Hope and Memory[Thorin Oakenshield Love Story]

[Chapter Twenty]

"Bring me the dwarf's head." The Defiler ordered one of his warg riders. The rider jumps off his warg and approaches the prince. Bilbo seeing this, pulls out his own sword, which glows blue. He takes one more look at his little cousin who is still laying their. The orc approaches Thorin and places it's sword against his neck; raising the sword, the rider prepares to decapitate Thorin.

The prince desperately tries to reach for his sword. that is just out of his grasp. The orc begins to swing his sword down, when Bilbo throws himself at the orc and knocks him over. As they fight, Bilbo manages to stab and kill the orc. Azog growls in anger, just as Thorin goes unconscious. The hobbit he pulled his sword out of the dead orc's body, Bilbo stands in front of his unconscious cousin and the dwarf, protecting their bodies. He starts waving his sword wildly at Azog and the other wargs.

The Defiler smiles in hatred and speaks in Black Speech to his orcs. " Kill him." A couple of wargs and riders approach the frighten Halfling, snarling. Suddenly, Fili, Kili, and Dwalin come plowing into the wargs from the side and start fighting them. In the confusion, Bilbo yells and leaps forward, wounding a warg. The white warg hits Bilbo with his head and sends him flying and he lands by his cousin, however. As the fighting around them continues, the Defiler and his white warg approach Bilbo to kill him.

Fili, Kili, and Dwalin are now surrounded by wargs, and the hobbit is at Azog's mercy. Several eagles swoop in and snatch wargs and orcs and toss them over the cliff. Others knock down trees, which crushes the wargs below them. Others appear and join in the fray. Another eagle appears and fans the flames with it's wings, causing an inferno which burns the wargs. The Defiler snarls in frustration.

One eagle gently grabs Thorin and his sword in it's talons and flies away. As Thorin is lifted off the ground, his oaken branch shield slips off his arm and lands on the ground. Another eagle comes in right after the one that took Thorin and grabs the woman; her sword dropped on the ground beside Bilbo as he watched his cousin and the dwarf being carried away from the danger.

Azog roars and jumps back as another eagle flies by him; the eagle heads straight for the alarmed hobbit and snatches him off the ground. The eagle then throws Bilbo, and he screams as he falls towards the darkness below, only to land on the back of another eagle. The rest of the eagles proceed to snatch the dwarves out of the tree and fly away. When only Gandalf is left in the tree, the roots give way and the tree falls off the edge of the cliff.

Gandalf leaps clear of it and is caught by an eagle. The eagles fly away with all the company, The defiler and the few warg riders left growl in anger and defeat as the eagles disappeared in the sky.

The eagles soared through the night, over a great distance and over many landscapes. It's early morning, the light already shining over the valley . The dwarves were exhausted they've had no sleep since they were captured in Goblin town and then ambush from Azog the Defiler and his wargs, but none could find the will to rest until they knew if their leader and the woman were alright. Thorin and Freya both laid unconscious in the eagles talons.

" Thorin!" Fili cried out for his uncle and worried when he didn't respond. The eagles approach a massive rock structure. The eagle carrying Thorin cries out to the others. The other eagles carrying the rest of the company begin circling the rock. The eagle carrying Thorin gently places the dwarf and his sword on a flat area on top of the rock. Another eagle lands next, Gandalf slides off it's neck, running towards the unconscious prince.

" Thorin!" Gandalf runs over to the prince and knees down. " Thorin." Thorin is not responding. Bilbo runs up. The wizard places his hand on Thorin's face and whispers a spell. Thorin's eyes slowly flutter open and he gasps for air.