Stay With Me [Thorin Oakenshield]

Chapter 11: Into the fire

Warning: This chapter entails graphic depictions of violence. Read at your discretion. Thank you.

A haunting howl cut through the silence. Then another. And another.

Immediately the company had drawn their weapons to ready themselves for the next threat. "Out of the frying pan...", Thorin muttered exasperatedly, not having to finish the sentence as Gandalf did so for him. "... and into the fire. Run.", the wizard said before raising his voice while breaking into a sprint.
"RUN!"

They ran for their lives down the steep mountainside, hoping against all odds that they would happen upon anything that might help them survive this. They were well aware, that there was no outrunning the wargs on foot. It was a matter of less than a minute before they had caught up to them.

Bilbo was the first to be attacked and he threw himself behind a boulder as a warg leapt for him, consequently flying over his head. Instead of leaving him alone the beast turned on him, clearly having it out for the hobbit specifically. It charged at him again, ready for the kill, only to end up with Bilbo's sword impaled deeply between its eyes. He could hardly believe his luck but was granted no time for relief as chaos erupted around him. Thorin cut down a warg pursuing Balin to his left and Ori knocked out another to his right, just as the company reached the edge of a cliff.

"Up into the trees! All of you! Come on, climb!", Gandalf ordered before he was silenced by a blood curling scream.

Louisa had been running after them when she was viciously tackled from behind by a fourth warg, resulting in her sword flying from her grasp. A scream had left her upon feeling its claws pierce her abdomen, pinning her to the ground. She desperately reached for the dagger, that she had acquired back in the troll hoard, and brutally plunged it into the wargs sensitive nose.

The wizard and dwarves had spun towards her as it wailed in pain, releasing her and it gave Fili just enough time to come to her aid. The young dwarf hurriedly sliced the beast's neck before running to his friend. "Are you alright?", he asked frantically as he pulled her to her feet. He didn't know what had happened, having turned a moment too late to see her get hurt. Louisa tried to hide her pained gasps and smiled at him bravely. "I'll be fine. Thank you.", she said, glancing back over her shoulder in fear of another warg turning up out of nowhere.
"We have to move.", she decided quickly as she picked up her sword and rushed to the nearest tree with Fili right behind her. Quickly they climbed the lower branches making their way further up. Louisa halted in her movement however when she heard Gandalf shout again, "Bilbo climb!", at the same time as Thorin warned: "They're coming!"

She turned to look for her friend and spotted him, still on the ground, yanking his sword from the dead warg's brains. He sought out the company only to realise that all of them had made it into the trees already. The pack of wargs running straight for him captured his attention instead, and he froze momentarily in fear.

"BILBO, MOVE!", Louisa shouted. She held out a hand to him as he ran over and was promptly aided by Fili as they each grabbed an arm and, with their combined strength, pulled him up just as the wargs ran beneath them, snapping at his feet. "Keep climbing.", Fili pushed them to keep going while they ascended further into the tree, barely escaping the beasts' jaws.

To their relief their plan had worked as the wargs halted their attack, not being sure about how to get to their prey. Louisa furrowed her brows when she noticed them all suddenly turning in the same direction, as if awaiting somebody's orders. Following the direction of their gazes her eyes landed upon the terrifying sight of a pale orc astride a large white warg. She snapped her head to Thorin in the tree next to hers, fearing for him. She didn't need to hear the king's disbelieving mutter of a name to know what devil they were facing. Azog the Defiler had finally come to finish his work of wiping out the line of Durin.