Disclaimer: I do not own the Hobbit.
Another variation of plot and props to JasmineVsAngels for predicting my decision, also for some good ideas when I was a little stuck so thank you and your marvelous input. Any and all ideas are welcomed.
Down they all rolled and tumbled, through a carved out tunnel that bended at odd angles. Their possession and weapons fell with them and once or twice collided with the dwarves. Their rough journey came to a stop in a large net made of carved wood and worn rope, built of a lone peak.
"Ohh, what in Durin's name ...?"
"Bombur get off before you suffocate us all!"
Thorin and Marie were the last to fall into the trap and had a much better view of where they were. A series of torches light up an inner cavern that could have stretched the length of the Misty Mountains.
"Where are we?" Marie asked in a petrified whisper as her eyes zoned in on the skulls mounted on the poles holding up a bridge that connected the rock pillar to the rest of the rickety path.
The design of the trap and the bridges that lead up to it pointed to only one vile race, one which Thorin had hoped to avoid more than the elves.
Goblins.
A cacophony of snarls and ear wrenching shrieks filled the cavern and Thorin watched as dozens of them crawled out of their holes and up from the deep to see their catch.
They were horrible fleshy things with the faces of disfigured bats and claws like a birds talons poised and ready as they descended upon the company. Thorin reached for any of the weapons that were scattered among them, but smaller, quicker goblins had already snatched them up to leave the dwarves defenceless.
But they would not go without a fight, especially from Dwalin and Bifur.
The snarling creatures pushed, pulled, prodded and just about yanked the hair from the dwarves' beards as the company was dragged through the dim tunnels, only stopping when one of the dwarves got a good punch in. But the sheer number of goblins made it impossible to establish any counter attack. They were brought into the heart of the Goblin Town. A city made from bones, termite infested wood, rusted weapons and reasonably fresh corpses. Magpies and rats hung from the many bridges that spread across the badly light cavern like spider webs.
More goblins crowded the path to get a glimpse of their new playthings, but were cleared by the goblins heading the group who wield worn out iron chains. Thorin turned on his heels when he heard Marie give a little yelp as a snickering goblin hanging from a loft of human bones reached down its spindly arm and grabbed a fistful of her hair, but thankfully Dwalin swatted the disgusting hand away, growling more insults than anyone dared to count. It was then Thorin noticed that she alone still had her weapon.
Straining his head to see over the gruesome scalps of the enemy, Thorin saw to where the goblins intended to take them.
In the centre of the festering maze rested a lone pavilion of sorts where a large throne made of stolen goods and animal skins rested. One by one the company was brought across the narrow bridge and rounded up like cattle for all of the goblins and their king to see.
The Goblin King was the very image one would conjure when thinking of gluttony, hideousness and downright foulness, complete with a crown of bones. All ten feet of his molded hide oozed over every inch of his throne as he picked at his fingernails with his sceptre of skulls, his glassy eyes passing over his offering of prisoners and their stolen weapons. His slid off the old throne and landed with squelching thud onto the platform. "Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom? Spies? Thieves? Assassin's?"
"Dwarves your Malevolence." One of the head goblins with a high nasal voice answered.
"Dwarves? Here?"
"Found them on the front porch."
Thorin ground his teeth together. He would not be treated as if they were waste left to the side.
The Goblin King pointed his sceptre at the company, "Don't just stand there, search them!" The dwarves were again handled like satchels and stripped of the meaningless of trinkets. Thorin prayed that they would not find the map or key. If they fell into the goblin's hands, the quest was lost. Thorin struggled against his captures, even with blades ready to bleed him everywhere he looked.
"Look. This one ain't a dwarf." Another goblin squealed and pulled Marie through the group. Oin, Dori and Kili tried in vain to take her back but the goblins moved like worms and easily filled the space between Marie and the dwarves. They brought her to the front to present their find to their king.
"Well bless my boils. A little hole builder, all the way from the west." The goblin King chuckled. His subjects who lined the surrounding walls and platforms gave a terrible squall as they stared down at Marie. She clutched the sword still sheathed at her side but did not have the wit to use it. Thorin could tell she was as scared as a rabbit trapped by a wolf pack.
"And she's armed, how charming. Bring me her weapon."
Two goblins rushed to carry out the king's command, their sharp claws tugged and picked at her belt buckle. "Get off me!" Marie tried to push away the goblins, but the snarled and spat in her face. One even ripped the brass buttons off her waistcoat in the struggle, the little round pieces bounced and rolled across the wood for other smaller goblins to snatch up for themselves. Several of the dwarves had a great fuss at the sight of the little hobbit being handled so violently, and Kili shouted the loudest.
When the leather band finally gave way, the head goblin guard who spoke before took the small blade and handed it to the Goblin King. He held it tip to tip between his fat thumb and index finger.
"Not much of anything, not even a tooth pick." The ghastly monster huffed and tossed Marie's sword over the platform, its destination the dark abyss bellow. Marie made a small noise of outcry that made the goblins snigger.
"Any more goodies you'd like to share, hole builder?" The Goblin King held out his greedy hand for more and the goblin started poking her feet with knives and bones.
The Goblin King grinning face morphed into inquisitive the more he stared down at Marie, "Your face seems familiar, like I have beheld before. Bring her to me."
"Leave her be."
It went silent as Thorin stepped forward, the dwarves and goblins parting for him. He did not fully understand whether it was his sense of honor to those in distress or his small genuine concern for Marie that made him speak up. Either way, he placed himself in front of the hobbit.
The king's eyes widened and a smug look came across his face. "Well, well, well. Look who it is."
Thorin gentle pushed Marie further from him to put her out of the Goblin King's reach.
"Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror. King Under the Mountain." The king gave Thorin a mock bow but quickly, if he could be at all quick, stood upright once more, "Oh, but I'm forgetting you don't have a mountain, and you're not a king, which makes you nobody really."
Thorin gave no reaction to the insult. He had grown accustom to being treat both as the king he rightfully was, and a pauper scraping for a living in the towns of men.
"Now my little hole builder, come forward." The Goblin King waved his sceptre at Marie, the skulls of it jangled loudly. Marie took small step out from behind Thorin, but his arm shot out and prevented her from any further, keeping them level with one another.
"Mmm yes." The gobbling King caught Marie's chin with the end of his sceptre and twisted her face back and forth. It became disconcerting when he began to laugh. "Haha of course. How can one forget a nose like that." He poke Marie's nose with sceptre. "I was a young goblin at that time, but I will never forget that face. The face of one who helped made me king."
"What?" Marie stopped tending her nose and stared confused at the Goblin King.
"The largest of your kind, bold as he was foolhardy, was kind enough to remove the head of my predecessor with his club some years ago. He might have stolen of victory, but I gained my crown thank to him."
"Bullroarer Took? That story was true?" Marie's jaw hung open.
"A shame really. For one so large to have such tiny descendents." The whole cavern was filled with the grunting and screeching of laughter at Marie's expense, but the king raised a hand to silence them, "But still. I shall show mercy in respect for the Bullroarer's kin and also bestow a great honor upon you."
"And what is this honor?" Thorin asked, staring at the creature from under hooded eyebrows while simultaneously tugging Marie back inch by inch.
The Goblin King gave Thorin a fleeting glance and a deep chuckle that herald ill will. "Little hole builder, your death with be quick and ... reasonably painless. And you will be honored when I place you head on my throne."
The cavern erupted with noise again, cheers from the goblins and yelling from the dwarves.
"Over our dead bodies will we let you harm her." Bofur said firmly, his brothers backing on that.
The only ones to be silent were the mortified Marie and the scowling Thorin, who gave Marie a gentle push backwards. She found herself enveloped by the dwarves, Bofur and Doir standing in front while the rest surrounded her, Kili even wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head." The king now addressed Thorin, "Perhaps you know of whom I speak. An old enemy of yours."
For a moment, only one name came to Thorin, but it was impossible for it to be true. But what the Goblin King said next was highly unnerving
"A pale Orc astride a White Warg."
"Azog the Defiler was destroyed. He was slain long ago." Thorin stated loud and clear. But the goblins all sneered and laughed at the statement.
"So you think his defiling days are?" The king laughed and waved to his messenger, "Send word to the Pale Orc. Tell Him I have found his prize." The messenger nodded and disappeared off into the cavern via a transportation line. "And as for me, I will have my own prize."
The dwarves packed in tightly to protect Marie, but the goblins began striking at them with spears and their chains to break up the defence. It wasn't long before Marie was separated and restrained by two goblins near the edge of the platform. Thorin tried to throw off the burly goblins that held him back and failed. The goblins began to chant in their twisted language, begging to see spilt blood.
"Remember, make it as clean as you can. I did promise mercy." He king ordered and another goblin stepped out of the crowd as Marie's executioner.
"Wait, please. Please!" Marie's eyes welled up with tears of fear as she begged for her life, but this only amused the Goblin King further. Thorin felt dread in his gut and tried once more to free himself. Once he stopped struggling, he finally took notice of Fili reaching under his arm brace for a small dagger he kept hidden.
The goblins held Marie out by the arms and the executioner readied his blade at her neck. Just as it pulled back, Thorin gave the word. "Fili, now!"
His nephew aimed good and true, his dagger landing in between the eyes of the goblin. Its arm was still in motion but took off the head of one of Marie's captures. The goblins squealed in protest to the attack and the king growled. For a brief moment Thorin felt relief that he did not have the hobbit's blood on his hands, but it was all too soon. The now beheaded goblin still had an iron grip on Marie's arm, and the rest of its corpse started to tumble backwards, over the edge of the platform. Both Marie and the remaining goblin were still in a moment of confusion and could not stop themselves from being dragged over the edge.
The screams of both Marie and the goblin blended into a single sound.
"Marie!"
No one could tell who had screamed out the hobbit's name, for the voice was so raw and pained it was unrecognizable.
"You dwarves will pay for letting my prize get away like that. Bring up the Bone Breaker." The Goblin King shouted, his subject buzzing at the thought of more torture. "I believe the King of Nothing needs entertainment."
But Thorin was not listening to the goblin. He just stared at where had disappeared, unable to believe what he had seen.
Marie was gone.