Price of Battle ➝ The Hobbit ✓

Part Six

PART SIX ~

Arien awoke with a start, her chest heaving. She gulped loudly several times, her gaze scanning frantically around her. Darkness had fallen, and the trees towered menacingly above her, seeming to reach out with knotted branches liked gnarled fingers.

She closed her eyes and waited for her heart to settle. Her forehead was damp with sweat, her hair twisting messily about her face, and she brushed it away, gathering it in a bunch behind her neck.

Her eyes eventually fluttered back open, and she glanced around warily. The trees looked less threatening, and the sky seemed to have grown lighter. Night was almost over.

Unable and unwilling to fall back asleep, Arien gathered her things, hastily devouring a light breakfast, and set off through the forest once more. She hummed a soft tune to herself in an attempt to drown out the morning silence, for it was somewhat unsettling.

The soft tune and gentle footfalls against the crisp leaves seemed to brighten her mood slightly, and after a while, a smile began to play on her lips. She seemed almost content, until she remembered the matters at hand. Her best friend had gone to battle without saying a thing to her; she had left her mother worrying sick about her at home and had refused the help of an old friend.

Arien sighed, keeping her gaze fixed on the path ahead of her. A spark of doubt was beginning to creep into her heart. She knew the forest well, for she, Fili and Thoros had spent much of their childhood exploring it, and she was thought she was certain about the direction she was headed, but now she wasn't so sure. She seemed to have journeyed deeper into the forest than she thought she would need to; she didn't recognize her surroundings or feel secure within the barrier of trees as she had done once before.

She shook the warning away, pushing the doubt from her mind. If she was to find and aid her best friend, she would need to be hopeful, to have faith in her decisions. She nodded approvingly and escaped from her thoughts, concentrating on the path ahead.

~

Arien kept walking for several hours in the same direction, following a dusty trail that cut sharply through the trees. It was somewhat obscured by the vivid greens of the foliage, but Arien was still able to make out the narrow line and follow it without a problem.

Her pack rattled with every step, and the sheath around her waist thumped against her leg. A dull throb was beginning to spread through her forehead as the sun glared down at her through the towering trees.

She had not gone much farther, when a sudden flash of silver caught in her eye, contrasting vividly against the pale, wavering leaves.

Her hand immediately went to the sheath around her waist as the clear snap of a twig rang through the air. Her fingers hovered over the blade, itching to grip the delicately crafted hilt that lay dormant, yet restless, in its leather cage.

Her heart was in her throat as she scanned through the trees with a practised eye, trying to pick out any discolourations against the hazy shadows. She felt the same sensation of being watched as she had the previous night, and she began looking more frantically around her, desperate not to get caught in a vicious ambush.

Her eyes widened as a large, grotesquely formed creature leapt from the trees in front of her, brandishing a long, glinting blade. It shone silver in the shafts of sunlight that cascaded down between the two figures. Arien's face set in a grim determination as she slowly drew her sword with a hiss. She swung the blade in front of her, skillfully, before letting it settle and eyeing the beast warily. She narrowed her eyes, studying the orc intently, catching it's posture and movement as it seemed to plan out the attack he had proposed.

Without hesitation, Arien sprung from her position and landed directly in front of the orc, bringing her blade down to slice through the shoulder of the beast. The sword penetrated the tough, leathery flesh and drew deep into it's body. It let out a horrific shriek and Arien forced her blade out, swinging it once more at the orc's neck. It gasped, it's eyes widening, before collapsing to the floor, limp and lifeless, it's blade dropping from it's grip and skittering through the leaves.

Arien's eyes burned with a fierce flame and the thrill of battle erupted in her heart like a wildfire, adrenaline pumping furiously round her body. She swung her blade across the bark of a tree, rubbing off the crimson stains. She sighed and slid her sword back in it's sheath. Where one orc dwells, others will follow from it's pack. Arien figured she had better run before she did get caught in an ambush.

She secured her pack around her shoulder and began bounding through the trees, racing over the undergrowth and foliage that coiled beneath her feet.