A/N: Thank you Nauze for proofreading and editing this chapter and doing his best to ensure I don't move back to the hiatus penthouse.
Waking up to find yourself falling into an abyss is most certainly not the best way to rise for another day. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened with twelve dwarves and a hobbit from Thorin Oakenshield's company. They only realised what had happened seconds before they hit the hard rocky ground, one on top of the other. As if that wasn't enough, they were forced to face forty, sixty, one hundred violent, horrid, merciless goblins even before they were able to properly stand on their feet again.
The Company was clearly outnumbered, but they did not allow the goblins to restrain them without making some noise and fighting back as hard as they could, considering the circumstances.
"Dwalin, where are Uncle and Katniss?" Kíli asked, as he punched a goblin with his fist and sliced another one with his sword. That question was on top of the mind of all members of the company.
Dwalin did not answer, but his frown showed considerable worry as he smashed the skull of two goblins by banging them against each other.
"They were having a midnight rendezvous when we fell," Bofur told in Khuzdul, making one of the goblins hit itself hard on his head. Meanwhile, all the dwarrow men had their hearts filled with both worry and hope. Worry for what could happen if they were also captured, and a hope that they would most certainly be working on a rescue plan right at that instant.
Soon, they were all restrained and escorted by the goblins through their dirty, nasty path. Bones littered the middle of the roads and the rest of a cow carcass was being savaged by mice and cockroaches. The dwarrowmen were forced to carry on walking the path, being guided through a couple of crudely made stairs and bridges as they were guided to the heart of that repulsive kingdom.
As they were getting near and nearer to their final destination, more Goblins seemed to join their brethren. Some would shout obscenities to the Company, others would try to throw pebbles or spit towards their direction, though they would almost always end up hitting one of their own instead of hitting the members of the company, as dwarrowmen reflexes were much better. Soon, it was clear for the dwarves that they were approaching what seemed to be the centre of the Goblin Kingdom.
An enormous throne occupied the centre of the clearing, with an even more colossal goblin on the centre. His crown, made of bones, indicated his status as the ruler of that foul and odious place. The King of the Goblins was waving around to the wide, nefarious crowd, which was cheering and applauding him. The dwarrowmen looked disgusted when they were forced to witness the Goblin King stomp and crush some of his own people. If that was the treatment that he reserved for his own kin, they were surely doomed.
"I feel a song coming on…" said the Goblin King as he rested his feet on other lesser goblins.
"Clap snap the black crack!
Grip grab pinch and nab!
Batter and beat!
Make them stammer and squeak!
Pound pound far under grounddddd…
Down down down in Goblin Town…"
The heinous Goblin king stood up from his skull-covered throne and started dancing and singing the horrifying song, to the delight of the other goblins who seemed to be truly enjoying watching their leader perform such despicable act.
"Down down down in Goblin Town…" the crowd quickly sang the chorus with a maniacal and cheerful voice.
"With a swish and a smack and a whip and a crack!
Everybody talks when they're on my rack!
Pound pound far under ground…
Down down down to Goblin Town…"
The absence of Oakenshield seemed to make the company a little bit more nervous than they would have otherwise. They were not all together. And Katniss… even though they were more than glad that their young Lass was not present to witness that monstrosity's show, they worried what could happen to her if they caught her alone, without anyone to defend her from these wicked creatures.
"Down down down to Goblin Town…" all inhabitants of Goblitown cheered as they sang their song.
Hammer and torch!
You won't last long on the end of my prong!
Clash crash crush and smash!
Bang break shiver and shake!
You can yell it and yelp but there ain't no help!
Pound pound far under ground…
The Goblin King was waving a sceptre that had an enormous bull's skull on its tip. Without showing any signs of remorse, he killed some of the Goblins with it just for show. The throne was located in the middle of a clearing, so it could be seen anywhere from above and below. They were surrounded. They had no escape route that they could take. Their only hope was that Thorin and Katniss would suddenly come up with a brilliant rescue plan under their sleeves.
"Down down down in Goblin Townnnnnnnn!" The crowd went wild as their leader almost threw half of the Goblins who were restraining the dwarves off a cliff by mistake.
"Catchy, isn't it? It is one of my own compositions…" the large goblin gave an evil smile to the dwarves.
"It is not a song. It is an abomination," Balin shouted disgusted, followed by nods and grunts of approval by the other company's members.
"Abominations, disfigurations, mutilations, and repulsions... That's all you're going to find down here," he finished and sat down on his massive throne, ordering with a wave from his hand for his prisoners to be searched.
There wasn't much that the dwarrowmen could do, as they were completely outnumbered. Despite that, they wiggled around as weapon by weapon were stripped off of them and placed into a pile just below the Great Goblin's feet.
"Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom?" the Great Goblin asked, affronted by the large pile of weapons that had quickly been formed "Spies, thieves, assassins?"
"Dwarves, your Malevolence," one of the other lesser goblins answered him.
"Dwarves?"
"We found them on the front porch."
"Well, don't just stand there! Search them!" the Great Goblin shouted to his subjects. "Every crack and crevice!"
The goblins did not waste any time and started being even more vicious than they had been previously on their search. So was their lack of respect by the dwarves' belongings that they ended up stepping and smashing on Oin's hearing trumpet. When they went over to Nori's bag though, the goblins discovered quite a lot of elven made belongs from their stay at Rivendell.
"It is my belief, your Malevolence, that they are in league with elves."
All dwarves looked affronted by that insinuation as Dori gave Nori a disapproving look, who shook his head as he tried not to look guilt.
"Just a couple of keepsakes."
"What are you doing in these parts?" the Great Goblin shouted with a threatening voice.
Fíli was about to open his mouth, as he knew that despite his young age, it would be expected for him to take charge of the company in Thorin's absence. However, Dwalin and Balin both deliberately blocked and squeezed him to make him stay away from the discussion. Wasting no time, Balin took a step forward and started talking, bringing the Great Goblin's attention to himself.
"It was not our intention to fall down inside your… lair," Balin started as he carefully observed the Great goblin squint his eyes, full of suspicion. "There was a heavy storm outside; we needed shelter. We had no idea that we would end up… here."
"And what is your business? Where do your lot hail?" The goblin leader asked with a glare full of malice.
"Our business is our own," Gloin spat before Balin had a chance to say anything more tactful. Consequently, the Goblin King seemed to be enraged by his answer.
"We are humble merchants from the Blue Mountains, aiming to meet some relatives east of Dunlad. That's all," Balin said, trying to repair the damage made by Oin's younger brother. "Could you give us passage?"
"Blue Mountains, you say?" The Great Goblin started as he scratched his triple chin "Well, well, well... it depends, you see...?"
"Of what?" Balin asked already dreading the goblin's answer.
"If you lot can help me by giving us any information on the whereabouts of Thorin Oakenshield…"
All the dwarves went pale immediately after they heard the request made by the horrid goblin leader. The gargantuan goblin seemed to notice how off-balanced the company had become at his comment, as he smirked maliciously at Balin, while he waited for an answer. Unfortunately, it was not Balin who spoke up first.
"What do you want with Uncle?" Kíli said at once, without thinking.
The company immediately realised the big mistake that Thorin's younger nephew had made, and while Dori left a deep sigh of frustration escape, Bofur face-palmed his own head after witnessing Kíli's deadly mistake. Some others, like Nori and Gloin, made an effort to shield Kíli away with their own body, but they all knew that it was a likely a lost battle. The Goblin King looked evilly at the youngest heir of Durin.
"Well, well, well, isn't this our lucky day?" The big Goblin gave a wicked smirk to the other goblins who promptly smiled back. "May I ask what is your name, nephew of Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror; King under the Mountain?"
"Don't tell him, Kee!" Fíli urged his brother, fearing what would come next.
"Oh, nevermind. It matters little anyway. After all, your lot don't have a mountain. And your Uncle was never a king. Which makes you nobody, really,"
"Our Uncle is a nobler king than you can ever dream of being," Fíli decided to call the attention to himself, in a desperate attempt to save his brother from the Great goblin wrath.
"Oh, there are two of you then? Even better. I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your Uncle's head. Just the head, nothing attached. Perhaps you know of whom I speak, an old enemy of him. A Pale Orc astride a White Warg."
"Azog is dead. Thorin killed him in battle long ago," Dwalin spat full of rage.
"So you lot believe his defíling days to be done, do you?" The Goblin King gave a vile loud laugh before he summoned a tiny little goblin who had been sitting in a basket and holding a slate and chalk.
"Send word to the Pale Orc; tell him I have found Oakenshield's heirs."
The small goblin was grinning as he wrote down the message on his slate before he left the scene as quickly as he had appeared.
"Now, who of your lot will tell me where is Oakenshield hiding?"
All the dwarves looked at each other in panic. None of them would ever betray Thorin, they all would rather die.
"Can we have a volunteer, anyone?" the Great Goblin asked again, but nobody dared to say a word this time. "Well then, if they will not talk, we'll make them squawk! Bring out the Mangler! Bring out the Bone Breaker! Start with the oldest."
Dwalin and Fíli tried their best to keep Balin out of the reach of the wicked goblins but unarmed and outnumbered, there was not much that they could do. They shouted Balin's name, as the white-haired dwarf was swiped away from their grasps. Meanwhile, the foul torture devices were being brought to the centre of the clearing by two dozen goblins, while their king was presenting them with another one of his monstrous tunes.
"Bones will be shattered, necks will be wrung!
You'll be beaten and battered, from racks you'll be hung!
You will die down here and never be found,
Down in the deep of Goblin Town!"
It took four goblins to restrain the elder dwarven warrior, forcefully trying to tie him to a wheel that was clearly made for torture someone much bigger than any dwarf. Balin tried to fight his away out from his ordeal, but as he wiggled in a vain escape attempt, a particularly nasty goblin ended up scratching his face, marring it with blood. All the dwarrowmen shouted in outrage and demanded them to stop.
Dwalin was particularly possessed, and had done as such by fighting his way to recover his axe from the pile on the floor, and was marching to retrieve his older brother from the grasp of the goblins. Inspired by Dwalin's successful attempt, Fíli and Kíli followed the old warrior's lead and also retrieved a sword each, and the other company members followed suit.
"Slash them! Beat them! Kill them! Kill them all!" the Goblin King shouted as he was taken aback by the sudden uprise of the dwarrowmen.
A goblin was almost slitting Balin's throat with a dagger when suddenly they all felt a shockwave of light that tore through their den like an atomic bomb. It was light on its purest form, the light coming straight from the Valar. It made goblins fly through the air and exploded all of their torturing devices. Everybody, goblins and dwarrowmen alike were knocked down by its force, though while the dwarrowmen felt their heart be filled with hope, the goblins were filled with nothing but fear at that time. When the light started to fade, everything they could see was the shadow of a wizard, carrying a staff and a shining sword closely followed by the silhouette of a small woman with a loaded bow and Thorin Oakenshield was also holding his sword in an attack stance. Every single pair of eyes looked at them in both fear and awe.
"Take up arms. Fight. Fight!" Gandalf shouted to the company, who slowly started to get on their feet.
Katniss followed Gandalf as closely and quietly as possible with Thorin just behind her. She was wearing her night vision glasses and her bow was loaded with one of his arrows, a gesture of caution that both the wizard and the dwarrow king both seemed to approve. She was convinced that Gandalf had placed some sort of spell on the three of them, as they crossed paths with some goblin inhabitants that were probably near enough to notice their presence, but for some odd reason, they remained completely oblivious as the trio made their way to the depths of the Goblins' den.
That mountain was a horrid place, an underground suffocating prison that Katniss could not wait to escape. A putrid smell lingered in the air, blood and animals' bones tossed around the ground. A distant sound of crowd cheering followed by what seemed to be a frightful morbid tune informed that they were likely to be on the correct path to find their companions. As the noise started getting louder and louder, both Katniss and Thorin pointed to goblins who were looking to the discussion that was unfolding in front of their bare eyes, and the first thing that they could see was Balin tied in a torture device. Thorin clenched his fists full of anger and got his sword ready to claim as many goblin lives as possible. Katniss was feeling pretty much possessed with rage herself, but before any of them could get anywhere near the battle that was about to break out, Gandalf gave a warning glance at them.
"Hold on tight."
Katniss and Thorin exchanged a confused look, just before a light brighter than the sun came out Gandalf's staff. The young woman found it hard to keep on looking ahead even with the aid of her modern glasses. She felt Thorin's warms wrapping her up with his strong arms. If it was for aiding her into keeping her balance or for him to maintain his own, Katniss wasn't sure. What she knew is that she shouldn't be as shocked by witnessing magic being performed after everything that she had seen and lived, during the past couple of months, but somehow, it still did. When the brightness faded slightly, Thorin let go of her and stood in attack position just behind Gandalf, who was already pointing both his staff and sword ahead. She followed their lead and decided to do the same, trying to appear much more confident than she actually felt.
"Take up arms. Fight. Fight!" Gandalf shouted to the Company who had fallen down with the goblins as they were both blinded by Gandalf's bright life.
Quickly, and reinvigorated with a strengthening absolute hope brought by their presence, every single member of the company started to fight with new vigour. As they did, some goblins started marching towards them, but both Thorin and Gandalf had no issue slicing them dead with their new swords.
"It is Oakenshield, he is carrying the Goblin-Cleaver, the Biter, the blade that sliced a thousand necks," the Great Goblin shouted, making Thorin grimace with pride as he killed another couple of goblin minions.
Katniss stayed a bit behind and shot an arrow straight to the eye of the goblin who had a dagger pointed towards Balin's neck. She quickly loaded another arrow and aimed for another goblin that seemed to be too near to the old dwarf for comfort. She prayed that someone had taken the task to free the old warrior and remove him from the vulnerable position he was in.
"His companion wields the Foe-Hammer, the Beater, bright as daylight!" the Goblin kind shouted in a panicked voice that did not fit his status or his larger figure. Meanwhile, the company was quickly retrieving their weapons and belongings from the pile on the floor. All but Dwalin and Fíli, who were trying to free Balin from that horrid torture device.
Katniss decided to load her bow with one of her explosive arrows, in the hopes of scaring their enemies enough to buy them some time. She lowered it strength to the bare minimum, as many members of their company were still too near him, and also because she did not fancy to make that mountain collapse, at least not while they were all inside it. Nonetheless, she aimed it straight to the Great Goblin's eye. She held her breath and allowed the arrow to leave her grasp and finally reach its target. His immense head exploded immediately, making his flesh and blood fly everywhere. A goblin tried to attack Katniss from behind without her noticing, but Thorin, who had his attention on her more than on anyone else in the battle, was able to stop the foul blade from marring her body just in time.
She let a noise of shock come out her lips as she witnessed Thorin finish the goblin who had been bold enough to attack her. Then Thorin looked at her with a mixture of relief and dread for what was still to come.
"Stay alert, stay close."
She nodded in agreement as she loaded another arrow, and decided to keep that one there for the meantime.
"Follow me. Quick! Run!" Gandalf ordered to the company as he pointed to a path that neither of them had noticed until the wizard pointed it out. Everybody obeyed him at once, and the Company started to run for their lives throughout the dark, mazed paths of Goblintown.
By the time they had finally managed to leave the Misty Mountains, Katniss' quiver was beginning to run dangerously low on arrows. She had used all the arrows Thorin had made for her in Rivendell, as well as all her ordinary arrows and even a couple of the explosive ones, that she had used to provoke a mini-avalanche when they were escaping the horde of goblins. Katniss carried on running down the mountain with her companions when she removed her night-vision glasses as daylight made then unnecessary and put it away with her precious belongings. She knew that she had lost her sleeping mat and blanket in the middle of the chaos, but she also knew that probably most of them also had lost theirs.
"Five, six, seven, eight...Bifur, Bofur...that's ten...Fíli, Kíli, Katniss...that's thirteen...and Bombur - that makes fourteen. Where's Bilbo? Where is our Hobbit? Where is our hobbit?!" Gandalf asked with worry as everyone started looking around to see if they could find any sign of Bilbo.
"Curse the halfling! Now he's lost?!" Dwalin shouted.
"I thought he was with Dori!" Gloin accused.
"Don't blame me!" Dori said defensively.
"Well, where did you last see him?" Gandalf asked the dwarrow man.
"I think I saw him slip away, when they first collared us," Nori said from the other side of the group.
"What happened exactly? Tell me!" the wizard asked.
"I'll tell you what happened. Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it! He'd thought of nothing but his soft bed and his warm hearth since first he stepped out of his door! We will not be seeing our Hobbit again. He is long gone," Thorin said accusingly.
Katniss felt frustration as she wanted to tell him that he was wrong, that the Bilbo she knew would not abandon them to their fate, but the words got lost on the way to her lips. It was exactly at that moment that Bilbo decided to appear from the middle of nowhere and grace them with his presence.
"No, he isn't," Bilbo said quietly.
"Bilbo!" Katniss ran towards him and crushed the small hobbit with a hug, making the little man blush by the sudden female attack. Thorin seemed taken back by her reaction but decided to keep his thoughts and words for himself. When she finally let go the little fellow, it was Gandalf's turn to great him.
"Bilbo Baggins! I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life!"
Bilbo smiled as he made his way to the middle of the group. He gave Balin a gentle pat on his shoulder.
"Bilbo, we'd given you up!" Kíli smiled kindly at him.
"How on earth did you get past the Goblins?!" Fíli enquired.
"How, indeed," Dwalin asked squinting his eyes in suspicion.
All company members including Katniss looked at Bilbo eagerly expecting to hear the tale of his escape from the depths of the Goblin caves, but Gandalf noticed Bilbo sliding a ring inside his pocket and looked a bit concerned.
"Well, what does it matter? He's back!" Gandalf said with nervous grim, as he decided to intervene.
"It matters! I want to know: why did you come back?" Thorin demanded to know.
"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, cause you don't have one. A home. It was taken from you. But I will help you take it back if I can."
"And help us you shall," Katniss gave him a proud smile before she looked up to Thorin, who nodded in agreement. Oin was about to have a look on the nasty bruise that Balin had acquired on his face when the sound of howling wargs made everyone get on their guard once again. Katniss immediately loaded her bow with one of her explosive arrows and aimed it to the top of the mountain where they could barely see the Warg and their orc riders from the distance. Though with the position she was in, she knew that she would never be able to get a clear shot.
"Out of the frying pan..." Thorin started.
"...and into the fire!" Gandalf concluded. "Run! RUN!" he said looking straight to her eyes.
Memories of her first Hunger Games quickly ran through Katniss' mind. The way that those horrid wolf-like creatures had played with Cato's body for hours and hours, and she felt her stomach turn with that sour memory. There was no need to wait for any further invitation. Katniss was naturally a fast runner, especially in short distances, so she decided to sprint ahead of the company as fast as her legs would allow her. She then stopped at the top of a rock that she believed would give her the opportunity to have a clearer shot at the wargs. Choosing the highest possible damage setting on her bow, she shot one of her remaining explosive arrows towards the group of wargs that were getting closer.
She did not linger there to see the results of her attempt, and jumped ahead to the ground, a drop that was twice her own height, but she struggled to remain on her feet when she landed. Thorin, who was already down there, extended his hand to help her get back on her feet. Their eyes quickly met and they looked back as they heard the explosion, just in time to see that she ended up exploding five of the wargs and scared off a couple of other ones, pulling back in retreat.
"Carry on," Thorin shouted at the group, and he did not need to repeat himself, as new wargs began to take the place of the ones who had fallen.
Katniss stopped thrice more in a vain attempt to give them some time. Even though it would work for a couple of seconds, more than double the number of wargs and orc riders seemed to appear out of nowhere for each one she managed to kill. There were too many enemies, and she had only one explosive arrow left. They arrived at the edge of a cliff. They were trapped. They had nowhere to hide. She turned her back and saw that the wargs were catching up with them, and she decided to shoot the last explosive arrow she had on her possession in order to buy their group a few more seconds.
"Up into the trees, all of you! Come on, climb! Bilbo, climb!" Gandalf said as the noise of the explosion informed them that her arrow had likely hit its target.
Katniss did not need to be told twice. After securing her bow on her shoulders, she started climbing the tree that was nearest to the place she was standing, Fíli and Kíli followed her closely behind. When she was near the top, she looked down just in time to witness Bilbo escaping the wrath of a warg by a few seconds. She grabbed her bow and reached for her quiver. She had only seven incendiary arrows left. That was all she had, and there were at least three dozen wargs approaching the pine trees that they had climbed. She looked around, trying to locate Thorin. He was looking straight at her in a tree next to the one she was in. She looked at Gandalf, trying to find any guidance of what they should do now, but the wizard seemed to be busy talking to what looked like a small bird or a gigantic moth. Katniss wasn't sure. She rolled her eyes in annoyance at the wizard's apparent lack of concern for the problem of having a small army of wargs and orcs surrounding the company.
The wargs were circling the trees, almost as if they were waiting for something. She decided to load her bow and wait. It was then that an enormous white Orc calmly arrived, looking like the reincarnation of evil itself. She recognized the Orc straightway because she had watched that very same Orc killThorin through Galadriel's mirror. Her eyes widened in fear and her blood went cold.
"Azog."
Katniss heard Thorin spitting the orc's name full of rage. She was certain she had heard that same name before, she just could not place where or when.
"Nuzdigid? Nuzdi gast? Ganzilig-i unarug obod nauzdanish, Torin undag Train-ob."
Katniss squinted her eyes as she pointed her arrow at the pale orc. She did not understand a single word of what he was saying, but she could almost swear that he had mentioned Thorin's name.
"It cannot be." Thorin looked like he had seen a ghost. She looked at Thorin, hoping to find a sign that said that it was ok for her to go ahead and kill the one who seemed to be the Orc leader, but for once, Thorin's attention seemed to be far away from her.
"Kod, Toragid biriz. Worori-da!"
Clearly following whatever command Azog had given, the Wargs began to leap and attempt to climb the trees. Assessing the situation again, Katniss pointed her bow away from their leader and locked in into a warg that seemed to be almost succeeding in reaching Bilbo. She considered if she should turn off the incendiary power of her arrows, but she decided against.
"Sho gad adol!"
The trees she was in started to shake violently as the Wargs assault increased. The Wargs managed to remove the root of the tree that Thorin and some of the others were sitting on, and they ended up having to jump to the tree she was in. In a domino-like effect, the tree she was in also ended up falling down, and they were all forced to move from tree to tree, until they were on the last tree just next to the cliff. Thorin was just above her. She decided that even if their trees caught fire as a result, firing her incendiary arrows was a necessary risk she was more than willing to take in order to attempt doing something to delay their deaths. So she fired an arrow, making the warg she had hit burst into flames immediately, making a couple of wargs who were next to it to also catch on fire. All the others began to retreat, full of wariness.
The pale Orc started to scan the trees to find the source of that unexpected attack, when Gandalf threw a flaming pinecone near his feet, making the grass and plants around Azog catch fire almost immediately. Gandalf then started lighting more pinecones and shared them with other company members. Meanwhile, Katniss threw a couple of more incendiary arrows, making the orcs notice her presence. Thorin did not like that and decided to tell her off.
"Stop calling their attention. You will only mark yourself as a target,"
"Do you have any other ideas?" she asked him full of annoyance "No. I did not think so," she replied sharply before shooting another arrow that hit another warg straight in his eyes.
Thorin grumbled in annoyance with her behaviour.
Soon, the wargs started to retreat in fear of the fire, and the company allowed themselves to cheer, and Azog let a growl of frustration escape his mouth. However, the company's victory was short-lived, as the root of the tree they were on started to give away. Soon, they were all fighting to remain on the tree, even Katniss, who had spent half of her childhood climbing trees, struggled to keep her balance and avoid a sharp fall off the cliff.
She looked up to see how Thorin was fairing, but he was not looking at her. His pure rage eyes were locked in Azog's, and slowly he started to stand up on the tree branch and march towards the Pale Orc, and Katniss just knew what he was about to do. Azog also knew if the evil grim he gave was anything to judge him by.
"Thorin, no!" she shouted as she started to also climb on the tree, hoping to somehow be able to restrain him.
"Tal' laad," Thorin ordered in Khuzdul without even care to look back, and she suddenly felt both Fíli and Kíli's strong arms restraining her.
"Thorin, please!" she tried to reason with him, but he was already gone, and she could not help but feel the tears building up in her eyes, as she was forced to witness Thorin being thrown to the side after he marched against Azog, carrying nothing but his oak shield and his sword Orchirst.
"Let me go! He is going to kill him!" she screamed desperately to Fíli and Kíli as she wiggled trying to free herself from their grasp. But even when Durin's grasp started to become a bit looser, they were stronger and wanted to do their best to obey Thorin's last order.
Bilbo, however, had managed to leave the branch and make his way towards Thorin and the pale Orc, as no one seemed to be bothered by him getting near the combat.
Thorin stood up, and once again the Pale Orc and his warg marched against him with a thirst for his blood. Thorin was hit on the head by the Orc's mace, and before he knew it, he was laying down on the floor, his body being chewed by Azog's Warg.
Katniss screamed. Dwalin cursed. Fíli and Kíli were suddenly no longer capable of holding her back, but somehow, she seemed to have frozen on the spot.
In a last attempt to fight for his life, Thorin got his sword and stabbed the Warg that was trying to pierce his skin with its sharp tooth. The warg threw him around, and Thorin fell on the hard ground, his sword Oschrist, no longer on his hand.
"Biriz torag khobdudol," Azog ordered another Orc, who promptly walked to the place where Thorin had fallen, carrying a crude made sword with him.
The Orc had been ordered to behead Thorin, just the way Azog had done with his Grandfather. Katniss suddenly remembered the story and the moment she had shared with the Dwarrow King, the night she heard Balin telling them about the battle of Azanulbizar. She wanted to do something but she felt as if she could barely keep breathing. He was going to die. She was going to see him dying and there was nothing she could do about it. Fíli and Kíli also seemed to have frozen just next to her.
It was then that they all saw Bilbo throwing himself against the Orc who was to become Thorin's murder. The small hobbit came out of nowhere and dropped a deadly blow on the Orc who already had his sword aimed towards Thorin's neck. Bilbo then turned around to face the pale Orc, who did not look pleased by being defied, the hobbit looking much braver than he probably felt. That was all that was needed for Katniss and the others to come out of their trance. As Fíli, Kíli, Dwalin, and others started marching towards the Orcs, Katniss stood still and reached for an arrow. There were only two arrows left, and she was determined to make them count.
It was as if all the events that happened afterwards were in slow motion. She loaded her bow at the same moment Fíli, Kíli, and Dwalin began to clash swords against the Orcs who were marching to the place where Thorin was lying unconscious and Bilbo was standing. Katniss locked her aim straight to Azog's eye and after holding her breath, she allowed her arrow to zoom around the small battlefield. Azog needed to die so Thorin would live. And Katniss stood there, watching her arrow hit its target and bury itself inside the Orc's skull, as she knew it would happen. She sighed in relief. Azog was dead. He was dead, and he could no longer harm Thorin now. Katniss allowed a victorious grin to adorn her lips.
It was then that she noticed another pale Orc, almost bigger than the one she had just killed looking at her with pure rage. He was galloping on his Warg towards the spot where she was standing. She loaded her bow again with her very last arrow and pointed at that second Orc. She was confident she would be able to put him down with ease, just like she had just finished his kin. Nobody else seemed to realize what was happening, as everyone was too busy fighting their own battles.
Once again, she locked her aims on the other pale Orc, but before she was able to shoot her arrow, she was ripped from the place she had been standing by a gigantic eagle, who wrapped its claws around her torso from her back and started to fly away with her. She wiggled, trying to free herself from the bird's grasps, but she wasn't strong enough. For a brief moment, she truly believed the eagles were nothing but another enemy who was trying to kill her. But after watching the battle that was unfolding between the eagles and the Orcs for a few seconds, it was clear that the eagles were on their side. So when the eagle that was holding her, dropped her on the top of another eagle, she did the best she could to be a good passenger and allowed the bird to take her away from the battlefield.
Katniss looked around and saw Thorin also being carried away by another eagle who was gently holding him with its claws. He was lying unconscious, and he could be dead for all she knew. She closed her eyes and hoped that he would be fine. He had to be fine. After all, Azog was dead now, was he not? The other possible future she had seen in Galadriel's mirror showed him alive. Katniss was suddenly glad for the momentary solitude she had as she was flying on the back of her eagle, as silent teardrops escaped her eyes. She could not bear the thought having gone so far of admitting her growing feelings for the dwarf, only to lose him now.
When Katniss's eagle dropped her at the top of a big rock, Gandalf was already there, pointing his staff towards Thorin's chest, Bilbo was just behind him. She wasted no time shoving Bilbo and the wizard to the side when she noticed that Thorin was slowly waking up. She knelt down in front of him, feeling a mixture of relief and annoyance, followed by an enormous urge to kiss and slap him at the same time. Thorin, however, looked nothing but happy to see her face so close to his.
"Amrâlimê, menu tessu mizin," he said in Khuzdul as he ran his large fingers through her auburn hair, which was in desperate need of attention.
"What hell were you thinking, you stupid dwarf!" she started crying, no longer carrying if more than half of the company had also landed and could potentially see that as an act of weakness on her part. "Marching to your death like that! You could be dead!" she finished the last bit hitting his chest with much less force than she was capable of employing.
Thorin, in his turn, did not answer her with words. Instead, he pulled her face towards his and engulfed her in a deep, passionate kiss, which she eagerly reciprocated. Soon, her hands were also on his hair, and she would probably have forgotten about the rest of the company was still present if it wasn't for the loud cheer that seemed to erupt, making them break from their embrace. Thorin, however, did not let her go so fast. He looked at her eyes and whispered as lowly he could.
"Be my Queen."
"Thorin!" she opened her eyes wide and sat down in shock by the unexpected proposal.
"Marry me," he asked, and Fíli gave to his uncle the same wrapped parcel that Katniss had seen Thorin carrying a couple of times. Thorin handled the parcel for her. Now she was sure that it was likely to be a sword, as Balin had explained some of the Durin's courting traditions a few nights ago.
She remained there, looking at him in shock, as Thorin asked Gandalf about Bilbo's whereabouts. Katniss looked at the hobbit, who was looking happy, but a bit nervous. When Thorin began to reprimand Bilbo's behaviour, she almost stood up to intervene on the hobbit's behalf. In the end, she was glad that she did not do that, because it turned out that Thorin was only working him up to be very thankful for the hobbit's heroic actions. And Katniss knew well enough that Thorin owned his own life to the small fellow, and therefore, she also felt like she had to add saving Thorin's life to her growing debt list she had with Bilbo.
It was then that Thorin suddenly stopped in front of the cliff as if he had seen a ghost. Bilbo turned his head to see if he could spot what had Oakenshield so mesmerised, and so did she. Katniss almost did not recognise the place that Thorin was looking at with so much awe. After all, it did look so different without the buildings around. But the more she looked at the solitary mountain in the distance, the clearer it was that Thorin was looking to the mountain that she had once known as District Two, the one she had helped to explode with her rebel companions.
"Is that what I think it is?" Bilbo asked, making her frown in confusion. Which place could Bilbo possibly think that mountain was?
"Erebor—The Lonely Mountain. The last of the great dwarf kingdoms of Middle-earth," Gandalf revealed, making Katniss feel her heart stopped in shock.
"Our home," Thorin said full of pride.
Katniss could not help but gasp. Their home. Erebor. Erebor was District Two. The very same district she had helped to destroy someday in the future.
A/N:
Nuzdigid? Nuzdi gast? Ganzilig-i unarug obod nauzdanish, Torin undag Train-ob:
Do you smell it? The scent of fear? I remember your father reeked of it, Thorin son of Thrain.
Kod, Toragid biriz - That one is mine
Worori-da! - Kill the others!
Sho gad adol! - Drink their blood
Tal' laad," - hold her
Amrâlimê, menu tessu mizin - My love, you are everything to me my jewel
And that is it for now. I am not sure if any of you have seen that coming, but… yeah, if she is from the future, she is bound to recognize some places. Erebor is District Two, which is also described as a solitary mountain.