That's Another Story For Later

Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire

His eyes were a startling blue, the whites of his eyes red. His nose was flat and large, his mouth creased in a sneer. His ears were pointed, and his head was bald. The canines of his teeth were sharp, yellow. The rest of teeth were pointed as well, like he'd rip out your throat if he had the chance. The most startling part were the scars on his face. They were etched as deep as the others, across his temples, over his mouth in sets of three, just like the other scars.

I could barely stay in the tree, I swayed so much. Kili clasped my waist, keeping me from falling for the most part. I could barely breathe, the pain was to much. My head swam. I looked back and saw Thorin gaze at Azog, shock in his eyes. "Azog?!" He said. The White Warg growled softly, and Azog stroked it, talking in that harsh I didn't understand.

"Nuzdigid? Nudzi gast? Ganzilig-i urnarug obod nauzdanish, Torin undag Train-ob." The last part was easy enough to understand: "Thorin, son of Thrain." Thorin's face darkened, stricken with pain and grief, realization hitting him.

"It cannot be." The Pale Orc turned to the Wargs and their riders.

"Kod, Toragid biriz. Worori-da!" The Wargs leapt forward, trying to climb the trees. They jumped as high as they could, their paws scrambling at the wood, creating deep claw marks. Branches broke off in their jaws. The trees started to shake violently from the Wargs attacks. The dwarves struggled to hold. on.

"Iridian. Grab the trunk." Kili ordered. I did as he said, and clung for dear life. Kili's back was pressed to me slightly, making sure he knew where I was.

"Sho gad adol!" Azog roared. The Wargs continued assaulting the trees, and I started to lose my grip. The furthest tree from the cliff got uprooted from the Wargs' strength. It began to lean wildly. My eyes widened as I realized we were next. More Wargs attacked it, and it tipped over, landing on our tree. The others jumped from their tree to ours.

It didn't stop there. The momentum of the tree tipped ours as well. My grip was to weak, and I started slipping as the tree continued to tip. The jolting sensation sent my senses spinning, and I no longer knew up from down. Everything ached, and I could no longer hold on. I started to fall, unable to catch myself. "Kili." I said barely above a whisper, before falling.

A hand grabbed my wrist, but it only yanked my arm, pain rocketing through the now reopened wound again. I howled in pain, and his hand slipped off of me. "Iridian!" Fili called. "Kili!" He said next. My back hit one of the tree trunks, and pain exploded in my back. I screamed again, unable to contain the tears that flooded my eyes. A Warg came toward me. It's hot breath was so close, and I whimpered. I was going to die.

"Iridian!" I heard Dwalin's voice from far away. I moved half an inch, attempting to get up, but the pain made my vision swirl. A yelp sounded, and a body dropped. Arms wrapped around my body, picking me up and pulling me onto his back. I wrapped my arms around his neck on instinct, my head dropping onto his shoulder. The dwarf climbed up the last tree, and I looked down at a huge drop. I held his neck, more his chest, tighter, closing my eyes, hoping to relieve the pain. It did nothing

Thankfully, this tree did not fall. Azog laughed, a sound of glass shards. I opened my eyes again, wanting to see what happened. Kili's head looked from side to side, trying to find a solution. I looked up, to see Gandalf grabbing a pinecone. He put his staff to it, blowing on it. It started to smolder. It lit up orange, catching on fire. The wizard threw it at the ground, and it started a small fire in the underbrush.

The Wargs howled and growled, unable to pass the fire. He lit two more, using one for the other. "Fili!" He called, tossing one down. The blond dwarf caught it, and he bounced it in his hands a few times. More pinecones dropped. Kili caught one, and handed it to me. I weakly grabbed, and another one was dropped.