[General POV]
"Azog!"
Thorin's shout drew the attention of all the team members. They looked at the pale orc and recognized him, the younger ones from the stories their parents told them and the older ones from the battle outside Moria.
Azog, the leader of the orcs, better known as the Defiler, was an incredibly savage, brutal, and strategic orc, according to what Aldril had heard and seen in the movies. He nearly succeeded in annihilating all the descendants of Durin, having killed Kili, Fili, and Thorin, although the latter eventually killed him. Aldril only remembered that Dain was the sole surviving descendant, which is why he ascended to king after Thorin's death.
Aldril held his bow and drew the string, many thoughts coming to his mind. "How many attribute points would Azog give? What would change in the plot if I kill him right now?" However, he decided to let the plot scene unfold, lest his intervention disrupt the world's exploration by interrupting this encounter.
Aldril's actions went unnoticed, as everyone was focused on Thorin, who looked at the orc that killed his grandfather with hatred. He was extremely angry and at the same time surprised, believing he had killed him in that battle outside Moria. But seeing him now brought back all those bad memories of that battle which, despite winning, they paid a great price for the victory.
"You're still alive," he muttered through gritted teeth. He didn't care that he was surrounded by orcs; the only thing on his mind was to climb down from the tree and kill this bastard.
Thorin's emotions, although well hidden, were seen by Azog, who looked at his prey with hatred and joy. He was sure he would kill all these idiots since he had brought more than a dozen wargs and thirty orcs, and Thorin's group was only fifteen people according to the report.
This would be a massacre. He would finally have the opportunity to kill the dwarf who had grievously wounded him years ago and would be closer to ending all the direct lineage of Durin. He only needed to kill that red-haired dwarf named Dain, and the entire legacy would die. This thought excited him, so with a voice full of malicious glee, he spoke.
"It has been a long time, Thorin, son of Thrain." Then he made a sniffing gesture, adding even more mockery to the situation.
"Sniff, sniff."
"I can smell it." He gently stroked the alpha warg, as if talking to his mount. With a disdainful smile, he looked at the entire team in the trees and said jubilantly, "I can smell their fear!" His declaration made the accompanying orcs smile.
He focused his attention on Thorin and continued, "Fear, what a delicious scent, especially coming from dwarves. I still remember your grandfather; before I decapitated him, he gave off the same scent. It was wonderful."
The provocative words were like a lightning bolt to Thorin's ears. The accumulated anger inside him exploded, but due to years of experience, he suppressed these feelings for a moment. The hardships he endured over the years had further forged his character.
But it was clear how much he was holding back; his breathing quickened, his fists clenched tightly, and a vein stood out on his forehead. Speaking slowly, he responded, "Did you feel your fear that day? I'm disappointed I couldn't kill you in that fight, but it doesn't matter anymore. You've faced me again; this time, I won't fail."
Everyone could hear the contained fury in Thorin's words. They feared that in his anger, he might not think clearly and recklessly charge at Azog. So, despite their fear, they prepared their weapons, ready to follow their king to the death.
Azog was not very pleased. Clearly, Thorin's face showed extreme anger, but he hadn't provoked him as successfully as he'd hoped. The last words infuriated him. He raised his right hand, pointing at Thorin, and gave a loud command, "That dwarf's head is mine! Take care of the others!"
With his order, all the orcs roared. The warg riders quickly accelerated, and as they charged, Aldril's and Kili's arrows were fired. One of these arrows headed toward Azog, who, seeing it coming, smiled disdainfully. He raised his left hand, and the arrow struck the sharp blade he had as a prosthetic.
This arrow was shot by Kili, hoping to catch Azog off guard, but he seemed to have failed. Aldril noticed this but was more focused on killing the wargs; he would have a perfect opportunity to shoot and possibly kill Azog later.
The arrows began to run low. Many wargs were killed by Aldril, but there were too many to kill with all the arrows he had brought.
The orcs were momentarily unsure of what to do. At that moment, seeing the stupidity of his orcs, Azog shouted, "Have the wargs bite the trees, you idiots!" He was so focused on waiting for Thorin to fall that he didn't pay attention to the burning wound on his chest.
After their command, the orcs urged their wargs to bite the tree branches; their teeth were capable of doing that and more. The tree trunk, being thin, could not withstand the incessant attack of the wargs for long and quickly began to creak. Nori, Ori, and Fili, who were perched in the tree under attack, shouted.
"Aldril!" "Kili!" They clearly called out their names, hoping that with their arrows they would stop the wargs' attack, but there was a problem: Aldril was running out of arrows.
Aldril shot arrows relentlessly, managing to kill several wargs attacking the trees, but if one warg was killed, another would take its place. It wasn't long before the tree began to creak.
"Crack" "Crack"
With the creaking, the first tree began to fall amid the exclamations of the dwarves. The dwarves who fell from the tree hurried to climb the other trees. Seeing this, Azog smiled with more glee, "Hurry! Kill them! Don't let them climb the trees!"
As soon as Azog's words fell, the wargs and orcs roared more fiercely and ran towards the expedition members, who began to panic at the orc charge. Worst of all, Aldril had run out of arrows.
The fight was inevitable, so the expedition members drew their weapons, ready for a head-on confrontation.
"Don't retreat! If we die here, do it with dignity!" shouted Balin, who climbed down from his tree. He wouldn't let his comrades fight alone. With him, the others began to descend from the trees.
Thorin didn't think twice and calmly climbed down. He wasn't afraid of the imminent confrontation and possible death. He positioned himself in front of the dwarves and shouted, "Form up! We will not die here! Attack with all your spirit!"
Aldril sighed and advanced slowly while putting away his bow and unsheathing his swords, Anglachel and Anguirel, both shining in unison, eager to slice through the orcs.
"Ahhh!!!"
The dwarves gave a battle cry before charging against the incoming orcs. The wargs were the first to charge at the dwarves, opening their jaws to tear apart their prey, but a majestic light blinded and tripped them. The light came from Gandalf's staff, who also joined the fight. As they advanced, fiery pinecones were thrown at the orcs. Upon impact, these pinecones exploded, causing great damage. They were thrown by Bilbo, who, at Gandalf's request, began to hurl the enchanted pinecones.
The clash became imminent, and the dwarves, fierce warriors, showed what they were capable of. With swords, axes, and hammers, they attacked the orcs, killing them. Aldril quickly joined the battle. A warg leapt at him, but with a swift X-shaped slash, he divided the warg. The orc riding it fell, surprise etched on his face, only to be impaled by Anguirel.
In a quick move, he covered his back with Anglachel in his left hand, instinctively blocking the sword of an orc planning to attack from behind. With a rapid spin, he used Anguirel to hurl the impaled orc towards the orc that had attacked him, throwing them both over the cliff. Another orc, seeing this, charged at Aldril in anger, only to see a silvery white flash. With that flash, panic showed on its face as a line of blood formed on its chest, and with a thud, it fell heavily to the ground.
"Damn it, I'm using more stamina than I'm recovering," Aldril muttered, panting. At his feet lay the corpses of the orcs. He planned to use Witcher signs to repel the orcs faster, but his body was not yet accustomed to the strain of using them.
"Boom"
A magical explosion blew a dozen orcs away, some falling off the cliff. Clearly, this magic was cast by Gandalf, who was covering Bilbo, allowing the little hobbit to keep throwing the enchanted pinecones.
Gandalf's attack caught the attention of five wargs, who charged at him. Aldril saw this and, fearing Gandalf couldn't handle them all, made a swift move as if sliding across the ground. He quickly reached Gandalf's side, and with coordinated movements, they attacked the incoming wargs.
Aldril used a combination of diagonal slashes, his swords cutting through the wargs with ease. Gandalf, in coordination with Aldril, cast a spell that sent a warg flying, one that had been planning to attack Aldril from behind. After casting his spell, Gandalf stabbed a warg in the stomach as it leapt at him.
"There are too many of them, Gandalf, we can't hold out much longer," Aldril said between gasps, using the consecutive moves of Malenia and Rellana was exhausting him. It had only been a few weeks since he practiced these moves, so his body was still not accustomed to the speed at which they executed their attacks.
"Hold on a bit longer," Gandalf replied, hoping the help he had requested wouldn't take much longer to arrive. "For now, focus on surviving!" he shouted as he slashed an orc charging at him.
"Damn it! These bastards are endless!" shouted Glóin, who regrouped with Aldril and Gandalf. Gradually, several dwarves began to regroup with them, their faces showing how utterly exhausted they were.
"Where is Thorin?" exclaimed Balin, looking around desperately. He couldn't see Thorin in the fight, which worried him greatly.
"There he is!" Kili shouted, pointing to Thorin, who was pulling his sword from the stomach of an orc. Near him stood Azog, who, with a ferocious smile, urged his mount to attack Thorin.
Thorin clearly noticed this and, with a roar, charged at Azog. It wasn't long before they clashed.
"Boom!"
Unfortunately, Thorin lost and was thrown back with force. If not for the oak shield he used, it's estimated he would have suffered severe injuries. Despite losing the clash, Thorin managed to make the alpha warg stagger from the hard blow.
Thorin quickly got up from the ground, showing he wouldn't fall so easily. Azog saw this with great annoyance and, giving a blow to his warg, forced it to regain its senses. "Quickly, go to him!" Azog roared, and with his command, his warg charged at Thorin again. However, to Thorin's misfortune, the warg opened its mouth, bit the oak shield, and with a shake, forced Thorin to release the shield and be thrown once more.
"Bang!"
With a heavy blow, Thorin hit a tree. The impact was so hard it left him dazed for a few seconds, allowing Azog to dismount and walk towards the stunned Thorin with a smile.
"You will die like your pathetic grandfather, Thorin Oakenshield."
Azog's words made Thorin boil with rage, but his body could no longer take it. This time, he was completely defeated. He was already exhausted from the goblin chase, so it was not the best moment to face an orc of Azog's caliber. Perhaps if he were at 100%, the fight would be even, but unfortunately, that was not the case.
With a look of defeat, Thorin prepared for his imminent death. Azog, with glee on his face, raised his prosthetic arm and swiftly brought it down, aiming to kill Thorin with one stroke. But at that precise moment, his prosthetic clashed with a sword that made his scar burn.
"Clank!"
Azog looked at this in shock. At that precise moment, a scent he recognized reached his nostrils. He lifted his gaze and saw a pair of honey-colored eyes looking at him with disdain. He recognized the scent and the color of those eyes; he would never forget them.
A trauma he had buried deep within him resurfaced, and with a scared voice, he shouted, "Those eyes, I recognize those eyes!" Vaguely, the figure of an elf superimposed itself on the figure of the human who blocked his attack, and he clumsily retreated.
At some point, Aldril had blocked Azog's killing blow. Minutes earlier, he had seen Thorin being defeated, so he rushed to prevent him from being killed. Since Bilbo was still throwing the pinecones, he wouldn't have made it in time to save Thorin due to the change in the plot.
Aldril stood protectively in front of Thorin, having a vague idea of why Azog reacted this way. So, in Azog's moment of weakness, he seized the opportunity to try to kill him. He placed his right foot forward, exerted force with his left foot, and lunged at Azog, making a diagonal slash with both swords.
Azog did not expect this attack, and in a desperate moment, he took a step back. But it didn't do much good, as the tips of the swords cut him as if he were butter, leaving two huge lines of blood across his torso.
"Ahhhggg!!"
Being cut by those swords was extremely painful, as if not only his flesh was being cut but also his soul. Azog's roar drew the attention of the orcs, who stopped attacking and retreated in fear, having seen their leader gravely injured.
Azog quickly fell to the ground, watching in horror as Aldril approached with slow, deliberate steps. He was terrified, deeply afraid. Only one person had ever made him feel this way, and this human had the same scent as that woman.
At that moment, he saw a glimmer of hope as his warg lunged at the human. The human didn't expect it, and with the impact, both fell backward. Azog seized this moment to shout, "Get me out of here, you damned idiots!" Quickly, two orcs lifted him and dragged him away from the battlefield.
As he was being carried away, he saw his warg being killed by the same human. The warg's head was impaled, and with a roar of helplessness, he shouted, "Damn you! I swear I'll kill you! You cursed spawn of Tindómiel!" He spent all his energy with those shouts and quickly passed out from the enormous wound in his torso. It was a reminder that both mother and son had nearly killed him.
***sorry for the delay, here you have the chapter, you filthy orcs! they had already several days without eating, so I decided to feed them.
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