The Hobbit: Odd Love in Strange Times
Chapter 17 of my Hobbit story, enjoy.
Reviews
Boris Yeltsin: Thanks glad you enjoyed them :)
canonman89: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it and the battles too.
Sofasoap: Thanks, glad you enjoyed both chapters; yeah, the scars. Yup, the battle has begun.
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.
Hobbitpony1: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, and that little twist, well, here we go :)
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)
Mjean: Thanks :)
Now onto the story.
Disclaimer: The Hobbit belongs to JRR Tolkien; Peter Jackson and all associated companies.
Chapter 17
Thorin glared up at where he saw Azog, silhouetted against the sky. This battle wouldn't be over until Azog was dead; Thorin knew that, he knew what he had to do. He turned to observe the others. The battle was still raging, the sheer number of orcs meaning that the wave of courage which pushed on the combined armies wouldn't last much longer.
He watched as Gandalf began to return, leading his fellow dwarves away, following Beorn. The two Elves were going with him, Thorin quickly stepped forward, making sure only the two he wished to hear him could.
"Fili, Kili." They turned to face him. "Let them go back to the battle, we have other things we must do."
He gestured with his head towards the mountain where Azog was waiting.
They glanced up and then back to him. "Uncle…"
Thorin nodded. "Let's finish this, once and for all."
They did not hesitate and, while the other returned to the battle, they broke away, heading up to where Azog awaited. Unbeknownst to them however, Gandalf had confided in Bilbo about a new danger approaching.
One he planned to share with Thorin and the other leaders of the army, but was unaware of Thorin's new plan. Bilbo however saw the trio leaving and turned back; he quickly removed the ring and rushed up to where Tauriel and Legolas were making their way back to the battle.
"Wait, wait!" He cried out. "Thorin, look!"
The two elves stopped, surprised by the Hobbit's sudden appearance, it was then they spotted Thorin and his nephews.
Bilbo quickly explained. "We have to help them; they're going right into danger. Gandalf told me, there's a large army, reinforcements for Azog, they'll come up there in the mountains."
That was all the two Elves needed to hear, they quickly turned and, with Bilbo in tow, began to follow the three Dwarves.
Thorin continued up the mountain, Fili and Kili right behind him; all focusing on reaching Azog and finishing things. It was therefore a surprise to them to hear their names being called; they turned quickly, especially as Kili recognized the voice.
"Tauriel?"
The red haired Elf hurried up, accompanied by Legolas and Bilbo.
"Hold a moment." She cried.
Legolas then added. "There is more danger here than you realize."
Thorin narrowed his eyes. "Speak plainly, Elf."
It was Bilbo who answered however.
"Gandalf warned me; we need to block off the tunnels in these mountains. Azog has reinforcements coming; they'll be using the tunnels!" He exclaimed.
The three dwarves started at that; Thorin cursed and looked around.
Fili turned to his uncle. "We need to stop them, before they overwhelm us and the army below."
Tauriel then heard something and quickly turned and fired her bow, catching the orc that was sneaking up on them in the throat. It fell dead and she then spotted more orcs approaching.
"Too late!"
They quickly raised their weapons as more orcs appeared, charging towards them from the various tunnels. As they fought Legolas quickly surveyed the tunnels.
"We need to collapse the upper tunnel; that will cave in the rest of them and block them off!" He cried. "But it'll take great force to do so!"
Bilbo, who had been also been fighting, as best he could, then noticed something. He knew what he had to do. So, stepping back, he quickly pulled out the ring and slipped it on, vanishing from sight.
Fili quickly severed an orcs head before blocking at attack from another. It was then he noticed as he killed the second orc.
'Where's Bilbo, he was right here?!'
Before long they all became aware of Bilbo's disappearance. Thorin was the most enraged by this; until suddenly Bilbo reappeared, just as he managed to cause a rockslide. Said rockslide hit with enough force to cause the caves to collapse upon themselves; killing the orcs inside and preventing those on the other side from ever reaching the battlefield.
The remaining orcs were shocked by this sudden turn of events. This gave the others the chance they needed to finish them off as Bilbo managed to join up with them again.
Kili laughed as the last orc was slain. "Bilbo, where did you even come up with that?!"
Bilbo shook his head. "I just; saw the rocks, they were unstable I thought it might work."
"But you didn't know?" Thorin asked incredulously.
Bilbo sighed but nodded; Thorin shook his head. "Typical; well it paid off."
Tauriel however spotted something and warned them. "It's not over yet."
They all spun around and saw what she meant. For approaching them was a massive orc carrying a large two handed mace in just his left hand, his right hand holding a large two handed sword.
Thorin raised Orcrist defensively; snarling. "Bolg, Azog's spawn!"
It was then, from atop a nearby rock formation, Azog himself appeared, both orcs ready to do battle with the Dwarves, Elves and Hobbit.
Thorin edged warily, speaking quietly to the others.
"Fili, Kili, I'll need the two of you to fight Bolg; I'll deal with Azog."
Legolas remarked quietly. "I will help you; Tauriel, help the other two."
Thorin nodded. "Fine. Master Baggins, you better…"
"No, I'm staying; I'm helping you." Bilbo declared.
Thorin shook his head but offered no further argument. Azog smirked and he spoke to Bolg.
"Crush them Bolg, break them and leave none standing." He growled. "But Oakenshield is mine!"
With that Azog lunged forwards, swinging his bladed arm directly at Thorin. Thorin swiftly blocked just as Bolg charged towards Fili and Kili. Realizing there would be no time for bows, Legolas and Tauriel drew their swords.
Before long the orcs were both fighting three opponents each; yet still there was no edge for the allies against them. Before long the battles had moved to separate battlefields; the orcs splitting up and leading their opponents away from each other. Before long Thorin, Legolas and Bilbo found themselves facing Azog on a large section of frozen ground, with a sharp cliff drop towards the end.
Meanwhile, Bolg had led Fili, Kili and Tauriel to an uneven area containing ancient ruins. It was clear he planned to use the terrain to make things more difficult for them.
Back on the battlefield; Gandalf led the remaining dwarves from Thorin's company back to the main army. They were following the trail being opened by Beorn and soon they joined up with the army that was still resisting. Thranduil glared when he saw them.
"You leave to fight trolls and return with people missing, where are they?" He called as he decapitated an orc.
Gandalf shook his head. "This is growing more desperate; they have reinforcements coming. They'll be here soon and we'll be overwhelmed."
Bard started. "If they come, we won't be able to hold them back. Weren't there others with you?"
"That's what's complicating matters. It seems Thorin has led Fili and Kili up the mountain to face Azog." Gandalf warned as the army reformed quickly. "Tauriel and Legolas have followed them; they're walking right into where those reinforcements will come."
Hearing this and realizing what had happened, the dwarves were shocked and put out.
"We have to help them!" Ori cried out.
Thranduil cut down another orc. "We have no chance of getting to them. We've dealt with all these orcs, but here come more, the rest of the army…even without their reinforcement we're struggling."
It was true, the tide was turning and the alliance was finding its forces falling.
Bard grit his teeth. "We have no other choice; we can't stay out here."
Dwalin growled. "We can't abandon them!"
Gandalf however admitted Bard was right. So, with Dain and Beorn covering their retreat, they managed to get back inside. Keeping the orcs at bay long enough to seal the entrances they had used to launch their attacks. They hurried back to the main hall within Erebor, attempting to regroup and form a new plan.
Bolg lashed out with his mace, aiming at the dwarves who were nearer. They both ducked, narrowly avoiding the attack. Fili attempting to strike with his swords, aiming at Bolg's stomach. Bolg however blocked with his sword before pushing Fili back and ducked, narrowly avoiding Tauriel's arrow. He turned and advanced towards the Elf; Fili and Kili both charged the massive orc.
With a single swing, Bolg spun and struck both dwarves with his mace. Kili was slammed into a nearby pillar and crumpled to the ground. With no obstructions, Fili flew further through the air and down a collapsed staircase, out of sight. Tauriel fired again, this time striking Bolg in the back with the arrow. Bolg grunted and then turned to face her again, advancing once more.
He swung out with his sword, Tauriel leapt back, trying to avoid the blow. She was unharmed but, when she raised it again, she found her bow had been broken in half by the sword. She dropped it and drew her sword quickly, just in time to narrowly block an attack from Bolg. She did now manage it completely however and she winced as the edge of the blade cut down her cheek.
However quickly she managed to slip around his next attack and slashed at Bolg's arm, making him drop the sword. Bolg roared before suddenly seizing Tauriel by the throat and lifting her off the ground, tightening his grip.
There was a brief stand off as Thorin, Legolas and Bilbo considered their battlefield.
"Azog will try anything; be careful." Thorin warned.
Bilbo glanced down at the ice. "You think it's strong enough?"
Legolas considered quickly before replying. "If it can hold Azog, it should be strong enough."
That was all Thorin needed to hear; he charged Azog, the other two following just behind him. Azog caught Thorin's attack with his bladed arm and began to swing his mace. Seeing the danger Legolas quickly used his sword to block the mace. With a grunt Azog head-butted Thorin and swung his bladed arm at Legolas, forcing the Elf to jump back.
Azog made a noise that was probably the orc's equivalent of a snicker, as his three opponents charged in again. Azog contended with them well; but soon his temper flared when Thorin managed to land a slash directly across his chest. He roared, only just blocked a strike Legolas aimed at his head.
His next attempt to attack was cut off by Bilbo suddenly striking, slashing the orc's thigh. Azog howled and swung his mace, catching the Hobbit and sending him flying. He blocked Thorin and Legolas again but was forced to give ground as Thorin attacked viciously. Seeing what he was doing Legolas hurried over to Bilbo.
"You shouldn't have come." Legolas stated as he helped Bilbo to his feet.
Bilbo however was distracted by something else. "The others!"
Legolas turned to look, seeing Fili knocked away from the battle, Kili also being slammed into a pillar.
"I will help them, you help Thorin!" Legolas declared before rushing over the rocks attempting to reach them. Bilbo turned to face the battle still raging. His hand went to his pockets and suddenly, a plan formed in his head.
Tauriel gasped and tried to strike Bolg with her sword, but unfortunately, they were too close to a ruined pillar and the sword wedged within it.
'No, not good.' She cursed mentally. 'Need to hurry, need to get free, I…'
She gagged, forced to let go of the stuck sword, her entire body jerking as Bolg tightened his grip further. Bolg smirked as he tightened his grip even further; Tauriel choked and fought desperately and futilely for air; her legs jerked as her vision began to dim.
'Is this the end; if he tightens his grip any further, my neck will snap, I…'
All of a sudden Bolg roared in pain as another arrow struck his back. He glared; looking over his shoulder and saw it was Kili who had shot at him. With another roar he spun and threw Tauriel right at the young dwarf. This sent them both flying into a half collapsed wall, resulting in the part of the rest of it falling on top of them.
Tauriel coughed and tried to catch her breath, Kili lifted his head enough to see Bolg approaching them again, ready to raise his mace and attack. In too much pain to take any other action, he did the only thing he could and threw himself over Tauriel, hoping to shield her from the blow. With a triumphant roar, Bolg gripped his mace with both hands and swung it down to strike them.
Yet there was no pain; Kili lifted his head and saw why. Fili had recovered and had managed to return to the battle; he had used both his blades to block Bolg's mace. With a yell of effort, Fili used his blades to break Bolg's mace, severing the long handle, the head of it dropping to the ground.
Bolg snarled and Fili slashed with his blades. Bolg dodged one but the cut across his belly. Bolg's response was to grab the fallen head of the mace and use it like a rock, throwing it at Fili. Luckily Fili saw this and ducked. Bolg however charged forwards and backhanded the young dwarf.
Fili cried out as he tumbled down the stairs again; Bolg followed after him, now holding his sword again. With Bolg distracted, Kili began to straighten up as Tauriel also began to stand; coughing and still trying to breathe properly.
"Tauriel; are you alright?" Kili asked worriedly. "You're not…?"
Tauriel shook her head. "I'm fine, sorry I just…"
It was then Legolas arrived. "I came as soon as I could!"
"Is Azog…?" Kili began but Legolas shook his head. "We have to kill Bolg and go help my uncle."
Legolas nodded and, seeing a chance, they quickly formulated a plan; Tauriel seized a bow dropped by a slain orc and they hurried to get into position.
Having heard of the carnage reigning above, Sigrid was fearful. Especially since now, she could hear things were growing worse; their army had been pushed back to within the walls and they were losing ground.
'How much longer can we hold out? I thought we had plans; that this would work out despite being outnumbered.' She fretted; she knew that despite everything; there was one person she was fearful for, more than anything else. 'Fili, please be safe.'
She looked around at all the others assembled; all those who were currently unable to fight; for varying reasons. The only other people here were the injured; Sigrid bit her lip as she observed her brother and sister, both lying on beds as those with medical knowledge worked on treating them.
She instantly felt guilty, focusing her fears on Fili; when her siblings were right here in front of her. She walked over to Tilda's bedside; between them, Tilda was practically fully recovered. The healers merely wished for her to stay in bed for a while longer, to be absolutely sure.
"Sigrid?" Tilda said; noticing her sister's expression.
Sigrid did her best to smile. "It's nothing Tilda; just rest. Everything will be alright."
Tilda seemed doubtful but said nothing. Sigrid looked over at the next bed, Bain was lying face down, eyes closed. Nearly all his wounds had been treated, but those terrible whip lashes on his back were still bleeding. As such the healers worked on them while Elisa sat by the bed, practically clutching Bain's hand.
Sigrid turned her gaze back to Tilda. "How is Bain, have they said anything?"
Tilda nodded. "He'll be alright; they've nearly got the bleeding stopped. It shouldn't be much longer now."
Sigrid nodded relieved; she told herself to remain strong, for her sibling's sake, for everyone's sake. She prayed that everything would end well and they would all make it through this.
Thorin and Azog remained locked in deadly combat, near the ledge of the cliff. Azog had missed with his mace a few times, although Thorin was worried. Those missed attacks had struck the ice, he had heard the cracks; he knew that wasn't a good sign.
'If I don't hurry…' He thought to himself; before his thoughts were interrupted.
Azog took the chance to suddenly kick Thorin in the stomach. Thorin grunted and fell back slightly, but quickly blocked the follow up strike. Recovering he attempting to counter Azog's attacked, but Azog suddenly swung his mace low and swept Thorin's legs out from under him. Thorin hit the ground hard; lifting himself up and quickly blocked Azog's bladed arm from piercing him.
He struggled to hold back the orc when suddenly; a very familiar stone struck Azog in the side of the head, dazing him. Azog stumbled slightly; dropping to his knees. Thorin sat up, staring in disbelief, first at Bilbo who stood watching, breathing heavily. Then at what he had thrown at Azog's head.
"The Arkenstone." He breathed.
But before anything else could happen, there was a loud cracking and suddenly, to Bilbo's horror, the part of the cliff where Azog and Thorin were collapsed.
Fili struggled back to his feet, just in time to block a strike from Bolg. Bolg was unrelenting however, Fili attempting to attack. But was forced to try and stay one step ahead, breaking off his own attacks to block. With a vicious swing Bolg managed to knock one of Fili's swords from his hand. Bolg growled viciously and kicked Fili down.
He then pinned Fili down with his foot; Fili struggled, trying to reach his other sword, just out of reach. Bolg smirked as he raised the sword to strike. Suddenly he roared in pain, dropping the sword. Two arrows had buried themselves deeply in his shoulders from behind. He turned and saw those that attacked him were the Elves.
"Elf Scum!" He bellowed before roaring again.
Fili immediately took advantage of Bolg's distraction; he grabbed his sword and used it to hamstring the massive orc. Bolg sank to one knee, turning slightly. It was then he found himself facing Kili, who had an arrow notched in his bow.
The dwarf fired and the arrow struck Bolg between the eyes. The orc went stiff, before finally falling backwards, off the cliff. He tumbled down, if he wasn't dead from all that, he would certainly have died, hitting the rocks multiple times on the way down. Fili got back to his feet, retrieving his weapons as the other three approached him.
"Fili!" His brother cried out.
Fili nodded. "I'm fine Ki; we need to hurry and help uncle."
They followed Fili's gaze and saw a higher cliff, what looked like a frozen river and waterfall. There Azog and Thorin were in fact hanging from the cliff they had been fighting next to.
The others nodded their agreement and began to hurry, attempting to reach them. Slowed slightly by their injuries; in addition to what she had already suffered, Tauriel also limped due to what she suffered when she hit the ruined wall. Still they pressed on, desperate to end things.
Bilbo rushed to the edge in a panic and stopped; gaping, next to where Orcrist had landed. There, hanging from the edge, was Thorin; on a small ledge, just out of reach for him, was the Arkenstone. He was attempting to grab it. However he faced another danger, Azog was using his regular arm to hold onto a lower ledge and was attempting to attack Thorin with his bladed arm.
Thorin growled, trying to reach his treasure, but at the same time, avoid Azog's blows. Finally, surprising all of them, when Azog struck again, Thorin simply grabbed the blade himself. Azog growled and tugged at the blade. Despite the cuts opening on his hand, the blood, Thorin held on. Then, with a grunt of effort he pulled sharply, the blade was wrenched from Azog's stump and flew upwards, just narrowly missing Bilbo before finally landing, some feet away on the ice.
The pain made Azog howl and also, lose his grip. Still howling the pale orc fell from the cliff. Seeing his chance Bilbo dropped to the ground and reached out, grabbing Thorin's arm, the one grasping the ledge.
"Thorin, we have to get out of here!" He called out. "I need your other hand or I can't pull you up!"
Thorin however was still reaching for the Arkenstone.
He gasped out. "I must…take it; I can't just…leave it here!"
Bilbo shook his head. "Thorin, what makes a king; a jewel; or his actions, who he is?!"
That gave Thorin pause; Bilbo, sensing his advantage spoke again.
"Let it go."
Thorin, with supreme effort, tore his gaze from the Arkenstone and, with Bilbo's help, managed to pull himself up from the cliff.
But they could not rest, for at that moment, they heard more cracking and Thorin realized what was happening.
"Hurry!"
With that he and Bilbo ran as fast as they could; as more of the cliff collapsed. Luckily they just made it to safety. There they finally pulled themselves back to their feet and fought for breath.
"Thorin!"
They turned to see the other four rushing up to them. Thorin smiled lightly; glad to see they had survived.
"It is over, Azog is dead." He told them breathlessly.
Fili grinned. "As is Bolg."
Thorin nodded and picked up all that remained of Azog, the blade from his arm.
"This will serve as a trophy, in place of his head." Thorin decided. "We…we should leave here; there is nothing left. Let us go and show this, if anything will break those orcs, this will."
It was then Bilbo noticed something. "Look, the eagles are coming!"
They saw this was indeed true. Taking this as a sign, they began to hurry back to the main battlefield.
Down below, despite being in agony, Azog lifted his head, groaning. It was then he saw something right in front of him. He grinned and picked up the Arkenstone.
'Oakenshield's treasure; I can still…'
His thoughts were cut off as he felt something. He looked up, just in time to see the falling cliff sections, before they landed, crushing him and burying him and the Arkenstone. The pale orc was finally dead.
End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.