Trees whizzed by as the company bolted, trying to put as much space in between them and the orcs. Not wanting anyone to fall behind, Agarwaen stuck to the back of the group, keeping watch over her shoulder for the wargs that were undoubtedly headed their way.

She stumbled on the still rocky terrain once or twice, but never completely fell. The wargs were quickly gaining on them, and soon were amidst the company. Agarwaen leapt on top of one, distracting it from trying to bite Balin, and shoved her sword into its head. Its body slid down the hill, with her on top, and as another one came up beside her, she jumped to that one and slit its throat. This time, the body flew upside down, and threw her a good number of feet, hitting the rocky ground fairly hard. She pushed the pain away and ran toward Bilbo, who was dangerously close to another warg. Before she could get there, the creature charged him, and ran into Bilbo's little blade, impaling it's own head. Taking that as a sign he was quite alright, she took to fighting off another one that leapt down the slope.

"Up into the trees, all of you!" Gandalf called. She wondered why he would say something like that, before realizing that they all stood on the edge of a massive cliff. They were trapped. She jumped up into the tree nearest to her, and realized with horror that Bilbo was still on the ground, looking around confusedly before finally realizing where everyone was. She jumped down to the lowest branch and pulled the hobbit up by the shoulders of his coat. She groaned at the weight, as was thankful he then grabbed onto a branch himself and began climbing up beside her.

The wargs gathered at the base of each tree, but didn't make a move to attack yet, like trained dogs waiting for a signal from their master. Down on the hill they had just run down, stood a white warg, carrying on his back an orc, who Agarwaen assumed to be Azog the Defiler. He began speaking in the orcish tongue, which she understood every word of. He taunted Thorin, speaking of how he killed his father. She couldn't see Thorin from where she stood in the tree, and could only hope that the king wouldn't try to do anything brash. Getting out of this mess would have to be a team effort, and there was no room for debate about that.

Azog then gave the orders to his wargs: Kill them all, but leave Thorin for him. The beasts instantly responded, jumping at the trees, snapping at anything they could sink their teeth into. Agarwaen pushed Bilbo higher into the tree, and took her bow from where it rested on her back. She had five arrows left, and had every intention of making them count. The tree shook as the wargs clawed at it, but it wasn't the ones attacking her that she had her eyes on. One had made it to a higher branch on the tree next to hers, and was dangerously close to reaching Bombur, so she sent an arrow through its skull. She did this with three others at other trees, and when one got high enough on her tree, she sliced into its head with one of her daggers. It whined and fell, but came back to attack them again.

Agarwaen wobbled and struggled to hold her balance when the tree began to tip, it's roots ripping up the ground below.

"Bilbo, jump!" She cried as their tree fell into another. They leapt into the branches of the next tree, which came down upon another, and another. As the second to last tree fell, everyone struggled to reach another branch in time. Agarwaen, who had made it over easily saw someone slipping and grabbed them. She pulled Bifur up onto her branch with a groan, and helped him get up higher. All sixteen of their group now held on at various heights in the tree, which stood at the very edge of the cliff. Agarwaen looked down nervously, praying that this tree would magically stay standing.

A barrage of fireballs then rained down from the tree above her, and she was soon handed a flaming pine cone from Kili. She quickly thanked Iluvitar for Gandalf and lit more pine cones, tossing them down, creating a burning barrier of flames around the tree.

As the flames lit up the night, wargs retreated and the dwarves cheered in success. She did too, unable to resist adding another joyful cry to the mix. It was short-lived however, as the tree began to fall over the edge. Shouts of joy became shouts of fear, and it felt like the tree was trying to shake them off. Seeing Kili nearly fall, Agarwaen dove to the other branch to help him, and the sudden offset of weight when he climbed back up made her foot slip, and she fell, managing to grab the branch with one hand. Bark chipped away at her hold. And Kili attempted to pull her up. Being unbalanced, he couldn't get a good grip on her other outstretched hand, and fell backwards onto the trunk of the tree. The gravity felt stronger than usual, and just as her hand was about to slip, another hand grabbed hers. Thorin pulled her up high enough for her to get the rest of the way herself, before turning and glaring at the pale orc, who stood battle ready on the hill.

The dwarf stood up, brandishing orcrist and a wooden branch, just like when he'd acquired his title Oakenshield. He walked down the truck of the tree and started running into battle. Alone.

"He's going to die!" Agarwaen cried fearfully as she swung her legs over the top of the branch she'd nearly fallen from. The dwarves, who were either unable to get themselves up, or were too mortified by the situation, said nothing. The smoke from the fire made her cough, her injured lungs making it difficult for her to breathe, but she pushed past the tightening feeling in her chest, and started trying to help the dwarves up. They couldn't let him go in alone. Her trying to help and their struggling only made it worse, breaking the branches they hung on.

While trying to help Fili, she saw from the corner of her eye Bilbo stand up. Thorin's cries of pain reached her ears, and she knew exactly what he planned on doing.

"Bilbo wait!" She called, but he didn't hear her and charged in alone. Now he was going to die too. As she was distracted by Bilbo, Fili's branch broke beneath his feet, and would have pulled her over the edge with him had she not had a good foothold. She grit her teeth and pulled the dwarf up, and then moved onto Bofur and Oin. Once they were on their feet, she approached Gandalf, who had Dori and Ori hanging from his staff.

"Go!" The wizard stopped her. "They need you out there. We will be fine!" Knowing that Gandalf always meant what he said, she turned around and ran out with all the other dwarves. Bilbo stood between three wargs and their riders, and an unconscious Thorin. Just as one was about to swing his sword and take off the hobbit's head, an arrow plunged through the creature's skull, knocking him off the warg. The beasts then turned, now much too late, to see the dwarves rushing them, swords and axes drawn.

Agarwaen put her bow, which was now completely useless without arrows, back and drew her sword. The blue light soon covered with orc blood. When they finally held the upper hand in the fight, she sprinted over to where Thorin lay, beaten and bloody. Bilbo had previously been protecting the king, but found himself caught up with another orc and warg. The hobbit courageously held his ground and killed them both.

"Thorin? Thorin can you hear me?" She coughed through more smoke and shook him, making sure to keep an eye out for approaching enemies. His eyes fluttered for a moment as he dipped in and out of wakefulness. An approaching orc tried to hit the elf with his mace, but she deflected it, cut off his arm, and drove her sword into his chest.

"Stay awake, Thorin!" She shook him again. "Stay with us. You're going to be okay." Her voice trailed off when she realized Azog now had Bilbo cornered, and he stared at the halfling with murderous intent.

"Bilbo!" She cried, scrambling to her feet while coughing, and was about to take on Azog by herself, when the call of great eagles sounded from above them. She'd only seen them once from a distance, so being able to see them up close like this took what little breath she had away. They were so much bigger than she imagined, and picked up wargs with ease and dumped them over the cliff. One landed near her, and motioned for her to get on it's back, but she couldn't leave. Not yet.

"No, take him first, please. We need to get somewhere safe." She yelled as loud as she could, greatly straining her voice. The eagle looked to where Thorin lay, and compiled, taking the dwarf gently in its talons and flew away. Gandalf must have sent for the birds, she thought. Azog began to retreat as his troop was now demolished and falling to their deaths. The eagles fanned the fire at what enemies remained, stirring up smoke. They then picked up the dwarves, a few at a time, dropping them onto the backs of other eagles, and Agarwaen started towards an open patch of land so they could pick her up as well. The smoke caused her eyes to tear up however, and already being lightheaded from not being able to breathe, she tripped over her feet and fell. Someone saw, and pulled her up, so she blindly ran with him, until her feet no longer felt the ground beneath her, and the furs and leather she felt turned into talons. She struggled to get fresh air into her lungs, cursing her condition for making her so weak. First she felt a brief falling sensation, and then landed on a feathery mass. She gripped the feathers, and continued to regain her senses, coughing painfully and wiping her eyes with her shoulder, which did nothing but smear orc blood on her face.

She resorted to just keeping her burning eyes closed and hugged the giant beast that carried her. She soon regained her breath and after a little while of flying, a warm light hit her face. She squinted her eyes open to see the sunrise over the mountains. She'd never been so glad to see the light of day. After her eyes became adjusted to the light, she looked over at all the other eagles, and sighed in relief to find everyone alive and well. Except for Thorin. She feared the worst, despite him being alive when she was with him. She wasn't sure how long he could last.

The eagles started to slow as they neared what Agarwaen recognized as the Carrock. They were finally free of the mountains, which brought her relief, but also made her nervous, knowing that the forest came next.

~~~~~~~~~~

If anyone has any ideas for chapter titles, I'd be very thankful to hear them as I royally suck at them...