Sorry it took me so long to update, mid-terms have been consuming my life. I plan on writing up until the end of the movie tonight and will hopefully be posting it in a few hours. I'm really excited about the next chapter but felt I should give you a little something since it has been so long since I last posted. Thanks so much for all of your support and as always any questions, comments, suggestions, or even random thoughts are welcome. I hope you enjoy :D P.S. my spring break is coming up on Friday and I will be visiting Ireland and Scotland so I will be unable to update but I promise that once I come back I will take up the story again!
The group briskly tumbled down into the depths of the mountain, eventually landing in a crude basket of sorts. Much to her distress Addy was one of the first to land only to be squashed by each and every Dwarf thereafter. Thorin had been separated from her during their descent and was the first to regain his footing.
"Adelaide! Adelaide where are you?" He bellowed whilst looking desperately for her small frame in the mass of Dwarves. Addy was attempting to call out to him but still hadn't managed to catch her breath from the initial impact. Just then a commotion of odd creatures appeared out of nowhere. They weren't Orcs, Addy knew that much, they were far too small to be Orcs. They did have the same slimy inbred look to them however; they must be distant relations she thought ironically to herself. Before she knew it her wrists were bound and she was being herded along with the rest of the company to an unknown destination.
Having a moment to finally take in her surroundings Addy deduced that they had landed in hell. The group was being shuffled along on makeshift walkways that looked as if they were one Dwarf short of buckling. The deep underground cavern was littered with these unsound bridges, each lined with a mass of candles to illuminate the ragged space. They were deep in the heart of the mountain now, so deep that Addy couldn't discern where the ground ended and the mountain began. Addy's head spun every time she dared to look into its depths. Conscious not to stumble and fall to her death Addy stopped for a moment to clear her head only to be lashed with metal chains.
"Jesus Christ! What did you do that for?" Addy screamed out as she began thrashing back at her captors. "Where are you taking us?" Addy demanded of the creature dragging her along.
"To the Great Goblin!" With that all of the other Goblins joined in and began chanting 'Goblin King' in unison.
"Thanks for clearing that up." Addy said sarcastically to herself. Then her mind began to race, who was this 'Great Goblin'? What if he knew Azog? These creatures must band together in some sort, what if the two were allies? Addy thought her head was going to implode from all of her worries. How had life become so complicated she questioned to herself. After having been pushed along for quite some time the group finally came to a stop at a huge rock jutting out from below, which had been fashioned into a throne of sorts. Addy looked up from her feet to discern who this so called 'Goblin King' was. What her eyes saw disgusted her. This guy was in serious need of some dermatological help Addy first thought. He had at least one kind of cancer, if they even had cancer in Middle Earth. He was enormous and that was putting it lightly, his chin alone could easily squash at least two of his minions.
"Who dares to come into my Kingdom armed?" The Great Goblin boomed. He towered over them at ten feet tall, his teeth were black with rot, warts and boils littered his body, and he had the nasty tendency to spit every time he spoke. "Spies, thieves, assassins?" He roared.
"Dwarves your malevolence." Answered one of his cronies.
"Dwarves? I haven't laid eyes on a Dwarf since the Battle of Azanulbizar. " The Goblin King said in response. "Well do not just stand there, search them! Every crack, every crevice!" He demanded. "What brings you to these parts?" He then asked of them seeming genuinely curious as to how they came to be in his kingdom. None of the company offered up any reasoning as to why they were in his realm, leaving the king far more irritable than before.
"Very well, if they will not talk we will make them squawk! Bring up the mangler! Bring up the bone breaker!" He then commanded after being met with silence. "We shall start with the youngest first!" The king ordered while pointing his staff, adorned with some sort of skull and dangling shrunken heads, at Ori.
"Wait!" Thorin bellowed as he made his way to the front to address the king.
"Well, well, well, look who it is. Thorin son of Thrain, son of Thror, King under the Mountain. But wait, I am forgetting, you do not have a mountain, and you are not a king, which makes you nobody really." The Goblin King said while bowing mockingly to the proud Dwarf in front of him. Thorin clearly puffed out his chest in regards to the insult. The king then gave the lot a closer look to see if there were any more surprise visitors amongst them; while scanning his gaze stopped suddenly on Addy in the very back.
"And what do we have here? A queen reagent perhaps?" The Goblin King asked. Just then all of the Dwarves began looking around wondering when a queen had shown up. Addy began looking around to blend in, knowing full well he was speaking of her.
"You there in the back, with the blond hair, come forward." The king demanded. Thorin turned to follow the Goblins eye line landing on Addy.
"What is the meaning of this?" Thorin then asked venomously in response, feeling the Great Goblin was making a fool of him. If there had been a queen in their company he of all people would have known.
"Oh! Please forgive me, I have forgotten how truly naive Dwarves can be." The king said in response with a bite. Thorin struggled to break away from the Goblins that were guarding him, he almost succeeded until another began beating him back with chains. Addy was struggling so hard against her bindings that her wrists were beginning to bleed; she desperately wanted to help Thorin but couldn't managed to break free. "What I meant is that we are all in the presence of The Last Queen of Avalon." The Goblin King then clarified.
"Avalon? You must be joking! You know full well that dwelling does not exist, it is merely a fable made up for the amusement of children! " Thorin growled.
"You would not have noticed I suppose, since the Dwarf race is so good at ignoring what they cannot see." He said in response to Thorin. "She knows of what I speak." He said while looking at Addy with a knowing smile. It was then that all of the Dwarves and Goblins turned to look at the petite blond girl in the back. Addy did her best not to let on that the king was speaking the truth, she avoided all of the prodding eyes and stared fixedly at the Goblin King in front of her.
"You are lying!" Thorin bellowed back. If the Fae truly existed he would have come across at least one of them in all of his years.
"As much as you wish to believe otherwise she is a queen, no matter your feelings on the matter Thorin Oakenshield." The Great Goblin said meaningfully. Thorin then turned to truly look at Addy. It all made sense now, how she had come to be in Middle Earth, her ethereal beauty, her peculiar color changing eyes. How had he not seen it before?
Addy saw realization dawn on Thorin's face as he stared at her in disbelief. She wanted so much to pull him aside to explain everything but knew she would probably never have the chance.
"Now Miss I do believe I know of someone that would pay a great deal to know you survived all those years ago." The Goblin King interjected playfully. He would be rewarded greatly for the pair, all without even having to lift a finger.
"You know of whom I speak. A pale Orc, astride a white Warg." He crooned.
"Azog the Defiler was destroyed! He was slain in battle long ago!" Thorin snarled back in disgust.
"So you think his defiling days are done do you?" With that the king turned to address a tiny Goblin harnessed in some sort of zip line. "Send word to the Pale Orc. Tell him that I have found his prize! Let him know that I have Thorin as well; I'm sure he would be willing to pay handsomely for his head." The king said while smirking down at Thorin as the tiny Goblin sailed off to send the message, giggling maliciously to itself.
"What does Azog mean to do with her?" Thorin then asked worriedly.
"Wouldn't you like to know? Pity you'll be dead before any of it comes to light." The Goblin King taunted knowing what Azog had been planning for her. He had searched high and low for nearly twenty years looking for the lost queen, hoping to find a way to wield her powers as if they were his own. If Azog succeeded it would change all of Middle Earth forever. They would no longer be cast aside as abominations of the world, forced to live in hiding. They would rule it all, without having to answer to those who have shunned their existence for so long. They would answer to them now.
Just then hoards of Goblins appeared pushing along an odd contraption that Addy presumed must be the 'bone breaker'. So this was how it was all to end. She would be taken to Azog, Thorin would be beheaded, and the rest would have their very life squeezed out of them. Addy's thoughts were interrupted by the Goblin King breaking out into song.
"Bones will be shattered, necks will be wrung! You'll be beaten and battered, from racks you'll be hung! You will die down here and never be found! Down in the deep of Goblin-Town!" He sang giddily, anxious for their blood to be spilt. As he finished singing one of his underlings picked up Orchrist and began to unsheathe the legendary sword to get a better look at the weapon. The king caught sight of it out of the corner of his eye and immediately began shrinking backwards.
"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!" He cried out in fear.
The Goblins began lashing them mercilessly until they were all sprawled out on the ground helplessly. Addy was doing her best to fight back but couldn't hold off the mass of Goblins that kept appearing, one after another. Addy looked over to see if Thorin was faring any better only to see him completely surrounded. A Goblin was hovering over him with a dagger drawn, seconds away from imbedding it deeply into his eye. Addy tried to scream out to him but was suddenly blown backwards by a blinding white light. It took a few moments for them to regain their wits. Addy was one of the first up and quickly grabbed her twin blades anticipating the inevitable fight that was to come. She noticed a shadowy figure approaching and took a defensive stance. After a few moments Addy recognized the outline of the hat and realized that it was Gandalf.
"Take up arms! Fight! Fight!" He demanded of them.
It didn't take long for the rest to find their weapons and jump into action. Addy quickly realized that fighting Goblins was an easy sport. They were clumsy and inept making them easy to kill and even easier to push off of the bridge they were fighting on. Addy looked over just in time to see Thorin strike against the Goblin King with such force that it pushed him over the ledge. After a few moments of fighting they had killed enough to clear a path for their escape. Gandalf led them as they wound their way through the never-ending maze of pathways. Each and every Dwarf was fighting with all of their might hoping to make it out alive in one piece. Addy knew better, given the circumstances, but could not help but feel pleased, for she finally felt like a worthy member of the company. Each and every one of them played off of one another's fighting styles, killing any and all that came into their path. They had been separated sometime along the way but managed to reunite with each other just as Gandalf struck the ceiling with his staff releasing a giant stone boulder crushing any in its way. Just as they were about to make it out of the caves the Great Goblin erupted from below blocking their pathway.
"You thought you could escape me?" He asked while wildly swinging his staff at them. Gandalf fell backwards to avoid his blows. Luckily Ori, Dori, and Nori caught him in time to push him back up to fight. "What are you going to do now Wizard?" He asked of Gandalf. Gandalf proceeded to poke him in the eye with is staff, sliced him in the stomach, and slit his throat. "Well that'll do it." Were the Great Goblin's last words as he collapsed to the ground, upending the boardwalk beneath them. With that they all began gliding down into the unknown, grasping for anything that might stabilize them during their descent. Addy practically jumped on top of Thorin hoping not to repeat their previous plunge where she broke each and every Dwarf's fall. They eventually landed with a booming thud.
"Well that could have been worse!" Bofur offered optimistically before the body of the Goblin King landed atop of them.
"You've got to be joking." Dwalin grumbled as they all began digging their way out of the wreckage.
Just then a great commotion erupted from above. They all looked up to see each and every Goblin barreling towards them.
"We must find daylight! Run!" Gandalf ordered. Thorin helped Addy to her feet and they were off. Thankfully they had landed near an opening in the cave and quickly found themselves in daylight sprinting down the side of the mountain. After running for quite some time they eventually stopped to catch their breath. Gandalf began counting them to see if they had lost anybody during their escape.
"Where is Bilbo?" Gandalf asked worriedly after coming up one short.
"Where has the burglar gone to now?" Asked Dwalin curtly.
"I saw him disappear when we were first collared. They must not have recognized the scent of a Hobbit." Offered Nori to Gandalf.
"Dori was supposed to be looking after him!" Said Dwalin sternly.
"It is not my fault the Halfling has gone missing!" Dori said defensively.
The whole company began looking around to see if they had merely over looked the Halfling. Addy felt guilty having completely forgotten her friend during all of the commotion, not that she would have been able to do anything really.
"He has left us! He has dreamt of nothing but his warm hearth since he left his Hobbit hole!" Thorin said accusingly.
"He would not abandon us! Not now!" Addy cried out in response.
"And what makes you think that?" Thorin asked harshly.
"How dare you! All you have done on this journey is question his presence! He is here out of the goodness of his heart and you have done nothing but make him feel unwelcome! Just because he is not like you does not mean his is any less of a person!" Addy yelled back having had enough of Thorin constantly questioning their burglar. Thorin was taken aback by her harsh words. Had he really been that awful to the Halfling? Just then Bilbo appeared out of thin air.
"Bilbo! Where one earth did you come from?" Gandalf asked of him, surprised by his sudden appearance.
"I was lost in the depths of the caves. I was looking for a way out when I saw you running past and followed you." He explained.
"Why did you come back?' Thorin then questioned.
"Well, why does it matter? He is back!" Gandalf said while laughing genially.
"It matters. I want to know, why did you come back?" Thorin asked warmly.
"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. That's why I came back... 'cause you don't have one, a home. It was taken from you. But I will help you take it back if I can." Bilbo said with an air of pride about him. Addy noticed a change in her friend, he seemed more confident in himself than before. She would have to ask him what happened in those caves when they were alone next. Happy to see her friend back Addy engulfed him in a hug.
"I thought we had lost you back there!" She whispered to him. Bilbo returned the hug, comforted by her worry for him. Addy suddenly felt her ring pull towards something in his pocket. She looked down to see if she could discern what it was that made it respond so but was distracted by Bilbo's response.
"Oh, I could never leave you behind with this lot now could I?" He said playfully. As the two separated a deep howl erupted from high upon the mountain.
"Wargs." Dwalin spat.
"Out of the frying pan." Thorin said.
"And into the fire!" Gandalf finished.
"Run!" Thorin cried out as they all made a mad dash down the slope of the mountain in hopes of finding some sort of safety down below.