Alas sleep did not come, instead he tossed and turned. The fear from the mortal woman had reminded to much of the day he fought the dragon. It made him dream nightmares of his daily torment. The scars that would never go away. Giving up he threw his covers off his shoulders and sat up against the head board, his sheets falling lightly down to his waist. Sweat glistened upon his brow and chest from the nightmare and he used to sheet to wipe it off before getting up and throwing on his robe. He hoped maybe finding the female would release his mind of this fear. Before he could think further his advisor, Cervil, came running into the room, "My Lord, a Queen Spider has been spotted near the outer realms!" He called for a guard to awaken Legolas and Tauriel. A servant girl was helping him dress when they arrived. Meeting their gaze with serious eyes, he spoke "We ride at once, a queen spider was spotted near the outer realms. We must hurry before she disappears."


Aster's eyes fluttered open as her body began to go cold, her fire had gone out again. Slowly she stood up and stretched her body to warm it back up. Looking in her pouch she found much to her disappointment that she had run out of food. If it hadn't been for Ashley she wouldn't have had any at all. Thinking of her dear friend made her grow homesick once more. Aster had been in these woods for almost two weeks, she had counted the days. After day three she knew it hadn't been a dream as she had hoped. She was able to keep warm because her younger days as a girl scout had taught her to build fires. Ashley had thrown lots of granola bars in her pouch to save money at the festival, so food had been good until last night. As a medieval and fantasy enthusiast she had carried with her two canteens. One was completely empty and the other almost the same. She had passed a river not too long ago but the water seemed dangerous and without a pot to boil it she had to ration what she had.

The trees seemed to wind around each other and beckoned this way and that. Eerily beautiful as it was, Aster hoped she was nearing a town of some sort. After her water ran out she would only have about a week to survive. She didn't want to die here alone. She tripped, groaning she stood and wiped her hands on her gown. She was extremely clumsy and this hadn't been the first time she fell. Her once nice medieval clothing was now covered in dirt and grime. As was her face and hair, even if she did find society she wondered if they would turn her away as a beggar. The sounds around had begun to grow ominous with each step that she took further into the woods. The fear was beginning to take hold that she would never find help. The last thing she remembered was the dances after the feast. She had sat and watched her friend, newly engaged, dance with her betrothed. It had made her heart ache because she had never been loved. Used, of course, but never actually loved and cherished. Sadly, she wouldn't be there for the wedding.

Standing in one spot wouldn't help so she decided to follow the path that she had found herself on the first day. Hearing her stumble growl she began to talk out loud to herself, "Oh, quiet you. I've probably lost a few pounds by now, I know there isn't much to eat. You always did say you wanted to lose some, well now you are." It didn't help, the hunger only grew as the day drew on. She couldn't see the sky, so she wasn't sure if she was close to civilization or not. Coming upon a tree that looked easy to climb, Aster realized that that is what she probably need to do. Carefully she stepped onto the first root and then upon the first true limb. The next few were the hardest as she had to hoist herself up on them. If anyone had been watching, they would have found it funny to see her short legs flailing around, she thought to herself. Looking down at the forest floor, she suddenly felt like this had been a bad decision. Aster wasn't really fond of heights, but she knew she had to make it to the top. It seemed to take forever as she had to keep stopping and swipe cobwebs away. These trees were infested with bag worms!

The last few branches almost brought tears to her eyes, finally she'd see the sky and what lay beyond. As her head poked out from the autumn colored leaves, a mass of blue butterflies poured from the trees around her. "Oh my, how amazing!" She whispered. The sky was a blue and filled with clouds. Orange and brown colored trees went on in every direction as far as she could see. There was a lake and some mountains. Suddenly in the distance some trees had begun to move, as if a giant animal was pushing threw them. Fear gripped her heart and she quickly made her way down. The cobwebs she had encountered on the way up were more aggravating heading in the opposite direction. Her footing was unsure as she couldn't really tell how far away the branch was below. One foot made contact and the other slipped, causing her to fall the rest of the way down. She fell about 5 feet and landed on her butt. One branch had scraped her cheek and ripped into a sleeve.

She quickly felt her neck for the jewelry that had once been there. Not finding it upon the ground, she looked up the tree to see if it had caught on a branch. Moving to the left she saw something glint in the light, she readied herself to climb up a few branches to retrieve it. While doing so she noticed that some of the branches seem different. Slimmer and quite hairy looking. As she lifted herself up she felt it move and panic hit her chest like a plow. There in front of her was the head of an enormous spider, the branch she had grabbed onto was in fact a leg of the beast. It seemed to study her for a few seconds before lurching forward, it giant pinches moving to close around her face. She fell backwards again but this time when she hit the ground she got up and ran as fast as she could. In just a few moments she found herself tackled and the world around her began to spin rapidly as the spider wrapped her in its clutches. Asters' screams echoed throughout the woods, turning into muffles as she was hauled way.