Nothing Without You

Chapter 4: One Versus Three.

Kili was sure he had never run so fast in his life, but even so, he could hear the wargs begin to catch him up with every step. He wouldn't outrun them, they were far too quick. But his momentum and the adrenaline pounding through his veins kept him surging forward into the forest deeper and darker. Kili could hear the wargs, he could hear their thundering steps, he could hear their howls. He sidestepped swiftly to the left and ducked behind a rock just as the three wargs approached. They stopped a little further to sniff the air; they knew he was near, that they hadn't lost him. He quietly released his sword from the sheath on his hip, it caught the light of the moon through the trees and glinted. So, he'd successfully drawn the wargs' attention from his friends in camp, but what now? He didn't have a plan for what to do next. In fact he wasn't sure he even had a plan in the first place. He had just acted on impulse. All he knew was that he couldn't run, they'd catch him. He couldn't keep hiding, they'd find him. That left one thing: he had to fight. He almost regretted drawing their attention. Reckless, just as Thorin had said, if he survived this he was sure to get scolded for his actions. But he didn't care. If his recklessness saved the lives of the others it would be worth all the yelling and anger and arguments. He swallowed and took a deep breath before scaling the rock with quiet feet. He stood. He was higher than the wargs. He watched them silently, they made gnarling, growling noises amongst themselves, ears and noses twitching. He'd seen wargs before, but he'd never really lookedat them - he'd always been too busy running away or fighting them. They were fearsome, built with strong muscles that displayed their formidable power. It was their eyes more than anything that made Kili feel the most anxious. They only seemed to be full of two things; anger and hunger. Always searching out their next hunt. He could see why Orcs favoured them. One of the wargs, that had been sniffing the ground, snapped its head up. It had caught his scent. Kili wrapped his hands tighter around his sword and with a cry he leaped off the rock and landed on the back of the nearest warg. It tried to shake him off like a wild pony, thrashing, shaking and spiralling. Gripping its thick, dirty fur with one hand Kili drove his sword into the warg's shoulder blades with the other. The warg let out a loud growl which turned into a pained yelp. He twisted the blade and with one last yelp the warg fell, causing Kili to tumble off it. The other wargs turned to look, ferocity in their eyes, at their fallen pack member. The grey warg caught sight of Kili, their eyes locked as the dwarf got to his feet. The warg came at him, jaws apart and flashing its great dagger-like teeth. Kili ran forward, towards it, and forced his sword into its open mouth. The blade travelled through the roof of its mouth and came out in the space between its dark eyes. It was dead instantly. Pulling his weapon away he let the animal fall to the ground and into the mud. Blood spurting from its wound and mouth, covering its grey fur. Kili hadn't time to see the other warg come toward him, he was too caught up in the sight before him, how even as it lay dead the warg was huge, bigger than a full grown horse almost. Before he could do anything the young dwarf felt himself lifted from the ground. And then came the pain, like nothing he had ever felt, as the teeth cut into him and tore at his right side. He was immediately aware that he was in the jaws of the remaining warg, and the jaws were strong indeed. He could feel his ribs begin the buckle and break, he began to cry out in agony but no air escaped his lips. There was too much force upon him to breathe. The warg shook him like a children's toy before releasing him. Kili hit the ground and slid through the mud on his back and into a tree trunk. The world around him began to blur, colours of the trees and plants mixing together. There was another colour, a dark brown unlike the other shades of the forest. He shook his head and his vision cleared long enough for him to see the last warg rushing at him with terrifying speed. Kili had not the strength to stand and run, his body was battered and bruised and he could feel the warmth of blood flowing from his wounds. The most he was able to do was raise his sword. The warg was unfazed and continued to approach him, jaws snapping, teeth glinting. As it took its final lunge Kili gave out a loud cry, like one of battle, and gripped the handle of his sword with such force his knuckles turned white. He closed his eyes and waited for the warg's jaws close down on him again. But it did not come. He felt a great weight hit his sword arm, the force caused an immeasurable pain to shoot throughout his body. He screamed out in agony. He felt the warg's stale, rotten breath on his face. The animal groaned and gurgled. He opened his eyes to see the beast impaled on his sword, the blade going straight through its stomach. With one last convulsion the warg fell silent and still. Kili, with what strength he could muster, wrenched his sword from it and the body fell, trapping his legs with a great weight. Kili's head fell back as he cried out again. He breathed deeply, any air he was able to inhale was roughly pushed back out again, it hurt to breathe. It hurt to do anything.