So this is the first chapter that I don't have an outline for and its been giving me some serious writers block. I wanted to try something a little different so well see how it works out. I might go back and mess around with it at some point.
"I cannot see what lies ahead!" Balin called out through the storm. Benna clamped her jaw shut in an attempt to keep her teeth from chattering, as the cold rain poured down on them.
"We must find shelter!" Gloin yelled as a flash of lightning streaked across the sky. Benna pressed her hands over her ears as a deafening roll of thunder echoed around them.
"We need to get off this mountain!" She shouted anxiously as the storm intensified, nearly losing her footing on the slick rock.
Fili put a steadying hand on her shoulder "Everything will be fine."
Benna gave him a skeptical look "That's generally what people say right before something bad happens."
"Look out!"
Benna's head snapped up to see a large boulder connecting with the side of the mountain. She felt Fili's hands wrap around her, pulling her against him as rocks showered down on the company.
"See?" She grumbled
"This is no thunder storm, This is a thunder battle!" Balin cried, pointing to the other side of the mountain pass.
Bennas mouth dropped open as two large stone figures emerged from the gloom, their arms locked each trying to over power the other. There was a loud crash as one of the stone giants threw the other down into the murky crevice below. As the giant fell, t he mountain shifted under them, causing a large crack to splinter in the path in front of Benna's feet. She grabbed Bofur by the arm, pulling him with her as she scrambled back.
"Thanks." He breathed, pressing his hat down further onto his head, watching as the loose rocks disappeared into the gloom below.
"Kili! Benna!".
Through the sheets of rain she could see Fili, a desperate look in his eyes as he reached out trying to bridge the gap to the other side of the rift "Take my hand, Hurry!"
Just as she reached out, the mountain shook violently again sending Benna stumbling backwards.
"I think we're on one of those things!" Kili cried as the mountain shifted splintering the path, taking half of the company with it. Benna looked up to see another stone giant coming straight at them. She yelled as the two connected, sending boulders crashing down the mountain side.
"Quickly all of you!" Thorin's voice rose above the din as he motioned them forward.
"Come on." Kill nodded, grabbing Benna's hand as they raced along the giants legs leaping onto the other side of the mountain pass as they felt the giants legs move again.
Benna put her hands on her knees as she gasped for breath.
"Fili no!" Her head whipped up at Thorin's pained cry. She felt the air leave her lungs as she watched as the giant's other leg crashed into the side of the mountain taking the other members of the company with it.
"No!" She screamed watching helplessly as the giant fell away from the mountain side.
Up ahead she could see Balin and Thorin disappear from sight as they went to investigate where the other half of the company had fallen. She took a half step forward only to be stopped by Bifur.
"Hes right lass." Bofur said "Its best you don't see."
Benna shook her head about to protest when a cheer went up.
"They're alive!"
Benna raced around the bend, her eyes searching frantically around the rubble. She heard a familiar grunt off to the side. Dwalin sat hunched over, looking rather put out as he wiggled his pack free from the debris.
"Are you alright?" She asked urgently crouching beside him.
He patted her on the shoulder as he got to his feet "Aye I'm fine Benna."
She looked further back to see Kili and Fili walking towards the group, arms slung around each other's shoulders.
"Fili!" Benna called meeting them halfway
"Are you alright?" Fili asked as she brushed a few stray stones off of his coat
She nodded "No worse for ware"
"Well I am fine too thank you for asking." Kili declared loudly, leading them forward.
"It would take a great deal more than a mountain slide to dent that thick skull of yours." Fili smirked as they rejoined the rest of the company.
Benna frowned as she glanced around the scattered group "Were missing someone..."
"Aye where's Bilbo?" Bofur asked nervously.
Benna strained her eyes trying to see any sign of the hobbit through the storm. As a streak of lightning light up the sky around them she caught sight of a bit of red cloth just below the ridge.
"Over there!" She cried scrambling down the path to where the hobbit clung to the cliff side. "Bilbo!"
The hobbit screamed as his hand began to slip from the rock. Benna jumped down onto a small ledge reaching a hand out for him, finding it frustratingly just out of reach. She flinched as someone suddenly landed next to her. To her surprise Thorin swung himself over the ledge reaching down to grab the hobbit by the scruff of his jacket, hauling him up to Bofur's waiting hands.
Benna looked down at Thorin who was watching the hobbit with a look of distain. She frowned contemplating offering to help him back onto the ledge, when his distain was suddenly replaced by a flash of fear as his fingers slipped from their hold.
"Thorin!" Benna sprang forward, one arm outstretch towards him.
She let out a scream as her arm went taught as she caught him, a blinding pain racing through her as she fraught to keep her hold on the rock.
"Uncle!" Kili stretched his hand down to Thorin, Fili holding onto the other. Benna gritted her teeth as Thorin adjust his grip on her hand, reaching up to take Kilis.
She sagged onto the ledge as the weight on her arm was lifted.
"Benna here." Dwalin called reaching down for her.
She pushed her feet up on the tip of the ledge, reaching her good arm up to him. She sighed in relief as his hand wrapped around her wrist.
Benna gasped as in a split second the rock gave way under her. She could feel Dwalin's hand trying to tighten around hers as she kicked desperately at the rock searching for a hold.
She looked up at him wide eyed as she felt her wet hand slip from his grasp. He reached out again - his fingers skimmed her wrist, for a brief moment catching hold of her bracelet before it snapped sending her plummeting into the fog below.
"Benna!" Dwalin cried as Thorin hauled him back from the ledge.
The company stared in stunned silence at the now empty space their companion had occupied seconds ago.
"Lass can you hear us!" Gloin called over the ledge as they leaned down straining to hear any sound above the raging storm.
"We should go down and look." Nori said, pulling out a length of rope.
Thorin shook his head "It is too risky in the storm, we must find shelter. In the morning we will try and find her."
"Uncle you cant!" Fili shouted "She could still be alive!"
Thorin frowned "We cannot risk the lives of this entire company for one member."
Fili looked like he was bout to protest again when Balin placed a hand on his shoulder "As hard as it is Thorin is right lad. We will be of no help to her in this storm, nor can we help her if we are injured our selves."
Fili gave one last reluctant look over the path before turning away sharply as Kili pulled him into step behind Thorin.
...
Fili sat in the corner of the cave with his knees drawn up, his head hung low as he knotted his fingers in his hair.
"Fee?" Kili said softly sitting in front of him. "I brought you some water." He held the water skin out to his brother who merely shook his head. "It is not your fault."
Fili looked up at him "I should have tried to catch her, done something, anything!" He cried "And now she is Mahal knows where... She may not even be..." He trailed off looking out at the sheets of rain streaming past the mouth of the cave.
"You cannot think like that! We.. we will find her." Kili shook his head, though he could not stop the tears that had begun to well in his eyes.
.
Dwalin looked over to where Fili and Kili sat, their whispers carrying through the cave.
Balin shifted beside him "The lads are right, there is hope still."
He shook his head, dropping his voice "You know as well as I, no one could survive a fall like that."
Balin put a hand on his arm "I am sorry."
Dwalin swallowed thickly as he ran a thumb over the small stone in his hands. He could still feel the bracelet snapping in his grasp, watching helplessly as Benna fell beyond their sight.
"You were right." He sighed "I had grown fond of her."
…
"Wake up!" Thorin's call echoed through the cave.
The company jolted from sleep just as the floor beneath them gave way, sending them tumbling into the darkness. Fili groaned as he sat up looking around at the makeshift cage surrounding them. Shrieks filled the cavern as a swarm of goblins descended on them. The company lashed out as the goblins pushed in around them, pulling them to their feet dragging them down further into the cavern. Around them the creatures began to sing about the horrible fate that awaited them as whips snapped at them from overhead. Finally they were jostled to a stop in front of a massive goblin sitting on a throne of bones.
"What do we have here?" The Goblin King screeched "Spies?, Thieves? Assassins?"
"Dwarves your malevolence." One of the goblins said gleefully, poking a bony finger at Gloin.
"Well don't just stand there search them!"
The company struggled as the goblins swarmed again, stripping them of their weapons.
"Dwarves eh?" The Goblin King said eyeing them with a cruel smile "I think I might have something of yours!"
He snapped his fingers.
"I do not like this." Balin said warily as the goblins chittered excitedly around them.
Thorin nodded, his eyes scanning the cavern for any means of escape.
After a few moments another goblin came from behind the Goblin King, dragging something behind him. Reaching the throne the goblin threw its burden in front of the company.
"We found her on one of our look out posts." The Goblin King said, rolling Benna onto her back with his staff.
The company went silent as they took in the battered body of their companion. Thick dark bruises blotted her skin, blood pooling over her eye from a large cut across her forehead, bisecting her eyebrow.
Fili's mind turned blank as his eyes landed on Benna. He lurched forward, his hand reaching out to her.
An iron grip clamped down on his shoulders, pulling him back.
"What are you doing?" He growled as Bofur and Kili released their grip.
"We cant." Dwalin shook his head, though his eyes never left Benna's still form "They are trying to get a rise out of us. If you charge out there to her, you will only make things worse."
Fili narrowed his eyes "We cant just leave her there!"
Dwalin tore his gaze away from the scene to look at Fili, his face grave "If she is still... If she is alive, and you show them that she is important, there is no limit to what they would do to her to get what they want."
"He's right," Bofur said shifting nervously "All we can do it wait."
The Goblin King stepped closer to them "What are you doing in these parts?! Speak!" He demanded.
The company stood impassively as he watched them, their eyes drifting over to where Benna laid.
A wicked laugh echoed around the cavern as the Great Goblin pointed a crooked finger at Benna "Wake her up, we would not want her to miss this little reunion!"
The goblin closest to her gave her a hard kick eliciting a pained groan from the young woman.
"I'll kill you!" Fili roared trying to fight his way through as the goblin struck her again.
Benna stirred as two goblins grabbed her by the arms dragging her to her knees. She opened her good eye, looking blearily around her as the world came in and out of focus.
"What the hell?" She mumbled, blinking slowly as her eye landed on the goblin.
"Now then what are you and your companions doing in these mountains?" The Goblin King leered at her "Tell me now or I will drag it out of you!" He said as one of the goblins produced a jagged knife waving it for her to see.
Benna shook her head slowly, tried to will her brain to focus as one of the little creatures flashed a knife into her field of vision. Her eyes drifted over the company for a moment, taking in their angry and fearful expressions. She stopped as she caught sight of Thorin, his gaze flicked to the Goblin King for a moment before landing on her with almost anxious look. She tried to give him a reassuring smile, wincing as the cut on her lip split open, sending a dribble of blood down her chin.
With every ounce of energy she could muster Benna lifted her head to look at the Goblin King.
"Go fuck yourself." She slurred, managing to spit a bit of blood at him for good measure.
The Goblin King narrowed his eyes at Benna as the goblin beside her began to press its blade into her arm.
"Wait!" Thorin shouted, pushing his way forward, ripping the goblin away from her.
"Benna?" He pulled her to her feet, supporting her under her arms
She looked up at him blearily "Thorin?"
The Goblin chuckled as he looked down at Thorin "Well, well, well! Look who it is; Thorin, son of Thrain son of Thror. King under the mountain. Oh! But I'm forgetting you don't have a mountain, and you're not a king. Which makes you nobody really. I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head" He continued "Just the head, nothing attached. Perhaps you know of whom I speak, an old enemy of yours." He leaned in closer to Thorin "A pale orc astride a white warg."
Thorin stiffened at his words.
"Azog the Defiler was destroyed. He was slain in battle long ago!" He growled.
"So you think his defiling days are done, do you?" The Goblin King laughed before turning to a small spindly goblin who sat in a basket nearby "Send word to the pale orc, tell him I have found his prize!"
Suddenly a loud shriek echoed through the cavern as one of the goblins threw Thorin's sword in front of the Goblin king.
"I know that sword, it's the goblin cleaver!" He screeched "Slash them! Kill them all! And bring me his head!" He said pointing to Thorin.
Benna dropped to the floor as the goblins rushed Thorin pinning him to the ground. He looked around desperate for a way out as he fought against the goblin's hold.
Suddenly the cavern was filled with blinding light, knocking everyone off their feet.
"Take up arms," Gandalf's voice boomed in the cavern "Fight!"
The company scrambled to their feet.
"Thorin catch!" Nori called, tossing his sword. He caught the blade before grabbing Benna, hauling her over his shoulder. She groaned at the contact, stirring in his grasp.
"This way quickly!" Gandalf shouted as the goblins began to descend on them again. The company sprinted down the narrow gangway as more and more goblins descended into the cavern.
"Cut the ropes!" Thorin shouted. The platform began to sway as Dwalin stuck the ropes holding it with his ax.
"Jump." Gandalf urged as the platform swung over to the other side of the gangway. The company landed in a heap as they exited the platform, righting themselves as they continued their escape.
"Ha!" the section in front of them shattered as the Goblin King burst through it.
"You thought you could escape me! What are you going to do now wizard?". Gandalf rushed forward slicing his sword through the goblin's stomach.
"That'll do it." The Goblin king groaned as he collapsed. The platform around them groaned and creaked as the goblin's dead weight pressed down on it. With a crack the supports broke, sending the company plummeting down into the ravine below.
Thorin pulled Benna in front of him as they crashed to the ground.
"Well that could have been worse." Bofur said flatly.
The platform crushed down on them as the body of the Goblin king landed above them. Around him the company groaned as they tried to pull themselves from the debris.
"Take her." Thorin said as Fili pulled himself free.
Carefully he wrapped an arm around Benna working her free as Thorin pushed the debris off of them.
"Gandalf!" Kili cried out pointing up at the swarm of goblins approaching them.
"Only one thing will save us, Daylight!"
The company followed after the wizard as they burst out of the cave and into the woods. Free of the cave Fili gently placed Benna on the ground.
He looked over to Kili "Get Oin."
Dwalin knelt down beside him, brushing some of the matted hair from her face. She opened an eye, looking around blearily.
"Benna?" Fili called softly, but she did not seem to register his voice as she stared blankly back. Behind them they could hear Thorin and Gandalf arguing.
"What is wrong now?" Dwalin grunted as Kili returned with Oin.
"Let me through lads." Oin said pushing them out of the way.
"Bilbos not with us," Kili said anxiously "He might still be in the tunnels."
"That hobbit is long gone!" Thorin growled "We have seen the last of our burglar."
"No, I'm not." The company gave a jump as the hobbit appeared in front of them.
"Why did you come back?" Thorin asked.
Bilbo shifted for a moment "You are right I do think of home often, I miss my books and my comforts. You see that is where I belong, that is home. But you don't have a home it was taken from you, So I will help you take it back if I can.". Thorin stared at him with a strange expression. His face fell as the moment was broken as a howl echoed through the woods.
Fili scooped Benna into his arms as the company looked around nervously.
"Out of the frying pan," Thorin breathed as an orc pack appeared at the top of the hill.
"And into the fire." Gandalf finished grimly "Run!". The company sprinted down the hill only to be met with a sheer drop.
"What now?" Ori yelled.
"Into the trees all of you!" Gandalf urged.
"Here," Kili called down to his brother, taking Benna as Fili climbed up into the tree. Fili quickly hauled himself up the tree, crouching on a branch opposite his brother. Another loud howl echoed around them. "Fee!" He heard his brother gasp following his gaze. A pale white orc strode down the hill, sneering up at the dwarves as he approached.
"Take these." Gandalf said, tossing flaming pine cones to the brothers. They hurled them down at the wargs. The ground around them erupted in flames, The company gave a cry of relief as the wargs backed away from the fire. The tree shifted violently under them.
"Fili!" Kili cried out as his grip on Benna slipped.
Fili reached out grabbing a hold of her before she could fall, causing her to cry out. He tightened his grip as the tree tipped backwards, held to the edge of the hill by its roots. As he struggled to right himself Fili looked up to see Thorin striding down the tree sword drawn.
"Thorin No!" He yelled as he fought to pull himself up.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw the hobbit run down the tree and off into the smoke. As Fili struggled he felt a hand grip the back of his scabbard hauling his up onto the trunk of the tree. Bifur nodded at him before taking Benna. Other members of the company had managed to pull themselves up as well, one by one charging into the smoke. Fili nodded back at him before running into the smoke as well.
...
Benna's mind floated as she cracked her eyes open, frowning as only one seemed to listen to her. Her brain felt like it was a bowl of soup sloshing around inside her skull. People were talking. Talking much too loud. She rolled her eye around- someone was next to her. He looked worried, she thought, but couldn't understand why.
Her lips moved on their own repeating the name that was rolling around in her mind "Thorin?"
She shut her eye as the light became too bright.
The next thing she felt was the world moving around her. She was pressed against something. She could hear someone whispering in her ear. The words would not connect in her mind but they sounded soothing. Benna groaned as a new wave of pain washed over her. She opened her eye again wanting whatever was causing the pain to stop. Someone called a name from far away, her name she thought. But why? She tried to will her mind to focus, to try and understand why the voices were shouting now.
Benna groaned as she felt herself being jostled. Something orange flickered in her vision, then the world moved again sharply. Pain exploded all over her body as the world went black.
Something tickled her face. Wind? Why is it so windy? She cracked an eye open again. Clouds? Why are those clouds so close? She wanted to ask someone to help make sense of it, but the soup in her mind would not cooperate as she shut her eye again.
...
Dwalin looked over at Oin, frowning as the old healer mumbled to himself. He did not like the expression that was plastered across the other dwarfs face. Dwalin was no healer, but even then he knew that Benna was in a bad way. She had barely stirred since their escape from the mountain pass, her skin had taken on an unearthly pallor, making the deep cuts and bruises stand out further.
Oin sucked in a breath as he lifted Benna's shirt.
"Well?" Dwalin growled.
Oin sighed. "She's practically bruised head to toe, Her one arms dislocated, she'll need a few stitches on her side and shoulder, got a few broken ribs that might punctured her lung, and Mahal knows what what blow to her head did."
"Is there anything you can do Gandalf?" Fili asked anxiously.
The wizard sighed "It took a great deal of energy to heal Thorin, but I will do what I can."
He rolled up the bottom of her shirt placing his hands on her stomach, his eyes scrunched in concentration. Benna stirred for a brief moment before going still again.
"Her ribs should be well enough to move her now." He said rolling her shirt back down.
Oin sighed, casting a pitying look at Benna "Right lads let's get this arm in place. Fili, Kili hold her legs, Dwalin make sure she doesn't try to sit up."
The second Oin grabbed her arm Benna's eye flew open as she tried to fight her way out of the hold, writhing against the hands pinning her to the ground.
"Keep her down." Oin said as he began to move the arm around.
Benna screamed, her body arching up as he clicked the joint back into place, before slumping lifelessly back to the ground.
"All right, shall we start on those stitches?"
...
Benna could feel the world moving around her again. Something was wrapped around her snugly. She could feel fingers curled around her body pressing her close to someone's chest. She cracked her eye open again, the world a little clearer this time. She stared up at the sky then over at the person carrying her.
"Fili?" She said, her voice coming out as a rough whisper.
She felt his grip tighten as he leaned his head down to look at her.
"Were going to make camp soon," He said softly "You should sleep a bit more."
Benna wanted to argue but the world was already beginning to float away around her.
She frowned as she felt something wet drip on her cheek. She opened her eye to see Oin pulling a wet rag from her face "Here lass try and open the other one now."
Benna blinked hard as she opened her left eye, trying to refocus it.
"Is it is bad?" She mumbled watching as he wrapped a bandage above the eye.
"It will scar, but so will a few other of these."
"Others?" She frowned trying to lift her arm looking blankly at the blanket which was wrapped tightly around her.
"We had to keep you from moving while you were unconscious," Fili explained shifting his arms around her "We did not want you to rip your stitches."
"Stitches?" She slurred, as the soup began to fill her head again.