There was scramblings from the dwarves. They did not want to hurt Bilbo. He was their friend. Thorin grabbed Fili's arm.
"Did you not hear me?!" He shouted, but Fili pulled away. Thorin was about to throw Bilbo over himself when Gandalf appeared in the crowd. Thorin released Bilbo to return to Gandalf, but not without first claiming to never again do dealings with wizards or hobbits.
"Are we resolved?" Bard pressed. "The return on the Arkenstone for what what promised?" Thorin did not respond. "Will you have peace? Or war?" A large black raven appeared in front of Thorin.
"I will have war." An army of dwarves from the Iron Hills came over the horizon, riding on boars. Gandalf tried to reason with the Iron Hill dwarves, but Dain was a lot less sensible than Thorin. The shouting from Dain's troops seemed to echo at first, but soon, they realised that there were a lot more to worry about than just some elves.
Large worms burst out of the ground, leaving a pathway for goblins and orcs to rush into the valley. In the distance, a pale orc sounded a horn.
"I'm going over, who's coming with me?"
"Stand down!" Thorin ordered.
"Are we to do nothing?"
"I said, stand down!" Below, the elves stood still, letting the dwarves from the Iron Hills advance alone. Camellia watched as the dwarves formed a wall with their shields and she could not control herself from boring holes into the back of Thranduil's head. Was he going to back down again?
As orcs approached the dwarven wall, she turned away, afraid to see the carnage that was awaiting those from the Iron Hills, but her ears were met with the sounds of metal on metal rather than screams of the dead. The elves had joined in! They were fighting too!
"I don't care what he wants," Camellia started. "I am going to fight."
"You'll be killed!"
"I'll be killed waiting here too. Do you think they won't come up here? I would much rather lose my life protecting someone else than sitting and waiting. You can sit here if you want, but there are children over there and I am going to protect them." She began to scale the wall, but Kili grabbed her hand. She pushed her lips against his. "I'll be okay." She looked at Fili, "You take care of your brother. You know he's going to need it."
"Hey!" Kili voiced. Camellia smirked and scurried down to the fight. Camellia and her father locked eyes for a moment. "You help them. I know what I need to do." He did not bother to fight with her. Keldbak's warriors joined the Mirkwood elves in fighting against the orcs and goblins. Camellia raced off toward the tower that Azog stood upon.
"Since when do we forsake our own people," Dwalin said to Thorin as he approached him on the throne. "Thorin. They are dying out there." Thorin gave him a blank stare.
"There are halls beneath this mountain. Places we can fortify." Dwalin looked defeated. "We should move the gold further underground.
"Did you not hear me? Dale is surrounded. They are being slaughtered Thorin."
"Many die in war. Life is cheap." It was then that Dwalin stopped listening to Thorin.
"You sit here in these vast halls with a crown upon your head and yet you are lesser now than you have ever been."
"Don't speak to me as if I was some lowly dwarf lord. As if I was still...Thorin Oakenshield. I am your king!"
"You were always my king! You used to know that once. You cannot see what you have become." Hurt was evident in both of their eyes. Dwalin turned away and left the throne room. Dwalin's words echoed in Thorin's head over and over again. They refused to leave him. They continued to repeat until they had cracked him.
Camellia climbed the tower that Azog stood upon and watched the battle. They had not sensed her presence there yet, but she dared not to wait too long. Quickly, she shot dead the five orcs that were standing on the tower with him, but she was not quick enough to destroy the horn before Azog charged her and struck her with his sword, successfully leaving a large cut on her right cheek. She fell backwards and nearly fell off of the tower. He swung again, but missed her. The momentum from her dodge had knocked her off of the tower and she could do nothing but watch as she fell the hundreds of metres to the ground.
Thorin approached the company, sword in hand. Kili stood up immediately and began towards his uncle.
"I will not hide behind a wall of stone while others fight our battles for us! Camellia went out there to fight, alone, for us!" Kili shouted as he got closer to Thorin. "It is not my blood Thorin."
"No," came Thorin's response, "it is not. We are sons of Durin. And Durin's folk do not flee from a fight." Thorin put his forehead against Kili's before continuing and addressing the rest of the company. "I have no right asking any of this from you, but will you follow me, one last time?" The dwarves raised their weapons in agreement.
They burst out of the mountain, voices raised, weapons ready, and charged into the war. They joined their kin at the base of the mountain and charged forward into the lines of orcs and trolls that stood in the way. Thorin and Dain met up in the middle and had a brief conversation before a large white horse plowed through the ranks of orcs, stomping on their heads and stripping them of their lives.
"Alesdair," Thorin stated. The horse made eye contact, neighed and reared back before kicking a few orcs in the face and running off. He was running toward the tower were Azog was and that's when Thorin got an idea. He hopped on a boar and started off after the horse. Dwalin, Kili, and Fili had the same idea and rode alongside of Thorin. Alesdair was a good ways ahead of them and was slowly getting farther and farther.
"You don't think she's hurt do you?" Kili asked Fili.
"Camellia? Hurt? I doubt it."
"Why is Alesdair running that hard then?"
"I am sure the lassie is fine," Dwalin said. "She's the toughest I have ever met." Their boars took them separate paths up the hill, but they all ended in the same place. Once they had killed off the orcs standing guard, all was quiet. It wasn't for a few minutes that Alesdair cried out and his hooves could be heard hitting the ground. The great white horse was hard to see in the fog and snow, but his passenger's red hair wasn't. Camellia was face down on Alesdair's mane when they came into view. Kili panicked and rushed up to them, only just catching her when she slid off. She regained her consciousness shortly following. She smiled up at him before trying to stand on her feet.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm okay. Just a little scratch. Azog took me by surprise and I fell, but I was able to grab onto something and pull myself to safety."
"What were you thinking going there alone?" Thorin yelled.
"I was thinking about the children!" She yelled back. "I was thinking about all of you and how we were all going to die if we just sat there!"
"Yeah, she's alright," Fili said, smirking slightly.
"Where is Azog?" Dwalin asked.
"Has he fled?" Kili asked.
"No, I don't think he has. Fili, take your brother and scope out the towers. Keep low and out of sight. If you seen something, report back. Do not engage, do you understand?"
"We have company. Goblin mercenaries," Dwalin said as goblin's came over one of the walls."
"We'll take care of them. Go," Thorin commanded. Camellia knocked out a few goblin's with her arrows before following after the two brothers.
"There was a sound across the way and Kili was about to run out there after it, but Fili wouldn't let him.
"Search the lower levels, I've got this."
"We should stay together," Camellia voiced. "We can't protect each other if we are separated."
"Go."
"Don't be dumb, Fili."
"Go," he repeated. Camellia sighed and followed Kili to search the lower levels. The halls echoed with every step, every gust of wind, sometimes she even wondered if her heart beat was echoing. A loud bang stopped the two in their tracks. Startled, Camellia grabbed out for Kili's hand. Her heart was in her throat and her hands were shaking. Kili squeezed her hand, trying to assure her that it would be okay, but her shaking did not cease. A knot formed in her stomach and an overwhelming sense of dread covered her. Kili pulled her toward the archway, toward the pounding. Above them, they could see Azog holding Fili by his collar. There was a curved blade in his hand.