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

Chapter 22

***Hello! I hope you enjoyed the last chapter :D sorry about the cliff hanger, the chapter was getting a little long. Okay, so Nemaiza is officially going to Change in this chapter! Thanks so much for all your comments! Happy reading!***

Fili threw himself to the ground and grabbed Nemaiza's hand. Fall abruptly halted, she snapped her head up to look at her saviour and gasped. So her eyes had not deceived her. Fili was truly alive. The dwarf stared down at her, seeing in her eyes a mixture of fear, relief, confusion and joy. He tried to pull her up onto the ledge but his grasp was not strong enough and he nearly dropped her.

Fili clenched his teeth. He wasn't going to lose her. Not now that they had found each other again. But then Fili heard a growl behind him, and felt the sharp point of a sword rest on his back.

He had forgotten about the orcs and the wargs.

"Up!" Commanded the orc which held the sword to Fili's back.

"Just give me a moment," Fili spat, kicking the sword away. The orcs were still getting over the fact that a dwarf had made it so far through their ranks without them noticing that they were unsure what to do with him. They lifted their weapons and waited for him to get to his feet.

But Fili had other plans.

He looked down at Nemaiza again, meeting her gaze.

"Swing me," she mouthed, pointing towards the face of the cliff. From where he was lying, Fili could just about see the narrow ledge Nemaiza was pointing to. He carefully swung her, first away from the cliff, then back towards it. Nemaiza nodded to him and he let go. She landed neatly on the ledge, then leaned out and beckoned to him to join her.

Fili was about to roll off the cliff when he was seized by two large orcs. They dragged him from the edge towards one of the fires whilst another orc looked down into the dark abyss. Nemaiza pressed her body against the rock face, out of the view of the orc.

"He dropped her!" growled the orc, turning back to his kin. "The dwarf-scum let her fall!"

A wave of unease rippled through the ranks of orcs. They knew they were in big trouble.

"Azog won't like this," snarled another orc.

"Azog won't like what?"

The orcs turned in terror to face their leader, who had just returned to his followers after a failed attempt to re-locate the dwarves. Azog dismounted from his white warg and strode through the crowds to Fili, anger racing through his veins.

***

Nema stared at the rock face in front of her. It was incredibly smooth, and wet from the recent rain. There was no way she would be able to climb up it. Why had she asked Fili to put her on the ledge? It had seemed like such a good idea at the time, until Fili had been grabbed by the orcs. She began to panic when she heard Azog's voice above her. He was talking to Fili, threatening him, being spurred on by his jeering orcs.

"Where are the rest of your kin?" Azog yelled. He was furious now. He'd had Nemaiza, the only one whom he wanted dead more than Thorin, within his grasp, and now he'd lost her. All thanks to the dwarf-scum's stupid nephew.

Nema couldn't hear Fili's reply. He was refusing to answer.

"Tell me or I will have you ripped limb from limb!" Azog growled.

Nema felt the panic and anguish welling up inside her. She needed to get to Fili, but she was stuck. Nema stretched towards the upper ledge, trying to reach it and pull herself up. But she couldn't reach. Nema tried to stretch further, but then a terrible pain struck her back like lightening.