Gandalf strikes a rock above them with his staff, causing the rock to fall down and begin rolling in front of the Company, squashing all the goblins in their way.
Soon, they approach a bridge
between two walls of the cavern. As they try to cross it, the Great Goblin suddenly breaks through from underneath the bridge and pulls himself up onto the bridge, in front of the Company.
As the Company pauses, hundreds of goblins approach them from all sides. "You thought you could escape me?" The Great Goblin swings his mace twice at Gandalf, causing wizard to stumble back and almost fall. "What are you going to do now, wizard?"
Gandalf leaps forward and strikes the Great Goblin in the eye with his staff. The Great Goblin drops his mace and clutches his face in pain.]
"Ow, ow, ow!" Gandalf steps forward and slices the Great Goblin in the belly; the Great Goblin falls to his knees, clutching his belly. "That'll do it."
Gandalf again swings his sword and slices the Great Goblin's neck, causing him to fall down dead. His weight causes the bridge to start shaking; suddenly, the section of the bridge on which the company is
standing breaks away from the rest of the bridge and starts sliding down the side of the cavern.
The bridge slides at a terrific speed down the cavern's wall, demolishing everything in its way; the dwarves cling on,
screaming in terror. Feeling fear course through, Tala grabs onto Thorin for comfort.
Thorin looks her, seeing her panicked eyes watching everything fly by quickly. He grabs onto her in need of comfort himself.
Eventually, the bridge slows down and lands at the base of the cavern, breaking apart and burying the dwarves in the timber and wood. Gandalf gets up from the pile of wreckage and inspects the rest of the dwarves, who are still stuck under the pie of wood.
The wizard notes that Thorin and Tala are still grasping one another. He stores this new development for later. "Well, that could have been worse." Bofur said, attempting to lighten the mood.
As if hearing him, suddenly, the heavy corpse of the Great Goblin lands on the wreckage, squishing the company further as they all cry out in pain. "You've got to be joking!" Dwalin groans.
As the dwarves extricate themselves from the rubble, Kili looks up and sees thousands of goblins running at
them. "Gandalf!"
"There's too many! We can't fight them." Tala said as she looked up as well.
"Only one thing will save us: daylight! Come on! Here, on your feet!" Gandalf ordered.
The other dwarves get up quickly, helping each other out of the rubble, and they run away, following Gandalf. As they pass by a slightly open path, Tala couldn't be sure, but she thought she saw a gray figure hiding in the shadows.
Unable to think much of it, she keeps running with the others. As they do, Bilbo places the tip of his sword at Gollum's throat, but he hesitates upon seeing Gollum's extreme sadness.
For a second, Gollum looks almost human. Bilbo lowers his sword, pitying Gollum and remembering what Gandalf a Tala told him about swords and courage. Bilbo then looks determined and takes a deep breath, stepping back a few feet.
Hearing Bilbo's feet, Gollum frowns and begins to growl. Bilbo runs forward and leaps over Gollum, stepping on Gollum's head and knocking him over in the process. Still invisible, Bilbo runs out the exit.
Gollum jumps up and scrabbles around him, trying to grab the invisible Bilbo, roaring all the while.
~
Still invisible, Bilbo runs down the mountain after the rest of the Company. Far in front of him, Gandalf pauses to count how many dwarves are with him. The company pauses to collect their breath.
"Five, six, seven, eight...Bifur, Bofur...that's ten...Fili, Kili...that's twelve...Bombur that
makes thirteen. And if course Tala." Gandalf smiled at the fairy, however he then frowned. "Where's Bilbo? Where is our Hobbit? Where is our hobbit?!"
"Curse the halfling! Now he's lost?!" Dwalin grunts.
"I thought he was with Dori!" Gloin points to said dwarf.
"Don't blame me!"
"Well, where did you last see him?" Gandalf asked.
"I saw him slip away, when they first collared us." Tala answered, remembering what she had seen.
"What happened exactly? Tell me!"
Bilbo, still invisible, has caught up to the rest of the group. He hides behind a tree as Thorin speaks, cutting Tala off.
"I'll tell you what happened. Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it! He's thought of
nothing but his soft bed and his warm hearth since first he stepped out of his door! We will not be seeing our Hobbit again. He is long gone."
Tala turns to him, her eyes narrowing. "Why do you think so little of him? Is it so wrong to miss your home when you've never been this far from it?"
Bilbo, who is still invisible, hears everything Thorin and Tala said. He leans on the tree as he ponders what he has just heard. The dwarves look at each other, not sure what to say. None of them want to argue with either Tala or Thorin.
"That Hobbit is gone, he will not return." Thorin said to Tala.
"No, he isn't." Bilbo steps out from behind the tree, no longer invisible. The dwarves look up in shock and relief. Gandalf
laughs as he speaks.
"Bilbo Baggins! I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life!"
Bilbo strides forward into the group; he pats Balin affectionately on the shoulder.
"Bilbo, we'd given you up!" Kili says, but he had a smile on his face.
"How on earth did you get past the Goblins?!" Kili asked.
"How, indeed." Thorin agreed. There is an awkward silence as Bilbo tries to think what to say. In the end, he gives a nervous laugh and puts his hands on his hips. Gandalf is the only one to notice Bilbo sliding the Ring into his waistcoat pocket. Gandalf
looks a bit perturbed.
"Well, what does it matter? He's back!"
"It matters! I want to know: why did you come back?" Thorin asked. Tala goes to say something to defend Bilbo again, but Bilbo stops her.
"It's alright, Tala," he assured. "Look, I know you doubt me, I know you always have. And you're right, I often think of Bag End. I miss my books. And my armchair. And my garden. See, that's where I belong. That's home. And that's why I came back, cause you don't have one. A home."
He glanced at them all, seeing hopeful looks on the faces of the dwarves, and approving looks on Tala and Gandalf.
"It was taken from you. But I will help you take it back if I can."
Suddenly, the moment of peace was broken as the howling of wargs was heard. "Out of the front pan-" Thorin began.
"And into the fire," Gandalf finished as he gripped his staff tightly. "Run! RUN!"
YOU ARE READING
More Than Gold - Thorin Oakenshield
FanfictionLooking at the green door, Tala Aerovia took a deep breath. She didn't know why Gandalf had asked for her to be apart of the quest, but she had nothing else to do. Knocking on the door, Tala heard many different noises coming from the other side. "I...
