Extra Company

Chapter 16

The sound of pickaxes meeting stone filled the air, strong men and women worked, their shackles jingeling as the people hacked away at the stone. A large man sat with his face towards the wall, flinching as he felt a whip slashed across his back. The man turned his head to see an orc, growling at him, slashing the whip across his back once more before laughing.

Hope was beginning to slip away from the man, most, maybe all, of his kind were dead. Killed off by starvation, thirst, infection, wargs, or all the above. He lost his family, his friends, there was nothing left for him.

He froze as he heard a roar of some kind, looking over towards the opening of the cave he saw a group of orcs standing by the entrance spears at the ready, each one of them had a look of fear on their face. Screams could be heard from outside, myself and the rest of the slaves turned their attention towards the entrance, their work ceasing to a halt.

The ground shook as something large slammed against the ground, causing some of the orcs to fall to the ground. Then there was a figure which was shadowed by the light, their long hair blowing in the wind. They held out their hand, a gust of wind being blown into the tunnel, causing the orcs to get thrown into the cave's walls.

The figure stepped into the cave, revealing a woman with long white hair tipped with gold, lightly tanned skin, and bright cobalt blue eyes. The woman was dressed in silver elven armor, she drew her sword as she walked towards us, slicing down the orcs that charged her way. She then swung her sword, breaking the chains on each of the slaves.

"Follow me!" She ordered, her eyes glancing over towards the large man for a moment before leading all of them out of the cave, the man now being able to see the moonlight for the first time in years. Around them a battle ensued, orcs and elves fighting one another. "Now run!" She said, pointing her sword to the forest. Most of the people ran, doing their best to avoid the battle around them.

The male however, stayed behind, causing the woman to become confused, "What's the matter? You're free, you can leave, start a new life."

The tall man looked down at the small woman, hope seeming to return to his eyes. He smiled down at her as he spoke, "Thank you, my lady. For freeing us."

She smiled up at him with a bright smile, "You're welcome." Her smile then turned to a serious frown as she pointed once more to the forest, "Now you must leave! They might kill you if they see you."

He nodded, taking a few steps towards the forest before stopping, "What is your name?"

She smiled softly, "Saharia."

"Beorn." He responded, before turning back to the forest, shifting into a large black bear as he lumbered into the forest, his jaws clamping down onto a warg that grew too close before tossing it across the clearing like it was nothing, before disappearing into the trees.

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I waited with the other dwarves, awaiting Bilbo's return as he scouted where Azog's pack was. As soon as we walked out of the forest, we were immediately hunted down, at one point we had to travel for a few days without rest just to make sure we stayed out of their reach. Now we stood among a small mountain pass, hoping to lose the pack here. I hear rapid footsteps heading towards us, I turned my head to see Bilbo running down towards us with a frightful look on his face.

"How close is the pack?" Thorin questioned, taking a few steps forward, as he looked behind the hobbit to make sure he wasn't followed.

"Too close." Bilbo begins, running to the safety of the company. "A couple of leagues, no more." Bilbo told us, still slightly out of breath. "But that's not the worst of it." I tilt my head to the side at this, confused on what he means. What could be worse than a pack of orcs?