The Hobbit: An Unexpected Discovery

Chapter Sixteen: Where Eagles Dare

"ulu a zo (they are mine.]" Azog yelled "Worori-da! (Kill the others!)"

At his command, the Wargs leapt forward and tried to climb the trees. They jumped as high as they could, scrabbling at the tree trunks and breaking apart branches with their jaws in their efforts to grab the petrified dwarves. The trees shook violently at the assault, and the dwarves struggled to hold on.

"Sho gad adol! (Drink their blood)" Azog yelled to the orcs before him. With the weight of the Wargs climbing it, the furthest tree from the edge of the cliff, which Bilbo and several other dwarves were in, suddenly became uprooted from the ground and began to lean wildly. As more Wargs grabbed onto it, the tree tipped over and landed on the next tree; the dwarves and Bilbo jumped from the falling tree to the next. However, this tree tipped over as well; like dominoes, all the trees began to fall over. The dwarves, Bilbo, the elves and Gandalf, all managed to jump onto the last tree, which was on the very edge of the cliff. This tree didn't fall over, much to the relief of Fae, who had somehow managed to land on the furthest branch overhanging the edge of the cliff. Azog laughed evilly at the sight before him. Looking around in desperation, Serethiel spied a pinecone.

"Mithrandir!" she hissed lowly and he looked at her. She nodded her head to the pinecone. "Galad ha or. (light it up.)" Gandalf nodded and whistled to Fae who in turn gazed up at him. He reached out and grabbed the pinecone nearest him and used his staff to set it alight; he then threw it down amid the Wargs, who retreated in fear of the fire. Fae, having grasped Gandalf's plan grabbed Thorin's arm and pulled herself up from the edge. She nimbly ran along the broken branch and grabbed a handful of pinecones.

"What are you doing?" Thorin asked. She just grinned at him.

"How do you like your orc?" she asked as she began to set the pinecones on fire. "Lightly toasted?" she asked throwing a pinecone at the orc nearest to them. "Or well done?" she finished throwing a pinecone to Thorin who grabbed it and smiled back at her.

"I love you." He said

"I know." She replied and lit two more pinecones, throwing one up to Fili.

"Fili!" she called, tossing the pinecone up. Fili caught the pinecone, skilfully, bouncing it round in his hands like a hot potato. Bilbo and the dwarves then started to gather more pinecones whilst Gandalf and Fae set them on fire; before throwing the flaming pinecones like missiles at the Wargs. All the area around the tree got set ablaze, forcing the Wargs to retreat a distance, galloping away with their fur alight. Azog roared in anger and frustration as the dwarves cheered gleefully. Suddenly, their cheers turned into cries of fear as the roots of the tree they were in started to give way; the tree tipped precariously over the edge of the cliff, but came to a rest, sticking straight out away over the edge. Gandalf looked down only to see the ground far, far, below. The dwarves tried to hold on as they got flung around. Ori, however, lost his grip on the tree and fell, managing to grab on to Dori's leg at the last minute.

"Aahhh! Oh! Oh no!" he screamed as he dangled over the empty abyss below.

"Mister Gandalf!" Dori cried, struggling to keep both himself and Ori atop the branch. However, due to the extra weight, Dori lost his grip on the tree as well and fell, but Serethiel quickly swung a stray branch down and Dori grabbed on to the end of it, she pulled them upwards and grabbed Dori's hands with her own.

"Hold on, boys!" she called, starting to fall from the tree herself. "Fae, could use some help!" she yelled and Fae bounced up behind her and held her feet firmly in place. Unbeknown to her, after hearing a formidable growl from the lips of the pale orc, Thorin, having been clinging to the tree, pulled himself up, sword drawn, with a look of hate and anger on his face. He begun to walk down the leaning trunk as Bilbo and the others, still hanging from the tree, looked on in fear.