Once they reached the base of the side of the mountain where they were running down, everyone stopped to catch a breather. As Gandalf checked to make sure that everyone was there safe and sound, Thorin ran to Halien as she sank onto a nearby rock, her energy nearly spent.
"Halien, are you alright? Are you injured?" he asked her, running his hands over her to make certain she was OK.
"Yes, little king, I am alright. Just a few bumps and bruises, nothing to be worried about." She replied with a tired smile.
Thorin sighed in relief and kissed her, not caring that the others would see. He kissed her a few times before he hugged her and held onto her as if they were never going to see each other again.
Balin sighed, knowing that the others would question what was going on, but looked around when Gandalf asked where Bilbo was.
"Where is our Hobbit?" Gandalf asked.
Someone said they last saw him with Dori, but Dori didn't know where he was. That was when Nori pointed out that he thought he saw Bilbo slip away when they were first cornered. Gandalf urged him to tell him exactly what had happened.
"Gandalf, Bilbo slipped away to try and find a way to get us out of there. He didn't abandon us." Halien tried to tell him, but Thorin stood and shook his head.
"I'll tell you what happened. Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it. He's thought of nothing but his soft bed and warm hearth since first he set out his door. We will not be seeing our Hobbit again. He is long gone." Thorin said.
Halien shook her head. "Thorin…"
"Nope, no he isn't," Bilbo said, coming out from behind a tree.
"Thank the ancestors! You're safe, Bilbo!" Halien said and ran to hug him.
"Bilbo Baggins… I have never been so happy to see anyone in my life!" Gandalf said as the others smiled in relief that he was there and OK.
Halien stepped back and looked at Thorin. 'You never should have doubted him, my dear.'
Thorin looked at her and sighed.
"Bilbo! We would have given you up!" Kili said in relief.
"How on earth did you get past the goblins?" Fili asked.
Bilbo seemed nervous to tell them and started fidgeting with his pockets.
"Well, what does it matter?" Gandalf said. "He is back."
"It matters." Thorin retorted. "I want to know. Why did you come back?"
Bilbo looked at him. "Look, I know you doubt me. I know you always have. 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." He said, glancing around at the others, too. "But I will help you take it back if I can."
Halien smiled at that and felt Thorin's mind ease a bit. Then, her smile faded as she realized how sad that made everyone look. Then, the feeling of dread and fear making the hairs on her neck stand up came with the howling of wargs.
"Thorin…"
"Out of the frying pan…" he said, looking from Halien to Gandalf.
"And into the fire. Run." Gandalf finished. "Run!"
The company turned and ran, but soon realized that they reached the end of their road and Gandalf told them to climb into the trees. They climbed as high as they could reach, but Bilbo fell as a warg jumped over him. It turned around and ran at him, only to have the elvish blade he wielded get driven into its head.
"Bilbo, hurry!" Halien called from her branch. She watched as Bilbo tried to yank the blade out of the warg's skull and when he finally did, Halien hooked her legs on her branch and swung back, grabbing Bilbo and hoisting him up to the higher branches until he could climb higher himself.
'Halien, are you safe?' Thorin called to her and saw her in the tree with Bilbo.
'Yes, but Thorin, look.' She said, pointing.
Thorin looked and saw the pale Orc. "Azog…" Azog began taunting him in the Orcish tongue and Thorin shook his head. "It cannot be…"
Azog ordered the wargs to attack them and the mangy beasts began tearing at the branches, trying to climb up into the trees. They ended up uprooting the trees until only one was left standing with everyone clinging to a branch. Gandalf grabbed a pinecone, lit it with his magik, and threw it at the wargs, setting the ground ablaze. He grabbed some more and tossed them to a few of the others and they lit more and more pinecones before throwing them and trying to make the fire bigger.
The tree fell backward and Dori and Ori slipped, barely hanging on. Dori started to fall but managed to grab Gandalf's staff before he and his younger brother fell to their deaths. Thorin couldn't take it anymore and took up his Oakenshield and Orcrist and ran at Azog.
"Thorin, no!" Halien cried as Azog's warg knocked him over, then grabbed him in its mouth and threw him onto a large boulder.
She watched as Bilbo unsheathed his blade and ran to protect Thorin and Halien swung onto the trunk and ran after him. She stood behind Bilbo and protected Thorin as he passed out. Azog found it amusing and Halien watched as some of the others managed to get to the ground safely and came to aid them. They slashed at the Orcs and tried to protect Thorin as best they could. Halien would not leave his side, but she was hit from behind and passed out, falling to the ground a few yards from Thorin. She did not remember what happened next, only darkness.
