The Company's Fifteenth Impromptu Member

The Orcs Have Come

The stench only got worse as we grew closer to the troll hoard. I smelled it long before everyone else, and I tried to mask my disgust as much as I could.
I don't really think I did a good job.
My leg was feeling a bit better, though, which was a nice plus. Oin had given me some medicine which helped with the pain, to which I was grateful for. I could at least walk with a limp, the twinges of pain more bearable. Bilbo had quietly walked with me, the concern in his eyes tangible, and shortly after that, Bofur joined the two of us as the Company walked, nearing the troll hoard.
I didn't want to be here, if I was honest with myself. What if there were more trolls here? What would we even find? Someone's carcass, half-eaten and discarded?
I shuddered at the thought. I'd seen more than enough of eaten bodies.
By the time we stepped inside the hoard, I was at least a little grateful that I wasn't the only one adversely affected by the smell. I swallowed down the rising bile as best as I could, nervously looking around, hoping that I wouldn't find something I'd regret seeing. Thankfully, I couldn't see anything of that nature, but haphazard piles of odd trinkets, treasure, and-
Weapons.
My feet were automatically moving me before I realized it, despite my obvious limp. The medicine that Oin had given me had helped with the pain, and while I was heavily grateful, the brief thought of gratitude paled in comparison to seeing these collections of weapons.
And were they decent. It was obvious that they were elven, made both to be elegant and lethal. My fingers brushed over a dusty grey hilt, the sword shorter than the others around them. I pulled it out to test its weight and length, and to my surprise I found it was close to a perfect length for me, and a bit lighter than I expected.
Now I have my own sword. I won't need to borrow from Kili or Fili...
And then, I saw it.
A bow.
It felt like my whole world flipped right side up, in that brief second as I pulled it out of the dust. Despite how bad the cave was, it was still in pristine condition. It couldn't have been in here very long, surely.
Still, I thought, I shouldn't underestimate the craftsmanship of the elves. It was utterly beautiful, and no doubt well made. There was no way I could leave it behind. Especially not since it was my favored weapon of choice.
"That's a mighty fine bow, that is."
Bofur's voice was surprisingly quiet as he came to see what I was doing. I shyly met his eyes with a tiny smile before looking at the bow.
"It is, isn't it?" My smile quickly fell, however. We didn't have any arrows to spare, and I couldn't see any in the immediate vicinity. I let out a soft curse, kneeling down to sift through the piles of dirt and dust. Surely there had to be at least a few scattered around here, right?
Someone, however, had beaten me to the arrows. Bofur's hand came into view, dangling something in front of my face. I nearly recoiled in fright, only to stop and realize that it was a quiver, full of arrows and covered in dust.
"W-where-?"
The dwarf gave me a cheeky smile, his moustache quirking upwards, eyes sparkling. "Right next to that bow you got," he chuckled, placing it into my hands.
I felt my cheeks growing warm in embarrassment; how had I not seen them?!
Bofur's mirthful laugh was oddly comforting at seeing my predicament. Anyone else, I would have assumed they were laughing at me. In all honesty, I didn't think the dwarf had it in him to poke fun at someone like that..
I tried to hide my smile at his amusement. There was a strange peace in my chest at seeing him happy, even in the midst of what had happened only an hour or so prior. How could someone be this optimistic?
I looked around us, only to realize that everyone else had left. Bofur noticed our lack of company as well, and gave me a wink. He offered me a calloused hand.
I wouldn't, couldn't admit how happy the single gesture was to me.
With only a moment's hesitation, I slung the quiver securely over my shoulder, switched hands on the bow, and gave him a shy smile before gingerly placing my hand in his.
But I should have known that the tender moment would have been shattered. My luck was never that good. Just as we emerged from the fowl-smelling cave, a panicked wizard joined our company with agitated, massive rabbits pulling his sled. I barely paid attention to him after realizing that he and Gandalf were good friends, but somehow something seemed off.
I looked around us, trying to understand. What was I sensing?
"You alright, lass?"
I jumped at Bofur's words, quickly turning to look at him. I forgot they didn't know.
I needed to be more careful.
"I..." I stopped. Would it hurt to confide in him, if only a little? "...Something feels off. Not right... I- I'm not sure-"
But it was the growing smell that put all my hairs on end, terror freezing my body in place. Bofur watched as my body seemed to shrink on itself, eyes wide in fear.
"Bofur...?" I whimpered quietly, gripping my bow tighter in a panic. This was so much worse than I thought it was.
The howl came before the dwarf could answer me.
"Is that a wolf?" Bilbo's voice betrayed his inner emotions. From beside me, Bofur paled, glancing briefly at the halfling then to me.
"No, that is not a wolf.."
The stench of the warg burned my nostrils. I nearly backed into Bofur, my eyes blown wide as I whipped towards the smell.
The all-too-familiar growl, accompanied by the stench of its breath as it leaped out from its position into our line of sight seemed slower than normal. Fur matted, disgusting state; the reminders sent me into a blind panic. It all hurt. The memories, the hands, the pain-
My hands blindly grabbed for my sword, a pained cry of rage leaving me as I swung at the beast as it lunged straight towards us. I barely knew what I hit, but the spray of warm blood hitting me told me enough. I pulled the sword back right as it hit home, and my vision seemed to clear as it landed on the forest floor. Dwalin was quick to end it with an angry grunt.
"We need to go, now," I said, voice wavering. My body shook; I wasn't quite sure if it was fear or something else. Definitely a good bit of fear.
I didn't know if anyone heard me. I knew the others were talking, but I couldn't tell what they were saying from the roaring in my ears. "That was a scout, we need to go, please-"
And so we did. Whether by my words or someone else's, we were all suddenly running, weapons drawn through the trees and into the clearing.
I was by no means a religious woman, but I prayed then to anyone that somehow, we'd make it out of this unscathed, because the alternative-
Well. the alternative, I wouldn't wish on anyone. Orcs were not known for mercy.
I gave a panicked look towards Gandalf, who led us across the clearing, sword and staff in hand. I gripped my bow tighter, pulling an arrow out of my quiver.
It wasn't long before we were forced to fight.
Both Kili and I had bows drawn when the fighting started. Arrows flew through the air at deadly accuracy from the both of us, my fear at the orc pack driven back just enough by the others around me. How I wish I was as brave as the rest of the Company was.
A quick glance to my left, however, made my blood freeze.
"Ori!"
The poor dwarf had little more than a slingshot against the orc about to pounce on him. The thought of seeing the innocent dwarf torn to shreds by the warg-
The volley of arrows that landed in the warg sent it to the ground with a howl of agony. The tears streaking my cheeks felt hot, but my feet were firmly planted. I realized after a moment that those were my arrows lodged in the warg.
But we were cornered, backed against a boulder with orcs closing in. It was definitely a cause for a little bit of panic. I was running out of arrows in my quiver, and retrieving them was out of the option.
"Ki pâshnar obgur, shapênd!"
The harshness of Black Speech, the familiar voice of the orc. My entire body instantly went cold.
I'd heard that line before.
How had they found me...?!
"Elaina!" Thorin barked, "let's go!"
The future King's words brought me out of my panic just enough to see our escape. I forced my legs to run, taking one last fearful look to the orcs closing in.
You cannot escape, bird.
I should have known he would still hunt me down after I escaped.