✓GLITTER AND GOLD⁰ ━ the hobbit

six.

06. | GRETEL GROW UP

I'm not sure that rabbits against wargs is the fairest fight, but I don't argue as Radagast draws the orcs away from us. If it works, it works, and I have no desire to die at the hands of a warg pack. Plus, Radagast is a wizard, and they have a terrible knack for avoiding death — they're supposed to be about three ages old.

Gandalf leads us across the plain, our steps tentative (well, mine and Bilbo's) and scared. I try to walk as quietly as possible, but the dwarves are loud, their weapons clashing and they grunt with effort as the move. We run in a straight line, dangerously obvious if the orcs were only to turn their heads.

We run across the plains, making sure to take cover wherever there are rocks. The shadows feel safer, and part of me believes that we should just wait it out, but Radagast will be dead soon. We have to do something. I would be faster and safer alone, but we are a team. I suppose we should all die together, if at all. I have been trying to prove my loyalty to Thorin, perhaps this is how I do it.

"Where are you taking us!" Thorin asks, as Gandalf moves through the plains with an uncanny surety, knowing exactly where he is going. His steps are measured and direct, and he almost seems to be searching for something.

I am quite curious myself, as we duck behind another rock. The only place near to where we are is Rivendell, but Gandalf wouldn't take us there, surely. Not after Thorin's many refusals.

As I ponder, a warg seems to have sniffed us out, as it stands on the rock above us. It's shadow is dark and imposing as I watch it carefully, trying to work out if it can see us. Reaching down, I pull out my throwing knife, ready to throw. On second thought, I've never thrown a knife before, so maybe I shouldn't.

Thorin nods to Kili instead, who quickly spins around and shoots the warg in the chest. It falls, landing in front of Dwalin, who finishes it with ease, his sword an extension of his arm, strong and sure. Unfortunately, the warg cries out as it dies, for help. Soon the wind is full of its screams, undoubtedly heard by the orcs, as the echoes drift away.

"Amazing!" I mutter, gripping my knife, and turning to glare at Kili. "Just brilliant, truly! What were you doing? I know stealth is some kind of foreign concept-"

"Move, run!" Gandalf yells, interrupting me as the orcs become closer, their howls louder.  I start, grabbing Bilbo's arm as we sprint, pulling him along with me. His legs are smaller and slower, even though the dwarves seem much faster at sprinting than I would have expected.

We run, our feet pounding the ground thunderously loud, as Gandalf goes ahead. All of a sudden he disappears, as a warg appears in his place, snarling, teeth glistening with saliva. I turn, flinching away, but it appears that the wargs have surrounded us.

"We're surrounded!" Fili yells, backing up.

"Thank you for your observation," I reply, deciding that if I'm going to die, I will do it while being flippant. Humour is also a good way to distract myself from the imminent death that awaits me.

"Where is Gandalf?" Kiki yells, firing an arrow at a nearby warg expertly. It dies quickly, as the orc dismounts it, looking angry. I throw my knife, stepping forward to lunge, but it misses, hitting the ground just in front of me, barely a few metres. I dive forward, grabbing it quickly before I back up into the company again, a little embarrassed.

Suddenly Gandalf pops up from nowhere, a welcome sight. "This way, you fools!" He gestures at a small hole he seems to have found behind a rock. You wouldn't know it was there unless you were searching for it, which is a little suspicious, but I'm not one to argue.