The Adventure of Andrea Baggins

Azog, eagles and the Lonely Mountain

He didn't have to say that twice. They took to one's heels and ran as fast as they could. However, they had no chance in outrunning Wargs. Especially not after their recent escape out of Goblintown. The sun set behind the mountains, making it hard to see something in the forest. The Wargs were closing in. They had to come up with a battle strategy soon, otherwise they were doomed.

"Gandalf!", Andy called from the back. "Where are we going?"

The wizard had no time to answer, because the Warg scouts were upon them. They hardly managed to defeat them, as the rest of the pack caught up, forcing them out of the forest. "Up into the trees, all of you!", Gandalf called, already half way up a tree. For a moment she was confused, why he would say that. Then she saw the cliff they were heading towards.

"Ah, shit!", she cussed, stopping in front of a tree. She hardly had time to turn around, as Nori already jumped at her. Quickly she put her hands together and gave him a save boost up. The tree further, Fili let himself hang down backwards, his legs slung around the branch. Andy ran towards him, grabbing his outstretched arms. She swung upwards, landing on the branch next to him. Together the climbed higher up. Not a moment too soon. A warg crashed into the tree where Andy was only a few moments earlier, shaking it from the roots to the highest branches. The wargs let out angry howls and barks, as the noticed that their pray was out of reach. Some tried to climb up the trees, getting alarming close to some of the dwarves. A big pale orc barked a command, making the wargs retreat. Azog. On his own warg he approached them, his head held high in pride and a bloodthirsty smile on his lips. If you could even call them that.

The pale orc started speaking, the words sending chills down Andy's back. Orcish was such an ugly language. It's always been, but it seemed, since she last heard it, the changed it around a little, making it sound even worse. She turned her head away, looking for Thorin. He was staring at Azog, speechless. She knew, he would start getting emotional and do something stupid. She just didn't know when or what. A yelp escaped her mouth, as she almost fell out of the tree. The wargs were digging up the roots. The first tree fell, crashing into theirs. That lead to the second tree also falling. They quickly made a jump, launching themselves onto the last tree in reach. Enjoying the hunt, the wargs started jumping up the last standing tree, knowing, their pray had nowhere to go.

"What do we do?", Andy asked, her voice high pitched in panic. A moment later, Gandalf threw a burning Pinecone down, hitting a warg on its head. He dropped another one into Fili's hands. Kili picked one and ignited it as well. Within the next few moments, burning pinecones rained down on the fire shy wargs, pushing them back. The company let out cheers of triumph. That moment only lasted a second, then the tree started uprooting, tilting to the back. The night was filled with panicked shouts and angry howls. Andy held tight to the branch and looked down. They were hanging off the edge of the cliff. In front of them, a pack of warg riding orcs lead by Azog the defiler, behind them, was a deep drop with pointy rocks at the bottom. Fearful calls grabbed her attention. She found the source, Ori and Dori were barely hanging on to their branch.

"Mister Gandalf!", Dori called out, praying for help. Gandalf held down his staff, right in time before the two dwarves fell to their deaths. But they wouldn't be able to hold on for long.

"Hold on!", she called. "I'm coming. "

Carefully, Andy tried to make her way over to them, without bringing the whole tree out of balance. Her heart was pumping fast in her chest. Her hands were trembling so hard, she had to concentrate to keep a safe grip on the bark. She just made it onto the trunk and was about to climb onto the branch above Dori and Nori, as she heard Balin's voice.

"Thorin, no!", he called out in despair. Andy's looked back over her shoulder, seeing Thorin march right up to Azog. Along with the company she shouted protests, however, he didn't listen. With a manically grin on his face, Azog launched him and his war towards Thorin. The king tried to swing his sword. The warg, however was faster and hit him against the chest, knocking him to the ground. Seeing their leader in trouble, the dwarves tried to get back up. Andy let out a cry, as Azog's maze struck Thorin, sending him flying backwards. She wanted to run towards him and help him back up. The fearful cries from Dori and Ori pulled her attention back to them. She got onto the branch, balancing two steps further, before Thorin's painfilled cry cut through the air. She froze on the spot, locking back, only to see the wargs jaw dug into his body. Feeling torn between helping Dori and Ori or Thorin, Andy stood there completely frozen. With a shaking breath, she set another foot across the branch.