Curse of the East (Fili/The Hobbit Fanfiction)

Chapter 14 - A Terrible Ghost

We ran even faster, the burning in my lungs and my legs returning with a vengeance; the snarls of the Wargs growing so loud that if I turned, I was certain I would be able to see their terrible eyes glowing back at me through the trees. We finally seemed to have managed to put a decent distance between us and those creatures when we ran out of places to hide.

We found ourselves standing on the edge of a cliff that jutted out over another large forest, several hundred feet below us and stretching out for miles. A few Wargs caught up with us quickly, and we were able to take care of them without any trouble; it was the unknown number that still hunted us. Still pursued us through the quickly approaching darkness that we were most concerned with.

"Up into the trees!" Gandalf cried as the remaining Orcs and Wargs came into view; about a dozen of them, carrying orcs that were armed and looked thirsty for blood. "Hurry, climb." He hollered, and I found myself half-way up the tree without ever really having thought about climbing. Kili had quickly positioned himself on the branch above me, and Fili was balancing cautiously on the one below; he had his swords out as though he were prepared to launch himself from the tree at any given moment. As the orcs got closer however, and the sheer number became clear to me. This was more than I had originally estimated; there had to be at least thirty of them, to say we were outnumbered would be an understatement. Someone must have really wanted us dead.

I climbed higher, desperate to put as much distance between myself and those creatures as I possibly could. Fili and Kili climbed with me, clearly as terrified as I was. My fear however was replaced with surprise and confusion when a huge white Warg appeared in front of us. Riding it was a pale Orc, a sharp and deadly looking blade sticking through its arm to replace a hand that had been lost long ago. I hoped against hope that I was wrong, but one look at Thorin's face told me that my suspicions had been correct. He looked as though he had seen a ghost, and in a way he had. For all these years he had believed his family avenged; now it seemed he would have to go through it all over again.

"Azog," He whispered, his voice a mixture of anger and bewilderment. Azog's eyes never left Thorin as he said something to his companions in his awful black speech; a language I hoped to never become familiar with, though at this point it may have been helpful to know what was being said. His voice gradually grew louder, and the pain in Thorin's face grew more intense until the creature raised his axe above his head and the assault really began.

Wargs jumped at the trees, nipping at our ankles and we were just barely high enough up to keep ourselves clear of their razor teeth. They ripped off the smaller branches with their teeth, and ran at the trees like they themselves were battering rams; the tree shook beneath my feet, and I had to return Ringil to the scabbard on my hip to keep from losing it. I pulled my legs farther up, hauling myself up onto another branch to stand beside Kili; my heart beating so hard I was surprised no one else could hear it.

"What are we going to do?" I asked, unable to keep the tremble out of my voice. He turned to me, his face reflecting the same fear that plagued my heart.

"I don't-" I was cut of by a loud creaking, and I was startled when the tree was suddenly tipping. My arms windmilled as I tried desperately to find something to grab hold of. When I started falling my mind flashed back to my last day in the Shire when I fell from my fathers' tree; the same small ball of fear in my stomach, and the same feeling in my chest as I braced myself for the inevitable impact with the ground. The difference being this time the fall was a lot shorter; and I didn't get anywhere close to the ground. My fall stopped just as suddenly as it had begun, and when I looked up, I saw Fili reaching down for me. Holding tightly to my hand, just as he had in the mountains only a day ago. He pulled me up quickly, a smirk on his face as he wrapped a strong arm around my waist holding me against his side as he braced himself against the wide trunk of the tree.