Chapter 9: Down, Down, Down in Goblin Town
Ariel Brooks had been to a fair number of loud concerts in her life, but nothing could have prepared her ears for the claps of thunder as rain pelted down from on high over the slopes of the Misty Mountains.
She shivered as she tried her best to sidle carefully along the edge of a thin path of stone, keeping her hand flat to the rocky wall beside her as her anchor against the slippery ground.
KABOOM!
Lightning crashed on a mountain across from them, the light so bright the night was as bright as day for a split moment.
"This is getting ridiculous" she mumbled before bellowing out at the top of her lungs to be heard over the howling wind to the front of the line "Thorin! THORIN! This rain is not going to stop any time soon! We can't keep going on like this!"
"We don't stop until nightfall" Thorin roared back at her with his usual eye roll.
"The sky is so dark already! How will we even know if it's night or not?!" Kili grumbled beside Fili as they followed right behind Ariel who flinched as five seconds later the thunder rolled in again, growling like the giant rumbles of a beast in the dark clouds.
"Agh!"
"Bilbo!" she squeaked in terror as the poor hobbit in front of her slipped on a smooth and wet rock, almost toppling over the edge of the cliff. Thankfully however he was caught and pulled back by Dwalin and Bofur and Oin, though they too almost slipped off in the process.
"THORIN!" Dwalin shouted "The lass is right, it's too dangerous for any of us to walk any further. We need to find shelter!"
Thorin looked back ready to retort as usual to the discontent with his plans; however upon seeing the desperate and hangdog expressions on the faces of his soaked company he nodded.
There were immense groans of relief…though it was not to last for long.
"LOOK OUT" Dwalin yelled as suddenly out of nowhere a giant slab of the mountain across from them was torn out of the hard rock and tossed in their direction by a gigantic stone hand.
Within moments the great rock had splintered and was falling in massive pieces, the smallest of which was roughly about the size of a horse each!
Ariel's scream mingled with that of the others as they all shrunk under the shelter of the wall of the cliff face.
"This is no thunderstorm" Balin cried out pointing out into the distance "It's a thunder battle LOOK!"
And even as he spoke a great figure rose up from the side of one of the mountains. Ariel gaped open-mouthed in both awe and fear as it rose to tower high into the air. It was so humongous that it was almost as high as the mountain itself.
"Well bless me" Bofur gasped "The legends are true. Giants! Stone Giants!
With a bellow that shook the earth beneath their feet, the great Stone Giant grabbed another significant chunk out of the side of a mountain in the range and threw it hard over their heads.
Ariel turned quickly as the shadow of the projectile passed over them only to see another tremendous giant spin as its jaw was clocked hard, bits of rock flying off as it splintered upon impact.
"Take cover you fool!" Thorin was yelling, and Ariel wasted no time in grabbing hold of Bilbo's hand and tugging him back to stand as close as he could to the rocky wall as it began to crumble away.
There was a loud gasp from beside her Ariel looked up to see Kili's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as he looked down at her feet.
"Kili-" but even as she looked down, she felt her heart sink like a stone. There right in-between her legs was a massive crack in the rock.
"Oh-my-god-oh-my-god-oh-my-god" she bleated her breath heaving with panic as with every millisecond passing the crack in the rock widened.
"Here take my hand!" Kili reached out to grab her, but soon she was dangling over the edge, her arms too far away from him to reach. She stumbled as the earth shuddered and suddenly felt her feet hit the air.
"GOTCHA!"
Ariel felt an arm grab her by the scruff of her cloak and tug her back onto the rock behind just before the place where she had once stood fell away.
She held on tight as Fili braced her hard with his full arm against the cliff wall as the entire shelf began to move.
Ariel looked up and almost wet herself at the sight that greeted her. A stone giant, as great as the two that they had just seen was creakily getting to his feet as if he were an old boxer being tagged into another fight in the ring…and all fourteen of them were standing right on his knees.
She shut her eyes and prayed for her life as the Stone Giants began another bout, the knees jerking about as the large creatures crashed into each other like angry bulls.
Ariel heard Fili yell out to her but didn't understand the words as she felt them begin to fall forwards.
Oh no. This is it.
She whimpered to herself, feeling tears spring over her eyes
I'm going to die; there's no way I can survive this.
She gripped the dwarf's arm for dear life as she heard a great roar of someone from far off as they crashed into the mountainside.
Then suddenly everything was pitch black and silent.
"NOOO!" Thorin bellowed in horror as he saw the great stone giant's knee crash headlong into the cliff.
His nephew was one of those few that had just crashed and if he even so much as let a scratch of harm come to them-
His heart was hammering against his ribs, he dashed forward, not caring for the wet or his other friends behind him.
No, let them be alright! Let them be alright!
He rounded a corner and sighed with relief as he caught sight of six dwarves all grunting and groaning in pain.
However, when Bofur came up to check the bodies, he began to panic.
"Where's Bilbo? Where's the Hobbit?"
And then another horrified yell this time from Kili as he helped his brother up.
"Where's Ariel?"
Thorin quickly whipped his head around and to his dismay found that both his nephew and his comrade were both right. Neither the Hobbit nor the girl was anywhere on the shelf.
The dwarf prince felt his heart sink like stones in deep water as he heard the small desperate cries from somewhere below.
"Mahal help us!" Ori cried out as he looked down at his feet. There was Bilbo his eyes wide with terror as he gripped onto the edge of the cliff.
But even as the dwarf darted down to grab his hand, the hobbit slipped with a cry.
Thorin dashed over quickly assessing the cliff wall, even in his panic. There was a small but sturdy rock that jutted out just at Bilbo's level.
Without so much as a second thought, the dwarf prince hopped down onto the small rock and grabbed Bilbo by the scruff of his jacket, up into the dwarves arms.
"Phew! I thought we nearly lost our burglar" Dwalin puffed.
"He's been lost ever since he left home" Thorin growled as he saw the hobbits furry feet finally gain enough grip above him. "He should never have come."
"No-wait THORIN!" Bilbo yelled as he was brought back up to stand. "Ariel's still down there she's-….oh no…"
Bilbo felt a lump form in his throat and clapped a hand over his mouth.
There were several gasps and whispers from above.
Thorin's eyes widened as he looked down.
There down far below but still visible to their eyes a girl with dark red hair and covered in green, was lying on a flat shelf of rock. Her eyes were shut, and her face was pale and unkempt as the rain kept pelting down upon her, swamping her body in muddy, mossy slime.
"… Lass…" Balin shut his eyes just as Ori began to blubber beside him.
Even from the height at which they stood above her, they could tell she was not moving one inch.
Thorin's eyes darted around trying to see if he could find a foothold to climb down on, but even as he did his head knew it was no use. No one, not even a dwarf could've survived a fall that high. It would take a miracle for Ariel to even be grasping at the brink of death now.
There were several loud shouts, and the grinding of boots on stone and Thorin looked up to see Kili struggling against the hands of the other members of the company, who were trying to pull him away from the edge.
"Get off! Let go!" The young dwarf roared angrily.
"Kili get back up!" Thorin growled, unable to restrain the tremble in it.
Kili looked up at his uncle his face determined even through the tears streaming from his eyes.
"We can't just leave her down there! What if she's-"
"Kili there isn't a way down. It's too high! There's no way she could've survived" Thorin winced as the words left his mouth. "I'm sorry."
The camp they made in the cave was one of silence that night. No one dared speak to anyone save in passing trivial matters, and even then they were granted disapproving looks, especially from Fili and Kili who were currently sleeping side by side on their own in a corner as far away from Thorin as they could.
Thorin kept his eyes on his two nephews as he lay on his side; guilt overriding his mind. It had been a hard blow for them to be stopped from fetching Ariel's body from that ledge till the rain and storm outside had cleared.
Out of the two of them, Fili was in the worst state. He had been holding onto Ariel when she had fallen and seemed to think he was responsible for her death, despite Kili's attempts to persuade him otherwise.
Whether it was because of their ages being so close, or their carefree personalities, out of all the company, the two young brothers had been the fondest of Ariel. Almost like she was another younger sibling.
And now she's our first casualty.
Thorin's usually stoic jaw clenched as he stared hard at the stone floor he was laying on.
"Go back home to your mother's lap."
He felt disgusted with himself. He couldn't believe he had said such things. Even if the young woman was a witch..
No matter how much the girl had grated on his nerves with her free spirit and sharp tongue he'd never once wished for actual harm to come to her.
His guts now not only had dropped in his body but had vanished as he remembered the sight of the lifeless youthful face below. Ariel's eyes were shut, but he could still see the remnants of fear and pain imprinted into the features.
He dared not imagine what she must have been feeling on the inside when she'd fallen.
Alone, far away from home amongst strangers. It was a death nobody deserved.
"Forgive me, Ariel Brooks."
Far below on the dark shelf of rock, a girl with dark red hair stirred.
"Ow…" Ariel grunted feeling her neck twinge as she turned her head to look to the side.
"Guys…what happened? Guys?"
There was no one around her.
But no surely-how the hell did I survive that drop? I should've surely died and broken my back-ooh! Oow!
She rubbed her lower back as she sat up, trying to ignore the sinking feeling of dread as she called out softly.
"Bilbo? Balin? Dwalin? Bofur? Fili? Kili? Bombur? Oin? Gloin? Nori? Dori? Ori? Bifur?...THORIN?!"
She yelled the last name with much anger and frustration as she kicked hard at the stone wall, stubbing her toe in the process.
She hopped on her uninjured foot, cursing softly with the foulest of curse words that would have made her mother and father faint with shock before striking the stone again.
"Thorin you goddamn ass-! You mother f-ing moron son of a b-! Where the bloody f-ing hell are you, idiots?!"
But even as she roared a flash of lightning sounded on the mountain peak above her and the rain only pelted down harder.
Great, it's still raining, and I'm all cold, wet and alone here…on this shelf…there's No way up and no way down,
She shivered as the cold droplets from above pelted down upon her already soaked body and head just as she felt something warm dribble down her cheek. She reached up timidly and felt the cut from where her cheek had scraped against the rock beside her.
It'll probably get infected.
She snivelled quietly to herself as she made to crouch down in a huddle on the ground. However, for all the good it did she might as well have just continued to lie down and let herself get washed away.
CRACK!
Ariel's head jerked up quickly to look at the wall. What had once appeared to have been solid stone now had a great big crack running down the centre of it.
What on earth-
CRACK!
Ariel fell backwards onto her behind just as a large slab of stone to the right of the crack began to grind itself forwards to reveal a dark gaping chasm of a cave.
The walls were round and high, carved out of the stone of the mountain itself, with wooden beams to support it. Each of these beams was dead and lifeless as the stone and were held together by ropes and dark, dirty iron chains.
However none of that seemed to matter to her now, not when from the darkness several shorter creatures with long arms, snubbed faces and dirty, disgusting skin was crawling towards her like a swarm of giant mutated cockroaches.
Ariel screamed.
Bilbo Baggins jumped up from his sleep, his eyes wide and his brow drenched with sweat.
What was that?
He looked around wildly. All about him were dwarves sleeping and snoring on the ground. Outside rain pelted down like a snare drum on a continuous roll while thunder and lightning flashed outside.
And yet in spite of all that racket, the hobbit was sure he'd heard a scream of a girl.
No.
He shook his head sadly to himself
She couldn't have survived, and neither would I have if I had fallen.
And at this Bilbo began to wonder. What if it had been him that had taken Ariel's place?
Would the dwarves grieve for his loss? Or would he have just been left to decompose on a flat lump of rock, without the dignity of a grave or a proper send-off? Just a nameless corpse or skeleton on the side of a mountain.
Thorin's words from before echoed through his mind.
"He has no place amongst us."
Was that it then? Was Bilbo Baggins just dragged away from his hobbit hole for nothing?
Without further ado, Bilbo picked himself up off the ground and began to strap on his gear again.
That was it! Thorin Oakensheild had just left the body of a dead young girl lie and rot on the mountainside. If this was how it was going to be then he wanted no part in it; screw the contract!
Picking up his walking stick and holding it high in his hands he trod carefully over the legs of the sleeping dwarves almost accidentally tripping over Oin's feet as the dwarf suddenly decided to turn over onto his side.
Bilbo paused as some of the dwarves stirred for a moment, before dropping back into their loud snores.
He sighed silently under his breath before quietly creeping towards the cave entrance.
However just before he could step out there was a soft frantic hiss.
"Hey! Where do you think you're going?"
It was Bofur, and he was sitting up in his corner from where he had positioned himself for the first watch.
"Back to Rivendell" Bilbo clipped but as soon as the words were out of his mouth, the dwarf was scrambling over to him.
"No, no you can't turn back now eh? You're part of the company; you're one of us."
"I'm not though am I?" Bilbo shrugged. "Thorin said I should never have come and he was right. I'm not a Took; I'm a Baggins. I don't know what I was thinking. I should never have run out my door."
"You're upset, and you're homesick," Bofur said sympathetically "I understand-"
"No, you don't." Bilbo hissed "You don't understand. None of you do. You're dwarves, you are used to this life to living on the road, never settling in one place not belonging anywhere! If you did understand, then there wouldn't be a girl lying dead over the edge of a cliff!"
Bofur's once kind and sympathetic face now paled and fell like a stone.
Bilbo repeated over what he'd just said in his mind and quickly backtracked.
"Oh, no I'm sorry I didn't-I didn't-"
"No…" Bofur mumbled quietly looking back at the rest of the sleeping company "You're right, we don't belong anywhere."
He turned back to the hobbit with a small, sad smile.
"And I wish you all the luck in the world Bilbo, I do."
He patted Bilbo on the arm, and Bilbo smiled gratefully at him before beginning to turn around.
Bofur frowned as he caught sight of something glimmering on Bilbo's belt.
"What's that?"
"Hmm?" Bilbo quickly looked down to where the dwarf was looking and blinked.
His sword, the small blade Gandalf had picked up from the troll hoard was glowing a bright blue. He could almost remember the words the wizard had told him when he had been handed the weapon.
"The blade is of elvish make which means it will glow blue when orcs are about."
His face drained of colour.
Oh no…
There was the rustling of material as Thorin leaned up from his spot on the ground. Contrary to what the Hobbit had first thought, he had not fallen asleep. He'd been wide awake ever since Bilbo had tried to sneak out and had been watching the exchange between him and Bofur with quiet disappointment.
He should have known that the hobbit would not stay with them now that his only real friend in the company was gone.
But now he was alert as he saw Bilbo pull out the blade on his hip just as the ground beneath them shuddered ominously.
Thorin quickly looked about and saw to his horror that there was a crack in the floor winding its way in between all the sleeping bodies of the others.
"Wake up! Wake up!" he barked kicking out to whoever he could reach.
The rest of the company, who had only just managed to get to sleep within the past hour suddenly jerked awake and looked around in confusion.
Just in time for the floor to suddenly drop beneath them and plunge them all into total darkness.
Ariel Brooks screamed and screeched as she struggled against the many filthy long arms of the goblins about her.
She could only guess they were goblins because despite her terror her mind was working on the double to remember the passages in TheHobbit book where Thorin and the company got captured by the Great-
OH MY GOD! NO-NO-NO-NO-NO! THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING TO ME!
She squeaked with terror as a goblin reached out to grab her by the roots of her hair and tug her forwards. Its swarm of fellows followed each one of them doing their best to snatch a piece of their terrified victim's clothes, ripping the material with their claw-like nails.
Ariel almost gagged from the smell of decay and filth that blew off the foul creatures like radiation from a nuclear power leak. It was so pungent that she was almost throwing up over herself as she was dragged further and further into the darkness.
The paths about her were only made of wood and rope or stone if they were close enough to the wall. However, they seemed sturdy enough to hold the weight of all the disgusting inhabitants they served plus her own.
But Ariel was not concerned about whether she would fall. As she passed by a crack in the rock, a large sweaty, wrinkled hand, probably one of the goblins, had just yanked her staff and her sword away from her body. Horrified she did her best to scramble back for it only for a row of small sharp teeth to dig itself in her shoulder in punishment.
She howled in pain, much to the amusement of the goblins who all cackled as she screeched.
"AHHH! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP! HELP ME PLEASE SOMEONE! ANYONE?!"
Usually Ariel would've scoffed at such typical damsel in distress lines, however now that the time came for her to be in trouble, she found that nothing else was willing to spew from her mouth. She had no weapons to fight with, and she didn't know any martial arts whatsoever, so hand to hand combat was out of the question.
She wasn't powerfully built like a dwarf, nor fast like an elf, nor small or as sneaky as a hobbit. She was just a single human girl with only her voice at her disposal.
A voice that just about fell away into a horrified silence as she was dragged into a vast space deep within the heart of the mountain.
This entire area was larger than five football stadiums combined, so big in fact that the goblin city itself could fit snugly in with room to spare. Flaming torches lined all the walkways and walls providing a bright but still harsh orange-red glow about the caverns that cast dark, stark shadows.
Ariel could feel her eyes streaming over in tears of fright as she was brought over a rickety wooden bridge and onto a platform raised high in the centre of the Goblin city. There seated in all his morbidly disgusting glory sat a goblin of enormous size -no wait- enormous was merely a euphemism.
Oh god he's bigger than Jabba the Hut
Ariel gulped down the bile threatening to rise in her throat as she looked upon the Great Goblin for the first time.
He was towering over her at more than nine feet at least and was giant, obese, bloated with lots of warts, lumps, and scars riddled over the fatty hips that were thankfully covered by a torn and soiled loincloth. In his hands, which alone were the size of large dustbins, he carried a large staff decorated with the skull of what seemed to be a ram, adorned with shrunken heads. But what got to Ariel most was his chin or rather the massive drooping almost tumorous growth that was hanging off the bottom of the large piggy face like the misshapen blown up waddle of a turkey.
Ariel barely had time to take in all of the terrible mass before she was thrown before the Great Goblin's feet with a harsh shove. When she squeaked upon impact with the floor, there was a horrific din as all the goblins about her began to cackle once more.
"Well, well, well" The Great Goblin King sniggered maliciously as he looked down from his large wooden throne to the girl at his feet.
"What have we got here boys?"
"A treat for your malevolence" a smaller goblin servant hissed bowing low to his leader. "found her kicking down one of our small escape doors."
"One of our escape doors hmm?" The Great Goblin turned an imperious eye on Ariel as he tilted the end of his bone staff so that it hit the underside of her chin. Without even a twitch of his fingers, Ariel felt the rod push up her head so it could be viewed in the light of the fiery torches.
"Tut-tut-tut!" He shook his head disappointedly as he looked over her small waist and chest "scrawny. Not enough meat for eating. But she does have a he-ehe- a pretty face…" he leered down at the girl before him nefariously "don't worry my pet I'll find a use for you sooner or later. Who knows you might be good entertainment. Clap her in chains and bring 'er over here."
"NO, Wait-stop-AH!" Ariel screeched as she was pounced upon by a goblin from behind who roughly forced her to lean forward on her hands and knees as another goblin hurried forwards. In its arms were a pair of rusted but strong Iron shackles which were both attached to her wrists, joining them so that they could only move a foot apart at most. Around her neck too another metal shackle was placed this time with a long chain that flowed over to wrap around the large flabby arm of the Great Goblin.
Like a dog to a leash
Ariel winced as she was shoved to the side of the throne to sit and shiver in the shadows.
"Hmm…how do I look now?" the Great Goblin sneered to his followers as he lounged about on his throne, along gigantic gorilla-like appendage reaching down to savagely tousle Ariel's damp locks atop her head.
Without thinking she automatically jerked her head around and spat savagely onto the ham hands that reached out towards her.
The goblins about them all broke out into fits of horrible laughter once more; even the Great Goblin was amused.
"HA! Well aren't you a feisty one?" he barked with glee as he returned the favour and spat at her.
Ariel shut her eyes, barely feeling the tears stream down her face as something mucous like and slimy soared over her head, specks of it hitting her scalp.
Her companions all thought she was dead and now she might soon be gone after this monster was done playing with her and spitting on her like she was filth beneath his dirty feet.
"Aww did I hurt the poor little pet's feelings?" the Great Goblin mockingly cooed as Ariel cringed away from his touch.
"So…Sorry" He flicked out the rope and chains, and she yelped in pain as the hard metal flicked harshly against her back like a sharp whip.
Mum! Dad! Ian! SOMEONE ANYONE PLEASE!
She whimpered as the Great Goblin struck at her with his makeshift whip once more, this time slashing her over her arm and shoulder and a little bit on her cheek. Ariel felt another cut searing as blood oozed over her cheek, staining it red.
The Goblins about her eyed the red liquid that came trickling down. They were hungry for meat, and such a fresh delicacy were maidens that even a tiny droplet of their blood was enough to send them into a frenzy. However, they dared not take their king's prey.
Ariel shut her eyes tight as she heard the hungry murmurings of the Great Goblin behind her as he sniffed the air.
"Ohhh…that smells good…" he tugged on her chains hard and instead of whipping her, he instead dragged her over to the foot of his chair before hoisting her up by the chainlinks to dangle before his face.
He licked his lips with a disgusting red tongue as he eyed the bleeding cuts on her face, her shoulders and upper back, her long dark reddish-brown tousled hair, the terrified light chestnut eyes before darting down to her legs as she kicked out in a struggle. During her wriggling, a long tear in the right of her skirts, courtesy of his manhandling subjects, began to unravel further till it stopped mid-thigh, exposing a fair amount of bruised light brown skin.
"Hmm you do look appetising" he growled. "Maybe if I take just a little nibble-"
"Sire! SIRE!" a small goblin quickly darted onto the platform from a bridge from the opposite side of the cavern. "Sire we've got more visitors."
"Visitors?" the Great Goblin dropped his prize promptly to the floor where she landed with a thud. "Well, what are you waiting for? Turn up the music. Show them in. And then afterwards I can enjoy my snack" he hissed glancing down to the ground.
Ariel scrambled away from the Great Goblin's line of sight to hide hunched over in the shadows of his throne. He had many old sharp bones lying about the floor of the high chair. If only she could figure out a way to pick at the locks on her shackles-
She was distracted from her task by the goblin citizens sudden roars of delight, as a platoon of the foul vermin came swarming in from where the messenger had just arrived.
As they came closer, she was able to catch snippets of loud shouts that certainly didn't sound like any goblins she'd heard thus far.
"Unhand me!"
"Let go-"
"You filthy little bas-"
Those voices, they sound just like-
"GUYS!" she screeched from her spot as she caught sight of poor Bifur and Ori bringing up the lead as they were dragged onto the platform before the Great Goblin King.
Next, she saw Thorin, Bofur, Bombur, Balin, Dwalin, Fili, Kili, Nori, Dori, Gloin and Oin…but no matter how hard she looked there was no sign of Bilbo.
Her gut dropped as she looked over the group who in turn was staring at her with shock as if she were a ghost.
Thorin's face indeed was the palest of the lot as he caught sight of the bedraggled girl he'd once thought dead. When he caught sight of the chain binding her to the Great Goblin his nostrils flared incensed.
Those monsters, how could they?!
Ariel couldn't help but shiver and turn her face away in shame. No matter how angry she got at him, it still didn't stop the fact that he might have been right about her abilities, or rather lack of capabilities, as a warrior after all.
However, she didn't have any time to wallow in her self-pity for the Goblin King was gearing up to sing as disconcerting and cacophonic but unmistakably musical notes began to play from somewhere far above.
Clap snap, the black crack
Grip, grab, pinch, and nab
Batter and beat
Make them stammer and squeak!
And with that "squeak" the Great Goblin hopped to his feet, and the floorboards beneath him squeaked in protest to his massive weight.
Pound pound, far underground
Down, down, down in Goblin Town
And with every "Down, down, down" all the Goblins about the entire city made to roar out in unco-ordinated harmony causing a clash so vile upon their ears that many of the dwarves cringed and stuffed their fingers in their ears.
With a swish and smack
And a whip and a crack
He snapped the chains once more upon Ariel's hunching back. She managed to roll out of the way just in time; however her fortune was only temporary as the chain around her neck was tugged to its fullest extent choking her throat tight.
Everybody talks when they're on my rack
Pound pound, far underground
Down, down, down in Goblin Town
Ariel spluttered and bleated as her body was suddenly tugged back in front of the Great Goblin who was still singing loudly.
Hammer and tongs, get out your knockers and gongs
You won't last long at the end of my prongs
And as he hit the high note of that bar, the Great Goblin struck a smaller goblin on the end of his bone staff and flung it carelessly over the edge, its dark blood staining and splattering over the wooden floorboards beneath.
Clash, crash, crush and smash
Bang, break, shiver and shake
You can yammer and yelp
But there ain't no help
The Company of Thorin all cried out in horror as the girl yelped and shrieked as the chains whipped down on her once again, this time hitting their mark right across her back in long diagonal swipes in time to the words of the next line in the song.
Pound
CRACK!
Pound,
CRACK!
far underground
CRACK!
Down, down, down in Goblin To-own!
The company had to duck as the Great Goblin did a turn, wheeling his massive arms around him like a windmill for a good minute before stomping down on his finishing note, onto which he added another even louder crack of the chains.
Ariel shrieked so loudly and so shrilly that Ori almost fainted then and there on the spot much to the delight of the goblins about them.
"Catchy isn't it?" The Great Goblin sighed as he bowed to his audience as all of his minions cheered him on. "One of my own compositions."
The company's eyes, however, were focused on the floor. There Ariel was sobbing in a small ball on her side, wishing she could vanish and go back home right then and there within a heartbeat.
The Great Goblin spared her a small snort before nudging his foot out to roll her onto her back so they could all see her pale, sweaty, grimy, blood and tear-stained face.
"Oh yes, this is my brand-new pet. Do you like her? I do. Pretty little thing isn't she. Squawks like a baby bird in the nest, ehehe!"
There was the scuffling of material as Dwalin lunged forwards against the push of his comrades who were standing in front of him, doing their best to keep the snarling dwarf out of trouble.
"You abomination! You filthy despicable-"
"Abominations, mutations, deviations." The Great Goblin shrugged nonchalantly over the top of the dwarf "That's all you're going to find down here."
Ariel flinched as the sounds of metal hitting wood announced the disposal of weapons at the great Goblin's feet.
"Now, who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom." He snarled "Spies? Thieves? Assassins?"
"Dwarves your malevolence" a goblin bowed respectfully from the sides.
"Dwarves?"
"Found them on the Front Porch."
"Well don't just stand there. Search them" the Great Goblin commanded but even as he pointed his finger; he yanked Ariel forwards by the neck sending her sprawling face first into the ground.
But the company did not have time to come to her aid for at that moment the goblins swarmed them, stripping them of whatever gear and pack they carried.
Eventually one of the vile creatures got hold of Nori's rucksack which it tipped over to reveal a whole mass of delicately crafted candlesticks, cutlery and various other household items.
"It is my belief your great protuberance, that they are in league with elves" another small goblin held out a golden candlestick for his king to see.
"Made in Rivendell," the Great Goblin scoffed "Ah Second age couldn't give it away. What are you doing in these parts?"
"Uh don't worry lads. I'll handle this" Oin stepped forwards before Thorin could open his mouth.
"No tricks. I want the truth, warts and all" the Great Goblin sneered.
Ariel rolled over and looked up from her spot on the floor, hope brimming in her light eye as Oin said.
"You're going to have to speak up. Yer boys flattened my trumpet", and he held up his battered and now flattened remains of an ear trumpet.
The Great Goblin rolled his eyes.
"I'll flatten more than your trumpet!"
"If it's more information you want, then I'm the one you should speak to" Bofur but in quickly before the temper of the vile king could rise.
After a tiny nod, Bofur sighed.
"you see we were on the road. Well, it's not so much a road as a path. Actually, it's not even that come to think of it. It's more like a track. Anyway, the point is, we were on this road like a path like a track, and then we weren't. Which is a problem because we were supposed to be in Dunland last Tuesday."
That's it! We're doomed.
Ariel's head thudded to the ground in absolute exasperation as another dwarf piped in.
"Visiting distant relations."
"Yes." Bofur nodded vigorously before adding "A few in-breeds on my mother's side-"
"SHUT UP!" The Great Goblin roared, and everyone shrank away "If they will not talk we'll make them SQUAWK! Bring up the mangler, bring up the bone breaker! Start with the pretty on here. I'm sure she'll squeal something sweet in no time."
He looked down at Ariel, tossing down her chain from his hands and at once the goblins began to swarm about her.
"WAIT!" A gruff voice boomed, and at once the Goblins around Ariel drew back as Thorin stepped forwards to stand in front of her, glaring up at the Great Goblin.
The Great Goblin looked down on him, recognition dawning in his disgusting features
"Well, well, well. Look who it is. Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror. King Under the Mountain."
And with that, the Great Goblin gave a mocking bow before adding with a sneer.
"Oh, but I forgot you don't have a mountain. And you're not a king. Which makes you-hmm-nobody really. I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head. Just a head, nothing attached. Perhaps you know of whom I speak. An old enemy of yours. A pale Orc, astride a white Warg."
Thorin's glare turned if possible, even stonier than before as the Great Goblin's eyes glinted with wicked pleasure.
When the dwarf prince spoke, his voice was strained as if he were doing his best to hold back all of his anger behind a stone.
"Azog the Defiler was destroyed. He was slain in battle long ago."
"So you think his defiling days are done do you?" The Great Goblin hissed before turning to a snivelling tiny goblin by his side who had a wooden clipboard and a stick of graphite in his hand.
"Send word to the Pale Orc. Tell him I have found his prize."
"What has roots that nobody sees, is taller than trees. Up up it goes, and yet never grows?"
"Uh, easy um…mountain I suppose?"
"Bones will be shattered; necks will be wrung-"
Ariel was clinging for dear life onto Gloin as the goblins all around them danced about trying to snatch at anything and everything on her and the dwarves that they could get their hands on.
"LASS!" the dwarf yelled as Ariel was snatched from his side and was pounced on by a particularly horrific goblin with greenish skin which immediately began to paw at her body, its claws scraping hard at her green dress.
Then suddenly a pale fist slammed hard into the jaw of the disgusting little vermin with a loud yell.
"Get off her scum!"
"Ori" Ariel bleated her hands clutching at the collar of the smallest dwarf's wool knitted sweater as he quickly grabbed her.
"Get down and follow me" he yelled as he pulled her down and away from a small goblin that lunged at them both. It flew over the top of them landing into a couple of its fellows behind as Ori and Ariel did their best to crawl under the feet of them, keeping out of sight.
However, their safety was not to last for long as Ariel slipped on her hands and knees loudly and at once a pair of filthy claw-like hands grabbed at her ankles.
"Ori-Ori-AHHH!" she screamed as Ori, only just realising her trouble flung himself at her.
"No!"
But too late for even as his fingers grazed hers, she was dragged away from him.
Ariel cried out in terror as her knees painfully scraped against the rotten wood beneath her. She twisted, struggled and turned, but the only thing she saw was the face of a remarkably ugly goblin gripping at her as he pulled her back towards the Great Goblin's throne.
With a high kick, Ariel managed to send it flying off her only to incur the wrath of several of its fellows. She scrambled backwards as they advanced on her, her hands hitting cold smooth metal as she planted them on the pile of weapons that the goblins had confiscated from the company.
Must get a sword or something…anything! Even a goddamn fork is better than nothing!
After fumbling about for a good few seconds, her hands found the hilt of a sword.
Without thinking she swung the blade out in front of her just as two goblins pounced onto her.
There was a shriek of pain and a splattering of dark blood. All the other dwarves turned around in surprise to see one Goblin holding onto a bloodied stump that was once where its hand had been while the other was dead on the ground, a large gash over his neck as Ariel held up a slender silver sword gleaming a bright, vivid blue.
"Orcrist" Ariel breathed, but then she looked up and saw to her horror that the goblins about her were snarling as their king shrieked.
"I know that sword. It is the Goblin-cleaver! The biter, the blade that sliced a thousand necks. SLASH THEM, BEAT THEM! KILL THEM! KILL THEM ALL! CUT OFF THEIR HEADS"
And as he roared all his minions jumped down viciously upon their prey their faces incensed Ariel clung onto Orcrist for dear life and not knowing what else to do she swung the sword in her hands wildly at any goblin that dared come within a metre of her.
It seemed to work, if only for a little time.
Unlike the other dwarves about her Ariel barely had much upper body strength and the sword was unnaturally heavy in her hands. So being the amateur swordswoman, she soon found her arms beginning to ache even when she held the blade still.
Her opponents seemed to notice her shaking limbs for they began to attack in earnest, one of them even managing to cut her shoulder with a small knife. As she jumped back, she fell backwards onto the floor.
The goblins all snickered and several of them pinned her arms and legs down while another one bore down on the girl dangling a gleaming serrated bone dagger above her head.
This is it, I'm done for! I'm going to die!
Tears leaked from her eyes as Ariel struggled against the grimy hands weighing her limbs down.
Then suddenly everything turned into a bright blinding white.
Ariel stayed still in as the light obscured her vision and blew all the goblins restraining her off of her body; their cries somehow lost in the silence of shock.
She could swear that it was so quiet where she was that she could even hear the sounds from far below echo up through the rocky caves for a split second.
"They stole it from us! Thief! Thief! They stole my precious!"
? That…that couldn't have been…Gollum?!
But Ariel did not have time to ponder the screams, not when the world suddenly drew her back into darkness as the white light disappeared.
Something long and wooden rolled towards her from the side and blinking she turned her head.
Her heart leapt in her throat as she caught sight of a green gem glimmering from within the head of a redwood staff.
She grabbed at it quickly her head rising to see the tall, familiar silhouette of an old man. He was wearing grey robes with a tall pointed hat atop his head and bearing a sword in one hand and a staff in the other, both of which glinted in the light of the returning flames.
"Take up arms" Gandalf the Grey commanded as his apprentice and the company all looked upon him in shock and awe.
"Fight. FIGHT!" he cried, suddenly lunging forward, wielding both sword and staff high in his hands.
Ariel didn't know how but the sight of Gandalf suddenly made her gut burn with renewed vigour as hope rekindled and without further ado, she sprung to her feet.
It was absolute pandemonium.
The dwarves and goblins were striking at one another left right and centre. Yells and shrieks blasted like loud thunderclaps; blood spurted from wounds from swords and axes, teeth broke as hammers struck.
Ariel barely knew what was happening, though she did manage to realise that in all the confusion one of the dwarves' swords that had accidentally almost hit her, had cut through the chain that held her hands bound together.
Now free to move her arms she began to attack with much faster and broader strokes, striking down all the goblins she could see as they tried to swarm on them once more.
"Look Out!" She cried as she saw the Great Goblin suddenly rush out from his chair to lunge at Thorin who was busy fighting off another goblin to his right.
Ariel thrust out her staff, and a ball of green light suddenly burst from the end of it, blasting straight into the oversized goblin king and sending him flying off the edge of the platform.
Thorin looked up and was surprised to be seeing, not the scared whimpering girl he'd just seen getting whipped on the floor, but a young woman with a weapon in her hands and a determined gleam in her bright eyes as she struck down another goblin that had attacked her.
He gave her a firm nod as they passed one another on the small battlefield, him slicing down his opponents while she struck with her magic creating vines that would hold and strangle the vile goblins that dared come close to any of the company.
Once most of the platform was clear of most of their captors Gandalf called out to the company loudly.
"Follow me quick!
Ariel wasted no time in running after the wizard as he ran off the platform and over a wooden bridge, the dwarves following close behind.
"How on earth did you find us?!" she yelled, her heart hammering in her chest as they descended, down, down and down further into the centre of the mountains.
"I'll explain when we get to safety, but right now, we must keep moving. QUICKLY" Gandalf cried as he saw more goblins begin to crawl out from various cracks and holes in the walls above them their faces alive with malice.
There was puffing from behind her and Ariel quickly turned to see Bombur at the back of the line of dwarves running and huffing as his stout legs carried his overweight form as fast as they could over the wood.
The chilling sounds of harsh screeches and roars hit her ears again as a whole pack of Goblins jumped to block the path in front of them.
Ariel looked about for any sign or another pathway, but it was no use. There was only one way in front.
It was Balin who came up with the solution.
"grab the post" he cried out picking up one of the handrails of the bridge in his arms. Ariel and the others quickly grabbed onto it and pushed it out in front, using it to shove the goblins out of their way, much like an icebreaker would break apart ice.
They had been running in this manner for only a few moments when Ariel suddenly gasped as she jerked backwards.
One of the goblins had crawled up under the pathway scaffolding beneath them and had grabbed onto the long chain that the Great Goblin had put about her throat.
She choked and spluttered as the chain around her neck tightened horribly, constricting her air passages as she was dragged back towards the edge of the path.
"Hold on Lass!" she heard a yell and shut her eyes as Dwalin's dark shadow leapt down over her swinging his axes down. With a mighty swipe, he cut down the goblin dragging her before slamming his other axe down, this time on the chain. It broke asunder the links shattering as they severed from one another in a loud metallic crunch that made Ariel's ears ring.
She winced as she was tugged to her feet and shoved back into the company who all made to drag her along behind.
Once or twice she almost tripped or fell through a hole in the decaying wooden boards beneath her feet as they proceeded over the bridge, after bridge after bridge.
Holy crap, this is absolute madness!
Ariel screeched in her head as she once again was caught in the middle of several goblins, swinging her staff and blasting them with her magic as hard as she could.
Meanwhile, around her, all the dwarves were facing problems of their own with moving forwards for every step they took goblins kept blocking their path as they ran, jumped even swung over tracks and gaps.
There has gotta be a way of mowing them down in front of us
She bit her lip as she ran forwards after Gandalf who was still trying to yell encouragements from the front of the line as goblins leapt down from who knew where.
Quickly she looked up as the firelight of the torches about her illuminated the rocky ceiling.
She gasped as she saw a giant round rock dangling just a short way above them.
That'll work
"Stand back!" she yelled shoving her staff forwards. A green blast fired upwards to the ceiling and hit the large round rock which fell with a tremendous thud right before Thorin's face as he skidded to a stop just in time.
"What are you trying to do girl? Kill us?" he roared, but Ariel just shouted back at him just as angrily as she ran up to shove her weight against the rock.
"Just shut up and push!"
It took her and the efforts of four dwarves but soon the rock was rolling along, fast and robust down the path before them like a giant marble.
Heartened by this new weapon the dwarves all proceeded to run off after the rock, pushing it around corners and fast downhill whenever they were faced with stairs.
As it rolled it squashed and smashed into goblins, pounding them into pancakes or tossing them off the path and down into the depths of the caves below.
Eventually, the rock itself fell off and over the edge as gravity called it over a small cliff face, but the dwarves were not perturbed. Not when Gandalf could see the exit right before them.
However even as they ran onto the bridge between them and the great hole in the rock before them something tremendous and substantial broke through the wood from beneath.
They all stumbled back in alarm as the Great Goblin clambered up onto their pathway leering down at all of them.
"You thought you could escape me?"
The Great Goblin swung his bone staff before them.
"What are you going to do now Wizard?"
Gandalf keeled backwards only to be pushed back up onto his feet by the dwarves.
It took him a split second to come to his senses, but when he did, he did not disappoint.
"HA!" Ariel laughed victoriously when she saw him poke the goblin's eye with his staff before swinging the sword Glamdring, its blade slicing across the great king's fat belly.
"Aye, that'll do it" The Great Goblin grunted only for his head to roll to the side as Gandalf once more sliced his blade, this time cutting the throat.
There was a thud and a shudder as the Great Goblin keeled over and slammed down hard onto the ground, his body lifeless.
However, the tremor was more than enough.
Within seconds the wood was cracking and snapping, and Ariel looked down in alarm to see that the supports beneath were giving way.
"HOLD ON!" she heard a dwarf yell and quickly she felt two pairs of arms grab hold of her by her shoulders and tug her down just as the floor fell away beneath her.
It was worse than when she'd been thrown off the cliff by the stone giants. Everyone was screaming, wind and splintering wood scratched her already scratched up face and body. But even so, she kept clinging on for dear life onto the people beside her as they fell, down, down, down and –
CRASH!
The remains of the wooden bridge finally hit the ground.
"THIEF! THIEF! BAGGINS! CURSES AND CRUSH THEM! THIEF!"
"Well, that could've been worse."
BAM!
Ariel gasped her eyes flying open. She seemed to be lying in the dark on top of something soft that was groaning in pain.
"Oww…"
She recognised the voice at once.
"Kili?"
She tried to move around to get off her friend however found to her dismay that someone else was laying on top of her their blonde head next to hers.
"Are you alright?" a voice muttered softly in her ear.
Ariel squeaked for a moment in surprise though it was quick to pass as Fili puffed in her ear, his short-braided beard scratching her cheek.
"I'll take that as a yes."
"Oh god are we alive?" Ariel breathed in shock only to wince as Fili tried his best to push himself up off her. It was a difficult task seeing as there was a large beam of wood pressing against his back.
"If by alive you mean not crushed or eaten alive by goblins yet then yes, we are" he grunted as he tried to push himself up onto his knees.
Kili spluttered as he tried to move Ariel's red hair out of his face.
"Cheery today aren't you brother AGH! Fi!"
Ariel looked down and saw that one of his Fili's knees had accidentally knocked his brother below the belt right in-between his legs.
"Sorry, Kili but it's a bit cramped in here if you haven't noticed!"
"Ugh! Men." Ariel shut her eyes and sighed heavily, as she squirmed and found to her relief that her entire body, though sore and stiff, was completely unscathed. However, she was surprised to see that her head was not even in contact with the ground beneath her. After a quick twist of her neck, she finally felt Fili's large numb, cold fingers clasped protectively over her scalp and neck, holding her face close over his shoulder while Kili seemed to have positioned her securely by the waist so that her back was cushioned by half of his stomach.
Her back-
Both Fili and Kili stiffened as Ariel gave a tiny whimper in-between them.
"Ariel what's wrong."
"It's…its nothing I just…agh!" Ariel hissed biting down on her lip as she did her best to crawl out from under Fili as he managed to push himself onto his hands and knees even under the weight of the wooden structure above them.
As she withdrew off him, Kili sighed with relief and looked up and about.
The other dwarves and Gandalf were groaning and moaning as they detached themselves from the wreckage of the bridge on top of which the corpse of the Great Goblin now lay as millions of his minions crawled down the-
"GANDALF!" Kili cried in horror pointing at the caves above.
Ariel looked up, and her face paled her hands gripping onto her staff tightly.
Like a hoard of cockroaches, hundreds upon hundreds of goblins were crawling down the walls towards them with high speed and much anger.
"There's too many we can't fight them" Dwalin growled as he pulled Nori to his feet.
"Only one thing will save us, daylight!" Gandalf cried out as he pointed to a hole in the rock before them "Come on."
Without pausing to think Fili threw off the wooden beams from his brother and they both quickly scrambled over to a still struggling Ariel. They both grabbed her from around her shoulders and pulled her to her aching feet, almost dragging her along as the entire company ran back into the darkness.
Ariel barely heard the yells as she did her best to focus on the path ahead which was now dark and stony.
"This way!" Gandalf called.
Ariel felt herself get tugged about a corner and as she did her hands touched the stone wall. Only it wasn't only the rock. Something plant like was creeping up it. She shut her eyes and felt it as her hand scraped by it with every running stride.
Roots?
At once a rush of energy flooded through her at the touch, streaming through her body, right down from her hands to the very tips of her toes.
She opened her eyes and almost gasped. It was just like when she had fought against the trolls the first time. The whole world was cloaked in darkness, but she could again see very plainly the roots all above her head, glimmering a faint green. The dwarves before her were like smoky shadows as they followed a bright white flame like figure. With a jolt to her stomach, she recognised the staff and the pointed hat.
That was Gandalf? But why was he so different from the dwarves? Was it his magic?
"Hey, look it's happening again" Kili whispered as they continued to rush along the walls Ariel keeping her hand trailing after the mountain roots. Through them, she could almost feel the very hairs of the roots as plainly as she could feel her hair on her head as they crept along the wall and straight through to the-
"Gandalf!" she hissed as she passed by the wizard as he made to stop at the said corner and count off the members of the party. "We need to turn on the next bend to the right."
As their gaze met the wizard stiffened. Her eyes were no longer the light orbs of chestnut but a bright glimmering green.
Those eyes…they're just like when…but it couldn't' be…
The wizard shook his head out to clear it and barked to the two young dwarves on either side of her.
"Go to the front. Thorin! Follow Ariel; she knows the way out."
"What about you?" Ariel asked looking behind.
"Don't mind me just go ahead" Gandalf called before falling behind to encourage the rest of the company onwards from the back.
Invigorated by the presence of the root's energy Ariel was soon by Thorin's side, though when she came level, he spared her a small frown.
"Where to?" he asked gruffly.
"We turn left on the second turn and go down some stairs before another left through a narrow passage, then a right then another right and then straight outside!" she puffed.
"Are you sure?"
Ariel was about to snap back at him when she noticed that his look was not one of aggravation but one of concern.
"Yes, I'm very sure" Ariel nodded quietly but then stumbled as her back throbbed in agony. Luckily, Thorin quickly caught her and slung one of her arms over his shoulders to support her weight as they ran.
"You truly are a magnet for trouble" he muttered under his breath, shaking his head at her and rolling his eyes.
"Just turn left now jackass" she snarled.
Despite their desperate predicament many of the dwarves sniggered behind them, though they quickly stopped as the growls of Goblins suddenly became louder behind them.
Their hearts all hammered in their chests as they ran down a set of stone steps for a good fifty meters before turning right, the sounds of the goblins echoing horribly behind them.
Suddenly there was a cry of relief from Bofur as they approached the end of a narrow pathway.
"LOOK THE SUNLIGHT!"
And indeed, there it was. As the company turned a corner, they were all hit with a blast of bright yellow light as it streamed through a great big hole before them, out of which they could see grassy slopes and the tops of trees.
Ariel's heart soared, and suddenly she found her legs pumping harder than they'd ever gone in her life. She was running so fast that poor Thorin who was still holding onto her was now being the one dragged behind.
"Whoa there girl slow down-wait up!" but Ariel was already out of his grip and darting headlong out of the cave.
Ariel laughed with relief as the warmth hit her skin, her pain melting away within moments to be replaced by absolute joy.
Oh, how good it felt to see the sun on her face and the wind in her hair.
She only skidded to a stop when Gandalf's old voice called out to her.
"Whoever is running up ahead needs to slow down so I can do a head count!"
She rolled her eyes
"So slow old man."
But even so, she doubled back up the slope towards a small rocky outcrop within a ring of trees where Gandalf had rushed ahead and was now re-counting the members of the company that came up to him.
Ariel quickly came back up almost running into Fili and Kili, the latter not even bothering to avoid ramming into her as he flung his arms around her.
"Thank Mahal you are alright. We thought you were a goner on that shelf."
"Kili-Kili I'm alright really I-"
Ariel blushed as she felt the young dwarf bury his face in her soft bosom. She didn't know whether it was accidental, he and the dwarves were always shorter than her by about a head. But from what Ariel had seen of Kili so far, she knew he was defiantly one of the biggest flirts she'd ever met. Even so, she didn't think she could see him as anything more than another brother.
Fili seeing her discomfort gave a pointed cough.
"Kili that's enough you're suffocating her" he tugged his brother off of the girl before taking her hand and calmly leading her towards a rock before forcing her to sit down.
Meanwhile, some way off Dwalin snorted with amusement as they caught sight of Ariel spluttering in confusion, her face completely red as she was patted down and checked over by the two brothers.
"How is your back?" Fili muttered as he made to pat down her shoulders.
"I can't feel anything" Ariel replied before sighing heavily as the blonde dwarf gave her a raised eyebrow. "Honestly Fili I don't…I mean I was feeling it earlier but-"
"It's probably the adrenalin rush" Kili winced as he checked over her back where he could see through the torn fabric horrible bruises "Yeah that can happen…that generally tends to mean that you'll feel it after you've rested. Ouch! these look nasty."
"Well that's just wonderful" Ariel groaned sarcastically, and Kili chuckled reaching out to ruffle her hair gently.
"Don't worry. At least this time there aren't any broken bones."
But even as his younger brother said this Fili's face faltered as he made to push back the front of her hair to examine a large bruise on her right temple.
"I think that one was from the fall earlier" Ariel mumbled reaching up to rub at it with her sleeve.
Fili's eyes fell to his feet at the last word.
"I'm sorry…" he mumbled as he examined the other smaller cuts that littered her cheeks and jaw. "I'm so sorry please forgive me-It was my fault-"
"Fili it's not your fault. I'm just glad I wasn't left behind" Ariel ran a hand through her long red hair.
However, Fili just shook his head.
"No Ariel that's the thing…we were going to leave you there…we thought-I thought you were-And I thought I had-I thought you were…because of my mistake and…I just…"
Fili shut his eyes and turned his face away, his face a mask of pain and shame.
Ariel's eyes softened as her heart stung. She should've by all means be feeling angry at him and the others for leaving her for dead…but she couldn't…not after seeing the anguish in Fili's blue eyes.
Ariel knew that look all too well, for she had worn it not so long ago as she had sat beside a hospital bed waiting for someone she loved to open their eyes, even though she felt in her heart of hearts that they probably never would.
"Fili, what is done is done. And even though you didn't catch me back at the cliff you still were there to catch me when we all fell from that platform, so thank you." Ariel rolled her eyes before gently punching his forehead his cheek affectionately with her knuckle.
"I was there too if anyone's interested" Kili rolled his eyes, only to have his hair ruffled playfully by Ariel's hand. The other dwarves openly chuckled at their youths with fondness.
"Tch! children" Dwalin shook his head exchanging a chuckle with Gloin as they passed by Gandalf who was continuing to count on his fingers.
"-five, six, seven, eight. Bifur, Bofur. That's ten. Fili, Kili, Ariel that's thirteen. Bombur is fourteen" the wizard sighed with relief as the fat dwarf came to a puffing stop. However, his relief was quick to fade when he suddenly re-counted off again on his fingers.
Ariel blinked. The wizard had only counted fifteen of them including himself.
But hang on…there's supposed to be sixteen who have we got missing-OH SHIT!
Terror flooded her once more, and she sprang to her feet ignoring Fili's attempts to calm her down.
"Bilbo!" she called out loudly. "BILBO! Oh crap, where is he?! What happened to him?!"
She looked around at the group only to see that the rest of them were just as clueless as she was.
"Curse the Halfling!" Dwalin snarled under his breath "now he's lost?"
"I thought he was with Dori" Gloin frowned at Dori who looked flabbergasted.
"Don't look at me? I don't know where he is."
"Oh come on someone has to have seen him last" Ariel turned back to them all panic flooding her voice.
"I think I saw him slip away when they first collared us" Nori spoke up quickly and Gandalf's face tensed.
"Well, what happened exactly? Tell me?"
"I'll tell you what happened" Thorin growled stepping forwards "Master Baggins saw his chance, and he took it. He has thought of nothing but his soft bed and his warm hearth, since first he stepped out of his door. We will not be seeing our Hobbit again. He is long gone."
There was another silence as everyone looked down to the ground in disappointment. Even if Bilbo sometimes seemed more of a hindrance than a help, they had all liked him in some way or another.
Ariel, however, refused to believe it and did her best to try and rack her brain for what she could remember of the Hobbit when she'd last seen him.
They'd been on the stone giant…he had fallen off. However, if what Nori had said was true then the others had managed to save him and drag him down to Goblin-town with them.
No, wait a moment Goblin-town, Goblin-town, what happened to Bilbo when he went under the mountains.
But even as she thought she remembered the strange screams she'd heard back when Gandalf had blinded them all with that blast of white light.
The voice that had screamed…she'd I thought it was merely an echo…
"They stole it from us! Thief! Thief!"
Hang on…that voice, was that-oh my god was that Gollum?!
Ariel quickly looked about herself with wild eyes.
Had that been the disgusting little creature that had been screeching all this time? He sounded far stranger than she'd imagined.
Wait a moment, but if that was Gollum screaming then Bilbo must have found the-
"No he isn't" a familiar voice smugly smirked, and Ariel looked up sharply to see Bilbo suddenly appear from behind a tree.
"Bilbo Baggins" Gandalf chortled as Ariel sprinted over to the Hobbit and scooped him up into her arms.
"Oh, Bilbo thank goodness."
"ARIEL! YOU'RE ALIVE?!" Bilbo gasped in surprise as he was swung around in the embrace before being set down securely on the ground where Ariel proceeded to hug him tight once more.
"You're one to talk" Kili laughed as Ariel let go of the flustered now blushing hobbit.
"How on earth did you get past the goblins?" Fili asked.
"Oh um…ehehe" Bilbo chuckled nervously, and Ariel's eyes darted quickly down to one of his hands just in time to see a glimmer of gold slip into one of his waistcoat pockets.
She suddenly felt her gut burn.
The one ring. That one dastardly, godforsaken tiny band of gold! That was the reason her brother had been cursed?! That was why she had been dragged so far from home!?
That vile, horrible little band of shit!
She quickly hid her anger behind a mask of a smile as she stepped away to give Bilbo some air, though it took all Ariel could within her not to snatch the ring from Bilbo and crush it using one of the dwarves hammers.
She barely heard Gandalf's voice as he smiled with relief.
"Well, what does it matter? He's back."
"It matters" Thorin frowned confusion etched in his thick brow as he looked upon the hobbit "I want to know…why did you come back?"
Bilbo's face fell for a moment.
"Look I know you doubt me. I know you always have. And you're right I often think of Bag-End. I miss my books. And my armchair, and my Garden. See that's where I belong. That's home. And that's why I came back because, you don't have one, a home. It was taken from you…and you were taken from it." he added with a glance towards Ariel "But I will help you take it back if I can."
Thorin opened his mouth to speak, but for the first time since Ariel had ever met him, the dwarf prince couldn't seem to form a reply. Instead, she saw his blue eyes glimmer for the faintest of seconds before quickly darting down to the ground.
The other dwarves too, all twelve of them, also looked down to the ground with both shame and sorrow as their friends' words touched their hearts.
The only one who was smiling was Gandalf, and it was full of pride and wonderment, a look he exchanged with Ariel who nodded back at him as she put a supportive hand on the hobbit's shoulder.
"Told you he'd be the right hobbit for the job" she muttered and suddenly the spell over the dwarves was broken.
They all broke out into laughter, even Thorin and Dwalin managed small smiles the latter of whom was more amused as it looked upon the young girl.
"Geeze lass, why couldn't you run like that when we were chased by those wargs last time?"
"Dunno. Why couldn't you guys pick me up off that shelf?" Ariel snorted.
She had meant it to be a joke only it seemed to make them all fall into a very uncomfortable silence.
Many of the dwarves turned to Thorin who once again looked somewhat sheepish as even Fili and Kili's eyes turned hard upon him.
"Ariel-" he started to say but then suddenly he was cut off by a loud howling sounds.
But those weren't the howls of ordinary wolves…these were the vicious, bloodthirsty war cries of wargs.
Thorin cursed softly under his breath.
"Out of the Frying pan-"
"And into the fire" Gandalf muttered before yelling out in the loudest command they'd heard him use
"RUN!"
So that was chapter 9 all done and re-edited. Not much changed here plotwise since I was already pretty happy with it. Hopefully, Chapter 10 comes up quicker.
As always let me know what you think and keep reviewing and faving for more
Cheers
Fuzzybeta