Red (The Hobbit Fan Fiction)

11. Detoured

11. Detoured

            “Who did you tell about your quest beyond your kin?” Gandalf boomed, demanding an answer from Thorin. Hmm, how did an Orc pack know about our voyage? I wondered.

            “No one,” Thorin said.

            “Who did you tell?” The Wizard’s voice echoed in the forest. This side of Gandalf I wasn’t used to, nor did I like him very much.

            “No one, I swear!” Thorin looked around once, which made me paranoid enough to do the same. “What in Durin’s name is going on?”

            “You are being hunted,” Gandalf said gruffly.

            Of course. Of course we were being hunted! What other explanation was there?

            “We have to get out of here,” a Dwarf suggested.

            “We can’t,” cried a voice from above. It was the two Dwarves who went on pony-checking duty. “We have no ponies.” Howls in the distance made the revelation even worse on me. “They bolted.”

            My heart dropped into my feet. No, we couldn’t have lost them. Remy couldn’t have just left me! I guess seeing a predator for the first time was enough to make Remy leave me in the dust. Well, animals were animals, and there was nothing we could do to change that. The ponies got away while they could.

As for us, we weren’t going to be as fortunate.

            “I’ll draw them off,” Radagast volunteered. I looked to the Brown Wizard. Was he mad? How in the hell was he going to keep the Orcs off our tail?

            “These are Gundabad Wargs. They will outrun you,” Gandalf warned the Brown Wizard.

            “These are Rhosgobel rabbits,” Radagast challenged Gandalf. “I’d like to see them try.” He waddled quickly over to his rabbit-pulled sleigh. “I’ll give them a chase they can’t refuse. Don’t hesitate!” With that, Radagast and his Rhosgobel rabbits fled out of the forest, ready to put their lives on the line for us.

            I swallowed, hoping that the Brown Wizard and his pets didn’t perish all to keep our journey alive. I would never be able to live with myself if I knew they died, even if it was for a good cause.

            “We mustn’t delay,” Gandalf agreed. “Come on, hurry! No one fall behind!”

            We charged out of the woods into no man’s land. Our terrain: open plains with the occasional huge rock formations. We had very little cover to use.

            Gandalf took lead, with Thorin and the rest of us on his heels. In the distance, we heard the hunting calls of the Wargs. We hustled like it was nobody’s business, finding a massive rock to take cover against. We all panted lightly as Gandalf peeked around to see if the coast was clear.

            “Come on,” he urged us.

            We sprinted away from our cover, our pursuers distracted by Radagast. They were running somewhere else while we ran wherever Gandalf was taking us. Does he have a plan? Do any of us? Nobody had really established where exactly we were going. The only thing I knew was that our destination was to be somewhere safe, if that was even possible at the moment.

            The Dwarves, Bilbo, and I all tailed Gandalf, skidding to a halt as we saw Radagast, his sleigh, his rabbits, and some Warg scouts fly by in front of us. My heart pounded with adrenaline. On the wiry-furred beasts I caught glimpses of disgusting, dark-colored creatures riding them.