Essence suddenly hit a long slide of rock and began to drop down, closely following the dwarves. She held in a loud scream as the slide plummeted, dropping her steeply. It turned quickly, jarring her, and the dwarves in front of her yelled. The dwarf directly in front of her cursed as they took another sharp turn, gaining speed as they went along. As the effects of her dream fully wore off, she was filled with a new kind of terror and pain from the rock slide tearing into her thin clothes. She clutched her wool to her and refused to let go, even as scrapes appeared on her exposed arms from the rocks. They began to fade almost immediately, her healing powers taking a minor effect.
The rough rock slide ended promptly, dropping the dwarves and Essence into the thin air. The group of dwarves released a series of foul words, and Essence herself screamed, her stomach sinking uncomfortably. If she had had anything to eat before the fall, that was the time it would have surely come up.
Another stench, a new one, filled her nose as she dropped. Essence tried to breathe through her mouth so as to not vomit everywhere from the mix of the slide and the smell. She looked down, gasping at how close the ground was. A large claw, looking something like multiple sticks strung together, awaited them at the bottom.
The dwarves, one by one, fell into the claw. Essence gasped, falling on top of a dwarf with braided grey and black hair. He let out a groan, and Essence quickly rolled off him. At least she had had a soft landing. She stood up, trying to dust herself off. Her skirt had been ripped on the slide down, and everything smelled horribly and was covered in dirt.
Thorin, who was a few dwarves over, stood up quickly, mimicking Essence. The other dwarves took a little longer, catching their breath and letting out strangled sounds and groans. Thorin immediately looked around at all the dwarves, then at Essence. Essence's breath hitched in her throat as Thorin's gaze narrowed at her.
"You," he said quietly, advancing towards her. Essence automatically stepped back, shuddering in fear. "You!" He paused, his gaze like fire. "You did this!"
"What?" asked Essence, looking around at all the other dwarves. They had a look of confusion and betrayal on their faces, and she looked back at Thorin.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about, don't you?" he asked angrily, taking another step towards her. "You lured me and my company down here! What do you know of our quest!"
"What are you talking about!" trembled Essence in reply. She glared at him, crossing her arms. "Are you mad?"
"I'm sorry?" he spat at her, and she dropped her arms from covering herself.
"You think I brought you down here?"
"I don't think, I know!" He glared at her, and she glared right back.
"I'm down here, too!" she yelled, standing her ground. "Do you really think, if I was planning to murder you and your company, I would put myself in danger as well?" Confusion crossed the dwarf's face, but it was quickly replaced by a blazing anger.
"What do you know of our company?" he asked again, still loudly, and a rumbling filled the cavern. Loud growls and noises began to fill the cave. Essence looked forward across the bridge that was connected them through a long structure of bridges and dips and saw nothing. Thorin's gaze didn't stray from hers. "I said, what do you know of our company!" Thorin took another few steps towards her, so they were less than a foot apart. She was still taller than him, but he was intimidating enough to terrify her from a short height anyway.
"Nothing," she stammered, a fierce look in her eyes. They began to glow with growing anger at Thorin, as they always did when she experienced strong emotions.
"You lie!" he yelled, and the noises grew louder. He didn't even look at them as he reached out a hand and lashed it across her face. "Tell me what you know!" Essence gasped, stepping back and leaning against the weak railings of the claw. She looked away from the dwarf, whose face was contorted in anger and madness, and lifted a hand to her face. She put her hand against the stinging side of her face, feeling the tender skin. A few dwarves let out a collective gasp.
"Thorin!" yelled one of the dwarves, and as she looked up, Essence recognized it to be the blonde dwarf who had being staring at her. Thorin's angry façade broke as he turned to see the dwarf, confusion etched in his face. Thorin dismissed the young dwarf and looked at Essence again. The yelling and screaming grew louder, but Essence didn't dare break the gaze of the dwarf.
"Tell me what you know!" he growled, but his threat was less harsh this time. Essence stomped her foot on the wood underneath her.
"I know nothing, you dim witted dwarf!" she yelled, her voice cracking as her cheek stung. "I had no way of knowing we would become here!"
"Thorin!" yelled another of the dwarves, one with a shaved head, and Thorin looked away. Thorin's eyes widened as he followed the dwarf's gaze, and Essence looked over as well. Goblins, large and small, rushed at them from every angle, and Essence let out a scream. The dwarves tried to stand as quickly as they could and draw their weapons, but the goblins were already ambushing them.
"Fight!" yelled Thorin, unsheathing his sword and slashing it at the goblins. Though the dwarves may have out-skilled the goblins, the latter had thousands more than the opposing team, and Essence swallowed thickly. She had only once dealt with goblins, but it was a long, long time ago. The only thing she remembered was that they let her go. But, why? Then, it hit her and she stopped dead in her tracks.
A goblin approached her, its vile skin and claws getting closer and closer to her. "Stop," she ordered quietly, and the goblin paused. It looked up at her and tilted its head. It had a squished face, its nose pointing up like an arrow head and its squinty eyes staring at her intently. "Lead us to your king," she said with magic in her voice, and the creature nodded slowly—well, as much as it could nod, with its thick neck and small head. She began chanting under her breath, keeping the goblins from touching her. She could save them, but she had no time to explain to them what she was about to do.
"You!" yelled Thorin, slashing a goblins head off gruesomely. "You are with them! You lie to us!"
"I am with no one," she said slowly, staring at the dwarf. Her calming voice stalled the dwarf for a second, and the quick goblin he was fighting raked its sharp claws across his face. Thorin yelled, stabbing the goblin and kicking it and knocking down two more. Thorin reached up to touch his face, the blood staining his fingers, and Essence cringed. Thorin stared towards her as she walked forward with the goblin, no others trying to attack her. The look of hurt upon Thorin's face chilled her to the bone—if only he knew, though she couldn't blame him for feeling betrayed.
A few goblins grabbed and ripped at Thorin, grabbing at his sword and his clothes. Thorin looked defeated, and the few dwarves who glanced at him were grabbed by the goblins as well. They yelled, fighting and screaming against the creatures, trying to free themselves, until Essence was forced to look away. Guilt settled in her stomach, as she could do nothing to help them.
About twenty or so goblins holding the dwarves rushed in front of her and the leading goblin on the broken down bridge, and Essence vaguely wondered how the dwarves were still holding after the goblins had repeatedly rushed at them. As if in response, a board underneath one of the dwarves broke, and he hurried forward.
As the short men passed her, she saw the young ones, Fili and Kili, if she remembered correctly from a scolding the night before, still fighting against the goblins as they tried to drag them forward. The brunette, Kili, had a long scratch that was bleeding uncontrollably down his face, starting from his eye and ending over his lip. The skin was shredded, and another goblin hit it, and Kili winced. He hit the goblin on the head with the hilt of a dagger he still had, and the goblin crumpled to the ground. Kili looked at her, his eyes ablaze from fighting. When they met her gold ones, his eyes hardened, a look of betrayal spreading across his features.
"Traitor," he snapped, spitting on the ground where Essence was standing. His aim was obscured as the goblins pushed him forward. Her eyes remained emotionless, but grief and regret piled up in her stomach. Essence stepped towards the young dwarf, her hand out, reaching for him across the various goblins grabbing at him, but he smacked it away. "Get away from me." His brutal words stung, but Essence brushed them off like she always did. She reached up once more and ran her fingers along his cheek, closing her eyes and still struggling against the goblins in between them. She could fee Kili tense up beside her, ready to say something, but stopping as she brushed his wound. Essence muttered under her breath, something Kili couldn't understand, but then a stinging feeling was sent through the scratch, a pain so immense he would have fallen to the ground if it wasn't for the goblins around them. They were pushed forward harshly by the creatures, but Essence kept her hand on him as they walked through. She could sense his sword arm being tensed and ready to strike.
"Sshhh," she told him as a scream developed in his throat. Her golden eyes still closed, she ran her finger through the shredded skin along his face. Kili's eyes fluttered closed as she drew her hand away from him, the wound on his face now a narrow and almost invisible scar. She turned and ran to catch up with the goblin, and Kili opened his eyes. His brother grabbed his arm as they were forced forward by goblins, but Kili's face remained in a state of awe. He reached up and ran his fingers over his cut, feeling soft, clean skin, and he gaped at the direction she had just gone in.
Essence walked briskly behind the goblin as it resorted to using its hands and feet for walking, and it sped up. Many goblins held torches, and as they rounded a thick stone corner, it fully illuminated the home of those vile creatures.
Hundreds of thousands of goblins filled a poorly made arena—elaborate bridges made the same as the one they were on curved and dove in hundreds of directions, twisting everywhere. A winding bridge in front of them curled forward, leading them to a large dais with something bulky sitting on it. Though Essence's sight was beyond the proficiency of any Man, she couldn't make out what it was.
As she looked up at all the goblins, she was struck with a sense of disgust. They had set that trap previously, knowing any traveler who set foot in that cave would fall down there. The squawking and screeching of the goblins filled her ears, but she stood as tall as she could, feigning control over herself and the situation. As she looked around, the sheer numbers of goblins intimidated her, and she knew if her plan did not work, the dwarves would be done for.
The goblins hissed and jeered at the dwarves, pushing and shoving them forward. Essence and her obedient goblin stood a ways away from the commotion, but not far enough away to be noticed. She wanted to direct the goblins into thinking she was traveling with them, which she hoped would stop them from harming the dwarves.
They wound their way around the bridges, finally ending up on a large wooden platform. The goblins in front of her obscured her view, and they grabbed the visible weapons off the dwarves and threw them in a pile. The goblins backed up, revealing the most hideous creature Essence had yet to see—sadly, a beast she was all too familiar with.
The Goblin King stood up, crushing multiple goblins under his massive body as he stared at the group of dwarves. His chin swung wildly, and puss-filled blisters bloomed on the right side of his face. His large round eyes stared at the company and Essence challengingly, wishing for a fight from them.
"Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom?" he boomed in a gravelly voice, his chin shaking once more. He scanned the crowd of dwarves, his bulging bloodshot eyes looking for someone in particular. "Spies? Thieves? Assassins?" His voice raised an octave higher with each word.
"Dwarves, your Malevolence," spat the goblin that had led Essence.
"Dwarves?" spluttered the Goblin King, swinging a stick with the skull of a bull on it.
"We found 'em on the front porch." The Goblin King laughed cruelly and lurched forward, shaking the wooden table.
"Well, don't just stand there!" he mused. "Search them!" With that, the goblins began attacking the dwarves, feeling them through and threw. Some of the dwarves batted them away, but most just stood tall and angry. "Every crutch, every crevice!" The goblins raked their hands across the dwarves, smashing anything of value that they had, or stealing it. "What are you doing in these parts?" The Goblin King took another step forward, shaking the platform once again. Essence wondered if he ever actually left that seat he sat in. "Speak!"
The dwarves stood silently, some with ridiculous expressions on their faces as they watched the king. The goblin who had led Essence looked from the king to them and back. The Goblin King straightened his fatty shoulders, staring down at the dwarves. "Well, if they will not talk, we'll make them squawk!" The goblins all around cheered, creating such a deafening sound Essence covered her ears. "Bring out the Mangeler!" The crowd, once again, cheered madly. "Bring out the Bone Crusher!" The goblins yelled and spat at them, and Essence knew that if there was a time to act, it would have been then. But something stopped her. "Start with the youngest!"
"Wait!" yelled a deep voice Essence recognized to be Thorin's. He stepped forward.
"Well, well, well," mused the Goblin King, backing up and raising an arm. "Look who it is." The goblins silenced. "Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror." The Goblin King was mocking him, but Thorin kept up a façade. "King, under the mountain." Essence's eyes widened as the Goblin King made a fake bow towards him. Thorin's face contorted in anger, but he didn't lash out. All around her, the goblins laughed in ridicule of the dwarf. He stood his ground and stood proudly. "Oh, but I'm forgetting! You don't have a mountain." The goblins laughed again, and Essence held herself back. "And you're not a king. Which makes you… nobody, really." The Goblin King mocked a frown of pity for the apparent king, then righted himself and smiled. She had no time to even register the dwarf's status. Essence knew she would have to say something sooner or later, but, to be honest, she was afraid. She already knew she was going to die from over-exerting herself, so she shouldn't have been scared. And yet, she feared it above anything else. Death was infinite, and that terrified her.
The Goblin King sneered at Thorin. "I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head." The Goblin King smiled, showing dirty and pointed teeth. Essence shuttered. "Just the head—nothing attached." The dwarves behind Thorin shifted nervously, the two younger ones fidgeting as they stared at the Goblin King in anger. "Perhaps you know of whom I speak." The Goblin King raised a thick finger at Thorin, tilting his head. "An old enemy of yours."He smiled. "The Pale Orc, astride a white Warg."
"Azog the Defiler," began Thorin, anger rising in his voice, "Was destroyed." Thorin paused, trying to maintain composure. "He was slain in battle long ago."
"So you think his defiling days are done, do you?" asked the Goblin King maliciously, laughing. He moved to a small goblin straddling a moving cart attached to a long wire. Essence inhaled and exhaled, closing her eyes. Be calm, she thought to herself. It was then or never.
"They may as well be," said Essence, stepping forward. The Goblin King looked taken aback by her sudden appearance, but brushed it off as he stared down at her.
"And who do you think you are, little girl?" he smiled cruelly. He turned to Thorin. "Should we send you instead to the Defiler?"
"It would do you wise not to," she replied stiffly, staring the Goblin King in the eye. Her eyes began to glow, and the King frowned in confusion. She smiled. "So, you do not remember me, do you?" she said, her voice almost a whisper.
"Who are you, you miniscule child?" he spat, staring at her. "Why would I know anything of you? I am a king! I do not pay ant notice to the likes of you." Essence smiled, her eyes glinting in defiance.
"I," she began slowly. "Am Essence, blessed by the Valor. Perhaps now, your great majesty, you remember?"