Amelia groaned as she was dumped unceremoniously on the wooden floor. Blurry shapes darted around above her, and she was getting a headache just trying to make sense of them.
She fought to remember what had happened. What had seemed like a small army of goblins had attacked her. She had done her best against them- and plenty of goblins had fallen under her wielding of Orcrist- but in the end, it hadn't been enough. Combined with the unsteady ground and the overwhelming numbers against her, Amelia had inevitably fallen.
Floorboards shook as thunderous footsteps approached, and Amelia recognized the booming voice of the goblin king.
"Well, well, what is this?"
With one large toe he nudged at Amelia, tipping her over. She toppled onto her back, staring weakly up at the ugly monstrosity sneering down at her.
"A human?" he asked. "I've not seen one of your folk for many years. This is indeed a fine couple of days! First dwarves; now a human!"
Amelia snarled and tried to rise, but found that her hands were bound behind her back. She grimaced, and as she struggled an injury across her lower back sent pain shooting throughout her. The pain in her head increased, and Amelia realized there was also blood caked on her left temple.
"Tell me," said the goblin king. "Why do you enter my kingdom? Is it to free those dwarves? Hmmm? Are there more of you?"
Amelia didn't say anything; she merely glared up at the goblin with burning eyes. It produced a large, sharpened piece of wood from seemingly nowhere, holding the tip against Amelia's throat.
"Tell me," he urged. He dug the point in enough so that he just broke her skin, and a bead of red blood blossomed against the wood of his pike.
"Go to hell," snarled Amelia. She thrashed once more, but only succeeded in hurting herself further.
The goblin king sneered. "As you wish. Bring the bone breaker!"
Cheers erupted from the assembled goblins, and Amelia bit back a curse. Her mind began to spin. How would she get out of this?
"What does she carry on her?" demanded the king.
"This." A goblin threw down Amelia's bag.
"Meh. Looks small. Can't hold much. I'll go through it later." The gobbling king gestured for the bag to be thrown aside. "What else?"
"This."
Orcrist was thrown down at the king's feet, and as he screamed and scrambled back onto his throne Amelia couldn't help a curse. She should have foreseen this. She had practically predicted it.
"It's the goblin cleaver!" The goblin king pointed a shaky finger at the sword, which lay shining dully in the lights of the caverns. "Take off her head!"
Amelia grunted as a goblin leapt at her, sword brandished, and she barely managed to roll to the side. Suddenly several goblins were on her at once, holding her down. Another stood above with a roughly hewn sword, hissing at her.
Then the goblin fell back with an arrow protruding from between its eyes, and Amelia blinked in surprise. More arrows followed, assaulting the confounded goblins, and Amelia began to kick at them.
"Wh- there!" The goblin king pointed to someone standing far above.
Amelia glanced up to see Kili standing in the mouth of a tunnel, firing arrow after arrow at the goblins. Despite the overwhelming odds as the goblins scrambled for their weapons his stance was steady, his face set determinedly. Amelia felt her heart leap.
A moment later someone seized her and dragged her backward. Or at least tried to. Strained grunts met Amelia's ears, and she cursed.
"Bilbo?"
"Hi."
Amelia cursed again. "Leave me," she ordered. "My bag, grab it. The weapons are in there."
She wasn't sure if Bilbo had listened or not until she saw her bag being lifted from the ground. The goblins were too preoccupied with Kili to notice as it floated to the edge of the platform and disappeared over the side.
Amelia began to scramble backwards, her dagger shimmering on her waist. She tried to reach her bound hands toward it, but she couldn't.
Battle cries filled the air as the dwarves clambered onto the platform and rushed forward, weapons swinging. Bifur grabbed Amelia and dragged her away from the fight, deftly severing the rope around her wrists.
"Are you ok?" he asked.
"Fine." Amelia chanced responding in Khuzdul; it was unlikely that the others would notice at this particular moment. She struggled to her feet, Bifur helping her. "Thank you."
Bifur nodded, and together the two charged into the battle. Within moments Kili was leaping down to join the fray, and Amelia covered him with her bow as he landed and rolled.
He sent her a quick nod of thanks, but avoided her eyes.
Amelia sent two arrows at the goblin king; they blinded him. The creature stumbled around blindly, screaming and swinging his mace wildly. His own forces were knocked off the platform, and soon the ropes that bound it in place were snapped.
"Ahh!" Nori fell, tumbling downward with the sudden shift of the ground. Amelia dove and grabbed him, wrapping her other hand around a pillar. Around her the company managed to cling to something, and was slowly working their way to a nearby ledge. The goblins weren't so lucky, falling with screams that echoed under the mountain. Amelia was nearly knocked from her handhold as the goblin king tumbled past her.
"Climb!" ordered Amelia. She strained, pulling Nori upward and letting out a cry of pain as the injuries on her back screamed in protest. Nori managed to clamber onto the column, and he helped Amelia onto it.
They jumped to the next, and then the next. The company was waiting for them on a wooden pathway, and they helped the two up.
"Are you alright?" Thorin scowled as he stepped forward, but he seemed more concerned than anything else.
Amelia nodded. "Thank you." She swept her eyes around, meeting the eyes of everyone who would meet hers- which seemed to be everyone except Bilbo and Kili. "All of you."
No one had a chance to respond. The goblins began to attack again, and they turned to fight.
Amelia started with her bow, but quickly switched to her dagger. Black blood squirted along the blade, and at the sight of it Amelia was brought back to her horrendous act earlier. She nearly faltered in her fighting.
The company was pushed back. They stumbled, fighting back to back. Bofur nearly fell off the narrow walkway they were on, and Amelia sprang forward to grab him. In the process a goblin leapt at her, and they tumbled to the ground together.
They rolled. Each tried to become the one on top, to drive their weapon into the other's throat. Amelia winced as the goblin threw her beneath it, snarling. She blocked its dagger with her own, and began kicking the goblin off her.
It flew backward, and Amelia had barely straggled into a kneeling position when it came charging forward again. On the ground she blocked, using both her arms and dagger, before punching the goblin between the legs. It yowled, and Amelia sprang to her feet and stabbed it.
"Phoenix!" Ori grabbed her hand and pulled her back. "Come on!"
Amelia allowed him to pull her, stumbling along after the young dwarf. Quickly they rejoined the rest of the company, which was backed against the wall. As Ori released Amelia's hand she fired off several arrows, then used her bow to block the sword of an oncoming goblin.
She leapt at another goblin, locking her legs around its neck and swinging herself up so that she was on its back. Amelia drove her dagger down, into its neck, then rolled off it as it crumpled to the ground.
Off to the side Thorin was grappling with several goblins at once, Orcrist glowing blue in his hands. He stepped back and tripped over a fallen menace, and with a grunt tumbled backwards. Orcrist clattered away, and Thorin hit his head on the wood with a hard thwack.
Again? Thought Amelia. Thorin, you're actually a terrible fighter.
She darted forward to help, but she knew she wouldn't be on time. Thorin was lying prone on the ground, and a large goblin was bearing down on him. Around half a dozen more stood between Amelia and the king.
Bilbo leapt forward at the last moment, a scream of fury on his lips as he swung his sword at the goblin. Easily it parried, snarling as it faced this new, much smaller threat.
Bilbo quaked but held his ground, raising Sting. His face was bathed in his sword's blue glow, throwing his features into harsh shadows.
"Get away from him," he snarled.
The goblin laughed and struck at Bilbo. With a yelp the hobbit parried, and the goblin came at him again. Amelia's eyes widened as she saw the hobbit fight. His movements were clumsy; he had no idea what he was doing.
"Bilbo!" called Amelia.
The goblin knocked Sting from Bilbo's hands, and it clattered to the side. Bilbo gulped, eyes widening in fear, but he planted his feet and balled his hands into fists, glaring at the goblin as he refused to budge.
Thorin lifted his head and groaned weakly, just in time to see the goblin drive its sword into Bilbo's side. The hobbit let out a scream of agony and fell back, blood spraying.
"Bilbo!" Thorin dove forward and caught the hobbit, but he was still weak. Together the two toppled to the side, Bilbo clutched in Thorin's arms.
Amelia finally managed to work past the last of the goblins and bowled into one of the goblins charging Thorin and Bilbo. She drove her dagger into its neck and stood, firing an arrow at the goblin moments away from taking off Thorin's head.
She grabbed Sting from the ground and planted herself before the pair, eyes narrowed. Before her the goblins bristled, not at all frightened. Even as they charged forward Amelia knew there were too many, there was no way the company could fight them all off.
A brilliant glow lit the air, and Amelia hissed and squeezed her eyes shut. Around her dwarf and goblin alike were yelling, stumbling around blindly.
"Fight, you fools!"
Amelia wrenched open her eyes to see Gandalf coming toward them. The white light was fading from the tip of his staff, and what was left of it glittered off the blade of Glamdring.
"Fight!"
The company leapt back into action, battering away the goblins. Gandalf used a bit of magic to cave in the stone above the creatures, crushing them.
"Move," he called. "Quickly!"
The company began to run along the path, Gandalf in the lead. Thorin himself cradled Bilbo in his arms, the hobbit groaning as the jostling of the running dwarf furthered the wound in his side. His small hands came to press against it, but blood was flowing rapidly between his fingers, sticky and hot.
"Hold on, Bilbo," he could hear Thorin mumbling to him. "Hold on."
Bilbo tried to respond but couldn't. Everything hurt so much; the whole world was on fire.
"This way!"
Kili gestured for the company to follow him, and they did.
"Where are you leading us?" called Bombur.
Amelia glanced around her. She hadn't even realized they were back in the tunnel where they had begun that morning. How long ago that seemed now. How much time had even passed since then? Under the constant darkness of the Misty Mountains, time slipped by uncounted.
She stayed at the back of the group, holding off the goblins that were pursuing them. As they neared the exit to the mountain the goblins fell away one by one, refusing to near the bright daylight.
Amelia herself blinked as they emerged from the tunnel. It was still relatively early in the day, not yet noon, and the sun shone brightly. The mountainside seemed so peaceful, so in contrast to the bloodied and bruised company.
"We need to get out of here," Dwalin grumbled. "Those goblins won't stay hidden for long."
Amelia nodded and glanced about.
Where are they?
There. They had both heard and seen the company, and with great squawks they descended. They landed proudly among the trees, and the company gawked at the Great Eagles of the Eastern Lands.
"By my beard," muttered Dori.
Amelia couldn't help a small smile.
"You called them," accused Gandalf.
Amelia nodded. "This morning. I thought we might need them for a quick escape."
"We do." Thorin glanced down at the hobbit in his arms. "We need somewhere safe where we can see to Bilbo's wounds. Quickly, let us leave."
"How do we do that?" asked Fili. He eyed the eagles warily. "What exactly are they here for?"
Amelia sighed and clambered onto the back of one of them. Gandalf hopped onto the next.
"They shall carry us east," she told the dwarves. "Hurry."
The company didn't look at all happy, but as Bilbo moaned in Thorin's arms they scrambled to find an eagle. Kili and Fili ended up on the same bird, and Thorin handed Bilbo off to Balin just long enough to clamber onto the back of another. A moment later the hobbit was handed up to him.
"Let us be off." Gandalf called out to the eagles in their own tongue, and with a squawk they took off. Amelia clung to the feathers beneath her, doing her best not to look down.
A flicker of motion caught her eye, and she glanced to the side to see a new force appearing on the mountainside. On the next eagle over Thorin's breath caught as he saw the same figures, and the king's face paled.
Azog the Defiler stood atop a rock crag, staring at the retreating company with hate burning in his eyes. Behind him grouped a legion of orcs on wargs, each brandishing weapons of war. As the eagles carried the company off Azog let out a great roar, promising that they would see him again.
Promising to end the line of Durin.
Ok, so there are a few things I would like to say here. The first is I really should be sorry for what I did to Bilbo, but I'm evil and I'm not. Second is Azog is here and he's ready to rumble! (Though we won't be seeing him again for a while yet, but he's waiting for his turn.)
Ok, now to get serious. A friend of mine informed me today that I've seriously botched the layout of the Misty Mountains. I had assumed the tunnels portrayed in The Hobbit were also a part of Moria, just further North and now completely inhabited by goblins. Apparently not. I apologize for this mistake, and I promise in a few chapters I will provide some sort of explanation for why these tunnels are of dwarvish make in my story. I warn you, I'm going to have to twist with history a little, but it won't be a major change and won't affect the story itself other than providing a cover up for my blunder.
Also, I know that in the movies neither Orcrist nor Glamdring glow the way Sting does when goblins or orcs are near. However, if I recall correctly (though I seem to be wrong lately so correct me if I'm wrong here) all three swords were forged by the Gondorian elves. Theoretically, all three should glow. So, in this version of tales, Glamdring and Orcrist will both glow blue when goblins or orcs are near. I hope this doesn't upset anyone too much.
Thank you for all your patience with me and my many mistakes! I hope despite them you've been enjoying this story.