Chapter 10: The Battle of Moria
That night, the company had decided to stop for the night. Bilbo and Belinda were awakened by Bombur snoring while inhaling and exhaling moths in his mouth. The 2 Hobbits decided to get up and stretch. Gandalf and Selindra, awake and smoking pipeweed, watched as the Hobbits walked over to the ponies. "Hello, girl. Who's a good girl?" Bilbo said, petting Myrtle. "She's got such a cute face, doesn't she?" Belinda asked. Making sure no one was looking, Bilbo took an apple out of his pocket and gave it to Myrtle. "This is our little secret, Myrtle. You must tell no one." He said as Myrtle ate the apple.
Suddenly, there was a shriek out in the distance. Fili, Kili and Qili were startled by the sound. "What was that?" Bilbo asked. "Orcs." Kili said, recognizing the sound. "Orcs?" Bilbo asked. "What are Orcs?" Belinda asked as Thorin and Tharia woke up to the sound. "Throat-cutters. There'll be dozens of them out there. The Lowlands are crawling with them." Fili explained. "They used to serve under a great evil once. But now that he's gone, they wander about the Wild, seeking fresh kills." Qili explained. "They strike in the wee small hours when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet, no screams. Just lots of blood." Kili explained. Bilbo and Belinda looked panicked. Fili, Kili and Qili started laughing. "You think that's funny?" Thorin asked sternly, seeing through their teasing. "You think a night raid by Orcs is a joke?" "We didn't mean anything by it." Kili said. "No, you didn't. You know nothing of the world." Thorin said, walking over to the cliff.
Tharia watched her brother with concern. "Don't mind him." Balin said as he walked up. "Thorin has more cause than most to hate Orcs." Fili watched as Thorin stared out over the cliff. "After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to retake the Dwarf kingdom of Moria." Balin explained.
[Flashback]
"But our enemy had got there first." The Dwarves engaged in battle against an army of Orcs. Thorin and Tharia fought together with their father and grandfather. Thorin slashed the Orcs with his sword, Tharia stabbed them numerous times with her knives, Thror slashed down one and Dwalin headbutted one with his hard head. But a giant pale white Orc slammed several Dwarves with his big mace. "Moria had been taken by legions of Orcs, led by the most vile of all their race. Azog the Defiler." Thror and Azog saw each other and prepared to fight. Azog slammed his mace against Thror's shield
[Flashback End]
"The giant Gundabad Orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin." Balin explained. "Our family bloodline ties to that of Durin." Tharia said. Bilbo and Belinda looked at Thorin. "He began by beheading the king." Balin continued.
[Flashback]
Azog roared as he held up Thror's decapitated head. Thorin and Tharia watched as Azog tossed their grandfather's head towards them. Tears strained in Tharia's eyes. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Thorin screamed with agony.
[Flashback End
"Thrain, Thorin and Tharia's father, was driven mad by grief. He went missing. Taken prisoner or killed. We did not know. We were leaderless." Balin continued.
[Flashback]
"Defeat and death all upon us." The Orcs drove the Dwarves towards their doom as they slaughtered them or chased them off.
[Flashback End]
"That is when I saw them." Balin continued, looking at Thorin.
[Flashback]
"A young Dwarf prince and princess facing down the pale Orc." Thorin and Tharia stood up to face the pale Orc. Azog swung his mace really hard, knocking Thorin's shield and sword out of his hands. He swung again, knocking Tharia's knives out of hers. "They stood alone against this terrible foe." Thorin and Tharia stumbled down a hill. Azog leapt off the ledge, preparing to slam his mace onto the Dwarves. Thorin grabbed a nearby oaken branch and rolled to the side, dodging the pale Orc's attack. Tharia grabbed another oaken branch and rushed to her brother's aid. Azog swung his mace at the Dwarves, but they blocked every swing with their branches as shields. "They're armor rent, wielding nothing but oaken branches as shields." Thorin and Tharia tumbled back, tired from blocking all the blows. Azog readied his mace for one more blow. But Thorin grabbed his sword and sliced off Azog's arm. Azog screamed in pain and held his bleeding wound.
[Flashback End]
"Azog the Defiler learned that day that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken." Balin continued. Fili, Kili and Qili looked at him. Thorin continued to watch out at the distance, remembering their victory.
[Flashback]
Thorin shouted in Dwarvish to the Dwarves as The Orcs dragged their wounded leader back inside Moria. "Du Bekar!" Thorin shouted. The Dwarves rallied and charged towards the Orcs. Thorin, Tharia, Balin, Dwalin and Gwelin slaughtered several Orcs as they fought on. "Our forces rallied and drove the Orcs back. And our enemy had been defeated."
[Flashback End]
"But there was no feast nor song that night for our dead were beyond the count of grief." Balin said sadly.
[Flashback]
Afterwards, the surviving Dwarves either sat around, tended to their wounded or searched for survivors. Balin, Dwalin and Gwelin embraced each other. "We few had survived." Balin then looked on at Thorin and Tharia looking amongst the dead. "And I thought to myself then, there is one that I could follow."
[Flashback End]
"There is one I could call king." Balin finished. Thorin turned around, seeing the entire company awake and staring at him. Thorin walked back towards the camp. "And the pale Orc? What happened to him?" Bilbo asked. "Yeah, what became of him after the battle?" Belinda asked. "He slunk back into the hole whence he came. That filth died of his wounds long ago." Thorin said bitterly. Gandalf, Selindra and Balin all looked at each other. For Gandalf and Selindra knew the real truth.
Across the canyon, 2 Orcs and their Wargs had found their camp. 'Send word to the Master, we have found the Dwarf-scum.' The lead Orc said in Black Speech.