The Last of the Guardians Part 1 - A Hobbit Fan Fiction

Chapter 15

***Im really sorry I didn't get this up when I said I would! I'll make it up to you all somehow! Hope you enjoy this chapter <3***

When Nema finally came round the sun had risen fully and was beating down on the back of her neck. She looked around, confused as to where she was, but then Nema felt the ropes binding her to the rock behind her, and the memories returned. Nema let out a choked sob as she realised her friends would die because of her. Judging by the height of the sun, they were already long dead. It was all her fault! If only she had woken them as soon as she'd heard the warg! 

But perhaps there was still time! Nema looked towards the mountains and the trees, considering. She strained against her bounds, trying to free herself but to no prevail.  

A growl came from her right, and Nema turned her head to see a young warg lying in the shade of the rock, eying her closely. He had been left behind to keep watch on her, and didn't seem all too happy about. Nema could see the thirst for blood in his eyes, and the way he licked his lips was enough to remind her that one wrong move would end her life.  

That was if the pain didn't kill her first. It was much worse than the night before, and increasing in intensity. Her shoulder blades were aching so much that she could barely lift her head without her vision blurring. If only she had Changed when it was her time. She had known the consequences of delaying. The longer the Change was avoided, the more painful it would be. But her chance had been and gone, and now she was paying the price.  

A single tear slid down her pale cheeks, and at first Nema believed it was because of the pain of the Change. But the pain in her heart was far greater than that in her back. Her companions...her friends...were dead. All because of her foolishness.  

A howl hit her ears and she jerked her head up, an action that she regretted when her neck muscles tightened and stars danced before her eyes. The warg beside her sat up and looked towards the mountains. He had recognised the howl as that of his kind. It was the howl of a dying warg. The creature beside Nema nodded its head and pawed at the ground, clearly wanting to go to his brother's aid.  

Nema squinted at the distant trees, trying to see through them. Could her friends still be alive? Was it not too late to save them? Her questions were answered when she saw, to her horror, Azog and his band of orcs riding her way. They were all covered in blood, but they had no wounds of their own to account for it.  

The dwarves were dead.  

Nema hung her head, tears burning in her eyes. Azog titled his head to the side and stared at her, a grin splitting his scarred face.  

"Put her on that one," Azog barked at an orc, and gestured to the warg that had guarded Nema. "We ride for the halls of the Goblin King. It is our duty to spread the good news." He raised his fist in the air and cried "tonight we celebrate! Durin's line is done!" 

*** 

The orcs and wargs settled on the side of a mountain that night and lit many fires in celebration. One would never have thought of orcs as the partying type, but then again, death wasn't something most people thought was cause for a rowdy display of barbarianism.  

The orcs had left Nema sitting on the edge of a steep drop but hadn't bothered to tie her up. She was in no state to be escaping. As soon as they'd lifted her off the warg and placed her on the ground, Nema had curled up and tried to shut the world out. They couldn't be dead. She refused to believe it. Thorin...Bilbo...all the other dwarves...their quest had only just begun and they had failed. It wasn't fair.  

Nema stared bleary-eyed into the darkness. No, they hadn't failed. She was the failure. It had been her task, her duty to protect Thorin and all those in his company. Nema slowly sat up and hung her legs over the edge, looking up at the sky. The stars were awake and shone down on her, their positions pulling an old memory to the surface of her mind.