An Unexpected Journey

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Power Within

Azog growled at her words, no one called Azog the Defiler a coward like that; he was the might pale orc and he wasn’t going to allow Thalia to talk to him like that.

“Thalia what have you done?” Balin whispered in horror, the pale orc would not hesitate to end her life, even with the sudden bad weather that they were having; he knew that this could not be how it end.

Dwalin stared down at the brave witch, he was suddenly proud to call her a member of the company; time and time again Thalia was surprising them and he knew that she was as brave as any dwarf warrior he knew.

“Gandalf do something,” Bofur said turning to look at the wizard, he didn’t know what any of them could do without getting themselves killed; Thorin was unmoving on the floor and Thalia and Bilbo were going to die keeping him alive.

Gandalf’s eyes twinkled with a secret, he knew that help was on its way and he just hoped that help arrived in time; they were in dire need of help and even as Dwalin dropped down to join the fight he knew it wouldn’t be enough.

Thalia ducked out of the way as she twisted her blade around and gutted one of the orcs that were determined to get to Thorin; they wanted to please their master so much that they didn’t seem to care about dying.

Azog the Defiler urged his white warg forward as his eyes remained locked on Thalia, she would fall by his hand before he would take Thorin Oakenshield’s head; his master would be pleased when he handed him the blonde.

Thalia bite her lip peeking over at Cornelia, while they were doing well they were outnumbered; she wasn’t sure what they would do next since they still had to get away from her.

Thalia attention was quickly stolen by Azog as he moved into the battle, his eyes set on her and Thorin leaving no room for doubt on what he wanted; she readied herself knowing that she wouldn’t stand a chance against him in a physical fight and she would have to rely on her powers.

“Focus Thalia,” a voice said in Thalia’s head, she rolled her blue eyes knowing that of all the times that this could happen; her father had chosen now to give her some advice.

Thalia took a deep breath as she moved to stand in front of Thorin, she was determined to ensure that Azog wouldn’t end his life; he was too important to die now.

“You will die human,” Azog the Defiler spat raising his sword, he would wound Thalia so she wouldn’t stand in his way before he took the life of the dwarf king that she clearly held dear; however before his sword could touch Thalia, a swirl of wind and rain surrounded her.

Thalia swallowed closing her eyes and focused on manipulating the water in a way that she had only used once before; if she didn’t get it right then it could easy kill her and Thorin.

Azog’s sword swung forward and was meet by a brutal force that stopped him from even touching Thalia, he stared in shock as the rain and wind formed a protective bubble around his prey protecting them both before it suddenly froze into ice around them.

Thalia swallowed opening her eyes, she carefully reached up to touch her face feeling something trickling from her nose; her fingers touched the strange liquid before she realised that she was bleeding.

Gandalf leant forward staring in amazement at what Thalia had managed to do, he had never seen anything like that in his life; he didn’t know anyone who could manipulate the elements in such a way.

“Gandalf what just happened?” Dori asked turning to look at the wizard for answers, the storm wasn’t letting up and it was clear that no one knew what to make of what had just happened.

Gandalf cleared his throat as he looked at the confused dwarves, he knew that they would all ask the same thing and he didn’t know how to explain it.

“A miracle,” the wizard said finally as he looked over at the bubble, he would have to ask Thalia how she had managed such a feat when this was over; it was clear that Thalia had many secrets that could prove useful with this quest.

Gandalf huffed knowing that he would have to earn Thalia’s trust, the blonde wasn’t like the other demi-gods that had come through from the other realm and he knew he would have to learn a great deal about her and her cousin.

Thalia watched the shadowy figure of Azog as he paced around her protective bubble, she knew he was looking for some sort of weakness so that he could get to her and Thorin.

Thalia swallowed sticking her sword in the hard ground and turned her attention to Thorin worried about him.

“Don’t you dare die on me,” Thalia whispered dropping to her knees beside him, she frowned as she quickly checked his unconscious form.

Thalia knew he was badly injured and she would deal with them when she had pushed Azog away from them and they were no longer in grave danger.

“You are important Thorin and I need you to survive,” Thalia said brushing some hair from his scratched and bruised face, Aphrodite’s words rang in her mind as she wondered if this was what the Goddess of Love was talking about.

Thalia glanced at Azog’s shadowy form, she knew that he couldn’t see inside and she knew she didn’t have much time to act; she would have to take the protective bubble down to face him.

Thalia carefully pressed a kiss to Thorin’s head, she closed her eyes wishing that there was time to heal him properly.

“Be safe,” Thalia whispered before she pushed herself to her feet, her hand moving to collect her sword as she glared at the shadowy confused figure of Azog; she knew he’d been trying to get inside.

Thalia closed her eyes for a moment as she prepared to attack, she knew that this was going to have to happen quickly and she hoped she wouldn’t end up getting badly hurt herself; she hadn’t master this part of her powers yet.

“Now Thalia,” Poseidon’s voice encouraged making Thalia snap into action and forced her sword switching through the ice bubble and into Azog’s stomach; the bubble quickly rearranged itself and with elemental force blasted itself at the pale orc.

Azog screeched out in pain as he stumbled back, his eyes staring at the woman in shock and horror as silence fell over the battle; his good hand pressed against the wound that Thalia had just caused him.

Thalia took a shaky breath, this wasn’t over and she was sure that they needed to find a way to get away and quickly.

“What are you?” Azog asked stumbling back, his warg moving protectively to his side as he stared at Thalia; no one had even been able to best him like that and now a woman had done so.

Thalia glared at the pale orc, her body shaking from the exertion that she had just used; she knew she’d come to regret what she had done later on but for now Thorin was safe.

Gandalf smiled as he spotted the butterfly returned, help had arrived and he turned to look at the Great Eagles knowing that they had come just in time.

“I’m your worst nightmare,” Thalia said staring down at Azog; a shrill screech filled the air as Thalia dropped to her knees exhausted, she took a deep breath as she spotted a large eagle flew overhead, help had finally arrived even if it was a little late.

Thalia clutched at her sword knowing that they still had to get away from the orcs and their wargs before she could truly rest.