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Chapter 9

During the fray with the Goblins, Bilbo had managed to slip his ring on, hoping that he could do more good if the Goblins couldn't see him coming. It seemed to be going fine, for a time.

Fíli had fallen off the side of the path, probably dead, and Kíli was now a prisoner of the Goblins.

Perfect. Just perfect.

When everything had calmed down, Bilbo removed the ring from his finger and rushed to the edge of the path where Fíli had fallen. To his left he could see the end of the line of Goblins that had taken Kíli. Down below he couldn't see any sign of the golden prince.

Bilbo had to make a choice. Either try and find Fíli and pray that he was still alive, which at this point was doubtful, or follow Kíli and attempt a rescue. He really didn't want to have to choose but unfortunately there was only one of him.

With a sigh, Bilbo replied, "Fíli forgive me," before following after Kíli.

The path the Goblins had taken was a narrow one that wound down the side of the cliff face and into a dark cavern. Bilbo kept himself far away enough so that he wouldn't be seen - yet close enough that he wouldn't lose them.

When the Goblins had entered the cave, Bilbo prepared to go in, only to see a Goblin sentry standing guard at the entrance. Of course this couldn't be easy.

Bilbo had just taken out his ring to slip it on so he could sneak back when his elbow hit a loose boulder, knocking it free and tumbling away from the wall.

Unfortunately the sentry noticed it and looked up to see Bilbo. Before Bilbo could put on his ring, the sentry charged. He gripped Sting and managed to block the blows, but his skill was still inferior to the Goblin.

The Goblin tackled Bilbo, sending him to the ground. Bilbo hit it, and the ring flew from his grasp, falling off the side of the path, descending into darkness.

That was the least of Bilbo's worries.

He managed to get the upper hand and ran Sting through the Goblin's throat. He rolled the Goblin off him, rushing to the side, hoping to see where the ring went but no sign was given. That was the second thing the mountains had claimed from them.

There wouldn't be a third.

As much as it pained him to do so, he turned away from the cliff side and, with Sting as his source of light, he entered the tunnels.

At some point, when the Goblins had dragged him through the tunnels, Kíli had been knocked out cold.

The last thing he remembered was entering the caves and now he had woken inside a dank, musty old hole in the wall with a wooden set of bars covering the entrance. A cage.

He sat up, finding that he had been stripped of his weapons and his overcoat, leaving him in his tunic, trousers and boots. A soft wind blew through the cave, sending a chill up his spine.

As he rubbed his arms for warmth he heard a sneer, "Aww, is the little dwarf cold?"

Kíli cast his brown eyes towards the entrance to his cell and saw three Goblins leering their yellow eyes at him. "Does the little dwarf want a blanket?"

Kíli put on a brave face, one that would do Thorin proud. He would not show fear to these creatures. To show fear was to show weakness and anyone of the line of Durin was not weak.

"What happened to the other one he was with?"

"Fell off the mountain. Down, down, down he went."

Kíli could feel his blood begin to boil. How dare they laugh at his brother? How dare they mock his pain?

"Poor little weak dwarf."

Before he could stop himself, Kíli launched himself from the ground at the bars to his cell, ignoring the pain that erupted from the wound on his leg as he reached his arm through to strangle the offending Goblin. He closed his grip tighter around the Goblin's throat, squeezing the life out of him. One of the other Goblins brought out its club and brought it down hard on Kíli's wounded arm, forcing the young prince to quickly relinquish his hold.

That wasn't enough for the Goblins.

Before Kíli could move, the door to his cell swung open and the three Goblins came in, two grabbing his arms and forcing him to his knees.

"You will pay for that, scum!" the third Goblin, the one he had tried to strangle, sneered.

The club came down harder and harder with every swing. With each impact on his bruised body, Kíli resisted the urge to cry out in pain. He would not show weakness, not to these things. Blow after blow, bruise after bruise and yet it seemed it would never end.

Not until something grabbed the club from the Goblin before tossing it across the room. "Enough!"

Kíli looked up to see who his rescuer was but only felt his heart drop even further when he saw what it was: an Orc.

When the Orc leered down at Kíli, it seemed to be studying him. "Where are the others?"

"One took a tumble off the cliff and the other just vanished."

"Vanished?"

The Goblin nodded, and The Orc let out a guttural growl before lifting the Goblin up by its neck. "You had better find them and bring them to my Master or it will be your heads that we roast tonight!"

After the Orc threw the Goblin away, the three creatures squealed before running off into the caverns.

The Orc then turned to the battered dwarf. "Someone wants to see you, Dwarf."

Kíli was too hurt to fight back as the Orc bound his hands behind him and dragged him away.

Kíli's attention was not on where he was going or what awaited him, but on Bilbo and Fíli. He prayed to Mahal that the Goblins would not find them and that Bilbo had found Fíli, hopefully alive, and had gotten him to safety. He did not want his brother and friend to have to suffer at the hands of Goblins and Orcs. No, Kíli would make sure that never happened.

Kíli was suddenly pushed forward, falling to his knees. He kept his gaze to the ground so that he could compose himself before he faced whatever awaited him.

The Orc that had brought him here began to speak in the Black Tongue. Something stood up in front of Kíli, but he did not look up to see what it was. It wasn't until a hand with cold, tough skin lifted his face up harshly by his chin did he see exactly who it was.

Bolg.

With a sneer, Bolg said something to the Orcs in the Black Speech. Kíli was not sure if it was a question for him or a statement to the others.

"It seems our guest is not familiar with the Black Speech. Tell me, gazat, where is the yellow-haired one?"

Kíli refused to say a word. Instead, he just glared up at him with a cold, hard gaze.

His face began to sting as soon as Bolg hit him across the face. "It's rude to ignore a question, gazat. Where is the other dwarf you traveled with? The one who slayed Azog."

Again Kíli did not answer.

"If you tell me where he is, I will make sure your end is swift."

When Kíli opened his mouth, however, it was to launch the ball of spit that had accumulated in his mouth, hitting Bolg straight in the face.

Bolg let out an angry cry before wrapping his fingers around Kíli's throat and lifting him into the air. "You will pay for that, glob. Tell me where he is or we will find your third traveling companion and make you watch while we squeeze the information from him."

Bilbo. No, he could not let them find Bilbo. But he wasn't going to give up his brother.

Kíli opened his mouth to say something, only to find that he couldn't. All that came out were squeaks and gasps.

"What was that, gazat?"

When Kíli felt Bolg release some of the pressure from his neck, he took in a deep breath before replying in a raspy voice, "You already have him."

Bolg quickly dropped him. "What do you mean?"

With the coldest stare he could muster, Kíli replied with a confident voice. "I was the one that killed Azog."

TBC...

Black speech translation:

Gazat - dwarf

Glob - scum

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