The joy of seeing Bilbo Baggins stand up for himself was shattered when we heard the howls of the approaching wargs. Our smiles fell off our faces and joy quickly turned to panic. The howls were quite loud. I knew they were not far off. I felt the blood drain from my face as I recalled my last encouter with a band of wargs.
"Out of the frying pan." Thorin whispered, fear written on his face.
"And into the fire." Gandalf finished. "Run. Run!"
We bolted. Thorin was close behind me and it made me feel a tad bit safer. However the sounds of trampling warg feet could soon be heard. They were gaining on us. We soon came to a cliffs edge.
"They're closing in quick!" I yelled.
We were runnning out of time and options. I began to panic a bit. I don't know if it was all the horrid things that had already happened in the short time we left Rivendell or if the stress of the journey was finally begin to take a toll.
The warg scouts had finally caught up with us. I drew my sais and prepared for the attack. A warg pounced at me and knocked me to the ground. As it straddled me, I stabbed the beast repeatedly in the side of the head. It's heavy body pinned me to the ground. I struggled to get from under the corpse, but I managed. More howls could be heard approaching rapidly. We were trapped.
"Gandalf! A plan would be nice right about now!" I called.
"Up into the trees! All of you! Come on, climb! Bilbo, climb!" He called.
"Quickly!" Thorin shouted.
The company began to climb onto the limbs of the trees. I was not far behind them. I hoisted myself onto a low branch and clawed my way up. In my panic to get as far away from he ground as possible, I lost my footing. I slipped and screamed. Luckily I was able to catch onto a branch with one hand. I threw my other hand up and held on tightly. I was dangling and trying to pull myself up. I felt a pair of hands wrapped around my thin biceps. I looked up to see Thorin pulling me to safety. Once I was perched securely, he wrapped me in his arms.
"I've got you." He whispered to me. I clung to him for dear life. I was frightened and the moment I looked into his eyes, I saw that he was, too. That only scared me more. Thorin was not easily shaken and if he was, he hid it well. But in that moment, his fear was as clear as day. Tears began to sting my eyes but I forced them back and buried my face into Thorin's broad chest. He supported us both on the branch. When his hold became a death grip, I knew the enemy had found us. I heard Thorin's breath catch in his throat. I turned my head and peeked at the unknown assailant. But this assailant was not unknown. We knew exactly who it was. My wide eyes starred in disbelief.
"Azog." Thorin breathed.
We all starred in shock. I almost did not believe my own eyes. I tightened my arms around Thorin's torso.
"Do you smell it?" Azog growled. "The scent of fear?" I heard Thorin growl at his words. "I remember your father reeked of it, Thorin son of Thrain."
I look up and Thorin's face mirrored disgust and shock. "It cannot be." He almost whispered. Suddenly, another familiar Orc came forth. It was the Orc from the wood! The one who threatened to "ruin" me! I growled at the thought and shot daggers at him.
He leaned toward Azog and said "That's the one, my lord. She's the one what killed Cap'n Bolg." Bolg. I killed Azog's son. Brilliant. Azog's glare shot at me. Pure rage was written on his face. Then an evil grin spread across his scarred face.
"Those two are mine." Azog gestured his mace toward Thorin and I. "Kill the others!"
Wargs came barreling toward us, jumping, scratching and clawing up the base of the trees. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't afraid. The beasts began to overpower the trees. They were breaking them down. We began to fall. Thorin slipped but caught a branch with his free arm. I clung to him for dear life. The wargs beat ferociously at the trees. The tree Dwalin and Bilbo were in began to tumble.
