10.
Summer was kind to the company of Thorin Oakenshield. Even in mid August, the nights were cool and the sweltering stuffiness of Mirkwood had given way to wind-swept grasslands. The travelers were pleased but their ponies and horses even more, for food had been scant and unwholesome in the forest. Each morning, the animals ate their fill of rich, dew-beaded grass and drank from streams that flowed to meet the Running under the eaves of Mirkwood.
They traveled within sight of the forest to maintain direction and would keep doing so until meeting the river once more. Thorin purposed to follow the river all the way north to Esgaroth and deemed that the journey would take them a week or little more than that. The Dwarf king did not forget the promise he had made before parting with Fëanor and his sons. He'd said that he would wait for the Elves if circumstances allowed it and, after the uneventful crossing of Mirkwood, circumstances did allow him a respite.
The company took stock of what provisions they had left and learned that their packs had not become significantly lighter after a fortnight of travel. They had good hunters among them and the grasslands offered them game of all sizes. Thus, the company was not pressed by necessity and Durin's Day was still months away. To Bilbo's surprise, Thorin declared that they could let the ponies set the pace of their journey north for a few days and give Fëanor a chance to catch up with them.
The twins and Celegorm were pleased with that, but no less concerned and it was not difficult to guess why they scanned the southern horizon more often than not. Their kinsmen were too far even for Elvish sight to catch a glimpse of them, even if they had already begun to gallop north as fast as their horses could carry them. But nobody knew where they were and what had happened to them, beyond whispered speculation that everyone dared voice only when Celegorm and his brothers were out of earshot.
But beyond the constant worry for the well being of their father and brothers, the Elves had a more immediate concern. The dust-cloud that Celegorm had spotted three days before had gotten alarmingly closer and it moved against the wind. Sometimes it disappeared altogether and sometimes it spread along the line of the horizon. At times it grew darker even under the clear sky and at other times, it was no more than a haze. The Elves had described what they saw, but even their sight was obscured by the rippling summer air. What's more, the landscape had changed into a sea of rolling hillocks and dells, covered in swaying grasses.
They debated what the cloud was and what caused it and how dangerous it would be once it reached them. Even riding at full speed, the ponies could not outrun whatever it was that hurried in their direction. The Elves wished to have a closer look, but relented when Thorin insisted that the company should stay together and not become separated.
The night before, as the company camped at the roots of a small hill but found little shelter against a swift summer storm, it seemed to Amrod that the ground rumbled beneath his ear and his brothers felt it too. But with thunder booming above them, they could not be sure. And when the downpour ended, nothing could be heard or sensed anymore.
After taking counsel together, they decided to steer toward the forest and take cover under the canopy, where they could espy whatever passed without being seen. However, the forest itself was anything but safe and neither of them had forgotten the cobwebs and the clusters of spider eyes. The less time they spent there, the better.
After dawn and a mostly wet camp, they rode westward toward the forest, with the rising sun warming them and drying their belongings. The southern horizon was free of ominous clouds and nothing but happy bird chatter accompanied the brisk ride. Bilbo strained his ears but heard nothing louder than the horses trotting and the usual clangor of Dwarvish gear.
Bilbo rode at Kili's side, where he had instinctively stayed for the past couple of days. The young Dwarf still smarted from the spat he'd had with Fili and would not forgive his brother for taking the Elf's side. Especially not when a harmless little prank had put both Thorin and Fili in ranting mode and Kili could not understand how those two had been turned into such staunch defenders of Elf honor.
Bilbo sympathized more than he could let Kili know and, as he witnessed the young Dwarf's hushed outbursts on the matter, he itched to say more. Bilbo very badly wanted to tell Kili how misguided his brother's affection for Celegorm was, and how dangerous, too. But that very danger kept Bilbo's mouth shut. Even if Celegorm and his brothers had regained their friendly and jovial demeanor, Bilbo sometimes saw the Elf's eyes darkening and disdain passing over his features as he regarded his Dwarven companions coldly. Celegorm had said nothing to Bilbo, merely stared him down once or twice, all but daring Bilbo to run his mouth.
The Hobbit had kept his mouth shut, but he'd offered Kili a sympathetic ear and Fili as well, when the older brother lamented Kili's stubbornness and his unwillingness to accept an apology. Even as they rode briskly toward the forest, Fili trotted to his brother's side and tried to coax Kili out of his sulky silence.
"Come on, Kili, this is becoming ridiculous! How many times do I have to say I am sorry and you're still my best friend and it's not right for us to be like this?"
Kili merely huffed in reply to his brother's pleading.
"Kili, we could be in danger here! Must you stay so mad at me still? You have gotten your point across, you know."
"Go hug your precious Elf, he'll protect you," Kili muttered, staring ahead resolutely and refusing to meet his brother's eyes.
"Fine then, be a baby!" Fili retorted. He pulled on the reins and guided his pony away from his stubborn brother. Bilbo saw both anger and sadness in the young Dwarf's eyes. Like Kili, Bilbo resented those Elves and their insidious manner of driving wedges between the Dwarves, especially between kinsmen and brothers.
But suddenly, there was no more time for either Bilbo or Kili to entertain such grudging thoughts. The Hobbit heard Amras calling out to them from the top of the little hill they had just rounded. All eyes turned to the Elf as his brothers appeared by his side. The Elves exchanged a few words and Bilbo saw their horses sorting and pacing restlessly atop the hillock.
"What do you see? What is happening?" Thorin shouted.
Celegorm and his brothers had ridden behind all day, scouting the way the company had ridden north and knowing that their trail could easily be picked up by any pursuers. They must have finally seen something.
The Elves spurred their mounts into a run and thundered down the hill. But when they stopped at Thorin's side, the deep throb of hooves hitting the earth carried on. It was faint, like rolling thunder on the horizon, but they felt it in the ground and their ponies fretted beneath them.
"What is that?" Kili whispered. "Do you hear it?"
"I do. Perhaps the storm is coming back," Bilbo said, hoping his guess was true.
"There is no wind to bring it back," Kili stared at the hill that obscured whatever hat set the Elves into a run.
Bilbo nudged his pony closer to Thorin's, just in time to hear Amras explaining what he had seen.
"Animals," the Elf said, too wide-eyed and worried for Bilbo's liking. "Hundreds of them. All kinds of beast, from deer to cattle to sheep and smaller things that were too far for me to see. But they are coming closer. They are running straight for us."
"What?" Thorin gaped and the others murmured to each other in disbelief.
"There's no time to explain, we cannot linger here. Move out, all of you!" Celegorm urged them. "Come on! They run faster than your ponies. We've got to reach the woods before they overtake us."
Bilbo wanted to know more and, judging by their puzzled expressions, the others did as well. But the rumble had grown louder in the few moments they had spent talking and that finally set the company on the move again.
Celegorm rode at the front and for a moment, Bilbo thought that he would just take off. His horse and those of his brothers were both big and fast enough to outrun cattle and sheep. But the Elf kept his nervous mount trotting only as fast as the ponies could follow and the twins flanked them as they sped toward the forest.
"I've never seen anything like it!" Amrod shouted. "Animals stampeding away from danger I can understand, but this… They've been after us for days! I don't understand!"
"Something must be driving them this way. If they catch us, don't fall of your ponies! Whatever you do, hold on and don't let them throw you. Stay in the saddle!" Celegorm told them, his voice barely rising over the din as they all urged their mounts to run.
But the ponies themselves had sensed something amiss and they neighed in a fright, beating the ground with their sturdy little legs in a mad dash. Still, it was no match for the stampede behind and they could hear it like an avalanche rolling after them, growing louder and closer.
Clutching this pony's mane in both hands, Bilbo risked a peek behind and his breath caught in his throat. Over the crown of the hill they had just left the first deer leaped in pursuit. They threw themselves down the slope, some of them falling and breaking their legs. More came and trampled them, followed by black and brown shapes of cattle and oxen. In the blink of an eye, the whole hill swarmed with them and the animals thundered ahead with unbelievable speed.
Bilbo let out a frightened cry and tore his eyes from them. He lowered himself onto his pony's neck and held on tight, staring ahead and into the line of threes ahead. He never would have thought the sight of that forest and the prospect of going back into it would ever appeal to him, but there and then, Bilbo willed the trees to come closer, if they could walk like his companions had speculated.
"Don't try to steer the ponies! Just hold on and don't fall off!" Celegorm shouted. Bilbo saw him sitting up in the saddle, eyes wide and mouth agape as he saw what came after them. The Hobbit's heart sank further, knowing that they would not make it under the trees in time and the tide of stampeding animals would swallow them in a matter of moments. They could hear the trampling of the chase clearly and the braying of those beasts made Bilbo's hair stand on end.
He worked up the courage to look back again, but one small glimpse showed him more than he wanted to see. The animals were so close that Bilbo could see the first of them frothing at the mouth as they leaped and bounded after them. He plastered himself against the pony's neck and clutched the frightened beast, praying that it would not throw him.
The ponies screamed in fright when the first deer dashed among them. One enormous stag thundered past Bilbo and crashed straight into Oin's pony, making hit rear and almost throw the rider off. The stag's antlers caught in Oin's backpack and if it were not for Gloin's quick reaction, his brother would have been pulled down and trampled. Gloin slashed through the antlers with one of his axes and freed his brother, yelling something that was swallowed in the stag's terrible cry. As Bilbo rushed past it, he did not wish to imagine the death it suffered when its peers rain it over heedlessly. But the wet tearing of flesh and the crunching of bones could still be heard as the chase continued and the trees were still too far away.
Everyone was shouting, trying to stay together and keep track of each other. But as the deer dashed among them, the ponies bolted and there was very little they could do to control them. And when the bigger animals finally caught up, it was every Dwarf and Elf and terrified Hobbit for himself. They were overrun just before the line of trees and heavy bodies pressed upon them from all sides. Bilbo found himself wedged between two shaggy beasts that brayed hoarsely and Bilbo saw their eyes rolling in their heads in terror. Before him, a bull bellowed and swung its massive horns, ready to take Bilbo's pony full on. The Hobbit screamed and closed his eyes, but at the very last moment, he felt the pony's head tugged sharply to the left. They barely avoided collision with the angry beast and Kili yelled something at Bilbo. But Bilbo didn't even have time to thank the Dwarf for saving him, because they were completely surrounded and two more animals sprang wherever one was narrowly avoided.
Bilbo thought the beasts were just as terrified as they were and ran in a mad retreat from something. But even if they did not specifically try to run the riders down, the stampede still pushed them onward and it would take a small miracle for all of them to stay in the saddle.
In a cacophony of shouts and screams and wild calls, the animals tore through the line of trees and ran headlong into the forest. But there, the danger was even greater and they got snagged into the undergrowth, struggling to break free and screaming terribly. Bilbo and his pony pushed between vicious thorn-bushes, dashing under the trees all scratched and bruised. He stole one look around himself and saw several of his companions still on horseback, while the Elves had flung themselves out of the saddle and struggled to avoid being trampled. Among the low hanging trees, it was even more perilous to stay on the ground while the desperate animals poured into the forest and many of them crashed against the trunks with sickening thuds. They would have to climb if there was any chance of surviving.
Bilbo tried to steer his pony toward the closest tree and struggled to unclench his hands from the coarse mane. But as he built up the courage to leap off and catch the lowest branch, all the air whooshed out of him in a horrified scream. From that very tree, a huge, black spider suddenly emerged, hanging on a thread and immediately spitting another at Bilbo.
The pony reared and threw him off, but saved Bilbo in its terror. As Bilbo rolled away, he saw the poor beast being snared almost immediately, sticky threads flying toward it from every direction. Lying on the moldy leaves, Bilbo stared above himself and saw several of those hideous black shapes. The trees seemed to be teeming with them, creaking and shaking and spitting out more and more of those threads.
Shaking with shock and horror, Bilbo crawled out of the way when something that might have been a boar thundered past, only to be snagged and stung when a spider just as big dropped right upon it. Breath stuck in his throat, Bilbo backed away on hands and knees, until he hit a tree-trunk. He tried to pull himself on his feet but he trembled all over and it took every ounce of courage Bilbo could muster just to stand. He groped for his sword and all of a sudden, the world blurred around him and the terrible noises grew dim for a moment.
He did not even realize that he had slipped on his magic ring until one of those hideous insects scuttled right past him and did not mark him with any of its ugly eyes. Then, Bilbo took heart and looked around, trying to spot his friends and hoping that they did not fare worse than he did. But soon, the Hobbit saw that it was not so.
Bombur was caught under the body of a dying deer and struggled to free himself, while three spiders closed in on him and caught the Dwarf's arms in their sticky snares. An ox ran straight into the threads, tearing them and stumbling when more shot out to stop it from running away. The beast crashed dangerously close to Bombur's head and beat the air with its hooves, braying desperately.
But the spiders didn't seem to concern themselves with animals. They were more interested in capturing the two-legged prey that fought back in some cases. Bilbo saw Bifur waving his spear around wildly and rushing to help free his brother.
His back against a tree, Kili fired arrow after arrow from his little bow, hitting whatever he could, but it did little to deplete the numbers of spiders or terrified beasts. Bilbo gave a shout of warning, but it was too late and Kili didn't even have the chance to look up. A thread shot out from above him and plucked the bow out of his hand. Almost in the same beat, a spider fell atop the young Dwarf and they both crashed to the forest floor in a frantic struggle.
Bilbo pulled out his sword and dashed to Kili's aid, but skidded to a halt when a shaggy cow crashed before him, kicking and screaming as its hind legs broke beneath it. Over the struggling animal, Bilbo saw Fili and Balin rushing to help Kili, but threads flew at them as well and Balin slashed at them furiously as Fili shouted wildly and tried to reach his brother.
Beneath a gnarled alder, one of the Elven twins rolled out of the way as a deer ran headlong into the tree and collapsed in a twitching heap. But before the Elf could straighten himself, a spider fell on his back and Bilbo saw the Elf open his mouth to scream as the beast sank its stinger into his back. Then, a dark shadow flitted by and Bilbo saw no more, his eyes drawn to Thorin. The Dwarf king was shouting something in his own tongue and fighting off several spiders that closed in on him. Dwalin was with him and Bilbo thought that those two would not be overcome so easily when a huge beast tore through the spiders and barreled into Dwalin. It lifted the warrior off the ground, but Dwalin had a hold on the huge horns and, as they sped out of Bilbo's sight, the Hobbit thought he saw Dwalin snapping the animal's neck.
Everywhere around him, his friends were in trouble and Bilbo didn't know where to rush to, where his help was needed the most. He stood rooted to the spot in the middle of a raging battle for survival, the air around him torn by wild screams and the hideous screeching of spiders. It seemed to the poor Hobbit that they had been pushed straight into a trap and the spiders had lain in wait for them.
But there was no time to sit and wonder about what had happened. Bilbo heard someone screaming and when he turned his head in that direction, he saw a pair of legs sticking out from beneath the extended belly of a cow. A spider was climbing atop it and as Bilbo ran to cut it off, he recognized Ori's terrified voice calling out.
The spider saw nothing more than a little blade hacking it off before it had any chance to defend itself and Bilbo dispatched it quickly, shuddering at the foul smell that oozed out of the wounds his sword had dealt. He leaped over the cow's head and spared a pitying thought to the dying animal. But Ori needed to be pulled out of there before something else came at them.
"Can you crawl away if we push this thing? Is anything broken?" Bilbo asked the Dwarf, forgetting that Ori could not see him and watching the young Dwarf's eyes grow even wider at the sound of his voice.
"Bilbo?! Where are you?"
"Right here," Bilbo lowered his blade and meant to take his magic ring off. But something crashed into him and Bilbo saw only the tawny pelt of the deer as it hurtled over him. He held his hands up to shield his face and fell against something hard. Bilbo heard a crack and deafening roar in his ears, before his eyes rolled upwards and he passed out.
A/N: "Heart of the Mountain" is going on a little hiatus (most likely just over the weekend), as I have no more chapters to post at the moment and no time to write over the next couple of days. Motivating as daily updates are, it's also extremely exhausting to squeeze writing between work and a lot of other day to day activities. But I will be back with the rest of the tale as soon as possible. Thank you all so very much for reading and reviewing and encouraging me to keep this adventure going.