And here comes chapter 9. Again, my apologize that it took so long. School and homework occupies a lot of my time.

Also, I'm maybe going to write some other fanfics. This doesn't mean I'm not going to finish this story. It's just that I have a few other ideas that I also would like to write down. For the readers of this story it means that the chapters will appear less often, but you're all welcome to read the other fanfics (if I'm able to write them down, cause I only have a few VERY vage ideas).

Well, enjoy reading, my apologies for any grammar mistakes (I'm not from an English-speaking country) and please subscribe.

(p.s. : let me know what you think the ending of this chapter, because I made it different from the movie)

Maddie run as fast as she could and as far away as possible from the mountain and tried to catch up with the others.

She jumped from a rock and tried to ignore the pain that went through her bruised arm. Her main priority now was to find the others and not to sit down and mock about her arm.

She was running through a forest filled with conifers and in the distance she could hear how a spring streamed down some rocks.

After a few minutes, she heard Dwalins voice.

'Curse that Warlock! Now she's lost?'

Maddie quickened her pace towards the sound.

'Where did you last see her?' Gandalf voice asked.

'I think I saw her slip away when they first collared us.' Nori answered.

Maddie could now see Gandalf and the others standing between the trees. She wanted to wave to make clear that she was back, but then realized she still had the ring on and was in fact invisible.

'And what happened? Tell me!' Gandalf continued.

Maddie was about to pull off her ring but was stopped by Thorins words.

'I'll tell you what happened. Miss Maddie saw her chance and she took it. She has thought of nothing but returning to Camelot since first she came to Middle-earth. We will not be seeing our Warlock again. She is long gone.'

That was it, Maddie thought. That was the moment where she could turn around, go back to Rivendell, find another way back to Camelot and leave Thorin and the others. She could turn away from Thorins dislike towards her. But as soon as the thought appeared to her, she pushed it away.

There was something that made her wanting to stay. It wasn't because she had made a promise. It wasn't because she liked Gandalf and the Dwarves. It wasn't because she liked adventures.

The reason, she realized to her own surprise, was Thorin. Since they had met, he had always disliked her. He thought girls didn't belong on adventures and that she was only a burden who would run home at first opportunity.

Maddie didn't know why, but somehow she wanted to prove to Thorin that he was wrong. That she was better that what he thought.

Maddie took a deep breath and putted off the ring. 'I'm afraid I must say that she isn't gone.'

Everybody turned towards her as soon as they heard her voice.

Gandalf let out a relieved sigh. 'Maddie, I have never been so glad to see anyone in my life,' he said as he walked towards and gave her a hug.

Maddie ignored the pain in her arm and hugged Gandalf back.

'Maddie, we'd given you up. How on earth did you get past the Goblins?' Kili asked.

Maddie opened her mouth to speak, but shut it again. She didn't want to say openly that she had found a dark magical ring that could turn its bearer invisible. She wanted to discuss it first in private with Gandalf.

Apparently, Gandalf understood her hesitation and said: 'Well, what does it matter? She's back.'

Thorin, who was still surprised Maddie had appeared, replied: 'It matters. I want to know. Why did you come back?'

Maddie looked into Thorins eyes and for the first time, she didn't see any hatred or disliking in his eyes. The only thing she could read in his face was that he was surprised to see her and wanted to know the answer to his question.

'Look, I know you doubt me. I know you always have,' Maddie began. 'And you're right, I want to go back to Camelot. I miss my friends and I have to save Arthur. I've promised myself to try to save him. But I have also promised myself to do anything in my power to help you. Not because I don't have any other choice, but because it is the right thing to do. And...'

'And what?'

For a moment, Maddie contemplated whether she should Thorin that he was the reason of her return or not. Maddie decided she didn't have the guts to do it.

'I've lived more than 3 years in Camelot and 14 years in the Ealdor. But in all that time, I've never found myself a place I could call home. But I never gave up hope of finding one.

And that's also why I came back. Because, you don't have one either. A home. It was taken from you. But I will help you take it back if I can,' Maddie finished.

Everyone of the company had gone silent at her words and Thorin almost looked pleased by her answer.

Suddenly, Wargs were heard howling in the distance.

'Out of the frying pan...,' Thorin began, fearing that they had just stumbled into a new danger.

'... and into the fire,' Gandalf finished, 'Run!'

Thorin, Gandalf, Maddie and the other Dwarves ran as fast as they could away from the Orcs.

After the company had escaped, they had discovered that Maddie was missing.

Thorin had immediately presumed that Maddie had gone back to Camelot. It was the perfect opportunity for her to disappear. He didn't trust her and had been expecting her to leave.

When Madie had appeared, Thorin had been shocked. He had been so surtain that she would abandon them, that he couldn't believe she was really standing there and was being hugged by Gandalf. And after Maddie had explained why she had stayed, Thorin realized for the first time that maybe he had been wrong about her. That maybe she was more than he gave her credit for.

But now Thorin needed to focus on where he was running, and not on Maddie.

The company had been running for several minutes, when they realized they were trapped. Behind them were the Orcs and in front of them was a huge abyss.

A few Wargs that had run faster than the others, caught up with the company, but were quickly slain by the Dwarves.

'Up into the trees!' Gandalf shouted. 'All of you, climb!'

Everybody quickly chose a tree and tried to stay out of reach of the rest of the Wargs that had arrived.

Thorin lifted himself to a higher branch as a big Warg with large fangs was snapping at his feet. He didn't notice how Gandalf was whispering to a moth.

Then, out of a few conifers, came a white Orc, astride a white Warg.

Thorin pushed away a branch to have a closer look and see whether his eyes were cheating. It couldn't be the Orc he had presumed to be dead for more than 50 years. And yet,. here stood that Orc filth, with a sick smile on his face and an arm with a bludgeon instead of the hand that Thorin had cut off.

'Azog...,' Thorin whispered.

Azog the Defiler took a deep breath through his nose. 'Do you smell it?' he asked Thorin in Black Speech. 'Do you smell the scent of fear? I remember your father reeked of it, Thorin son of Thrain.'

Thorin shook his head. 'It cannot be.' It had to be just a nightmare.

Azog pointed his blusgeon at Thorin and said to his Orcs and Wargs: 'That one is mine. Kill the others!'

The Wargs jumped as high as they could against the trees, but the company was too high. They grabbed the lower branches of the trees and tried to pull themselves up.

Unfortunately, the conifers could not bear the weight of the Dwarves and the Wargs, so they started to fall down. Thorin and the other quickly jumped to the other tree, that also fell down. Eventually, all of the Dwarves were hanging in one tree.

There were now no trees close enough to jump on.

In the distance, Thorin heard Azog laughing. They were trapped and had nowhere to go.

Then he noticed how Maddie grabbed a fir-cone and used her magic to set fire to it. She then threw it on a few bushes who instantly catched flame. The Wargs quickly backend away from the fire.

Gandalf followed Maddie's example and started to lit fir-cones. He and Maddie passed a few of them to the other Dwarves, and it wasn't long before everybody of the company was throwing burning fir-cones down upon the Wargs and the bushes that seperated the Orcs from the Dwarves.

Now the Wargs couldn't reach the company and the Dwarves laughed of their victory.

But the feeling didn't last for long, for the tree that contained the company, also began to fall down. Eventually, the tree hung above the abyss in a horizontal position.

Ori had accidentally let go of his branch and was now hanging at the boot of Nori.

Thorin had managed to stay on his branch and looked up to Azog, who smiled at him.

Suddenly, all the anger and all the hatred Thorin felt against the Orc crossed Thorins mind. This filth had killed his grandfather and many of his kin.

Thorin got up his feet and walked down the trunk of the tree.

The espression on Azog's face turned into surprise as Thorin drew his sword and began to run towards him.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Thorin knew that he shouldn't be doing this. But he couldn't control his rage. He ignored the shouts of the other Dwarves and quickened his pace.

He raised his sword to slay Azog, but Azogs Warg jumped and bumped against Thorin, causing him to fly backwards through the air and land on his back.

Thorin gasped for breath and forced himself to get back on his feet. But before he could even lift his sword, Azog had already ridden back to him and used his bludgeon to send Thorin flying through the air once more.

Azogs Warg then walked towards Thorin and bit him in his torso.

Thorin felt how the teeth penetrated his flesh and screamed in pain. He didn't know how he found the strength to do it, but he lifted his sword and hit the Warg on its nose.

The Warg let go of Thorin and backed away.

Thorin couldn't get up. He was too injured to move.

He heard how Azog spoke to one of his Orcs. 'Bring me the Dwarf's head.'

A few second later, a grinning Orc-face appeared above him. Thorin tried to grab his sword, but it was out of his reach. The Orc slowly raised his sword to cut off Thorins head.

Thorin kept his eyes open. If he was going to die, he wanted to see it coming.

Because he kept his eyes open, he was able to see how a black-haired creature pushed the Orc away and pushed its sword through the heart of the Orc.

It was Maddie. She pulled her sword out of the death Orc and stood between him and Azog. 'If you want him, you'll first have to kill me,' he heard her say.

Then, the loss of too much blood caused Thorin to fall into unconsciousness. He closed his eyes and accepted the darkness that claimed him.

Maddie pulled her sword out of the death Orc and took her position between Thorin and Azog.

'If you want him, you'll first have to me,' she said.

After she had seen how Thorins was about to get beheaded, she had gotten up her feet and rushed towards him without a thought.

Azog yelled: 'Kill her!'

Three Wargs strode towards Maddie. She could never beat them all at once.

Luckily, Fili, Kili and Dwalin had also managed to get off the tree and rushed in to help her. Maddie also fought against a Warg, but made sure to stay close to Thorin.

Then, the Eagles came. With their clawes, they crabbed most of the remaining Wargs and threw them into the abbys. They also used their wings to send the fire towards the Orcs.

The Eagles picked up Maddie, Gandalf and the Dwarves and carried them away from Azog. In the distance Maddie could hear him yell at them.

It was already the next morning, when the Eagles landed on a rock.

First, Thorin was gently laid down. He still wasn't conscious or moving.

Gandalf jumped of his eagle as soon as they had landed and kneeled down besides Thorin and muttered a spell.

Maddie jumped off her eagle as well and looked on from a distance, hoping that Thorin was alright.

After Gandalf had finished his spell, Thorin's eyes fluttered open. 'The warlock?' he whispered.

'It's all right,' Gandalf answered. 'Maddie is here. She's quite safe.'

Maddie let out a relieved sigh and smiled. She was glad Thorin was alive. She watched how the other Dwarves helped Thorin up his feet. He pushed their helping hands away.

'You!' he spoke angrily towards her and the smile left her face.

'What were you doing?' Thorin continued. 'You nearly got yourself killed! DId I not say you would be a burden? That you would not survive in the Wild? That you had no place amongst us?'

Maddie swallowed and looked at her feet. She didn't dare to look Thorin in the eye. 'Yes,' she answered.

'But still you came back and saved my life,' Thorin whispered.

'I... '

'I have never been so wrong in all my life,' Thorin interrupted Maddie and hugged her.

Maddie was speechless. Had Thorin truly said he'd been wrong? Had she finally won his trust?

She hugged Thorin back, and when they finally stepped back, Thorin looked at her with guilt. 'I am sorry I doubted you.'

'There is no need to apologize,' Maddie assured him. She was already glad that he didn't dislike her anymore. 'I'm not a hero or a warrior. Maybe not even a burglar.'

The Dwarves laughed and Thorin smiled at her.

Then something behind Maddie drew Thorins attention and caused his mouth to fall open. Maddie followed his gaze and asked: 'Is that what I think it is?'

As everybody turned to stare into the disntance, Gandalf nodded. 'Erebor... the lonely Mountain. The last of the great Dwarf kingdoms of Middle-earth.'

And right he was, for at the horizon, a solitary peak was to be seen.

Thorin smiled and said: 'Our home.'

A bird flew right by the company in the direction of the mountain. 'A thrush!' Oin said. 'The birds are returning to the mountain.'

Thorin looked at Maddie. 'We'll take it as a sign. A good omen.'

Maddie nodded. 'You're right. I do hope the worst is behind us.'

The company didn't know that the thrush landed on the mountain side, near a grey stone. There it found a nut and started to hit it against the stone in order to break it.

Deep inside the mountain, buried under a huge pile of gold, Smaug woke up and snorted. Why was he disturbed from his sleep?

He then realized the sound came from a thrush. He knew what it meant.

His mouth formed a wicked grin which showed his teeth.

'Good,' he said. 'They're coming.'