Wayfarer of dawn

XI. In which death is unavoidable

Rána, still sliping, watched as Thorin got up and faced down Azog. And then watched how the Hobbit got up to protect him, when it seemed like he would die. Anger coursed through her veins as she realised how useless she was, dangling of a branch like this. And as she tried to get up one more time an arm clamped down on hers, making her look up. "Dwalin.." she uttered, and he just grunted and pulled her up. "Don't mention it lass" he said as she went to thank him. And together they charged off of the tree trunk, and faced down their enemies.

Moments later, when Rána just finished killing another Orc, she noticed a Warg sneaking up behind Bilbo. Her eyes widened and her heartbeat sped up. "BILBO!" Her voice was a broken yell, and almost immediately after she rushed up to him. But she never got there.

Just before Rána reached Bilbo something clamped down on her ankle, hard. Then she got pulled over, and hit the floor with a loud cry. Her ears ringing and her head throbbing. She felt something wet run down her foot, and when she looked down she noticed the blood. But who, or rather, what had done it, she did not know.

And then it happened. In a moment of pure pain and confusion, Rána noticed something white in the corner of her eyes. And she knew enough, the White Warg was trying to kill her. No doubt on Azog's orders. She had, after all, always been a thorn in his side. But today was not the day she intended to die.

Quickly she rolled over, narrowly avoiding the clamping-down jaws of another Warg, and scrambled back up. But Azog would have none of that and, astride his White Warg, pinned her back down to the floor. "Tugh balgat burzum" he said in the foul language of Mordor. And Rána's eyes flitted up to him, as she hissed back "Ugh balgat draut." The Pale Orc seemed to be angered by her words, and snarled "Gu draut burzum-ishi, mun-ishi, mash-ishi." Rána fell silent, the sneer wiped clean of her face. And then Azog continued, "Akha-tugh-ishi, ugh-ishi... ashi hak, ashi zemaraum, ashi nugakmog, ashi gijak, ashi bartas," he looked at Rána menacingly and only then did she realise how close they were to the cliff's edge. "Ashi gurum." And with those words the White Warg nudged a batterd and bloody Rána over the edge of the cliff.

And then she was falling. But to her it felt like she was floating, her hair whipping wildly around her and her eyes squeezed shut tightly. She never felt like this before. There were days when she had fallen out of a tree, when she was just a little girl, merely old enough to be out alone. And her mother, still alive back then, would come rushing out and ask if she was alright. Or her father would be there, rushing out to catch her and then scold her on being reckless, before he'd ruffel her hair and tell her to go play again. But now there were no sounds of her parents, not that she'd expected them to be there, they were dead, gone forever. Not that there were other sounds, but for the howling of the wind, and the faint sound of somebody screaming. And slowly it dawned on her that she was the one screaming, and that she couldn't stop. And it also dawned on her that she was scared, scared of the death waiting for her once she hit the ground.

Somehow, she managed to turn around mid-air, facing the nearing ground. And then she realised the fear was shutting her down. She was loosing sight as black dots danced in her vision, though that could have been of bloodloss too. Her hearing was dissapearing, and she no longer heard the howling of the wind. She, to her own amazement, no longer screamed for her life. But she also no longer held control over her limbs, and the only thing she wanted was to curl up in a ball, in hopes of saving herself. Though, deep in her heart, she knew she could not save herself.

And then there were claws around her mid-section, and her screaming started again, as pain seemed to follow the claws like fire, and spread through her waist. Her throat turned raw and her vision turned completely black, as she fell into an oblivious void. She was vaguely aware of a flying feeling, before her last sense left her, and everything seemed to stop working.