12.
In theory, it was a simple plan: creep back to the clearing, distract the spiders, draw them away and give Ori the chance to free the prisoners. The execution, however… That was another matter altogether. As Bilbo stood in the middle of the spider colony with a smooth, perfect rock in his hand, he prayed that he would get the chance to look back on what he was about to do and shake his head at the madness that possessed him.
Before he could come to his senses and change his mind, Bilbo aimed and threw the polished rock as hard as he could. It met a cluster of eyes and sank into them with a wet crunch. The great spider fell from its perch above Bombur and flopped on its back. It shuddered and died, curling all of its hideous legs.
Bilbo felt an elated shout building inside him, but clenched his teeth against it and picked up another stone, hurling it into a new target with the same accuracy. As the second spider fell dead, all movement in the clearing ceased and a hush passed over the stunned creatures. Then, they all broke out in a cacophony of hellish noises, rushing in every direction and trying to find the unseen attacker. Bilbo remained rooted to the spot and pelted the spiders with a hail of stones that caught several of them full on, before they began shooting their sticky threads at him.
He jumped and rolled out of the way, keeping to the dried stream bed and his supply of projectiles. Bilbo's courage grew and he grinned triumphantly, seeing the havoc and the terror that his stone-throwing had brought among those monstrous insects. They hunted for him desperately, hissing and spitting their foul threads and hitting each other, more often than not. All the while, Bilbo kept throwing stones and cracking their chitinous skulls or tearing through the skin of their bloated bodies. The racket grew to unimaginable heights and Bilbo spared a glance toward the prisoners, seeing them wobble and struggle, most likely terrified by the hell Bilbo had unleashed all around them.
Hoping that Ori was still safely hidden, Bilbo did the most daring thing yet. He called out to the spiders and began to sing nonsense he made up on the spot, goading the enraged beasts on and luring them away from his trapped friends. A terrible roar met the sound of his voice and Bilbo fled through the trees, with dozens of frenzied spiders in pursuit. They clambered after him, both on the ground and through the trees, spitting sticky threads and shrieking madly when none found their target. The Hobbit's pockets were filled with stones and he flitted from one tree to the next, taking down his pursuers with uncanny precision. He had never dreamed that his little hobby of target practice would be put to such use one day, but there he was, one small Hobbit against a whole army of furious monsters, hot on his heels but always a step behind.
Bilbo kept calling out to the spiders and taunting them, making sure that they were fully enraged and chasing him further away from the clearing. Before long, the whole colony dashed off in pursuit and the trees groaned under the weight of so many clambering bodies. Bilbo drew them off until he felt his legs trembling with exhaustion and his voice growing hoarse with so many shouted insults. He threw the last stone and then leaped away from the spot, watching several spiders crash into each other as they threw themselves after him. Then, more quiet than a mouse, Bilbo crept back the way he had come and his chest swelled with pride as he followed his own trail.
He ran no risk of becoming lost, as the forest floor was littered with dead or dying spiders and even though the reek of their carcasses brought tears to his eyes, Bilbo grinned triumphantly. He had done so much better than he'd hoped and the maddened spiders were far behind, searching in vain for the unseen menace that had decimated so many of their peers.
Bilbo took off his ring and broke into a run as he got closer to the clearing and saw Ori hard at work as well. Not all the spiders had dashed away after the Hobbit, but Ori had dispatched the few guards left, no doubt putting the weapons of his brothers to good use. Bilbo found Dori and Nori on their feet, trying to pry themselves free of cobwebs and groaning miserably when their own hair and beards were torn. Bofur staggered to his feet and gave Bilbo a weak smile, his face pale and his eyes wide as the Dwarf looked around himself.
Kili and Ori were up on the branches that still held their friends and kinsmen captive. Thorin's dark scowl broke through as his nephew freed him and Bilbo breathed a huge sigh of relief to see that menacing expression. It meant that their leader was alive and in control of at least some of his senses, even if Thorin wobbled and sank to his knees when he landed on the forest floor.
Fili seemed to be the liveliest of them all, quickly climbing through the branches of the highest tree, with a dagger between his teeth. Although cobwebs stuck in his hair and gave the pale Dwarf a wizened look, he spared Bilbo a grateful smile before crawling up the thick branch that the three Elves still hung from.
Celegorm broke through the sticky wrappings first and fell down on all fours, shaking himself like a dog and growling louder than one. He drew in a deep breath, coughed and gagged and then sprang to his feet, gazing about himself wildly. Fili called out to him and the Elf came to his senses, cutting and clawing through the webs that held his brothers captive.
Amrod staggered and leaned heavily against his brother, but managed to stay on his feet. Amras, however, collapsed in a heap and heaved violently, throwing up something dark and terrible looking that Bilbo hoped was not the Elf's blood. His brothers propped Amras against the tree and tried to keep him upright, but Amras was as limp as a rag-doll and could barely remain conscious.
Bilbo didn't know who needed help more and where to rush first. Amras was not the only one in such a terrible state. Poor Bombur had finally lost consciousness after gods knew how much terrible torture. His brothers knelt beside him and tried to wake him up, but to no avail. Bifur was only marginally better and close by, Oin also coughed and sputtered the same dark stuff that Amras had expelled.
Bilbo felt his own gorge rising and tried to steady himself. Although he was terribly thirsty after the long chase, he unclasped his flask and handed it to Gloin. They helped his brother take a sip and clean his mouth of the foul stuff, then passed the flask around.
But Bilbo's eyes were soon drawn to Dwalin and the heartbreaking expression on his face as he picked up his brother and Balin hung limp in the warrior's hold. Bilbo ran to them, frantically checking Balin's breathing and his heartbeat. The poor Dwarf was all white, covered in webs of the same color as his hair and beard. But he was not dead and Dwalin sagged with relief, gently setting Balin back down and trying to free him of the nasty threads.
There was, however, very little time to check themselves for injuries and almost nothing to revive themselves on. Ori had also brought some water with him, but the packs were stowed away in the hollow the young Dwarf had hidden himself before. After a few moments passed and some of the confusion cleared, Bilbo urged them all to flee that awful place and follow him to the few provisions he and Ori had managed to carry and save. Fortunately, all their companions were alive and would benefit from their thoughtfulness, but some of them could not walk and needed to be carried.
Celegorm and Amrod shouldered their brother and helped him drag himself along, while Amras groaned and his head lolled to and fro in a disconcerting fashion. Dwalin carried his brother with visible effort and even though Thorin tried to support him, they both ambled about dizzily. After being stung and trapped and left without any sustenance for days, Bilbo was surprised they were even conscious, let alone able to walk. The grueling task of lugging Bombur out of there fell on everyone else who could stand and in a pitiful fashion, the whole company staggered away from the clearing.
They had barely made it through the line of trees when the first spiders returned. The angry clamor they issued when they discovered their captives missing made all the hair on the back of Bilbo's head stand up. He saw Celegorm and Amrod setting their brother down and shielding him from the threat, glaring darkly at the cluster of spiders and cursing their lack of proper weapons. All they had were the daggers hidden in their boots and those would help them very little in close combat with spiders. The same could be said for the rest of the company and Bilbo sighed wearily, wondering why on earth he and Ori had not thought to bring Orcrist and Celegorm's sword with them.
He could not make them all invisible, nor could he defend them with his little sword. All the Hobbit could do was trust his luck and count on the fact that if those monstrous insects had been fooled once, they would be fooled again. Bilbo thrust his little sword into Celegorm's hands and ignored the Elf's confused expression. He ran off into the trees and pretended he could not hear some of his companions sputtering indignantly. When he thought he had escaped their sight, Bilbo slipped on the magic ring again and returned to the clearing.
He stocked up on pebbles once more and withdrew between two old trees, taking shelter under their intertwined branches and resuming his target-practice. Bilbo threw stone after stone after stone until his arm began to ache and his shoulder protested against the abuse. He flitted between the trees and ran to the dried stream to pick up more projectiles. Even though his aim grew poorer with every new attempt, he had hit so many spiders that the ones still unharmed retired in fear of the hunter they could not see or snare in any of their wicked webs.
Bilbo's companions did not sit idly either. With the little strength they had left, they picked up whatever could be thrown and imitated Bilbo, although they could see him no better than the spiders did. Dwalin stood guard by the injured and unconscious members of their party, growling angrily and cutting down the stray threads that some of the spiders threw at them.
Before long, under the combined assault of such determined and fearless foes, the spiders withdrew and fled. In all likelihood, nothing had done them such great harm in a long time and in the very heart of their realm at that. No snared prey had ever managed to escape and fight back so ferociously. Their numbers reduced dramatically and under fear of certain death, the remaining spiders scurried off as far and as fast as they could.
Bilbo did not know how many of the foul creatures lay dead, nor did he want to know, even if he had taken down most of them. All he wished for was a sip of cool water and a safe spot where he could curl into a ball and sleep for a week. With the immediate threat finally driven away, the Hobbit's strength came to an abrupt end and he felt himself shaking all over. Exhaustion and shock threatened to make him collapse on the spot and, with one last effort, Bilbo pocketed his ring and staggered back to the others.
He found both Elves and Dwarves no worse than he had left them, but not much better either. They were picking up their injured once more and trying to decide which way to go, while Ori paced about, shouting Bilbo's name. It riled the Hobbit up to see that some of the Dwarves thought he had simply run away. Had they been blind and missed the hail of stones raining down on the spiders just moments before? Did they think that Gandalf had somehow magically appeared and saved the day again?
"Ah, Bilbo. There you are!" Kili spotted him first and waved frantically. "Are you alright? Where did you run off to?"
Frowning darkly, Bilbo pushed past the young Dwarf and walked straight to Celegorm. He plucked his sword from the Elf's hand and met Celegorm's surprised expression with a hard look.
"Bilbo Baggins… it seems you only show your mettle when hard put to it. I don't know how you did it, but I feel we all owe you our lives right now," the Elf nodded, studying Bilbo intently. "I know you're small and nimble, but how on earth did you get past all the spiders?"
"How indeed…," Dwalin stepped closer, cocking his head and giving Bilbo a doubtful look.
"It is of little importance now," Thorin thundered behind them. "Bilbo will let us know when we have the leisure to discuss it safely. But that is the exact opposite of what we are now. Do not fool yourselves and believe that we are no longer under threat. See to our wounded and let us be gone from this place before we all fall flat on our faces with exhaustion. You say that you have some provisions with you?" Thorin turned to Bilbo.
The Hobbit nodded, his displeasure lessening somewhat, but only because he did not have enough energy left to sulk.
"Lead the way, then," the Dwarf beckoned him. "And Tyelkormo is right. We owe you our lives. Both you and Ori have shown great courage and cleverness," Thorin turned to the young Dwarf and even though it took all his control to keep himself steady, Thorin clasped Ori's shoulder and gave him a proud smile.
Ori's bashful expression and his stammered acceptance of such high praise immediately diffused the tension and mistrust that seemed to hang over the company, just as heavy as the cob-webs above them did. If anyone harbored further misgivings, they showed no outward sign of it and quietly followed Bilbo through the dark maze of Mirkwood.