There and Back Again: A Girl's Tale

Chapter 6 Troll Bogeys and Parasites

Chapter 6 Troll Bogeys and Parasites

Elwen stood atop a tall stone peak. Ruins of an old fortress? She didn't know, but she'd never been there before, that was for sure.

Thorin and Dwalin were by her side, sword and axe at the ready. They were fully armed and in the distance she could hear the clang of steel and the shouts of many. A battle? Bilbo was there as well, looking bloodied and bruised, but still alive.

She tried to call out to the dwarves, but they ignored her as though she weren't there. She tried to grab Thorin, to shake him, but her hand passed through him like a ghost.

"Thorin!" she screamed again and again but to no avail.

There was movement in the stone tower across the distance. A huge, powerfully built orc, pale and hideous with a metal spike poking through the nub where a hand should be.

Elwen knew immediately that she was looking at Azog the Defiler. Thorin had thought him dead, but there he was, and he was holding a struggling Fili several feet off the ground.

Thorin didn't move. He stared across the distance at his nephew, his face white as death. Bilbo gasped out "No," but the dwarves remained silent. They stood, staring on helplessly, knowing there was no way they could reach Fili in time. She once again tried to reach for Thorin's hand and still she could not grasp it.

Azog spoke in a language that sent chills down her spine. A foul tongue that she understood, but did not know how.

"This one dies first. Then the brother. Then you, Oakenshield. You will die last."

Elwen thought she might be sick. The voice that came out of that monster...

"Go!" cried Fili, trying desperately to save his family, knowing he could not be saved.

She saw Thorin shake his head just a fraction. He would not leave his nephew.

"RUN!" Fili screamed, and she screamed with him as Azog's claw plunged into the back of her friend, the tip protruding from his chest.

Her screams did no good. No one could hear her, see her, or touch her. She was standing right next to Thorin as he watched his nephew and heir die... and she could do nothing.

The orc dropped Fili unceremoniously, as if he were not but a heap of rubbish. Elwen dropped to her knees as he hit the ground next to a stricken Kili, who could only gape at the wide, unseeing eyes of his brother.

Kili looked up and their eyes met. He could see her!

"Elwen," he said, his voice clear as a bell. "It's time to wake up."

Elwen's eyes flew open as she was shaken awake. She jerked herself into a sitting position, perilously close to head-butting Kili.

"Woah," Kili gripped her shoulders to steady her. "It's alright, just me. Heavens, you're covered in sweat!"

Elwen's tunic was stuck to her and her hair was damp. God, I'm going to smell ripe later on.

"I had a strange dream," she muttered, trying to get her bearings.

The rest of the company was just beginning to stir. She was relieved that she hadn't done anything ridiculous like cry out in her sleep, waking everyone.

"Was I in your dream?" Kili asked slyly, wiggling his eyebrows. She numbly nodded, only realizing her mistake when Kili let out a loud WHOOP and cried, "Hear that? Elwen had a dream about me!"