Bring On The Wonder[Thorin Oakenshield]

Chapter Seventeen: Trees Like Torches

Thorin had barely blinked, since seeing his enemy standing before him. Azog moved closer to the edge of the rocks and uttered something in his odious tongue. The prince's form tensed when he caught his father's name along with his own in the numerous threats the Pale orc uttered. " It cannot be..." Thorin whispered, still not believing his nemesis was actually standing before him. Bella glanced at the beast for the first time, she had only heard of him in stories and her only thoughts were: stories never truly told just how scary he really was.

The Pale Orc raised his weapon, pointing it directly at the Dwarf prince as he spoke once again in his horrid language and Bella could only guess that it was some kind of command because without further say the warg's growled and launched themselves at the trees, ripping the branches and snapping them apart like twigs. The wild creatures began throwing their entire weight at the trees, causing the branches to shake violently. Some of the dwarves lost their balance and had a few close calls of becoming the wargs next meal. The half-breed had a close call of her own when Dwalin caught her before she fell out of the tree.

Suddenly, the trees began to groan and creak as they were uprooted from the earth, forcing the company to jump to the next closest tree and then the next until their was only one tree left standing - for now. The company had gained numerous scraps and cuts on their hand's in the process. Bella was not sure how she was even still conscious at this point. She was beyond exhausted, which made it incredibly difficult for her to focus to even notice that the wargs had surrounded the base of the tree they were perched on.

The wizard was on the very top of the tree, trying to think of something to buy them more time when an idea suddenly came to mind. Gandalf grabbed a pine cone from the branches and with the tip of his staff lit it on fire and he tossed it towards the pack. He lit two more cones and tossed them to Fili and Kili next. Bilbo grabbed a pine cone of his own and used some of the flame from Fili's and before the warg's knew it, more flaming cones were flying at them creating a fire storm, making the beast retreat from the flames. Azog roared in fury at this. The company cheered in their brief moment of triumph when the tree suddenly began to tip towards the chasm below. Thorin fell against Bella and both landed on the trunk of the tree staring down at the depth's below them, while the rest of the company managed to grab hold of the many branches and struggled to hang on.

Thorin pulled himself off the half-breed and glared at his arch enemy who was grinning at him sadistically, taunting him at the same time. Thorin slowly stood up with Orcrist in one hand and his oak branch in another. He wasn't going to let his nemesis get away for a second time, he would this here and now. "Thorin, what are you doing? It's not worth it." Bella whispered, hoarsely. The half-breed tried to force herself to get up, but was overpowered by gravity and her body fell back against the trunk and she was forced to watch Thorin who was already on firmer ground charging towards the pale orc through the flames.

Everything was happening all to fast. Thorin was knocked to the ground by the white warg. Thorin willed himself to get back up only to be knocked back down by Azog's mace when it smashed into his face. Next thing Bella heard was Thorin's screams as the white warg clamped it's teeth around his body. The prince managed to find the strength to swing his weapon knocking the hilt of his sword into the warg, causing Thorin to go flying through the air and landing on his back harshly on the ground, Orcrist landing just out of reach.

Azog ordered one of his orcs to bring him the head of the Dwarf. Bella with all her might, managed to stand up. Her adrenaline had kicked in. The young woman pulled out her sword, seeing a smaller orc hop off the back of one the wargs and began stomping towards the prince with his blade drawn.

"Bella! No!" Fili and Kili both yelled as the half-breed stumbled her way down the trunk and ran through the fire, refusing to let her exhausting take over. Bella let out a battle cry and lunged herself at the beast that held the sword over Thorin's head. Knocking it to the ground. Bella managed to plunge her sword into its chest. Bella lurched off the dead body and before she could focus another orc kneed her in the jaw. The woman gasped as she placed her hand were the warm blood was streaming down over her lips, until she realized the orc was standing over her with its sword pointed right at her, causing her to back away. Azog chuckled seeing the woman now trapped. She had backed herself up against the rock where Thorin laid unconscious. The beast was about to end her life, holding his weapon over his head when out of nowhere Bilbo came charging at the orc, bringing it to the ground and stabbing it until it let out its final breath. The hobbit stumbled over to Bella and helped pull her up as the two of them stood in front of the dwarf prince. Azog growled before commanding his orcs and wargs to kill them both.

The wargs growled viciously as they approached Bella and Bilbo. Both holding their swords at the ready. Bella could feel her vision trying to go on her again when several yells joined the fight. Fili, Kili and Dwalin began swinging their weapons at the wargs. Bilbo began fighting off a warg of his own and the others were all surrounded. Bella had just plunged her sword into an orc and looked up to see the Pale orc coming right towards her. She stumbled backwards and gasped when she fell over a rock and hit her head on a rock. The woman didn't even have a chance to get up when she felt a heavy boot slam against her chest, keeping her pinned to the ground. Bella whimpered as she tried to get out from under his weight but the pale orc, only put more pressure on her. Azog snickered, seeing all of Bella's fresh lacerations that the goblins had inflicted on her while waiting for his arrival. The pale orc's eyes trailed to Bella's leg to a binding and Bella let out a piercing scream when he snapped her leg with a numerous amount of pressure from his own boot. The pale orc cackled as the half- breed, watching her struggle to crawl away and another orc slammed the handle of his weapon on the side of her head, and everything began to go dark around her, only hearing the loud screeching of birds.

Hello My Darlins!

I am so sorry it's been for ever since I've posted a chapter on my story. Things have been happening in my life, that I was unprepared for and still trying to find a way to deal with. But I'm taking it day by day, hoping it will all turn out alright. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and thank you again for being so patient!

Love you all! <3