Flora's POV:
Dwalin and I had found Thorin and the others right were we had left him. Azog could be heard over the wall giving signs and a legion of Orcs began pouring out of the were-worm tunnels.
"I'm going over the wall! Who's coming with me?" Fili questioned, the other dwarves, except Dwalin, cheer and agree, preparing to climb down.
"Stand down!" Thorin hissed.
"What?" one of the dwarves questioned.
"Are we to do nothing?" Fili asked.
"I said STAND DOWN!" Thorin shouted. As Thorin walks away, the other look on in shock and surprise. Meanwhile, as Dain and a company of his dwarves rush toward the oncoming Orcs, the Elves stay right where they are. The dwarves are clearly outnumbered by the Orcs. Dwalin and I looked at each other and he shook his head.
Third Person POV:
"The elves, will they not fight?" Bilbo questioned Gandalf.
"Thranduil! This is madness!" Gandalf urged. Thranduil looks back at the Iron Hills dwarves, who have stopped and built a shield wall with their massive spears pointed outward, lead by the chants of the leader. The orcs are fast approaching the shield wall. Suddenly, right as the Orcs reach the dwarves, the Elves leap up over the shield wall from behind, wielding their swords, and begin raining down blows on the Orcs. As the Elves press forward, the dwarvish shield wall is raised and the dwarves rush forward, cutting down Orcs with their spears. Dain rides furiously through the Orcs, smashing them left and right with his hammer.
As the remaining elves march toward the battle, Gandalf and Bilbo are standing in one place.
"Eh, Gandalf - Is this a good place to stand?" Bilbo asked, with a laugh.
At the top of the hill, Azog commands his Orcs. "Send in the War Beasts!"
The wooden signalling devices change their position to show a new signal. Gandalf, seeing the signal, looks toward the tunnels to see new legions of Orcs, including massive trolls and other monsters, come out. Thranduil shouts to his troops. The Elves stop and pull out their bows.
"They cannot fight on two fronts. Now we make our move." Azog commanded, "Attack the city!"
As a horn sound and the signalling device changes again, another legion of Orcs that had been waiting for the signal turn and march toward Dale, which is between the current battle and the tunnels.
"Azog - he's trying to cut us off" Gandalf said, realizing what is going on. They see massive trolls, each large enough to carry multiple other dwarves and wooden structures such as catapults on their back, march toward the city along with the armies of Orcs.
"All of you, fall back to Dale! Now!" Bard commanded, as he, the Lakepeople, Gandalf, and Bilbo rush toward the city, trying to intercept the Orcs.
"To the city! Bilbo! This way!" Gandalf urged.
The monstrous trolls approaching the city stop at a rise overlooking Dale. They bend over and plant all four legs on the ground, thus making their backs horizontal. On their backs are catapults loaded with large rocks; orcs on the trolls' backs wind up the gears of the catapults. At a signal from their leader orc, who strikes the ground with his mace, the catapults are released, and the rocks fly toward Dale. They smash into the walls and towers, destroying everything they hit. As Bard, at the front of his army, rides across a bridge into Dale, we see the Orc army approaching the wall from another area. A troll with a giant triangle-shaped rock strapped to his head runs up to the wall and smashes into it headfirst, knocking it down and knocking himself out in the some motion. The orcs behind him rush into the city through the hole, entering the houses and killing whatever people they find.
Dwalin's POV:
Meanwhile, in Erebor, Thorin is merely sitting on the throne. I approach him.
"Since when do we forsake our own people? Thorin, they are dying out there." I urged.
"There are halls beneath halls within this mountain - places we can fortify." Thorin whispered, clearly not listening to a word I have to say. I look disappointed and angry. "Shore up, make safe. Yes......Yes - that is it. We must move the gold further underground - to safety!"
Thorin begins walking away, but I angrily calls out to him. "Did you not hear me?! Dain is surrounded! They're being slaughtered, Thorin."
"Many die in war. Life is cheap. But a treasure such as this cannot be counted in lives lost. It is worth all the blood we can spend!" Thorin retorted.
"You sit here in these vast halls, with a crown upon your head, and yet you are lesser now than you have ever been." I sighed.
"Do not speak to me as if I was some lowly dwarf lord..." Thorin hissed. As he speaks, Thorin is clearly mentally affected. "As-As if I were still...Thorin...Oakenshield. I AM YOUR KING!" Thorin roars and pulls out his sword; however, he is so unbalanced that he almost falls over.
"You were always my king. You used to know that once." I bow my head in sorrow. "You cannot see that you have become. By the way I asked Flora to marry me and she agreed."
"Go! Get out...before I kill you." Thorin hissed.
Thorin's POV:
After looking at each other for a while, Dwalin turns and leaves.
I walk through the hall in which he tried to drown Smaug; the entire floor is covered in gold a few feet deep. In my head, I hear many of the words that I spoke or were spoken to me earlier.
DIALOG-FLASHBACK - START
Dwalin: "You sit here...with a crown upon your head...you are lesser now than you have ever been..."
Thorin: "...but a treasure such as this cannot be counted in lives lost..."
Balin: "...a sickness lies upon that treasure..."
Bard: "...the blind ambition of a mountain-king..."
Thorin: "...AM I NOT THE KING..."
Thorin: "...this gold...is ours...and ours alone..."
Balin: "...treasure..."
Thorin: "...I will not part with a single coin..."
Bard: "...he could not see beyond his own desire..."
Thorin: "...as if I was some lowly dwarf lord..."
Thorin: "...Oakenshield..."
Balin: "...a sickness that drove your grandfather mad..."
Thorin: "...Oakenshield..."
Dwalin: "...this is Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror..."
Thorin: "...I am not my grandfather...my grandfather."
Gandalf: "...you are the heir to the throne of Durin..."
Dwalin: "...they are dying out there."
Gandalf: "...take back...take Erebor..."
Dwalin: "...Dain is surrounded... surrounded...is surrounded...Dain is surrounded..."
Gandalf: "...take back your homeland..."
Bilbo: "...you are changed, Thorin..."
Thorin: "...I am not my grandfather..."
Bilbo: "...is this treasure truly worth more than your honor..."
Thorin: "...I am not my grandfather..."
The voices suddenly stop, and I look down and sees the shadowy shape of Smaug sliding beneath the gold {I am imagining things}.
Gandalf: "...this treasure will be your death..."
DIALOG-FLASHBACK - END
I scream as the gold beneath me turns into a sinkhole and I begin drowning, surrounded by gold. I scream as I try to escape, but keeps getting pulled down. As I disappear beneath the gold, my imagination/dream ends. I am standing in the golden court. I yank off my crown and throw it to the floor. I have finally come back to my senses.
Third Person POV:
Meanwhile, the battle is going badly.
"FALL BACK! FALL BACK! TO THE BARRICADE! FALL BACK!" Dain shouts as the remaining dwarves begins retreating toward the gates of Erebor, with the orcs in pursuit.
"Now comes their end. Prepare for the final assault." Azog states. A signal horn sounds, the the orcs regroup to march on the dwarves.
Just inside the gates of Erebor, the dwarves of the Company sit desolately, hearing the cries of battle outside but unable to help their kin. They rise as they see Thorin approaching from further in the mountain, sword drawn.
He is no longer dressed in his royal robes and arbor, but in a simple leather outfit. Kili rises and begins shouting.
"I will not hide behind a wall of stone, while others fight our battles for us!"
Thorin and Kili continue to approach each other.
"It is not in my blood, Thorin." Kili says in almost a whisper. They stop in front of each other.
"No, it is not. We are sons of Durin. And Durin's folk do not flee from a fight." Thorin states, and he lays his hand on Kili's shoulder, smiling. Kili smiles back at him through his tears. They touch foreheads. Thorin turns to the rest of the dwarves and Flora. "I have no right to ask this of any of you; but will you follow me one last time?"
The dwarves rise and raise their weapons, ready to follow their leader and friend again. Flora approaches the Dwarf King with a smile on her face. In this moment she was so proud of him that you could literally see it on her face.
"You have come a long way Thorin Oakenshield." She smiled, bring him into a hug. Thorin was stiff at first, but then let the hug consume him.
"I am glad that if it could not be me that it is Dwalin. I know he can protect you when your father can not." Thorin whispered into her hair. Which made Flora smile and rest her head on his chest.
Flora's POV:
Dain and his surviving dwarves set up a desparate shield wall in front of the moat by Erebor's gates; the orcs line up by rank, ready to attack them. Azog suddenly stops the orcs with him on the hill from signalling the attack.
"Not yet! Wait...wait" Several heavily armored trolls shoulder their way to the front of the Orc ranks. "Attack...now!"
The orcs sound their signalling horn, and the orcs and trolls begin to march forward. Suddenly, another trumpet is heard; it is Bombur, atop the wall. The orcs stop in confusion. In Dale, Bilbo and Gandalf hear the sound too and look up in surprise.
"Thorin!" Bilbo smiled as the barricade of rocks in the gateway of Erebor suddenly smashes outward as it is hit from inside by a giant golden statue that the dwarves had hung up like a bell. The rocks fall forward and make a rough bridge across the moat. Thorin and his dwarves rush out and through the ranks of the Iron Hills dwarves; Azog looks on in shock. Dain begins shouting to his troops.
"TO THE KING! TO THE KING!"
"Du Bekâr!" [To arms!]" Thorin states leading the way as all the dwarves form a wedge behind him. They smash their way through the orc ranks, releasing their pent up anger and hatred. I had stayed behind to ensure no one would see me coming. I let the animal inside me take over and in no time I was a Snow Leopard. I quickly made my way out to the battle and began chomping down on Orcs and anything else in my path that was not a dwarf.
Third Person POV:
In Dale, Bilbo and Gandalf look out at the plain from an abandoned causeway.
"The dwarves! They're rallying!" Bilbo smiled, and then his smile fadded when he spotted a snow leopard, "Flora!"
They watch as the dwarves, fighting with new vigour, destroy the orcs.
"They are rallying to their king!" Gandalf smiled, "Flora is only doing what she thinks is right. The dwarves need all the help they can get right now,
Bard speaks to his remaining men. "Any men who want to give their last - follow me!"
They charge through the city and clash with the orcs, fighting with reckless abandon now that they know the dwarves are back at it.
A/N: Alrighty so there is the beginning of a very long and hard fought battle. The next chapter will probably be the saddest chapter out of all of them. I wanted to let you all know that this book is slowly coming to an end so be prepared. I start college classes tomorrow so updates will be rather slow, but I promise to update as soon as I can. Remember to comment below with your thoughts.