The Last One

Chapter 34

The company ran down the hill, the wargs closing in quickly. Their hopes faded and fear over took many of the company when they saw nothing but a cliff ahead of them. They were trapped. Night had fallen making the thought of death all the more ominous. A warg, well ahead of the others launched at Bilbo who ducked out of the way with speed. The warg landed in front of Bilbo and turned to face him. Teeth bared and growling fiercely. A frightened Bilbo pulled out his sword holding it shakily in front of him as the warg charged. The warg charged head on into Bilbo's sword, slumping to the ground dead. Bilbo looked at the dead warg in shock, but the oncoming of other wargs drew him out of it.

Seeing no other escape, Gandalf points up to the trees with his staff.

"Up into the trees, all of you! Come on, climb! Bilbo, climb!"

The dwarves begin working together climbing up into the safety of the trees. Ruive waited on the ground shooting a warg that was coming to close to Dori and Ori for her liking. She drew another arrow grimacing in pain, the lashes on her back still fresh and painful. She looked to see Bilbo struggling to pull his sword out of a warg, unaware of another warg closing in on him. She sent her arrow into the warg's head.

"Ruive come on, hurry!!" 

She heard the desperate voice of Kili above her. She looked to see Bilbo successfully pull his sword from the warg and clamber up a tree, she took a few steps away from the tree before running and vaulting off a rock and swinging onto a low branch. With her bow still in hand she climbed up next to Fili and Kili and watched as the wargs surrounded the trees. The orcs astride their wargs' approached, but Ruive and Thorin took no notice of them, their attention was focused on the leader of the pack. A pale orc astride a white warg, Azog the Defiler was alive.

As the wargs circle the trees, Gandalf looks to see a small moth perched on a leaf. Using his staff, he picked up the moth and brought it close to his face whispering to it quietly before blowing it away watching as it flutter off.

"Azog?!" Thorin whispered, his voice hoarse with shock and pain.

Ruive's vision went red and her fists clenched turning her knuckles white. She wanted to jump from the tree and drive he sword through his throat. She must have been leaning forward, because a large firm hand was placed on her shoulder.

Kili saw the look of pure rage on her face and watched as her hand instinctively went to her sword. Fearing she may do something stupid in her injured condition, he placed his hand on her shoulder pulling her back slightly. He internally sighed when he saw her face calm and blood flow return to her knuckles.

Ruive held back her rage as best she could, she couldn't let her emotions cloud her judgement when the lives of others were at risk.

Azog leaned down to his growling warg, stoking it at he watched the company.

"Nuzdigid? Nuzdi gast?" [Do you smell it? The scent of fear?] Azog's eyes closed in on Thorin, not yet having noticed Ruive. "Ganzilig-i unarug obod nauzdanish, Torin undag Train-ob." [I remember your father reeked of it, Thorin son of Thrain.]

Thorin's face was stricken with grief and pain. His father had indeed been taken prisoner by Azog. 

"It cannot be."

Azog grinned sickeningly scanning the rest of the dwarves, his grin only widened when he saw Ruive glaring at him with fierce rage. 

(In black speech) "Ruive, the mighty warrior, fallen. I remember your screams, your sister's too."

Ruive's eye stung with tears as she remembered Tauriel dying at Azog's hands.

Azog raised his mace and pointed to Thorin and Ruive.