An Unexpected Journey

Chapter Sixty-Eight: Mountain Attack

"The Dwarves, they're rallying," Bilbo breathed in looking over the wall towards the mountain, he had been following Thalia along the wall when he had heard the sound of a horn; he was almost surprised to see what was happening. 

Thalia stopped walking and looked towards the mountain, she felt breath catch in her throat at the sight of the dwarves rallying in their fight; things hadn't been going well and it had occurred to her that they would lose this battle to the orc army. 

Gandalf hurried forward and stopped next to the pair, watching the scene before them as the dwarves prepared for their final stand to stop the orcs taking control of the mountain like they wanted. 

"They're rallying to their King," Gandalf said relieved that this was happening, he watched the charge as the dwarves dealt with the massive of orcs that were outside of the mountain now. 

They would have to do something if they wanted to ensure that they weren't defeated; it was all becoming too much for them to hold off. 

Nothing seemed to be able to drive the orcs back and Gandalf feared that if they didn't act quickly then the mountain and Dale would fall under orc control and that was the last thing that they needed. 

Thalia swallowed the lump in her throat at the thought, she wasn't sure how she felt about this but she knew that something must have happened with Thorin. 

The dwarf that had banished her a few hours earlier would not have lead an army to fight; he would have buried his head in the sand trying to protect his gold. 

Her eyes swept the battle trying to spot any of the company, Thalia couldn't see any of them and she prayed that they would all be safe with everything that was going on.

A thud shook Thalia from her search and she looked down to see that a troll had fallen, she snorted amused thinking of how it reminded her of a turtle when it was stuck on their back. 

People were fleeing around them and Thalia doubted that this battle was far from over, she was hopeful that they wouldn't all end up dead by the end of this; she was rather fond of the people around her and those who were fighting. 

"Thalia," Bilbo shouted catching the blonde's attention, his eyes trained on the fast moving figures that was moving up the hill not far from them. 

It didn't take much for him to guess who was leading the charge and Bilbo feared what Thorin might have planned; he couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen now. 

Moving towards Bilbo, Thalia's eyes quickly found what he was staring at and she felt her stomach drop at the four figures that were disappearing quickly up the mountain. 

Gandalf stood beside them also watching the scene, he was sure that whatever Thorin had planned would allow them to gain some advantage in this war. 

"He's taking his best warriors," Gandalf mused noting that Thorin was taking Fíli, Kíli and Dwalin with him towards were the orc base was; there was so much going on and they needed to deal a fatal blow. 

It was clear that the orcs weren't going to just leave without a little push but there was only so much the armies of man, elf and dwarf could do to push them back and defeat them. 

"To do what?" Bilbo asked turning to look at Gandalf, he was sure that they would be okay; he didn't look at Thalia unsure how she would feel about this. 

Gandalf was silent, he truly did hope that the four were able to defeat the orc that was leading the charge; Azog was a problem that needed to be dealt with and quickly. 

"To cut off the head of the snake," Gandalf replied his eyes watching the dwarves disappear, he had little doubt that Azog was in for a surprise.