Victoria in Middle Earth

Chapter Seven

That night they made camp, Victoria slept for a short while but soon woke up. She saw that Bilbo, Gandalf, Fili and Kili, we're awake, so she went to sit with them. 

Then they hear a screeching noise and Victoria looks around. She knew what it was and wanted to see it. 

However Bilbo didn't know what it was, "What was that?" asked Bilbo. 

"Orc's." says Victoria. "Orc's?" asked Bilbo, as he and the others look at her. And at that moment Thorin awoke.

"Throat­cutters. There'll be dozens of them out there. The lowlands are crawling with them." says Fili, l. "They strike in the wee small hours, when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet; no screams, just lots of blood." says Kili. 

Bilbo looks away in fright; Fili and Kili look at each other and begin laughing. "You think that's funny? You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?" says Thorin. 

"We didn't mean anything by it." said Kili. "No, you didn't. You know nothing of the world." said Thorin as he walks off to the edge of the cliff and looks out over the valley.

"Don't mind him, laddie. Thorin has more cause than most to hate orcs. After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient dwarf kingdom of Moria. But our enemy had got there first. Moria had been taken by legions of Orcs lead by the most vile of all their race: Azog, the Defiler. The giant Gundabad Orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began by beheading the king. Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief. He went missing, taken prisoner or killed, we did not know. We were leaderless. Defeat and death were upon us. That is when I saw him: a young dwarf prince facing down the Pale Orc. He stood alone against this terrible foe, his armor rent...wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield. Azog, the Defiler, learned that day that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken. Our forces rallied and drove the orcs back. Our enemy had been defeated. But there was no feast, no song, that night, for our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few had survived. And I thought to myself then, there is one who I could follow. There is one I could call King." said Balin concluding his story.

Thorin turns away from the view beyond the cliff; the entire Company is awake and standing in awe, staring at him. 

Thorin walks between them toward the fire. "But the pale orc? What happened to him?" asked Bilbo. "He slunk back into the hole whence he came. 

That filth died of his wounds long ago." says Thorin. 

But at that moment Victoria, Balin, and Gandalf, shared a knowing look.