An Unexpected Journey

Chapter Sixty-Six: Battle of the Five Armies

"What should we do?" Bilbo asked not sure what they should be doing, he came to a complete stop as an orc launched itself at him and quickly found itself being beheaded; he stared at Thalia almost thankful that he had decided to stay with her. 

Paloma and Cornelia had disappeared in the battle and Thalia was sure that they would be fine; they were a lot more prepared for this than she was.

 Looking around, Thalia's blue eyes landed on Dale and her stomach turned knowing that if the battle drifted that way then the people there would not be able to defend themselves. 

"We head for Dale... they're going to need our help," Thalia insisted looking about, no one was paying attention to them and it would be easy for them to make their way across the battle to Dale. 

It wasn't like anyone would stop fighting and question them, they would be too busy fighting for their lives and trying to defeat the army that had descended on them.

Bilbo nodded his head and clutched at Sting, he wanted to be able to help even if he wasn't going to be able to do much. 

He knew next to nothing about fighting and if he could help Thalia out in some way then that was all that mattered; he felt bad enough for causing her and Thorin to fall out like they had. 

The two of them quickly started to make their way towards Dale, they ducked and weaved through the battle taking out any orc that tried to stop them on their way. 

Bilbo looked around wildly wondering for a moment where Gandalf had disappeared to, there was no sign of the wizard and he hoped that he would be alright in the war to come.

***

Stumbling into the ruins of Dale, Thalia pulled Stormbringer out of the chest of the orc that had tried to get in her way; she looked around almost glad that there didn't seem to be any orcs about. 

Bilbo jogged to her side, Sting was almost covered in orc blood and he was glad that he'd been able to help Thalia in some way; he looked around wondering where everyone would be.

The sound of crashing greeted the pair and they shared a look before they took off towards the sound; Dale had been breached and it wouldn't take long for orcs to flood the city. 

"Thalia," Tilda shouted spotting the blonde witch when she hurried into the courtyard, people around her were fleeing for their lives while orcs appeared ready to massacre everyone that got in their way. 

Thalia hurried over to the girl, she was relieved to see that she was okay after what had happened and she looked around trying to spot Bain and Sigrid. 

Bilbo followed his eyes taking in the scenes before him and he wondered just how they were going to drive the orcs away; people were heading for the main hall and he hoped it would be able to keep them safe. 

A lot of the people that were running were woman, children, the elderly and the sick; they wouldn't be much use against the force that was invading Dale. 

"Where are your sister and brother?" Thalia asked looking about, she doubted that Bai and Sigrid would have deliberately lost their sister at a time like this. 

There were so many people pushing and shoving in an attempt to get away with their lives; Thalia tried not to think about how many would be die this day. 

Tilda just shrugged, she had no idea where they had gone and her father was away leading the men in the fight; she was frightened and so glad that she had spotted the witch. 

Thalia nodded her head and looked around, she wasn't sure what her plan was here but she couldn't turn her back on these people; she looked around at the scene before her and prayed that help would arrive soon.

Taking a deep breath, Thalia focused on the building before her and raised her hand hoping that this would work; Tilda looked up at her wondering what she was doing before the building started to crumble and fall onto the orcs. 

Thalia sighed and started to back away, they needed to get to the main hall and she was hopeful that they would find Bain and Sigrid there so she could reunite Tilda with them. 

"How did you do that?" Tilda asked curiously when Thalia started to usher her along, she had never seen anything like it before and she was in awe. 

Bilbo kept glancing back, he was glad that Thalia had been able to buy them some time and he could only hope that she had something up her sleeve that would allow them to survive this. 

"I'll explain later... let's find your siblings," Thalia replied carefully, now was not the time for that sort of battle and she quickly dispatched an orc that charged at them. 

Sounds of battle reached them as they walked and Thalia was almost glad to see Bard had led his men back to Dale to help defend it; she kept a hold of Tilda to stop the girl rushing to her father who was busy fighting. 

Tilda stared at her father as she was quickly lead away from the main battle that now seemed to be gripping Dale; she had tears in her eyes hoping that she would see him again soon. 

Bodies laid scattered around and Thalia felt her heart pound in her chest, they could not lose this battle and she knew that they needed to find some sort of strength if they were going to make it out of this alive.

***

It didn't take them long to reach the main hall and Thalia was pretty sure that it was going to be a long time before she ever forgot about this day; she looked about hoping to find some sort of inspiration. 

"Tilda," Sigrid shouted in relief before she rushed towards her sister, she had been so worried when she couldn't see her and she had thought for a moment that she had been killed when the orcs had attacked. 

Bain offered a nod of thanks to Thalia, he was a little surprised to see her here and he wondered why she wasn't with her dwarves. 

It was nice to see that she had survived the fall that she had taken in Laketown, he had wanted to look for her but Bard had been against it; wanting to find Sigrid and Tilda after the dragon was dead. 

Thalia took a deep breath and tried to steady her breathing, the battle wasn't going to end until someone had lost and she wasn't going to let that by her. 

"Stay here and keep everyone safe," Thalia said looking to Bain, she knew that there was every chance that the orcs would come this way but she didn't care; she was going to find a way to protect the people here. 

Bilbo prepared himself to leave, his eyes flickering over the people that were here; he had no idea what Thalia was planning but he hoped that it worked. 

"What about you?" Tilda asked clutching at her sister's skirts, she eyed the lace pattern top that Thalia was wearing it was ripped now and she feared what would happen if Thalia was killed. 

The witch wasn't wearing any armour and Tilda could only think about what would happen if she was stabbed by an orc; she would have very little chance of surviving such a thing. 

"I'll be fine," Thalia replied smiling at Tilda, she could no longer see what was going to happen and she guessed that was a good thing; she would need a clear head in the battle if she was going to make it out alive. 

Bilbo smiled softly, he couldn't help but admire Thalia in that moment; she knew that there was every chance that she could be killed in this fight yet nothing deterred her from the decision she had made. 

The witch and the hobbit left the main hall, both knowing this could mean their deaths.