Edge of Night (Thorin Oakenshield Love Story)

Chapter 7

In the dead of night, there was a blood curdling scream. Dienna woke up immediately and sat up looking around. She saw Thorin still asleep beside her, How did he sleep through that? He must be exhausted. She saw her brother already up. Running over to him, she said, "Are you okay?" Bilbo nodded and turned to Fili and Kili, who were on watch.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Orcs," Kili said, looking around. Dienna's eyes widened. Orcs could kill anyone with half a though. They were a species that was not to be trifled with.

"Orcs?!" Bilbo whisper/shouted, running over to them. Thorin was startled awake. He looked down and didn't see Dienna. He was about to wake up the company and go find her before seeing both the hobbits by his nephews.

"Throat-cutters, there'll be dozens of them out there," Fili told the hobbits, who started to panic.

"The lone-lands are crawling with them. They strike in the wee hours when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet, no screams, just lots of blood," Kili continued. Dienna and Bilbo looked at each other, terrified.

The boys both snickered at the two, then Thorin walked over, "You think that's funny?" He spoke to them, "You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?"

Kili looked down at the disappointment in Thorin's eyes, "We didn't mean anything by it." Dienna was upset with them for the prank, but it wasn't malicious.

"No you didn't," he began to walk away, "You know nothing of the world."

"Thorin!" Dienna tried to get his attention, but he wouldn't listen to her.

"Don't mind him, lassie," Balin spoke to her before turning to the rest of the group, " Thorin has more cause than most to hate orcs. After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient Dwarf kingdom of Moria. But our enemy had got there first. Moria had been taken by legions of Orcs, led by the most vile of all their race: Azog the Defiler. The giant Gundabad Orch had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began by beheading the king. Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief. He went missing. Taken prisoner or killed, we did not know." Dienna looked at Thorin, she felt pity and sadness, "We were leaderless. Defeat and death were upon us. That is when I saw him. A young Dwarf prince facing down the pale Orc. He stood alone against this terrible foe. His armor rent wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield. Azog the Defiler learned that day that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken. Our forces rallied and drove the Orcs back. And our enemy had been defeated. But there was no feast, nor song that night, for our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few had survived." Balin then looked to the king, who was standing near the cliff, "And I thought to myself then, there is one who I could follow. There is one, I could call king."

All of the dwarves faced Thorin. When he turned around, he saw all of them. They all had reverence in their eyes. He dipped his head in thanks as Bilbo asked Balin, "And the Pale Orc? What happened to him?"

"He slunk back into the hole from whence he came," Thorin walked back to his spot by the fire, "That filth died from his wounds long ago," Dienna briefly saw Balin and Gandalf share a look.

"Are you sure?" she spoke up.

"What?" Thorin answered over his shoulder.

"Are you sure he's dead? There's no record in any of the dwarvish history that says he died," Dienna insisted. "And with an orc like that, I think his death would be important."

"Don't question me, Dienna," he warned, she slunk back a bit, scared of his low tone, as he turned to the group, "Get some more sleep, we start at dawn," he turned back to Dienna, "It's your watch," she huffed a bit, but he just sat down in a spot by a rock wall.