Just a warning. Things will start getting more violent as the story goes on. This chapter is a good example. Thank you for reading!
I had been running for too long and I realized my legs would give out any second. My heart was screaming in my chest. I knew, if I fell, I would be ended in an instant. The orc behind me had no notion of mercy. Just as my thoughts spun to what he'd do when he caught me, my knee buckled and I pummeled to the ground. I didn't get up from where I lay sprawled on my back. My lungs were ferociously gnawing at my chest. The pain from the fall hardly compared.
The orc knew I was injured and I could hear him laughing before I could see him. Azog walked up to me with his warg following behind. I could see the mirth in his eyes. I tried to roll away and get up but he stepped over me and blocked any escape. "I can finally tear you apart, witch," He hissed. I hadn't known he could speak any language other than Black Speech. His hand reached down and grabbed me by the neck. "Your trickery has run out," He grinned and I eyed his jagged teeth. I used my free hand to try and keep him at bay but he just scoffed at the effort and lunged forward digging his teeth into my lower neck. I shouted in pain and distress and tried to push him away. He strengthened his grip around my neck and my voice cut off. I could feel him slowly pulling my neck in the opposite direction of his bite and I couldn't scream as his teeth began to tear my skin. Behind Azog's head a flaming eye burst into appearance and my body seemed to catch on fire.
I woke up screaming and thrashing with dwarves and elves alike trying to silence and hold me down. I screamed no over and over until one of the elves, I don't even remember which, knelt over me and began chanting. I could feel my eyes focusing still on the dream and failing to grasp physical existence. I didn't know why but I could still feel the pain, like the dream had been more that just that.
"Something is not right, it's like she's gone mad," Said Dori, who was holding my legs.
"It's worse than that, someone has been able to possess her mind. We have to break this curse or it will tear her apart," Legolas said. Both he and Tauriel were already beginning to chant some kind of elfish magic.
"But what in the world could do such a thing? And why her?" asked Ori, who was trying to stroke my hand in comfort. I arched my back and screamed once again. I could feel my skin tearing where Azog had been. It wasn't just a dream. Something had gone terribly wrong.
"Sauron!" I shouted in a long, drawn out breath. Everyone around me jumped back in an instant. I rolled onto my hands and knees trying to get a better breath. I could still fell the dream tearing me apart. Either Sauron was helping Azog attack me through some kind of magic or the dream was just some illusion helping Sauron tear me apart with my own fears. Either way, something had to be done quickly or I was going to end up dying.
"She's bleeding like a river!" Kili snapped out of it and put pressure on my lower neck as I propped myself against a tree. Everyone else jumped back in, Legolas and Tauriel looking even more determined than before. My body was almost spent though and I was on the verge of passing out. I could feel Azog's jaw still crushing my collarbone and shoulder. How could he still have this much power over me when the dream seemed to be gone? I tried to keep my breathing steady and tried not to pass out. I didn't know how much more power he would regain if my mind went to rest.
"Hurry," I breathed to my companions, wavering on the edge. Thorin took my jaw in his hand.
"You stay awake. Look at me. Tell me what's happening," He said sternly. I could hardly keep focus on his face. He kept jostling me to keep me awake.
"It's Azog… and Sauron. Sauron is controlling the dream," I had to let out a few quaky breaths, "Azog is tearing me apart." Thorin looked sickened. He glanced up at the Elves.
"Can you help her?" He almost begged.
"We should be able to, Shh," Tauriel tried to reassure him while continuing her magic, "keep her awake."
And so he did. He shook me awake, he talked to me, and he had the others talk to me. Legolas and Tauriel were nearly in a sweat. I could feel myself fading back. There was no way I was going to be able to stay conscious any longer.
"She's fading off!" Thorin warned to elves. They didn't reply. He rubbed my cheek trying to keep me from the dream realm. They couldn't have kept me any longer. I found myself back in the nightmare, where little time seemed to have passed. But I new Azog had been waiting. He growled triumphantly, blood spilling from his lips. In one short motion I was back to the excruciating pain of him slowly tearing me apart. What was worse than anything was I couldn't pass out. I was already in a state of rest and the only way out of it was death. Azog knew this and he took great pleasure knowing he could take his time getting me there. I was ready to surrender to my fate.
Azog began to snarl and choke and his grip on me loosened. I fell to the ground hard and he backed away from me. Dripping down his chin I could see my blood, but it looked white, like it was full of rays of light. Azog was gagging on it and I could see it glowing from my shoulder. In the next moment I was awake again, still propped against a tree. Dwalin and Tauriel were holding me up.
"Is the dream gone?" Tauriel asked me, still worried. I couldn't even nod, I just whispered yes. The dream was gone, but the damage it had done was still there. Legolas came over to help move me to the ground, where they had laid down a blanket. I couldn't tell if I was in shock or past the point of full consciousness but I couldn't move a single bit on my own. Tauriel cut away the shoulder of my shirt to assess the damage. Underneath was a mass of jagged, torn teeth marks still seeping blood. They noted the blackening bruises around my neck where his hand had been.
Amongst themselves I could hear them talking. They were wondering about what had happened, worrying about what I had said, and they were frightened about who I had mentioned. Tauriel, with the help of Dori, began stitching up what she could of my wound. My mind could hardly concentrate on anything going on. Legolas knelt down by my head and began chanting again. I was finally able to fade into peaceful sleep.