It takes no longer than twenty minutes for Bilbo to be completely packed up and headed to the entrance of the cave. I sit and watch the whole time he packs with a sorrowful look. It would seem that my attempt at getting him to stay was in vain.
Just as Bilbo attempts to leave, Bofur spots Bilbo and stops him, giving me time to get up and limp over to them, still in slight pain.
"Where do you think you're going?" Bofur asks bluntly, a curious expression on his face.
"Back to Rivendell," Bilbo responds, almost sadly.
"No, no, you can't turn back now, you're part of the Company. You're one of us," Bofur says, trying to convince Bilbo to stay.
"I'm not though, am I? Thorin said I should never have come, and he was right. I'm not a Took, I'm a Baggins, I don't know what I was thinking. I should never have run out my door," Bilbo says staring out into the night regretfully.
"Bilbo, you're more your mother than you'll ever know. You belong on this quest," I quietly insist, leaning against the wall beside Bofur to relieve the remaining pain from my legs.
"You're homesick; I understand," Bofur attempts before Bilbo interrupts him.
"No, you don't, you don't understand! None of you do - you're dwarves. You used to - to this life, to living on the road, never settling in one place, not belonging anywhere. Even you Ambrosia!"
The moment after Bilbo's words leave his lips I feel a slight tug of sadness in my heart, frowning a bit alongside Bofur. Bilbo's eyes instantly go wide at what he said, and he instantly goes to try and apologize.
"I am sorry, I didn't..."
Bofur gives a tight smile to Bilbo before saying, "No, you're right. We don't belong anywhere. I wish you all the luck in the world. I really do."
Bofur lays a hand on Bilbo's shoulder for a moment before walking away.
Bilbo turns to me, and I decide to brush past what he had said, and ask, "You were planning to leave without me?"
Bilbo's guilty expression falls to the ground again for a moment before he looks back up at me.
"You don't really want to leave, Ambrosia. I can see it in your eyes, and I think so can a few of the others. You've- You've fallen for him," Bilbo whispers so that only I can hear him.
My eyes widen and a light blush spreads on my cheeks as I whisper, "Who are you referring to?"
Bilbo gives me a slightly knowing look before whispering, "Thorin."
I blush a tad more before covering it up. I can't afford to fall in love. It's too dangerous, and love was not made for someone like me.
Bilbo walks up closer to me, whispering, "You finally might have a chance at happiness. I can't take that from you."
My gaze softens for a moment before I notice something.
Bilbo's sword is lightly glowing, which can only mean two things: Orcs or-
The floor falls from beneath the group before anyone can react, and I'm sent straight back onto my back, face to face with...
Goblins.
Jumping to my feet, my back gives a sickening crack and sends a stinging pain into my body, the herb from earlier apparently already worn off. The terrible pain rushes through my body, and I grimace.
Still, I attempt to push through the pain, swinging out my swords and slicing at the Goblins with the rest of the Company. But within moments we've all been overpowered, and the Goblins roughly shove us towards our doom.
Seconds later, we're pushed in front of the hideous Goblin King. The rest of the Company is all huddled together, but I am kept separate from them, held in place by at least twenty different Goblins.
The others glance at me with worried expressions as the Goblin King bellows, "Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom? Spies? Thieves? Assassins?"
"Dwarves, Your Malevolence," one of the Goblins replies, motioning towards the company slightly.
"Dwarves?" The Goblin King questions, his eyes not having found me yet.
"And a person of great worth, Your Malevolence," The other Goblin states as the group pushes me forward a bit. I stumble, the pain making it hard to stand, but glare straight at the Goblin King, standing as straight as I can.
The Goblin King's eyes widen slightly as he bellows with a growling smirk, "Bring her forward, and take their weapons!"
The Goblins around me quickly remove my weapons before roughly shoving me in front of the Goblin King, their clawed hands still grasping and scratching at me.
The Goblin King puts on an evil smirk as he speaks, "Well, well, well. If it isn't Ambrosia, the Silent Slayer, the Nightmare, the monster in disguise. Still parading around as a hero, believing that you can save people? Wash the blood of the innocent from your hands?"
I glare back at him, but my face mostly remains expressionless.
The Goblin King's face comes up close to mine in a fierce scowl, "Your Father has been hunting for you for a long time. Since the Battles of Erebor, I believe? Your Father's got a large bounty out for whoever brings you to him alive. But, then again, you do not call him that, do you? He's only a monster in your eyes. Just as you were in the eyes of those you killed."
I can feel myself tensing up as he continues pushing on, my glare only growing in strength.
"You can still see them every time you close your eyes, can't you? Still hear their pleas for mercy every time you try to sleep? Still feel the way their bodies stilled in your hands?"
I can feel myself beginning to shake a bit, and the others are no doubt staring at me in horror.
Growling between my gritted teeth, I hiss, "That's not who I am anymore."
I can hear the others yelling at the Goblin King to leave me be (which surprises me a bit) as the Goblin King reaches forwards.
I gasp in pain and surprise as the Goblin King grips my throat with an anger I did not know he could wield, lifting me a few feet from the ground and yelling, "Bullshit! You've just subdued the demon inside, haven't you? Maybe I should remind you just how good it feels to kill an innocent. Maybe then you'll return to our side. Then, when I return you to your Father, you won't run away."
"That Sounds Like Fun~" The monster inside of me coos, scratching at my skin a bit from the inside, begging to be released. The scratches she leaves show on the outside,
Glaring again, I manage to gasp out, "I was never on your side."
Quickly gathering a ball of spit in my mouth, I swish my tongue a bit, turning it into venom with a small inaudible spell and spit it at the Goblin King's face.
The King yells out in pain, throwing me a few feet back, and into the rough ground. I land on my back once again, causing the others to protest loudly, attempting to move to me, but unable to. My vision in slightly blurred, but I make out the shape of a few more Goblins moving forward and sweeping me up and forcing me to stand once again as the Goblin King yells, "Take the slave to my chambers! I'm going to have some fun with her before we return her to her master. Just like old times."
My blood runs cold, but I have no fight left inside of me. No energy, no strength.
"Stop!" I hear a deep voice call, stepping out and in front of the group of Dwarves.
Thorin.
My eyes widen as they come into focus on him. The Goblins holding me stop, and I fall to my knees, my eyes widening at Thorin's actions.
I would've thought he'd let me be taken after everything he's heard.
"Release her to us and let us through!" He demands, standing strongly and bravely in front of the group.
The Goblin King observes Thorin for a moment before speaking, "Well, well, well, look who it is. Thorin son of Thrain, son of Thror; King under the Mountain."
The Goblin King gives an exaggerated fake bow before stopping half way up and cooing evilly, "Oh, but I'm forgetting, you don't have a mountain. And you're not a king. Which makes you nobody, really. I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head. Just the head, nothing attached. Perhaps you know of whom I speak, an old enemy of yours. A Pale Orc astride a White Warg."
Thorin's eyes widen, though I can barely see it as my vision begins to blur slightly again.
"Azog the Defiler was destroyed. He was slain in battle long ago," Thorin claims, furrowing his brow slightly.
"So you think his defiling days are done, do you?" The Goblin King laughs before turning to a tiny Goblin nearby.
"Send word to the Pale Orc; tell him I have found his prizes."
Thorin's eyes flicker over to me again, and he demands once again, this time with more urgency, "Release Ambrosia to us!"
I can feel blood from my arm, head, and legs beginning to drip down slowly towards the ground, leaving trails on my green skin, which is much brighter than the skin of a Goblin. Goblins sure don't play around when it comes to torture, pain, and capture.
My vision begins to worsen, but the Goblin King yells, "You heard the Dwarf! Release her to them before we begin our fun! I'm sure she'd like to watch as we torture the life from their eyes."
The Goblin's holding me down shove me roughly towards the others, and I quickly fall against someone's chest, my hands gripping their shirt lightly. The person wraps their arms around me protectively, yet gently, and I shakily look up to see Thorin staring down at me with a worried expression.
Worry sets into my heart about what the Dwarves must think of me, and I bury my head into Thorin's chest.
"Coward. We've never cared about what people thought of us before. Why should we care about what a bunch of Dwarves think? It's not as if we're a part of their family."
Thorin holds an arm around my waist to help me stand on my unsteady legs, the other arm around my upper back, his hand lightly brushing over my hair, dodging the roses carefully as he no doubt thinks of a plan to escape. Had he been holding me like this at any other time, I might've been a blushing mess, no doubt. But not this time.
I can feel myself shaking a bit, but I try to remain calm, taking deep breaths to try and steady my breathing.
I hear something, like a sword being pulled out of it's sheath before a Goblin shouts something. But I don't hear it. In fact, I can barely hear anything now that I think about it.
Seconds later, Thorin is pulled away from me, leaving me to fall back to my knees, and I barely see a Goblin holding him down, ready to behead him.
But a blinding white light knocks all of the Goblin's back, and a familiar wizard shows up.
"Take up arms. Fight. Fight!"
Gandalf quickly runs up to me before muttering a spell. In seconds, I'm healed and my weapons have been returned to me, though I'm still a bit fatigued. Spotting Thorin a few feet away, I make my way towards him, meeting his blue eyes with my violet ones, before we run towards the others.
Goblin after Goblin rushes towards me in an attempt to subdue me, but all end up dead within seconds.
With all of my strength back, the Goblins have everything to fear from me. Though, I'm not quite at my strongest. When I'm at my strongest, all enemies should fear me.
My eyes darken as the company and I begin to make our way across a bridge, throwing down any and all enemies in our path. Hundreds of Goblins are approaching, but I do not fear them. I've taken down larger, and much more dangerous armies without anyone beside me. Placing both my swords in my hands, I place my bow on top of one of my swords, ten arrows loaded up already.
Aiming my bow in the air, I mutter a spell which lights the tips of the arrows on fire. The others fight around me before I call out, "Get behind me!"
Everyone runs behind me, where there are currently no Goblins as I release the arrow into the sky, yelling out the next spell.
"Polla Veli Exaplothike Grigora!" I yell, watching as they multiply into one thousand arrows, zooming back down on the Goblins and taking out many of them. Turning back towards the others, I yell, "Go!"
The shocked Dwarves quickly shake out of their trance, turning and running towards the other side of the bridge, only to be stopped by a sudden Goblin King appearance.
Before anyone can react, I jump onto the unsteady rope railing and run to the front with a burst of confidence, stabbing one of my swords into his massive stomach. He howls a bit in pain, near ready to fall back before loudly saying, "Even if you kill me, you'll still be a monster. Don't you forget that. Once a monster-"
I stop him by sending my other sword straight through his neck, leaning in close with a dark, serious look, his eyes wide while he chokes on his blood, as I whisper back, "Always a monster."
~~~~
Polla Veli Exaplothike Grigora = Many Arrows Spread Rapidly (Greek Words Searched On Google Translate)
A/N
Hello Everyone! Here's the next chapter of my book! The next chapter is going to be longer and much more detailed, so it will take time.
*I plan on posting the next chapter on or by November 8th, a full month away. *
I know that's a really long time, but believe me when I say that it will be worth it, as I've already started writing the chapter and am very excited release it to you all!
Thank you all for your patience, and I would love to see some comments about how you all like the book so far, since no one has commented yet.
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