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𝔗𝐡𝐞 𝔇𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐫
Naerien sidestepped the snapping jaws of a warg and sliced down with her blade, ending its life before it could end hers. Only she, Thorin, Bilbo, and Mithrandir had weapons to defend themselves and the others, so they stood in between their new enemies and the dwarves. Well, Bilbo had been shoved behind Thorin and had been ordered to climb a tree, so he wasn't much help (even though he wanted to be). They had been chased to a large, open clearing that ended sharply and plunged into another valley far, far below them.
They held the line as best they could as the others scaled the trees with surprising agility, then turned and fled up trees of their own. Up into a slender fir went Dwalin and Balin, while Fili and Kili had ascended a tall larch tree, climbing nearly to the top as they observed the action down below. Oin, Gloin, Dori, Ori, and Nori had found safety in a large pine tree nearby, high enough to be saved from the snapping jaws of the wargs. Meanwhile, Thorin had jumped up behind Bifur, Bofur, and Bomber, blade still out as he swiped at any creature that jumped up to get at him. Mithrandir had scaled a pine of his own rather quickly, being considerably taller and more able to climb than the others. Naerien had followed after him, finding refuge in the green pine needles a few branches below him.
If she were a safe distance away, the she-elf would have laughed at the sight of thirteen dwarves hanging among the branches of the trees. They looked peculiar, their thick boots and beards sticking out of the green leaves and pine needles.
But Bilbo was still on the ground, attempting to rip his small blade from the skull of a dead warg. His blade had been buried up to the hilt, much to the horror of the half-ling, and now he was trying desperately to get it free.
"You've left the burglar behind again!" She heard Nori shout to Dori, who argued that he couldn't be looking after the hobbit all the time.
"Bilbo!" The she-elf cried, climbing down the tree as he finally freed his blade and noticed that the rest of the wargs were upon him. He dashed toward where he heard her voice, looking up but unable to reach even the lowest branch. So she jumped down and hoisted him up as quickly as she could. Once she was sure he was safe among the branches of the pine, she sheathed her sword and pulled herself up.
Before she could get safely out of reach, the warg closest to her jumped before she could get out of its range, clamping onto her foot and dragging her down. She lost her grip for a moment, letting out an agonized shout as pain exploded through her foot. Her fingers dug into the bark of the branch she had managed to catch and she grit her teeth.
"No!" Bilbo shouted, drawing his sword and hacking at the wargs muzzle. It yelped, releasing her foot and dropping to the ground. She let out another cry of pain as she hoisted herself up higher into the tree, resting just below the wizard and next to the half-ling.
