A loud howl broke out over the mountain side as we all looked on in horror as other Wargs began to howl in the distance.
"Out of the frying pan." Thorin gasped.
"And into the fire. Run. Run!" Gandalf yelled in urgency.
As soon as the words left his lips, we all obeyed his command and made a break for it down the mountain. The wargs were right on our tail, one after the other snarling and bearing their fangs as they tried to take swipes at us.
From my right, Bilbo took a swing of his sword and killed on of them on the spot. He faced me, almost proud of his take down in the moment. I grinned back at him as I shot an arrow over his head, piercing the orc that was coming from behind.
"Come!" I called to Bilbo as we began to run again. All gathering on the mountains' edge. We were cornered. Nowhere to go… no way out of this.
"What ceri- mín ceri- hi?" (What do we do now?) I gasped.
"Up into the trees. All of you! Come on, Climb! Bilbo, climb!" Gandalf told the hobbit.
I took stance behind Bilbo, protecting him from below as he began to climb up the tree with the others. The wargs were getting closer as Thorin yelled, "They're coming!"
I looked behind me as he ran towards me at full speed and grasped my arm, "Go, now!" he ordered and ushered me up the tree, following closely behind. Once all were safe in the tree, the wargs were circling below us, growling immeasurably.
"Azog!" I turned to face Thorin beside me as he looked dead-a-head into the distance. I followed his gaze until my eyes fell upon the mighty orc astride his white Warg. I couldn't believe my eyes, the Goblin Kings' words spoke true… he was alive.
"Do you smell it?" Azog spoke, "The scent of fear? I remember your father reeked of it, Thorin son of Thrain."
"It cannot be." Thorin panted. The wind knocked out of him at what he was seeing stood before him.
Azog spoke in his native tongue as he pointed to Thorin, "That one is mine. Kill the others!" at his command, the wargs descended upon us from the ground below, shaking and clawing their way up the trees where we clung to.
"Drink their blood!" the orc continued.
The wargs managed to topple the trees over, causing us to cling on tighter to the flimsy branches.
I looked up as Gandalf called my name, "Gaylia! Here!" he dropped down a cone which was alight before he tossed one into the Warg pack, causing them to retreat.
"Fili!" I yelled as I tossed one over to him before more were set on fire and thrown into the pack. They began to back off and the dwarves began to cheer at their small win. A large thud shook one of the trees where some of us were positioned as it began to sink and tip under the weight. Now hanging over the edge of the cliff, we held on tighter. Some more stable than others as the tree wavered in the slight breeze and pressure from the roots snapping.
"Mister Gandalf! Aah!" I turned to see Dori was now holding onto Gandalf's staff, his eyes tightly shut as he hung in the air. The tree was now alight from the fire below; branches were breaking and burning underneath us as we held on for dear life.
I turned and looked too Thorin as he got to his feet, a large trunk as a shield on one arm and his sword hanging in the other as he made his way down the inferno.
"Thorin! I yelled after him, "No!"
He continued to walk into the fire, determined to end this here and now with the Pale Orc.
As he walked across the field I rose to my feet as he came closer to Azog, aiming my bow I released an arrow into the head of one of those who stood by the defilers' side. The pale orc turned to his right to witness the falling of one of his own before turning his sights on me, his icy eyes were just that…icy, cold and harrowing.
Thorin charged forward, his arm which was shielded with an oak branch was raised to his face as a shield. His sword held high in the air. I held my breath as its Warg took the opportunity and pounced off of the rock and straight for Thorin, with one swipe of its paw from in the air… he was knocked to the ground.
"No!" I yelled once more as I watched Thorin struggling to get to his feet. The orc turned on his warg and came charging back to him, swinging his weapon, it collided with his chest, knocking him back to the ground instantly.
The jaws of the warg widened around his torso as it bit down, causing immediate cries to come from his bloody mouth. Doing a circle with him in its mouth, Dwalin yelled for his leader from the tree before that branch he was on snapped and he now hung in the air.
I got back to my feet under the shaky wooden trunk as I watched on in horror.
Then, his sword came up through the air and collided with the wargs head causing it to release him into the air before his body came crashing down onto a rock.
"Bring me the dwarf's head." Azog commanded on of his men.
The orc jumped down from its warg and made its way over to him as he lay panting on the ground. Blood soaked and dirty.
From my left I saw Bilbo drawing his sword from its sleeve as he panted, unsure of what his next move could be. I looked at him, panting heavily myself as I nodded, and with that he charged. Jumping from the tree and slamming his side into the unsuspecting orc.
They rolled to the ground as the orc raised its arm, ready to drive the silver blade into Bilbo. I released an arrow, as I ran from the tree, piercing the orc through the shoulder as Bilbo stabbed it to death thereafter.
I kneeled beside Thorin as he lay on the rock, his eyes slowly opening and closing before me as he watched Bilbo fighting the orc.
"Hey… hey, it's me." I tried to reassure him as I held his head, his breathing slowed. "Thorin!" I yelled as his eyes closed slowly and a breath left his parted lips.
As I kneeled by his side, I readied my bow as Bilbo stood in front of us facing Azog.
"Kill him." Azog hissed.
I drew my string just as some of the dwarves came charging down the tree, their weapons in the air as they yelled. Shooting the arrow into one of the wargs necks that was about to pounce on Bilbo before he stabbed it, I sighed once it was dead.
Bilbo continued to fight off some of the orcs and their beasts before one of them threw him to the ground. I stood by Thorin, protecting his lifeless body from the others as they fought in front of me. Azog descended upon Bilbo as he lay on the ground. I fired my last arrow from my quiver to distract him; thankfully, it hit the pale orc through the arm, causing a yelp to come from its jaws.
Just then, as he turned to face me, snarling like his beast as he bled from his wound. The sight from above caused me too look up, blocking out the fighting that was going on around me as large eagles came out of nowhere and clutched the wargs and orcs from the ground, tossing them over the cliffs edge.
I looked up to the sky as the eagles grabbed the dwarves also in their talons, flying away from the remaining orcs. One came swooping down and grabbed Bilbo, throwing him onto another's back over the cliff as he screamed in shock.
As one came straight for Thorin and me, I got to my feet and jumped into the air as it grabbed Thorin's body from the ground with its feet as I landed on its back with ease before we soared into the open sky with the others.
Flying with the other eagles in the sky, I kept looking down to see if he had woken, but he hadn't. Not even a flutter of his eyes were too be seen. I looked forward as Fili yelled to his uncle from one of the other eagles. Pain and horror was written over his face, much like the rest of his kin whom looked on.
Coming to a large rock in the mountain range, the eagle set Thorin's body down slowly as I jumped off its back and onto the hard rock bellow. The other eagles circled before dropping the others off too. I kneeled before Thorin as he was still unconscious, placing my hand against his warm cheek, wiping blood from under his eye.
What is happening to me? I'm not usually like this... I haven't been this worried for someone, not for many, many years. I haven't... cared for someone like this before.
I snapped out of my thoughts as Gandalf rushed over to us and I jumped to my feet and stepped back, "Thorin! Thorin." He panted as he leaned over his body, waving his staff above him.
He gasped, taking in the air as he looked around lost for a few moments before he came to his senses.
"The Halfling?" he asked in a rugged voice.
Gandalf smiled, "It's alright. Bilbo is here, he's quite safe."
He got to his feet quickly before turning to face Bilbo, anger filled his eyes. "You!" he approached him as I held my breath, "What were you doing? You nearly got yourself killed! Did I not say that you would be a burden? That you would not survive in the wild, and you had no place amongst us."
I took a step forward as Thorin approached Bilbo; fear was in the hobbit eyes as he did not know what may happen. Neither did any of us for that matter.
"I have never been so wrong, in all my life." He smiled and embraced the shocked hobbit as the other dwarves cheered them on. "But, I'm sorry I doubted you."
Bilbo snickered, "I…I would have doubted me too. I'm not a hero, nor a warrior. Not even a burglar." He laughed.
As the dwarves walked over to Gandalf and Bilbo, Thorin stayed behind briefly before approaching me.
"And you," He began and I stilled on the spot, my breath catching in my throat. "I cannot thank you enough." He smiled.
I returned his smile, "I…I'm just glad that you're okay."
"Thanks to you and master Baggins, I am."
He thought before speaking his next words, "I judged you based on your kin," he looked down before returning his gaze to me, "but I was wrong to do so."
I looked to him as the sun was rising from behind us, "That's quite alright, I understand your means." I sighed lowly as I fiddled with the wound on my leg, causing his eyes to drift downwards.
"You're hurt?" he asked worriedly. His fingers gently breezed over my thigh near the wound as I winced slightly, my heartbeat was now soaring at his touch.
"It's okay, honestly." He looked up to me, his hand slowly falling back to his side. "It happened in the goblin cavern. It'll heal."
Looking flushed himself, he cleared his throat, as did I.
"If you're sure." He spoke softly, something that I hadn't witnessed before since knowing him. I nodded to reassure him as I was at a loss for words. "Come." He ordered as we joined the others.
The eagles flew overhead as Thorin looked into the open, his eyes widening in amazement at what he seen.
"Is that what I think it is?" Bilbo asked.
Everyone walked to the cliff edge in awe.
"Erebor!" Gandalf smiled in delight, "The Lonely Mountain. The last of the Great Dwarf Kingdoms of Middle-earth.
I looked on from Thorin's side at the cliffs edge, "Our home." He smiled happily. He looked to me from the side as we took in the sight before us. It was beautiful from where we were stood; I could only imagine what it was going to look like from up-close.
"A raven! The birds are returning to the mountain." Ori exclaimed excitedly.
I laughed, "That would be a thrush, master dwarf."
I smiled as I looked to Thorin, catching his gaze as he looked at me before speaking. "Well we'll take it as a sign, a good omen."
I nodded in agreement at his words, the smile never falling from his face as we looked at each other.
"You're right. I do believe the worst is behind us." Bilbo smiled.
"I do believe you are right," I looked to Bilbo as he smiled back before we turned our attention back to the vast open space. "We're almost there."