"The things we love destroy us every time, lad. Remember that."
Fairies are one of the oldest race of beings in Arda -once they called Numenór home- but Arethusa watched as the sea claimed the island from the helm of a ship as the survivors fled to...
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SWORDS had been recovered and the Great Goblin had been cast down into the depths of the cave below. "Follow me. Quick! Run!" Gandalf waved his staff in the air drawing the attention of all the dwarves, Arethusa unsheathed her blade, cutting down a goblin that had tried to jump on her back. Bifur ran behind her and where the company ran she followed. The silver of her sword had been painted a dark red, so dark it appeared black.
The pathways were a maze and every time she looked over her shoulder there seemed to be hundreds of more goblins. Thorin and Dwalin swung out their weapons slicing through the ropes that suspended the part of the path they stood on. It started to swing and half the dwarves had been able to jump to the next platform on the first swing. Goblins bounded onto the pendulum-like platform and as it neared the pointed where the other dwarves were Gandalf gripped onto Arethusa and half-threw her up to the company as he jumped and turned back slicing through the ropes.
Gandalf pushed ahead to lead the company, at one point he struck a boulder with his staff causing it to fall and roll down the path, knowing the goblins out of the way. A bridge was ahead, leading to the opposite side of the cavern and to the exit. Gandalf and Thorin were the first to step onto the rickety platform when Great Goblin broke through from underneath the bridge and pulled himself up onto it in front of the company. Hundreds of goblins surround them on all sides. Fili and Kili both stood on either side of the fairy and everyone had their swords and axes at the ready. "You thought you could escape me?" He swung his mace towards Gandalf, truly angry now, and on the second strike, the wizard nearly lost footing and fell. "What are you going to do now, wizard?"
With a knock to the eye with his staff and a quickly dispatched slice across the stomach and neck the Great Goblin's body toppled forward and broke the bridge. The section of the platform descended into darkness, only slowing when the caverns wall narrowed. Upon impact, the two young brothers shoved Arethusa away and completely off the bridge just as the corpse of the large goblin fell upon the company. Her heart twisted, I am supposed to be protecting the two of you, her thoughts were better left unspoken, though.
It seemed that every goblin in Middle Earth was descending the walls trying to reach them. There was only one thing that could truly ensure their safety from these creatures and that was daylight. The fairy was quick on her feet as she trailed behind the wizard and in front of Thorin, the company broke out of the cave and into the dying light of day but still they ran down the mountain until Gandalf stopped and began counting heads.
Thorin tipped Arethusa's chin up, looking at the two bleeding cuts on her neck and the one that spanned from her temple and crossed over her eye, ending near her nose. "I'm alright, Thorin." She swallowed hard and turned back to see if somehow Bilbo had found them in the midst of the chaos. The fairy hardly paid attention to the bickering dwarfs as she saw a muted figure slip behind a tree.
"I'll tell you what happened. Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it! He's thought of nothing but his soft bed and his warm hearth since first he stepped out of his door! We will not be seeing our Hobbit again. He is long gone." Thorin's voice was filled with resentment and Arethusa wanted to slap him, shove him even to make him see Bilbo's worth. She hated him in the moment.
