Faedra watched the approaching army of elves, Thranduil in the center on his steed. She sat on the ledge of the stone, her back against a wall. One leg rested limply over the open side of the wall. Thorin walked up the stone steps, looking over the top. The rest of the dwarves joined suite. Thorin immediately drew an arrow and shot it at the feet of Thranduil's steed.
"I will put the next one between your eyes!" he yelled.
The dwarves on the wall cheered and shook their weapons. Thranduil stared at Thorin angrily, then slightly tilted his head. Instantly, several rows of Elves near the front of the army pulled out their bows, nocking their arrows and aiming at the dwarves, all in one fluid motion. The dwarves' cheering is cut off abruptly as all of them but Thorin duck behind the ramparts. After holding the pose for a few seconds, Thranduil raised his hand, and the elves easily put away their arrows. Thorin still kept his bow drawn, though.
"We've come to tell you: payment of your debt has been offered...and accepted," Thranduil said.
Faedra's looked up in interest and stared at Thranduil.
"What payment?" Thorin asked angrily, "I gave you nothing! You have nothing!"
"We have this," Bard said, reaching into his coat pocket.
He pulled out the Arkenstone, holding it above his head. Thorin, shocked, lowered his bow. Faedra breathed a sigh of relief when she now knew Bilbo had listened to her orders.
"They have the Arkenstone?" Kili said in disbelief, "Thieves! How came you by the heirloom of our house? That stone belongs to the king!"
"And the king may have it - in our good will," Autumn said.
"But first he must honor his word," Bard finished for her.
"They are taking us for fools," Thorin whispered, "This is a ruse, a filthy lie."
Faedra looked at Thorin in surprise, though she did not show it. She knew this was part of the worsening sickness in his mind.
"THE ARKENSTONE IS IN THIS MOUNTAIN!" Thorin yelled, "IT IS A TRICK!"
"It-It's no trick," Bilbo said behind him, "The stone is real. I gave it to them."
Thorin's expression quickly changed to a mixture of sorrow and anger. Thorin, Tara, and the other dwarves looked at Bilbo in shock. Faedra was the only one to look at him with understanding in her eyes.
"You…" Thorin spat.
"I took it as my fourteenth share," Bilbo admitted.
"You would steal from me?"
"Steal from you? No. No. I may be a burglar, but I like to think I'm an honest one. I'm willing to let it stand against my claim."
"Against your claim?! Your claim! You have no claim over me you miserable rat!"
Thorin tosses his bow in anger and began walking towards Bilbo.
"I was going to give it to you," Bilbo said, "Many times I wanted to, but..."
"But what, thief?!" Thorin asked, his anger boiling to the point where Faedra was now standing.
"You are changed, Thorin!" Bilbo spoke with truth, "The dwarf I met in Bag End would never have gone back on his word! Would never have doubted the loyalty of his kin!"
"Do not speak to me...of loyalty!" Thorin said, then yelled, "Throw him from the rampart!"
Bilbo looked up shocked. The other dwarves, rather than obeying Thorin, stepped away from Bilbo in confusion. Thorin, surprised, that no one obeyed him grabbed Fili's arm.
"DO YOU HEAR ME?!" he yelled.
Fili quickly shook him away with worry on his face.
"I will do it myself!" Thorin said and lunged at Bilbo.
"CURSE YOU!" he shouted, "Cursed be the Wizard that forced you on this Company!"
"No!" Faedra shouted, approaching Bilbo.
When she reached him, however, Thorin lifted one arm to shake off some dwarves and ended up knocking Faedra backwards. She tripped over the edge of the wall and her heart stopped for a second. A hand reached out and grabbed her arm.
"Faedra!" she could hear Autumn yell with worry.
She looked up at who had caught her and found Tara looking down at her. She clutched her hand and Faedra quickly hoisted herself back up. Suddenly, Gandalf appeared, striding through the armies. His voice is magically amplified to incredibly loud, deep, and powerful tones.
"IF YOU DON'T LIKE MY BURGLAR…" Gandalf said, then his voice went to normal, "Then please don't damage him. Return him to me! You're not making a very splendid figure as king under the mountain, are you? Thorin son of Thrain!"
Thorin slowly lets Bilbo up, and some of the other dwarves rushed to help him up.
"Never again will I have dealings with wizards..." Thorin yelled, "Or Shire-rats!"
"Are we resolved?" Autumn asked, "The return of the Arkenstone for what was promised."
Thorin, breathing heavily, looked to a ridge in the distance, as if looking for someone or something. Faedra stood up and looked to where he was looking. Then an aching feeling came to her gut.
Oh he did not Faedra thought in disbelief.
"Give us your answer!" Bard said, "Will you have peace or war?"
As Thorin bowed his head, a large raven flew up to the ramparts and perched beside him. Thorin and the raven stared at each other. Faedra looked at it with horror as she knew what it meant.
"No," she whispered when she heard the echoing footsteps of an army growing closer.
"I will have war!" Thorin said angrily.
Faedra looked over at another ridge, in worry. She knew it wouldn't be for another little while until her army will have arrived. All she could do was hope that Azog's army arrived before the dwarves, men, and elves tear one another apart.
"Good morning! How are we all?" Dain asked rather sarcastically, "I have a wee proposition, if you wouldn't mind giving me a few moments of your time. Would you consider...just sodding off!"
The townspeople, clutching their weapons, stepped back in fear, while the Elves pulled out their swords and stepped forward.
Dain then shouted, "All of you, right now!"
"Stand fast!" Bard shouted.
"Come now, lord Dain!" Gandalf tried to reason with him.
"Gandalf the Grey," Dain said, "Tell this rabble to leave, or I'll water the ground with their blood!"
"There is no need for war between dwarves, men and elves!" Gandalf spoke, "A legion of orcs march on the mountain. Stand your army down!"
"I will not stand down before any elf!" Dain said stubbornly, "Not least this faithless woodland sprite! He wishes nothing but ill upon my people! If he chooses to stand between me and my kin - I'll split his pretty head open! See if he's still smirking then!"
Thranduil smiled furiously, and the Erebor dwarves cheered. Faedra put her hands to her head and rested her elbows on the rocks.
"He's clearly mad," Thranduil said, "Like his cousin!"
"You hear that, lads?!" Dain called out, turning his pig to rejoin his army, "Come on! Let's give these bastards a good hammering!"
All the Iron Hills Dwarves started to shout in dwarvish.
"Enough," Faedra shouted, "All of you. Do you not realize that all of you are fighting the wrong war? Azog has hundred, thousands, perhaps millions of orc leagues heading our way. All of you need to put aside your petty differences and fight the real war. Gandalf and myself seem to be the only ones who know that. Are all of you really that dim witted?"
There was a lot of yelling thrown back at Faedra as many felt offended by her remark. The earth started to rumble and Faedra looked up in fear.
"Were-worms," she whispered.
At the spur of the mountains where the rumbling was coming from, massive worms, hundreds of feet long and dozens of feet thick, broke through the rocks. Their mouths were essentially giant drilling machines, strong enough to crush the toughest rocks in their jaws. The human, elf, and dwarf armies looked on in shock.
Azog could be seen up on Ravenhill, a huge signalling contraption stood behind him. An orc horn sounds in the distances and legions of orcs start to pour out of the were-worm tunnels. Dain started to lead his battle towards the oncoming army.
"I'm going over the wall!" Fili said bravely, "Who's coming with me?"
The other dwarves cheered and agreed, preparing to climb down.
"Stand down!" Thorin ordered.
"What?" asked one dwarf.
"Are we to do nothing?" Fili asked in disbelief.
"I said STAND DOWN!" Thorin repeated himself.
Faedra looked at the oncoming battle, pity in her eyes. She looked back at Thorin who had his back towards her. Anger was slowly starting to build up inside her. She had been patient this long, but now her patience was coming to an end.