The Shire's Deadly Flower

Of Old Enemies and Healing Hands

The stars have been out for at least an hour or so, but I haven't been able to stop and appreciate them as much as I would have liked. Well, it is just a bit difficult to really get in some good stargazing when you, your brother, the man you love, and twelve other people are being chased by some of your many mortal enemies, isn't it? When we finally ground to a stop, we whirled and were met with an enormous pack of wargs sprinting towards us. The nearest of the group leapt at Bilbo, who ducked behind a rock. I drew my bow and fired a shot into the dark before turning and running towards Thorin and Gandalf. 

"Gehyith, run!" Thorin turned and killed a warg with Ocrist. Gandalf nodded in agreement. I nodded and began running full sprint down the mountain. I had only gone about twenty feet when I skidded to a stop. The mountain ended in yet another cliff above a dark and gloomy forest at the bottom of a devastating drop. If I had been seeing this view under different circumstances, it would have been a breathtaking sight.

"Gandalf? Are you sure you want me to keep running? I say that because it appears we've run out of mountain."

"Don't run, climb. Up into the trees, all of you! Come on, climb! Belladonna, Bilbo, climb!" I turned around, got a running start, and flung myself into the nearest tree. I latched onto the lowest branches and began scrambling up as the rest of The Company came barreling towards me. In an effort to make room, I tried to get up to the highest branches. I only succeeded in getting up about twenty feet and tearing off a giant swath of my dress and chemise. I leaned down when I saw Thorin hop into the branches under me and I pulled him up. From my perch I could see Bilbo just standing stock still holding his sword. 

"They're coming!" Thorin pointed to another wave of Orcs and wargs. I could practically feel him pale next to me when he saw one particular Orc and warg come to a stop at the front of the pack. This must be the Pale Orc that the Goblin King was speaking of earlier.

"Azog?!"

"Nuzdigid? Nuzdi gast? Ganziligi unarug obod nauzdanish, Torin undag Trainob." (Do you smell it? The scent of fear?  I remember your father reeked of it, Thorin son of Thrain.)

"It cannot be..." Thorin whispered. 

 "Kod, Toragid biriz. Wororida!" (This one is mine. Kill the others!) 

The wargs charged forward and flung themselves at the trees. One managed to scrabble up and catch a piece of my dress in its jaws. I shrieked and kicked it in the nose. When it didn't fall, Thorin impaled its forehead and kicked it out of the tree. I was just about to thank him when the tree that we were in began falling backwards. Thorin took my hand and jumped with me to the next tree. I was going to thank him again when the extra weight that we had put on the tree caused this tree to tip backwards as well. Thankfully Gandalf's tree, the one on the very tip of the cliff, didn't fall as all fifteen of our Company were violently dumped into its branches. I looked back to see Azog laughing wickedly.

Gandalf began looking around in a panic for some kind of weapon to fend off the pack of Wargs below. On a hunch, I grabbed a nearby pine cone and hurled it into the crowd, nailing an Orc in the head. Gandalf responded by tossing me a flaming pine cone and telling me to throw it again. I did so and managed to catch a bit of grass on fire. The Wargs instantly backed away. Gandalf began distributing flaming pine cones to the dwarves and Bilbo, who began gleefully hurling them at the ground in front of our attackers. 

As we were beginning to rejoice in our attackers' retreat, the tree shifted. I looked down and saw the roots of the tree slowly being pulled from the ground. The tree fell backwards until it pointed straight out like an extension of the cliff. Unfortunately, when the tree fell, so did Ori. Luckily, he managed to grab onto Dori's boot. Unluckily for the both of them, Dori also slipped and the pair seemed to be doomed to a tragic end until Gandalf extended his staff.