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     Valadhiel was now out of the wreckage, and Gandalf was taking a look at her ankle before he looked at her. "The arrow was indeed poisoned." He told her before he got back up to her feet. "You'll be experiencing some pain for a few days."

     Thorin, also out of the wreckage and now helping the remaining dwarves out, looked over at Gandalf in slight alarm. "Won't it kill her? We need to get her some medicine!"

     "For dwarf or man, medicine would be required, Master Thorin. However, Vala here is not only a dragon, but an elf. The poison won't kill her, but simply cause pain and discomfort."

     Thorin, now that all of his men were out of the rubble, went to Valadhiel's side and looked at her worriedly, and when Valadhiel looked past him in alarm, he turned his attention to where she looked. He felt his face pale a little when he saw the thousands of goblins running towards them.

     "Gandalf!" Valadhiel and Kili called in alarm at the same time.

     "There's too many!" Dwalin exclaimed. "We can't fight them!"

     "Only one thing can save us: daylight." Gandalf told them then he got in front of them and gestured for them to hurry and come, then he reached and pulled another dwarf to his feet. "Come on! Here, on your feet!"

     All the dwarves got up and ran after Gandalf, and Thorin scooped Valadhiel up into his arms before he ran after them all. After what seemed to be forever, they ran out of the caves and into sunlight.

     Once all of them had reached safety, Gandalf began counting everybody. "Five, six, seven, eight... Bifur, Bofur... that's ten... Fili, Kili; that's twelve, Bombur and Vala- that's only fourteen. Where's Bilbo? Where's our Hobbit?"

     "Curse the halfling! Now he's lost?" Dwalin said in annoyance, but a mix of fear for the little guy was in his tone.

     "I thought he was with Dori!" Gloin said.

     "Don't blame me!" Dori replied.

     "Well, where did you last see him?" Gandalf asked.

     Valadhiel looked up at Gandalf from where she lay in Thorin's arms. "I haven't seen him since they captured us. I know he fell into the tunnel with us, but after that... I don't know."

     "What exactly happened?" Gandalf asked, raising his voice a little. "Tell me!"

     Valadhiel soon smelled Bilbo's scent, and she looked around. However, she couldn't see him anywhere, even when she managed to pinpoint his scent. What was going on? She looked at Thorin when he gently set her down by a tree, then he turned and looked at the others.

     "I'll tell you what happened." Thorin said angrily. "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 his door! We will not be seeing our hobbit again. He is long gone."

     "No, he isn't."

     Valadhiel looked toward the voice, which was where she had smelled Bilbo's scent, then she smiled, so relieved that Bilbo was okay. She watched as he stepped out from behind a tree and came toward them all, and she was rather glad that he had shown himself before she angrily lashed at Thorin.

     "Bilbo Baggins!" Gandalf exclaimed with a smile of relief. "I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life!"

     "Bilbo, we'd given you up!" Kili exclaimed, also seeming to be relieved that they now knew where their hobbit was.

     "How on earth did you get past the goblins?" Fili asked incredulously.

     "How, indeed?" Dwalin added in question, looking impressed.

     Bilbo remained silent a moment before putting his hands on his hips and giving a nervous laugh. Gandalf and Valadhiel both saw him slip something golden into his pocket, and the wizard and dragoness glanced at each other.

     "Well, what does it matter?" Gandalf asked. "He's back!"

     "It matters!" Thorin said, stepping forward and looking at Bilbo. "I want to know; why did you come back?"

     Bilbo looked at him, and Valadhiel thought he heard him quietly sigh. "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. I miss my armchair. I miss 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."

     As the dwarves remained silent and thought about what Bilbo had said, Valadhiel and Gandalf both smiled. Both had noticed a change in this halfling, and both were rather proud of him.

     "So, first you say he shouldn't have come loud enough for him to hear you, then you get angry because you thought he left? Which one is it, Thorin? Do you want him or do you not?" Valadhiel thought to Thorin, looking over at him and earning a small glare from him. Soon, she perked up and tried to get to her feet. "I sense danger!"

     Thorin, despite having gotten annoyed by her only seconds before, rushed to her side and lifted her into his arms once more. There was no way she could run in her current condition. He heard wargs begin to howl. No doubt one of those wargs was the White Warg with its rider, Azog, atop of him. "Out of the frying pan..."

     "And into the fire." Valadhiel finished, wrapping her arms around his neck to help him support her weight.

     "Run." Gandalf told the others, then he began to lead them at a rather quick pace. "Run!"

     The Company all ran after Gandalf, and they didn't stop running until they came to a cliff with many trees. There was literally no where else to go, so Gandalf called out, "Up into the trees! Come on, climb!"

     Valadhiel noticed that Bilbo lagged behind some, and she spotted the wargs gaining on them. She looked at Thorin, her heart racing. "Thorin, put me down."

     Thorin looked at her as if she'd lost her mind. "Are you crazy? I'm not putting you down."

     "Thorin, just do it. Please, trust me!" She begged him, looking at him pleadingly. "I'll be okay, I promise." Yes, she was low on energy, and shapeshifting would be quite the task at the moment, but with the adrenaline rush, she knew she would be okay.

     Thorin looked at her in deep concern, but he caved in and gently set her down. "I trust you, Vala. Please, be careful."

     "I'll be as careful as I can." Valadhiel assured him, then she closed her eyes and began shifting, her bones popping and crackling as she did. Soon, a silver snow leopard stood before him, the same feline form she had taken when they'd first met each other. She was at least the size of a warg, though was more slender, beautiful, and graceful.

     Once she had shifted, she bounded after Bilbo, ignoring the pain in her hind leg. She soon reached the hobbit, just as he pulled his sword out of the skull of a warg. She lowered herself and began speaking. "Bilbo, climb onto my back. I can get you to the others quickly."

     Bilbo nodded and quickly scrambled onto Valadhiel's back, then he held on to the thick fur around her neck until they made it to the trees. After Valadhiel told him to, he stood up on her feline shoulders and managed to get into one of the trees.

     "Vala!" Kili shouted. "Behind you!"

     Valadhiel whirled around just in time to see a warg rushing toward her. She leaped out of the way, then she leaped right onto its back and clung onto it with her claws before she bit the side of its neck deeply, causing it to yelp and thrash around in an attempt to throw her off. The warg rolled onto its back and pinned her beneath it.

     "Vala!" Both Kili and Fili shouted in alarm. She was the one who was wounded, and she was the one that seemed to be getting attacked the most. Of course, she was also the one rushing into battle despite the fact that she was injured.

     Valadhiel, pinned under the warg, pushed up with her hind legs before she began kicking it, scraping her sharp claws across its back. When it yelped and got up, she remained there on her back, despite the fact the position made her vulnerable. Once the warg had come closer, she grasped its shoulders with her claws, sunk her fangs into its neck, then pulled out a chunk of flesh before letting go, blood spewing onto her silver fur.

     After the blood had sprayed and the warg had fallen dead, Valadhiel rolled onto her belly, pushed herself to her feet, then leaped onto the trunk of a tree before she climbed into it, now with Bilbo, Kili, Fili, Thorin, and perhaps a couple others. She panted as she clung onto the branch.

     "Are you all right?" Fili asked in concern.

     Valadhiel nodded. "I've been in worse situations before. I'm alright."

     "Azog?"

     Valadhiel thought she felt her heart stop when she heard Thorin say the name in disbelief, and she looked at him, then in the direction he was looking at before she silently gulped. She pinned her ears back, swished her tail, and allowed a growl to escape her as she trained her eyes on him, blood boiling.

     The Pale Orc began speaking in his tongue, speaking tauntingly as he smirked at the dwarf, knowing that he had to have gotten his blood boiling. Dwarves were easily riled up, especially proud ones such as this one.

     "What did he say?" Kili asked.

     "He said that Thorin smells of fear, and that his father reeked of it." Valadhiel angrily replied, a literal growl spicing her tone. She looked at Thorin in concern after the monster spoke, and she noticed that he looked stricken by pain and grief.

     "It cannot be." Thorin said quietly. He couldn't have captured his father. No! It wasn't true! His father had to still be alive!

     Valadhiel looked down sadly, then she looked up again when the Pale Orc continued speaking, then she swallowed. "Now he's told everyone to kill all of you, save for Thorin and I. He wants to personally kill Thorin. Prepare for a fight, and hold on for dear life."

     The wargs tried to climb the trees once the command was given by Azog, jumping as high as they could. They ended up breaking off some low hanging branches in their efforts, and they were also violently shaking the trees. One of the trees, the one nearest the cliff, began to fall over because of the wargs. It fell into one tree, so Valadhiel, the dwarves, and Bilbo jumped into the next one, only for that one to start falling over. However, the first tree started a domino effect, so they had to keep going from one tree to the other until they reached the last tree. This one stood firm.

     Gandalf soon picked up a pine cone after looking around in desperation, and used his staff to light it. He then threw the flaming pine cone among the wargs, who retreat. "Fili!" Gandalf called as he threw a flaming pine cone to him.

     Fili caught the pine cone, then Bilbo and the others began to gather pine cones so they could be set on fire, that way they could defend themselves in some way at least. If they were going to go down, they were going to go down fighting.

     Valadhiel, seeing how afraid of fire the wargs seemed to be, tried to determine whether or not she would have enough strength to shift into something larger. She felt weaker already from shifting into a leopard, but she still had strength to fight. She felt so useless, and she absolutely hated it. Deciding she couldn't risk shifting into a dragon, she simply turned back into her winged elvish form and used her fire ability that way. She picked up a pine cone, used her palm to light it up, then tossed it at another warg.

     The entire area had caught on fire by now, forcing the wargs to retreat. A couple of them even galloped away with fur either singed or on fire. As the dwarves cheered, Azog roared in anger, and Valadhiel smirked. This was working so far! However, her eyes widened when she heard a crack and felt the tree move. It fell and tipped over the edge of the cliff, forcing everyone to hang on tightly so they wouldn't fall and meet their end. Ori lost his grip and began to fall, but he managed to grab onto Dori's leg.

     "Mister Gandalf!" Dori called frantically after Ori had given a fearful shout, just before he'd grabbed onto his leg. Dori then lost his grip and fell, but he grabbed the end of Gandalf's staff when he extended it. "Hold on, Ori!" He called back to the young dwarf.

     Valadhiel clung to the tree and looked around desperately and in despair. She had wings, but she couldn't even use them to go help Dori and Ori because one of them was broken! She was completely useless! She looked up to see Thorin glaring at Azog in hate and anger, then her eyes widened in alarm when he pulled himself up, drew his sword, and walked down the leaning trunk. "Thorin! Thorin, no!" She screamed at him.

     Thorin picked up a shield of oak and ran at the White Warg and the Pale Orc. When he was close enough, the warg leaped at Thorin, dodged the blade, and hit him in the chest with his front paw, pushing him to the ground.

     "Help!" Ori called after a moment. Not only was he slipping, but he could tell that Dori was struggling with holding on to Gandalf's staff.

     Thorin got back to his feet, now panting, but not long after he'd gotten back up, Azog and his White Warg whirled around and charged at Thorin again. The orc swung his mace and hit the dwarf in the face before he could even react, flinging him back to the ground brutally.

     "No!" Balin shouted in horror.

     Valadhiel struggled to get a better hold on the tree, and she soon managed to pull herself up. She looked around desperately. There had to be something she could do for someone! But with her injured wing, what could she really do? With her limp, how could she get to Thorin and help him? She looked from the other dwarves to Thorin, not noticing Bilbo now standing on the tree trunk, and her eyes widened when the White Warg clamped its jaws around Thorin, and her heart continued to speed up when he cried in pain. Tears stung her eyes, and her head begin to spin. Darkness began to spot her vision, and soon, she no longer knew what was going on around her.

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