Chapter Six

A key?

"Only the strongest will survive

Lead me to heaven, when we die

I am the shadow on the wall

I'll be the one to save us all"

We'd been around long enough to develop names. Or titles, I should say. At first, they were only jokes. Since that trollop had called me a dwarf, Jake thought it was the funniest thing since the Doge meme.. And when we were in a situation where the enemy goblin lord asked what my name was so that he may curse it in the afterlife, Jake was being a little smart ass (like usual) and said that my name was 'Jenna the Dwarf'.

That damn goblin lived and spread the word of Jenna the Dwarf. I knew I was short, or petite like my mother said. But dwarf sized? C'mon.. Shouldn't I be at least a little taller than dwarves?

Whatever.

Jerks.

Though I did notice, that most humans- or men as we're called here- are rather.. tall! Well built, too. Just overall.. big! Jake fit in, but I was always stepped around. People thought I was a child, worse yet.. Jake's child!

There was no way to escape my name, so I embraced it.. Or tried to, anyway.

Jake had an interesting name, in retaliation to Jake giving me my title, I gave him one. Jake the Dog. Which, he adored, because his all time favorite cartoon was Adventure Time. And our goat's name was Finn the Human.

Oh yes, we were some witty people. Or loony as Phil (the Bartender) says.

A shift in rocks knocked me from my reverie and I glanced to Jake, giving him an annoyed look.

"What?" He whispered, crouching. We had located the goblin's den quite easily. They were in a rather small mountain, deep beneath it. Goblin spawn littered the tunnels and caves. We had located an easy way in and out, but now came the difficult part: Getting Boran free.

Boran sat before the goblin lord, not the king, just a subject in a higher rank. The sellsword was trapped in a rack, the rack chained to the stone ground beneath him. His clothes looked torn and muddied and all I wanted to do was to rush to him and love him up.

Oh yes, I was a girl in quite a situation. Crushing on a teacher was easier to deal with than crushing on a married man who taught you how to live in this world. But I ask you: could you not crush on a man you'd come to know and enjoy for nearly eight years? It was awful and it bothered me. But I didn't know what I could do other than to just deal with it.

"How do we get him out of here?"

"I'm not sure... There are far too many goblins to fight.." I whispered, looking at all of them.. Easily, in just one section, there were well over a hundred. I frowned, chewing on my bottom lip.

"A fire!" Jake whispered, grinning.

"Of course! Brilliant, Jakey!" I nodded, "Go get the torches.."

He left to find more lit, loose torches and I went to find flammable articles. Finding a basket, I filled it with cloth and pouches and bits of wood.

"This used to be the King Beneath the Mountain's! But it is mine now! No one can take it from me. Not even that daft Azog! It is mine- all mine! That damn dwarf king can rot in hell before he gets this back!" the goblin lord hooted and hollered and sang and danced all the while he stroked something dangling from his neck.

Walking back to our hidden spot, Jake came back carrying two torches, looking a bit disheveled.

"What happened?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Nothing, just ran into a few goblins. Don't freak out, I dealt with them." Jake quickly said.

I growled, "Just be careful.."

"Yeah, yeah.." He rolled his eyes, "Okay, we start the fires at the bridges leading to Boran, to cut him off from any attack.. And then we use the rope-," he gestured to the ropes that hung from the cliff we were on, "-to get down there, free him, and we climb back up."

I thought and shook my head, "Good start, but if a goblin happens to cut the ropes, we're screwed."

"True... All right, you go down and free him, and then I pull you guys up." He nodded, obviously loving the plan.

"Um, no."

"What? I can lift you but there is no way you can lift me." He pointed out and I nodded, it was true.

"True, but how's this. You guard the ropes and we climb up." I warned and began to set the articles on fire.

He paused and nodded, "But I wanted to see you as a zombie.." He jested, grinning.

With a quick smack to his head, we began tossing the fiery objects. They bounced and landed, and the fire quickly spread and ate at the bridges.

The goblins shrieked and howled, the tall, rotund goblin lord roared and covered his face.

"Put out the fire! Put out the fire!" He howled and yelped as the light blinded him.

Taking my chance, I gripped the rope and shimmied down the wall and rope. Quickly enough, I landed onto the solitary pedestal where the lord sat on his throne of dead bodies and stitched together bones.

"Boran!" I worked to free him as goblins rushed at us, Jake shot them down with flaming arrows. Yanking the rack off of him, he stood free of the chains. His wrists and neck were a bit bloody, but he smiled nonetheless.

"Hello, again." He chuckled, pulling a sword from a body next to him, he hacked and sliced at the goblins that managed to get passed Jake and the flames.

"We gotta go." I nudged Boran, passing him a free rope that connected to the cliff far above us where Jake stood, shooting down incoming enemies.

"Not yet." Boran said gruffly and ran at the goblin lord. The goblin lord pulled out a mighty sword (bigger than Boran!) and began to attack Boran.

I growled through my teeth and covered Boran's back. Goblins soon were all I saw and nothing beyond them but more goblins.

"Boran!" I shouted, taking down any goblin that got close enough.

The man practically roared as he was flung back by the goblin lord.

"Boran!" Jake shouted as goblins began bunching around the pedestals, shooting arrows, and trying to get to us..

This was supposed to be easier. I hissed to myself, Boran glared darkly at the goblin lord and began to climb the rope.

The goblin lord glanced to me, "Jenna the Dwarf.. oh, I've heard of you.." he grinned. "Jenna the Dwarf, born two feet from the wharf, left on a sunny day and found in the North. She's got emerald eyes and she never dies! Damn that Jenna the Dwarf!"

I froze, cocking up a brow, "I have.. a song."

"Everyone knows it." The goblin said flippantly, grinning, then he began attacking me. My sword ricocheting each of his swipes and I danced around him. I saw what Boran was trying to get.

On the necklace.. a key! Lost among his many chins.

"I shall best you yet, Dwarfling!" the goblin lord cackled with glee.

"Oh, enough of this." I rolled my eyes and with two slices, first his leg, then his head, and off flew the key.

I heard Boran scream. I dove, sliding across the dusty stone floor, snatching it by the thin chain the key dangled from- just as it fell from the edge of the pedestal. I was surprised I had even caught it.

The goblins had finally gotten their ladders and were using them as makeshift bridges.

I quickly shoved the key down my corset and hopped up. I ran- flew, really.

I lunged from the pedestal and gripped the second rope. Using my momentum, I flew up high and landed (very roughly) next to Jake on the ledge.

I grabbed my bow. I quickly began firing arrows at the goblin archers, and at the goblins climbing up ladders, "Pull Boran up, Jacob!"

"Will do!" Jake nodded and gripped the rope, tugging the exhausted sellsword up.

Firing one last arrow, Boran was up and we ran for it. We ran through twisting turning and spinning tunnels and came out of the hidden passageway and led us out into the wilds. We didn't slow down and continued to where the horses were.

I mounted Blitz and circled around the area, making sure no goblins followed us. It was nearly evening, the sun sank over the horizon and the stars began to awake and twinkle.

"Thank you for the rescue." a shaking Boran mounted Colton. As I secured the area, Jake had adjusted our packs, so that Boran could ride Colton.

"No problem, it was a blast." Jake grinned.

"I dunno about that being a blast, but it really was no problem." I added, chuckling. Once we were all mounted, we rode off towards Boran's home: Delius.

We wanted to get some distance before we decided to bed down for the night. We could reach the village before the night was over, sure, but it wasn't entirely smart to travel in the dark. Frightening things roamed the night world. Things scarier than wargs.

"Well, either way.. I do appreciate it. I wasn't sure if I was going to get out of there alive." the sellsword smiled to me and I felt my heart somersault. I quickly ground that feeling into a fine dust and smiled back, albeit a bit forced but a smile nonetheless.

"Oh, hey.. Before I forget.. Who is this dwarf king?" I asked, looking to Boran from the plains in front of me.

A pause and a hum, then he spoke, "Do you know his name?"

"Thorin Oaken... sh-omething." I shrugged, "The orc died.. So I dunno if that's his whole name or only part of it."

Boran chuckled, it was a bitter and dry, mirthless chuckle and I glanced to Jake who noticed it as well. But still, no explanation.

"You know something we don't. What's so different about this bit of knowledge that you won't tell us? You've told us everything else." I said with some firmness in my voice. Something I've never done to Boran before.

He looked at me, a small smile on his mouth and twinkle in his gray eyes, "All right... If you insist."

Author's Note:

Ooooh, I wonder what Boran knows?

Breaking Benjamin, "Blow Me Away"