/ I'm aware I'm rushing the story a lot, but I plan to focus more on events after Lake-Town, such as entering the mountain, planning for the defence and the battle of five armies, as well as what comes afterwards. Idria will get more character development in the future, starting in this chapter or the next./

Mirkwood

Two days later, they left Beorns house with supplies that could last them for a while, mounted on ponies that had been lent to them. They travelled north and east, along the edges of the forest first, so they could use a path that went through Mirkwood and come out closer to their destination. The trees were tall and dense, Idria could barely see more than a few metres into the forest, and felt relieved there was a path they could use. It took a few days for them to reach the path, and by the nights she thought she could see a large black shape following them . Bilbo saw the same, and his eyes were better than hers, he thought it looked like a huge bear.

"Do you think it could be Beorn?" she whispered one night,

"Perhaps, it's too large to be a normal creature." The other dwarves hadn't noticed it though, and it never drew too close so Idria relaxed and paid more attention to the forest to the east. The trees looked old, like they had been there for hundreds of years and would continue to stand for hundreds of years more. She had a feeling that the forest experienced time much more slowly than the rest of the land. That time only touched it in whispers, rather than the flow of continuity that surrounded the rest of them. The riding wasn't too hard, and thankfully at last, her hand healed. Well, healed was one word for it. Because she had used it so much since the injury, the hole hadn't healed over, just the edges of it had mended properly. It left her with a hole in the middle of her right hand she could fit her little finger through. And the arrow must have destroyed bones or nerves in her hand. Her thumb was fine, but her index finger and little finger trembled and moved stiffly where once movement would have been fluid. And her middle finger and ring finger refused to move, and she couldn't feel much with them for the rest of her days.

When they reached the entrance to the forest, Gandalf made them let the ponies go. Beorn would not let them take them into the forest, for he believed it cursed. And he pointed out that the skinchanger had followed them, although they may not have noticed it. So they removed their supplies and shared them out as equally as they could, Idria shouldered a heavy pack, though she feared soon it would get too light. As they were about to set off, Gandalf bid them goodbye, saying he had other business to take care of. Idria was disappointed and wished he could have stayed, he had gotten them out of a few jams already, but he refused. He did tell them he would meet them later, on the other side of the forest. And then he left, and the company entered the forest to the shouts of his final warning.

"STAY ON THE PATH."

It was almost impossible to tell day from night it the forest, and he dwarves and Bilbo soon came to hate it. But Idria was of another opinion. She liked it there, the closeness of the trees and the cool air the others found stifling was a welcome break. Her eyes became more adjusted to the gloom as the days passed, and she saw more than the others. Every now and then a flower or a cluster of them would grow on the edges of the path, each a different shade of whatever colour the flower grew. And there were squirrels in the forest, black things with wiry hair. The dwarves had been gifted with bows and arrows by Beorn, so when one of them managed to bring down a squirrel, (She thought it had been Bofur) they cooked it. The taste was strange, and the others refused to eat it, but she was okay with it. It was tough and gamey, but the few mouthfuls on it were strangely filling. And as she walked through the forest, she was able to see the food within the forest. A few premature acorns grew on some trees, they were bitter but edible, though the dwarves refused to eat them. She even managed to spot and pick blackberries, causing the company to stop for a few minutes to strip the small bush of berries before walking on. The food they found was never enough for all of them, but she felt that if she was travelling alone then she would be fine.

All too soon, the packs they carried grew lighter and flattened as the stores inside diminished. Idria remained the best fed out of all of them, Gloin said she had the stomach of a scavenger; she would eat anything edible regardless of the taste. But water was difficult to find. They couldn't carry a lot of it since it grew heavy, but there were no streams by the path, save for one. When they reached it, only Beorn's warning stopped them from drinking from it. It was harder to tell in the dark, but the water flowed black with enchantments. Whoever drank from it or swam in it would fall into a deep sleep, and would not be roused by anything. They crossed thanks to a boat that lay unused on the banks, though a bridge would have served them better. Idria was amongst the first to cross the river, and did as Thorin commanded when he told her to draw her sword and keep watch. The blade had been sharpened when she was at Beorn's, the glittering edge sharp enough to shave with. Something moved in the shadows, coming closer,

"Something's coming!" she shouted, and lifted the blade a little higher, wishing she had a shield too. From the trees, a huge stag leapt out. It was bigger than a horse, a huge pair of antlers surrounding its head like some sort of surreal crown. It seemed not to notice the company, running right towards them and cleared the river with a single leap. And when it landed, it made Bombur start, and he slipped and fell into the black water. Reacting quickly, a rope was thrown in after him and his hand circled it. But by the time they pulled him out, he was fast asleep, snoring loudly and grasping the rope so tightly they could not get it from his grasp. They could not rouse him, so they had to carry him too. It was good that their packs were light, but they wished Bombur would wake soon. Days passed, and the enchantment showed no signs of wearing off. And the food finally ran out then, even with Idria finding acorns or nuts, they were not grown or plentiful enough to provide enough sustenance. They abandoned the empty packs, carrying only what was necessary through the forest. The only shred of comfort was Bombur's awakening, he lifted himself up suddenly and looked around.

"Whe- Where am I?" he asked, confused. And they found out he could recall nothing of their adventure to the mountain, not the trolls or goblins, wolves or eagles, not even the party they had at Bilbo's home the day before they left. It was disheartening, coupled with the fact that the forest seemed endless and they were travelling on empty stomachs. That night, they saw a fire somewhere off the path, seemingly not too far away. They debated for a while about what to do. Most said yes, with the thought of begging food from whoever lit the fire, but Idria said no.

"It reminds me too much of what happened with the trolls. And we don't have a wizard to help us this time."

"That's easy for you to say, you're the best fed out of all of us. You don't need to go and beg if you don't want to." Her brow furrowed, and she turned her head,

"Go then, I'm not coming to get you if something bad happens." Some of the dwarves opened their mouths to retort but Thorin cut in,

"Enough!" And they fell silent as he looked at them one by one. He looked into her eyes for a moment, and she knew he was weighing up the options. He wasn't so desperate that he had thrown away caution, but he was too hungry to pass up an opportunity. "We will all go to the edge together, and then our burglar will talk to them. They won't be afraid or threatened by him, I hope." And none of them had a better idea, so they had to agree. So they all approached the fire, and when they reached it they pushed Bilbo forward with a yelp. A second later, complete darkness fell and they all felt very lost. They stumbled around calling each other's names in the darkness, and it took an awfully long time to find each other again. In the blackness, they all held on to each other so they would not get split up. And finally, all fourteen of them, seemingly unharmed, were there. Bilbo spoke of seeing elves, elves feasting on the richest of foods and drinking red wine. He spoke of their King being there, and of music and dancing and warmth. It sounded to entrancing, that when soon afterward another light appeared, they moved as one towards it to try and get in again. Thorin stepped in first, and they followed a second later. They caught a brief glimpse of the feast Bilbo had been talking about, but it was plunged into darkness a moment later. The grip on her hands loosened and she became separated from the dwarves. She called out for them, over and over, but their own cries seemed to get further away. Finally, she could not hear them at all.

"THORIN! BILBO! BALIN, ANYONE!?" She bellowed out, in a voice loud enough to wake a dragon, but she heard no reply. Bumping into a tree in the darkness, she put out her hands to steady herself and brushed against something strange… it was sticky and fibrous, and when she reached out her other hand to pull it off, that got stuck too. She pulled back and cursed, both of her hands were encased in the stuff. And then she heard the sound, a strange scuttling noise, and a sharp whisper.

"A human! We haven't feassssted on one of thossse for a while." She gasped as a large black shape dropped down in front of her and drew closer.

"Stay back!" She screamed, trying to free her hand to reach for her sword, but she was stuck. A moment later, the black shape darted behind her and she felt a sharp jab in her side, just above her right hip. She began to feel weak, her knees buckled and she fell. The gloom of the forest began to darken and she saw something that looked like a spider draw close… but it was far too big… for… that…

She opened her mouth in a silent scream, but her eyes closed and she fell unconscious as the creature wrapped her up with its web and dragged her away.