He had been deeply moved by the hobbit's confession to why he hadn't abandoned their fellowship, even though he knew that had initially been Bilbo's intention in the cave. Thorin admonished himself for never thinking more closely on the motivations of his newest member of his company. Of course he never could have expected him to endure the hardships of their journey for the pure adventure of it all, and he hadn't. First and foremost, He had expected the hobbit to give up or abandon them in a time of need. Thorin had foolishly assumed that what had compelled Bilbo to join had been monetary gain, and he now felt shamed by the purity of the hobbit's wish to help them gain the same kinds of blessings that he cherished for himself.

A home.

Their quest for a place to call their own and raise their children in peace and prosperity.

Of course. Nothing was more sacred to their hobbit than home and hearth. In fact, nothing was more sacred to any hobbit, if what he knew of the halflings in general was true. He should have considered this.

But even if he had, Thorin wouldn't have thought Bilbo to hold out as long as he had, especially not considering that he had actually been on his way back to Rivendell.

Yet, here he was, with a queer little smile, tipping on his disproportionally large feet and explaining to them in terms even a child could understand why they could actually trust him. Why they should never have doubted him. Thorin finally began to understand how unfairly he had treated this man, and how his harsh words would had driven Bilbo to give up, as opposed to what a good leader would have done; encourage him to take heart and keep going.

Shame reported for duty in his gut.

True, he still wouldn't bet two coppers on the hobbit in a fight against… well, anybody really. But by some strange fortune, Bilbo had still survived every challenge he had met and come out on the other side unscathed. Remarkable, indeed.

Thorin was interrupted from his silent musings by the unmistakable howls of wargs, coming from the top of the mountain. Far too close for his liking.

"Out of the frying pan," he muttered under a scowl.

"And into the fire… Run." Gandalf replied. "RUN!"

..o00Ô00o..

Really, is that all he ever says? There's a bush fire; "Run!" The company is being attacked by trolls; "Run!" A heard of orcs are on our trail; "Run!" You're going to be late for your audience with the king, Lori; "Run!" The Old Badger should slow down every now and again; he'd be more fun to be around.

The acerbic commentary swiveled in in deep pools of protective black tar in the unconscious mind, rising as poisonous bubbles to answer the call of a blistering bright world that would call its inhabitant up to suffer unsurpassable amounts of pain once more. It was inevitable to wake at some point, but the black tar didn't want to release its ward just yet.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Lori's mind began to clear from the deep unconsciousness she had been cocooned in. Awareness crept in and sounds began to fill the darkness. Sounds that were almost alien in their clear lack of malice. She remembered these sounds as if from a dream long ago in another world. -A world that didn't revolve around fighting pain and madness.

Bump.

Oh, ow ow ow!… Where am I? Stop jostling me!

Bump.

CURSES, that hurts! Lori's shoulders had been popped back into their sockets, but there was still blinding pain when the joints moved or were touched. The swelling was severe, and she didn't feel confident that her body had the resources necessary to heal itself. The ordeal of Goblin Town and the sheer number of traumas on her were immense.

At least her cuts had stopped bleeding profusely and were slowing to a dull ooze. Perhaps she was just running out of blood.

A lot more bumps and shaking occurred as tears of pain gathered in her eyes, and suddenly the world tilted. Lori felt like she was being swung through the air.

Ugh, I think I'm going to be sick…

"up Into the trees! All of you. Come on, climb! Bilbo, climb!" Gandalf's slightly panicked voice urged.

Another bump against what felt like a tree trunk had Lori croaking out an audible groan, her throat parched and raw from lack of fluid and hours of screaming.

"Thorin! I think she's waking up!" Fili's voice rang out fairly close to Lori's head.

"They're coming!" Came the reply from underneath.

"Bilbo! Hurry!" Another dwarf, though at the moment she wasn't sure who, shouted.

There was a bit of a lull in activity before Lori felt her body being shifted gently into strong arms.

"Lori?" Thorin said, softly. "Are you awake?"

She meant to say yes, but her voice wouldn't cooperate and instead she croaked like a frog and gave a small nod. The thick fur parted over her face and light assaulted her eyes, causing her to squint and re-open a cut on her temple. She gave a small, pathetic whimper. Even the slight sting of a shallow cut had her shaking in fear, so raw was her psyche from the torture she had endured.

"Shh, it's alright. We got you out. I will get you to safety somehow, and you will have time to heal, I promise." Thorin whispered and stroked the now short tresses of her hair. "Just hold on Lori. Can you do that for me?"

Lori began to relax a little at the comforting words and gave another nod. She tried opening her eyes, but only one would obey. Thorin's concerned face came into view, and the clear blue of his eyes soothed her almost as water would have done to her throat. She never thought she'd see that color again.

"Water?" She croaked.

Thorin's brow rose in surprise, either at the ragged sound coming from the mangled creature that once was a beautiful woman, or from the fact that nobody had thought to give her any until now, she did not know.

"Of course," he shifted to reach for his canteen. "Here you go… take it slowly so you don't choke."

She did so anyway, but eventually the soothing coolness slid down her gullet like a healing balm. With a sigh of relief she leaned against the tree trunk behind her and muttered her thanks.

Thorin smiled affectionately and carefully wiped her chin of water and crusted blood. Suddenly he froze and straightened his back. As he turned away from her she thought he would abandon her once more, and Lori prepared to turn her heart to stone against the hurt.

Instead she heard him hiss out the word "Azog," as if it was poisonous.

A voice like thundering evil, in a language that made her insides roll and her nerves scream started to permeate the air. Lori covered her ears and squeezed shut her eyes to keep out this new malice, even though her shoulders throbbed in pain at the motion. Would she never find peace?

More and more rot spread in what seemed like an endless airborne avalanche, bringing to mind both fires that licked and melted her skin as well as a fear that froze limbs and thoughts. It rose in cadence and volume until it roared and was replaced with the familiar noise of wargs barking and snarling as they charged the company's feeble high ground.

Weaponless, naked under the cloak and injured, Lori knew that pain would not last long now. She hoped she would see her mother when she passed over the threshold of death, and that whatever magic was in her blood left her murderer in some discomfort at the very least. In fact, if her body took vengeance for her lost fate by wiping out every damned monster on this rock, she would gladly sit back and smile from the afterlife. She wished that her friends would not be touched by it, though.

Gratitude filled her that she was at least able to see Thorin one last time and die as a free woman under an open sky. Thank heavens for small mercies.

The tree shook violently at her back when the mad wolves of Gundabâd jumped onto them in their attempts to catch the dwarves and rip them apart. Lori groaned in renewed terror, but had the sense to grab onto the branch she was sitting on, wrapping herself around it like a frantic sloth.

She opened her good eye just in time to see a giant beast leap up at her face and snap its teeth mere inches from her nose. The recoil her body made was automatic and violent, sending her up against Thorin's side, where she scrambled for purchase. Thorin wrapped a secure arm around her torso and pulled her tighter than her ribs approved of, but still less than she would have liked.

She heard the mighty creeks and groans of the trees before she saw that the first one was tilting rapidly towards them, bringing with it a gift of dwarrow and hobbit in flight. Her own perch soon mimicked the fall as it gave up fighting both the onslaught of wargs and its brother's weight. Thorin's grip hardened like a vice until both her body and mind finally agreed that yes, that was more than tight enough, thank you. Then he jumped to the next tree. And the next. And the next. And then they ran out of trees, thank goodness. Lori felt like she might never want to breathe again.

By some small fortune the last tree on the ledge held for now, though what comfort it provided was short lived as the towering pale orc began to chuckle in delight. They were caught and he knew it.

The wargs crept up to the tree, but as they neared the trunk to defeat the last bastion of the dwarves, flaming pine cones started flying down from above. Gandalf, by some stroke of genius, had lit the flammable seeds and now used them as grenades against their enemies. Lori hurried to copy his idea, but summoning the amount of power to light a flame might take more of her than she had to give in her state. Still, she would rather die fighting than be eaten by wargs whilst playing dead.

She felt the pull of magic and willed the cone in her hand to heat up, but before she could conjure a thin smoke Thorin grabbed her shoulder and handed her an already burning one.

"Here, you light them, I'll throw." He said. His eyes betrayed that he'd seen her struggle with her magic, and knew from before the toll it could take on her if handled carelessly.

Lori did as she was told, but as Thorin threw that first grenade, the tree they sat in began to fall. Everyone scrambled franticly for a place to hold on to, and in particularly those on the underside of the tree had difficulties. Lori tried to grab onto the tree trunk, but it was too wide and her arms were too weak. When the trunk came to a horizontal stop her hands slipped from their hold and she slid down with accelerating speed. Thorin managed to twist around and grab her fingers briefly, but even this was not enough to keep her in place.

She caught his eye as she felt herself lose the grip. She would accept this fate with grace, so that perhaps the gods would deem her worthy for whatever hall they thought she might belong to. A peaceful smile adorned her broken lip and she gave a small nod to Thorin that it was alright to let go. He had done honorably by her and she thanked him for it. He looked horrified and desperate despite her efforts to soothe him.

Then she felt nothing but air as she plummeted through the night towards the unforgiving earth.

..o00Ô00o..

Please don't hate me! I know it's a short one, but I've had it for so long and just need a fresh start on a new chapter if I'm going to continue writing this. That's why I'm posting now - so we can get on with it.

Your reviews are what compel me to never give it up. Thank you!