A Treasure Beyond Compare (ThorinxOCxOC)

Chapter 17

There was nowhere to run from the pursuing orc pack. They were trapped on the edge of a cliff, night a dark cloak over the valley. Thorin scrambled up into the boughs of a dying red pine tree. His foot narrowly missed being chomped off by a Warg's sharp teeth.

Bark scraped Thorn's palms as he clawed his way up to the highest point he could reach. He lay Adelaide carefully on the thickest point of the tree limb where she wouldn't fall. The branch creaked beneath his additional weight but held. He rested his back against the trunk of the tree, trying to catch his breath.

How had the orcs found them so quickly? The Goblin King's message could not have reached the creatures so quickly.

Thorin's stomach plummeted in sharp realization. Not unless the orcs were somewhere nearby, and the Goblin King knew it. A clever trap had been laid for the Company.

A pinecone dropped into his hands from above, burning with the wizard's magic. He hurled the projectile with perfect aim, knocking an orc right off the back of a Warg. The other dwarves threw the makeshift weapons, forcing the Orcs to circle in frustration at a distance. Fire spread across the grass, leaping from tree to tree, quickly turning into an inferno.

From the dancing flames a white Warg emerged, a familiar apparition perched on its back with a smug grin.

Thorin's eyes bulged in disbelief. He slapped a branch aside. "Azog."

The orc leader gave him a taunting grin, the flickering fire highlighting the deep-pitted scars over the creature's face and body. His left arm was a stump, a metal rake plunged through the flesh in a mockery of a limb.

A shuddering breath went through Thorin. He tore his gaze away from his old enemy and looked down at Adelaide for a moment. Then he picked her up and tossed her up to Dwalin who draped her over his shoulder.

Anger washed over him like water over stone. Thorin drew his sword and ran toward his enemy propelled by rage. Azog would die for good this time. He'd see to that.

OoO

"Azog." Thorin's shocked gasp penetrated the veil of darkness covering Adelaide. At least she thought it was Thorin speaking. The world flashed at her in disjointed images, Everything hazy and indistinct.

Balls of fire flying through the night. A Warg with razor sharp teeth, jaws open wide. A silver blade in the heart of an inferno. Thorin being thrown toward the edge of a cliff. Bilbo dashing to his rescue.

Mouth glued shut, Adelaide was unable to cry out a warning as a snow-white Warg prowled toward Thorin's still form. She wasn't sure if this was a nightmare or reality. Nothing made sense in the in-between state she existed in.

The hair-raising screech of a predator bird sliced across her nerves. Then she was falling, falling back into that sweet dark, the wind rushing out to embrace her.

OoO

Bilbo clung to the back of the giant eagle, the delicate soft feathers ruffling all around him. To the right, the sun rose gloriously beautiful into a pink and orange-streaked sky. Even when fleeing for his life, the sight of the sun breaking over the mountains stole his breath away.

Adelaide lay unconscious beside him, streamers of wind tugging at loose strands of her hair that had escaped her braid.

Bilbo's brow wrinkled in worry. The orc pack would follow of that he had no doubt.

Ahead Thorin was clutched in the talons of another eagle, unconscious from his ordeal. Every member of the Company was battered and bruised. Every single inch of Bilbo's body ached from his tumble into Gollum's cave and the run from the mountains.