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Not long after we began our journey from the cave, a very strange man crossed our paths. He seemed to be a friend of Gandalf's. He called himself Radagast, the brown wizard. He and Gandalf seemed to know each other very well. Radagast spoke very intensively to Gandalf with worry in his grey, baggy eyes. Gandalf returned a concerned look as he nodded along to the conversation. He looked to Thorin.
"The forest is growing sick," Thorin said in a low, soft voice. The screech of an orc and howl of a warg rattled the trees. "We need to move. Now!"
"We have no ponies sir," A dwarf named Ori claimed. I took a moment to realize that Mila was not here. My heart ached and fell to my gut. I couldn't even recall as to where I could've lost her. The only thing I could come up with is the wargs' screams scaring her off from the campsite. Despair came over me, along with guilt. I had let my guard down too fast and my dear horse suffered. Now she was gone.
"Let me go, I'll draw them off!" Radagast said eagerly. I tried to return my thoughts back to the mission.
Gandalf turned back aggressively and shouted, "Those are Gundabad wargs. They will outrun you!"
"These are Rhosgobel rabbits. I'd like to see them try." A cunning smirk stretched across Radagast's face. The cogs in his head turned, forming the master plan.
"Fine! All of you file behind Gandalf. Wait upon his command. Remain together and prepare yourself for the worst. These monsters will not stop until we are dead. If you do not follow directions, you will be!"
The dwarves began to clump behind him and Gandalf, waiting patiently. Everyone had a weapon in hand and a deathly stare on the terrain ahead. Moments later, Radagast took off with his sled pulled by his unbelievably fast rabbits. The orcs took off after the distraction, but, as Radagast said, they couldn't keep up. Gandalf waited until he and the orcs chasing him were out of sight.
Everyone took off together in a clump. Sprinting across the meadow, we weaved between boulders and patches of vegetation. We made a stop behind a boulder to avoid being spotted by the orcs that continued to race by. We slammed ourselves up against the cool, scratchy surface and stilled our breaths. I heard the low, heavy breathing of the warg. My heart slowed and I kept my breathing as quiet as possible. Its claws scratched across the boulder's surface as the beast deeply sniffed the air, looking for any trace of enemy flash. Thorin looked over at Kili, who nodded in understanding. My heart began to race, but I had no idea as to why.
Kili slowly reached behind himself to his quiver. He carefully drew an arrow and placed it on his bowstring. Intensity set into his innocent eyes. He took a deep breath and bolted away from the rock. In one quick and simple motion, he pulled the bowstring back and released. The arrow struck the warg in the chest. He quickly reloaded and fired again, striking the orc in the right shoulder. The two fell from the rock and rolled down the edge. Once the orc hit the ground, a group of dwarves piled on to take their own strikes at the beast. I watched them struggle to kill the horrid creature.
An unexpected anger came over me. I drew my sword without thought and ran it through the sternum of the orc, watching it let out one last breath. I stood over my victory but pride did not follow. My surroundings began to blur away from me. I couldn't hear anything other than the screams that this monster had inflicted. I watched the orc I had just defeated slay dozens of others.
A vision began to play through my mind. A massive orc stood before me and pointed at me, saying something in orcish. I froze but realized that I wasn't really there. I turned around. There, kneeling, were my mother and my father. The orc I had just killed stood behind then. He drew his sword. My heart stopped. I whipped my head away, I couldn't watch. I listened to my mother scream as a body dropped. Not long after, the second dropped. I fell to the ground sobbing.
I was ripped back to reality when I felt someone grab my shoulder and tug on me. I stood, trying to find my footing. The wind blew the tears from my face. I looked up to see who had pulled me away. I found a blurred Thorin half dragging me across the meadow. To reduce his effort, I scrambled to find my feet.
"It's not real," I whispered to myself.
The orcs had found us. They gave up on their wild goose chase and were now targeting the company. I finally pulled myself together and clutched my sword harder. Everyone split away to take on their own battles. I found myself near Dwalin and Balin along with Fili and Kili. Kili let arrows fly in all different directions as the rest of us took on the orcs with pure steel. I warded off any orc that came my way. I was quick on my feet and my motions were smooth. I moved effortlessly with jabs and swings, letting the blade take the lead. I was able to find the power within myself and my new treasure. As we continued to battle, I noticed that I was much closer to all dwarves now. Our group became more and more compact. We were surrounded.
"Where is Gandalf?! He has abandoned us!" a dwarf cried out.
"Over here you fools!" he called from behind a rock, waving us over. We all charged towards him. One by one we threw ourselves down into a crevice that lead down into a cave. Once again, we tried to make ourselves unnoticeable. We heard the call of a horn from above. The orcs were obviously struggling with something or someone up there but I had no idea what it could be. Suddenly, one rolled down the ledge. Fortunately, it was dead. Thorin pulled an intricately designed arrow from the creature's neck.
"Elves," he grumbled.
"There is a path here but I can't see where it leads. Shall we follow it?" Dwalin asked in a panic.
"Of course follow it!" someone replied. I noticed that I never fully recovered from the encounter with the orc. I found myself staring off into space until someone grabbed my hand. I jumped. I looked to find Kili staring at me with worried eyes.
"Are you alright, Adina?"
"I'm not sure Kili, I don't know what came over me." I locked eyes with him. My face grew hot as tears began to build up, but I tried to fight them.
He returned a concerned smile and sighed. A bit of sadness crept over his face. "Whatever it was, it obviously couldn't stop you from fighting as brave as ever."
He released my hand but remained close as we walked through the narrow cavern. At the end of the pathway was a beam of the most radiant and pure light I had ever looked upon. We approached it until the walls of the cave disappeared behind us. The most beautiful scenery filled my eyes. It was nature's haven. Birds sang and a breeze shook the lively, green trees. Waterfalls and rivers quenched the ground with vegetation and freshness. Sunlight coated the land, giving it a heavenly, golden glow.
Gandalf paused up ahead and presented the scenery to us, "My dear friends, welcome to Rivendell."
