Heart of a Warrior ➝ The Hobbit ✓

Part Eight

PART EIGHT ~

Alissa jolted awake as she felt something slam against her side. She tried to double over in pain, but the rope prevented her from doing so.

Her shoulder felt stiff and the trees and figures around her spun in a blurry mess.

She tilted her head slightly and stared up, and eventually her vision cleared and she caught sight of the orcs packing up their supplies.

"Get up!" Barked one of the creatures, untying the rope and making Alissa gasp for air. He grabbed her shirt and heaved her off the ground, unsteadily.

Another wave of dizziness hit the human and she staggered back slightly, reaching out her hands to grasp something to steady herself. She caught a tree and stood motionless for a while, before the Orc pushed her forward and she started walking behind the other beasts, her stomach still sore from the rope.

The girl glanced down at her blood-soaked top, feeling her stomach churn with hunger. Her throat was dry and her lips were cracked, but at least he wound had stopped bleeding. Glancing back, she saw a dark-red patch on the ground where she had been sat; blood.

The Orc shoved her forward again and she dragged her feet onwards, wondering about her fate, and that of Kili and his brother, Fili. Were they still alive? Was Fili ever alive to start with? She sighed, and felt her eyes welling up with tears. She tried to hold them back, but soon they poured out and rolled down her cheek, each one glinting like tiny diamonds. The orcs ignored her as she sniffled and gasped for air in between the heart-wrenching sobs.

Eventually, she calmed down, but light tears still rolled silently down her face, dripping off her chin and landing with a splash on the floor below her, littered with crisp leaves.

~

Alissa's strength was dwindling rapidly. Each footstep was getting heavier as she grew weary. They had been travelling the whole day, and now, through the tangled canopy of trees above them, Alissa could see the coal-black sky glimmering with stars. She knew she wouldn't be able to last much longer without food and water, especially with the amount of blood she had lost the past few days.

Her stomach churned and gurgled, and her lip had already split. The darkness pressed in around her, fuzzy shapes dancing around the group.

After some time, the leader at the front abruptly stopped in his tracks. He threw his head this way and that and eventually decided to carry on, saying, "The cave is a little way ahead." The other orcs grunted in response and Alissa felt a sense of relief wash over her as she realised she'd be able to rest. If they didn't kill her first.

They carried on through the trees, leaves crunching under their heavy footsteps. Alissa followed the outline of the figure in front of her, unable to catch sight of anything in the growing darkness.