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

Chapter 24

***Hey! Although my GCSEs have officially started, I've made time so I can keep writing but please bear with me. I'll try to update as often as I can, but it won't be easy. Right, lets kick some orc butt! Happy reading!***

Nema rose to her full height and spread her wings, protecting Thorin with a pure, white shield. She fixed the orc before her with a piercing glare until he trembled in his boots. The orc looked from Nema to Azog, unsure of what to do. Clearly he was still getting over the shock of seeing a Guardian for the first time earlier that night.

Azog's eyes flashed with anger and he ordered another orc to deal with Nema. The orc kicked his warg and it lunged at Nema. She spun and dropped to the ground to cover Thorin, her wings encasing them just as the warg flew over. In the brief moment when the warg was caught between landing and turning, Thorin took the chance to look at Nema. They were so close he thought he could see beyond the determination in her eyes. He thought he could see pain and fear trying to hide deep within her warm, brown irises.

"Nema..." Thorin whispered, his wounds making it difficult to draw breath. The dwarf wanted to ask Nema what was troubling her, but before he could utter another word, the Guardian had rolled off him and had sprung to her feet.

They were in a dangerous position now, with a mounted orc one side of them, and a whole group of wargs on the other. Nema realised she could not watch them both at once, and her hand tightened around her dagger. She flicked her eyes left and right, trying to see what the pack of orcs and wargs were doing whilst also trying to figure out what the mounted orc was planning.

Nema heard the warg growl before she saw it move, and so she was able to turn in time to stab the beast in the neck before it landed on her. The dying warg pushed the air from her lungs and it's dark, sticky blood pooled around her, soaking Nema's wings a deep red. She struggled under the dead weight, trying to shove the warg off. The orc who had been riding it rested the edge of its sword upon Nema's throat, and leered down at her.

The orc with the axe fixed his gaze on Thorin, who was still unable to reach his sword, and approached him slowly, his eyes sparkling with glee in the firelight. Nema pushed against the warg with renewed urgency, ignoring the blade at her throat. But as it's cool edge bit into her skin, she stopped moving and instead searched the sky for her kin.

She could see the white dots moving fast towards them, accompanied by more brown ones. The Guardians had taken a detour to ask for help from their close relatives, the Eagles. Nema wished they had flown straight to the aid of the dwarves, for though they were flying at a great speed, she knew they would not get there in time.

Nema turned her head to see Thorin still lying on his back, an armed orc raising an axe above his head. She shut her eyes tight, not wanting to witness for real this time.

But then another figure joined the fray and threw himself before the orc. Bilbo had darted from the tree and now attacked the orc with a fierceness no other hobbit had known before. He was soon followed by the dwarves that could get to sturdier ground, and together they drove the orcs and the wargs back away from Thorin.

As the battle raged, Dwalin ran his sword through the orc holding a blade to Nema's throat, and with one strong arm the dwarf heaved the warg off her and helped her to her feet.

"Nice to 'ave you back," he grunted in greeting, then rushed to check on Thorin.

But it was not enough. The orcs outnumbered the company even without wargs at their heels, and without Gandalf to help them with magic, the dwarves soon fell back again. The wizard was barely managing to hold on to his staff, weighed down by two dwarves. He soon felt them slipping and cried out when Dori finally let go.

Ori squeezed his eyes shut to block out the sight of the ground as it rushed to greet him. But the impact never came. Both Ori and Dori landed upon the soft back of an eagle as it swooped below the cliff.

More eagles arrived, accompanied by the rest of the Guardians and together they joined the battle. The Guardians pushed the orcs back into the flames whilst the eagles dropped warg after warg off the side of the cliff. One eagle, who had been carrying Fili, dropped the dwarf beside Nema before flying over to where Thorin lay. The eagle lifted him into the air in his talons and flew after the one bearing Dori and Ori.

Once on the ground, Fili had been quick to draw his sword and fight beside Nema until there was no one left to fight. Other eagles pulled dwarves from the tree and flew away with them. Bilbo was caught by his own eagle which tossed him onto his back, an action which he did not care to repeat.

The remaining wargs and orcs ran for the cover of darkness as eagles and Guardians attacked them from all sides. Eventually, there was no being left on the cliff edge. The last eagle had taken Fili on its back, and the Guardians flew among the great birds as they headed away from the fire and towards the rising sun.