Happy Friday!
"Wake up! WAKE UP!"
Arinna's eyes shot open at Thorin's shouts, though it was already too late to react by then. She screamed as she felt the ground give out beneath her and she suddenly found herself falling through the air, hurtling down a large chute into the dark depths of the mountain. A breathless grunt left her when her body abruptly met the ground, hitting the floor of a wooden cage with a painful thud. She had fallen onto Kili, who was squirming beneath her and she was trying to get off him when she was knocked back down by Bifur's heavy form falling on top of her.
"Get them up!" She heard someone screech and she looked up when someone roughly grabbed her by the collar and yanked her upwards, coming face to face with a goblin. The creature bared its sharp, yellowed teeth in a dark grin as it poked a sword at her. "Take their weapons!"
Arinna couldn't react when she was pulled out of the cage by several dirty pairs of hands, trying to fight off the goblins who were stripping her of her weapons. She was hit in the face then, feeling a sharp set of nails scratch her cheek and she stumbled back.
"Get off her, you disgusting rat!" Kili growled, pulling the druid behind him and kicking at the goblin that had attacked her. He, along with the rest of the company, was now unarmed but still putting up as much of a fight as they could.
But it was no use, they were outnumbered by the horde of goblins who were now poking and pushing them along a long wooden path that snaked through the inside of an enormous mountain cave. Arinna wiped a bit of blood off her cheek as she stumbled along, her face dark as she looked around, seeing more and more goblins slinking out of the darkness. The dwarves had somehow managed to push her into the middle of the group and she was now flanked protectively to all sides, though she couldn't deny that she was grateful for it. She was not keen on being within arm's reach of these foul beasts.
The goblin horde led them along a vast network of tunnels and wooden bridges, further into the depths of the mountain, until they finally reached a great platform on which a giant throne sat, adorned with skulls and other skeletal parts, and on it a huge goblin with crown of bones on his head. Arinna's eyes widened in shock and disgust as she looked up at the creature. The goblin king was far larger than any other goblin, and incredibly ugly, with warts all over his swinging chin. He jumped off his throne as the company was pushed in front of him and their weapons were piled up together a little further away.
"Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom?" The goblin king spoke, his voice loud and high, piercing the companions' ears. "Spies? Thieves? Assassins?"
"Dwarves, Your Malevolence," announced one of his subjects, the one that had hit Arinna in the face earlier.
The goblin king bent forward, taking a long look at the group before him. Arinna's view of him was momentarily blocked as the dwarf in front of her, Fili, she realised, took a step to the side to hide her away from the goblin king's gaze. "Dwarves? Well don't just stand there; search them! Every crack, every crevice!"
The dwarves yelled and struggled as the goblins rushed them again, searching them thoroughly and throwing away anything they found. Oin's hearing trumpet, among other things, was thrown on the floor and crushed beneath their feet. Arinna cried out when she felt a clawed hand reach for the silver chain around her neck and she blindly kicked out and caught the goblin's shin. The beast yelped and bent over in pain, giving the druid enough time to land a swift, hard punch in its ugly face, knocking it back, before she felt someone pull her back into the relative safety of the group.
"What are you doing in these parts?" The goblin king questioned. "Speak!"
Arinna looked around, seeing Bofur take a step in front of Thorin, who had been about to move forward to address the huge goblin.
"If it's information you want, then I'm the one you should speak to!" Bofur announced, earning himself a few doubtful looks from his companions. Arinna doubted that he was planning on telling the goblin king anything useful, and she was not disappointed when the hatted dwarf continued. "See, we were on the road… well, it's not so much a road as a path. Actually, it's not even that, come to think of it. It's more like a track. Anyway, point is, we were on this road, like a path, like a track… and then we weren't. Just like that. Which, of course, is a problem, because we were supposed to be in Dunland last Tuesday."
Arinna's eyebrows had risen almost all the way up to her hairline at the nonsense Bofur was sputtering and she couldn't help but admire his ability to just waffle, saying whatever came into his mind in the face of danger. The goblin king was trying to listen to him attentively, but Bofur's convoluted way of speaking confused him visibly.
"Visiting distant relations," Bofur went on swiftly with his story, nodding at the large goblin as though he should already be in the know about all of it. "Some inbreds on my mother's side. See, the trouble is this -"
"SHUT UP!" The goblin king screeched. Arinna winced at the volume, his voice echoing through the cavern as his subjects ducked away fearfully. "If they will not talk, we'll make them squawk! Bring up the mangler, bring up the bone-breaker! Start with that one!"
Arinna followed the goblin king's finger as he pointed at the dwarves, eyes widening when she realised that he was looking at Fili. The blond dwarf was standing near the front of the group and the dwarves around him quickly began yelling again, trying to fight off the goblins that were now grabbing for Fili. It was then that Thorin's voice rose over the ruckus, addressing the goblin king directly as he stepped forward.
"Wait!" The dwarf-king growled. "Get your hands off him."
"Well, well, well," the goblin king drawled when he recognised the dwarf before him. He took a few steps back toward his throne, looking at Thorin with cruel eyes. "Look who it is! Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror… King under the Mountain! Oh, but I forget, you don't have a mountain and you're not a king. Which makes you… nobody, really. And yet, I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head. Just the head, mind you, nothing attached."
When Thorin said nothing, the goblin king narrowed his eyes, leaning over him. "Perhaps you know of whom I speak. An old enemy of yours… A Pale Orc astride a white warg."
Arinna's eyes widened at the creature's words, remembering the look she had caught from Gandalf the night that Thorin had explained to them how Azog's life had ended. Thorin reacted to the words, as the goblin king had intended.
"Azog the Defiler was destroyed," he growled, though doubt suddenly played in his mind. "He was slain in battle long ago!"
"So, you think his defiling days are done, do you?" The goblin king laughed shrilly, turning away from Thorin who could only look at him in disbelief. He turned to one of the goblins under his command. "Send word to the Pale Orc. Tell him I have found his prize."
Four goblins rushed forward, grabbing hold of Thorin and forcefully pushing him down onto his knees. The dwarf-king cried out furiously, as did his companions. The dwarves who were closest to Thorin tried to reach him, moving forward and immediately being attacked by more goblins. The goblin king's laugh rang out over them mercilessly.
"Slash them!" He screeched gleefully. "Whip them! Rip them apart!"
The dwarves cried out when whips came down upon them, trying to duck away as the goblins laughed maniacally. Arinna was pushed around in the chaos, stumbling forward and clashing into Fili's back, who was kicking at the goblins in front of him, who were still trying to grab him and drag him away. She heard him yelp in pain when a whip suddenly caught him across the face and he tripped and fell, one of the goblins using this opportunity to jump on him, trying to scratch his eyes out.
Arinna reacted out of pure instinct, quickly moving forward and kicking the beast off of him with full force, making it tumble and scream. It screeched angrily before it came straight for them again, its teeth bared to bury into any part of Fili that it could reach. It was then that the druid suddenly remembered that she still had one weapon, the dagger tucked into her boot, and she drew it quickly, rushing forward and burying it in the goblin's head with a fierce cry.
"Get up! Fili, get up!" She yelled, as she kicked the goblin's body away, grabbing Fili's shoulder and pulling him to his feet. The blond dwarf blinked at her, a long slash now running down the side of his face. Blood was dripping from his brow as he squeezed her arm gratefully.
She heard the goblin king suddenly screech again and she looked up to see him scrambling backwards onto his throne, squashing a few of his own subjects beneath his large feet as he pointed at the pile of weapons that had been taken off the company.
"I know that sword!" He yelped, pointing at something on the floor. "It is the Goblin Cleaver! The Biter, the blade that sliced a thousand necks! Beat them! Kill them! Kill them all! CUT OFF HIS HEAD!"
Arinna saw the goblins holding Thorin down, struggling to keep him there as one of them raised a sharp, ragged knife, preparing to behead the king. The druid cried out, not knowing what to do, not being able to do anything, when she was suddenly thrown off her feet, along with the others, as a great explosion of light filled the cavern. Goblins were flung into the air, their torturing machines suddenly destroyed. Arinna blinked against the bright light, her eyes finding a tall figure standing at its origin, and she breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of Gandalf, holding his staff and sword at the ready.
"Take up arms!" She heard him call. "Fight! Fight!"
Arinna did not hesitate to follow the wizard's command. She scrambled to her feet with the others, pushing her way through the chaos toward the pile of weapons and quickly picking up her sword. Bombur and Bifur were right behind her, picking up their own weapons and beginning to toss them to the rest of the company. The druid punched her elbow into the face of a goblin that had come up behind her, before she grabbed the rest of her things off the floor.
"Arinna!"
She turned her head, seeing Fili rush toward her with two goblins on his heels, and she shot another look at the weapon pile, quickly finding what she was looking for. She picked up Fili's swords, turned back and threw them to him as best she could. The dwarf caught them in the air, before he swiveled around and took off the heads of the two goblins that were following him with one swift move. He shot her a grateful look as she came to stand beside him, her sword brandished at her side.
As the dwarves fought, Thorin deflected a blow from the goblin king's mace that was aimed at Nori, causing the beast to stumble backward until he suddenly tripped over one of his subjects and fell over the edge of the platform to the depths below with a loud cry.
"Follow me!" Gandalf called, seeing the opportunity to flee, fighting off more goblins as he made his way through them. "Quick! Run!"
Arinna ran after the wizard with the others, cutting down the goblins around her as they followed a pathway leading away from the throne room. The druid felt her heart beat wildly in her chest. Screams and screeches filled her ears as the goblins chased after them and more came out of their holes to attack them from all sides as they made their way through the dark cavern.
They ran across unsteady wooden bridges, deeper and deeper into the mountain and further down into Goblin Town. Fili was keeping up at the end of the line, slashing his swords at anything that came too close and protecting the company from being jumped on from behind. He had just taken off running again after having killed another goblin and pushing it over the edge, when he suddenly felt a sharp pain rip through his right shoulder. He cried out, as he kept running, looking behind him to see a horde of goblins pointing their bows at him, and he realised that he had been hit by an arrow.
"Come on, lad!" Dwalin yelled at him, grabbing Fili's collar from where he was running ahead of him. He pulled the young prince along, careful not to let him fall behind, and Fili tried to ignore the pain in his shoulder as he kept going, hoping that Gandalf would soon manage to lead them out of this forsaken place.
They reached another bridge then, but before they could cross it, suddenly the goblin king broke through it from beneath them, sending wooden planks flying through the air. Gandalf and the company halted abruptly, coming face to face with the great beast while the goblins behind them began to catch up.
"You thought you could escape me?" The goblin king laughed, slashing at Gandalf with his mace. The grey wizard deflected the first blow and stumbled slightly backwards, out of the way of the second one. "What are you going to do now, wizard?"
Gandalf did not answer, instead he cried out angrily and slashed his sword vigorously across the goblin's stomach. For a moment, the goblin king only stared at the wizard dumbly, before dark blood began to pool from his wound and he collapsed before them. The wood creaked beneath his weight and a second later, the damaged bridge gave way completely.
"Hold on to something!" Thorin shouted as they began to fall again, sliding down into the depths of the cavern on the broken piece of bridge at rapid speed. The dwarves screamed as they crashed downwards, until they hit the ground with sudden force.
Arinna groaned, feeling her whole body ache with the feeling of several dwarves and a broken bridge on top of her. She looked up, seeing Gandalf scramble out of the pile. It was a miracle that they had survived that fall, she thought, beginning to crawl out from under the rubble, as well. She took Gandalf's hand as the wizard helped her to her feet and not a moment too soon, as she heard the dwarves yell out behind her, when suddenly the dead body of the goblin king crashed down upon them, as well.
"You've got to be joking," she heard Dwalin growl from somewhere beneath the pile.
The druid looked up then, seeing more goblins climbing down the walls toward them. "There are too many, Gandalf!" She breathed heavily, fear filling her voice. "We cannot fight them!"
"There's only one thing that can save us now," Gandalf answered her with a haunted look of his own. He called out, urging the dwarves to move. "Daylight! On your feet! Come on!"
Arinna looked around, taking a short moment to feel the air around her before she nodded at Gandalf, who had felt the same thing. A breeze of fresh air was coming through one of the tunnels before them and the wizard and druid quickly ran ahead, leading the dwarves down that path. The screeches of the goblins echoed through the caverns behind them as they ran and it didn't take too long before they could see it, the glow of the evening sun shining through an opening in the mountainside.
It was only when the druid ran to the outside that she realised how long they must have been inside the goblin tunnels and she greedily breathed in the fresh evening air as she ran down the hill, following closely behind Gandalf. They kept going for a little while, making sure to leave enough distance between themselves and the mountain before they took a moment to breathe.
Gandalf stopped running eventually and so did Arinna, coming to a stumbling halt a few feet away from him between the trees. She bent over, struggling to catch her breath, while the dwarves joined them one after the other. She heard Gandalf count them as they came to a halt.
"Nine, ten…"
"Here, lad. Slowly," she heard Dwalin's rough voice over the wizard's from somewhere close by and looked up to see him helping Fili, sitting the blond dwarf down onto a small boulder. Fili was breathing heavily, dried blood covering his face. Arinna took a last deep breath before she stepped toward them, watching as Dwalin exchanged a firm nod with the young dwarf. She only saw the arrow sticking out the back of Fili's right shoulder, when Dwalin was already yanking it out in one swift move. She flinched at FIli's pained outcry, following the scene as Dwalin showed the arrow to the blond dwarf for a moment before he threw it to the ground.
"Fili!" The druid breathed, stepping up to him. She could hardly speak for how concerned she was at his sight. She took a step closer, reaching out her hand gently toward his shoulder. "You were hit. Let me see, that wound will need taking care of."
Fili just let his head hang down in between his legs, not even trying to resist when she began to undo his overcoat. He was too exhausted to pretend like he was completely fine and he was grateful for the druid's help.
"Fili, by Mahal!" Another voice called out and the blond dwarf looked up to his his little brother walking toward him with a worried frown on his face. He could see the fear in Kili's eyes as his eyes darted to his shoulder. "Are you alright?"
Kili's voice had now attracted more attention toward the injured dwarf and Thorin stepped closer to the group, as well, looking his oldest nephew over. Fili was pale and breathing heavily, though he was trying to make it look less bad than it was beneath the many looks of his companions. The druid was busy trying to remove some of his layers to get a better look at the wound on his shoulder and Thorin let out a deep sigh as he addressed her.
"Can you take care of it?" He asked and Arinna looked up from where her fingers were trying to unhook a stubborn clasp on Fili's coat, trying not to yank it too hard so as not to hurt him any more.
"Yes, but I'll need to get a good look at it first," she answered him tightly, her brows furrowed with concern while her eyes were filled with silent determination. "It'll take a while."
"Be as quick as you can," Thorin said with a small nod. "We must get off this mountainside as soon as possible."
"We're one short," Gandalf suddenly spoke over them loudly, looking around for their fifteenth companion. "Where's Bilbo? Where's our hobbit? Where is our hobbit?!"
Arinna looked up again, distracted from Fili's coat for a moment as she glanced around for her friend, who was nowhere to be seen. She felt panic claw at her heart when she couldn't find him. Had he been left behind in the mountain? Had he been hurt? Dwalin stomped the hilt of his axe onto the ground beside her.
"Curse the Halfling! Now he's lost?!"
"I thought he was with Dori!" Called Gloin, and upon his statement the dwarves immediately began arguing amongst themselves about who should have been watching the hobbit. Gandalf angrily spoke over all of them again, his voice now urgent.
"Well, where did you last see him?"
It was Nori who spoke up. "I think I saw him slip away, when they first collared us. I didn't see him again after that."
"What happened exactly?" Demanded the wizard harshly. "Tell me!"
"Aye, I'll tell you," Thorin growled in reply, turning toward the wizard with a dark look on his face. Like it wasn't enough that his nephew was injured and they had all barely escaped with their lives, now they should worry about that accursed Halfling. "I'll tell you what happened. Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it! He's thought of nothing but his soft bed and his warm hearth since first he stepped out of his door! Believe me, Gandalf, we will not be seeing our hobbit again."
Arinna shook her head, her eyes flicking away from Fili's shoulder again toward the dark-haired dwarf-lord. "I don't think that's what happened," she said loudly, hearing Fili letting out a sigh beside her.
"And how would you know?" Thorin turned on her with a scoff. "Is it not true that he wanted to go back to Rivendell? Is it not true that he does not belong on this quest?"
"No, Thorin, it is not true!" Arinna shot back, anger rising within her now as she returned the dwarf-king's gaze darkly. "And if he does feel like he should have gone back to Rivendell, if he does feel like he does not belong, then it is only because you keep telling him so!"
The dark-haired dwarf glared at her but the druid's gaze did not falter. "The hobbit has left us, girl," he growled. "He is long gone."
"No, he's not."
The company's heads turned in surprise at Bilbo's voice and they suddenly saw him step out from behind a tree, sending them a slightly awkward smile. They exchanged looks of shock and relief at seeing him, and Gandalf laughed heartily as he spoke.
"Bilbo Baggins! I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life!"
The hobbit inclined his head at the wizard, slowly striding forward into the group. Balin reached out to pat him on the shoulder affectionately and Bilbo returned the gesture with a smile.
"We'd almost given you up," Arinna heard Fili say through gritted teeth beside her, his blue eyes trained on the hobbit as he caught his gaze. Fili shook his head in slight wonder. "How on earth did you get past the goblins?"
"How, indeed," reiterated Dwalin suspiciously.
Arinna looked to Bilbo for an answer, as did all the others, seeing him falter slightly as he thought of what to say. The druid frowned when the hobbit merely let out a nervous laugh, putting his hands on his hips. For a moment, Arinna could have sworn that Bilbo had just slipped something shiny into his waist pocket.
"Well, what does it matter," she heard Gandalf mutter, though the wizard's voice was thoughtful now. "He's back!"
"It matters! It matters a great deal," Thorin spoke up then, his steely blue gaze fixed on the hobbit. "I want to know. Why did you come back?"
"Look, I know you doubt me," Bilbo sighed, looking down at the ground before he glanced back up at Thorin, now returning the dwarf's gaze with more confidence. "I know you always have. And you're right, I often think of Bag End. I miss my books. And my armchair. And my garden. See, that's where I belong. That's home. And that's why I came back… because you don't have one. A home. It was taken from you. But I will help you take it back if I can."
There was a touched silence over the group after Bilbo had spoken, none of them really knowing what to say as they thought about his words. Thorin inclined his head, taken aback by the hobbit's sincerity. Arinna was smiling softly, looking at the hobbit with pride, before she finally took a small breath and concentrated back on her task at hand.
"Agh," Fili hissed as she pulled open the clasp that she had been struggling with. The druid shot him an apologetic look but the dwarf just shook his head at her, a small gesture of his hand motioning for her to continue.
"I'll try to be more gentle," she muttered, causing the blond dwarf to smile slightly at the ground despite the pain he was in.
He was about to reply something when he heard it. A sequence of long howls echoed over the hill and through the trees. His head shot up and he caught the druid's haunted look as she also realised what the origin of the noise was.
"I do so hate that sound," Fili breathed, straightening up with a pained grimace.
"Couldn't agree more," said Arinna, giving him a pointed look before she grabbed his uninjured arm and pulled him to his feet with her.
"RUN!" Thorin yelled and they all scrambled to their feet, taking off down the hillside as fast as they could as the wargs began their pursuit of them through the forest.
