An amazing response last chapter, guys, thank you soooo much! I hope this chapter is up to your standards, there is a fair bit of action :P
Sorry for any mistakes!
Read. Enjoy. Review.
Chapter Fifteen # Falling in Mountains #
Kíli Baggins loved storms. He loved the roaring of the winds and the refreshing cleansing of the pouring rain. He loved the exhilaration brought by the flashing lights and the thunderous bellows.
Or at least that was what he told himself as he struggled along the tiny mountain path, his head bowed and his arm raised to shelter his face from the bitter wind and biting rain.
The first few days in the mountains had been exhilaration for Kíli, who had never before climbed to such an enormous altitude, but the thunder and the storms had been cruel to the company and for two days they had been walking through the pouring rain, with each breath of wind threatening to blow them from the very mountain they stood on.
"We must find shelter!" Thorin's bellow reached Kíli's ears and he agreed silently.
As he stumbled step by step he was comforted by the biting of the rock against his bare feet, having removed his boots when the rain began for better grip.
A rumble of thunder was coupled by Dwalin's roar. "Look out!"
Kíli lowered his arm to look up, but in an instant his arms were back above his head as he tried desperately to protect himself from the rubble of the boulder that had smashed against the mountain wall above the company.
"This is no thunder storm!" Balin cried, pointing at another boulder crashing towards their heads. "It's a thunder battle!"
Bofur's voice only just rose above the shocked and frightened shouts of the rest of the company. "Well bless me, the legends are true…Giants – stone giants!"
Peering over his shoulder, Kíli was shocked to see Bofur leaning toward the chasm below as he stared in amazement at the colossal beings hurling boulders at each other.
"Take cover, you fool!" Gandalf barked from the rear of the group, at the same time as Thorin called back to Bofur.
"You'll fall!"
Bilbo pulled Bofur back against the mountain and Kíli stared at the giants in terror.
"Fíli…" the wind stole the murmur from Kíli's lips and tossed it into the valley below, but he was not sure what he would have followed it with anyway.
Suddenly a loud cracking broke through the clamour of sound and he stared down at the floor beneath his feet, feeling the restrictions of panic closing in around his heart.
"What's happening?" he cried as he stumbled away from the crack growing beneath his feet.
"Kíli, grab my hand!" Fíli begged desperately, and with horror Kíli realised that his brother, father, Bofur, Dwalin, Bombur, Ori and Gandalf were all on the leg of another giant.
He reached desperately for Fíli's hand but he could not quite reach it, and when he stretched further he wobbled.
"Fíli! Bilbo!" he yelled desperately, his hand still reaching into space as the giant took them away. "No!"
Bifur's hand pulled him forward, and Kíli screamed. "Thorin!"
His uncle turned and looked, his eyes widening in horror, but he realised as Kíli did that there was nothing he could do for them now.
"Move!" Thorin ordered as the ground beneath Kíli's feet began to shake once more.
"Get off, get off!" Balin's shouts reached back to Kíli while the company lurched forward onto the next stretch of mountain, but already the rock they were scrambling across was shifting, tipping backwards away from what appeared to be the constant mountain below.
By the time Bifur reached the gap between the mountains he had to jump, but in a sick twist of fate the rocks beneath his feet crumbled as he leapt, causing him to flail before he reached the safety of the next vein of rock Gandalf called a 'road'. Due to the floundering motions, Bifur's baggage swung away from his back momentarily, hitting Kíli powerfully.
The young dwarf fell flat on his face, yelping as he began to slip down the path as though it were a slide, his fingers and feet grappling for purchase on the slippery stone.
"Help!" he cried desperately as the stone beneath him rose up and the company disappeared from view. "Help me!"
"Kíli!" Thorin hollered from…somewhere.
Kíli's disorientation grew as Bilbo's disembodied scream met his ears. "Kíli – no, hold on!"
Suddenly Kíli's fingers latched onto a small crevice in the rock and he stopped sliding. Utilizing all of the skills attained from a childhood of climbing trees, Kíli climbed back up the steeping slope that had once been the path, pulling himself up towards the edge of the – leg? – of the giant he was clinging to.
Kíli's climbing quickly took him to the top of the path, and he began to pull himself up when a sickening crunch met his ears, followed by Thorin's roar of what sounded like anguish. Trying not to think of what that could mean, Kíli pulled himself up over the edge and studied the growing gap between the mountains. As it stood it was about twice his height.
Kíli pulled himself into a standing position, telling himself that the wobbling of his legs was purely a result of the shaking mountain. He took a deep breath. He braced himself.
He leapt.
Time slowed as Kíli flew through the air, his eyes sending a panicked warning to his brain that Bilbo was currently dangling over the edge of a cliff; much like the young dwarf had been himself just moments before. He had no time to truly panic, though, because he quickly crashed into the other mountain.
Stealing a few moments to catch his breath, Kíli shakily stood and began to stagger around the corner to where the company where.
"He has been lost ever since he stepped out of his door! He should never have come."
Kíli recoiled at Thorin's bitter words, though he knew full well exactly who they were directed to. Bilbo was sitting on the floor, breathing heavily and looking around desperately, having taken in Thorin's words and saved the pain for later.
"Kíli? Kíli?"
"I'm here!" the young dwarf instantly responded, staggering to his hobbits side and grabbing Bilbo into a tight hug, glaring up at Thorin, who clearly had not expected his nephew to hear his cruel words to the hobbit. The older dwarf's face was contorted, but to Kíli's disgust it showed no remorse, only a slight awkwardness about having been caught.
"Good..." Thorin cleared his throat stubbornly and Kíli clenched his teeth, about to unleash his growing fury on his uncle about his treatment of Bilbo, but a familiar hand landed on his shoulder.
He looked up at Fíli's pale face and then yanked hard on his hand, pulling his older brother to the floor so that he could hug him fiercely as well.
"You alright?" He murmured quietly, so that only Fíli could hear him.
"Fine, I'm fine, Kíli." Fíli replied with a small smile. "Breathe."
Kíli chuckled darkly and broke away from the hug, distracting himself by looking around. "Where's Gandalf?"
"W-what?" Bilbo stammered, instantly looking around frantically.
Thorin's face darkened with worry and the entire company began to look around, Bofur and Ori throwing the wizard's name onto the wind.
"Bombur, he was behind you last!" Thorin recollected, turning to the rotund dwarf that Fíli had helped back to his feet. "What happened?"
Bombur looked pale, and at a total loss. "I...I don't know. He was right there, next to me and then the mountain moved - I was looking straight ahead, I didn't notice if...when..."
"Perhaps he did some magic and vanished?" Ori offered weakly.
"More chance that he fell, Ori." Nori put a hand on his brother's shoulder.
"What if he's injured, what if he needs help?" Kíli worried, looking around. "We should look for him…"
"There is nothing we can do now. We must get out of the rain, we cannot be separated again." Thorin decided.
"There's a cave, right here!" Dwalin announced, and Kíli's teeth ground together.
"Someone's life is in danger!"
"You can't save everyone, Kíli!" Thorin barked. "You, of all people, should know that."
Kíli's blood ran cold as it boiled - anger and pain fighting for dominance in his body - and for his tongue.
"I was saved..." He forced the words from behind his teeth. "But you're right. I was not saved by you. You couldn't save me."
Silence descended upon the group as Thorin and Kíli stared at each other, tension crackling around them like lightning. Once again Fíli's hand touched Kíli's shoulder, but he continued to glare into his uncle's unreadable eyes.
He could feel Bilbo shuffling awkwardly beside him, and he could sense the other members of the company shifting slightly, though none dared to move too much, lest they make a sound.
It was Dwalin that stopped it, moving to stand in between the uncle and the nephew, staring at them both in turn. "There's no point sitting here throwing daggers at each other, and you can't spar up here so the both of you will have to bottle up the rage that's burning behind your eyes and get your sorry behinds into the cave before you're washed away with the rain."
Well aware that Dwalin was the only one who could hope to talk to Thorin in such a way, Kíli stared at the floor with a stubborn nod, seeing everyone's feet tromp heavily into the cave.
Bilbo slowly stood up, gently pulling Kíli with him.
"Come on, Kíli..." He murmured. "This is one storm you really shouldn't weather outside alone."
"Bilbo..." Kíli turned to his hobbit, but he was unable to find the right words to express his anger and grief and pain.
"It's alright, Kíli." Bilbo promised quietly. "Everything will be alright."
Kíli snorted quietly but Fíli smiled softly. "He's right, Kíli. Hear me, what Thorin said; to both of you...he shouldn't have said those things. Neither of them are really true…"
Kíli nodded stiffly, his anger growing as he realised that Thorin's last words had cut Fíli as deeply as they had Kíli.
"I'm glad you think so. Shall we get out of the rain?" Bilbo smiled tiredly, and they joined the rest of the company in the caves.
Kíli spoke to no one for the rest of the evening, taking his bedroll and miming sleep with his face against the wall. He heard Bofur take watch and he heard the rest of the company gradually fall to sleep, but then he heard something else, as well.
Footsteps.
"Where d'you think you're going?"
Bilbo's quiet voice replied to Bofur's. "Just outside for a moment, to catch my breath... And to see if I can see..."
Gandalf, Kíli finished silently.
"Alright then... Just so long as you're not sneaking back to Rivendell."
"No, no. I'm here for as long as Kíli wants me, I'm afraid."
"Then that's good - you'll be here for as long as the lad lives." Bofur's voice was full of conviction.
"I hope so..." Kíli could just about hear a small smile in Bilbo's voice.
"Bilbo, I know that now the last thing you'll want to do is be around any of us, but if you ever want to talk to anyone, I'm all ears. I've been told I'm not a bad listener…"
This time Bilbo's smile was far louder. "Thank you, Bofur...it's just been a very long day."
"Aye, that it has. Don't worry about the wizard - he's probably on his way up now, grumbling to his hat about the stubbornness of dwarves and naivety of hobbits."
"I sincerely hope so..."
"I for one am glad you came, my friend."
Kíli smiled slightly to himself, glad that at least one of the dwarves would admit to disagreeing with Thorin, even if it was behind the king's back.
Bilbo's grateful response was a little louder, though his voice was still low so as to avoid waking anyone. "Thank you...I am too, most of the time... Well, I'll only be a minute."
"Aye, aye." Kíli imagined Bofur tipping his hat with the tone he took, but he also pictured a dark cloud covering the miner's cheerful face when he asked gravely; "What's that?"
There was the sound of Bilbo pulling his little sword a little way out of its sheath, and a faint blue light like a reflection shone above Kíli's head. He rolled over and stared in horror at Bilbo's glowing sword - but apparently he wasn't the only one feigning sleep.
"Wake up!" Thorin barked authoritatively and the company jolted awake as one, but suddenly there was a load creak and crack and then Kíli was falling.
He let out a cry of shock and pain as he collided with a wall and was then ricocheted back into the tunnel he was falling through. When he landed on Glóin's stomach he scrambled to right himself, but Ori promptly fell on his back, pushing him to the floor and squashing his face in between Dwalin's thighs.
Well, this is awkward, Kíli's mind quipped, despite the imminent danger of the situation.
A unified roar followed by a series of screeches that sent chills down Kíli's spine and he gasped at the hordes of creature's swarming towards them. "Goblins!"
"Move, get up quickly!" Thorin yelled and Kíli tried to, but before he could so much as reach for his bow or his knife he was grabbed by two goblins and dragged down away from the group.
With a roar, he smashed his elbow into one of their faces and felt the creature's nose break with a sickening crunch. Instantly another three goblins leant their comrade aid, smashing their fists into Kíli's chest and knocking the air from his lungs.
Thrashing and snarling like an alley cat even as he caught his breath, Kíli fought his attackers in vain as they began to drag him away from the others.
"Kíli!"
Kíli's blood ran cold at the sound of Fíli's horror-struck cry.
"Kíli!"
Another voice was screaming with Fíli, the high pitched voice of a child he once knew.
"Let go of him, Kíli!"
In an instant, Kíli's eyes glazed over.
He was running, running in terror from the goblins, trying so hard to catch up with his big brother. All of a sudden his feet caught on a root and he smashed to the floor.
"Fee! Fíli help me!" he screamed in terror than lessened only minutely when Fíli ran back and dragged him to his feet.
Then he was running again, clutching Fíli's hand, and running and running and running… Kíli glanced over his shoulder and screamed.
The goblins were getting closer.
Fíli's hand dragged him closer and his brother spoke in such a calm voice that Kíli was a little comforted. "Don't look back! Just keep running!"
Kíli obeyed, not even glancing over his shoulder when Fíli did. Suddenly Fíli's hand was ripped from his as his brother flew backwards with a shriek.
"Kíli, run!"
Kíli wailed in horror as he saw a filthy goblin dragging his brother away, and he ran straight back to Fíli, frantically tugging on his brother's arms, trying to make the evil creature let him go.
Fee struggled all the more now that he was there, and suddenly Fíli's arms were around him, holding him close. Kíli breathed into Fíli's chest, shuddering as he heard the goblins surround them.
"I've got you!" Fíli's promise made Kíli whimper and he clung onto Fee with all the strength in his little arms.
"…not that one, the runt! Yeah, that one!"
Harsh hands grabbed Kíli's arms and wrenched him from Fee's arms.
"No, no, Kíli!" Fíli's eyes were filled with more fear than Kíli had ever seen and fear swallowed the little boy.
"Fee!" he howled, stretching out with his hands.
With a gasp, Kíli flew back to the present, shock numbing his body and mind at having experienced an unknown memory like that. Instinctively he wrenched around in the grip of the goblins that were jostling him across a bridge, feeling a little relieved to see the company being herded along behind him.
Thrusting his arm out despite his attackers, Kíli reached for Fíli adrenalin giving him extra power in his arms.
"Fíli!"
A goblin screeched and a whip smashed across Kíli's back, dragging a startled scream from his lips.
"Run!" the filthy creatures growled and Kíli ran, unwilling to have the tight leather smashed across his shoulder blades again.
He let himself be jostled around by the goblins with only a minimal amount of struggle, mainly because his brain was already whirring with possibilities of escape plans. Bilbo had drilled it into him at an early age that it would be brains and not brawn that would keep him alive on this earth, and in the Shire it had worked very well.
To Kíli's utter disappointment, they seemed to have stumbled right into the heart of goblindom on Middle Earth.
I wonder if that's a word… Elvendom is a word… I shall have to ask Bilbo is 'dwarfdom' is a word as well…
Shaking his head to dispel his wandering thoughts only resulted in his tousled hair falling before his face and Kíli huffed, slightly amused that irritation (and amusement, for that matter) could make themselves known in such a dire situation when he was so tightly grasped by fear.
As the goblins' cackles grew more and more excitable Kíli looked up, guessing that their destination would be close by. His eyes widened at the sight of the most repulsive creature he had ever seen. It was a little bigger than the trolls had been, but it was no troll.
As Kíli was pushed onto a platform by the disgusting persona's chair, he realised with a start that the chair was some sort of throne.
This was the Great Goblin.
Oh, well this is just lovely. We may as well invite the Sackville-Bagginses and make a party out of it… Kíli thought sarcastically, before feeling guilty for classing his irritating relatives him the same league as this abomination.
He was a little relieved when the others were also shoved onto the platform and squashed around him – it allowed him to lean into Fíli's side ever so slightly, and it enabled him to look around and see Bilbo, who was half hidden between Bombur and Dori.
"Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom?" the Great Goblin growled, stalking down from his throne and waving a staff over them. "Spies? Thieves? Assassins?"
"Dwarves, your malevolence!" a snivelling creature standing just in front of Kíli ventured.
"Dwarves? What are you doing in these parts?" The creature demanded, before swinging his staff around to point at Bilbo. "Speak!"
Kíli remained stubbornly quiet, just like the others, but then one of the goblins jostling through the company squaked.
"This is no dwarf!"
Turning with neck cracking speed, Kíli watched with carefully masked horror as the creature began poking and prodding at Bilbo, who looked very much as though he were about to be sick.
"What is it? Why is it travelling with dwarves? Perhaps he shall give us the information we need…" the 'king' mused, and Kíli's heart began to tighten when Bofur stepped forward.
"I don't think that'll happen; he's a halfling. He only speaks…uh, Hobbiton! If you want information, it's me you should talk to. You see, we were on this 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, the point is we were on this road that's a path that's a track, and then we weren't…Which is a problem, because we were supposed to be in Dunland a week ago…"
Kíli wanted to laugh at Bofur's pure genius, but the goblin king was far from amused.
"I don't believe you."
"It's the truth!" Bofur protested, and the Great Goblin let out a hacking cough.
"If they will not talk the truth, we shall make them squawk! Bring out the mangler, bring out the Bone Breaker! Start with…this one!"
Kíli could not help but swallow as the goblin king pointed at him, but he kept his chin up stubbornly.
"Wait!" Thorin roared, pushing his way to the front and standing in front of Kíli, who exhaled slightly.
"Ah, Thorin Oakenshield…" The Goblin gave a twisted grin. "I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head… Just a head, nothing attached."
Kíli's stomach twisted and he glanced at his uncle, but Thorin's expression remained as stony as ever.
"Perhaps you know of whom I speak? A pale orc, astride a white warg…"
Thorin reacted finally, his voice quavering with anger. "Azog the Defiler was destroyed…He was slain in battle years ago!"
"So you think his defiling days are over?" The Great Goblin cackled, and Kíli's ears picked up the sound of advancing machinery. Suddenly the giant creature frowned. "Where are their weapons?"
The goblins around them shrank away and the great Goblin roared in irritation.
"Search them! Every crack, every crevice!"
Kíli struggled to remain stoic as disgusting goblins tore away his bow and his sword, throwing them to the growing pile of weapons at the Great Goblin's feet.
Another shriek rose above the rest as the snivelling goblin that had so observantly identified them as dwarves threw Orcrist as his King's feet.
"The Biter!" the Great Goblin's anger grew. "Beat them!"
Within seconds Kíli was on the floor covering his head as dozens of goblins began to set upon him and every other member of the company. The grunts and cries told him that some of the others had managed to fight back, and he saw Thorin dive for the weapons rather un-majestically, swinging the first sword he could grab at the goblins above Kíli. Though neither uncle nor nephew realised at the time, protective Thorin's actions put a larger target on Kili's back than his youth ever could.
Grateful for his chance to scramble away Kíli tried, but hands grabbed his ankles and dragged him out to the foot of the Goblin King's throne, lying on his back and staring up at the creature.
The feel of two separate blades on either side of his neck was a new sensation for Kíli, and not one he ever wanted to feel again.
"Settle down now…" the goblin cackled as though he were talking to rowdy children.
Kíli's upside down view saw Thorin drop the sword he held instantly and the swarming of the goblins upon him, slashing whips across his uncle's back. Any anger Kíli still held for Thorin had been temporarily diverted and fear stoppered his throat.
"Well, well, well, this shall be quite amusing…" the goblin chuckled down at Kíli, who clenched his jaws together in an effort to mute any sound he might have made.
The first blow was unexpected, merely because it came from nowhere. With absolutely no warning a goblin leapt down from the ceiling or some such place, landing on Kíli's stomach and scratching at his neck and face.
With a short cry of horror Kíli scratched back, struggling hopelessly.
"Stop!" Thorin ordered.
"And why would I want to do that?" the Goblin King crowed. "It is obvious from the delightful looks on your faces that hurting this pathetic excuse for a dwarf is hurting you."
A whip found its way across Kíli's face and he cried out despite his best efforts.
"Kíli!" Fíli yelled urgently. "Kee!"
Kíli struggled as his shirt was torn apart, allowing the lashes to crash across his bare skin and in minutes he was bleeding, clenching his teeth in a desperate attempt not to sob, though tears were already on his cheeks.
Pain seared across his chest and face and he desperately searched the horrified audience for Bilbo's brown eyes and the comfort he knew that they would bring.
"Ah…and our lovely devices have arrived…" The Goblin King chuckled and Kíli looked up, his stomach collapsing at the sight of all the horrific machinery before him. "Put him on the Bone Breaker first."
"No, no stop!" Thorin cried, his voice showing true fear.
Kíli struggled as he was dragged away from the goblin king towards the advancing machine, and he fought and thrashed. As he was tugged closer and closer to a horrific device full of spikes and straps, words fell from Kíli's lips without his permission and he dragged his bare heels against the wooden floor, feeling the rotting wood splinter into them.
"Bilbo, Fíli, Bilbo, Bilbo, Fee!"
And then the world went black.
Du dah daaahhh! I hope that was okay, I had to put in Bofur's line about the road that was a path that was a track just because it was pure genius, I hope you don't mind :P
Family angst, torture angst, memory angst... Sheesh, I'm a little stressy at the moment :P
So why is the world black? I expect most of you will guess why...
Do I like this chapter? Hm, yes and no. What do you think?
We shall be having more goblin town and some explanations ASAP! Leave a review if you fancy, thank you so much for reading!
