Into the Fire: Book 2

1

*3rd person POV*

The orcs were closer than they were the day before. No more than a couple leagues behind the company now. Bilbo could make out Azog, the orc's leader, as well as a few other smaller orcs that stood beside him, ready to kill whatever stood in Azog's way. He ducked his head behind some rocks as the pale orc lord looked in his direction. His childhood years of stealing candy cookies from Old Tom's Bakery were paying off. He knew exactly how to hide himself so he could remain unseen. He glanced again at the orcs, they had formed a makeshift huddle and the pale orc had swung his axe in the direction of one of the smaller orcs. The orc pulled his warg backwards, barely missing the edge of the axe. The orcs were speaking in blackspeach, a language Bilbo did not understand, so it was difficult for him to know where they had been and where they would go next. Blackspeach, the language of the dead, or rather, the undead. A language spoken by creatures from the land Mordor. It was a foul language and Bilbo had only ever learned of it during the treetop chase almost four months ago.

He kept his head down, looking only once more at the pac to ensure he was still safe. His heart raced in his chest as he heard the voices getting closer. They were only about a mile behind the dwarves now and there was no way they could be outrun. Bilbo started to skip down the rock ledge to inform the company of his findings when he was halted by a loud roar, interrupting him from his thoughts. The noise caused the orcs to stop in their tracks too. Bilbo whipped his head towards the noice and that's when he saw it. A great black beast, larger than any he had seen before. The animal roared again, a piercing roar that shook the ground he stood on. It looked away, towards the sport the orcs had just been and Bilbo took the chance to run back towards the safety of his group.

*Y/n POV*

I stood with the others, patiently waiting for Bilbo to come back with news. I was shaking my hands by my side, trying to calm the nerves in my stomach. I didn't understand why I wasn't allowed to go with him. I was a burglar too and I hadn't yet proved myself to be of any use. I started pacing, keeping my eyes on the pathway Bilbo left through. I debated going after him to show that I could help but Thorin had assured me I was better off here. I was beginning to think he was trying to shield me from harm. I rolled my eyes at my assumption. If that's what he was doing then he was going to be disappointed when he realized I would need to do some burglar stuff. Bofur grabbed my hand, pulling me out of my negative thoughts, and lead me aside.

"What's up?" I asked him, still keeping my eye on the path Bilbo had followed.

He glanced behind me and nodded in Thorin's direction. I turned back to look and saw the dwarf shooting daggers at Bofur with his eyes. On top of the death glare, Thorin had his arms crossed and he was impatiently tapping his foot on the ground. He caught my eye and raised his eye brows at me as if to say "really?". I ignored him and turned back to Bofur.

"Guess you really got through to him huh?" Bofur asked me.

I laughed in response and shook my head. Six months later and Thorin was ready to execute anyone else that laid eyes on me.

"All it took was honesty and not putting up with his crap. Once he realized I wasn't head over heels in love with him from the moment I saw him, I think that's when he started developing feelings. He seems to enjoy liking things he can't have." I shrugged my shoulders, giving a small wave to Thorin who returned the gesture with another side glance at Bofur.

"Well, whatever you did, it worked."

I looked back at Thorin. He had finally looked away and was talking to Balin and Gandalf. I was hoping he wouldn't keep this negative attitude throughout the whole day. That would become annoying very fast.