I toss and turn in my makeshift bed, half asleep and half awake, unable to fully sleep with my mind clouded thinking of what I'll have to do in the morning to regain control of the company. I can't help but think that if I do fall asleep, Thorin might try something, like just leaving in the dead of the night with the company following or that he may even toss me over a mountain face, although that is a little farfetched. The thoughts still don't help me sleep however, wondering how long Gandalf will take and how long I'll be able to stall Thorin. Too much going on in my head for any rest.
I pull my blanket tightly around myself as a cold breeze washing in through the entrance to the cave. Oddly enough though, the breeze doesn't feel as though it's coming from the entrance, but rather under me. I groan, rolling over in an attempt to get my head to shut up so I can sleep. I'm almost fully embracing the darkness as I listen to the light hum of muffled voices, probably some of the dwarves talking.
Only seconds later I wake to Thorin's voice yelling "Wake up! Wake up!" my brain still hazy from sleep, I stumble up to my feet, withdrawing my sword as I do so with shaky muscles. It takes me only a moment to fully regain conciseness, immediately I look down at the floor as cracks begin to appear and sand begins to sift through.
I look up for but a second to ask Thorin what's happening, before feeling the ground disappear under my feet. My train of thought is thrown away as my body spins around, tumbling down a stone tunnel with 13 dwarves following. I let out a shriek as a sharp rock cuts across my arm, the warmth of liquid begins to run down my arm. The spinning doesn't last long as there's a sudden drop. I feel a light breeze before a sudden halt as I hit another body. With the wind knocked out of me, I gasp for air, before the wind is knocked out me again by the remaining falling dwarves.
Immediately everyone groans in pain and shouts in protest. I realise as my bearings begin to come back that I'd fallen on top of Thorin, you grumbles under me in protest. Quickly, I scramble to get up, pulling my way out from under the dwarf mass trying to find a weapon. Just as I pull myself onto my feet weighing the possibilities of what just happened, my eyes are caught by a huge crowd of goblins shrieking and running in our direction. Looking around for a weapon in a sudden panic, I'm caught off guard when as goblin grabs me around my neck, forcing me back into an uncomfortable position.
I scream, hitting my elbow into the creature behind me. It releases, allowing me to kick away another that quickly approaches, but soon I'm crowded by tens and hundreds of goblins, many holding me down as I kick, hit and scream furiously. The goblins gather the dwarves and take their weapons, dragging us away further into the giant stone cavern. The company tries to fight against our captures, but to no success.
We get pulled through a few tunnels before we are dragged into a huge open cavern, almost as big as a dwarf mine. A whole colony of goblins cheer and yell, echoing off the stone walls. In the distance I see a massive Goblin, huge and foul, sitting on a massive throne, a mace in hand with a skull at the top. I let out a groan of reluctance, realising to whom we're taken captive. The Goblin King, as he likes to go by, how original! I've heard tales of him from travellers passing through these lands. He hasn't got a great rep, but I mean, what foul creature like him would? He is far larger than any other goblin, and he is incredibly ugly, with warts all over her swinging chin.
The dwarves and I get pushed, or rather thrown, into the centre of a wooden platform in front of The Goblin King. Our weapons are thrown aside out of reach.
"Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom?" The Goblin King asks "Spies? Thieves? Assassins?" He yells.
"Dwarves, Your Malevolence," One of the goblins say.
"Dwarves?"
"And a Woman," Another Goblin adds "We found them on the front porch!"
"Well, don't just stand there. Search them! Every crack, every crevice" The Goblin King yells.
The goblins search the dwarves, throwing away whatever they find. Oin's hearing trumpet is thrown on the floor and crushed under a foot. As the goblins try to search me, I hit their praying hands away, but they still manage to search none the less. I feel repulsed and disgusted. In sudden shock, as a goblin grabs my necklace, I try to grab it but fail. The goblin laughs and throws it amongst the weapons. I give the goblin a glare. My father gave me that necklace...It means too much to me, I've never taken it off. And now that foul creature dears to touch it and throw it like it's nothing but trash!
"What are you doing in these parts? Speak!" The Goblin King yells. None of us respond "Well then, if they will not talk, we'll make them squawk! Bring out the Mangler! Bring out the Bone Breaker! Start with the woman!" The Goblin King points at me, making me glare in disgust.
Thorin steps out "Wait."
"Well, well, well, look who it is. Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror! King under the Mountain" The Goblin King bows to Thorin "Oh, but I'm forgetting, you don't have a mountain. And you're not a king. So that makes you...nobody, really" I look over at Thorin who has anger washing through him "I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head. Just the head, nothing attached. Perhaps you know of whom I speak, an old enemy of yours...A Pale Orc" The Goblin King says.
Thorin looks up in surprise and disbelief "Azog the Defiler was destroyed. He was slain in battle long ago."
"So, you think his defiling days are done, do you?" The Goblin King laughs then turns to a tiny goblin sitting in a basket, holding a slate "Send word to the Pale Orc. Tell him I have found his prize."
***
Dozens of goblins carry massive instruments of torture on their shoulders, bringing them to the Great Goblin each chanting in excitement. I can't help my shiver at the site of the torture instruments, like nothing I have ever seen before and no doubt designed for more pain than imaginable. They don't look like much fun to me...
The Goblin King Sings as he waits "Bones will be shattered, necks will be wrung! You'll be beaten and battered; from racks, you'll be hung. You will lie down here and never be found, down in the deep of Goblin-town!" One of the Goblins goes through the weapons examining them. I smile as he picks up Thorin's sword and drops it in terror. A few other goblins see it and shout in horror and rage. The Goblin King runs to his throne "I know that sword! It is the Goblin-Cleaver, the Biter, the blade that sliced a thousand necks! Slash them! Beat them! Kill them! Kill them all! Cut off his head!"
Goblins begin to hit the dwarves and shout. A few goblins hold Thorin down, and one of them pulls out his knife, I shriek, running forward to fight them off, but get cut short as a whip makes contact with the back of my legs. I fall down gasping in pain as a burning sensation runs through my legs. I watch as the goblin goes to cut off Thorin's head, when suddenly there's an explosion of bright light, throwing many of the goblins away, including the Goblin King. When the force of the explosion has passed, most of the lights in the area have been snuffed out. I peer up as a shadow with a tall pointy hat walks up. Gandalf! The light slowly returns to the area as the goblins and the dwarves slowly look up "Take up arms. Fight. Fight!" Gandalf yells raising his sword.
Not needing to be told twice, the dwarves and I begin to fight the Goblins. I quickly grab my necklace and put it on, securing it tightly. Not wasting another second, I grab my bow, arrows and my sword.
"He wields the Foe-Hammer, the Beater, bright as daylight!" The Goblin King yells before shrieking again in fear "And she wields Atlanta, the Huntress! Destroyer of orcs!"
I smile at his nice introduction to us and begin to attack the Goblins. This sword may have been made to destroy orcs, but for today I'll make it a goblin destroyer as well. Leading the way, Gandalf begins to run down one of the many wooden pathways through the cavern, the dwarves and I following behind quickly. Along the way, we cut down more goblins, hundreds of them everywhere. We run through the suspended passageways of Goblin Town, with the hundreds of goblins following after us.
"Quickly!" Gandalf yells. We continue to run down twists and turns cutting down goblins as they jump at us and try to kill us. Gandalf and I look back at some of the dwarves as they course a bridge to collapse to stop the goblins from catching up. "Quickly!" Gandalf yells again. The dwarves, Gandalf and I continue running through the maze-like paths, no exit in sight. We get on a section of the path suspended by ropes from above. We slice some ropes, and the pathway swings away from the rest of the path, approaching a different path.
"Jump!" Thorin yells.
Several of the dwarves and I manage to jump to the other path. Before the rest can, the suspended path swings back to where it started and several goblins leap on. As the path swings back again, the rest of the dwarves and Gandalf manage to jump to the new path. We all cut the ropes, causing the swinging path and the goblins on it to fall. We continue to run as fast as we can cutting down a few goblins on the way. Gandalf strikes a rock above us with his staff, causing the rock to fall and begin rolling in front of the Company. It squashes all the goblins in our way thankfully. We approach a bridge between two walls. As we go to cross it the Goblin Kings crashes through the bridge in front of us.
"You thought you could escape me?" He yells.
The Goblin King swings his mace at Gandalf causing him to stumble back. Gloin and I help Gandalf gain his balance again, all of us staring at the king in disgust "What are you going to do now, wizard?" The Goblin King laughs.
Gandalf leaps forward and strikes the Goblin King in the eye with his staff. The Goblin King drops his mace and clutches his face in pain. Gandalf once again steps forward and cuts the Goblin King in the stomach, causing him to fall to his knees, clutching his belly "That'll do it" The Goblin Kings states distantly. Gandalf slashes the Goblin King's throat. He falls dead onto the bridge. The Goblins all shriek in horror above us.
The weight of the King causes the bridge to start shaking. The section of the bridge with us on it begins to slide down the side of the cavern. The dwarves and I all let out a few cries as it gains speed on the way down. Trying to steady myself, I rock back and forth, grabbing Dwalin's arm, who is connected to everyone as they hold each other for support. The bridge slows down and lands at the base of the cavern, breaking apart and burying us in the timber. Gandalf gets up from the pile of wreckage and makes sure we're all alright. I lucky can push myself out. I rub the dust off my shirt and stand next to Gandalf, assessing the damage that has been down.
"Well, that could have been worse," Bofur says seconds before the Goblin King's body falls on top of the wreckage squashing the dwarves, they all cry out in pain.
"You've got to be joking!" Dwalin yells out. I run over to Dwalin and help him out from under the Goblin King because he seems to be pretty ticked off about it and he was my rock that helped me from falling on the way down.
As I help Kili out as well he yells out in horror "Gandalf!" I look up and see thousands of Goblins running down the cavern, the echoing of their cries following them. Quickly, with all my strength I pull Kili up to his feet, getting into a fighting stance with my sword in hand.
"There's too many! We can't fight them!" Dwalin yells.
"Come on! Here, on your feet!" Gandalf yells.
I help the remaining dwarves out of the wreckage, my sword still in my other hand ready. With a quick pace, we set off after Gandalf again as fast as our legs can carry us. We run through a few twists and turns as we try and escape the goblins that are not far behind. If we get out into the sunlight the Goblins will back off and leave us alone, but first, we need to get to sunlight! We run down a small passageway. Gandalf stops and waves his hand for us to keep going. I smile as sunlight hits my face, the warmth of it telling me I'm safe.
We emerge from the mountain and into a forest. Even though we're safe, I don't stop, the adrenaline to get away still firing in my body as I continue to run deeper into the forest, the dwarves following behind with no protest. Eventually, I stop, as I'm at the head of the company, to take a breather. Once again, the dwarves don't protest.
"Five, six, seven, eight...Bifur, Bofur...that's ten...Fili, Kili...that's twelve... Bombur and Ivy-that makes fourteen" Gandalf pauses "Where's Bilbo? Where is our Hobbit? Where is our hobbit?!"
As the words leave Gandalf's mouth I feel a wave of nausea overcome me. I've been so busy trying to escape I didn't even think to look out for the poor hobbit! My friend Bilbo! I'm the worst friend ever. I can't believe I didn't think to look out for him. I begin to feel sick, no doubt pale as I search around for the hobbit in fear that he may still be in danger and it could be all my fault for not looking out for him like I said I would!
"Curse the Halfling! Now he's lost?!" Dwalin yells.
"I thought he was with Dori!" Gloin yells.
"Don't blame me!" Dori yells.
"Well, where did you last see him?" I ask with panic, pacing around the group.
"I think I saw him slip away when they first collared us" Nori explains.
"What happened exactly? Tell me!" Gandalf yells.
"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 says strongly as if it's obvious.
I'm about to say something, feeling all the bottle anger towards this dwarf reaching its all-time high. I've had it with Thorin! He is so arrogant and that far up himself! He's so mean towards Bilbo and is always bossing him around. Not to mention, the way he acts like I'm not here half the time! With all this in mind, I feel myself take the breath in as I feel the words rising...
But I'm stopped by a small voice behind me "No, he isn't" We all turn around to see Bilbo step out from behind a tree.
"Bilbo Baggins! I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life!" Gandalf yells with joy.
Unable to stop myself I quickly lean down, pulling the young hobbit into a tight huge in relief, feeling all my anxiety leave in one big wave of joy.
"Bilbo, we'd given you up!" Kili says with a grin.
"How on earth did you get past the Goblins?" Fili questions.
"How indeed?" Dwalin asks. Everyone stares at Bilbo with silence, waiting for an answer.
"Well, what does it matter? He's back!" Gandalf says with a distant, different tone. With his sudden change in tone, it's out of place, causing me to give Gandalf a questionable look. Somethings up. Usually, Gandalf would want to know the whole story.
"It matters! I want to know! Why did you come back?" Thorin asks. I roll my eyes. Oh right, he's still here...
Bilbo stares at Thorin for a second "Look, I know you doubt me, I know you always have. And you're right, I often think of Bag End. I miss my books. And my armchair. And my garden. See, that's where I belong. That's home. And that's why I came back because you don't have one. A home. It was taken from you. But I will help you take it back if I can" Bilbo says with a smile. There is silence as the dwarves think about what Bilbo said, hanging on his every word. Gandalf smiles slightly but I have a huge smile. I'm so proud of Bilbo, he has come so far.