Elle shot a glance back at Rivendell, her heart falling slightly as she tore her gaze away from the nearly glowing rivers and beautiful bridges, arches and buildings.
Maybe I'll come back someday, she thought sadly, following the company down the path in front of her. They had snuck away from Rivendell just a few moments before, and, much to her protests, hadn't informed Gandalf of their plan to leave early.
Now that they were wizard-less, Elle found herself far more worried about what they might encounter in the wilderness before them. Although Gandalf hardly ever used magic in front of them, his presence was a comforting, wise one, and Elle missed the old wizard already.
Thorin and Balin, she had noticed, seemed particularly stressed this morning, and had already reprimanded the company several times for "walking too slowly," or "carrying too much."
I wonder what's irking them, Elle thought to herself, watching the back of Thorin's head as he walked. Even under the weight of his pack, he maintained a tall, regal stature, and commanded the acknowledgment and respect of those around him.
They rounded a bend, and, much to Elle's surprise, found themselves standing on a rocky ledge carved into the side of a tall mountain. It was dark out, and a torrent of rain and lightning and thunder was bombarding the sky.
"We must find shelter!" Thorin yelled, pulling the hood of his traveling cloak further over his head. "We cannot hope to outlast this storm!"
It had been several hours since the company had left Rivendell earlier that morning, and already Elle was missing the comforts there-the regular meals, the fine clothes and the warm hearth.
At that moment however, a huge crack of thunder rang out through the blackened mountains around them. And out of the corner of their eyes, they all saw one of the mountains beside them move.
It stood up-something that Elle had no idea a mountain could even do-and took a step towards them, it's body a mass of jagged black stone. With a grunt that reminded her of the same thunder she had heard mere moments before, it heaved a giant boulder of stone into the air and hurled it at the area of rock above them.
Elle shrieked as the massive rock came hurdling towards them, and instinctively ducked down, covering her head with her hands. Beside her, Bombur and Bofur were doing to the same.
When the boulder hit the mountain above their heads, it shattered, sending bits of debris flying down onto the narrow ledge that they stood upon. But as the debris hit the ledge, it broke pieces of it off, causing several of the dwarves to almost lose their footing.
I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, Elle repeated to herself frantically, inching as far away from the edge of the ledge as she could.
"This is no thunderstorm; it's a thunder battle! Look!" Balin pointed to a new stone creature emerging from the side of the mountain they stood upon.
"Well bless me, the legends are true. Giants; stone giants!" Bofur cried, watching with a mixture of awe and fear as the new stone giant ripped a block of stone out of the side of their own mountain.
"Take cover: you'll fall!" Thorin bellowed, as the first giant hurled yet another boulder at the second. Dropping it's newly acquired mound of stone, the second giant staggered backwards, causing the ground beneath them to shake.
But the shaking didn't stop, even when the second giant had righted itself and was no longer staggering. For now, Elle realized, her heart dropping in her chest, the very mountain they stood upon was coming alive. The ledge beneath their feet began to crack, causing a chasm to appear between the two newly separated halves of the old ledge.
"What's happening?" Kili cried, for he was now standing over the chasm, one of his legs planted on each of the quickly separating halves.
Part of the company was now on each of the two sides, and Elle could see all of them shooting each other worried, terrified glances. But no one was more terrified than Fili.
"Kili! Grab my hand! Ki..." Fili yelled, reaching out a hand to help his brother safely onto his side of the ledge. But Kili couldn't reach his brother's hand.
On the opposite side, Elle saw the tall, shadowy shape of Jasmine pull Kili back onto her side of the mountain, allowing him to collapse, heaving and panting, at her feet.
There were now three stone giants-the first, the one who had appeared at the crack of thunder, the second, the one who had been hit by the first's boulder, and the third, whose two legs the newly separated company was now clinging to. Elle clung onto the stone wall behind her in utter terror as the third stone giant began to move, the company moving along with it's legs.
The second stone giant hurled a mighty punch to the third giant's head, causing it to stumble forward. As it did so, the company members that were on the other side of the ledge went stumbling as well, grabbing onto whatever they could to keep their footing.
The first giant then decided to finish off the third, delivering another punch to the giant's back. As the third giant registered the impact, it went crashing into the mountain, the leg that held the other company members crashing into the mountainside.
Elle watched in horror as the other half of the company smashed into the side of the mountain, clapping a hand over her mouth to suppress a scream.
"No! No! Kili!" Thorin cried, running forward. When the giant had crashed, they had been lucky enough to be able to quickly transfer themselves onto the new mountain's ledge, but, Elle could see, the others hadn't been given the same opportunity. They all raced to the site where the others had crashed, bracing themselves for whatever destruction and death they might find there.
But when they reached the area where the others had crashed, they found only a squirming tangle of bodies, among which Elle could spot Kili.
Next to her, she heard Thorin and Fili breath out sighs of relief, and watched as Fili ran over to engulf his brother in an embrace.
"We're all right! We're alive!" Balin coughed, standing up from the wreckage.
A moment of relieved exhales and hugs was cut short when Kili cried, "Where's Jasmine?"
The company looked around frantically for a few seconds before Ori shouted, "There!" They all looked to where he was pointing, their eyes widening when they saw Jasmine hanging from the edge of the cliff, her fingers gripping the ledge, her own eyes huge with manic terror.
Jasmine dangled there, utterly frightened, the feeling of endless chasm and darkness beneath her wildly kicking feet causing her heart to beat faster than it ever had before.
She had had her fair share of run-in's with death during her time living in Bree as the Wraith, but to be in such a helpless situation that would almost certainly result in her falling to her death was a completely new experience.
And she hated it. Which was unfortunate, because it was likely to be her last.
"Here, grab my hand!" Bofur cried, lunging to the end of the ledge and holding out his hand to her. But his fingers barely grazed the rock a foot above her own.
Raindrops fell against her strained fingers, causing them to slip even further down on her handhold. Please, please, please don't fall, she begged her aching fingers, gritting her teeth in concentration.
Ori reached for her then, but his action caught her so off guard that she let go of the handhold in surprise. Thankfully, her fingers managed to grasp another handhold a few feet lower, but now, Jasmine realized, she was even more out of the reach of the dwarves.
Maybe I should just let go, Jasmine thought, looking up at the frantic dwarves with a contemplating look. I've always wondered what it would feel like to fall from such a high distance. I wonder if it would hurt much when I reached the bottom.
But at that moment, Thorin swung himself down next to her, one of his hands clasped around the top of the ledge that the other dwarves were standing on, and his other arm reaching around her. With a grunt, he heaved her over the top of the ledge, allowing her to land at the dwarves' feet, draped over the edge of the sill. She quickly pulled herself fully onto the ledge and then peered over into the chasm again, watching in horror as Thorin's own hold on the ledge slipped from the relentless beating down of the rain, and as he slipped further down the mountain.
Dwalin lept to the edge, reaching nearly his whole body down to reach his leader, his face scrunched up in focus. Behind him, Fili and Balin wrapped their arms around his middle so as to keep him from falling off as well. After much grunting and heaving and pulling, the three of them managed to get Thorin safely back onto the ledge.
Jasmine let go of a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding.
"I thought we'd lost our burglar," Dwalin said, still panting.
"It wasn't Elle who almost fell off a cliff," was all that Thorin replied.
Ooh, Thorin just threw some serious shade. ;P
For clarification, Thorin doesn't view Jasmine as the burglar of the company at the moment-he believes Elle has assumed that role already.
Please favorite, follow and review! It encourages me to keep writing the story!