"Curse the halfling! Now he's lost?!" Dwalin exclaimed as they all searched for the Hobbit, Athena spun her head in every direction while she desperately hoped that he would walk out of the bushes unscathed.
"I thought he was with Dori!" She distantly heard Glóin remark throughout her panic.
When they were in Goblin Town she had herself and the others to worry about, but now they were safe she felt guilt rise inside her at not trying to find the Hobbit as soon as she had realised he was not with them.
"Don't blame me!" The accused retaliated.
"Well, where did you last see him?" Gandalf asked Dori, but it was Nori who answered his question.
"I think I saw him slip away, when they first collared us."
"What happened exactly? Tell me!"
Nori did not have a chance to respond with an explanation, Thorin interrupting with his own theory on what had happened, "I'll tell you what happened. Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it! He's thought of nothing but his soft bed and his warm hearth since first he stepped out of the door! We will not be seeing our Hobbit again. He is long gone."
Silence fell as the Dwarves looked at one another. Athena crossed her arms over her chest as her panic dwindled and was replaced with dejection. She did not want to believe that it was true, but after she overheard his conversation with Bofur only hours ago she knew that it was plausible. The Hobbit had carried a refreshing warmth with him during their journey, but now that warmth had disappeared as they pondered the weight behind Thorin's words.
"No, he isn't," a small yet courageous voice stated.
She whipped her head over to lay eyes on Bilbo, the warmth that was lost returning as she couldn't stop the corners of her lips lifting up into a smile while relief flooded her. Not only had he not left them, but he was also unharmed aside from the dirt that dusted his face.
"Bilbo Baggins! I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life!" Gandalf proclaimed as Bilbo strode further into the group, sending an affectionate pat to Balin's shoulder.
"Bilbo, we'd given you up!" Kili remarked breathlessly, a bright smile on his face as he spoke.
"How on earth did you get past the goblins?!" Fili asked him.
"How indeed," added Dwalin, an apprehensive yet admiring expression being sent towards Bilbo.
Her smile faltered as she watched the Hobbit place something in the pocket of his waistcoat, the gold reflecting the sunlight before it was fully concealed by the fabric. Her forehead crinkled together out of concern, why was he so keen to hide a ring from everyone?
"Well, what does it matter? He's back!" Gandalf deflected the question, Athena was not the only one who had noticed Bilbo's peculiar actions.
"It matters! I want to know," Thorin countered, "why did you come back?"
"Look, I know you doubt me, I know you always have. And you're right, I often think of Bag End. I miss my books, and my armchair, and my garden. See, that's where I belong. That's home. And that's why I came back, cause you don't have one. A home. It was taken from you. But I will help you take it back if I can."
His speech caused silence to once again fall on the company, but the silence itself said all the things that words could not. Tears welled in Athena's eyes as she recounted the words that he had spoken, there was only sincerity in his tone and a new resolve that she had not heard before from him. Her faith in the Hobbit had been restored and she vowed to never let it dwindle again. She was beginning to see why Gandalf had pushed them to bring Bilbo on their quest, it didn't matter how small he was, how inexperienced with a sword he was, or how little he knew of the world outside Bag End — his courage was larger than that which she had seen in the eyes of no other. He truly was a remarkable Hobbit.
The comfortable silence was broken when howls travelled through the wind, everybody turning towards where the sound had come from. Wargs. Dread made its way into her heart knowing that there would be a battle soon to come, and though they had just fought off the Goblins she knew that the wargs and Orcs methods of killing were far from merciful if they were to fail.
"Out of the frying pan.." Thorin whispered.
"...and into the fire," Gandalf finished, "run. Run!"
They didn't need to be told twice, they took off running in the direction away from the wargs that were hunting them, her braid swung against the wind as she ran from the oncoming pack of wild beasts, watching where she stepped so she didn't end up tripping and becoming a meal for the wargs and Orcs alike. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she heard a growl from right beside her, instinct taking over as she rolled to the side to duck the warg that leapt at her, missing her by only the width of a hair. As soon as her shoulder left the floor from the roll she pulled out her bow and nocked in an arrow, turning when her feet were firmly planted on the floor and watching as the warg skidded to a halt before charging at her once more. Now with a clear shot she released the arrow that she had pulled back and watched it root itself into the monster's head. It had barely toppled to the ground before Athena ran again, pulling the arrow from the warg on her way and stuffing it back into her quiver.
"Up into the trees, all of you! Come on, climb! Bilbo, climb!" Gandalf hurriedly instructed, Athena catching up with the other Dwarves before jumping into the air and grabbing a hold of one of the protruding branches to the tree nearest her, swinging herself up to land on it before she continued to climb until she was at least a metre above the ground.
"They're coming!" Thorin called out in urgency, the other Dwarves boosting each other in the trees and to safety.
"Bilbo run!" She cried out when seeing that the Hobbit lagged behind the others, too focused on retrieving his blade from the corpse of a warg.
She jumped down from her branch to the lowest one on the tree and extended her arm, Bilbo launching himself towards her and grasping onto her wrist while she tugged him away from the pack just in time, the two of them climbing higher into the tree once out of immediate danger.
She stood perched on one of the branches looking out at the Orcs and their tamed beasts, one hand resting on the tree trunk to keep her steady. In a fight there was no way they would win alone, she only hoped that Gandalf had another trick hidden up his sleeve. It was then that the leader of the hunting party revealed himself. An Orc larger than usual sat atop a white warg, his scarred skin a sickly hue of cerulean. The Pale Orc.
"Azog?!" Thorin questioned in disbelief from where he was beside Balin, watching as the Orc that had murdered his grandfather approached them. The Goblin King was not lying when he said he was alive, and Athena had not mistaken the look that was shared between Gandalf and Balin at the campfire.
"Nuzdigid? Nuzdi gast? [Do you smell it? The scent of fear?]" The Pale Orc asked in his native tongue. Despite her not being able to understand what he was saying, the sound of the Black Speech of Mordor was enough to unsettle her stomach. "Ganzilig-i unarug obod nauzdanish, Torin undag Train-ob. [I remember your father reeked of it, Thorin son of Thrain.]"
"It cannot be," she heard Thorin whisper, she could not imagine the emotions that would be swirling inside of him at seeing his foe that he thought dead for so many years seated before him, alive and breathing.
"Kod, toragid biriz, Worori-da! [That one is mine. Kill the others!]" Again, she did not know the specifics of what he said but by the bark of his voice and the way that the wargs leapt towards the trees she was able to piece together that it was an order of battle.
The tree that she perched on shook beneath her feet, her leaning against the trunk of it to keep her balance. The wargs began to tear at the wood, trying to climb up to reach their promised dinner. They could not climb the trees thus they could not reach the company, but the sheer force at which they threw themselves at them was enough to cause them to tremble, becoming weaker by the second while shouts of anxiety filled the open air. Their claws scraped against the bark, peeling away the tree's coating whilst their teeth latched onto branches, snapping them off and throwing them to the ground. Athena stumbled every now and then but was able to keep herself upright, until the trees themselves failed and began to dive to the ground. The wargs had uprooted them with their strength alone.
"Jump to the next one!" She cried out when she began to feel the tree giving way beneath them, turning to face the other tree and leaping onto the nearest branch that she could, the others following behind her.
The tree they landed on did not last long, the collision being the final push to send it tipping over. And the pattern continued with the domino effect of the trees, everyone rushing to get to the only tree that had not yet fallen. She launched herself into the air, hands grasping onto a sturdy branch that belonged to the final tree, her legs dangling in the air while she hung from it. With a huff of air she pulled herself up, pressing her weight into her forearms until she was able to sit herself on it, her hands still supporting her while her legs swayed each side of the branch. She watched as the tree they were all previously on went tumbling over the cliffside, a lone tree now remaining against the batch of Orcs and wargs.
The wargs continued to pester at the tree that threatened to fall off the edge. Athena watched in horror as she waited for the inevitable fall, only to witness a ball of fire go hurtling towards the collection of wargs. It collided with the ground and a trail of fire formed in its place, causing the wargs to back away with growls of frustration but also fear of the flames.
"Fili!" Gandalf called out, throwing another one of them down to Fili, him using it to light up a pine cone Bilbo had collected.
She held her hands out as she saw a blur of orange, catching a flaming pine cone in her hand before hurling it in the direction of wargs, creating a flurry of colour that contrasted against the darkness of the sky, streaks of fire lighting up the night as a warning to their enemies that they should not be trifled with. A line of fire kept the enemy at bay as the wargs retreated back to where the other Orcs stood, one whimpering from the fire that had set alight it's coat of fur. Azog let out a roar of frustration, the company erupting into victorious cheers atop the tree. Their cheers morphed into sounds of shock, a gasp leaving Athena's lips when the final tree lost its footing and began to tilt over the edge.
"No no no no," she whispered to herself, each whisper getting louder than the last as she felt herself slipping from the branch, her arms clung to it while her legs slipped from their position and hung in the air, the only thing stopping her from tumbling to the ground (which was a far ways below them) was her arms that held her up.
A wail behind her caused her to turn her head, watching as Ori clung helplessly onto the leg of Dori to save himself from his assured demise if he were to let go. Worry for not only Ori, but the rest of the company and herself filled her heart as she readjusted her arms, feeling herself slipping every now and then.
"Mister Gandalf!" Dori cried when he felt his arms were unable to carry the weight of the both of them on the branch, Athena watching in horror as the two Dwarves fell from the branch. A cry was caught in her throat, no sound leaving her as she watched them fall through the air. Relief instantly filled her when the wizard lowered his stick and Dori grasped onto it, suspended in the air with the only thing keeping them alive the staff that had gotten them out of many tight spots.
Her head whipped back around when she heard a boot strike the trunk of the tree beside her, at first she feared that the flames had dwindled and allowed the Orcs passage to them but her suspicions were proved wrong as she widened her eyes at the sight of Thorin standing with his sword in his hand, approaching the pack that pushed them into this position. She watched with both admiration and trepidation as the King under the Mountain wielded an oaken branch, just like the tale Balin had told her, and broke out into a sprint. He was running right towards The Pale Orc, but Athena knew his efforts would be fruitless from the way he was outnumbered and how his target had a clear advantage of riding atop the white warg he was famous for being mounted upon.
She looked away when she saw him get knocked to the floor, but her eyes landed on a sight that broke her heart all the same. "Hold on!" She called to Dori who's grip was failing, looking as if he were to fall at any moment. She knew her words would do little to help the Dwarves, but there was nothing else she could do to aid them but watch as they clung as hard as they could onto life.
"No!" Balin cried out, catching Athena's attention as she followed his line of sight to see Thorin on the floor once more, Azog with a mace in his hand while he roared triumphantly.
Around her the company was falling. The Dwarves stared on with horror as their king, and friend, was now held in the jaws of a warg, Dwalin hanging from a broken branch that had snapped underneath his weight when he tried to reach Thorin. Shouts of anguish and pain surrounded her as her eyes brimmed with tears from watching those that she cared for in so much pain, her own hopelessness overcoming her as she felt the strength of her arms waning against the weight of her being. Yet still Thorin continued to fight, weakly swinging his sword to the head of the warg. It was not enough force to do any noticeable injury but it was enough to send him flying to a rock off to the side, his body lifelessly collapsing on the hard surface.
"Biriz torag khobdudol, [Bring me the Dwarf's head,]" at Azog's command an Orc leapt from its warg before striding towards Thorin, a scimitar in its hand that would be used to finish him once and for all. And all they could do was watch.