The Company had been on the run since departing the Carrock two days ago. In spite of suffering heavy losses, Azog pursued them relentlessly. The Defiler now rode a black warg as he led his diminished pack from the front. The pack's wargs shared his enthusiasm for the hunt. Azog promised they could devour alive the bear who'd killed the Matron.
Gandalf, the Children of Gaea and the Dwarves waited by a rocky ledge in the late afternoon sun. In a sign of his increasing confidence, Bilbo had gone alone to scout ahead. All knew Azog's pack was quickly gaining on them. No one in the Company relished the prospect of resuming battle with the Pale Orc any time soon.
Bilbo returned and seemed unerved.
" "How close is the pack?" Thorin immediately demanded he report.
"Too close," Bilbo tersely gave it. "A couple of leagues, no more, but that is not the worst of it."
"Have the Wargs picked up our scent?" Dwalin guessed from experience.
Bilbo's answer provided cold comfort. "Not yet, but they will; we have another problem."
"Did they see you? They saw you!" Gandalf said
"No, that's not it." Bilbo responded
Gandalf smiled and turned to the group.
"What did I tell you? Quiet as a mouse. Excellent burglar material." Gandalf smugly said
The Dwarves chuckled loudly in appreciation of Bilbo. Bilbo looked exasperated that no one was hearing him out.
"Will you listen-Will you just listen? I'm trying to tell you there is something else out there." Bilbo warned them
" What form did it take? Like a bear?" Gandalf asked
Bilbo paused and looked curiously at Gandalf.
"Y- yes. But bigger, much bigger." Bilbo answered
"You knew about this beast?" Bofur asked
Gandalf turned and walked a few steps away.
A number of dwarves thought it was a case of better the devil you know.
"I say we double back," Bofur argued.
"And be run down by a pack of Orcs?" Thorin rejected the idea.
Those in favour of doubling back thought the king had forgotten what the Company had in its favour.
" Even with our allies ? " Ori suggested
Thorin's confidant saved him from saying he'd included the Children of Gaea in his calculations.
"And like all of us, they are tired and needs a rest," Balin gave them a knowing look.
The Children of Gaea were grateful. Some of them don't have superhuman stamina. The idea of rest was also at the forefront of someone else's mind.
"There is a house, it's not far from here, where we might take refuge," Gandalf heavily suggested.
" Gandalf, I hate when you are speaking in riddles so whose house is it ? A friend's or a foe's. " Lennox asked
The Grey Wizard was unruffled by Lennox's attitude.
"Neither," Gandalf enigmatically answered. "He will help us, or he will kill us."
"What choice do we have?" Thorin rhetorically asked.
All in the Company shuddered as a thunderous roar echoed throughout the surrounds. It occurred as Korra remembered asking Thorin's question herself once.
"Like all of us." she dryly concluded. "None."
The Company began is umpteenth group sprint to reach the dubious sounding refuge before nightfall. Gandalf urged them on as they rushed east over long-grassed plains. The fact there was two lots of pursuers also spurred them on. Rad sensed most dwarves were more frightened of the bear catching them. Fear turned to panic upon entering a wood of wide-armed oaks and tall elms.
An ear-splitting roar reverberated throughout the wood. More than startled, the Company stopped as one. All its members had the same thought – the bear was gaining on them. A terrified Bombur turned and looked behind.
"Bombur, come on!" Thorin urged him join everyone else in resuming flight.
The Company dashed out of the woods onto a clover-patched meadow. And Bombur's sprint outpaced them all, even Charlie and Cade.
" How does he do that ? " Alexis asked
" We dwarves are great sprinters on short distances ! " Dwalin answered her
Just ahead was their intended refuge. A high thorn-hedge impossible to see through or scramble over surrounded a large wooden house. The only way through the hedge was a tall and broad wooden gate directly in front of them.
"Come on, get inside!" Gandalf drove the Company towards it.
Bombur didn't break stride as he sprinted through the open gate towards the front door. Gandalf and the Children stood either side of the gate as they hurried the rest of the Company through. As she did so, they noticed a goblin's severed head stuck to the gate. They assumed it had been placed there as a warning to others of its kind. A more immediate threat than goblins now revealed itself. A black furred bear of monstrous size burst of the woods in fierce pursuit. Tired or not, none of them would never flinch to protect the Company. Gandalf's eyes widened at the red energy swirling around Jack.
" No, my friends ! " He stayed them
The group trusted Gandalf so they listened to him. The group ran towards the house instead with the bear only yards behind. They rushed passed rows of beehives with bell-shaped tops made of straw located either side of the path. Pit only caught a glimpse of bumblebees the size of a small bird buzzing around the surrounding gardens.
The house itself was long, made of timber with a thatched roof. Bilbo and the Dwarves were bunched up under a narrow porch before the front door. The Company surged inside after Thorin raised the door's exterior bolt. They made to shut the door but were foiled as the bear's head shoved against it. The bear roared as it began pushing its way inside. Bilbo nervously withdrew his shortsword as the dwarves desperately pressed against the door to hold back their pursuer. Jack and Cade came to help them and the door was shut.
The dwarves promptly barricaded it with a thick wooden beam. With the exception of Gandalf, the Company started exhaling in exhaustion and relief. They took a few moments to catch their breath before looking at the wizard.
"What is that?" Ori puffed on their behalf.
Like he did during the Company's escape from Yazneg's pack, the Grey Wizard had withheld certain facts to get it to safety.
"That is our host," Gandalf answered matter-of-fact. "His name is Beorn, and he's a skin-changer," Gandalf began describing their host. "Sometimes he's a huge black bear; sometimes he's a great strong man. The bear is unpredictable, but the man can be reasoned with."
"However, he is not overfond of dwarves," Gandalf added.
Not surprisingly, Thorin and his followers were dismayed to hear this. What sort of refuge had Gandalf led them to?
The Company wasn't alone in the house. An assortment of livestock could be found among bundles of hay. The animals contentedly munched on their feed, indifferent to the visitors. The Children assumed they were kept inside during the night for safety. Safety was also on Ori's mind as he peaked out a crack in the door.
"He's leaving!" he reported about the bear.
"Come away from there!" an alarmed Dori told his brother before pulling him back. "It's not natural, none of it. He's under some spell. "
Don't be a fool," Gandalf chided Dori " Beorn's under no enchantment but his own."
"Alright now, get some sleep, all of you," Gandalf told the Company to rest. "You'll be safe here tonight."
As the dwarves began spreading themselves through the house, Bilbo and Rad noticed Gandalf whisper something out of earshot.
"What did he say?" Bilbo quietly asked the Grey Jedi.
"You don't want to know," Rad replied.
( in the night, Dol Guldur)
Azog immediately led his pack to Dol Guldur as soon as he received the Necromancer's summons. They'd been on the outskirts of Beorn's house when the Company spent its first night there. It was too dangerous to attack their sleeping prey with the bear patrolling the perimeter. Azog knew Beorn remembered him and would kill him with no difficulties. Worse, inside the house lay threats greater than any posed by a skin-changer. Azog planned to attack the Company when it was on the road again. Those plans had now been put on hold.
The Necromancer had cast a spell of concealment over Dol Guldur to create the illusion it was still abandoned. Behind the sorcerous curtain, however, the ruined fortress was a hive of activity. The number of evil creatures answering the Necromancer's call to arms kept increasing by the day. Forges worked overtime to create armour and weapons. Siege machines were being constructed in large foundries. And being conducted in the most secluded part of Dol Guldur was a series of sorcerous experiments.
None of the above activities mattered to Azog as he and his entourage made their way through the fortress. The Pale Orc was seething on a number levels. Having to call off his hunt of Oakenshield was the main one. That he'd been only seconds from claiming Thorin's head when stopped by a halfling. The Warg Matron being killed by a white Bear protecting the same halfling added insult to injury. Topping it all off was the emergence of powerful new enemies.
Azog was certain he would've destroyed the Company without their protectors. And he wasn't thinking of Gandalf who he had no fear of.
The Pale Orc stood alone on the raised walkway where his master held audiences. The Necromancer appeared in his usual black cloudy form. Azog was proud how he never bowed and scrapped like other minions did. His master saw the Defiler's resolve as the type one would expect from a pouty child.
"WE GROW IN NUMBER," the Necromancer said about the build-up of forces with Dol Guldur. "WE GROW IN STRENGTH. YOU WILL HELP LEAD MY ARMIES."
The Pale Orc bristled at having to remain at Dol Guldur to oversee preparations for the planned campaign.
"What of Oakenshield?" Azog demanded about what mattered most to him. "You promised me his head!"
The Necromancer allowed himself a moment of dark amusement. Such was his obsession about Oakenshield; Azog had completely overlooked the significance of what he'd just been told. The Dark Lord swirled on the walkway in front of him.
"WAR IS COMING," the Necromancer concluded their audience. "YOU WILL OBEY MY LIEUTENANTS COMMANDS."
The penny now dropped for the Pale Orc. The Necromancer had unilaterally changed the terms of their alliance. The worse thing was there was little the Defiler could do about it.
"I command your armies!" Azog screamed in protest and reminder.
The Necromancer didn't say a word. His cloudy form dissipated unveiling his new most powerful servants. Standing on the walkway where the Necromancer had been was his Lieutenants. Azog frowned at the individuals he hadn't seen nor heard of until now.
The first was a grey-haired and bearded man of seven feet in height, wearing a bronze armor and a double bladed spear.
The second was a beautiful young woman, standing at a height of around 5'8" . She sported a long, blue ponytail, pink eyes and eye shadow, and a golden ring to decorate her hair. The outfit she wear consisted of a light blue and purple corset, with stockings and sleeves to match.
The third man was as tall and muscular as the first. He was mustachioed in a thin horseshoe style. He possessed yellow eyes with black sclera, pale gray skin, sharp nose, and a prominent forehead. His fingernails were long and jagged. He also had dark and abundant hair, but he's also half bald. He wears a stocky tunic consisting of black on the right and cream on the left with both an eggplant animal pelt brim and cuffs, an eggplant pelt sash, and a fluffy gray pelt scarf with timber wolf stripes. He also sports gray trousers and a pair of black boots with gray linings.
But the fourth individual was monstrous. A grayish-green-colored, towering demon with two antler-like horns, four small oval orange eyes set in two far-apart groups on its face, and a mouth full of sharp teeth constantly clenched into an evil grimace. Its left arm and right leg are replaced to different degrees with metallic prostheses, the former being replaced with what looked like a weapon. Various other parts of the creature also appear to fuse metal with flesh, including a plate embedded into the creature's chest which glows with blue light and contains an piece of metal.
" Hey there, handsome. " The woman said, with obvious sarcasm
The Pale Orc's jaw clenched with rage. The only thing worse than being demoted was now having to report to impertinent superiors.
" Learn your place, female. I hate working with humans. " Azog responded
" I was just trying to be friendly," the woman reacted with mild exasperation. "But if it's an alpha display you're after – "
She quickly raised her hand and blue flames shot out of it at Azog's chest. The Pale Orc released a cry of pain as he fell flat on his back after being hit. The pain worsened as the woman's boot pinned him to the ground. Azog prided himself on his immense physical strength. Right now he could barely raise his mace such was the downward force pressing against his chest. There was only one course of action open to the Defiler under the circumstances.
"Who…are…you?" Azog winced out the question.
" I am Pandora, goddess of calamities. " She responded, smirking
" I am Shan-yu, leader of the Huns. " the grey-skinned man said, raising his left hand as a falcon landed on it.
" I am Theseus, greatest warrior of all time. And this magnificent beast is the Cyberdemon. " The grey-haired man added as the Monster snarled at Azog.
Pandora kept pinning Azog to the ground for a few moments more. It was so the Defiler and every other orc knew just how much they were under the four's boot as well. The message instantly started filtering down the ranks. Through the walkway's arch, Azog's entourage had witnessed every moment and word of his audience. None of them felt a shred of perverse joy at Azog having to suffer as a subordinate for once. Until now, they imagined it impossible to have more terrifying superiors than the Pale Orc. None of them dared joined the pair on the walkway.
" Bolg ! " Theseus called
An Orc blind in the left eye instantly strode on to the walkway. Bolg towered over seven-feet tall and possessed a powerful muscular frame. His heavily scarred albino skin included iron plates embedded in his skull and chest. Bolg's personal weapon of choice was a two-handed mace resembling a sharp spinal column. There was no coincidence about Bolg's appearance. For Bolg was the spawn of the Defiler and was every bit as bloodthirsty, cruel and vain. They were qualities their new superiors appreciated.
" Are you still thirsty for human and dwarven blood ? " Theseus asked
Bolg smirked while growling.
" Good, we'll lend you some troups of ours. " Pandora said, while showing him demons, skeletons and minotaurus.
Bolg smirked even further and went towards the exit of the Fortress with his new soldiers while Shan-yu's archer arrived.
" Go with them, and use the arrows our masters gave us to stop the keyblade wielder and the Jedi. They musn't heal the dwarf Bolg will hit from his poison before the right moment. " Shan-yu whispered to him
The bowman nodded and followed after the orcs. Cyberdemon growled at Theseus.
" I know you want to go with them but be patient, Cyberdemon. Your time will come to make them beg for death. " The greek warrior responded.
Next Time : Mirkwood forest
