An Unexpected Journey

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Azog the Defiler

Scrambling up the trees, the company moved quickly to make sure that they were mauled to death by the wargs; they climbed to the top of the trees and looked down at the beasts below.

Thalia swallowed back a whimper clinging to the tree that she was in, she had always disliked heights and it was clear that she wasn't the only one that wasn't happy about being this high up; Cornelia looked a little pale herself about being away from the ground.

"It cannot be," Thorin whispered as his eyes found a large white warg appearing in the distance, he had been so sure that he had put an end to the foul creature's life during the Battle of Azanulbizar.

Azog the Defiler smirked riding out of the shadows, his eyes staring up at the trees were the dwarves had trapped themselves; he smirked as the wargs stopped trying to get at the creatures that they had been hunting.

The white orc's eyes searched for a moment before they located what they were seeking; he grinned as he glanced at the orc that was sitting next to him, he had been waiting for so long for this moment.

"Do you smell it? The scent of fear?" Azog the Defiler said thrilled that he had finally found his prey, he had been chasing after the Durin line for long enough and now he had them trapped.

Thalia took a deep breath as she looked at the pale orc, she knew that this wasn't going to end well; her blue eyes looked over at Thorin who seemed shocked.

"I remember your father reeking of it Thorin, son of Thráin," Azog the Defiler said looking up Thorin, his eyes flickering with amusement at the rage that seemed to build with in Thorin; he knew that it wouldn't take much to push him over the edge.

Cornelia glared at the pale orc, she couldn't believe that they were in this mess right now; she had hoped to out run the monster as quickly as possible.

"What are we going to do?" Ori asked as Thalia clapped her eyes closed, she felt a little sick about being stuck up a tree; she cursed herself for never getting over her dislike for heights.

The wargs below started to attack the trees in an attempt to drag the company down and until the claws of their masters; they snarled as a couple of the branches started to give way.

"Breath Thalia," Cornelia said knowing that her cousin wasn't handling being in the air very well, she didn't blame her since it was ingrained into her DNA not to like heights; it was Zeus's domain and that made it a threat to demi-gods of his brothers.

Fíli looked at Thalia concerned, they had only just gotten her back and the last thing that they wanted was something to happen to her; Thalia was just as important as any of them were.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Thalia muttered taking deep breaths, she opened her eyes knowing that she couldn't risk falling from the tree; she doubted she'd survive if the wargs got hold of her.

Thorin gritted his teeth as he focused on the pale orc, he had been so sure that the filthy creature had died and now to learn that he was alive unsettled him.

"That one is mine... kill the others," Azog the Defiler shouted making the attacks on the trees intensify, the trees shook making the company grip onto them in fear of falling to their deaths.

Thalia clung to the trunk in panic as Ori held onto her, she glanced over at Cornelia who was holding on for dear life; her dark eyes glaring in fury at Azog the Defiler.

Gandalf quickly moved starting a fire using his magic and a couple of pine-cones, he knew they would have to defend themselves.

Gandalf quickly handed out the fire pine-cones and started to throw them at the attacking wargs below, he watched as the forest around them caught fire; he hoped it would push their enemy back enough so that they could escape.

The wargs moved quickly out of the way as the forest was set ablaze several trees started to tip and fall over as the fire started to spread.

The company cheered in triumph knowing that they had driven the wargs back even though now they faced a new problem; they were stuck up a tree surround by fire.

However their joy was short lived as the branch that Cornelia, Thalia and Ori were sat on suddenly gave way plummeting them to the ground; Dori was only quick enough to save his brother allowing Thalia and Cornelia to fall to the ground.

"No," Thorin shouted out his heart leaped into his throat, his mind quickly going to the fall that Thalia had taken back at the mountain; he had only just gotten her back and he didn't want to lose her now.

Balin acted quickly stopping Thorin throwing himself out of the tree after Thalia; they really didn't need him getting himself killed.

Thalia groaned pushing herself up, she glanced at Cornelia who ran a hand over her feet as if checking that she was alright; the dark haired woman nodded at her cousin before they turned to look at the wargs that were closing in.

"You okay?" Thalia asked pushing herself to her feet, her hand reaching for her sword as it slowly started to rain; she bit her lip knowing that there was very little chance that they would get out of this unhurt.

"I've been better," Cornelia replied reaching for her own sword, she hissed as she put some weight on her left foot knowing that while it wasn't broken she wouldn't be able to use it properly for a while.

Gandalf watched the two demi-gods for a moment before he spotted a small butterfly just a little away from him, he reached over and brought it to him before he started whispering to it.

"What do we do?" Thalia asked nervously as she twisted the sword in her hand, she swallowed a little un-nerved about how comfortable it felt in her hand; she had never been in a fight like this before even though she had trained with a sword.

"Trust your instincts," Cornelia called as there was a sudden cracking sound from behind the demi-gods, they turned to see the tree that they had just falling back towards the cliff.

Thalia watched in horror as it fell, she had known since she had joined the company that there was a chance that none of them would reach the end; she just hoped that this wasn't the moment that she watched some of them die.

"Focus Thalia," Cornelia shouted as a warg launched itself at the blonde, they were still in great danger and this wasn't the time to get distracted by a falling tree.

Thalia quickly dodged out of the way and glared at the beast, she bounced on her heels as she tried to remember what she had learnt when she had took a couple of lessons; her teacher had always told her that she was a natural.

The tree balanced over the edge of the cliff leaving several of the dwarves hanging from it as Thorin righted himself and looked at Thalia; he sighed relieved that she was okay before he noticed that Azog was approaching her.

Thorin pushed himself to his feet and drew his sword, he ran along the trunk and leapt back onto the main cliff; he swung his sword back to fight Azog as he shouted out in anger.

However the white warg swiped its paw and sent Thorin flying to the ground, his body slamming down with a painful thud making Azog cackle in delight at the fall of the dwarf king.

Thalia stopped what she was doing and looked over at Thorin, her blue eyes froze at the sight of his unconscious form as the rain suddenly got stronger and a crack of thunder roar overhead.