Time passed, and things only seemed to get worse for the company. While the goblins continued their taunting and tormenting, their leader had started singing a horrible song of torture and misery, right as they began rolling out huge contraptions with a painfully obvious purpose. All this time, Elsa's mind raced for a way to fight back, and her heart beat right along with it. She only knew that she did NOT want to die here, not in this wretched hell, gagged and bound with bonds that…bonds she had just barely began to notice had become solid and cold. Had she froze the ropes so much that they had turned to ice? For once, it seemed, fear had been of service to her.
Without a second thought, Elsa broke apart the ropes into pieces, leaped onto her feet and in a flash started freezing as many goblins as she could before they could attack. But then one of the goblins lassoed her by the hand, pulled her off of her feet and onto the floor. Several more arrived to pin her down.
The Goblin King, meanwhile, seemed very impressed. "Well," he growled, "It seems that we DO have a witch on our hands!" He lurched to lean over her, leering cruelly. "But unfortunately, your witchcraft won't save you. And neither will your little friends!"
The dwarves fought to break free of their captors, shouting out, "Leave her alone!"
The Goblin King, however, sneered disdainfully at them. He leaned in close to Elsa, close enough for her to see every last glistening deformation on his face and smell the foul reek of his breath. "You think they care about you, hm?" he asked her quietly, "Do you think they believe you to be their friend? No, dear girl, to them you are only a tool, a means to an end. And like any tool, they will toss you aside once you have served your purpose."
Elsa, being gagged, couldn't speak, so her thoughts went unanswered. She had earned their trust, and they had given her great praise. Surely this fiend lied through his snaggled teeth…right?
The great cretin then spoke to his minions, "Let us demonstrate what happens when someone trusts a dwarf! Bring me Oakenshield's sword!"
One of the goblins gleefully retrieved Thorin's sword from the pile, cackling as he went—but that changed when, out of curiosity, the goblin partially unsheathed the blade. Upon seeing the inscription upon the metal and its blue glow, he screeched and tossed it onto the floor as if it were diseased. All of the other goblins retreated back in fear of the weapon; even the Goblin King himself clambered onto his throne, cowering at the sight of it. "I know that sword!" he wailed, "It is the Goblin-Cleaver, the Biter, the Blade that sliced a thousand necks! Slash them! Beat them! Kill them all!"
Upon his word, the goblins set upon the dwarves with their whips and blades, rending the air with the noise of their anger and hatred. Thorin himself was thrown down onto the floor right next to Elsa, while a goblin leered above them with a sword in hand, ready to let the razor edge fall down upon them.
"CUT OFF HIS HEAD!" the Goblin King roared.
A burst of light suddenly filled the room, accompanied by a burst of wind that knocked everyone, even the Great Goblin, off of their feet and sent the torture machines flying off of the track. Darkness reigned for a few long moments, but then the torches and candles regained their flames. Against their light, a figure approached holding a sword in one hand and a twisted gnarling staff in the other, standing high above them all. The lights regained their full strength, and revealed the newcomer's stern face looking over the group.
Elsa couldn't have been more relieved to see the grey wizard—which, now that she thought about it, was probably the exact opposite reaction she would've had a few days ago.
"Take up arms," Gandalf said, "Fight. FIGHT!"
Compelled by his words, Elsa leapt onto her feet, ripped the gag out of her mouth, and went all out on the goblins, unleashing her ice and frost onto them like never before. Gandalf came to her side, hacking and slashing at the goblins that came their way with his sword. The dwarves were just as fast, clambering past the goblins and in some cases throwing them aside, retrieving and tossing their weapons to each other, and engaging the fiends in battle.
"My apologies for arriving so late," Gandalf said as he ran a goblin through with his sword.
"Can we just focus on getting out of here alive?" Elsa replied.
On seeing Gandalf's blade, the Goblin King wailed where he lay, "He wields the Foe-Hammer, the Beater, bright as daylight!"
Goblins seemed to come from all sides, making it hard for Elsa to direct her attacks, which would've proven fatal had the other dwarves not come to her aid. She had never seen so much loss of life in one place before her, but it mattered not with the need for survival at the top of her priorities. The Goblin King, meanwhile, got onto his feet and raised his mace to smash Thorin. But the Dwarf King, alerted by the others, raised Orcrist in defense; upon their weapons meeting, the force somehow sent the brute reeling back, and over the edge of the platform.
Elsa sent a huge blast of ice and frost, freezing their enemies in place, but still more came like a relentless wave. Gandalf then shouted, "Follow me! Quick! Run!" and the company did as he said. As they sprinted over a wobbling bridge, he led them away to a doorway, which in turn led to a long wooden bridge running through a vast cluttered network of wooden bridges and shacks crawling across the jagged rocks and over the pit of the chasm, with hundreds of goblins followed close behind.
The group fought hard and bitter to fend off the goblin attackers, who now came from above and from below; several times, Elsa had to raise an ice shield to protect her and the others from flying arrows and combatants swinging in on ropes. The dwarves proved quite resourceful, using ladders as shields and cutting the ropes from bridges as they went, but even then the horde kept coming with a relentless fury.
"Where are we going?" she asked Gandalf as she blasted a goblin attempting to snipe him from afar.
"There's an exit down below," the wizard explained, "If we get there in time, we'll be protected by the daylight; goblins cannot stand to move in the light of the sun." He then sliced off the head of an attacker.
"Assuming we can move fast enough," Dwalin shouted from up ahead, "There's just too many of them! We won't make it in time!"
Elsa, out of nowhere, found an idea. "Yes we can," she said, and instructed the others to cover her. Moving to the edge, she conjured up an icy slide and sent it over the edge and down, down, down into the chasm towards the direction Gandalf had indicated. She jumped on, and at her word, so did everyone else, sending them down the chute at high speed.
Elsa continued to conjure up more ice as they went, directing the slide around and away from danger. Such an effort demanded all her attention when the world seemed to go by a mile a minute and the wind filled her ears with its roar. Behind her, Gandalf and the dwarves whooped and hollered at the occasional hard turns and sheer drops, while at the same time managing to fend off goblin arrows, daggers, and even goblins who attempted to swing on using ropes. Down they went, further and further, deeper and deeper into the chasm.
"We're almost there!" Gandalf shouted.
Just as they were about to cross over one bridge, their slide suddenly burst into pieces up ahead, destroyed by the Goblin King's mace. Elsa was forced to jump and create a pile of snow for her and the rest to land in, flying right over the head of the brute, who guffawed at their less than graceful landing. Soon, a whole army of goblins stood guard on either end of the bridge, forcing them back with the points of their weapons and to face their repugnant leader. Elsa started to get up, but Gandalf held her back, giving her a look saying, "I'll handle this."
The Goblin King growled at the wizard, "You thought you could escape me?" Gandalf only barely dodged being crushed by the swing of the Great Goblin's mace, the effort throwing him against the dwarves who helped him back up.
"What are you going to do NOW, wizard?" he challenged.
Gandalf responded by jabbing his staff into the eye of the brute, who hollered at the pain. The wizard followed this by slicing open his gut, cutting through the fat and exposing blood and organs.
After giving it a moment's thought the Goblin King's last words were "…That'll do it."
With a final stroke, Gandalf hacked through the enormous wattle hanging from the Goblin's neck, the life gurgling out of the enemy once and for all. The huge body of the evil creature then came falling down like a great tree onto the bridge, sending a shuddering THUD through the woodwork.
Then, to everyone's horror, an ominous snap came from below them.
Gravity ceased to exist, and the world around Elsa turned into a blur as the bridge (as well as two lower platforms) beneath the feet of the company tumbled down into the chasm, smashing through shacks and pathways as it went. During the descent, Elsa saw the cavern floor fast approaching; thinking fast, she sent forth a blanket of snow, and shouted, "Everyone, jump!"
To her surprise, everyone did. To her further surprise, everyone managed to land safely in the deep powder, while the remains of the bridge came to a shattered end.
Clambering out, the dwarves gratefully shook the snow out of their hair and beards, while struggling to regain their foothold after such a great fall.
The corpse of the Goblin King, meanwhile, landed a short distance away, smashing into the rock.
But then the sound of a thousand angry goblins descending the stone walls drew away their attention. Elsa raised her hands, ready to send more deadly ice their way, but Gandalf grabbed and pulled them down. "The way out is just ahead. Come on!"
Running as quickly and carefully as they could, the company followed him into a dark narrow tunnel, but Elsa took a moment to seal off the entrance with a thick wall of ice before rejoining them in their flight. Even in escape, the winding tunnel seemed to go on forever, with innumerable twists and turns; were they ever going to get out of there?
But then, light came in from up ahead, nearly blinding them. Blessed, beautiful light! At long last!
Following the dwarves, she stepped out into the warm, blinding sunlight, basking in its rays. She never thought she'd be so happy to see the light of day again. But her rejoicing would have to wait; Gandalf urged them all to keep running down a steep mountain slope of sparse forest and scrub, until they were clear out of the cavern's range. Only then were they allowed to rest, and Elsa took that opportunity gladly, sitting down on a stone and catching her breath.
Much time passed before anyone spoke. Then Gandalf, who had been taking a head count, broke the silence.
"Where's Bilbo?" he asked. "Where is our hobbit?"
The words hit Elsa like a dagger. She looked around, but Bilbo was nowhere to be seen. The other dwarves looked around as well, finding nothing but the trees around them.
"Curse the Halfling!" Dwalin growled, "Now he's LOST?"
"I thought he was with Dori!" Glóin said.
"Don't blame me!" Dori said.
"Well, where did you last see him?" Gandalf questioned, clearly as desperate as Elsa was feeling.
"I think I saw him slip away when they first cornered us," Nori reported. At those words, Elsa felt a sense of dread growing within her; she didn't want to believe it, but what other option could there be, other than his death?
"Well what happened exactly? Tell me!" Gandalf demanded.
"I'll tell you what happened," Thorin said, and then he voiced exactly what Elsa did not want to believe. "Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it."
He then turned. "Isn't that right, Elsa?"
Suddenly, all eyes were on her, and she felt very small.
Thorin continued. "He's thought of nothing but his soft bed and his warm hearth ever since he stepped out of his door. We will not be seeing our hobbit again; he is long gone."
Elsa fell back onto the ground, her heart welling within her. Could it be true? Did Bilbo decide to return home after all? She just couldn't deal with the thought, and soon icy winds began to swirl around her….
"No," a voice said from behind, "He isn't."
They all turned to see Bilbo Baggins right there in the flesh, looking a little worse for wear and missing the buttons from his coat, but still fine. Elsa's heart leapt with joy at the sight of him. She jumped onto her feet and wrapped him in her arms (much to his surprise, and hers), whispering "I thought I wouldn't see you again!" Pulling back, she asked him, "How did you get past the goblins?"
"How indeed," Dwalin said.
"Well, erm," Bilbo started, but wasn't quite able to finish. Elsa didn't notice that he slipped something into his pocket just then.
"Well, what does it matter?" Gandalf said, clearly as pleased as Elsa was, "He's back!"
"It matters," Thorin declared solemnly. "I want to know. Why did you come back?"
After a moment, Bilbo started to speak.
"Look, I know you doubt me," he said, "and I know you always have." He then shrugged, "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."
His words, though small and humble as he was, struck a chord within Elsa, and she felt strength growing within herself.
Yes, she said within herself, so will I.
It seemed that the same had happened to everyone else; Thorin was clearly humbled, but disbelief still lingered in his eyes. The other dwarves, however, seemed to look at Bilbo with admiration and awe, while a paternal sort of pride shone brightly on Gandalf's expression.
Then, like the moaning of a ghost, they could hear howls on the wind, and the sound of feet charging through the brush. Elsa could see the shapes of wargs moving past the trees, right towards them.
"Out of the frying pan…" Thorin started.
"And into the fire," Gandalf finished, "Run. RUN!"