna being the loudest.
"Tormund looked like Rickon when he gets his sweets," Arya said to Lyanna.
Tyrion saw Tommen and Myrcella snicker at Tormund's little moment with Thorin's axe.
"Reminds me of you both when Joffrey gets in trouble," Tyrion whispered to them.
Making his niece and nephew giggle more, but not before Tommen noticed something.
"Tormund and Dwalin seem to make a good team," Tommen innocently said.
"I agree nephew, Tormund and Dwalin, seem to make a good team. I would hate to be the goblins," Tyrion tells his nephew.
"Nice to see more women use weapons," Lyra said.
Despite the North's opinion on the Wildlings, Lyra was still impressed to see Ygritte was good with a sword.
"You and Brienne of Tarth will get along," Garlan tells Lyra.
"Really?" Lyra asks.
"Indeed, perhaps the two of you can learn a thing or two from one another," Garlan told her.
"Is she here?" Lyra asked.
"She should be. She is Renly Baratheon's sworn sword," Garlan responds.
Hearing his name, Renly turns to Garlan and Lyra.
"Did you say my name, Ser Garlan?" Renly asked.
"I did. I was just telling Lyra Mormont here," Garlan explains.
As he points to Lyra, who simply waves at the King's younger brother.
"About your sworn sword, Brienne of Tarth. The woman who unhorsed the Kingslayer twice," Garlan adds.
Renly laughs at the memory of Jaime Lannister getting unhorsed by Brienne.
"Ah, yes. Brienne of Tarth, one of the finest fighters in the Seven Kingdoms, and the only woman to have made the Kingslayer shit himself," Renly said.
Cersei quickly cocks her heard to Renly with a murderous glare.
"He was sick that day, Renly, and you know it," Cersei spat.
"But, he still shit himself," Renly retorts.
Before anyone can ask more about the story.
Lyra and Lyanna snicker at their cousin's reaction to Daenerys Targaryen being able to defend herself.
"He should have known better," Lyra muttered.
Lyanna never met her cousin before he fled, but she still felt some pride at how well of a fighter he is.
"Despite his shame, he can still fight," Lyanna bitterly admits.
"He's a Mormont, whether we like it or not," Lyra adds.
Mace Tyrell is proud of his youngest son being a skilled warrior, smiling with pride as he uses his shield to bash goblins, giving his allies time to go for the kill.
"Loras is a skilled warrior," Mace said.
"That he is, father," Garlan agreed.
Garlan is proud of his little brother, his brother is a skilled swordsman.
"They trained him well," Garlan adds.
Tyrion, Tommen, Myrcella, Bran, and Arya laugh at Bombur when he pushed a goblin back with his belly.
"Bombur is funny," Tommen said.
"Who knew being fat is super effective?" Tyrion quipped.
Before Bran is about to say something, his father gives him a stern look.
"It better not be about Lord Manderly?" Ned Stark said to his son.
Bran gulps in response before Ned chuckles at his son's expression.
"Because we don't need to give him any ideas, Bran," Ned told him.
Making the young boy snicker at his father's remark, and Ned joins his son in the laughter.
The flames cut to Kili, who is wielding the sword Thorin gave to him.
Kili uses it to slice through a couple of goblins before he has a brief duel with the Great-Goblin's subordinate before Kili gets the advantage and thrusts Deathless into the subordinate's chest.
However, during this duel, Kili trips over the bodies of goblins and falls to the floor.
Just as the Great-Goblin rises to his feet, he charges forward, bringing his staff down on Kili.
Thorin saw his nephew's life is in danger before he can grab a weapon, Nori slides in and hands Thorin, Orcrist.
"Thorin!" Nori calls out.
Thorin grabs hold of Orcrist and intervenes in the Great-Goblin's attack on Kili, deflecting the Great-Goblin's blow. With a frightening howl, the Great Goblin falls backwards and off of the platform. He goes sailing down into the abyss below, screaming like a coward.
When everyone is still fighting the goblins on the main platform.
Gandalf slays one goblin and manages to strike another, the strike brought confusion to the goblin.
"Ah," Gandalf said.
The wizard using his staff to lightly tap the goblin's head, knocking it off of the creature.
Gandalf approaches the group with urgency.
"Follow me," Gandalf tells them.
Without hesitation, Thorin & Company, Tormund, Ygritte, and Jorah, listen to the wizard and follow him.
"Quick! Run!" Gandalf yelled out.
Gandalf and the large group sprint out of the throne room, while herds of goblins chase after them.
Sansa let out a gasp when she saw Kili in danger.
"Someone better save Kili," Sansa cried.
"Thorin will," Catelyn assures her.
Sansa cheered as Thorin saved his nephew from the Great-Goblin.
"Thank you, Thorin!" Sansa yelled out.
Catelyn let out a soft chuckle at Sansa's reaction.
"Told you," Catelyn told her daughter.
Tyrion rose his goblet up in the air with a smile.
"The Great-Scrotum-beard is no more," Tyrion declared.
"Let's hope he stays that way," Varys said.
"I agree," Oberyn told them.
Bran giggled when Gandalf used his staff to knock the goblin's head off after the wizard swiftly sliced through its neck.
"Did you see that, father?" Bran asked.
"I did, Bran," Ned answered.
The Lord of Winterfell did find it impressive how fast the wizard's strike was towards the goblin, who didn't even notice or perhaps felt Glamdring cut through its neck.
"Gandalf is one who should not be underestimated," Ned tells his son.
"I agree, Lord Stark," The Blackfish told him.
The flames cut to Bilbo, who is running down a tunnel with his sword at his side.
From a distance, Gollum's echo can be heard.
"Give it to us!" Gollum cried out.
Bilbo turns to a cave on his left, panting. The hobbit can see Gollum crawling past the entrance.
Relieved, Bilbo makes for a crack in the cave wall, squeezing through the cranny.
However, the buttons on his shirt get caught on the edges causing the hobbit to get stuck.
"Honestly forgot about Bilbo," Tyrion admits.
The self-titled halfling truly did forget about the hobbit due to the events in Goblin-town.
"I didn't. I am curious to see if the hobbit can escape?" Varys tells him.
"I hope nothing bad happens to Bilbo," Sansa sadly spoke.
Catelyn wraps her arm around Sansa for comfort.
"I'm sure he will find a way out, Sansa," Catelyn tells her.
Sansa is touched by her mother's words, smiling at her soothing voice.
"I hope so, mother," Sansa said.
Bran and Arya are on the edge of their seats once they saw Gollum enter the tunnel Bilbo is in.
"Bilbo better escape," Arya said.
"Same," Bran agreed.
"Where is Sam?" Lady Tarley asked.
Dickon turns to his mother with an assuring look.
"Maybe he got out?" Dickon told her.
Talia agreed with her brother, there was a chance Sam and Gilly escaped as Bilbo lured Gollum away for them to escape.
"He's probably right, mother. Bilbo chose to stall him for Sam to escape," Talia tells her.
Lady Tarly smiled at her children for having faith in their brother, her firstborn.
"I hope so," Lady Tarly answered.
From afar, Gollum backtracks, locking eyes with Bilbo, snarling as he rushes into the cave.
"It's ours! It's ours!" Gollum snarls at Bilbo.
As he crawls closer to Bilbo, the hobbit struggles to get unstuck.
Bilbo exhales and pushes as hard as he can.
After a couple of attempts, Bilbo is finally able to fit through the crack, but his brass buttons rip off his waistcoat.
They rain down on an irritated Gollum, and one even bounces off of the creature.
Bilbo makes it to the other side of the tunnels.
Unfortunately, he trips on a nearby rock and falls flat on his back.
As he fell back, the ring flies out of his hand and into the air, and as it descends, Bilbo reaches out to grab it.
The Ring slides onto his finger, causing him to turn invisible.
Now in this ringworld, Bilbo watches as Gollum leaps into the cave. Gollum looks around for Bilbo, only to find nothing, which confused the hobbit.
In Bilbo's state of vision, everything is blurred and colourless.
The hobbit stayed where he fell and watched as Gollum roams around the cave looking for him.
"Thief! Baggins!" Gollum cries out.
As Gollum shouts, the sound seems to be compressed and distorted.
After a few moments, Gollum rushes off, going deeper into the tunnels.
Soon as Gollum leaves, Bilbo gets back up and is amazed at the ring he found.
The End of Chapter 18.
I hope you all liked the chapter.
I apologize for the story ending sooner than I intended, I have been busy with family and haven't had time to work on the story.
Plus, I thought it would be a perfect cliffhanger to end the chapter on.
I plan to have chapter 19 up on the site MUCH earlier than I did for this chapter.
Chapter 19 will continue the rest of the group escaping Goblin-town as well as the reunion of the entire group of Thorin & Company.
I would like to thank you all for liking this story and putting it on your favourites list.
Answering Questions/Reviews.
Puffgirl1952 the 2nd: I hope you liked their reactions to the battle, Bobby B was proud of Gendry in action from what he saw. The rest of the escape/battle will continue in Chapter 19.
Asteroth1: Thanks for liking it. I wanted something different in my fic, so I went with Mace and Ned forming a friendship, and because they are the only ones to have more than one child in Middle-Earth, so it made them relate to one another better. I wanted to write a competition during the game of riddles, even if it didn't turn out the way Tyrion and Varys expected, and they decided to call it a draw lol.
kingmanaena: Thanks for liking it, I had fun writing down the riddles, and the ending for that chapter was one of my personal favourites.
JRW123: Thanks for enjoying my story.
aXmeave: Thanks for liking it. Not gonna lie, I had fun writing Bobby B putting Joffrey in his place. They will tell Bobby B after Stannis tells Renly, and Jon Arryn plans to inform Ned of the secret to make sure they have enough men to take down the Lannisters, once they remember Tywin is on his way.
sniperbro1998: Thanks for liking it, and the same here. They are going to be downright terrified of Smaug when he speaks, as well as his attack on Lake-town. No problem with accidentally putting the review on Chapter 1, I still read it, and your theory isn't bad, but you'll have to wait and see when I get to The Desolation of Smaug.
Last Primaris: Thanks for calling it great.
Perseus12: Thanks for liking it, I had fun writing it, despite it starting difficult as hell at first. Honestly, I got rid of Joffrey because sooner or later, he would have made a bigger scene and make the royal family look worse in front of the other Houses. So his tantrum indirectly saves him from making a more dangerous scene, even though most of the other Houses lost respect for him.
Blackstriker94: I am going to try my best and keep Bilbo's ring ominous for when I do the sequel to this story, their reactions will be devastating once they learn Bilbo's ring IS the Ring of Power. The Mormont sisters are gonna like Beorn. Oh boy, they are going to freak, when they see the eagles. Don't worry, in The Desolation of Smaug, the group will have a history lesson about dragons by Gandalf and/or Jon.
VFSNAKE: Thanks for liking it. Sam may have tricked Gollum to end the game, but Gollum would have found out he lost the ring sooner or later. Hope you liked this chapter, and Bobby B making Tommen his heir is something I had planned for a while in the story, even if it will be short-lived as Joffrey has shown time and time again to be unfit as future King (no thanks to Cersei spoiling him, and Bobby B isn't the best parent either). Tywin will appear before the Desolation of Smaug.
Asayn13: Like where you are going with your idea, but anything can happen in the story, though Olenna's face will be priceless. Arianne won't be in the story, even if she was in the story, she wouldn't be the Arianne from the books given she would have been brought up differently than in book canon. But your idea wasn't bad though.
JAIMOL: Thank you for liking my story, I plan to cover all three Hobbit films (extended).
Mans: Hope you liked the battle/escape of Goblin-town.
Guest1: Thanks for liking it, hope you liked the chapter. Honestly, the music slipped my mind until you brought it up, which I did address in this chapter, they are aware of the music, but they ignore the music to pay more attention to the events of the story if that made sense, but it will be more addressed in the later chapters. Yeah, Bobby B will love that part, he is going to be so jealous of Gendry's role in the Battle of the Five Armies. We will see that moment happen as it will show how badass Galadriel is.
Guest2: Thanks for liking the story.
ro781727: Same here, a shame she never did meet any of them in the books or show. Yeah, I purposely did that scene for the heck of it. Tormund and Dwalin are gonna be bros from what we saw already in the battle/escape of Goblin-town. Jorah knows of Daenerys mainly because her Targaryen features make her stand out when she is around the rest of Thorin & Company. Tormund will bring it up in Desolation of Smaug when they are all at Beorn's, and it will be hilarious.
Guest3: Thanks for liking it. Honestly got sick of writing Joffrey, and I needed a way to send him out, he'll make an appearance later on but not for a while. Tywin will appear before the Desolation of Smaug.
CPO135: Thanks for liking the chapter. Hope you liked their reaction when they saw Bilbo turn invisible. I might have someone with Bilbo when he meets Smaug, but it won't be Jon or Dany, given the current plans I have for them. In canon, Narsil was forged by the dwarf Telchar during the First Age but was reforged by Elves in the Third Age for Aragorn, and given its new name Anduril. When comparing Narsil/Anduril and the other Elven blades/weapons to Valyrian Steel blades, I'll say the former is more durable and effective.
Give the history of Valyria in this AU of being Elven descent, and their weapons and armour are like off-brand elven made weapons but are still durable and effective in their own right.
Veljko S: Your ideal isn't bad, but who knows anything can happen.
tyoung: Thanks for liking my story, hope you liked this chapter.
Guest4: I updated, hope you liked the chapter.
Jayhawks: Thanks for liking it, hope you liked Tormund and Dwalin's little moment in this chapter and don't worry, Tormund will explain how he got his last name in the Desolation of Smaug. Maybe that will happen, you'll have to find out and see. Lyanna and Lyra's reaction to Beorn's bear form is gonna surprise them, but it will be Jorah's that will be priceless.
Mari Wollsch: Thanks for liking it, hope you enjoyed Chapter 18.
Phoenix Warehouse Productions: Thanks for liking my fic and I hope you liked this chapter. I plan on doing a sequel to Lord of the Rings, but that won't be for a while. It will depend on what kind of gift it is.
Guest5: I finally updated.
MansRider: Congrats for signing up on the site and I am touched to know you signed up for my story, I plan to have two to three more chapters to cover An Unexpected Journey. Once that is finished, I will be doing 2-3 chapters covering the dragon pit folk having a few days processing what they learned when watching An Unexpected Journey.
Zetcoy: Hope you liked the chapter.
StarKiller Groot: Bard will still kill Smaug like in the book/film, but he will have help doing it.
liuhong2001: Thanks for liking my story.
Jayhawks: To answer your question, the Westerosi in Middle-Earth will have a part in the Battle of the Five Armies, it was my fault for not being too specific on the comment as I meant the Westerosi in the dragon pit will have no part in the Battle of the Five Armies. I hope this answers your question, as well as this story, is going on a different path than I originally planned.
spradleythomas41: When she does find out, she is going to be furious and develop a further hatred of the Starks.
keybladelight: Thanks for liking it. Sadly, I won't be doing that as I am not really into Kingdom Hearts and I hope you liked this chapter.
Poseidon3000: The fic is still active, I have been busy with family lately that led to the delay in the story.
Randy2015: Thanks for finding the fic and loving it, I do my best to update whenever I can.
DovahStark: You'll have to wait and find out when I get there, but I do like your theory.
Guest6: Finally updated.